Health, Longevity & Biohacking

America's kidney shortage could end if one in 10,000 adults donated

Name: America's kidney shortage could end if one in 10,000 adults donated
Uploaded: 2026-07-08T13:46:00+00:00
Description: Kerner revealed that 5,000 Americans die annually waiting for kidney transplants, but this death toll could be eliminated if just 0.01% of healthy adults became living donors. He argues the solution is simple mathematics rather than a medical limitation, noting that insurance companies would pay donors $50,000 if it were legal, saving them millions per patient.

Lewis Howes School of Greatness · Side Hustle Expert: The Fastest Way To Make $10k/mo | Chris Koerner · July 8, 2026

Lewis Howes School of Greatness

Side Hustle Expert: The Fastest Way To Make $10k/mo | Chris Koerner

"If one in 10,000 healthy adults donated their kidney to a stranger, no one would die waiting for a kidney. But today, like 5,000 people a year die waiting for a kidney. But it's needless. Like it's literally needless. That number could go to zero. One in 10,000 people."

Kerner revealed that 5,000 Americans die annually waiting for kidney transplants, but this death toll could be eliminated if just 0.01% of healthy adults became living donors. He argues the solution is simple mathematics rather than a medical limitation, noting that insurance companies would pay donors $50,000 if it were legal, saving them millions per patient.

About this episode

Serial entrepreneur Chris Kerner, who has launched 75 businesses with multiple reaching seven and eight figures, joined Lewis Howes to reveal unconventional paths to generating $10,000+ monthly income with minimal capital. Kerner challenged the conventional wisdom that starting a business requires money, instead advocating for immediate customer acquisition before building infrastructure. He shared striking real-world examples including TV mounting contractors earning $300,000 annually using only free listing platforms, VCR resellers making six figures through simple arbitrage, and his own multimillion-dollar e-commerce business built by reselling Buc-ee's products without permission. Kerner emphasized that the greatest barrier to entrepreneurship is not capital or skills but fear of others' perception of failure. He revealed his personal practice of learning iPhone repair on customers' devices in real-time, breaking phones occasionally but ultimately earning six figures by launching immediately rather than waiting for mastery. The conversation took an emotional turn as Kerner shared how his daughter's life-saving double lung transplant from a deceased nine-year-old donor inspired both him and his wife to each donate a kidney to strangers, timing the donations to honor the young donor's death and birthday. He disclosed that his financial life has never been better since the donation and advocates for policy changes allowing compensated kidney donation, noting that if just one in 10,000 healthy adults donated, the 5,000 annual American deaths from kidney shortage would drop to zero. Throughout the episode, Kerner maintained that entrepreneurial skills should be treated like emergency food storage and that serving others is the most selfish thing anyone can do because of its personal returns.

Key takeaways

Chris Kerner revealed a TV mounting contractor earning $300,000 annually with zero marketing spend using only free platform listings like TaskRabbit and Thumbtack
VCR resellers in rural Virginia are making six figures buying obsolete units for $5-10 and selling them for $100-150 through simple marketplace arbitrage
Kerner built a multimillion-dollar annual business by launching an unauthorized Buc-ee's e-commerce store that went viral after cold-pitching journalists
The entrepreneur learned iPhone repair on customers' devices in real-time during his first retail store, occasionally breaking phones but ultimately earning six figures by launching immediately
Both Kerner and his wife donated kidneys to strangers after their daughter received a life-saving lung transplant, with Kerner noting his financial life has never been better since
America's 5,000 annual kidney transplant deaths could be eliminated if just one in 10,000 healthy adults became living donors, a statistically simple solution
Kerner advocates that the only real entrepreneurial fear is perception of failure from others, not actual failure, arguing that people are too distracted to care about individual attempts