How Social Media and Passion Sold $60M in Cars w/ Chau Nguyen | Ep 442

Chris's cousin, Chau Nguyen, was one of the first guests ever on this podcast. Now he's back, nearly a decade later, with a different kind of company. After exiting Campus Special for $20 million and watching his VC-backed follow-up fail, Chau started messing around with an old Ford Bronco in his garage and accidentally built Vintage Modern, a custom vehicle company doing $60 million in revenue, selling cars to J.Lo, Usher, and LeBron, and shipping a new build every single day.

This is a conversation about what happens when you follow the thing you actually love, what discipline looks like when you've already made money and choose not to use it, and how four million social media followers became the most powerful sales channel in a business that sells $300K vehicles.

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:33) - Vintage Modern Origin Story

(05:18) - Instagram Growth from Zero

(06:00) - J.Lo and Usher Fight Over a Bronco

(08:26) - Identity Blocking Opportunity

(09:30) - What Makes Content Grow on Social

(11:30) - Aesthetic Sensibility and Product Standards

(13:00) - Restoration vs. Resto-mod vs. Vintage Modern

(14:05) - Why Chau Didn't Fund This with His Own Money