What's up, everyone? This is Anthony Pompeo. Know many of, you know, me as pomp you're listening to the pump podcast, which is my effort to find the most interesting people in the world and sit with them for hours. While I ask questions in an effort to learn. We have no advertisers on this podcast. So, would mean the world to me? If you would subscribe to the show on your favorite audio platform, watch episodes on YouTube and tell your friends and family about the podcast. My goal is to help Millions learn from the world's most interesting people. So let's get into today's
episode. John Shahidi is the president of happy. Dad nelq boys and shots. In this conversation, we talked about how the milk boys are taking over the world and how they make money, what the business is behind all that content, this includes the full send podcast, Steve will do it being banned from YouTube, how they got in touch with Elon Musk and what exactly are the sales figures and the product plan? For happy Dad, one of the fastest-growing Seltzer's in the world. I
Enjoyed this conversation with John and I hope you guys enjoy it as well. He's one of the greatest Minds when it comes to scaling products, especially when a Creator is providing all the distribution here is my conversation with John, Shahidi, Anthony promptly on. Oh, runs off Investments all views of him and the guest on his podcast are sholay, their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Pop Investments. You should not treat any opinion expressed by pomp or his guests as a specific inducement to make a particular investment.
Comment or follow a particular strategy. But only as an expression of his personal opinion, this podcast is for informational purposes, only. All right, guys, bang, bang. I've got John here with me. I thought a great place to start is last time we talked, you were doing nothing with happy. Dad milk, anything you guys have absolutely exploded onto the scene and what I think is interesting is like, there's a Content story, and then there's a business story, and everyone is very focused on the context, that's when you can see right? I care about the business.
And what I see you or any of those guys posting, and you're going to like a liquor store and there's literally a line out the door around the block, you know, there's cops, they're making sure that everyone's like staying in line. Making sure they're getting in. People are signing all of the alcohol. Like, this is a massive, massive movement in a business that you guys are building. How do you think about day one? You walk in, you're like, all right, went to build a business here. Like what do you think is the advantage that you have? And how do you think about which products to launch the kind of like, what, two sequential
Really do from a business perspective.
Yeah well I always say this and this is pretty much a no-brainer and you know but but it does come down to the product being great at the end of the day, it's always got always has to start with that. Then that's the advice. I'd have to give anybody. It's like no matter how big you are. How many followers you have or how many connections you have with whatever retailers, or whatever it is your products. Not great. Like, people are going to give
Every product that chance. Once if it sucks, they won't come back. We're going on 22 years of happy. That now are re pies are absolutely insane. We haven't launched a new state and six of seven months. We're about to launch five. New ones in the next six weeks, but we haven't launched any in our sales are still growing, in the existing States because there re buys, and we haven't even Revisited those stores yet. So it's really the product. It has to start 100% with a product. And then, yeah, then there's a lot of other full, why happy
Dad, right? Like, what? Like, what?
Is that the product that you guys want but we're going to hang our hat on this. And we think this is the thing that we can build a big business around.
We want, you know, the cells our business has been growing over the last few years, it's been pretty much become a beer replacement and happy Dad the way was The Branding, the marketing, or even the type of can that we use was really to Target the male audience when it comes to Seltzer consumption. It almost every single cells. Are you see right now comes in the skinny can
Multiple colors, you know, just going after, you know, different. Yeah. And now, you know, and our initial because and it wasn't necessarily all we need something for men. It was like our audience were men, the milk audiences men, eighty percent plus of the milk, viewer across all socials are men. So we said, all right, what can we make for our audience? That will convert. What's funny is like, female is love. Happy Dad. We could get into why I like, you know, wasn't our Target. But, you know, I think because of the
Flavoring and the amount of carbonation I could get into that. But, you know, maybe even let you know that we're launching happy mom, but we'll talk about that. So, because of that, but, um, but yeah, I think really happy Dad was, we want to go after Seltzer Market. It's become pretty much a replacement to be here for all different types of reasons from The Taste to the calorie count carb count. Now, people are a lot more conscious of their health right now.
You know, I think a lot of different reasons post pandemic realizing that maybe the best you know, solution to you know some of the what happened with the pandemic was actually your health versus can't go down that rabbit hole of you know don't say it but you know but but Health at the end of the day you know health is wealth and and you know and I think we all want to be healthy. Now you know, I think we've learned over the last few years, I got Health as
well, and I think that the big narrative
Is no CAD these amazing videos that were going super viral this big audience. It reminds me a lot of like the Barstool audience early on when I was in college and in the Northeast like you just knew that show for the blackout or whatever and like people would show up, right? And these guys seem to be able to say, hey I'm going to be somewhere and the audience showed up, right? Think they were willing to go do that. They also are buying a lot of merch and so usually those two data points tell you hey there's a real audience, it's really engaged really kind of subscribes to the lifestyle and the values and all that type of stuff.
But they weren't monetizing in the content as far as I understand, right. Like there weren't a lot of brand Deals. They didn't have any ads from YouTube or any of that stuff, and it pretty much just like a merch business attached to content. Is that like a fair way to evaluate what they were doing before? You guys really got into a lot of the consumer goods.
Yeah, well, merch was a big part of their business because they were demonetized from YouTube during a pandemic years doing it during 2020. They, you know, they were the ones that weren't refusing to not.
Go out and party still. And they were still having Gatherings and filming The Gatherings and, and they were demonetized by YouTube, but no clue is a pretty big organization on the back end. You know, there's a couple dozen employees so they had to figure out how to pay bills and merch. Kind of became the pivot and focus. And and you know, we say to this day is being demonized, by being Dean monetized by YouTube, ended up being one of the biggest blessings because you know, the merch,
New has been explode, 30, 40 x, what YouTube Revenue would ever be from AdSense side. And then, on top of that Brands brands are extremely afraid to work. With creators you've always been afraid, you know, just seeing what's happened over the years with different creators, which I've never agreed on. Why everyone was so angry at some of them, you know, and trying to cancel everybody but the Creator.
Been canceled over the years. It's frightened, a lot of Brands and that's also become a blessing in disguise because like brands have always been afraid of milk and are all types of creators but specifically an elk. So that's where happy that he's coming. He's like, all right, do we go and do a super small deal with Anheuser-Busch and try to explain ourselves and then be limited on the content. Be careful of the content or do we make our own brand? Which
matters of religion? Yeah. And now walk,
Me through operation. And one of the things that a lot of folks in the business World, a lot of investors are waking up to is these Creator, LED businesses, basically did the business Creation in Reverse, right? Usually you build a product and you go find the customers know, can many others have basically found the customers first and then they go in their building the product. But building the product for many creators is actually a really hard thing to do. They don't have that skill set, they don't have the connections, they don't have the capital, they don't know who, like, am I going to have operate this thing, you obviously,
Been around for a long time, you've seen a lot of different businesses and you have not very well connected. You guys have access to Capital. Like, you know, I think a lot of folks, kind of say like oh John's they're like this is got a shot of actually working from an operational standpoint. How did you think about operationalizing it, right? Like, just you showing up you're not going to do everything. So I can you build out a whole team? Do you go? And you just like partner with somebody and it's your brand with their operations? Like how does that work?
You know, the one thing I've always been very good at is finding delegating work and
Ending the best person and being able to hire and fire higher end, and find the best person for any specific role. So specifically with happy that obviously there's so many different sectors of our businesses. There's alcohol, there's merge. There is Media with our podcast but but on the Alcohol side, when the decision was made to make happy dad, there's this family that I know the Bhutto family longtime friends of mine been in the
Business for many years. But decades. I mean the the the father, Keith who tells, you know, they call him the Godfather of the alcohol industry. Like so went to straight to them and said, Hey listen, I need to make it a plus product and I've got the platform, the note boys, we want to make a Seltzer, We Got The Branding, we got everything, but we need the liquid to be a plus and they're like, say no more and immediately started creating the flavorings. We did taste test.
It's and you know, that's one thing that I've been really great. And then then now that's the, that's the beverage, that's the like liquid. Now gets
final say on the taste test,
it's all of us. There's a there's a growing consensus the group of about
Seven to ten of us and it has to be unanimous. If one person doesn't like it, we go back, so it's no, like not. Sorry, Sam. We like it. You don't or sorry, Kyle or sorry? Joe Bhutto. It's everyone has to. Okay, I love it. That's what we go back and forth so much. If one person says, I'm not sure. We're going back, so nothing that's been part of this happy. That success has been that too, but then, you know, there's that part. There's the liquid, then there's
Then there is a liquid and Manufacturing right from cans to breweries, originally starts with flavoring, then breweries cans. But then then that now it's got to leave the brewery. It's got to go to different states, every state, we have a different distributor, so I had to find someone to help me find the right distributor, the right Partners a lot. A lot of states in alcohol or have franchise loss. Meaning once you signed a deal with that distributor you're in with them for life crazy La. By the way,
Are you crazy crazy, obviously. A free market. Principal Port, of course, hundred-year-old laws. You know. So so anyway. So now we're like, alright, so we're in with these guys for like, we got to be careful because one is, they've got to be great. They got to make us a priority. They can't have a product by a competitor because will be bullied. You know, if they carry like, let's just say, I don't want to name any competitors, but we all know who the competitors are in. The can alcohol space, you know? If they say like, hey, like these happy Dad, guys, you better shove them out. Make, you know, like they're going to listen to the bigger guy of course. But then also,
Deal with distribution. You got to also say like all right, one day. If the, you know, a strategic partner, was it come into the business, do they like that distributor, because you're in with them, for life. So, you know, there's all those pieces we had to learn as well, so I had to bring in someone to help me learn that side of. Yeah, thanks. So, I did that. That, then that happened. And then then, there is now, the retail side, all right, cool? All right, we got a great product. It's been shipped out of the Distributors. How do I get Kroger's to care? How do I get Public's? How do I get Walmart? How do I get 7-Eleven Circle, K? How do I get them to care?
So that was, you know, so I was able to go and pretty much help find best people, you know, there's the point A to Z so long and alcohol, but I was, that's, that's something I've always been
great much of the talent that you ended up recruiting. Were you able to just go to them early on and say, hey, here's our idea. Here's you know, the note, boys? Here's Their audience. Eyes, like get on board versus you had to kind of get things in motion and get some momentum and then it was easier to convince you know some of these eight plus people to come on. I
think I've been very lucky.
Key. And I've said this in a lot is, I've always had this philosophy of life is long, that life is short. And I've built some really great relationships in the last 20-something years, that I've been in business where, when I make these phone calls, almost everyone kind of knows. I'm a man of my word and they'll give me a chance, whether it's pre-launch shortly, post-launch. Whatever it is. You know, I could with some of my friends are very, very, very lucky with the friends and partners that I have that
You know, I can make calls and everyone's going to give me a
chance. Yeah. Why do you think that is? Is it just that you've been doing it a long time? And you've been successful and kind of always done what you said or something else. Yeah.
Yeah. I don't, I'm not a Bridge Burner. Yeah, that's not that's not anything that I do is burn a bridge. I know, I'm still, I'm old, but I'm also still young, you know, I'm 43 years old. I know when I'm 55 years old, I'm gonna need to call you for something. You know, and I know when I'm 55, you're going to take my call or vice versa, you're going to call me. And I'm going to come through
For you. You know, we're going to know each other in 12 years you know. So so that's why to me, I'm almost thinking my relationship with you or my relationship with whomever your brother. Anybody, you know, we're still pretty young. Yeah,
I mean people have a hard time, thinking five or ten years in advance let alone if you're, you know, in your 20s. Yeah, right. Some of these guys, the boot towels
is 40 50 years from now, the boot a family. I met in 1999. I met the new Butta Butta, family 1999. Yeah. I was 19 years old at the time.
Maybe 20, 20 years old. I think I was at a time when I met them. I met them so long. I was actually with them when 9/11 happened, we were literally watching TV together like, that's how long ago I knew them. So, for me to 20 years later, you can. Yeah. For 20 years later, as I, Hey, listen. I know you guys are got all these partners and you guys are doing these tequila and vodka. They were part of the Tito's team and I forgot the name of the tequila, but a big tequila, I actually had a business with them. We create an alcohol long time ago, and that alcohol fail.
And you know many know when a when a business fails Partners usually hate each other and over want to talk to each other again. It's like we still love each other and they still took my call. This was 15 years ago, we made that tequila That Failed. 15 years later, they're still taking my call. So I think that's kind of a lesson for anyone. In business is like don't burn a bridge. Life is long, life is not short. You know, when people say life is shorter just like dude, get whatever it takes coal burned that bridge. Screw that person. You you, I don't agree with that. Yeah. And I think it's kind of proof now. It's like
When Kyle or Steve or any of my partner's calls, like, hey, can you help get this? Can you help get this done? It's like think not, you know, I'm sure we'll talk about it, but then like any Elon Musk, you know, on how'd that happen I have some Twice first time he said, maybe second time, you said, sure, but that's such an email email them at the time. And then like me, then then I follow the second time was attacked. I was like, yo, you said maybe? You know, like what, like what do you say? What do
you say in the text? Or
Along with like a you up text or are you just like very specific? Hey, we're going to be in Austin, here's the date and time. Can you do
it? No, he he said if you're an awesome. Alright. Well both try to be as specific as possible but be short as well. I know I only have a few seconds of his time but when I add text, when I texted him, the last time I said, hey I think this is a great weekend to do this.
At the time, the Twitter deal was kind of pending I said, I'll stay away from any Twitter talk because there was like that style Twitter lost in all this. Stay away from all Twitter, talk. I'll give you final approval on the
video. I actually think that this is something that many people who aren't in the content creation business. Don't really understand, so journalists there's no final approval, right? They're going to write their story. They're going to do their interview, they're going to kind of prove whatever content they are and they go out with it and they do
Their best for the most part to try to be accurate and try to get, you know, all the different perspectives and kind of, I think most journalists are trying to do the right thing. But when there is no final approval, like, it just goes out and a friend of mine recently, somebody read a big article about them, and I texted them and he's like, I'm happy with how it turned out, right? And so, it was like, kind of like, you don't know until out and he read it and you liked it. Now in podcasts and YouTube and all this stuff. What I've noticed is there are a lot of Business Leaders. A lot of investors, those
Types of individuals who are gravitating towards podcasting and YouTube style content because they do get to see it and the end. And I think that there's a difference between like, what some people would refer to as like the gotcha journalism, right? Which is like, hey, I'm trying to get you to say something that's bombastic so then I can twist it or whatever versus like we're going to talk about things today that are like non-controversial, right? And it's like I want you to be able to feel comfortable to talk, right? And vice versa when you guys are doing those interviews, but how important do you think it is that you say,
A guy like you Lon you get final
approval. It's very, it's very, you know, it's crazy. What you're saying is, it's very important because we offer it to every single guest. And what's crazy is nobody's ever called us, said, to take this out, right? Because I think they feel so comfortable that they're just like, not on the spot and they're not overthinking what they're saying because they're like, okay at the end they I'm gonna have final approval. There wasn't a single thing. He like I didn't he we don't even talk about it after we just went live. I think we went live like a two days later like he never said, hey I thought you said final approval there
Has nothing. Sometimes, we'll ask someone at the end, like I remember, we did David Portnoy and I text him. I said, hey, anything that you want to take it out of that. He said, no, you know, sometimes I'll follow up and ask but almost never, has anyone ever told us even though we've offered it? No one said, hey, take that one part out or
whatever. I always say that, the people who ask for a bunch of stuff to be removed, we've had maybe a twelve hundred episodes maybe like five or six people who have been like, you know, literally one person one time was like, here's the timestamps, take out this to this, this, whatever.
Those are the episodes for your like look, it's already trending. Where if you're that worried about it you probably really weren't saying things. Anyways, that were super super interesting and so the more successful, somebody is the less likely. I think there are
two okay, I can tell you right now, there'll be no no changes required from this episode. None, if I said something wrong, that's on me. That's that's not that's not your team's fault. That's that's that's my fault. All
right, so you guys do the Elan interview. What does that like? I mean you guys are obviously you're all in there. I think that you and kind of go.
Or background your relationship. You've known him. Write all this stuff is very different than maybe like Kyle, or any of the other guys. Like what are they like, before Ilan comes in the room, right? What like, what is that whole process? Like,
well, it was, it was, I think a little nerve-racking because it was one of those supposed to be done the day before there were some kind of, like some hiccups and some issues with like different things that it didn't happen. So then the next day, actually, I didn't get ahold of Elon to like 3 p.m. the next day. So
So they were
you know we have flown out. It was my brother's birthday the day before. So we have flown out and, you know, spend a lot of money last second to fly out and I'm just sitting there. I took my wife with me at the time so I'm just like I had like some like emotional support because I was like I can't let these guys down like the whole team flew to Austin because the last message you were asking what the last mentioned for the Elan was hey I'm down to do it this weekend and I said we're at
where you going to be, and he said, Florida or Texas like like
And then we just did that. This was on a Friday I said, hey, we'll be there Monday and he said, okay, some things happened, Monday couldn't happen. So then I said, hey, let's do it tomorrow. He said, message me in the morning, message him in the morning, didn't hear back to like 3 p.m. and then he just wrote me like, see you at 9:00 p.m. tonight.
So 9 p.m. on a Tuesday, the world's richest made his roles. What is it? Like in a hotel room?
We, we had got a hotel room. Yeah. In downtown Austin.
Yeah. And so he just rolls in just and just sit down just because I can
podcast please like pulling up like okay,
it's always so fun of me, right? Because you always remember like once you're around these folks that like they are humans, right? They put one pant leg on at a time like all the other normal should they text right pulling up like
Whatever. But from afar, right? Like he's dealing with the Twitter stuff. He's got somebody tracking his like private planes freaking out about right? Like launch all these lights. Yeah. Like I was crazy stuff. You got to deal with when you're the world's richest man in running all these companies and then like you find time to? Yeah.
Yeah so Chillin of like he's the best man I after that like he and I've always and I was going back to Mother relationship, I met him in 2013 so this is now what we're talking about is August the 2022. So it's like nine years after like nine years of me and him just kind of like
Kind of occasionally chat and ran into each other a few different times. Mutual friends. Birthdays actually. One time I was at a restaurant, he was there we get, you know, we're just ran into each other, we're sitting next to each other, but you know, we just always kind of stayed in touch but after then like he and I really stayed in touch like, yeah. There's like, it's like kind of crazy now. It's like I'm talking weekly like really, yeah, all these enticing. You did Twitter. Yeah, usually
Twitter like even on my product
tips.
Creators. Like, like I really, he really cares about the Creator space and he really wants Twitter to be the greatest platform for creators, so he'll he'll definitely call me on. We'll talk product a little bit. He knows like my backgrounds, like building the app, 10 years ago, it's shots. But, um, but I think more is like creators. Like, you know, creators of all different worlds, not just YouTubers and influencers, but like athletes, and actors and actresses. And and musicians, you know, stuff like that.
One of the things I saw that he was talking about aren't if they're going to implement it or not, that I thought was a pretty interesting idea is they're going to put ads, potentially in the comments and then the Creator who creates the original post, right? Could get a share of the actual ads in the comments. Yeah, you know it would be like the equivalent of YouTube throwing up ads and the comment section and then you get a share of it. I just thought like, okay, whether that works or not, it's always unclear, right? You get a kind of tested and look at the data and decide whether it's worth or shipping or not like, man, they're thinking differently. Yeah.
Right? Like they're willing to test something. I'm still works though, taboo right? That model works on
Snapchat. Those that right now with creators, they run ads in between stories on snap and they share that with creators and is very good money. So this, you know, obviously Twitter doesn't have stories. I do think, and I've told you on a few times, I do think Twitter should bring back stories. Like, you know, if you remember that fleets, yep. Just just like, was like X. I mean, even the name, like, it's a flea isn't that when you buy a bunch of cars, like they are like, what, what what, but but, you know, just bring back Twitter's stories and just call it too.
Stories. But you know, but yeah, I mean now but the way they're doing it because of the comment section, which is, you know, a lot of people read on Twitter versus just viewing. I think you'll get a lot a lot of engaging people, really. And I think you can sell that engagement to advertisers as well, put into view,
count alone right was a pretty big deal. Like it definitely, I think it would be people's eyes. So I hate people may not be engaging but they're here.
Yeah, watching right. And that was genius. Yeah, I did I think I know there was a lot of backlash and be
Inning, but I thought it was genius. I hope that features here to stay. I think it's great action. Message them not to I said, hey I think this is a future that should be here to stay. Yeah,
whoo. Yes trying to get on the podcast so you haven't been able to get yet. It's like somebody. Who's like on the
Folsom podcast? Yeah we have a few we have the pivot so enforcement specifically.
The most people would think Ilan would be like the top of the mountain, right. But you guys already got him. Is there anybody else that you guys like look,
there's an Elan. We've got Trump's been on there. You know, he was
on the podcast. I Do It. Video didn't
last. Yeah, if I think 48 hours or 24 hours and you know to get
taken down
No, I don't think it would.
So that one even after you guys recorded, you thought that it was going to be fine.
Yeah. But someone from his team of good, buddy of mine who work for him said, hey, this is going to be taken down pretty soon. Watch and I said, why is that? Because read all the comments, they're all positive about him and because it's positive, it's going to go down. I was like okay? And then you rem, even if you read because we weren't going into that Trump. I want to answer the question about who because I love that question, but
We weren't going into it as a political. Yeah, you know, like we try to stay clear of politics in which possible a lot of the podcast. I actually helped write the questions. So, like some of the questions were, like, what songs on your playlist? What do you listen to when you're a shower or like, you know, you know, even like joke, I don't think they ever asked this one. But like, what do you think about the Kim at the time was relevant Kim and Kanye situation? And like, you know, like just kind of felt like dudes hanging out? That's what that's what we want. And that's what we got. He
is what regardless of your politics. Yeah, he is a master manipulator of the me.
Media and he has hot takes, and he has posted frankly, some of the most viral content on the internet. In the last decade. I mean, I still tell people like when he was president one of the most ridiculous but hilarious things that he did was when he was tweeting at Kim jung-han and called him. Low Rocket
Man. The funniest man, and you're just like to hear the president, like, please don't
start World War 3, but also like, okay, you just start World War Three. That's just pretty funny.
Right? In the entertainment factor is
like off the charts and so that's what the
debate.
The debates. Yeah, the debates in 2016 and the ones again in 2020. Like it's, that's what it felt. Just great content. It felt
like you guys were there hanging out with him and firing questions that he never gets asked, right? And like, I mean, I want to almost go as far as to say, like, it looked like everyone was enjoying it. Like he was having fun this time and then the guys are having fun
too. Yeah, we had the best line. I'll be, you know, again like I should try to steer clear of politics but I could just say one thing about him, he was so cool.
Cool to us like he was so kind like even when the cameras are off he was just like welcome him and making sure we got everything we needed and then we ran into him twice since we ran into him. I had his golf course and la and then we ran into him at a at a live golf tournament in New Jersey, same thing. Like every time he's giving us a hugs. And like how asking us how we're doing? He actually, I saw him a couple months after I got married in June and he said, hey, I heard, you got married. Congratulations! And you actually send a letter to
Me and Renee and like congratulating us on our wedding. And like, yeah, just like, you just like, that's why it's hard for me to, like, just be around any negativity. But also, like, I'll be honest, like I might almost. So not a, I'm not a joke bite in the heater either like at the end of day, the man's the president of our country, you know, he asked service the country for a long time and I think, you know, he was elected president, and his age might be
His only one of maybe a major flaw. But like, that's not his fault, like, we sell voted him. Hey, you know. So it's like, you know, you know,
something is a lot of people who wish that they were operational at at his age.
Yeah, right. Yeah, I'm actually sometimes I press. I mean, sometimes it's funny rise on these clips where you just like reading and like completely like, you know, but it's like, you know, what can we do with politics? I just laughs, there's nothing we can do is nothing you and I can do to change anything. Like, you know, I mean, like I can go and vote in our vote counts but that's about all we can do you know?
Like, you know, so now I'm just gonna sit back to join. I think that is a great entertainment, everything in everything that is seen
through the portal of your phone, or your computer has become entertainment and sometimes that's good. Sometimes, it's bad. But like, I think that gets lost a lot of times because people take so much so seriously. But like, if there's one thing that we've learned is that, if you're entertaining and you can hold people's attention, your it charismatic, or
whatever you win, right?
You win in politics, you went in business, you win in all these different facets, and I think that is one thing that
The younger generation has an advantage on it's like they grew up with the phone in their hand. Yeah. Right. Like they understand that. You know it's the life is a movie, right? And that's how they live their lives. Yeah
you were asking earlier about who on full sent podcast. I think one of the things. So how do you Lon have had from fed? Dana White, who I? Yeah, admire Mike Tyson. I mean I mean, you know, day Portnoy which will show you.
I think is probably one of the most underrated entrepreneurs of our time, but
I can't say anything nice about Dave because in a recent episode, I called him a pioneer of the digital media age and I'm just waiting for him to find that clip and then go and celebrate. So,
yeah, he's
incredible in terms of what he's done and I think people don't give him the credit he deserves for a 20-year run into, right? It's not like you just show up on the scene for two years. I think he's
the I would put him in top 5 greatest.
Entrepreneur in the World of Sports you know? Like when you're making that list of like the greatest entrepreneurs in the world of sport that you take out all this sport owners, you know, the Jerry Jones is a now. Davis is all them, take all those guys out, but aren't you sport entrepreneurs? Like I would put them in top five. They've all time of our time of our time. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know who was doing stuff in the 70s and 80s but of our time. Yeah, I would say, well, seize up there. Ruben, Ruben, hundred percent Ruben.
I mean, just those two guys and a white. Yeah, Dana White. Yeah. Yeah. It's right there. Probably like five or six people, you come up with that. You're like, man, they've built. What is hundreds of millions or billions of dollars of Enterprise Value specifically the intersection of media business, whatever in sports. Yeah, and they've done it. Really redefining what sport is or how it's covered or you know, whatever. Yeah. And like, that is the definition of a Pioneer in. Yeah,
I was said, Mark Cuban to work. Yeah. Obviously owns a mass but outside of Maverick.
Done quite a bit as well. Mmm, but but yeah, I think those, you know, guests come back down when I try to answer that question again because I think about all the time who else and what's the direction of the podcast? I think different creators are celebrities or whatever who who actually have products. Like also think full send podcast could be a platform for someone who's got their own happy Dad, or whatever. And come. And talk about the
Business with the boys because that's the one thing with Kyle, especially with the main host of the podcast, it's his podcast. And, you know, he really understand. He's very Hands-On with the business of happy Dad. So like, let's just say, like, I was just talking to Kevin Hart's, partner in the tequila and we were talking about how you how to get Kevin on and what would they talk about? You know, Kevin doesn't really know that note boys all that well and, you know, so
that would not be a funny episode at all.
Yeah, I know. I know, I can't wait, you know, it's gonna be some one-liners and that one, but I think
Who's taller?
Yeah, but now I think I'm talking about like his tequila, you know, and like the business is the stuff that we opened up this podcast with him talking about is like the business behind, you know, like his his tequila.
I need to try it. I haven't tried it yet but everyone has talked about us to kill us. Talk about so 10/10 product because it's on the higher end of the tequila, like, he's not going after it like the lower lowering like it's a higher price point tequila. But, but it's like, we share Distributors and our Distributors, like when IO just randomly asking, like, how's Kevin Hart's? Two kilos I Crush. Absolutely crushing it. So, so, is it Crush? I know it's not crushing because of Kevin Hart. He's got the right Partners. Now, Kevin Hart's, got a crazy platform and like, and what?
He's doing it's helping but it starts with your partners and he went and he went and found the right partner, this guy, James who's awesome, and then James went and got the right product made, you know, and then they went, and I know they, the Distributors of the use, the same ones we use great plus, and then now, Kevin's got this platform and now, he's grinding as well and all the time. So it's like, you know, there's so many different parts to building a, you know, a Creator product, which what Kevin's tequila is. I think like getting guests like,
That to talk about that like or another one that I think is a very underrated business because he has so much potential. I was actually talking to him this morning about is David dobrik and it's pizza place, you know, one might look at as like, wait, it's just one location off. Sunset Boulevard. Yeah, that location is less than six months old, like wait until you see what he does with this over the next few years. The opportunities of growing it into multiple cities, maybe franchising it. Maybe you see the frozen pizzas and Costco's? Yeah. I mean, like, like David dobrik as a billion-dollar business,
right? And, you know, in his hands, you
know. Yeah. What was fascinating to me, is that all of these brands are the equivalent of, as a kid when we grew up, like CiCi's Pizza. Nobody, who the hell Cece's was, right? Yeah, it's just like, you went to play. She liked it. You kept coming back. But now what ends up happening is somebody like a David dobrik can open a pizza place and he's done the marketing for years. He's already built the fanbase, he's done all this stuff and it is the like athlete endorsement type model. Now, it's just these people are realizing like own the business, right?
And it then begs the question. Like the knock boys are they creators or the entrepreneurs. Right. Kevin Hart is he a movie star C comedian? Is he a entrepreneur?
Like I was an entrepreneur.
I think that they all fall under that
entrepreneurs, I just happened to create, you know, if in the new and I, yeah, I mean like, you know, we were businessmen, but we also know how to create, but in different ways, you know, we know how to go on podcast to speak. Well, they know how to create. Kevin aren't your heart knows how to create front of a live audience telling jokes or
No boys, know how to create great content, I will go viral on YouTube and the internet, you know, just in different ways. But
how do you think about how big happy Dad is like in terms of other numbers that you guys have shared publicly in terms of like how big that business actually is?
It's very big, but what's crazy is, you know, when I say we're two years old, we right now we're only as of now in March 20 23, we're in 16 states only. And in those 16 States we have less than ten percent pain.
Patient. We're not in every single store yet and those 16 States. But when you look at the Nielsen charge, that's public to anyone who wants to go look or subscribe. However way you want to get access to Nielsen is we're moving up on the charts and so many different parts of America. You know, we know where we're top 10 everywhere that were available but in some regions and some stores were a top three, top three alcohol burns, the top three Seltzer. It's also why. Cause number one,
Won by a landslide. Truely's, number two, and three, four, five of always been kind of a battle between visi but light, Seltzer depending on your region. There's a lot of local ones like a Southern California is one called Ashland. You know, there's never been a solid number three. And we've in a lot of territories, we've taken that number three. And we've kind of locked up, Topo Chico as it was a big one. That's actually was number three in a lot of spots slots on its own by Coca-Cola. But
Eve in a lot of areas we've locked in that number three. So now because like, why Klaus got number one locked for now for now? Yeah, for now? Well, yeah, but they're also got many years ahead of us. I mean, why? Cause I was like, six years old, maybe a little bit older than truly has got. Number two locked, you know? But we were, we wanted to lock number three and now we're locking number three in lot of region. So so that's you know, that that's only in a 16 States. We're launching five more States. We're launching we're launching Canada.
There's a big market for our our content consumption. And and then also like what we're also loud looking at is Ike different audiences at different sectors of consumers. We know, we know if you're 25 to 30 years old, you've heard of happy Dad, you've tried happy Dad, if it's available in your state but now we're looking at it male. If you're 25 to 30 year old male, now we're looking at, okay, how do we hit
The female Market. How do we hit the Latino Market? How do we hit the black market? Like, how do we hit? You know? These other markings, I'll just
take all the demographics, whether it's race, gender, sex, whatever you can do and just cut through every single one of them. Yeah. How do we keep penetrating on second?
Thought, I'll give an example of the female Market is one as it's not a day where a different
females coming up to me. He's like, well,
why happy Dad, why aren't you doing Happy mom? I've been hearing that for almost two years, you know.
Oh, so great idea, a great idea. So we're doing happy mom
and it'll be similar type of product and just different brand.
Same product just different flavor and we did. Okay, so instead of 10 men taste testing the flavors which is what we've been doing the last couple years with our existing flavors. Let's get ten
females, hmm,
women who work for us, women within our world and Industry my wife. She came in and she said, Renee one. Yeah, Renee's, one. So pressure to. Yeah, 10 of them. He can about Jesus. I mean, they all had to be on,
The but I have anyone to be honest and be her, but the Ten of them came together and they came up with the flavor together. So so, you know, sighing, all right, cool. So the Brandis there, the flavors, there Tim, women love this flavor and we're going to that's gonna be the first flavor as happy mom. So now we're going after the
female Market, how do you think about the audience being 80 90 percent male, right, whatever it is being able to crack into that other side of maybe now, it's not just the content drives it right. Like, is it now? Something we're happy Dad can like be
bigger than milk. Can it Escape? You know, kind of being. Hey, there's this group on YouTube who has a big audience and like, that's why happy that is successful. And eventually people just say, like, no happy Dad is like a successful. Seltzer that survives on its own. Even if nope, never upload another video. Hey guys, I hope that you're enjoying this conversation, as you probably realize.
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All right, let's get back into this conversation.
Think it's become bigger than no. Can I'll give you a couple reasons? Why? I know just from experience. This one's a small one, but this one happened. But this is the happened once with one person. So can't really tell. But I have another example, Kyle, who's the creator of the network boys? He main base of milk, was him and Steve but Kyle was on a flight. He's wearing a happy that hoodie guy next to him sitting next to him says hey,
Love your hoodie man. I love happy Dad because I all cool. He's like take a shit. I'm sitting next to a fan. This gonna be a brutal flight. Yeah. So the guy just talking about, happy Dad this and then at the end of the flight guys just like it. What's your name is like hi, I'm so-and-so Kyle's like, wow, this guy doesn't even know who I am. Like he had no idea that guy who Kyle was what he's talking about. Happy Dad and you know was talking about why he likes happy that and this and that and I don't know if I'll ever to reveal who we was. Yeah just like this was crazy like either this guy had no idea so that's one.
But this is this. This other one is a bigger example is we did a test run at Costco. Okay. So Costco Northern California call. This is that we want to test happy then
we want to test the nine locations.
And usually a product, when you want to get into Costco, you'll make a bigger product, because Costco always likes the lowest price. So you want you want to give them but they look at per unit price. So that's why most people make like larger Club packages for Costco. So you get maximum dollar but at a cheaper price price point visual price point, we weren't ready to do that. We only have a 12-pack available so we were like alright, well you're just got to sell the 12 pack for now. We don't worry, it's going to take
Some time to make it 24 or 36 pack. I think we've decided make it for me for now but so we gave them
12, the 12 packs, they tested the nine stores at Northern California.
The product got shipped out earlier than we knew. So it was, it got it got delivered to the Costco store the whole week. Before we had this whole marketing plan in place,
basically, just like the marketing plan is like, we're going to tell people to go by. We're going to show up,
whatever. Yeah, we're going to do all this stuff, sell out for sure. We got to impress Costco, we got to show them how fast we move the product out there whole week before we didn't know and people are messaging us say, hey, just saw you a Costco. And I'm like, what do you mean like, we're not supposed to be there till next week, Thursday. But it was
All week, Thursday before calling, some of our partners are like, yeah. So, by the time we got some answers, it was like now Monday, by the time we got answers and I'm like, well, we got it like implement this thing. I don't want. Costco to think we're a flop. Right? You're sold out all nine. Costco's. So what we never promoted, look at our socials, we never promoted available on Costco. No one post it on social media and things like I mentioned a few minutes ago, our
Has 25 year olds and up 25 to 30 year olds in Northern California. That is not Northern. California. Is not a big market for us and 25 year olds aren't really going to Costco to
shop. Yep. Yep. So it's
not our even audience
how much of this is like Prime. I don't know if the numbers leaked or somebody reported them but the prime drink I think they did like 250 million dollars last year and revenue and I've talked to a couple of friends who have kids that are you know kind of like 82.
15 years old and I had my kid can't find it my kid, you know, it's if there's a gas station locally that has it like they all spread the word very quickly and they go in to pick it up and some of them are even reselling it at school for a premium and like all this kind of stuff, right? Like how much of that is baked into what you guys have done with happy Dad. When I see people, you know, in a line down the street and it's like, look, we want to sell out but like there is this scarcity, element of it that drives people to go to run over to Costco and buy it. Buy it out because
it's not widely available in Northern California
for. Yeah. Well, we are available in Northern California. The Costco one was a whole different audience that gave this gave happy that a try, whether it was older, guys. It's so so love to talk about Prime in a second. What you were talking about their numbers, but up, but with happy Dad. So, the, the neighborhood I live in is all you're not, you're not going to find an adult under under the age of 35, it's easy, but it's like younger families. 35 to 50 year olds live in my neighborhood.
I've made a mandate like every group, we have three girls, three stores in my neighborhood and we have like five different bars. And I've told our team like listen, like everywhere, my city, and I live in a smaller City, twenty thousand people every location that sells alcohol in my city, gotta do me a favor and make sure we're stocked up like, I gotta see it. Like, I don't want to go my outbursts ins or my Stater Brothers or even my Selma's Pizza. The pizza place or boredom, Brew, my sandwich plays and not see, happy Dad. So they've made it. They're like, all right in it.
No literally. I said it because me but also like I think this audience is 35 year old to 50 year old men. You know what are the they're all dad's you know I mean like yeah protocol happy Dad and I think that's what happened in Costco. Like happy Dad, that sounds cool. Happy that you know, I'm here. I'm here to buy a bunch of tri-tip. Like I'm you know, I'm a happy Dad. My wife left me out the house. So I think people will, you know, the marketing of that is now getting the 35 year old to 50 year old men. Whether there were people living in
Neighborhood or going to Costco. Costco shoppers. But the products would be great because somebody went back and bought it again. You know, like somebody went and said, hey let me give this a try, you know, you know, it's about 12 of them. Maybe took him out in a day or two and went back that Sunday or Monday and bought more. So so the rebuy so we really important going back to what we open up and talk about was the products. Got to be great. Yeah, but yeah, so I think that's so the scarcity of it. I think maybe helped a little bit in the very beginning but now it's the actual product and
Eating different audiences. Yeah like we were talking about genders ethnicities age groups you know like an elk audience pretty much caps it like 31 32 years old you know it's like probably the oldest you know. So you know how do I get the 32 to 50 year old to drink or 60 year olds?
Yeah. And what about prime, what do you guys think about that?
Someone asked me this morning, actually. Do you think those numbers are real? I think so. Like I think I remember one thing.
Prime one thing I do hate is when people compare us to of crime which happens sometimes on social media. I don't know why I read social media but on social media like you know oh right, Prime's doing 250 million like show us your numbers like now ours is not that you know like but we're also in 16 states only and but but I do believe it Prime's doing the that because not only
Are they available in all states but they're also absolutely massive in the UK ik S. I like these sleeper like I'm like in terms of four
Americans. Like he's yeah guy and I
don't think people know how big KSI is in the UK. Like he's I mean he's like he's like borderline royalty out there like they love KSI, out, on the UK. So so you got that strategic partner in Europe, then you have Logan here.
Here. And then like Logan's genius marketing right looks like there's not a place where he's not holding up the bottle and making sure it's the bottles getting as many Impressions. But also like, you know, I've got a lot of all my friends, you know, I was telling you before we even got started, like all my boys back home. Like, my best friends are with, there's a group of ten of us, from high school, 20-something years later, we're all still best friends, most of them have kids whenever they're coming, they're coming over the at a Super Bowl party. All the kids Uncle John you have Prime you know, dads are drinking happy day, but Uncle John. Yeah. Prime and they Logan always said,
Me cases to my house. So I'm always like giving the kids Prime and now they want to come back. We want to go to Uncle John's house. He has Prime these are kids between 88 and 13 years
old. Yeah. And he said, look, just basically replacing Gatorade for them
think. So like, you know,
you and I probably grew up and it was like the Michael Jordan commercials and Gatorade and everyone Powerade can become really got. I
think it's what you just said. I think is Gatorade combined with Michael. Jordan was Michael Jordan. What it was cool to wear Michael Jordan because of Michael Jordan because Michael Jordan was so cool to kids back then.
That's what Logan is. Logan is really cool to kids these days so he really appeals to the 8 to 13 to you know teens you know teens of all ages you know people they love looking obviously. A lot of people hate Logan and Jake, you know. But you know, but also during the world of Combat Sports. There's, you're supposed to have people hate you. That's, that's what people are buying a newspaper views and they're making gazillions of dollars with the Pay-Per-View. So, but kids, love logo.
All kids, love Jake but I know because I see myself. Well, my friends kids. So that's why I think those numbers are real. And I think and I think like, I think this is why maybe their second full year to like I think they're about as old as I remember. I think we're around the same age, just happy that maybe start a little bit later, but they're murdering
it. I want about a couple other things, but on the like, I'll call it the nelq business. You also have, as you mentioned, other podcast, you guys have other products. I know that you guys have talked about doing some sort of jerky.
Duct you guys are obviously still doing merge. I've heard numbers that are like mid eight figures on the merchants a year. Like this like a big big business. What is the structure of this? Is this like a bunch of different businesses and each one has kind of different partners and Equity split. So whatever is there like a it all rolls up and there's kind of like a holding company and people would think of it almost like a conglomerate like when you put on like the business hat, how do you think about the way you all have built this? And some of it may be intentional and some of it you know sometimes yours moving so fast, like my god dude.
Pleat Mass, we got to fix it, right? But like, is it comparable to the conglomerates of like yesteryear that people would be familiar with and like public companies, or, or even private conglomerates? Or is it look different?
Well think it's so I'll break down the entire structure.
There's, there's three companies. There's happy Dad Elsie the beverage consumer, goods food product, I'm gonna get to that and the kind of the real Vision behind the direction. We're happy. That is going. There's full scent which is milk, full sand, content house, but also merch. Those eight figures that you've heard or has been underneath the full Senate, milk umbrella. And then there's
shots podcast Network, which is my shot. That formerly known as shot Studios, became a podcast Network, nor covid, you know, when we had a pretty much shut down to Studios and couldn't really have production. We pivoted the whole business into podcasting and those three pretty much ran by Me. My Brother, Sam, and Kyle. So Kyle's, now partner and shots as well and and Steve will do it. And
so,
Let's go, go backwards. So shots is just the network. Shots is got the relationships with all the platforms shots is pretty much any 14 years of me doing YouTube, so their shots, then there's full send which, which is really the merch teams from Folsom, golf Wilson, Fulton it Fitness all the different collapsible send does, and then even powering happy Dad merch, but then there's happy Dad. The way we see, happy Dad is
You know it's not the same as like we don't see ourselves as like the next Budweiser, definitely not the next truly a. Why claw? I think it's much bigger than that. I see it as the next PepsiCo is what I say like II when I want to model the happy Dad company I think of the PepsiCo model Pepsi on Pepsi and all the different Pepsi products Mountain Dew different variations of Pepsi. Pepsi also owns Frito-Lay
Pepsi. Also owns Gatorade Pepsi owns a bunch of different water companies including Aquafina. So they're in the beverage and then in the, you know, consumer goods product World up until recently Pepsi own Taco bell/pizza Hut KFC Long, John Silver's and that's kind of the model with happy. Dad is, you know we have happy Dad, happy, that is number one priority when it comes to consumer goods. But what more can happy that do? We have these teams that are walking through these
Towards their merchandising, they're building these displays their developing relationship with his store owner store. Managers buyers everybody, you know, so while we're doing that, we have our own staff, that's internal, it's the weed in subcontract that we don't use a third-party distributor for this. We use third-party Distributors to distribute the alcohol but not to go actually build the relationships. We own those relationships. They're happy that employees. Have happy, daddy.com emails.
So, while we're doing that, what more can we
do?
That's where the idea of beef jerky came. It was presented to me about a year ago. Just somebody just cold emailed me and just said, hey like got a beef jerky company would light, would love to see if there's something we can do together. I live in Orange County, where in Orange County and I said, hey, stop by the office, let me give it a try, bring some samples try to I was like, wow, this is really good.
Yeah. Shout out to the sky but a mod, but The Branding I wasn't there that I was like, listen, like I don't think anyone's gonna buy that. But but you've done the most hardest part, you've made a great product. Let me help you with the branding. Let me I'll come up with something and let me help you with the distribution. And that's what we did. We rebranded it during the time we bought a bunch of four tapes. So we said, all right, so we have four Apes when we do each, one of the Apes will be a different flavor called beef, jerky board jerky.
And, and use our guys who are going into the 7-Eleven Kroger's, independent stores. Wherever and say, hey, well, we have happy that we actually have this other product as well. It's doing this what, you know, doing really great on socials. We're doing this sales-wise, we're doing it. Whatever, you know, there still is and and getting that into stores, and that's kind of like going back to the Pepsi models, right? Pepsi has Pepsi, and probably Pepsi's the number one driver revenue for the company is the Pepsi product. But
But Pepsi all size Frito-Lay. What's our Frito-Lay be brief turkey? Maybe down the road, there will be other products, maybe we do get into non alcohol or other alcohol. We're getting to these liquor stores. Maybe there's a spirit, maybe, you know more, but right now happy Dad has a lot of work to do and then there's, you know, our first food product that would be Distributing
in, as you do this, how much of it will be. You guys ideating. The actual products versus like somebody brings to you and you're like, hey, you already
You nail the product, but we can help with The Branding and distribution and more. So, they're probably a lot of people who are listening, who may have products. This is something you guys are actively seeking and saying, hey look, if you got them, come show them to us
or yeah. Well, we're always, you know, you know, it's crazy. And I know my emails are going to blow up after I say this, but I read every single email that's sent to me. Yeah, every single email, I'll read it. So there's other guys, you know, they pitched us on ATM machines, you know, and do an ATM machines. And my first instinct was that's not food. What's have to do with us.
Us but now I was like, wait a minute, seems like we're in a lot of bars, you know? Like we could wonder what if we made Happy debt. What if you skinned it? As a happy, Dad, ATM machine. And now it's another point of sale item inside that bar, right? Because maybe someone in, no, happy dad's available there and they went to order Jack and Coke. But they need to go get cash from the ATM machine. They see happy Dad logo there. The Comeback of hey, you guys have happy to hear. Oh yeah, we do. Yeah. Like, you know, they're just not, you know, because people aren't were less than two years old.
Not programmed to go to the bar and think to Border happy that yet. So how do we program point of sale items? Well, point of sale. We've got coasters that we make available to all the different bars and other on-premise locations. We have neon signs available upon request. We have napkins. We give the staff all the different merch, but like maybe the ATM machine is like, that's a pretty big piece of real estate inside that. Yeah, that location. So so you know I'm always looking
Looking at different things, people sent, we will will come up with ideas ourselves. You know, many of the like, the flavor idea of happy mom or another one that we're coming out with their early April with a very big partner. It's gonna be a big surprise, but a big partner first week of April. And then, you know, so those are all like the flavors and the ideas of the Partnerships were all stuff that came internally but then people pick. So I would say it's like,
50, it's whatever. Whatever makes sense. We're not going to just do anything. You know, we do get pitched a lot of dumb stuff as well, you know, but, you know, but if it makes sense and it's something that we could be helpful and doesn't distract us from what we're currently doing, we'll do
it. I want to talk about Steve, I don't really, I'm not as familiar with all of the controversy, but it sounds like from a couple of videos I've seen recently. He's not allowed in the YouTube videos. Yeah, it's core. They get, they'll get taken down. They'll well, I guess, kind of what's happened?
There and especially for our audience who they're not going to be up on the latest. You know, kind of details of Nell can do the content like how would you describe Steve is part of the group? And then it almost seems like he's kind of been banished off of YouTube.
Yeah, well it's part of a group part of the group, it's very simple. Steve is a partner in everything. We do Steve is a very close friend. I would even say to me oh brother and you know, I mean he's part of our group and
I'm pretty much will be part of our group or a rest of our lives. So so he's part of us and that'll, you know, with or without whatever platform that that's never going to change. But, you know, it's a very unclear. So when I was going back and we're talking about the Elan thing that Monday when we met, when we were supposed to get with the Elan when we landed, we were told that Steve channel is
Permanently banned and it just kind of Soul sucked the soul out of all of us when that happened and
do you like Telly line, like yo Steve will do is channel got banned and then he's like, Steve will do
what? Yeah. Well, no, no. Because at the same time, Elon had also said,
Dad, I guess someone had Steve. Love Zealand because day. If you go down this Twitter, he's retweeting every single thing. He lost says, okay. And there was one time he may just this joke video when Bitcoin had crashed and I you know, I came out that like Elon sold all his Bitcoin and Bitcoin crashed and Steve like lost a lot of money so he made an anti Elon video once as a joke. You know the problem with the with the biggest problem Steve will do it has and I think this is what's led to Steve's
In of his YouTube is people can't tell that he's joking. Like they can't tell his jokes, you know, I mean like I don't know if this is the best analogy, but I use this analogy once I was like, it's like
It's like, this is like a woman like like if you see it like a teacher like out there, she's dressing. Not like a teacher but like maybe like, she looks like, she's like an exotic dancer and you're likely to why she dressed like that. She's a teacher. She's not supposed to dress like that, but then like, if you see a girl that, you know, she's, you know, she works at it Tootsie's and she's dressed the same way that teacher was like, nah, that's fine, she's a, she's a stripper, you know? Like and I think that's the same thing with Steve is like people.
Don't know that he's a comedian. So when he says things people are just like hit. So off guard is like, you know, why do you say that? It's like he's a comedian. Steve is a funny, funny guy. So if you're not watching all those content, you don't get it. So if you're just watching a clip, you're going to be offended because he will say some stuff, but it's be offensive.
If it's just some random person on the street, but if you know, comedian said it, then maybe before. But if Theo,
Von says that are of Tim Dylan, says that our Dave Chappelle says it or, you know, you know, any in a stand-up comedian says it's like oh no, he's a stand-up guy.
Meet. And he says that kind of shit. Ah okay. Okay damn it guys fucking and dark and no one really knows Steve has eyes like who is he was like oh he's some kid from Florida that blew up on the Internet. Yeah. Oh and he said what, you know and I think that's what's led to
People say it was because of gambling. Maybe that's the reason that was used to terminate it but I don't think that's why I think it's because people were taking some of the things that he said was offensive because they don't know that he's actually joking because if if a if a person who has a Netflix special stand-up comedian would say the same thing. Steve said people would be laughing about it and sharing it. So I think that's kind of what happened with Steve but
it's a blessing in disguise because after that he did a deal with Rumble and he's got a and I know it's very early with Rumble but you know, he's like a priority to the CEO. Chris, he's like, always taking care of Steve they become good friends. Rumbles numbers have been through the roof ever since then Steve also launched a audio-only podcast as well with the video on Rumble. Something very unique and it's like help this number. Now help them develop a new audience on on Spotify. That's like, you know, that's now
Producer, Steve will do it world. Now, it does hurt, not being a allowed on YouTube, he's launching a Snapchat show, you know, obviously with Twitter. He's good, you know. So yeah.
So he can't even be in the videos for like the full sent podcast. That's crazy. Yeah.
If he's that you guys like have
him his voice like just put him off to the corner and not put them on video.
It's just we thought about it, we thought about putting them you know, maybe make it putting on a mask.
Ask you know what? A bit of costume. Yeah, put him in a costume. Yeah. We feel thought of all of that? Only imagine what you guys have thought of, yeah, we thought of it all. Maybe he's, you know, maybe he's a DJ competitor to marshmallow, you know, it's like just becomes as the official DJ of milk but no one knows who it is. We've thought of at all, we might do that. So, hopefully know from YouTube's made it this far into this episode. But now the truth is, that's all joking. Aside is the truth is, I think life goes on, on that thing.
It's time for him to focus on other things. People love Steve when he still his channel was terminated in August. So it's been what, six, seven months and when he shows up for meetups same, same amount of crowd, you know, you know, nothing's really changed other than not having YouTube but like you know, with happy Dad he's just as important as a partner to us. You know, it's tough for me to say
I don't agree that he can't be in videos, so it's just tough for me to, like, kind of go down that rabbit hole. I just kind of stay mute because the people I've talked to it, YouTube about it, I don't want to say who, or what the department or anything, but they've all like pretty much like said the same thing to me as like, we don't agree either like like it's, it's like a deeper group within there and it
seems weird like I understand.
Um, down the channel, right? Like again, I don't agree with it based on what I understand, you saying or whatever, but like, okay. But to then say, like you basically ban the person from YouTube. We're like they can't even appear on anyone elses? Yeah, Channel.
I don't know. Listen, I think I feel like that's being bullied because if they said you know and I think they just bullying creators when they're saying that because
Andrew Tate was banned from YouTube as well, right?
But he's a Morgan's channel on peers. So peers is okay because he's Piers Morgan and he's part of a massive network, but we're just some small creators. We don't, you know, like you need that massive Network because they probably spend x amount of dollars with this other departments so you can't piss them off by deleting Piers Morgan's, you know, Channel or video but you don't really need anything from us, you know, so different. Where were threatened? You know. I mean but you know
If like, let's just say going back to Andrew Taylor, Who's probably, you know what the most hated person on the internet. Love you. The most band person on the internet, but in Drew Tate went on Good Morning America that be okay for them to air it on their Channel. You're going on Good Morning. America. 10 times. I had to gonna get baby, see a hard time you know but Steve will do. It comes on the fulsome podcast. Hey you're going to be terminated
sounds like Steve will do it. Should go on. Good Morning, America.
Very true, right? Yeah.
We got it, actually. He was joking about that. He was like, maybe
He said you know what's funny is like maybe I should go on a mr. Beast video. He's like you think you can make that happen and let's see if like they take down mr. Beast. How that's actually genius idea. Like let's see, I doubt they would take down mr. Beast, I don't think that they would do them. He said that. He said I few weeks ago we were in Arizona like we're talking about that really would love. Maybe, we should put you in a mr. Beast video. Yeah. But but yeah, it's sad, it's sad. Because listen, I would be the first to admit it
If we did something
wrong
and and an elk has done the world of anelka, all everyone has done some dumb things here and there but does it nothing has nothing that's led to the consequence of being permanently banned on the biggest social network in the world. The second biggest website in the world without any type of warning. There was no warning, no nothing so that way. Like, that's why I just kind of sucks. It's like this Steve has done. Listen. Steve has done a lot.
lot of
dumb things, a lot of time publicly
some
Behind the scenes, a lot. And any time I've called them, I said Steve I wouldn't do that. Or I wouldn't he stops? Yeah, I mean like he stops. He's moving a million miles an hour anytime I've colored Z24. Yeah, come on time. I've called them. Are his mom's called Aris, a more Kyle anyone's and say hey Steve and explain logically. Not Steve stop. Hey Steve don't do this because this this this and that ah fuck I didn't think of it like that John. You're so right, you know? Or his mom or
Skiles.
They had 24 year old kid and everything you do. Basically is on the internet. I just
dumped, I can't, I can't, I can't imagine I can't. I wasn't yeah. There was, no, I don't even know. Come on only was YouTube even a thing when I was 24. I don't know. But, but yeah, so that's why to me. It was like, Steve is a very logical, smart guy. He's not dumb at all. He's moving a million miles an hour, but if someone slows them down and explains things to him, he stops, I know the, I know this, I talked to his mom and I are very close and we talked five six days a week, you know? And
Everyone's always in the we got this pretty much just board of directors around Steve to always protect them, but he listens he's not that he's not unmanageable or anything like that and that's the one thing he never got from YouTube was a phone call. Hey, we don't like this. Not, you know, could you please not do this? That never happened. Just was, hey, permanently ban, no appeal, no nothing, sorry.
Do you think it changes with Susan leaving a CEO and this guy Neil coming in or do you
Think that it's kind of blow CEO level,
but I don't think, I don't think it's a YouTube live. I think it was a Google level. I don't think it was a youth. Chris everyone that I've talked to it YouTube. So I dude, we love this. We don't agree with this everyone. I've talked to you, too. I never talked to Susan about it, but everyone else I've talked to from, you
know, high up down. Yeah,
you know, like, they've not, I don't know, I don't know. My not even be a YouTube thing. Might be maybe a third party contractor that they, you know, contracted policies out to, you know, everyone does that Twitter that I know.
I know damn well Twitter that Elon got rid of them, all of them but Twitter was doing that. It was he in a Twitter
we had our YouTube channel. Deleted one time we were on a live stream when we got done and it was deleted and thank God. I had Twitter because I went on Twitter and honesty and having a field day be like, what the hell just happened? And it took a while, but I numerous YouTube employees DME and be like, hey, some of the information, all, you know, try to navigate internally and it turns out that the official communication was like there was a mistake made channels reinstate
That you're fine, but the unofficial stuff was like one person. Hit the delete button. Hmm, right. And like I think to me it was like I don't know who the person was. I didn't want to know right? It's just like look just got a channel back move on whatever
I said man 11 employee can do that. Yeah right that's what I mean and like that's right - Steve don't know who's a contractor out you know they contracted a firm out of it, you know and middle of nowhere I don't know.
Don't know, you don't know, but we'll never know. But what I tell Steve is maybe things change, maybe there could be reinstatement, but in the meantime, build this relationship with you have it, the rumble, you know, I know it's not YouTube but they take care of you and they're growing as well. But then also you've got everything else. You know, you have so much more and when we walk the streets of Steve just as many people going losing their minds, when they see, Stephen the streets today as they were a year ago. So nothing's really changed as far as as relevancy goes.
when you think of,
Full send nelq kind of the whole thing today, right? Those three companies Etc, how big can this get look? Is this a thing where the aspiration is? We want to build a billion-dollar business. We want to build a 10 billion, 100 billion is it? Like we think we can build this and some large corporation will come in and buy us out like what the kind of when you guys sit around in private? You think about like imagine if how big are the dreams our aspirations.
Um you know one thing I've never
Ever ever, done is build anything in hopes of selling. So I've always wanted every business including shots over shots 14 years old now, happy dad's about two years old, full sin elk. I only joined about almost three years ago now, but it was, you know, it's about 10 years old, seven years old, without me.
My first focus is make it a successful profitable business, treat this like we're never selling and we're just going to be a profitable business or growing or renovating,
you know,
we're monetizing, you know, monetization, you know, monetization leads to being able to innovate and we could create, you know, happy Dad was self-funded, very beginning to this day. We haven't really brought on any large investors and so you know we make all decisions, you know how
Mom, and I have to go get someone sells approval. We decided my brother and I decided ran it by Stephen, Kyle, they loved it. That's it, that's happening. Yeah, and that's always been the philosophy. Now, how big it could become, you know, because we do have shareholder. So I sometimes have to answer that question is think and each one each one of those business itself.
Is a several hundred million if not billion dollar company and then happy Dad the different businesses within happy. That I think I think happy that's a multi-billion dollar cup. I think happy dad's I think you're not thinking big enough to. Yeah, I think no I'm
happy. Dad could easily be 10 plus
billion plus bill. I think happy doesn't have number of billion dollar comes within it, right? I think board. Jerky itself is a billion dollar company. I think someone will just call him. I
saw the rock with Tara Mana tequila, I'm gonna mess up the numbers but cos Amigos.
I think when they sold somebody said they were doing like a hundred eighty thousand cases or that they had done 180,000 at this for four billion and the Rock is now sold a million cases, right? So again, maybe the numbers are, you know, not exactly the same from multiple bases price points could be different profitability could be different then economic environments. Different think there's a whole bunch of kind of asterisks alongside that but like Tara mom is probably a multi-billion Dollar business. Yeah. Right. For that audience.
Sighs and engagement. I feel like not only do you guys have a very large audience, very engaged audience, which
also have a really long Runway, right?
Like everyone loves the Rockies when most recognizable people in the world, please holder. Yeah, right. And so if you think over the next you know 10 15 years, all those 21 to 28, 29 year olds, they're eventually going to become 30 and 40 year olds. Yeah. We, you know,
you know, and happy that we also have Partners outside of milk. So Drew ski became a partner recently.
Sugar. Sean O'Malley became a partner recently. There's a partner that's coming out April first, I can't say who,
But I'm going to shit, I'm going to show you, and I'm just want you to see your reaction. All right? And then, we'll
all right, but I can't say you can't say that show you. Oh no.
He actually came out with the flavor idea himself, too.
Not yet.
Ha, ha ha ha ha. Yeah, that's a grand slam. He came out with the flavor and the pack course. Of course. Yeah, like that's a grand slam. Yeah. So that's so he's become a partner in the company and and we're launching a. Our first, why don't we say our first?
Our first collab, our first collab was actually, in my opinion, this our board, a banana flavor. That was our first collab, but this will be our second clap, I guess you would say, but yeah, that's coming out. So so that's, you know. So when now, when I'm thinking happy Dad, I'm like, all right, I got we've got these other partners and by the way, he hits a different market. Like he's that, and that was his approach to us. He came up and said, hey, what are you doing within the black community? It's like trying to figure it out. He's like, let me run that for you. Let me, let me handle that part for you.
Yeah, yeah, lies. A pretty good person. Do it? Yeah, sounds like
Love to have, you know, Mister missus you know I'm not gonna I guess I've said him so yeah, we know it's a mr. But but yeah let's let's do it. So this was about maybe a year ago, this time it's been a year partnership in the works and we're launching it April 1st. So but yeah. So going back to it is like so shots in my opinion several hundred million dollars. I mean, it's right now it's currently actually the biggest podcast Network on YouTube shots shots.
Guest network is full send.
Is and can be the next Barstool Sports my opinion, you know, it's going to be a lot of work. Don't ever take away anything from Portnoy 20 plus years of grinding, so it's not like an overnight thing, but the long run, it could be its own network for sports content, male and female focused content, both, you know, comedy whatnot. And then there's happy to add, which happy that the beverage itself to me is billion dollars.
Us coming. But then Happy dad's going to have these other brands within it that will also, you know, board jerky. In my opinion, could be a billion dollar plus company itself. So that's why it's like multiple multiple ones, but all three are very different to. Yeah, but they all complement each other, you know, the full send brand and everything, full sin brings to the table helps. Happy that. Yeah. Shots podcast Network helps bring on podcasts and you have like, the pivot podcast, where every episode, they're drinking happy Dad. And we're partners with them now and you know, other partner, other podcast, we're going
Underneath the partnership that can be drinking happy to end every single episode or some of the collabs, we're going to do a pivot podcast, happy Dad, collab, you know. So, you know, so they all day all day, all these companies talk, they all they all talk. Yeah,
it's very smart working with some people to find you. If they want to just kind of pay attention as you guys continue or if they want to reach out,
don't give your email. Yeah, why would they find mine on my emails? Too easy. I got make it more complicated.
No. I mean, my, my socials, you know, I'm just at John everywhere, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, I have at John, I don't use Tick-Tock much, but whatever does well. Every so often someone at John there, I'm at John on YouTube. So just John everywhere, but that's my personal. But I think, if you really want to follow and see everything, just follow Our Brands, follow happy Dad on its on socials board. Jerky shots note, boys, those are acting more entertaining. My personal ones.
I'm sorry. I'm so focused on helping other people with their social strategy. I forget about myself. So I don't really know what I'm doing. I just throw up random stuff on my
socials. Yeah, I think you're doing just fine. Yeah. Awesome. Was
that you so much for doing this? I was enjoyed talking. And
yeah, I don't think people quite understand just the the size of what you guys have built and how fast some of the cells growing. So it's good to talk to you and hopefully inspire a lot of other people too.
That's that's why I do these podcast, man, I want. I want every once in a while, whenever I do these, someone messages me that they were inspired.
They're doing this or that I really, you know, I don't like doing a lot of these but I do want because I just know that there's people out there who just want to get up and get off their ass and do it. Whether launch your own podcast, start your own company design your own merch. Whatever it is, you know, like just do it because that's, that's been the secret to us is like, when I, when we want to do something, we do it. And we don't, like I've said before, and I'm going to stay forever, we don't burn Bridges, we're always thinking, long-term, and, and, you know,
And we have fun, we all we do everything, we do, everything that we do is just fun. So that's what I'm hoping that anyone who's listening to this will just get up and just do it. I love it. Thank you so much. Thanks.
