Shakin' Hands
Welcome to 'Shakin' Hands,' the podcast where entrepreneurship meets fascinating stories from the most intriguing minds today. From proven business practices to groundbreaking ideas that challenge the status quo, Shakin' Hands' is not just about the handshake that seals a deal but about the shared experiences and values that unite us all. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned business owner, or someone who loves a good story about overcoming odds, Shakin' Hands' promises to deliver compelling content that shakes up the conventional and celebrates the extraordinary.
Tune in to Shakin' Hands' where leaders, thinkers, and doers come to share, inspire, and, most importantly, connect. Let's shake hands with the world, one story at a time.
Host: Jack Moran
Powered by DreamSpear
Shakin' Hands
Ep. 52 | Reinventing Search for the AI Era Part II - Jeff Bobby
In this episode of Shakin’ Hands, Jeff Bobby co-founder and VP of Social Strategy at SwiftSift shares the unfiltered story behind his pivot from a family-run medical business and military service to co-founding a disruptive AI-driven mobile app. Jeff dives deep into his entrepreneurial upbringing, the evolution of SwiftSift from a VIP concierge service to a smartsocial discovery platform, and how mentorship shaped his journey, especially through lessons learned from his business partner, Mike Novelli. They explore how Jeff’s creative instincts, Gen Z insights, and real-world experience contribute to product development, marketing strategy, and user experience. From managing ADHD to mastering focus and building intentional environments, Jeff offers grounded advice on staying consistent, trusting your path, and letting passion lead innovation.
Thanks for listening
Host: Jack Moran
Powered by: DreamSpear
Want to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs and growth-minded leaders? Join our Dreamspear community on Skool at skool.com/dreamspear or learn more at dreamspear.com. Whether you're building a business, leveling up your mindset, or looking for real conversations, we're here to grow with you.
Follow Shakin' Hands Podcast
Website
Instagram
YouTube
Dreamspear
Website
Instagram
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!
Welcome to Shakin’ Hands, where we provide the platform for entrepreneurs and thought leaders to share their stories in order to hopefully influence others to get out of the rat race and chase their own dreams. If you have any recommendations for guests or questions that you want to be asked, please don't hesitate to reach out. Anyways, if you enjoy the podcast, please like, comment, subscribe and share in order to keep the podcast growing. Otherwise, I'm your host, Jack Moran and this is Shakin’ Hands. If you're looking for business mentorship, I have a place where you can get feedback on your unique personal development and business growth challenges. Over the last year, I've brought together a group of impact driven thought leaders where we meet every single day to discuss psychology, communication, mindset, and business case studies. We have people who have made millions of dollars, lost millions of dollars, Harvard MBAs and new entrepreneurs like you and I. Entrepreneurship can be lonely. So if you're looking for a support system, please follow the link in the description below for some more information. So this is obviously like part two of the last podcast that we did. And so I don't want to be like, you know, too redundant and ask the same questions. But I think it's interesting to get a different perspective kind of that like mentor mentor dynamic. But just to kind of start out like, like give me like a little bit of a background on where you're at right now, or what you're doing. And we'll start with that. Sounds good. Yeah. My background. Interesting one, to say the least. I think everybody, is always a little confused on what I actually do in life. Because I started out, went to school for a year, here in Charleston, and then ended up leaving, joining the Army National Guard. And from there, started working for my dad's company. And my dad, he was an entrepreneur my whole life. He started our, this medical company worked in the gas, actually, three months after I was born. So coming through high school, I was always more. What's the right word for it? More, influenced to had the entrepreneur out and nothing ever felt quite right. My whole path starting off was eventually taking over my dad's company or acquiring it. And, as time went on, I always had different hands in different places. So I was never just sitting in one place. Moved up to Ohio for a little while. Working for him ended up coming back down here and aspirations to, completely start over and do something new. Just because I wasn't happy. It wasn't my, like, leading passion. So that's kind of where it started on that even how, Mike and I even got to where we were, where we met, I was always searching for something that was going to be sticky for me and everything. I always did. I was enjoying, but there was nothing that I saw that I could really form in. And so when I moved back, I was starting to look at even going towards, scuba diving around, becoming an instructor and diving. And then that fell out, ended up going back to work for my dad, moved up to New York City. Love that. I was up there for a year and a half. And ironically enough, Mike is from New York and we didn't meet when I was living up there. Was actually shortly after a couple months, after I moved back down here, we met it was my birthday. Had a couple buddies. I met him, and that's kind of where it all started. They went on there? I don't even know what to call it. They went to dinner together and all talked about this idea of being able to, Essentially bring people into new places. So because we knew a bunch of people around here, he had the entrepreneur mindset already, all the successes. The following week it was Cinco de Mayo and they called me up and they're like, hey, you got to come meet Mike over at, Juanita's. So I drove over there and next thing you know, we're sitting there talking about this whole idea. And at the beginning, it was really five, six, seven of us, maybe eight of us total. And within a four month time period, it came down to just Mike and I. And that's when the VIP concierge service started. Started as, we called it Charleston Fat D club. And shortly after that is when, we started to making the transfer. But yeah, my whole background has always been trying to find something that was really going to be sticky. And one of my biggest passions is showing people a good time, showing somebody something they've never seen before that they're going to enjoy in that first moment. And this was right before I met Mike. This was the year prior I was going out to Hawaii. This was during Covid, and, nobody obviously was out there. Everything was pretty low and down, and a group of group of my buddies went to go meet one of our other buddies that was out there in the Air Force for his birthday. And one of my best friends in the world is an instance, he'd never been out the whole. I've been out there quite a few times prior to that. It's one of my favorite places in the world is a surfer. First morning, 4 a.m., went on a pillbox hike, and we got to the top and I remember sitting there next to him and I looked out and I was like, remember us as kids? This is what we talked about. We're finally here. And he was just in awe being able to look out on the ocean, seeing that sunrise coming over the Pacific. And that was one of the best feelings I've ever had in life, was just being able to show him this experience that I've already had, that I knew he was going to love and him just absolutely being it all was phenomenal. So what this does, this whole, I like to call it a passion project. It's an obvious start up. It's a business, but it's fully my passion. Being able to show somebody, bring people to something that they're actually looking for that's tailored to who they are. So that's kind of how we got to this point. So to back up a little bit, you grew up with an entrepreneur. What was that experience like and what lessons did you learn from, like seeing an entrepreneur in action? Like a lot of life lessons, Mike is obviously one of my main, definitely my main mentor. But before Mike, my dad most definitely, it's kind of it's kind of funny because when you're growing up and you're your father, your mother, whoever is predominantly your caretaker when you're growing up, when they're starting off that way and they're starting their business, you don't get to see them often. So my dad wasn't around too much when we first started. And as I was growing up, I was like last year and like you kind of view it a little different. But once you get into those later adolescence, you're going into your later years at high school, going into college, you start really seeing what he was doing and all the sacrifices he was making, and that when I had started making those realizations, I really started taking a look and diving into everything he was saying. So from the parts of having to be dialed in all the time, you can never just let your focus go a separate direction. Those were like the the main things he was instilling. So then realize that in high school and not even in high school started in middle school when I was always trying to make find some way to make some money, we were always selling like some candy bars. The other people around that type of thing, buying boxes and always the school drives, you know, I was always up charge and trying to figure out a way to like, sell extra things and go up a little higher. He was always pushing me. I was like, well, you just start cutting lawns, doing that type of thing. The normal thing you hear from like kids that are 11, 12, 13 and so that's you just started pushing and edging me that direction. And so when I started working for him, he had always pushed the pain points of owning a business. And so he was just trying to toughen me up. And so you don't really realize that too much until you're a little bit later. And so it was quite different growing up in that sense. He started out with absolutely nothing, born in a double wide trailer with not much to it when I was first born, and then for him to be able to bring our family into something that he has now, that's very successful. That's something where my number one drive has been given is if my dad was able to start off with literally nothing, we're on a food stamps. You didn't even have money to go get ice cream. If he was able to take us from there and build this life for us to have. What can I do now that I was able to start with all this knowledge and everything he was able to give, what am I able to offer now? What can I build that to? What can I show my kids? What can I give back to my family? And that's kind of the number one pull of having a father that was entrepreneur. Yeah. And it's great that you take that away because a lot of people in the same situation could kind of go the opposite route. I've seen I see that often. So that's those are on real takeaways. You said that you did a year of college. Why did you think that was not a good match for you? Not, you know, not your path. And what do you think for other entrepreneurs? Is college beneficial or not from your own perspective? I think it's subjective. If you're an entrepreneur and you're just trying to figure out what business, what what line of work, what your passion is, I feel like college can be a distracting point at at that point. I knew when I first started one, I was definitely on the fun side of things. And I knew that money was just going to be, I don't want to say wasted, but I was pushing so much money away when I knew I had. I had a an amazing mentor as my dad to be able to teach me and give me the experiences I needed. That, and I was already working in, in the, in the medical space with him. So I knew no matter what the direction I was going to be going into. So my decision to leave was a mix of knowing that I had already had a backing for experience. I was in a field that at the time, I thought was going to be my career path. I was going to take over the company. I wanted to learn that, and I felt like wasting the time through college wouldn't help me learn my business further. That, and having the Inquisition Inquisition to always want to go into the military. That was always a passion of mine. A lot of my family, served either the Marines, Air Force, Army, and that was always something I wanted to do. So I felt like at that time, it was the number one option to do get a bit more stabilization in my life and a little bit more of a well-rounded figure. That way, when I'm stepping in to the next point in life, I had a little bit more dedication, a little bit more focus and, and discipline. So the military was a big aspect, but. Yeah. I think if you are wanting to be an entrepreneur, I think the number one thing to do is I know it's easier said than done a lot of the times, but find a mentor, the mentors, the number one thing that's going to take you somewhere, especially this generation, find the drive, the purpose and the passion of what you're going to do. Because there's nothing in this world that college is going to give you. That true experience and mentorship is going to give you. There's so many things that were different outside of the college, not do I, not college? No. I think college is a great thing, builds knowledge. But I don't believe that's a number one driving force if you want to be an entrepreneur. So you emphasize the importance of finding a mentor. Yes. How do you think one should identify first, like define what a good mentor is for them and then how to go out and find that mentor. Oh, how I think finding a good mentor really should frame out to be is. It's kind of interesting, because the way I found my mentors as a normally how you would think you would find your mentor. I found my mentor by the grace of God. Honestly, it was my birthday. Just moved back from New York and my buddies ended up meeting this guy, Mike Novelli, my now partner and, co-founder. And it wasn't even in that that there was no inclination that that was going to be the route. It was all going to go. I was still driving on the point of, working in the medical side. So one, I think a lot of life comes by chance. You got to take that once in a million. But when you're trying to dial in and decide who you're going to stick with and who you trust, that is going to take you to the next level. One is somebody that has proven experience, somebody that has the successes, whether it's business success. Personally, I like to see the personal success and the business success on both times. That way you're not learning just about the business end. You're learning about life because a lot of business comes down to just life, how you're going to deal with things, the pressure on it, how to stick to it. And that's just anything from a relationship with a significant other, friendships, or trying to deal with a hard times and the lows and the highs of running a business and starting one up. So I think the number one thing is finding somebody that is well-rounded, well-rounded, and somebody that you click with that you can tell is going to put the energy into you. A lot of people that you'll see nowadays, I've, I've had a few different mentors and different sides of different things where they didn't last long because I didn't see that they had the best interest, where they would just go off on different ends and somebody that's dedicated to being around you. That's the number one thing. If you if someone makes you a priority, that's where it sticks. Because if it's both both sides putting their foot forward, I mean, there's not there's not much more you can ask for that. And the advice that I've always given like to people, if you want to find a good mentor, you first have to define and what successes for you, where do you want to be? And then finding that person that is embodying that success that you want, and then following their path. You don't have to take 20 years to learn all the, jump all the hurdles that they jumped. You can extract that knowledge from their brain. And save yourself a lot of time. Absolutely. And that's actually one massive thing going back in the time. Mike and I have had so many experiences now in different directions between his firm and our company, that doesn't always match up in my head sometimes when I think about it. But really, one of the first things that I noticed finding Mike was with his hedge fund. I always found finance very interesting, and I, but I never really thought that was going to be a direction I was going to be able to go towards, just because usually with college, that's the direction you go to college and then you start working for different firms. In that sense, and knowing Mike's successes in the, in the, hedge fund world and in finance, it was always really interesting to be able to talk to him on that end, because there is there's always a big interest that I had, and then I don't know if it was nine months down the road, after we met, I was now it was maybe a year, year or two, year and a half or so. And, I was actually just deciding to leave this as well after we were just finally getting on the feet and start the development, working into the app side and integrating I where my dad was selling his company, and I told him that he was only holding on to it for me at that point, and I told him to sell the company. I was like, it's not what I want to do. Mike and I have this going now and this is the direction I want to go into. There's no passion here and you deserve to have reaped the fruits of your labor, be able to sell your company, have your exit that you've worked almost 30 years to have. And as that was happening, Mike always knew that I loved that side. I was always highly interested in what he was doing, and so he offered me a position coming onto the firm where he took another side of mentorship, teaching me everything about the financial end, deal flow, what you're looking for and analytics when you're analyzing a company on the Nasdaq that's sitting at the waterline. So after a few months of talking with him and his partners and getting some training down and doing my own research, I started working for his firm for a little while. And so that's where the the mutual success is, where I'm looking for something that I'm interested in, came into play. So there was more than just our interest together on building this company that we started out with, a VIP concierge service going into the tech end was I was always interested in there, and he instantly saw that it was able to give me the knowledge and provide an avenue for me to go down that direction. So he was always providing if he saw something I was interested in, he would give me an idea or an opportunity to move that direction. And I would unpack some of those things that you've learned from Mike. But I think it's important to note, like, I think it's super, super important to have a diversity and mentors. There's like two different kinds of mentors. There's that like mentor that is that you resonate with that's kind of that similar personality type. And then there's the mentor that's like your polar opposite that rounds out your weaknesses. Like my primary mentor, he thinks very similar to little to how I do more of that random abstract thinking, a little bit chaotic, chaotic weaknesses might be like that organization. So I'm learning how to polish off my skills, like communication, relationship building, which are things that, is kind of my natural skill set. But he has, you know, had a longer, you know, more experience and is able to, like, sharpen that sword for me. But on the flip side, we share the same weaknesses. So, you know, he's not polishing off those weaknesses. We have the same ones. So I think it's important for someone looking for a mentor should find both that person that understands you and can, like, polish off your skills, but also that counterbalance that can help you improve your weaknesses that hold you back. And to that point, what do you think are the biggest skills or takeaways that you've learned from Mike? And this journey? The biggest skills and takeaways? Man, there's quite a few because Mike is not just a mentor. And in the business world for me at all, kind of hitting on exactly what you just said were and what Mike was saying prior, looking for somebody that embodied who he was, somebody that he saw it in himself. And so that's one thing that I've definitely noticed and gravitated to instantly was Mike and I have a very similar personalities in the way of we enjoy having a good time. Unlike our personal end, we like going out, having being able to meet other people, network, having a sometimes a crazy time, you know, we've we've had our times for, for business. Got to go down to Miami and, spend some time down there and whatnot. Regardless. Fly's down. Oh, yeah, those are stories for other times. But, all those ends. Mike has got to live a lot of life and and the sense of I was in that same kind of direction, the same interests. And so the mistakes or lessons that he was able to learn, he was now able to instill in me that I don't know if I would have had the the same view on if I didn't have him. So getting down to one of the most important skills would definitely be judgment on position. So the people that you're going to put yourself around, the people that you're going to keep in, in that inner circle where you're going to put that energy and where you're going to pull yourself back away from, when you're starting to go down a tangent or a wrong direction, being able to stop yourself and then take an outlook, take a moment and realize the moment you're in right now and redirect, there's a book that Mike introduced me to, and I think it's the most influential book. I think anyone could really read. It's called The Power of Now. And when I there's been a lot of times where I was going through very hard times in the past couple of years and being able to settle back in and get back on the saddle was directed from the advice he was giving me and pushing me towards just reading that book, dying, dialing in and knowing in the moment all you have is this moment right here, right now. Because if you do that, if you don't do that, you're going in a million different directions and it gets a little crazy. And that goes directly into business as well. When you're in a lull and you're getting frustrated and there's no movement going on because you're waiting for either the next round of investment to come in, or you're just sitting in a place where development isn't taking the leaps that you're wanting it to. You can get complacent very quickly and realizing that things take time, and sitting back and refocusing, I think, is the most important skill that I got, hands down, 100%. Yeah. It's like it's super profound. And this is some like a realization that I've become conscious of just recently. We've talked about in some recent episodes, like my New Year's resolution this year was to be more intentional about my surroundings, especially with someone that, like, has the tendency, like the A.D.D. tendencies. It's super easy to get distracted and let things like things in your environment distracting you and taking you off your like, higher purpose. So being and we do have the choice. We have that free will to have the discipline over what our now looks like. And if you can be super intentional about what that environment is, and make sure that all those things within those that environment are contributing to that goal that you have. It's extremely powerful as opposed to being passive and and not being intentional and having this like then you become like the product of your environment, which if you have like these negatives or distracting things or things that are incongruent with that higher purpose or that goal, you know, in some way it's going to have an effect on you and like pull you in the wrong direction. Absolutely. Yeah. And as I said, add ADHD. I am like the embodiment of ADHD, ADHD, and you can see that through the times of everything I've done. Because even before meeting, like as I was saying, I was always jumping around. I've with the military, I've done I've been a bartender, I've been of VIP, nightlife manager, shoot, I've done so many different things, and I've always kind of let that define me in a sense of like, oh, I'm, I'm, I'm just trying to find what I want to do, but I have ADHD, so I just can't stay on one thing. I call it shiny objects show, hands down 100%. And that goes down to things like, I'll get to obsessed with, jiu jitsu and Muay Thai and then go back into surfing, and then I always jump around. But that's where the person came in. On dialing in and having that wait a minute. Don't let this define you. Realize that you have this moment right here and focus on what is important, and then go to the next thing that that's why it all ties in together is being able to stop yourself. Because if you just let yourself believe because there's two different ways how you're going to become one is the surroundings and the intention of what you're going to do is you put yourself around those people that don't have the similar values and drive and mindset. Then obviously you're going to become one of the five. But if you let yourself believe that you are just an ADHD kid, that you don't, it's just who I am and then you're just constantly jumping around. If you let yourself believe that you're going to be that. So if you do both of those two things wrong, you're done. One fix is realizing what you have, realizing that moment. Nothing's defining you. The only thing defining you is the choice that you're going to make. So if you can have that self-realization, that's where you'll find it. And there's definitely pros and cons to every personality type. There's tons of benefits from having that, you know, shiny object syndrome. Like you definitely have like a wider spectrum of knowledge because you have all these different interests. You have a lot more energy. It leads to leads to charisma and, being more personable, in that personality type. But then there's also weaknesses of that personality type as well. But my question is, what habits have you implemented in your life to counterbalance the weaknesses in your personality type in order to have more success and productivity? Sounds kind of funny and kind of cliche because you hear all these little things of like create a routine, this and that, make your bed every day. But it's truly the fact of the matter. You have to do that. So getting into a point where, like you're waking up early every day, you start drinking water, you have your set routine. Like I wake up, first thing I do is step out of bed, put food in my dog's bowl, go jump in the shower real fast, read a couple pages. I'm a I'm, big in my faith. So read my daily devotional and then go to the gym. Have those things set. So having your place organized, having these little fine details, is just the stepping stones to make sure everything else is put together, because if everything else is chaotic, you're going to be chaotic. You can read somebodies place state of mind pretty much by the way their their place of living looks. And so if you keep yourself put together and you keep yourself on a regiment that's going to drive you, because how how are you going to run a a larger business or be able to even have a startup if you can't be put together? Yeah, my roommate or not, my roommate, my, my mentor. I remember him coming into like, my car in the early days and seeing, like, trash in the car and being like, what the hell is this? Like? You think anyone's going to give you money if you can't even organize your car? And that's been like a lesson that I've kept because you realize, and it's a super good point that you made, like your external, isn't it? Your your environment is an externalization of your internal. So if there's chaos around you, like there's probably chaos within you, like I, I've always loved, you know, reading about Steve Jobs and the guy who didn't even have furniture in some of his apartments because they were distractions that clouded that, like natural stream of consciousness. Yeah, yeah, it's crazy. And it's like, I mean, that's an extreme, but the more that you can again be, it's like the room's just a small example of that. But the more you can be intentional about that environment. It's a, it's a barometer, like Mike said, of like your internal state, which is super interesting. Where do you see, like within the company that you guys are founding? What is your value add to the company? Like what's your skill set? And, you know, where do you find yourself? You know, putting in the most time and where does do you get the most ROI for your energy? I think where I do the most, where I add the most value is really taking a step back and we'll get into the big analytics and like the fine details of the coding behind everything with the with the AI, but having to step back and looking at the way it's framed out, the way the UI is going to look, how people are going to perceive it, I, I think that I'm offering more on the the creative end where most of our team is a there's a I don't want to date them but a little bit older. So I get the I give the bit of the refresh, the things that what I see, I know everybody else my age and what our target market is really looking for. So being a part of our target market allows us to have a little bit more insight of what our people are looking for. Of course we're doing, we're doing different, different, surveys and whatnot to make sure we have the right information, but being able to have an eye on it, like if I see a color palette that I don't like, change that up a little, little verbiage where things are kind of outdated, where now it's if it's if it doesn't piqued the interest of someone in the Gen Z early millennial, then we can reframe it. So I think having that creative mind is where we sit because, the VP of Social strategy. So hitting on the social media and what the trends are working with our marketing team and our social media team, that's where I come into play. What do you think or where do you think? Like older entrepreneurs are kind of missing the mark. You know, that they're they haven't had that experience or they haven't been immersed in this new culture. So they what are the things that they're missing that you've been able to contribute and be like, you know, this is what's going on now with this younger audience. So with the younger artists audience coming in, as, you know, like you can look at Facebook. Facebook is something that most people, even our age does, doesn't really use anymore. You know, that's more millennials pushing back older 40s, 50s. And so that's what they're used to and that's what they like. And they enjoy it because it's familiar. That's something that's taken them that way. Instagram is still it's still in the younger audience. It's still prevalent. But even Instagram is starting to get to the point where now that's the millennial time frame. And TikTok is the current right now. So there's always a social media platform or an app that is as it time goes on. It's framing into that generation that it was formed into. So looking down into what, the next generation. So we're going to hit the points of what we have now. So the Gen Z millennials, mid 20s, early 30s hit those points. But then we also have to look into what the kids coming out of high schools that are starting out in college 18, 19, 20 what they're liking and being able right now in Charleston, being able to talk around, hit the points, it's very there's a a good variation of people that you would go out on the streets of downtown being able to see. You could have conversations with everybody. Like the number one thing is how many, how many apps are you using just to create one, one booking for like say, a restaurant? I mean, really break it down. Most people are going to say Instagram, TikTok, Yelp, or even if Yelp sometimes not even not, Google Maps. So then you have to create the booking on Rezai. So you're taking all these points, but when you're going younger, most people are using TikTok or Instagram. They want to see the visual. So being able to frame the UI to be more catchy for making posts. So the first thing you see is seeing those posts and reframing that around. I think that really like one of the main points right there. Yeah. So it's probably easier to get adoption from people, you know, our age. Like when you explain the idea to me, it makes sense right away. And I'm familiar with AI, you know, I've been immersed in technology. How do you get that adoption from someone who's older? Who who may not leverage technology as much, or you guys just saying. Okay, let's neglect that audience and focus on, you know, the people that will use it. Or if you're going for that broad audience, how do you like, influence and resonate with that older audience? Does that make sense? Yeah, it makes sense. It's not that we're not going towards or completely neglecting the older audience. I think what we're focused on right now, especially at the blunt beginning, is we want to hit our target market on the head as hard as possible, because that's where we are going to get most of our, user acquisition from most people that are already in that older, older age bracket. When you're getting over the 50 frame, they're stuck in their ways. We can still be able to pull them over, but only because of the simplistic aspect. I think where our success is going to be coming from is the mid 20s. So being able to hit them with the Instagram ads, being able to have the social media campaigns and different events and being able to sponsor the the mid to larger sporting concerts, those types of those types of things is what's going to drive people in more than anything else. So I don't like to say I don't want to say we are neglecting that, but we we want to stick to our core. Where are we going to find our growth? Where's our future going to? So that's where I say the point of we're focused on our early millennials and Gen Z for our target market now, because that's what we're able to build. But what can we do that's going to be attractive to that next upcoming generation, where the future three or 4 or 5, ten years down the road, that's going to be our core people coming through. So that's where we want to have the app 3.0, not just for the places you can find, but the one stop shop. So that means you get you'll be able to post, you'll be able to find other people. You have the social media aspects. You'll be able to co search. You'll be able to form groups of of friends into one and be able to find places, connect collectively. And I think that's more people that are in our our same age demographic. So with these campaign ads and strategies that you're, you're going to be running, the opposite, like with a younger audience as they have a lower attention span. Yeah. So what do you think are the strategies to, acquire that attention and get that attention? And like, how can you how can you do that through these marketing campaigns and quickly get the attention of a younger audience? I think the number one thing that we're going to be at having to do, and this is kind of what I frame by the, the framework for, for, starting out with social strategy is hitting the micro-influencers a lot of people are using, you can go straight to the big guys and go to the Justin Bieber's or anything like that, Matt Rife, all these big names. But that's just something you're seeing every day. If you hit these micro influencer ers and you have micro and macro influencers for different demographics, but also all the different places, there's more repetitive what they're going to see over and over, and it's just the reps. And so if you have more catchy content that's going out that has those little quick hooks but more repetitive, that's where you're going to see it. It's not so much of like, oh, that one big one. Okay. That's great. We just saw Matt Rife likes this thing. Doesn't really work that way. He saw it the one time. It's just com consistently hitting the point over and over and over until the nails in. So I think the the statistic is it takes about 30 times for someone to see an ad before they take action on that ad. So having all those micro-influencers and all these different places, being able to share that and constantly getting hit with also paid sponsored ads, that's where you're going to find it. In the power of influencers. It's crazy. It's like, you know, you're you essentially have these distribution channels where you don't have to go out and like, find that audience. One by one, you can find a micro influencer who is already having influence over this target audience that is aligned with your ideal client profile and distribute your services and ideas like through that channel. It's like working smarter, not harder. Absolutely. And the way that we're framing it too, because we're going to have a reward system within the app. And so as a micro influencer comes in, we want them to be fully utilizing what they're able to bring in. So if people are coming in from their ads and they're using their code or whatever, now they're going to be able to get more rewards, more pay. And in the framework of that, so it's not just, oh, we're going to pay these micro-influencers to essentially just share some content. No, it's going to be interactive. They'll be able to build their platforms on other on the other platforms or their audience on the other platforms, because having our social media side to it, they're going to be able to build it there. So now they're building this platform as well, along with being able to cross share things to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, what have you. And that's where the things get sticky. It's not just you're sitting there being able to book with us. That's just one attribute. That's where it all started. That's like the main, the main point to it. But being able to also find other people that are like you, that's where it comes into play. Yeah, it's really smart how you're going about it with the influencers, like you're aligning your incentives so they're compensated through success and through the growth of your company as opposed to like just paying them a ticket. And they're like, okay, I got my post out. They're going to make more money if they convert people. Absolutely. Yeah. It's we believe once we get people on the app, we're going to be sticky enough to where it's going to hold in, because you'll be able to see the posts of the places that people have gone. But you're also going to be able to find other people have similar profiles to you. So say, I always like to say Milan. I always use Milan as a as an example, just because it's somewhere way crazy from here and say you're flying out there and you're trying to find, a restaurant, a restaurant, simple and easy you can find as far as golf courses, everything. But you don't know anything about it out there. So what it's going to give you is the most, the most dialed in, personalized results for you, for whatever you're looking for. But along with that, it'll be able to connect you with other people that have also been there that have similar profiles. So you can have a firsthand account. So it's more of a it's more than just a way of using AI to find places. It's also about finding new ways to connect people and have a firsthand account, instead of just some random Yelp review that you have that you're able to see, that may or may not align with the way you think or your personality is. Now you get a more trustworthy, dialed in way. Yeah, it's a really smart idea, and it's definitely a pain point that I even resonate with. So you guys are serving a big need and I'm surprised that, you know, it's it hasn't been thought of yet. I mean, it's like it makes sense. It's pretty intuitive. My final question is if you had $1 million of guilt free capital, how would you deploy it within the company? Ooh, $1 million of guilt free. So you didn't have to pay it back. If I didn't have to pay anything back. No equity gone. Marketing. I think marketing is going to be the biggest thing. Split between maybe like 60 or 80. 20 between marketing and development, really being able to dial in all the little attributes. We, I mean, we have a few different, solid moat forming ideas that we're going to be trying to implement into 2.0 and 3.0 that we definitely want to put that towards. But being able to really put out the marketing the correct way, because a lot of people, when things get hard or the the economy gets rough, people pull back on the marketing. But one thing that Mike has also taught me, that's the number one time you want to start nailing it. So being able to get that, get everybody's eyes on it, nail that down, be able to, sponsored all these different events, be able to get the social media exactly where do you want it to be, have the best content. That's where I would put it towards as much as we possibly could. Yeah, that's funny you say. 80% marketing, 20% development. I tend to lean the same way. But there's a, you know, there's the operational people who would say the exact opposite. But, you know, my philosophy is like when you have that deal flow coming in from like being sales first, then it's a lot easier when you know you have that revenue or receivable or that attention. It's a lot easier to take risks on development and deploy capital, you know, into that development where whereas the opposite, the more operational person spends all this money on the back end and on the structure of the company and on, you know, the product, and you don't even know if your audience likes it yet. So you're taking, in my opinion, more of a risk, by doing that first as opposed to sales first? Absolutely. And specifically for where we at where we are at with our company. Is that why I would say 8020 is I trust our team. We have a very strong well put together team that has a lot of experience and a lot of successes in all the fields that they came from. So when it comes down to the development, I'm highly confident in the abilities that we already have. So anything that we implement and put that money towards, it's going to be predominantly the same team. It's just what how much farther can we take that the marketing end with? It's that's not so much, sets stuff that we can create that like put out, but to be able to put all that out and have all these sponsorships and what have you, you have to have a capital to be able to do it. Well, because I trust our team and we have a very well versed, a very, very skilled team. I'm very confident in the abilities that we already have. What's one piece of advice that you give to, new entrepreneurs or someone who wants to pursue a career in entrepreneurship? Realize everything takes time. Keep your head down and stay focused, and to that moment you have right there because you think it might take a year to do something you might be able to throw something together in a few months. A lot of people quit at that point because they hit their first lull. After six months, they get discouraged. Know, keep your head down, keep your head down and keep going. Because we're four years into this. This is nothing what we thought it was going to be when we first met. We first started forming a VIP concierge service. We never expected to go into the AI field initially right where we were sitting. So let let the ideas come, let things come into fruition and keep your head down. And you mentioned in the beginning of a podcast like chasing that Passion and you love showing people a good time. I think that's so important to define where you're going to put that energy based on your passions. Because when times get tough, if you're not congruent and aligned with the venture, and have an intellectual and you're not intellectually stimulated by that idea, it's much more difficult to keep that focus and keep that attention and give that energy in those tough times, as opposed to doing something that you're already interested in. Absolutely find your passion, let it stick and let it run, because I guarantee you on the AI end, if you can find your passion, you can put AI into it. AI is either going to use you, you're going to use it, or you're going to monetize it. You decide which direction that's going to go. So find your passion, stick with it, keep your head down and try to put AI into it. Some great advice. Advice if people want to find you, they're inspired by you. They want to learn more from you. They want to reach out to you. Where can I find you? So our website is swift safety net. And then all of our social media handles are swift. Swift all one word, all lowercase, same one across the whole board. My social media is JJ Bobby underscore. If you ever have any questions DMs are wide open right there. Well I appreciate you coming on. Your energy is infectious. And, I'm looking forward to seeing this journey unfold for you guys. It's a great idea. Appreciate it. Thank you. Appreciate the time. All right.
