Build or Break

Matthew McConaughey took 20 years of his worst reviews into the desert for a weekend. He believed a lie about himself for more than 40 years. And he says he's better for both.  In this interview on Build or Break, Matthew sits down with Daniel Lubetzky for a conversation that goes well past the highlight reel: what he found on his Little Mr. Texas trophy while writing Greenlights, what the critics taught him, and the moment in Joel Schumacher's office when he had the nerve to say he should play the lead in A Time to Kill.  They also get into why he refuses to be called a victim, the value of not knowing how bad things are, and why he thinks we need to bring embarrassment back. And they talk about America in its 250th year: why the country was a gamble, and why the bet is still on the table. All this, plus a surprise phone call mid-interview... and the Mexican Inquisition. https://www.youtube.com/c/MatthewMcConaughey https://www.instagram.com/officiallymcconaughey/ https://x.com/McConaughey https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky https://x.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky https://daniellubetzky.com/ 🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/  Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/ Production: Straybird Studios https://www.straybird.studio/ Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/ Build or Break Team:  Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky Executive Producer: Kristin Schneider Head of Programming & Production: Joel Rubin Marketing & Communications: Sarah Black Associate Producer & Social Media: Taylor Larned Booking & Scheduling: Kayla Rose Network Relations: Julianna Cohen

https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky https://x.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky https://daniellubetzky.com/ 🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/ Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/ Production: Straybird Studios https://www.straybird.studio/ Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/ Build or Break Team: Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky Executive Producer: Kristin Schneider Head of Programming & Production: Joel Rubin Marketing & Communications: Sarah Black Associate Producer & Social Media: Taylor Larned Booking & Scheduling: Kayla Rose Network Relations: Julianna Cohen

https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky https://x.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky https://daniellubetzky.com/ 🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/ Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/ Production: Straybird Studios https://www.straybird.studio/ Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/ Build or Break Team: Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky Executive Producer: Kristin Schneider Head of Programming & Production: Joel Rubin Marketing & Communications: Sarah Black Associate Producer & Social Media: Taylor Larned Booking & Scheduling: Kayla Rose Network Relations: Julianna Cohen

Jamie Siminoff was personally bankrupt before Shark Tank even aired. When Kevin O'Leary offered him $700K for 10% of his company, he walked away with no deal. Amazon bought that company, Ring, for $1.15 billion. In this episode of Build or Break, Jamie breaks down the actual mechanics behind the story most people only know the headline version of: why he turned down Mr. Wonderful on national TV, how everything almost fell apart before Shark Tank even filmed, and what he says now about first-night sales numbers that most founders get wrong. He also gets into the failed products before Ring (including an email he sent Nest's founder that changed his approach), what Ring's Fire Watch tool did during the Palisades fires, and why the app has reunited millions of lost dogs with their families. Daniel Lubetzky sits down with Jamie for an unfiltered conversation about rejection, conviction, and fish tanks. Fish tanks? Yes, fish tanks.  00:00 Cold Open & Intro 0:58 Meet Jamie Siminoff, the Garage Inventor Turned Billion-Dollar Founder 8:13 The Doorbot Era: Pre-Sales, Debt, and Desperation 11:41 Shark Tank: The Pitch That Almost Saved Him 22:00 The November Miracle: When Everything Changed 26:22 From DoorBot to Ring: Rebuilding Everything in Nine Months 28:54 The Safety Pivot: When Crime-Solving Became the Mission 34:43 The Mind of an Inventor: From Fish Tanks to Floodlights 47:32 Life at Amazon: The Entrepreneur in the Machine 55:21 The Mexican Inquisition: Jamie Sets a New Record 1:01:58 Build or Break? https://x.com/JamieSiminoff https://www.instagram.com/jsiminoff https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiesiminoff/ https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky https://x.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky https://daniellubetzky.com/ 🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/  Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/ Production: Straybird Studios https://www.straybird.studio/ Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/ Build or Break Team:  Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky Executive Producer: Kristin Schneider Head of Programming & Production: Joel Rubin Marketing & Communications: Sarah Black Associate Producer & Social Media: Taylor Larned Booking & Scheduling: Kayla Rose Network Relations: Julianna Cohen

Andrew Yang was right about the 2024 election. He was right about AI. He was right about MATH. When he talks, you better pay attention! I sat down with Andrew Yang for a wide-ranging conversation that moves from personal to political and back again — getting bullied as the only Asian kid in his school, quitting a prestigious law firm five months in, and building the "Yang Gang" from a fringe campaign into a national movement built on a $3 million baseball cap. Andrew opens up about the hardest year of his life — becoming a father to a son later diagnosed as on the autism spectrum — and connects it directly to why he ran for president. He breaks down why 94% of Congress never loses reelection despite a 10% approval rating, why he quit the Democratic Party in 2021, and why investors will fund almost anything as long as it has "AI" in the name. Along the way: the real story behind "MATH," his viral Cupid Shuffle moment, and a live demonstration of my favorite party trick/pain tolerance tester I brought over from Mexico! Andrew is funny, blunt, and still relentlessly early on the things everyone else eventually catches up to. Watch the full interview now. 0:00 – Cold open & Intro 2:05 – Getting bullied as the only Asian kid in school 4:40 – Quitting his law career & his first failure 9:12 – The roots of his entrepreneurship 13:32 – Investors who'll only fund you if you slap "AI" on it 19:55 – The real origin story of "MATH" 24:45 – Gerrymandering, primaries, and why Congress doesn’t work 39:04 – Andrew’s vision for an independent presidential primary 44:57 – His two biggest lessons for anyone running for office 48:50 – His biggest professional regret 54:38 – What Andrew’s doing now 58:23 – Mexican Inquisition and Toques 1:08:06 – Rapid-fire: Build or Break round  Follow Andrew:  https://www.youtube.com/@AndrewYangPodcast https://www.instagram.com/andrewyang/ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialandrewyang https://x.com/AndrewYang https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewyangvfa/ https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky https://x.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky https://daniellubetzky.com/ 🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/  Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/ Production: Straybird Studios https://www.straybird.studio/ Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/ Build or Break Team:  Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky Executive Producer: Kristin Schneider Head of Programming & Production: Joel Rubin Marketing & Communications: Sarah Black Associate Producer & Social Media: Taylor Larned Booking & Scheduling: Kayla Rose Network Relations: Julianna Cohen