Podcast appearances and mentions of eric what

Thursday Morning’s with Eric: What advice would you give your highschool self? Review of Justin Bieber’s new album. What show currently loving and favorite all time show. Eric’s Top Headlines: Cadbury Sponsor Announced. Back to “normal” but not back to work? Inspiration to start Spring cleaning. Candles that will bring the bar smell to you. News Beat.

Games have been going down to the wire, which teams are showing up when it matters most? Teams are starting to get an idea of what they have, or what they don't have. We break down which players are likely to be moved and their potential fit on a new squad. Vegas has decided on who is making the East/West finals, did they get it right? We've got some pre contenders that are looking more likely to make the lottery than the playoffs at this point, can they turn it around? Mike asks Eric "What's The Verdict" on whether Jaylen Brown is now better than Jayson Tatum, and whether Klay is right about McGruder being out of the league soon. And Who the Hell is Juan Toscano-Anderson? All this and more on this week's episode of Court of Opinion. Follow us on Twitter: @CourtsofOpinion

Ask and you shall receive! We did a survey of our audience a few months back, and the number one requested topic was influencer marketing. And for good reason! Influencer marketing has infiltrated every industry and has the ability to drive large ROI if done correctly. But many new or smaller brands are wondering if they can take part in this marketing channel. And the answer is yes! Eric Lam, is the co-founder of AspireIQ, and he is here to explain how the industry has become democratized and any brand can take part in it, as long as they go about it the right way.On this episode of Up Next in Commerce, he gets into all of that and more, including why he bet big on the idea of influencers when it was still a radical idea used mostly by large companies with large celebrities. Today, Eric says that there are certain mistakes that many companies are making when it comes to working with influencers, and he details exactly how you should go about measuring the ROI from your influencer strategy. Plus, Eric explains why he thinks platforms like TikTok are undervalued and he predicts the future of how the world of influencer marketing will grow. Main Takeaways:The ROI of the Storm: Understanding the attribution funnel of influencer marketing is a key metric to determine the ROI of your efforts. But what if there are other aspects of the partnership that should be considered, that many brands are missing?Can I See Your Manager?: One of the biggest challenges of influencer marketing is managing the various influencers you work with and the logistics of tracking and shipping the products your influencers are promoting. Building a platform and communication structure that solves that problem is what sets influencer community management companies apart.Democracy Now: Part of what social media has done is democratize content creation. Previously, brands and those with money were in control of what content was created, when, and who could see it. Now, individuals have the same capabilities in the palms of their hands, which not only leads to better content, but opens the door to revenue streams and opportunities for regular people to become influencers.For an in-depth look at this episode, check out the full transcript below. Quotes have been edited for clarity and length.---Up Next in Commerce is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Respond quickly to changing customer needs with flexible Ecommerce connected to marketing, sales, and service. Deliver intelligent commerce experiences your customers can trust, across every channel. Together, we’re ready for what’s next in commerce. Learn more at salesforce.com/commerce---Transcript:Stephanie:Welcome to the Up Next In Commerce Podcast, I'm your host, Stephanie Postles. Co-Founder at mission.org. Today, we're talking all things influencers, but the co-founder of AspireIQ, Eric Lam. Eric, nice to meet you.Eric:Great to meet you as well. Thanks for having me.Stephanie:Yeah, I'm excited to have you on so no pressure, but we did a survey of our audience, and the number one thing that everyone wanted to hear about was influencers. Early, like we got dozens of responses of [crosstalk 00:00:32].Eric:Love to hear it.Stephanie:Yeah. This is the perfect interview.Eric:Fantastic. Well, that's really helpful for me to hear, especially for my team work in sales.Stephanie:There you go. Tell me a little bit about what is AspireIQ.Eric:We're a platform for brands to build and engage communities of influential people from traditional social media influencers to top customers and brand fans to experts and more. We actually started back in 2013. Even though it's mainstream now, back then, influencer marketing was a pretty new concept. Frankly, the idea of businesses using Instagram back then in a meaningful way was pretty rare. Of course, now 93% of brands and kind of based on your survey, it sounds like that's increasing, are using influencer marketing as a core part of their digital and social media strategies, and we're lucky to be partnered with over 300 brands on the platform from some of the biggest names like Samsung to leading [inaudible] brands like Glossier and Purple Mattress.Stephanie:Amazing. Tell me a little bit, how is the platform design? If I'm a new customer, what would I experience when I enter a platform and what do I get out of it?Eric:Yeah. Even back in the day, I think pretty much from the beginning, some of the biggest problems we've tried to solve in influencer marketing have come down to three parts, finding the right influencers to work with in terms of creating content and promoting your brand, to managing the complex workflow between your brand and potentially hundreds of influencers in your community, to analyzing the impact of these influencer communities on your marketing goals. I think that where we've really made our bread and butter is that second one, the building workflow. That's because if any of your listeners have built influencer marketing programs, and actually in our early days, probably our first two years, we didn't have our own software, so we experienced this ourselves when we were running influencer campaigns for our clients.Eric:The real work that goes into this is all the communication and the cumbersome project management, the data organization, the contracts, the product shipping, the payments, and just keeping track of all this stuff in one place, especially if you're working with more than, say 10 influencers at a given time, like that's where the real work is. That's where we really focused on building a platform that can provide meaningful scale to clients building this in a sophisticated way. I think at this point, we've got a range of sophistication levels from fortune 500 companies who have seven different teams working across different countries with outside agencies and the corporate office, to some of the biggest DTC brands in the world who have kind of built their secret sauce in influencer marketing, and almost need to design this customized system within our platform for how to do influencer marketing. So, it's come a long way in terms of the sophistication level that a lot of our clients have had.Stephanie:That's awesome. Since 2013, what kind of shifts in the market have you seen? Because when I think about influencers, especially back in the day, it's like, if you don't have a Kardashian, you don't have an influencer. Now it seems like way more about like micro influencers who have a trusted audience and people actually buy what they want. What kind of things have you seen like shifts in the market?Eric:Yeah, it's evolved in a lot of different, really interesting ways. You're exactly right. I think in the early days, well, frankly in the really early days, when we first started, almost no one was doing influencer marketing, which was obviously tough for our business because we were trying to go to every brand and convince them to spend even like a hundred bucks on an influencer.Stephanie:They're like, no, thanks. Out of budget.Eric:Yeah. I think that was already like pulling teeth. I think, back then, I think the only brands doing this were probably these emerging ecommerce brands where ... they can't compete on traditional advertising, so Instagram had become this place where they discovered already consumers were coming there to learn about what to buy, what to do, where to go. That was true, even though back then Instagram wasn't this kind of commercialized or sponsor place the way it is today. But even in our early days, what kept us going is that we talked to so many ecommerce brands and consistently what we heard was the biggest channel that they were focusing on was social media and specifically influencer marketing.Eric:Then I think, yeah, after a few years, maybe like 2015 and 2016, the industry kind of evolve to what you were talking about, where everybody was trying to work with Kardashians. It was all about working with the biggest fashion bloggers, the biggest celebrities. The bigger, the better. And you're thinking about these vanity metrics, like how many followers someone has, or how many likes they have, regardless of if they saw meaningful returns on investment. Those were the early cowboy days of influencer marketing. I think because of a lot of the mainstream brands got involved there, you started to then see an evolution of how a lot of the DTC, a lot of ecommerce brands were starting to think about influencer marketing because they were kind of getting priced out of these big macro celebrities.Eric:So, they started honing in on more specialized micro influencers, like you mentioned, who, they might not have as big of a following, but they were a lot more targeted, a lot more focused in the concept of created, which meant they were a great fit for more personalized experiences, more authentic content in terms of the segments they were trying to reach among their customers. I think the second thing that was really interesting about the way this evolved is that these same ecommerce brands started using influencers for more than just trying to reach their audiences like in an advertising way, and they started looking at them as holistic content creators, because when you think about what an influencer is, they're kind of like this studio photographer model all wrapped into one person, whose literal job it is to make engaging content for this generation.Eric:These brands started re-purposing a lot of their content and using it in all their different channels, from paid advertising, to ecommerce website, to email marketing and more because content became this King of everything they wanted to do across digital. Today, I think that's kind of even more the case where you're looking at even more long tail influencers, and even people that aren't considered traditional social media influencers, but are really important to the brands and their strategies from marketing perspective. Brands might be building programs where they're combining influencers, but they're also combining those with top customers, power users, experts, working professionals who do customer referrals, whichever groups of people who have the greatest word of mouth impact on the customers and trying to win over, regardless of if they have a social media following or not. I think it's a really exciting phase of influencer marketing we're heading into, where it really includes, even democratize, where brands are kind of looking for these authentic voices, no matter where they come from.Stephanie:Yep. I love that. Yeah, I was just going to say, it feels like now there's so much more opportunity for anyone to have an influencer if you find the right person, whereas before, not so much. But if you're thinking about finding an influencer in your space or finding someone to partner with or using your platform to find some, what kind of metrics would you look at to make sure they're a good fit? What should a brand be looking for to be like, "ah, this is my perfect person?"Eric:Yeah. I think a lot of it comes down to what the goals of this influencer program is. But I think, at the end of the day, a lot of that comes down to subjective type of qualities. Obviously, you can see if they have a big following, you can see if they have really high engagement rates, but at the end of the day, you want to look at, what are people talking about in their comment section? What's the type of narrative they're kind of build with their audience? And does that really resonate with the type of nuanced audience segment that you're trying to build with your audiences? Because that tells you a lot about how they're going to co-create this narrative with you.Eric:That's really what we tell people when we give them advice is, you should really be building relationships with these influencers and treat them as a part of your community rather than looking at it as a transaction. I think that one of the biggest mistakes I see a lot is that, people will look at influencer marketing almost as like buying ad space, and it's really not like buying ad space because content creators are people.Stephanie:Yeah, these are people.Eric:Yeah, these are people who have these like nuanced feelings about the content they make, what they feel comfortable with, what's authentic to them. This is like their livelihood. Communicating with that level of empathy is really important, and if you can find people that really match your brand values and are going to be true advocates for you, that really translates into the authenticity, both from what they're saying, but also the kind of content they make because influencer marketing is pretty mature now and audiences can smell inauthenticity from a mile away. So, it matters a lot to find people that really believe in your brand.Stephanie:How do you go about making sure that a relationship is built on your platform and that someone's not just going through and being like, "Okay, bye. I want this." How do you develop or encourage a relationship to be built before they start working together?Eric:Yeah, I think a lot of times, frankly, sometimes it starts not necessarily with a kind of a official collaboration or with an official contract or anything like that. A lot of brands, what they do is they'll do what's called product seeding, and they'll send these gift bags out to influencers or micro influencers. A lot of people try out the products. If they like the products, they'll have them give feedback, they'll invite them to some events, they'll have them be part of some community activities before they really kind of like level them up into true ambassadors for the brand that have these more formalized contracts and agreements and payment structures and things like that. I think, obviously not all of that is necessary, but it kind of creates this much more organic experience, where ambassadors almost like come to you or are built with you, rather than just saying to every person, hey, we've got this $10,000 campaign and here you go, who wants the money? Kind of going based on much more of a transactional experience.Eric:That's one way to go. I think other ways to go are influencers who can come to you and are creating a more of an inbound experience. What we see a lot is brands setting up kind of these programs and looking for new ambassadors and new influencers to the program. A lot of times those might be smaller, but getting people to kind of sign up when they're small, when they have smaller followings is a great way to almost like build this farm system of up and coming influencers that are working with you in their early days so that when they become really big and famous. Obviously they've been kind of long-term supporters, long-term advocates of your brand for quite a while.Stephanie:Yep. That's great. Yeah, I think I've mentioned a few times in different episodes that I was ... I forget who I was listening to, where they're discussing influencers and how to pick them, but they said you should zero in on the comments and how their followers are actually engaging, because if they're engaging in one way where it's just like, oh, that's pretty, I like that shirt or something, that might not actually be an influential person you should work with versus someone who's saying, "Where can I buy that shirt right now?" If you see a lot of that in the comments, even if they're small, like they have people waiting to buy whatever they wear. I thought that was always a good reminder.Eric:Yeah, totally. I think that a lot of times, that that comes from some of these smaller influencers, because they're so focused on the type of content they make and their audiences really trust them with that messaging. I think a lot of influencers just understand that when they take these sponsorship deals, they're doing it in a way where they really need to make sure it looks, and it is the fact that they really care about this brand. They believe in the values, they believe in the product. I think audiences are really attuned to that, and I think they can pick up on that.Stephanie:Yep. I agree. In previous episodes, we've had a lot of guests tell us that it's been really hard to accurately measure the ROI of an influencer campaign. A couple of people have tried it or quite a few of them have tried it, but they just didn't know if they got the results or they didn't know how long until I see results. What do you advise around, how do you make sure to measure things in a way that you can see an ROI or not, and when should they expect to see some kind of success?Eric:Yeah, that's a great question. Yeah, it is actually challenging. I think it's because, the reason is because I think influencer marketing sits at this unique intersection of brand and performance marketing where it's a little bit of both. I think if you're looking at as only one or only the other one, you're almost like undervaluing what you have in your influencer program. We actually have this internal marketing strategy team that works with all of our clients, and their job is basically to design this type of thing. Like, how are you going to measure the overall ROI of your program? Because it's so unique to every client. In terms of brand awareness, obviously that stuff is relatively straight forward. Like, how many views am I getting? How many video minutes are watched? How much engagement there are? What's the audience demographics that I'm trying to reach?Eric:Obviously this is an ecommerce podcast, so most people are interested in, how am I generating sales? That's where it gets really interesting, because like you said, it's not the easiest thing in the world to build the full attribution funnel for influencer marketing. Why is that? It's because all of this content sits somewhere that isn't pixel. It sits not on your own channel, and not even on your own Facebook. It sits on the influencer's Instagram page or their YouTube, and not all the time there's easy ways to click out of links. What we typically do is we build a combination of indirect and direct metrics to give you a sense of how your program is performing. There's definitely lots of ways to measure direct conversions. There's link tracking, coupon code redemptions, affiliate links, landing page sign-ups.Eric:Typically, those are very good ways of seeing directly attributable sales. Especially if you've built kind of this really great long tail of ambassadors who are all doing, like I said, whether your product seeding them, you're seeding them these gaskets, and you're not necessarily asking for anything, where you're building potentially hundreds or thousands of ambassadors who are ... you might not have a ton of following, but they really believe in the product and they're kind of posting about you. You'll start to see a lot of return in terms of referrals on that program, just based on kind of their channels clicking into those links and go into your website and buying things, something like that. But a lot of the times, when you're talking about influencer posts, because there's not an easy way to click out of this, of the posts, we tend to look at more indirect measures because a lot of times what happens is a consumer sees a post, they see the brand and then they exit to a browser and they go directly to the website.Eric:We say is that, hey, look at the indirect measures like referral sources from social channels, and that includes things like the Instagram shopping and checkout, which Facebook is investing a ton of money into all types of ways of commercializing your social channels. Then of course, there's the value of the content itself, which has been really interesting. Like I said, a lot of ecommerce brands are looking at these influencers as content creation vehicles, and so there's obviously the cost that it would've cost to create, potentially hundreds of purpose-built photos and videos, but what's even more is, what's the value of having 10 times the number of assets to personalize all these digital customer journeys from your paid ads, your ecommerce, your email marketing, and almost always what we see is our performance marketing clients will have an overall increase in their ROAS, but thanks to this kind of ongoing pipeline of constant.Eric:I think the last one that's super interesting thing has been really game changing over the last couple of years is actually using influencer channels themselves as paid ad vehicles. There's actually ... obviously there's easy functionality to boost posts that perform well, but there's actually, for in channels like Instagram, if an influencer has a business account, there's an option to grant advertiser access to a third party so that you can actually run a wide diversity of paid ads using the influencers content, where the ads are coming from the influencers channel themselves. This actually gives marketers almost this infinite number of channels to test on and has been an absolute game changer for brands looking to build more sophisticated paid social strategies. All those things are kind of like in combination, obviously are this complex web of how do you value the ROI of an influencer, but it's because there's this huge diversity of the ways that you could utilize them depending on your marketing strategy.Stephanie:That's great. Yeah. That's a really good summary, especially that last point. I don't think I have heard that, or I was not aware that you could leverage their accounts and kind of post from under their accounts. Yeah, that seems to be interesting.Eric:Yeah, it's little known, but it's become a lot more popularized, I think recently. Obviously you want to make sure that you have a firm agreement with the influencer. This is something that in our platform we kind of wrap up in a bow for you to be able to request, but obviously you're using their content, you're getting the right approvals from them, so they don't have their channel advertising to people or using content that they're not comfortable with. But assuming that they are, it's actually a win-win for both parties, because essentially what's happening is, as a brand, you're kind of leveraging them as a voice for your brand to kind of new audiences. For them, they're reaching new audiences themselves and in a way that can kind of get them more followers and more reach.Stephanie:Yeah, that's great. I could see there being a bit of like, making sure that whatever you write is in their voice, or is it like pretty transparent that this is a brand takeover of their account?Eric:I think it's typically a collaboration, and a lot of times what we'll advise is that, definitely having the influencer sign off on all the language and making sure that they're comfortable with what they're saying, because you don't want to get ... definitely don't want to misrepresent what they're saying, and it is in a partnership between brand and creator.Stephanie:Yep. Got it. All right. A little story time. First, we'll start with, what are some of the biggest missteps that you've seen brands experience when they've tried to set up their own influencer partnerships? What are some horror stories that you've heard in the industry? You know I like failure.Eric:Yeah, definitely I think a couple of common things that I see, and again, they kind of relate to this idea that, hey, these influencers are ads basically, and that leads to behaviors, like I said about not building relationships. I talked about that one already, but I think another one is basically taking too risk averse of an approach in the creative process. I won't name specific brands, but I think, especially when you're talking about like the bigger brands in the industry, the Fortune 500 brands, a lot of them struggle with the idea of kind of like merging their influencer strategy with their creative strategy, because they typically have this really rigid process of guidelines and brand safety that they apply usually to kind of $25,000 to $50,000 photo shoots, and they want to apply that same framework to influencers.Eric:And they're like, cool. They have to do this set of 20 guidelines, they have to check all these boxes in terms of what they're going to say, they have to say it in this way, and in this tone. At the end of the day, that just doesn't work because people are smart. Consumers are smart. Consumers know when something is super forced and inauthentic. At the end of the day, the whole point of working with influencers is that you're co-creating a narrative. You're supposed to be harnessing the personality and the creativity that's unique to each person, and by forcing them to kind of fit in this tightly defined box that is so clearly branded, that just leads to poor performing content. It's kind of defeating the purpose of using influencers in the first place. I would say that's the biggest misstep I tend to see, and it is typical among, I would say like the bigger brands in the industry.Stephanie:Got it. I could see brands, especially smaller ones, trying to find, of course, untapped influencers. What industries do you think there are a bunch of influencers that maybe you guys haven't even tapped into, and what's maybe bringing this question about, as I just did a recap episode with one of my coworkers around like the first 50 episodes, and we were talking about shoppable gaming and unreal and how there's influencers in these game worlds and how shopping is going to be in there soon. I was like, oh, it seems like there could be a lot of virtual influencers that maybe aren't tapped, but are there any industries like that where you're like, oh, we're exploring this or we see this being big in the future, but we haven't actually fully gotten it yet?Eric:Yeah. Well, I would say, even though it's been incredibly popularized in the last year or so, I would say TikTok is still wildly undervalued. I think not enough brands understand that TikTok has this enormous breadth and depth of not only audiences, but content creators, because I'm 38 years old and I look at a lot of like Parenting TikTok, I look at a lot of the Home Depot TikTok. It's so different than I think most perceptions are of, oh, it's just funny videos or teenagers dancing and things like that, because there's such a diversity of content and audience within TikTok that I think only a handful of brands are really taking advantage of. That's definitely, I would say a big focus for us going forward, is kind of getting in deep with tech talk and making sure that our brands can be successful there.Eric:I would say more to specifically your question around industries, I would say a lot of industries that we've seen that have kind of more emerging, I would say "influencers," not necessarily traditionally defined influencers, are more like professional fields. For example, one of my friends from business school named Trina Spear, she's founded this company FIGS Scrubs. I think they've had the strategy probably for ... maybe since they were founded, where they've almost created influencers out of nurses and doctors where, when they first started, there were no nurse influencers or doctor influencers or anything like that. But they started partnering with all these people that could just create really great content, and they might just be people in that professional field people that might have 500 followers, but posted really cool content and they would send the product, get them involved, get them bought into the mission and the vision of the brand.Eric:Now a lot of those people, they have tens of thousands of followers because of the partnership they've done with FIGS, and FIGS is an incredibly popular brand among the healthcare industry now, and has a really, really loyal following across ... up and down nurses and doctors and everything else.Stephanie:That's really cool. Yeah, I think we had FIGS on our list. I have to check with Hillary on that, but I think we had them potentially coming on maybe so. Yeah, that's really cool to hear how they do that.Eric:They're great. I look forward to listening to that one.Stephanie:Cool. How do you onboard new influencers, and who are some names of people that I would know? Because even though it's kind of vanity, I'm sure everyone listening is like, well, who are some names that I would know in your platform?Eric:Yeah. Interestingly, we don't really take that kind of approach when it comes to influencers, because a lot of times our influencers are brand-driven. What we try to do is we try to provide a system of record and a platform for our brands to manage all of their influencer programs themselves. This is actually an industry choice we've made, I think back in the founding of the company, where we decided pretty early that we were not going to win based on us having the most influencers or us having access to talent agencies or communities of people, because frankly, we were basically four guys who came from either a gaming company or a hedge fund, and so we were not going to win based on who we knew.Eric:What we decided to do is we said, okay, what we're going to do is we're going to build a platform that has incredible workflow and ability to scale up these influencer programs and have brands build the tools they need to manage them, and those brands will essentially onboard and essentially, almost onboard the influencers onto our platform themselves. It's actually played out pretty well where we now have hundreds of thousands of influencers on the platform. I think in a 95% of cases, those influencers were brought by some brand that we had on our platform who essentially invited those influencers themselves to the AspireIQ platform. This has been a really great way of feeding.Stephanie:Oh, that's smart.Eric:... a marketplace where when ... in [inaudible] teach about like, when you start a marketplace, you have to create standalone value for one of the sides, and that was our [inaudible] standalone value for the brands that they would essentially attract the influencers to the platform because we just didn't have them.Stephanie:Let's talk about the early days a little bit. I saw that you had worked at Pocket Gems, and I think it said you led a very large team who was mostly accountable for like 80 million in annual revenue. I want to hear a bit about your background and what you did at Pocket Gems that maybe helped influence AspireIQ.Eric:Yeah. I started my career in finance actually before business school, which is really disappointing for my dad because my dad was a computer science professor, so I didn't get into technology immediately the way that he wanted. But yeah, after business school, I went to Pocket Gems. Yeah, started as a product manager, built a couple of games there. Pocket Gems, for some background, is a mobile app gaming company. Really, it was an incredible experience because gaming, especially back then, I mean, you think about like, this pre-Zynga IPO and all the kind of the rise of mobile gaming, and everything was extremely data-driven and fast paced. It was a great environment to learn about how to build products that can grow and scale really quickly.Eric:But I think the biggest thing it taught me was essentially how much mobile and social were going to change the world, and pretty much changed the world so much more than I had ever conceptualized, I think, before joining, in almost a similar way with the way the internet changed everything in the late '90s. It's because of the fact that we have this super computer in our pockets that's like a high-definition video camera that makes any of this stuff possible. I think, as we were building games there, as we were building apps, as we were doing user acquisition, I could tell, based on the things that were working and the channels that we were working for, for our own growth, that all this was happening here organically. When you looked at social media, everyone can create this amazing content that's just as relevant and meaningful as what's done in studio, and it's completely democratized, giving a voice to anybody with a mobile phone and social media.Eric:I wanted to work on something following that, that could take advantage or basically capitalize on the fact that the world is essentially changing from what I call companies to people. Because when you open your phone, you look at most content nowadays, chances are it's something that a regular person made. It's not a company. It was kind of obvious, at the time, to a lot of us that were founding the company that people were going to be at the center of how these businesses or brands were built. That's what we were focused on doing. We didn't have it all figured out in terms of what we would do or the product we would build. We started with social media and went from there, but we just knew it was around this idea that brands and building a brand, building a marketing strategy needed to be much more people oriented, and around this idea that mobile and social were going to change the world.Stephanie:When you launched into aspire IQ, what were some maybe hiccups or missteps that you guys made in the beginning when trying to figure out this marketplace and building the platform, anything happened there of note?Eric:Yeah, it was funny because again, it was for people who didn't come from the marketing industry and we're trying to get into ... which I think, when I gave people advice, people would always ask me like, "Hey, are you going to ... should I start this company? I really want to do a startup." A lot of times the advice I give is, "Look, if this is something you have to do, it shouldn't matter what I say, that you're going to do it." I think this was really interesting thing where we all had this intense belief that this was going to be a thing, that this would work, even though none of us had come from the industry. I think, because none of us had come from the industry, that really put us at this disadvantage for, who to talk to. We were really scrapping trying to find our first sales and talk to any ecommerce brands that would listen to us, talk to any brands that would listen to us.Eric:It was such early days that we couldn't even charge any money for the product we made. We built this product in about a year, and we basically had to give it away for free because people just didn't value it. They didn't understand why they should pay a platform for influencer marketing. I think we actually had to create ... is really funny. In our first outreaches to influencers even, we were trying to scrape together these first influencer campaigns where we had to pretend that we were the platform, but actually underneath, it was just the four of us trying to run and match-make with different influencers. But we were saying like ...Stephanie:[crosstalk] service.Eric:Yeah, but we were saying like, oh yeah, there's something really like technological going on under the hood. Don't worry [inaudible] the brands. But it was actually just us trying to run the different influencers saying, "Hey, look, can you please join this campaign?" We had to use the pseudonym actually, because nobody would respond to our emails among influencers. They didn't believe that we were a real company. We had to use pseudonyms of people that sounded more legitimate to make sure these influencers would respond to us.Stephanie:Oh, that's crazy.Eric:In the early days, again, not only were brands not really doing a lot of influencer marketing, but the influencers themselves weren't doing a lot of "influencer marketing" among sponsorship opportunities. This wasn't as much of a business for them, where they're already and set up to take a lot of these inbound requests. In the early days, that matchmaking process, like you said, was quite difficult. Of course, nowadays, it's almost like a machine where everybody ... if you have like 5,000 followers, you might even have a manager at this point. Yeah, in those early days, it was a lot of a lot of talking on the phone to explain who we were and what we were trying to do.Stephanie:Yeah. That's great. I think that also is such an advantage that when you don't come from the industry, it reminds me of like us building up this media company like none of us really knew what we were doing in the early days, but from your perspective, I could see a lot of people thinking about building an influencer company and being like, I need to partner with Hollywood, I need to go to CAA. There's a certain way things are done around here. I think that's actually a huge advantage when you don't really know what you don't know and you just move forward and figure it out, and maybe do it differently.Eric:Yeah. I think that, that definitely helped us, I would say in the later stages of the company, because by the time, like I had said, in 2016, 2017, when this took off as an industry, we were one of the few companies that have built this as a true software platform, because all of this came from technology. So, how are we going to win? We weren't going to win because again, we were connected to the right people. So, we were just heads down, really building as much of the product we could essentially understand based on our own running of these campaigns. When the industry took off, we had assembled this immense product advantage versus a lot of our competitors that were essentially glorified agencies. Back then, I think a lot of companies were effectively ... because you might come from an agency, so you think that an agency is the way to solve this problem, this matchmaking problem.Eric:But what we saw was something much more nuanced, which was, okay after you've solved the matchmaking problem, what are you going to do with these influencers, and how are you going to make this a scalable program that will last the test of time? All those things were built into, essentially how do you create almost like a CRM workflow with analytics and all the different automation that we built into it that would be relevant, frankly, for people that weren't really doing anything back when we first started. We were basically lucky that we survived the first few years with almost like making no money, that we could make it to the maturity of the industry when our product became more relevant.Stephanie:Yeah, that's good. Because some people are a little too far ahead and you guys were ahead, but you ended up making it work, which is awesome.Eric:Yeah, absolutely.Stephanie:Now that we're talking a little bit about the future, I want to head into the future. What do you think the future of influencers looks like maybe in like five to 10 years?Eric:Yeah. I think that, like I said, I think influencer marketing is going to keep diversifying to ... just not people who necessarily have social media following it. I think it's going to be around who is influential for your brand specifically? Again, it could be professional, it could be experts, it could be customers. I think a lot of the brands we talk to that are on the bleeding edge, like a Glossier for example, is the gold standard, I would say, of this, who's one of our favorite partner customers. They figured out, I think first that, it doesn't really matter if you have this massive social following. They've built this community of fans, employees, even healthcare workers, things like that, and regardless of who you are, they do an incredible job of making you feel like a part of the community, probably because the brand started out of this shared love of Emily Weiss's beauty blog.Eric:Regardless if you have a following on social media, they highlight a lot of their community members in their marketing. They give them exclusive first looks so they can get feedback and build buzz around new product launches. They take an active interest in pretty much what all these different communities, how they respond to products, and that shapes a lot of the strategy that Glossier has as a brand. I would say they're one of the first, I would say community led brands. I would say that that's going to be, what I would say is the future of, not just influencer marketing, but building commerce brands in general, because what you see now it is there's such a dependence on third parties for a lot of ecommerce companies on generating leads from places like Facebook ads.Eric:That's almost becoming this increasing tax on the cost of doing business of running ecommerce. When you've built an advantage for a brand like Glossier, where you almost have your own channel of your community that generates all this buzz and brand awareness and referrals that, that becomes this competitive advantage, because you can build growth without relying on third parties doing all of your lead generation. I think that's what I'm really excited about as kind of the future of influencer marketing, but also the future of kind of commerce in the way brands will start to own their own communities and their own channels.Stephanie:Yeah. That's a great answer. I think that's the gold standard that a lot of brands probably want to figure out is like, how do you build that community that you can leverage and not always having to rely on external customer acquisition? But it'd be interesting to dive into their model of like, how do they actually build that up and build that community of fans to then have that network to launch to with their products and whatnot?Stephanie:All right, cool. With a few minutes left, let's dive into the lightning round brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. This is where I'm going to throw a question your way and you have a minute or less to answer. Are you ready, Eric?Eric:Fantastic. Ready. Stephanie:What's up next on your reading list?Eric:Ooh. I think that one book that I really love and just read is a book by Carrie Melissa Jones called Building Brand Communities. She goes into a lot about how you ... similar to the Glossier example, you really need to co-create an experience of communities with shared values, kind of mutual benefit, how is your community going to interact with you as a brand? I love that book. We actually sent it to I think all of our customers.Stephanie:Oh, nice. I'll have to check that out. That sounds like a good one. What is the best piece of advice you ever received?Eric:Yeah, I think the best advice I ever received was either from like a personal or professional level, are you growing as a person? Are you scaling? Are you developing new skills? I give that advice either to employees at the company or people who are asking you for advice. A lot of it has to do, its just kind of acceleration in any way that makes sense or is meaningful to you.Stephanie:I love that. That is good. What's up next on your Netflix queue. What are you enjoying these days?Eric:Oh, wow. Netflix. I just started watching Killing Eve. I think it's an older show, but that's ...Stephanie:Okay, is it good?Eric:Yeah. I love that show. I don't know if I'm as big of a fan of Sandra Oh, but it's a BBC show, and I love pretty much all BBC shows.Stephanie:Okay. I'll have check that out. I have not even heard of that one. What do you wish you understood better right now? It could be a trend, it could be a piece of tech, anything.Eric:I think the thing I wish I understood better is how Silicon Valley works. What's funny is we've never been kind of the favored child, I would say, of the tech industry here and in terms of raising money and things like that. I think marketing has never been the sexy object, the way crypto and those things were. I think I wish I understood the way VCs thought better.Stephanie:All right, Eric. Well, this has been a really fun interview. Where can people find out more about you and AspireIQ?Eric:Yeah. Definitely you can check out aspireiq.com/upnext. Yeah, we've got some interesting reading there. We've definitely got a case study on Purple Mattress and a bunch of other cool stuff to read.Stephanie:Ooh, nice. Awesome. Well, thanks so much for joining. We will have to have you back for round two, maybe even in person in the studio in the future.Eric:Hopefully the world works out that way. Thank you so much, Stephanie. It's great to be on. Fun time.

Use the Fork Test to know what advice is good or bad for you. My son is a 19 year old college student who is interested in day trading. He has done some research but is confused about what might be the best account or way to start (Eric) What are the quickest ways to start a budget and get spending under control (Dallin) How can I get my dad to delay social security so he can get more money (Luke, Georgia) How should we decide if a kitchen remodel is worth it (Christen) Can you really get a good deal on engagement rings at Costco (Christopher, Birmingham, AL) TOPICS: Why you can't please everyone (and shouldn't try). ===== Teach pre-school kids good money habits - Money A to Z is here: https://tinyurl.com/MoneyAtoZ

There is an evolutionary process for every business, and Beardbrand is no different. When Eric Bandholz co-founded Beardbrand back in 2012, all he had was a Tumblr blog with a modest amount of followers and an Ecommerce shop selling other people’s beard products. Today, Beardbrand is a seven-figure business with multiple high selling products of its own and an entire catalog of content that customers gobble up with each new release. On this episode of Up Next in Commerce, Eric tells us how he fortified his brand, and how success in the digital world is all about going beyond offering just a product in a box — it’s about delivering value and the best possible experience to your customers Key Takeaways: Move away from the strict focus on simply selling as much as you can and instead aim to find the ways you can add value to your customers’ lives. That will lead to more loyalty and, in turn, more lifetime sales When you're cash-strapped, you must think of creative ways to grow the business without capital. One way to do that is word-of-mouth — you can't incentivize word-of-mouth. You have to just focus on creating an amazing experience that your customers want to talk about Site speed is more important than other features. Achieving that  means cutting out pop-up ads and other third-party plugins, which data shows often do not provide consistent or meaningful ROI For an in-depth look at this episode, check out the full transcript below. Quotes have been edited for clarity and length. --- Up Next in Commerce is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Respond quickly to changing customer needs with flexible Ecommerce connected to marketing, sales, and service. Deliver intelligent commerce experiences your customers can trust, across every channel. Together, we’re ready for what’s next in commerce. Learn more at salesforce.com/commerce --- Transcript: Stephanie: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Up Next in Commerce. I'm your host, Stephanie Postles. Today, we have Eric Bandholz on the show, founder of Beardbrand. Eric, welcome. Eric: What is going on, Stephanie? Stephanie: Hey, hey. Thanks for hopping on here. Eric: Yeah. I'm excited for our conversation. It's going to be a lot of fun. Stephanie: Me, too. You are a true brand. You're rocking an awesome beard. Just what I expected when I was hoping to see you on video. I'm like, "He better have an epic beard, or this conversation won't go well." Eric: Well, it was funny because, actually, I shaved it all off in December, the beginning of December, of last year. That was kind of a big deal for us. That was the first time I shaved my beard completely off. Stephanie: Oh, man. Eric: She's like, "[crosstalk 00:00:44] your beard," or something like that. Stephanie: How many customers did you lose when you did that? Eric: Well, I'd like to think that we actually added a lot of customers, because Beardbrand is not about the beard. It's about the man behind the beard. We kind of support a guy's right to grow his beard as much as his right to shave it off. I really wanted to make that point, especially today, with a lot of our competitors challenging people's masculinity by not having facial hair. We want to kind of say facial hair doesn't matter at all. It's just a style. Stephanie: Cool. Eric: We did some YouTube ads on it as well, which was a lot of fun to do. Stephanie: Awesome. I'd love to dive into the background of how you started Beard Brand and the story behind that. Eric: We're in business, I think it's got to be, eight years now we launched. Stephanie: Wow, congrats. Eric: We launched in 2012 after I had grown a beard out for about a year. What happened is, at that time, I was trying to do this graphic design business or design business, and I would go to networking events and everyone would call me Duck Dynasty or ZZ Top or Grizzly Adams. Those are super cool dudes. They've got epic stories as well. As an individual, I don't identify as those kind of guys. I've got the softest hands you could ever imagine. I never touched an axe. I ended up attending this event where I met other dudes like me who are other entrepreneurs and designers and doctors and lawyers and dads. I realized there's this whole community of guys that do not fit the traditional stereotype of a bearded guy. That was the inspiration to kind of call myself an urban beardsman. Stephanie: I like it. Eric: Beardbrand was going to be the community to unite urban beardsmen and give them the tools they needed to feel confident about rocking a beard. To us, the tools don't mean just the grooming products. They mean, videos. They mean blog posts. They mean style inspiration. They mean community. Over the past eight years, we've been rolling all that out. We've gotten an epic blog and a YouTube channel with over a million and a half subscribers. We've got a private community where we connect with people. We've put on conferences for our customers to be able to connect in person. We've really worked hard to support our audiences, support our customers. I've got two business partners. We're completely bootstrapped. We have no debt. We have no outside funding. We've been able to grow to a nice size seven-figure business. Stephanie: That's amazing. Congrats on all those YouTube followers. How do you think about utilizing your content to sell your products? Was that an idea and a strategy from the beginning, or was it more organic, where you started on YouTube, and then you're like, "Well, now, we have all these followers, we should launch a product as well?" Eric: Yeah, if we'll hop in our time machine a little bit more. We launched 2012 as a blog, a Tumblr page, which I don't think anyone's ever heard the word, "Tumblr," five years [crosstalk 00:03:53]. Stephanie: Long time. Eric: We had a Tumblr page. Then, we also had our YouTube channel. This time, it was just me, as kind of a side project. I'll make a couple of posts on the blog. Then, I would just re-blog some things on Tumblr to make it look active. I think I did six videos on YouTube. It's not like, in that first year, we really built this thriving community. I think we had 300 subscribers on YouTube and just a couple of thousand visitors to our blog. It was enough that a reporter from the New York Times saw the blog and kind of quoted me as an expert. Stephanie: That's awesome. Eric: We utilized that opportunity. I convinced two of my friends to go into business with me, and said, "Hey, why don't we turn this blog into an e-commerce store?" We found a product. We started reselling it. We literally launched the website a day before the New York Times article went live- Stephanie: Wow, perfect timing. Eric: [crosstalk] a couple of days. That was kind of the spark to the business to really give us the energy to continue. Then, I had the vision that Beardbrand, the Urban Beardsman, is going to be like how Lululemon is to people for yoga or Vans shoes is to skaters. Beardbrand and the Urban Beardsman was we're going to serve these urban beardsmen. I always visualize that as apparel or accessories or clothes. I really didn't have the industry knowledge to be able to do that, and the margins are so tight on there, and some seasonality that we found grooming products was going to be that product that united the community. Eric: After, I guess, a year or two of failure after failure after failure of trying to get apparel up and accessories up, we finally admitted that we're a grooming company. For us, the content that we've created was more of not to drive sales. The products we have allow us to share our word more. We sell products as a way to kind of expand our voice and to grow our content, not as a way to create content to sell products. I think we're one of the companies that kind of view it a little bit differently. Stephanie: Got it. How do you utilize newsletters and reaching your subscribers once you have them or engaging with buyers or prospective buyers? I think I've read about some newsletter strategy that you have from day one, everyone kind of starts out in the same place to go on the journey with you. Is that still accurate? Eric: Yeah. We utilize Klaviyo to, I think they call it flows, where you have these series of emails that you send out when people join your email list. We've launched that, I think, in 2015. That's been really good. When you think about building a business, as much as you can automate and build systems and processes, then the more you're going to be able to scale your business and the more traction you're going to be able to gain. Eric: This series that we opened up with is really like an education series. I think it's a 5 or 10-part series where we teach them how to care for their beards, teach them how to care for their hair. A lot of guys still don't know how to shampoo and condition your hair. Basics like that where, honestly, they've been doing it wrong, but there's opportunity for them to improve their techniques and, ultimately, get better outcome through their journey. That's been big for us. Then, at the end of the flow, we give them a little thank you product, or free shipping, or something like that for taking the time to invest in themselves. Stephanie: Got it? Are there any best practices you would recommend other e-commerce sites when it comes to utilizing that newsletter or where you're like, "Conversions were high when we did this," or, "They were lower when we did this," or, "That thank you product really does help drive future sales," any insights around that? Eric: Yeah. A couple of things that we've found that work over the years is we have a product that is not available on our navigation. It's kind of a hidden kit that is only available to people who join our newsletter. Stephanie: Interesting. Eric: The retail value of that kit is $50. We give them a pretty aggressive price point to be able to get on board. It's kind of like a tester kit, sample kit, so they get exposure to a lot of our products. We found that that works really well because we can say, "Hey, get this tester kit, try all of our products, use these products as you're learning about the things that we're telling you, then, in two weeks or a month or whenever, when you go through the products and look to re-up them." We found that that works really well at getting people into the ecosystem and trying our products. Stephanie: Very cool. Eric: What other best practices do I have? For us, it's so much about content. I think a lot of people really err towards sales and discounts and buy from us and chest thumping. That's really not our style. I would challenge people out there to think about how you can bring value to your audience's lives. Then, if you bring enough value to their lives, then, kind of the whole Buddhism karma thing, it will come back to you. People will end up buying from you. We kind of have that outlook on the world, that if you do good things, good things will come back to you. Stephanie: Love that. How do you think about your buyer experience and making that personalized and unique to all your customers as they come in? Eric: We've invested a fair amount into our packaging to our products. The unboxing experience is nice. We use nicer primary packaging, which is going to be your bottles and your labels and your caps and all that. Then, we use nicer secondary packaging as well. When they actually get the boxes and they open it, it's pretty nice. In addition to that, we're working with our own 3PL or a third-party logistics, our own fulfillment center. We make sure that we work really closely with them that they wrap it kind of to our specifications. There's a nice little unboxing experience, a little bit of tissue paper, and a Beardbrand sticker. Then, we have what's called a thank you kit. Within this thank you kit, we have a little booklet. The booklet usually changes every quarter. For instance, one quarter, it was a book of reminders, which are kind of my nine reminders that I tell myself in life as I face adversity. Stephanie: That's great. Eric: Daily planning. It's all tied around our core message or our tagline, which is keep on growing. We're trying to, again, bring more value. You buy from us and, not only did you get great products, but we brought you a little more value outside of what the products can do. Hopefully, by delivering this experience, we can grow through word-of-mouth and loyalty and customers who want to stick around, rather than kind of going on to the next hot thing. Stephanie: I was just going to say I could see that adding to that viral experience by giving people those little presents that are really fun to share, then, just engaging with more customers because of that. It's really interesting to hear about. Eric: I'll tell you this. If you're trying to build a bootstrap company, the reality is you've got more time than money. When you're cash-strapped, you've got to think of creative ways to be able to grow the business without capital. One way to do that is word-of-mouth. You can't incentivize word-of-mouth. You have to really just truly focus on such an amazing experience that your customers want to talk about it. When you have that mentality, not only is it healthy for your business, but it's going to be healthy for your growth. It's just kind of a win-win, and the world's a better place because you're bringing that much value to the customers. Stephanie: I completely agree. Are there any success stories or big failures that you've had come from trying to generate that word-of-mouth and getting people to spread the word? Any advice around that? Eric: It's actually not a metric that we really track or keep an eye on. It's just more of a philosophy internally of just being customer first. I think, to a certain degree, you do have to integrate data. We used to include a little sample of products for people. We found that those samples weren't driving any additional sales of those products in a significant way. When you look at that, you're like, "Well, are you actually bringing value to customers if you're giving them something for free that, maybe, they didn't want or they didn't want need? Stephanie: How do you track that, or how did you know that people weren't really using it or that wasn't helping drive sales? Eric: We would send a beard wash, a little sample, a one-ounce container. Then, we would look at if there's any increase in sales of beard wash. Your data is always going to be muddy, especially when you're a company that's our size and really small. We fundamentally can't get the data. You do have to go off of a certain gap. You have to also look at, "Well, every sample is costing us," let's say, it's $1. Every order is going out, five orders is $5,000 a month. Then, if we're not seeing a boost of really $10,000 in sales to justify the cost of that, then the margin and the future order, then, you're not building a sustainable practice. Again, as a bootstrap company, you do have to think about your marketing efforts being sustainable and being able to exist on their own for a long time. Stephanie: How do you think about creating these marketing campaigns, whether it's YouTube videos? How much do you guys put out per day or per week? To me, that feels like it could be not sustainable if you don't have the right team in place, the right video crew. Especially right now, I'm thinking everything with COVID-19. Has it been hard to keep that content going out and recording the videos and launching them on YouTube and everything? Is it still pretty good, because it's a remote team doing that? Eric: It's been a really long, hard journey. To the listeners out there who are hearing our story now, eight years in is like we've had eight years to build these processes and systems and relationships. You're not going to be able to do all the things that we've done on day one. We're still cranking out about six videos a week. We've been able to do that by leveraging multiple personalities, just like you guys have multiple shows. We're kind of the same thing. It's not all on my shoulders, and worrying about me getting burnt out. Eric: We have four different regulars on our smaller channel called the Beardbrand Alliance. Then, we have, probably, maybe 4 to 10 barbers who will hit on to do these kind of barbershops style videos. We've been able to really spread the burden of the YouTube channel. Then, we have an in-house video editor who is constantly video editing. He's a machine. Then, in addition to creating these YouTube videos, we do a fair amount of advertising in the video form as well. We do have video editing handled by our ad person as well, our advertising coordinator. She'll be cranking out content that way as well. Video is great, man. I would highly suggest anyone listening that if you invest in video, you could have a pretty good competitive advantage in the marketplace. Stephanie: I completely agree. Video is where it's at. How do you make sure that your videos and your content is found? A lot of people create some really awesome stuff and then be like, "Now what? I've only had one view on it," or, "I don't know how to get people to view this video, and then take the action that I want afterwards, which is, probably, buying one of the products that I'm highlighting?" Eric: There's two answers to that. One answer is you pay for it. Really expensive, but if the content is truly remarkable, for instance, when I shaved my beard off, we filmed it. We created a 45-second ad on YouTube. To get exposure on YouTube through their advertising system, if the video is engaging, it's extremely cheap. I think we're paying a third of a penny per view. Stephanie: Yeah, that's cheap. Eric: A million impressions was, I don't have the calculator in front of me, what does that look like? Stephanie: Something great. Eric: Yeah. It's astronomically inexpensive. At the same time, you may not be targeting the right people. Now, organically, I think YouTube is going to be the platform to go, because of how they recommend videos. It's a little more evergreen than Facebook. There's certainly opportunity on Facebook and Instagram, but I'm not as strong on how to perform there. It comes down to, in the early days, the reality is no one's going to watch your content. You think that sucks, but the reality is it's awesome. Maybe, you'll have one person or two people or 10 people watch it. Then, you'll get a couple of comments. Well, you'll use those comments to get your content better and better and better. Then, by the time you've built a larger audience, you've kind of figured a lot of these things out, so you're not really damaging your audience. You think what you create is great, but the reality is it's not. Stephanie: I agree. Eric: [crosstalk] will be shared. By creating and by doing, you get the hang of it, you get more natural in front of the camera, or you get more natural on the editing process and telling the story. As you learn, it compounds on itself. If you're thinking about getting into organic video on YouTube, then plan on having, really, 20 or 50 videos that you want to produce before you really even see any kind of traction. I think it took us three years before we got 10,000 subscribers. Then, again, it compounds and you learn and create more content. You create more content faster that's more in line with what people want. Then, all of a sudden, we're able to grow to daily content and getting 10,000 subscribers a month. It takes time and it takes learning. There's a lot of insights in YouTube that you'll need to learn as well. Stephanie: I think it's really good as a reminder to kind of detach yourself from the content, because when you put something out there, it's like, "It's my baby. That was my best one yet." I remember when we were starting our company, the first couple of episodes we did on Mission Daily, Chad and myself, it didn't get any downloads. It's a brand new podcast. No one had heard about it. We didn't know how to grow the podcast at that point. I remember thinking, "That was my best episode yet. I'll never be able to do something that good again." Now, I look back on it. I'm like, "I'm very glad no one was listening to those episodes because they were not good and the audio wasn't great." It's just a really good reminder to put stuff out there more in the learning phase. Then, eventually, you can move into the really trying to find those subscribers and followers, once you get to the point where you're a bit more experienced and you've tried a bunch of things out. I love that. Eric: Yeah. So much of it is just the process, for a podcast, making sure you can line up those guests and you can post it early. That's hard work. It's easy to get the first one done, or maybe, the first couple and queue it up, but to also record and organize and plan is a very big challenge. Those are the things that you'll be solving when your audience is small. Then, as you solve those, that allows you to grow your audience. Stephanie: I agree. When it comes to solving problems when you're small, when you got the visibility from, I think, you said New York Times, and I think I read Shark Tank, when you got that visibility, were you ready? Was your website ready, your product ready, your fulfillment strategy ready? How did that go when you got those bumps in visitors? Eric: New York Times drove about $900 of sales. Stephanie: That's huge, just kidding. Eric: It actually is. I think we had $100 worth of product. It was nine times our inventory. Fortunately, we were able to solve all that. You have a lot of growing pains, I think. This is my first successful business. I had no relationships. We didn't know where to get our wooden boxes made. We always dealt with supply chain issues. Really, the first two years, as we were growing rapidly, it was just always like a fire was being put out. Then, eventually, we moved to quarterly planning, which has helped significantly in managing our inventory. Stephanie: What was the Shark Tank experience like? I haven't talked to anyone who's been on there yet. Eric: Oh, no. I'm your first breaking your show. Stephanie: Yeah, you're my first. Eric: That's virginity. This was 2014, I believe. Yeah, it's got to be 2014. Halloween 2014 is when the episode aired. A lot of things may have changed since that time. I know Shark Tank was really popular at that time. A lot of people were watching it. It's a very stressful process, because during the whole campaign, not only 80% of the people who go through the whole process are going to end up on the show. You could end up investing a lot of energy, a lot of time. You could pay a lot of money to build out this fancy display case. You could fly out there, step away from the operational needs of your business in a time where your business really needs this stuff. Then, do all that and not make it there. Eric: We always knew there is a good chance that we didn't make it there. Subsequently, we didn't put too many resources into Shark Tank. We kept our display stand, I think, we paid $300 to rent some furniture. Then, we put out some products there. It's just me going on show. It wasn't my business partners, so they could kind of focus on building the business and I just kind of focused on the Shark Tank pitch and stuff like that. Then, you get up there and it's stressful, not just because of pitching to the Sharks, which is how they make the show seem, but also knowing that whatever you do is recorded in front of seven million people. If you make a mistake, you're like, "Seven million people want to know about that." Stephanie: It's replayed over and over again, and reruns. Eric: Yeah. And, fortunately for us, I feel like Shark Tank, they did a pretty accurate representation of how I felt the conversation was. They're cutting down 45 minutes to seven minutes. They're trying to craft a story in seven minutes. Then, the hard part is all five of those sharks, they talk to you all at once and you don't know that on the show coming in. They all ask you a question right at the same time. When you see the people pitching and they're looking all over the place, it's just because five people are talking at once and they're just trying to figure out who to talk to. Stephanie: Wow. Sounds very intimidating. I do love Shark Tank, though. I hope to try and find your episode and see if I can watch it. Eric: Yeah, do it. It was a fun experience. It was like how your heart can race and go on through a roller coaster. It was really that. The whole time, it's just like the adrenaline is pumping. I'm not very good with words. I'm kind of dyslexic. I'm just hoping I'm not saying anything too stupid. I think it was a great experience all over. I think what they're doing for entrepreneurs is great, too. Stephanie: I completely agree. In early days, were you completely selling on your website? How much of it was selling direct to consumer versus wholesale, versus, maybe, utilizing Amazon would your sales strategy look with your brand? Eric: We've done a little bit of everything. We started off direct to consumer. We actually started off, as I said, as a simply an e-commerce retailer. Another people's products in the early days, until we're able to develop our own products. As we were able to get traction, we had passively, companies like barber shops and salons and pharmacists who would want to sell our products. We would kind of sell to these smaller retailers. It was never a core focus of us to bring on wholesale retailers. Eric: Then, we would get on the Amazon. This was the early days of Amazon. Hindsight is 2020. We probably missed a fair amount of opportunity on there. We really always focused on selling on Beardbrand.com. Amazon was never more than 10% of our sales. After a couple of years, we ended up pulling off of Amazon completely. You can't get our products on Amazon now. That's been a great decision for us. Then, we also brought in Target as one of our wholesalers. That happened 2018. Today, we're about half the retail and half direct on Amazon, and on any other market. Stephanie: Very cool. How do you think about separating yourself from your competitors? Not that I watched the beard space often. I don't have a beard that I know of, but I have seen a lot of beard oils coming on the market and just things focused around that. How do you separate yourself from the competitors, especially since you're an e-commerce site and you don't have a bunch of retail locations or not in a ton of places? How do you show that value on how it's different from other products? Eric: The reality is, you're always going to have a competition. If you have no competitors, then your competition is ignorance. We've kind of always embraced competitors and knowing that we're going to have competition in the sense that it's going to force us to elevate our game and provide such an amazing experience to our customers, that they'll have no option other than to go with us because we are the best. With that mentality, we've also come to terms with certain things, like we're not going to be the low price product on the marketplace. If that's the game you want, then we're not going to be a good fit for you. Eric: We try to be really clear about the value that we bring and the things that, maybe, we're not great at. There's always going to be trade off. To us, I think we do a great job because we bring all that value to our customers. Like we talked about earlier in the show, the content marketing, the education, the blog articles, the email flows, the YouTube videos, the customer service experience, the unboxing experience, I think, all of those things are what makes Beardbrand a different company and why someone would want to buy from us. If they're just some dude who doesn't really care and they just want whatever's cheap, then Beardbrand probably isn't going to be the best product for them. Stephanie: I like that idea of being upfront with, "Here's what we sell. If you don't want quality, then, maybe, go somewhere else to find something different." Do you market differently based on that? Eric: To be fair, there's other quality products out there as well. I don't think there's quality products out there that also do the education, that also do the packaging, that also do the customer experience. There's so much more to a business than what's in the package or what's in the box? I think a lot of companies get so focused on their product. Anyone can rip off your product. They can exactly copy your product. They can come down to an exact tee. Then, if that's all you're standing on, what do you have there? Then, it becomes a race to the bottom for the price. Eric: When you build a business, you have to think beyond your product. You have to think about, "How can I really bring value to my customers that is beyond the product?" The product alone is not going to do it. Stephanie: Got it. I love that. How do you think about building better business models for other e-commerce companies? I was looking at, I think, on Twitter, you had an experience with West Elm. I guess they had marked down a table. You kind of went through how e-commerce companies need to figure out how to develop better business models. What is your advice around that? Maybe, you can highlight that experience a bit, because I didn't read the whole thread. Eric: Yeah. A little background story. I bought that table, that table I'm actually using for my podcast studio. 25 days later, they put on a sale where I could get the exact same table, but it cost me 75 days, or excuse me, $75 less. As a consumer, that's kind of frustrating, because you kind of feel like an idiot for not waiting out. I would have waited 25 days to save 75 bucks. Personally, I don't think that's a good experience. I recognize they're doing sales, they're doing weekly sales, and some sales are better than others. To me, I feel like, have some kind of policy in place where, within a certain time frame, whatever you feel is appropriate: two weeks, a month, two months, whatever, that you can guarantee the offer that you're giving to them. Eric: It doesn't even have to be a money back guarantee. It could be a store credit guarantee. Then, I think that's going to encourage a lot more confidence in the consumers. Also, consumers will be more likely to buy from them again, because if you have the alternative where you're just like, "I know you screwed; you missed out on this one; you already bought it," then, it's like, "Well, next time, I'm just really going to wait. I'm just going to wait until I know there's an incredible deal," or, "I'm just not going to buy at all because I don't want to feel like I want to be made a fool again." Eric: You run the risk if you're running sales all the time and they're not the exact same sale. Not everyone will feel this, but some people will subconsciously be feeling this. There's quick and easy ways to really just guarantee the experience about it. I don't want to tell people how to run their business and their policy. I'm not mad at them. I'm just kind of calling them out that I think they could do better. Then, to be fair, West Elm reached out to me on Twitter and they offered me store credit. Stephanie: That's nice. Eric: You don't want to have to really fight and argue for that. You just want them to make it right. Stephanie: I think that's a good point, though. Also, that big brands are looking to smaller companies and the individual consumer to kind of learn from. That's a really good point of making the consumer feel good after a purchase and not having buyer's remorse. I've definitely had that experience before of buying something and then seeing a discount afterwards, and then waiting the next time, and then there's no more inventory. Then, I just never go back again. Those little moments definitely matter. Eric: Well, then you think about, the whole West Elm experience for me is, I couldn't do a live chat or email them about it. I had to call them. Then, I called them and I was on hold for 25 minutes. Then, after 25 minutes, they pretty much told me I could ship the thing back and then buy a new one, but shipping would not be reimbursed. Financially, it wasn't going to make sense. It's like, "Okay, this is how you're going to do it." Then, as a small company, you think that these large companies have all the advantages because they can buy in bulk and get better prices. Well, a lot of people don't buy based on products. They buy because they want to be able to reach out to you and talk with real person, not be on hold for 25 minutes. Those are the things that I want you to think about as you build your business, how you can compete with Amazon and how you can compete with West Elm and Walmart and these giant companies out there. Stephanie: I love that. What's one thing that you wish online sellers would start and stop doing? I'm asking you this question because I see you're big in the e-commerce community, always talking and highlighting different e-commerce stores. You've probably seen a lot of best practices that sellers do, and some things are like, "You should just stop. That's not good." Eric: Going back, I don't want to tell anyone how to run their business. There's a lot of ways to build a business. It kind of comes down to who your audience is and what they're okay with. A couple of things that we've always avoided is we don't want to do pop-ups. There's no pop-ups. There's no tricks. There's no immediate discounts. One of the things that is a pet peeve of mine is, "Here's a pop-up. Do you want to save 10% on your next order?" Then, they click x or, "Close out of this if you don't want to save money," something kind of condescending like that; or, with the little spin wheel. I think a lot of these has become a little hokey. Eric: The people selling those software as a service thing always claim that they work. We've actually cut a significant amount of our third party plugins, just because it made our websites so bloated. Stephanie: I was reading about that, how quick were you able to get your website down? I think I saw four seconds. Eric: Oh, my god. We were doing a speed test on our old website. The homepage on the desktop, I think it would have been in the 40 range score. Then, I think the mobile side would have been in the 20 to 25 range, the score [crosstalk 00:34:34]. Then, we essentially rolled out a new website template, a new website theme, killed all the third-party plugins. The new speed is now around 77 for the desktop and around 40 or 45 for the mobile. Stephanie: That's great. Eric: I don't know what that is in actual load times, but in terms of data, according to Google, it's a significant increase. Some of our blog posts would take 10 seconds to load. We really just went and found the stuff. It wasn't just the theme, too. We had some images that we uploaded, which were two megabytes in size, something ridiculous like that. It's just kind of like eight years into having a business and a lot of people putting their hands into the business, it gets a little you lose sight of things. It's always good to circle back every once in a while. Stephanie: I think doing that audit is really important, because like you said, after many years, people are implementing their own things without thinking about the long-term strategy of it and how it might impact things. I think, web chat is one thing where a lot of websites have the digital chat, but that increases the website's load time by a ton. Maybe, people don't even fully utilize it. They would rather call or send an email. It's good to just do that audit, I'd say, at least yearly. Eric: We had one of those live chats. I think it presented some issues because, sometimes, a little pop-up would block information or block the "Add to Cart" button. Stephanie: Oh, man. They're like, "I'm just trying to buy and you're not letting me." Eric: Exactly. It's just like as templates get uploaded or themes get updated, things get reverted. We killed it. We no longer have that JavaScript burden of loading. Those chat bots are fundamentally the things that slow down your page load speed the most, I've seen. We haven't seen any drop in conversion rates or sales. Then, in addition to that, the alternative, what we did is we just moved to a phone number that people can text. I think what we're getting is people who are more serious about needing advice rather than just kind of casual looky-loos who see a little pop-up and they're like, "Oh, yeah, da-da-da-da-da." Stephanie: I that, looky-loos. Eric: That's what my mom calls them. Stephanie: That's good. What metrics are you paying attention to most? You've mentioned conversion rates. Now, we've talked about website speed. Are there a certain set of metrics that you pay the most attention to? Eric: Yeah. I'm like your typical A.D.D. entrepreneur. Being in the details on a daily basis is really hard for me. Everything I do is kind of on an ad hoc basis. When it comes to YouTube, the things that we really look at are our watch time and our click through rate. They're going to be the big indications if a video is going to be successful or not. Then, on our website, really, I'm the top level kind of guy, so I'm looking at revenue. I'm looking at orders. Then, on the ad hoc level, I look at how our blog is converting, then, how our traffic outside of our blog, two of our stores is converting. Then, our page speed has been something that's been a pretty big metric for me, lately. Then, there's so many other more metrics that I should be looking into that I'm fortunate that we have team members who are looking for [crosstalk 00:38:09]- Stephanie: Do that for you. Eric: ... email performance and how those are doing. Stephanie: Is there any themes around either video content that you put out or blog content that you've seen, certain types of videos? Maybe, funny ones convert better or more how-to blog content converts better. Any best practices around releasing content in a strategic way that will actually create a future buyer? Eric: Our strategy is to leverage YouTube's organic growth. To do that, you need to have the viewers want to watch more of your content and stay on YouTube. The strategy isn't really so much of, "Hey, buy this," or, "Be aware of this." It's more of get awareness of the brand. We try to integrate a lot of branding on our videos. We put our taglines on every video, to keep on growing and change the way society views beardsmen. All those call outs in the lower thirds. Then, we try to integrate product placements in our videos as well. It's just bringing awareness to it and not driving people off the YouTube. Eric: Subsequently, when you do that, you're less concerned with any kind of direct sales that you're getting from videos. One great plugin tool that we've used on our Shopify store is called Grapevine. Grapevine allows you to have a simple one-question survey that you put at the end of after they've purchased. We use that to say, "Hey, how did you first hear about us?" We have about 20 different options, from Shark Tank to our YouTube channel to various YouTube personalities. We found that 40% of our customers have first found out about us from YouTube. Eric: Being able to attribute that any particular video, we can kind of segment it a little bit. 18% of it is from our barbershop videos, which was a fair amount. Beyond that, you just kind of have to trust the process. Stephanie: Got it? Do you find influencers in the space? When you're talking about having these barbers do these videos, do you find someone who already has a following? Do you kind of create that following organically through under your brand? Maybe, it's someone that no one would have ever known about, but you just know that they're a great personality to do the video? Eric: A little of both, I would say. One of our most or one of our longest tenured relations, well, we've got a couple of long tenured relationships with influencers, Carlos Costa. We reached out to him back in 2013. He's been with us kind of since then as an influencer for the brand. Then, he's grown to make videos for us. Then, he reached out to Greg Berzinsky, who at that time, I think he had, maybe, 20,000 or 30,000 followers on Instagram. He's a big believer in the brand. Eric: We try to find people who really love your brand, who love the products, who love what we're doing. It's just easier for them to be excited about it. We also try to work with smaller influencers, those who are, maybe, still getting established, or who have a following because they're not influencers. Tobias van Schneider is another one. He's another business owner. He's got other businesses. He's not making money from promoting products. He's more likely to talk about our products and not ask for compensation, which is something that you need as a bootstrap company, to be able to make your dollars go far. Eric: It's been a little bit of that. Then, we have had employees at Beardbrand who are like, "Hey, man. Get on camera. Talk about this. You've got a great beard." They've done that. We've done a little both and have had success and challenges and both processes as well. Stephanie: That's very cool to experiment with all those different types of models. I like the idea of having the employees be the influencer. I know that a lot of companies in Asia are doing this. I haven't seen a lot of companies in the US fully utilizing that model of creating micro-influencers within the company, and then developing their own followings. That's just a nice organic way to do it. Having someone who is an actual expert on the product without being too salesy, because they're not a salesperson. Eric: We try it, too. If you look at our Instagram account, the Beardbrand account is replying to comments, you'll always see Sylvester. He's replying to him. He'll sign his name, or whoever's replying to a comment. On YouTube, they'll sign their name. We're totally in favor of get to know our people, get to know our copywriter, Mike, and get to know our growth marketer, James. Eric: Again, we talked about how you compete with Amazon. Amazon doesn't have a James. They don't have a Mike. They don't have a Lindsey. They don't have a Jordan. They don't have Chandler. But, we have those people. The more we can help them get to know the team. Then, the risk is if you just work with one person within your company, then, that person could hold you hostage or quit or leave or getting a DUI or do something like that. If you have 10 or 20 different people on the regular who you integrate into your content, then, in the natural course of business, as people move on and things change, then, you'll still be able to move forward. Stephanie: In a world where everything is becoming automated and you always know you're talking to bots, I think it's actually nice how certain business models are kind of flipping that. You're mentioning about developing a relationship with the person at the company where you are used to seeing the same name and you kind of are developing an Internet relationship with someone at the company that you trust and grow to love. I like how that model is kind of reversing a bit over the past year. Eric: Sylvester, who I mentioned, that's his full time job, is he runs a community. His responsibility is to build those relationships. He's heading up our private forums. He's putting on these events. He's interacting with people on Twitter and Instagram. As they chat on Twitter, and as they chat on YouTube, and they see the same name over and over again. They start to learn about him. Eric: In our emails, we'll have a photograph of him. We'll talk about him. We'll talk about the style. People will start to trust his input because, obviously, me as the founder, a lot of videos or a lot of views to those videos, a lot of people want to come and talk to me, but I can't interact with 40 people a day and still run the company and have sanity, really. Well, to scale up what I bring, and not only that, Sylvester's got way more incredible style than me. He's a lot more empathetic than me. He's able to really provide these people great advice in a way that I cannot. It brings a lot of joy to me to be able to offer that to our audience, and also, that Sylvester is able to do what he loves. Stephanie: That's really fun. To zoom out a bit, go a little bit higher level, what kind of digital commerce trends are you most excited about that are coming down the pike right now? Eric: Probably, the thing I don't follow too much is the trends. I feel like we just kind of fall into them. SMS is something that a lot of people are talking about, and something that we've actually been doing for a good half a year now. We do it in a way that, I think, most people aren't doing it. Most people see SMS as just another channel to market and throw sales and discounts. That drives consumers crazy. If I see someone marketing to me on SMS, I'm just like, "You're dead to me." How we're using it is as style consulting. You text us, send us a photo. Stephanie: That's good. Eric: SMS is perfect for that because you got your phone there, take a selfie, send it to us, we can tell you where you're trimming your beard, how your neckline is coming in, what your hairline looks like, and what kind of hairstyle will work for you. I think that's an excellent way to use SMS. It's funny. Once we started using SMS that way, the company we work with, Emotive, they actually changed their whole marketing position to be more about style consultants and beauty consultants, and things like that. Stephanie: That's funny. Eric: I want to take full credit for that, but I would like to say we had a little bit of influence in the way that they're selling us on this. I think that's better for the consumer as well to be able to connect with them on a one-to-one kind of consultant basis, rather. Stephanie: How do you make sure they stick with your brand? I can see them, maybe, not having the expertise, like you're talking about, how you're trimming your beard wrong, or what kind of product you need, because of whatever they see in the photo, how do you make sure that they stick with your brand guidelines and make sure they're speaking in the way that you want and they're recommending things correctly and not giving bad advice? Eric: This goes back to our core values, which are freedom, honor, and trust. Part of the hiring process is making sure that we hire people who align with these core values. Then, it's not blind faith with trust, but through experience and interactions. I know Sylvester. I know his style. I see him show up every day in the office and what he's wearing and how he's behaving and how he communicates. It's like, "Dude, man. Go at it. Be yourself." Our brand standard is communicate to our customers in a way that you communicate to your friends. Those no corporate speak, nothing. Eric: If you're a goofy guy, talk goofy. If you're a serious guy, talk serious. Be yourself. You are going to have different experiences. Interacting with Sylvester is going to be different than interacting with Matt. They're two different people. That's totally okay. Stephanie: That's great. Are there any other channels that you're utilizing or looking to utilize over the next couple of years? Eric: For us, our goal has been, again, going back to me being an A.D.D. entrepreneur, you try a little bit of everything. The past two years has been fixing all of my A.D.D. new channels that we've been in. We killed Amazon. We killed selling in the Europe. We've cut marketing channels. It's really how do we get better at the channels we're in? How do we get better at Facebook marketing? How do we get better at Instagram marketing? How do we get better YouTube content? Eric: Like I said, we have a newer, smaller YouTube channel that we're trying to grow and build that awareness. In terms of just completely introducing anything that we've never done before, like TV advertising or radio advertising or podcast advertising, we're going to be staying away from that until we feel like we've completely capitalized on the opportunities of the channels we're currently in. Stephanie: That makes sense. I think killing projects and platforms is a good first step to making sure that you can focus on what's actually working to, then, move into a new channel around the tryout. It sounds like a good strategy to me. Eric: I'll tell you, it sucks, though, when you kill something and then you don't get better at the thing you're supposed to get better at. Stephanie: Yeah, that's a big bummer. Eric: We've done that. Stephanie: That happened a few times? Eric: Yeah. When we pulled out of Europe, Europe was about 20% of our business. We did this March 31st of last year. It was about 20% of our business. The intent was with the new focus of not having to deal with multiple fulfillment centers and different time zones and multiple stores and things like that, that we could get really good at serving our customers. Subsequently, 2019 was a terrible year for us. We weren't able to capture the lost sales that I thought we'd be able to by having more focus. We've had to really analyze. It wasn't so much selling into Europe. That was the thing. I think it was more of the internal structure of our team and kind of red tape that got put in place after seven years of business and systems and processes that kind of built up on itself. We should have taken an axe to all of that, rather than, maybe, potentially taking an axe to the UK channel. Stephanie: Got it. Is there any big initiatives that you undertook that you were like, you talked about internal processes and structures, is there any one thing that led to kind of riding the business back to where you wanted to go after the whole shutting down Europe? Eric: Yeah. Transparently, we had the worst fourth quarter we've ever had. It was a bloodbath. We were just losing a significant amount of cash and just burning through cash. We just had to make hard decisions about the business. When you're hemorrhaging money, you're not profitable, we had to scale back to 15. A leaner team means, "Hey, we're no longer going to have people proofing your work anymore. You're going to have to be responsible for your own work-end. You're no longer going to have someone who's kind of being the quarterback of the marketing team. You have to kind of interact directly with your audience, or your coworkers." By scaling back the team, you were almost, by necessity, forced to cut a lot of that red tape and focus on getting stuff done. Stephanie: Super important. All right. At the end of the interview, we'd like to do a lightning round, which is where I ask you a question and you have under a minute to quickly answer whatever comes to mind. Are you ready, Eric? Eric: I am electrified. Stephanie: Woo-hoo. All right. What's up next on new product launches coming to Beardbrand, if any? Eric: Our big thing is killing scent confusion or ending scent confusion. We want to provide head to toe fragrance and matching products. We don't have anything in your midsection. That's a little hint of a product that will be coming. Stephanie: Fun. I'll have to stay tuned for that. What's up next content or video-wise that you're excited about producing or creating next? Eric: We want to systematize our barbershop and winding in five different barbers and record over the course of a week, which would be a new way for us to perform. I can't wait to do that, but, this whole quarantine has got to end first. Stephanie: That sounds really fun. What's up next on your reading list? Eric: I hate reading. Stephanie: Podcasts, audible, anything? Eric: I hate reading. I'll tell you I just finished the book called Rocket Fuel which talks about integrators and visionaries. It was the one book that I've read over the past year. I'm just going to piggyback off of that one. Stephanie: I don't like it. What's up next on your Netflix queue? Eric: Again, man, I just had a baby five weeks ago. Stephanie: Congrats. Me, too. Eric: Oh, no way. Stephanie: Yeah. I had twins eight weeks ago. Eric: Oh, poor you. Stephanie: Poor us. Eric: It's got to be crazy, right? We're in the quarantine. Stephanie: Yeah. No Netflix for us then, huh? I don't know. I watch Tiger Kings in my off time when they're sleeping. Eric: My answer is a lot of primitive survival type of videos on YouTube. That's my go-to content that I consume. Stephanie: That's great. All right. A little harder one, what's up next for e-commerce pros? Eric: I think there's going to be a move away from Amazon from both a consumer perspective and a seller perspective. I think Amazon is really kind of twisting the screw in a lot of people. There's going to be a little bit of blowback from that. Stephanie: Completely agree, especially with everything going on right now where Amazon's picking what products are essential. I think they just said that they are going to be optimizing for its margins. Instead of showing people, maybe, what they want to find, they're going to be showing people products that have higher margins. I can see that also happening. Eric: They're also neutering a lot of people in the affiliate space where they just literally cut their commissions in half. Stephanie: That's not good. Eric: [crosstalk 00:54:51]. Stephanie: Well, it sounds a good prediction, then. Eric: Yeah. Less people will be pointing links to Amazon, I think. Stephanie: All right. Any final words of advice or wisdom, Eric, that you want to share before we hop off? Eric: The big thing I always like to tell people is, in life you always have doubts and questions about what you need to do. The reality is you need to just go out there, execute, and do it. Action, a lot of times, is better than no action. Just go out there. You know what you need to do. Go and get it done. Stephanie: Yes, do it. All right. Thanks so much for coming on the show, Eric. It was a blast. See you soon. Eric: My pleasure.  

Dr. Eric Cole is a distinguished cybersecurity expert, author, and keynote speaker with over 30 years of experience in the cybersecurity industry. Nowadays he helps Fortune 500 companies all over the world keep their assets secure by drawing on the things he learned back when he was working for the CIA. And today on Masters of Wealth, he’s sitting down with Johnny to talk about cybersecurity in the time of coronavirus, how today’s hackers are using the law of large numbers to steal more than ever before, and what it means to be truly successful when you can lose it all in just one click. To find out more about Eric, follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/DrEricCole, or check out his website at www.secure-anchor.com. To learn more about Johnny and to hear more episodes of Masters of Wealth, follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/JohnnyWimbrey and check out his website at johnnywimbrey.com.Show Notes & Show Quotes: ----3:00 (Eric) - I wish I could say I had this well-thought-out plan, but I’m a big fan of, “You sort of trust your instincts, listen to the universe, and everything works out.”7:15 (Eric) - What hackers have found to be much more beneficial, is instead of taking a million dollars from ten people, you take ten dollars from a million people. 15:15 (Johnny) - The definition of ignorance is, you just don’t know. And the definition of foolishness is when you do know, but you don’t take action. 27:15 (Eric) - At the end of the day, there’s two fundamental facts - one, you and everyone listening are going to be a part of a cyber attack, and two, cyber security is your responsibility.35:15 (Johnny) - It’s better to be prepared and not called than called and not prepared. Eric Cole: ---Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/DrEricColeTwitter: @drericcoleInstagram: @drericcoleEric’s Website: www.secure-anchor.comJohnny Wimbrey: ---Facebook: facebook.com/JohnnyWimbreyInstagram: @wimbreyTwitter: @wimbreyWebsite: johnnywimbrey.com Books featured in this Episode:---Eric Cole - Online DangerEric Cole - Hiding in Plain SightJohnny Wimbrey - From The Hood To Doing Good

Brandy “Mrs IV8888”” Introduction You’re a secret medic … I have seen your supplies! What do you carry in the car? Range? Around the house? Storytime … Williams Injuries … haha Eric? What’s new … ballistic ink CIVILIANMEDICAL FOR A 10% AT MEDICAL GEAR OUTFITTERS

David og Eric taler om afsnit 6 af sæson 8 af Game of Thrones. Det sidste afsnit af verdens bedste serie. Intromusikken er Game of Thrones temaet til sæson 8. Anbefalinger: Matador remastered – anbefalet af Eric What we do in the shadows – anbefalet af David Indlægget Farvel Daenerys, Jon, Arya, Sansa, Bran og Game of Thrones blev vist første gang den Bingecast - podcast om serier.

Episode available on CISO Series blog (https://cisoseries.com/no-shirt-no-security-no-merger/) Sure, we'd like to merge with your company but geez, have you looked at your security posture lately? Uggh. I don't know if I could be seen in public with your kind let alone acquire your type. We're wary as to who wants to enter our digital home on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast. This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Mark Eggleston (@meggleston), vp, chief information security and privacy officer, Health Partners Plans. Thanks to this week's sponsor, Praetorian As a professional services company, Praetorian helps enterprise customers solve complex cybersecurity problems. We are the security experts. On this week's episode How CISOs are digesting the latest security news Good cybersecurity hygiene is critical not just to mitigate breaches but also the valuation of a company, especially during a merger or acquisition. Itzik Kotler, co-founder and CTO of Safe Breach, notes that back in 2016 the Verizon acquisition price of Yahoo was lowered nearly $350 million after Yahoo disclosed data breaches that had happened up to two years earlier. Kotler said, "The problem is cybersecurity risk from mergers and acquisitions perspective should not be about what has happened, but about what vulnerabilities are being introduced and what could happen as a result." Why is everybody talking about this now? An interesting question on Quora asked, "Do you regret working in cybersecurity?" Do our CISOs ever regret? Why do people regret? "What's Worse?!" We have a challenge that pits securing old and new technology. Ask a CISO Eric Rindo just graduated with his MS in Cybersecurity. He has a certification, but zero experience. He's looking for his first InfoSec opportunity. For a CISO, what's attractive about a candidate like Eric? What do you think of this pitch? What happens when you pitch something CISOs already have?

Panel: David Kimura Eric Berry In this episode of Ruby Rogues, the panelists talk amongst themselves about their favorite software, equipment, and apps. Both Eric and David thoroughly share their preferred picks within these categories, and they explain how and why they use the specified item. Check out today’s episode to hear more! Show Topics: 0:00 – Advertisement: Sentry.io 1:03 – David: Welcome! Today, Chuck is not feeling well. I am David and today we have Eric Berry on our panel today. It is just the two of us today. I want to talk about our development environment. What is your setup like? Do you have an office space and your hardware? 1:58 – Eric: I Have a room in my basement that has everything that I need. I do work from home. There is my guitar, my geek toys and more. For my hardware I am using 2017 MacBook Pro (16 GB of ram). The 13-inch is convenient, but I upgraded b/c I do a lot of traveling. I do pull the iPad out and use DUET. You no longer have to use a cord. I have a monitor that is 30-inches and it’s gorgeous. That is my hardware setup. I am not a mechanical keyboard guy, and I stick with the Apple super flat keyboard. I do use Bestand – it’s a holster for the keyboard and the track pad. What do you have? 4:35 – David: I have a Frankenstein setup. My needs change, over time, and when that changes my hardware changes. Back in the day I did not have a Mac and I used a Windows machine. I used to be a gamer, but then met my wife and then stopped b/c she didn’t like for me to waste time. My setup is more proper. I have a baseline iMac Pro b/c there was a great deal of $1,000 off. The other option was an iMac. I like the desktop b/c that’s where I do work – at home. It was a $4,000 investment. I am on my computer ALL the time it was worth it to me. I got the wall-mount for me, and I have more monitors wall-mounted, too. 8:00 – David: That is my monitor and computer setup. I have an eco-rhythmic keyboard b/c of childhood injuries. I have a really old Microsoft keyboard from 2005 something. It was cheap but I like the style of it. For my mouse I have a Logitech mouse. I love the feel of this thing. It has a side scroll left and right, and up and down. Especially when I am looking at code. It helps with my video editing, too. My mouse is my favorite to-date. I don’t have too much plugged into the Mac. I have a GoDrive, which has everything on it – my whole life’s work is on there. If there is ever an emergency I know to grab that. Back things up in case of an emergency would be my tips to you all. 11:40 – Eric: I have struggled with backing things up actually. The problem that I have is that I am constantly moving my laptop. I have this guilt and fear of doing it wrong. 12:33 – David: I have this work laptop – I don’t back that up every day.  David gives Eric his suggestions in regards to backing files up. David mentions Back Blaze. 14:05 – Eric: That makes sense. I live in the Apple eco-system. I have my phone, watch, 40 iPads, laptop – everything backs up to the Cloud. The date we are recording this is 10/30/18. Apple just announced a new upgrade. I feel like this could compete with an actual laptop computer. Eric asks David a question. 15:35 – David: ...My main problem with that is that you might already have a developmental machine. It’s a stationary computer then it’s not feasible to take on the go. I do have an iPad Pro and I will take that on the go. I can login to my home network. BLINK – I used on my iPad Pro. David continues to talk about his setup. 19:00 – Eric: I kind of agree with you. I have seen it used quite a bit. My brother does everything online for his job. The pros are that if you are training, and his company is configured that way. The pros is that you can code from anywhere on anyone’s computer. I am glad that it DOES exist. It’s not Cloud9 but someone does offer... 20:20 – David: I think going to a solo screen does hurt my productivity – working on the iPad vs. working on the computer. I could get faster and faster but only to a certain degree. If you have the resources – then I don’t think it’s sustainable. However, if you don’t have the resources it’s better than nothing. At least you are coding and that’s important. 22:15 – Eric: I think of the audience we cater to with Ruby Rogues. I wonder if our listeners are strapped for cash or if they do have the resources to get the job done? 22:48 – David: If you don’t have a lot of money, you don’t have to buy a Mac. If Cloud hosting isn’t your thing there are different options. You have DOCKER, and use Windows as your main editor, and the WSL. I wanted to do a test – I bout a laptop for $500-$700 and you can get away with doing what you need to do. Learning how to program and code with what you have is great! 25:00 – Advertisement – Fresh Books! 26:05 – Eric: Let’s talk about the software developer environment. Nate Hopkins isn’t on today, but you can’t change his mind – I am VEM all the way. I think Cuck is EMAX. 26:43 – Eric: What do you do? 26:45 – David: I use VS code. David talks about the benefits of using VS code. 27:37 – Eric: Yes, 100%. I met the lead engineer behind VS code. They just made a new announcement. I have been using VS code for quite a while now. The integrated terminal and other features are awesome. Pulling me out of Sublime Text was a really, really hard thing for me. 29:28 – David: Sublime text, yes, but I got tired of the 40-year long beta, and the lack of expanding it, too. VS code has won my heart over. 30:53 – Eric: My guess is that they are going to leave it alone. I am sure they will connect the 2 teams. Think of how much work has gone into ATOM. That would be a hard pill to swallow. 31:20 – David: At the end of the day, though, it is a company. You don’t need 2 different editors when they do the same thing. 31:40 – Eric: I would have to disagree with you. Maybe they won’t merge the 2 but they just become different between ATOM (React and React Native) and... 32:22 – David: Why would a company cancel something only have 1 season? (Clears throat...Fox!) 32:58 – Eric: I open very large files with Sublime. Sublime handles this very easily. This goes back to: why am I opening up very large files? 33:31 – David: It’s a log file don’t lie. 33:40 – David: What browser do you use? Safari? 34:03 – Eric: Safari is nice for non-developers. Safari is lightweight and very fast. I have been a browser whore. I go from bedroom to bedroom from Opera to Firefox to Chrome. I fall into the Chrome field though. I have a problem with Chrome, though, and that it knows me too well. Google can sell my data and they do. 37:14 – David: With BRAVE, weren’t they doing something with the block chain and bit coin to reward you for browsing? 37:38 – Eric: Yeah I think that’s being run by... 38:03 – David: I still use CHROME b/c I like the extensions. It’s important to know why you are picking a certain browser. When you are talking about development you need to know who your target audience is. What kind of apps do you use? 39:54 – Eric: It’s interesting to see how much traffic the Android Browser gets. You want to switch over to other parts? For my tech software...I use Polymail.io for email. I use THINGS to keep me on-track, I use SLACK, BRAVE BROSWER, iTerm3 and MERT. I use FANTASTICO (calendar), and I use BEAR (for my note taking). What about you? 41:21 – David: I use iTerm3, too. I’m on 3 different Slack channels. I have been using DISCORD. Other tools that I use are SPECTACLE (extension) among others. I try to keep it slim and simple, though. Another one is EasyRez (free download) and you can adjust the screen resolution on your desktop monitors. It’s important to target my audience better. I do like PARALLELS, too. 44:24 – David continues: Screenflow, Apple Motion, and Adobe After Effects CC. 45:04 – Eric: I use 1 PASSWORD and BETA BASE. 46:04 – David: Have you heard of Last Pass? 46:15 – Eric: Oh sure! I have been using though 1 Password and I guess there some loyalty there. 46:54 – David asks Eric a question about 1 Password about pricing. 47:12 – Eric: I want to pay with money than with something else. 47:23 – David: It’s owned by LogMeIn, and they have tons of experience with security. 48:00 – Eric: I am going to put an article here that compares all these different apps so you can see the similarities and differences side-by-side. 48:40 – David: Anything else? Banking passwords? 48:54 – Eric: Nah, I am excited to see where we are. I like Mojave for the desktop but I don’t like it for the constant number of resets that I’ve had to do. I love what I do. 49:34 – David: Yeah, I agree. I haven’t experienced any major setbacks, yet. 49:55 – Picks! 50:03 – Eric: I think this whole episode has been PICKS! 50:15 – Advertisement: Get A Coder Job! End – Cache Fly! Links: Get a Coder Job Course Ruby Rust Ruby Motion Ruby on Rails Angular React React Native Komodo Bestand Duet Atom.io EasyRez Polymail.io Docker Adobe After Effects CC LogMeIn Brave 1 Password iTerm3 VS CODE iPad Pro Last Pass GoDrive Mojave EMAX Back Blaze Discord Sublime Text AWS Cloud9 StatCounter GitHub: Mert Bear App Process.st Pi-Hole Sponsors: Sentry Cache Fly Fresh Books Picks: Dave ProxMox Pi-Hole Eric Open Source Funders

Panel: David Kimura Eric Berry In this episode of Ruby Rogues, the panelists talk amongst themselves about their favorite software, equipment, and apps. Both Eric and David thoroughly share their preferred picks within these categories, and they explain how and why they use the specified item. Check out today’s episode to hear more! Show Topics: 0:00 – Advertisement: Sentry.io 1:03 – David: Welcome! Today, Chuck is not feeling well. I am David and today we have Eric Berry on our panel today. It is just the two of us today. I want to talk about our development environment. What is your setup like? Do you have an office space and your hardware? 1:58 – Eric: I Have a room in my basement that has everything that I need. I do work from home. There is my guitar, my geek toys and more. For my hardware I am using 2017 MacBook Pro (16 GB of ram). The 13-inch is convenient, but I upgraded b/c I do a lot of traveling. I do pull the iPad out and use DUET. You no longer have to use a cord. I have a monitor that is 30-inches and it’s gorgeous. That is my hardware setup. I am not a mechanical keyboard guy, and I stick with the Apple super flat keyboard. I do use Bestand – it’s a holster for the keyboard and the track pad. What do you have? 4:35 – David: I have a Frankenstein setup. My needs change, over time, and when that changes my hardware changes. Back in the day I did not have a Mac and I used a Windows machine. I used to be a gamer, but then met my wife and then stopped b/c she didn’t like for me to waste time. My setup is more proper. I have a baseline iMac Pro b/c there was a great deal of $1,000 off. The other option was an iMac. I like the desktop b/c that’s where I do work – at home. It was a $4,000 investment. I am on my computer ALL the time it was worth it to me. I got the wall-mount for me, and I have more monitors wall-mounted, too. 8:00 – David: That is my monitor and computer setup. I have an eco-rhythmic keyboard b/c of childhood injuries. I have a really old Microsoft keyboard from 2005 something. It was cheap but I like the style of it. For my mouse I have a Logitech mouse. I love the feel of this thing. It has a side scroll left and right, and up and down. Especially when I am looking at code. It helps with my video editing, too. My mouse is my favorite to-date. I don’t have too much plugged into the Mac. I have a GoDrive, which has everything on it – my whole life’s work is on there. If there is ever an emergency I know to grab that. Back things up in case of an emergency would be my tips to you all. 11:40 – Eric: I have struggled with backing things up actually. The problem that I have is that I am constantly moving my laptop. I have this guilt and fear of doing it wrong. 12:33 – David: I have this work laptop – I don’t back that up every day.  David gives Eric his suggestions in regards to backing files up. David mentions Back Blaze. 14:05 – Eric: That makes sense. I live in the Apple eco-system. I have my phone, watch, 40 iPads, laptop – everything backs up to the Cloud. The date we are recording this is 10/30/18. Apple just announced a new upgrade. I feel like this could compete with an actual laptop computer. Eric asks David a question. 15:35 – David: ...My main problem with that is that you might already have a developmental machine. It’s a stationary computer then it’s not feasible to take on the go. I do have an iPad Pro and I will take that on the go. I can login to my home network. BLINK – I used on my iPad Pro. David continues to talk about his setup. 19:00 – Eric: I kind of agree with you. I have seen it used quite a bit. My brother does everything online for his job. The pros are that if you are training, and his company is configured that way. The pros is that you can code from anywhere on anyone’s computer. I am glad that it DOES exist. It’s not Cloud9 but someone does offer... 20:20 – David: I think going to a solo screen does hurt my productivity – working on the iPad vs. working on the computer. I could get faster and faster but only to a certain degree. If you have the resources – then I don’t think it’s sustainable. However, if you don’t have the resources it’s better than nothing. At least you are coding and that’s important. 22:15 – Eric: I think of the audience we cater to with Ruby Rogues. I wonder if our listeners are strapped for cash or if they do have the resources to get the job done? 22:48 – David: If you don’t have a lot of money, you don’t have to buy a Mac. If Cloud hosting isn’t your thing there are different options. You have DOCKER, and use Windows as your main editor, and the WSL. I wanted to do a test – I bout a laptop for $500-$700 and you can get away with doing what you need to do. Learning how to program and code with what you have is great! 25:00 – Advertisement – Fresh Books! 26:05 – Eric: Let’s talk about the software developer environment. Nate Hopkins isn’t on today, but you can’t change his mind – I am VEM all the way. I think Cuck is EMAX. 26:43 – Eric: What do you do? 26:45 – David: I use VS code. David talks about the benefits of using VS code. 27:37 – Eric: Yes, 100%. I met the lead engineer behind VS code. They just made a new announcement. I have been using VS code for quite a while now. The integrated terminal and other features are awesome. Pulling me out of Sublime Text was a really, really hard thing for me. 29:28 – David: Sublime text, yes, but I got tired of the 40-year long beta, and the lack of expanding it, too. VS code has won my heart over. 30:53 – Eric: My guess is that they are going to leave it alone. I am sure they will connect the 2 teams. Think of how much work has gone into ATOM. That would be a hard pill to swallow. 31:20 – David: At the end of the day, though, it is a company. You don’t need 2 different editors when they do the same thing. 31:40 – Eric: I would have to disagree with you. Maybe they won’t merge the 2 but they just become different between ATOM (React and React Native) and... 32:22 – David: Why would a company cancel something only have 1 season? (Clears throat...Fox!) 32:58 – Eric: I open very large files with Sublime. Sublime handles this very easily. This goes back to: why am I opening up very large files? 33:31 – David: It’s a log file don’t lie. 33:40 – David: What browser do you use? Safari? 34:03 – Eric: Safari is nice for non-developers. Safari is lightweight and very fast. I have been a browser whore. I go from bedroom to bedroom from Opera to Firefox to Chrome. I fall into the Chrome field though. I have a problem with Chrome, though, and that it knows me too well. Google can sell my data and they do. 37:14 – David: With BRAVE, weren’t they doing something with the block chain and bit coin to reward you for browsing? 37:38 – Eric: Yeah I think that’s being run by... 38:03 – David: I still use CHROME b/c I like the extensions. It’s important to know why you are picking a certain browser. When you are talking about development you need to know who your target audience is. What kind of apps do you use? 39:54 – Eric: It’s interesting to see how much traffic the Android Browser gets. You want to switch over to other parts? For my tech software...I use Polymail.io for email. I use THINGS to keep me on-track, I use SLACK, BRAVE BROSWER, iTerm3 and MERT. I use FANTASTICO (calendar), and I use BEAR (for my note taking). What about you? 41:21 – David: I use iTerm3, too. I’m on 3 different Slack channels. I have been using DISCORD. Other tools that I use are SPECTACLE (extension) among others. I try to keep it slim and simple, though. Another one is EasyRez (free download) and you can adjust the screen resolution on your desktop monitors. It’s important to target my audience better. I do like PARALLELS, too. 44:24 – David continues: Screenflow, Apple Motion, and Adobe After Effects CC. 45:04 – Eric: I use 1 PASSWORD and BETA BASE. 46:04 – David: Have you heard of Last Pass? 46:15 – Eric: Oh sure! I have been using though 1 Password and I guess there some loyalty there. 46:54 – David asks Eric a question about 1 Password about pricing. 47:12 – Eric: I want to pay with money than with something else. 47:23 – David: It’s owned by LogMeIn, and they have tons of experience with security. 48:00 – Eric: I am going to put an article here that compares all these different apps so you can see the similarities and differences side-by-side. 48:40 – David: Anything else? Banking passwords? 48:54 – Eric: Nah, I am excited to see where we are. I like Mojave for the desktop but I don’t like it for the constant number of resets that I’ve had to do. I love what I do. 49:34 – David: Yeah, I agree. I haven’t experienced any major setbacks, yet. 49:55 – Picks! 50:03 – Eric: I think this whole episode has been PICKS! 50:15 – Advertisement: Get A Coder Job! End – Cache Fly! Links: Get a Coder Job Course Ruby Rust Ruby Motion Ruby on Rails Angular React React Native Komodo Bestand Duet Atom.io EasyRez Polymail.io Docker Adobe After Effects CC LogMeIn Brave 1 Password iTerm3 VS CODE iPad Pro Last Pass GoDrive Mojave EMAX Back Blaze Discord Sublime Text AWS Cloud9 StatCounter GitHub: Mert Bear App Process.st Pi-Hole Sponsors: Sentry Cache Fly Fresh Books Picks: Dave ProxMox Pi-Hole Eric Open Source Funders

Panel: David Kimura Eric Berry In this episode of Ruby Rogues, the panelists talk amongst themselves about their favorite software, equipment, and apps. Both Eric and David thoroughly share their preferred picks within these categories, and they explain how and why they use the specified item. Check out today’s episode to hear more! Show Topics: 0:00 – Advertisement: Sentry.io 1:03 – David: Welcome! Today, Chuck is not feeling well. I am David and today we have Eric Berry on our panel today. It is just the two of us today. I want to talk about our development environment. What is your setup like? Do you have an office space and your hardware? 1:58 – Eric: I Have a room in my basement that has everything that I need. I do work from home. There is my guitar, my geek toys and more. For my hardware I am using 2017 MacBook Pro (16 GB of ram). The 13-inch is convenient, but I upgraded b/c I do a lot of traveling. I do pull the iPad out and use DUET. You no longer have to use a cord. I have a monitor that is 30-inches and it’s gorgeous. That is my hardware setup. I am not a mechanical keyboard guy, and I stick with the Apple super flat keyboard. I do use Bestand – it’s a holster for the keyboard and the track pad. What do you have? 4:35 – David: I have a Frankenstein setup. My needs change, over time, and when that changes my hardware changes. Back in the day I did not have a Mac and I used a Windows machine. I used to be a gamer, but then met my wife and then stopped b/c she didn’t like for me to waste time. My setup is more proper. I have a baseline iMac Pro b/c there was a great deal of $1,000 off. The other option was an iMac. I like the desktop b/c that’s where I do work – at home. It was a $4,000 investment. I am on my computer ALL the time it was worth it to me. I got the wall-mount for me, and I have more monitors wall-mounted, too. 8:00 – David: That is my monitor and computer setup. I have an eco-rhythmic keyboard b/c of childhood injuries. I have a really old Microsoft keyboard from 2005 something. It was cheap but I like the style of it. For my mouse I have a Logitech mouse. I love the feel of this thing. It has a side scroll left and right, and up and down. Especially when I am looking at code. It helps with my video editing, too. My mouse is my favorite to-date. I don’t have too much plugged into the Mac. I have a GoDrive, which has everything on it – my whole life’s work is on there. If there is ever an emergency I know to grab that. Back things up in case of an emergency would be my tips to you all. 11:40 – Eric: I have struggled with backing things up actually. The problem that I have is that I am constantly moving my laptop. I have this guilt and fear of doing it wrong. 12:33 – David: I have this work laptop – I don’t back that up every day.  David gives Eric his suggestions in regards to backing files up. David mentions Back Blaze. 14:05 – Eric: That makes sense. I live in the Apple eco-system. I have my phone, watch, 40 iPads, laptop – everything backs up to the Cloud. The date we are recording this is 10/30/18. Apple just announced a new upgrade. I feel like this could compete with an actual laptop computer. Eric asks David a question. 15:35 – David: ...My main problem with that is that you might already have a developmental machine. It’s a stationary computer then it’s not feasible to take on the go. I do have an iPad Pro and I will take that on the go. I can login to my home network. BLINK – I used on my iPad Pro. David continues to talk about his setup. 19:00 – Eric: I kind of agree with you. I have seen it used quite a bit. My brother does everything online for his job. The pros are that if you are training, and his company is configured that way. The pros is that you can code from anywhere on anyone’s computer. I am glad that it DOES exist. It’s not Cloud9 but someone does offer... 20:20 – David: I think going to a solo screen does hurt my productivity – working on the iPad vs. working on the computer. I could get faster and faster but only to a certain degree. If you have the resources – then I don’t think it’s sustainable. However, if you don’t have the resources it’s better than nothing. At least you are coding and that’s important. 22:15 – Eric: I think of the audience we cater to with Ruby Rogues. I wonder if our listeners are strapped for cash or if they do have the resources to get the job done? 22:48 – David: If you don’t have a lot of money, you don’t have to buy a Mac. If Cloud hosting isn’t your thing there are different options. You have DOCKER, and use Windows as your main editor, and the WSL. I wanted to do a test – I bout a laptop for $500-$700 and you can get away with doing what you need to do. Learning how to program and code with what you have is great! 25:00 – Advertisement – Fresh Books! 26:05 – Eric: Let’s talk about the software developer environment. Nate Hopkins isn’t on today, but you can’t change his mind – I am VEM all the way. I think Cuck is EMAX. 26:43 – Eric: What do you do? 26:45 – David: I use VS code. David talks about the benefits of using VS code. 27:37 – Eric: Yes, 100%. I met the lead engineer behind VS code. They just made a new announcement. I have been using VS code for quite a while now. The integrated terminal and other features are awesome. Pulling me out of Sublime Text was a really, really hard thing for me. 29:28 – David: Sublime text, yes, but I got tired of the 40-year long beta, and the lack of expanding it, too. VS code has won my heart over. 30:53 – Eric: My guess is that they are going to leave it alone. I am sure they will connect the 2 teams. Think of how much work has gone into ATOM. That would be a hard pill to swallow. 31:20 – David: At the end of the day, though, it is a company. You don’t need 2 different editors when they do the same thing. 31:40 – Eric: I would have to disagree with you. Maybe they won’t merge the 2 but they just become different between ATOM (React and React Native) and... 32:22 – David: Why would a company cancel something only have 1 season? (Clears throat...Fox!) 32:58 – Eric: I open very large files with Sublime. Sublime handles this very easily. This goes back to: why am I opening up very large files? 33:31 – David: It’s a log file don’t lie. 33:40 – David: What browser do you use? Safari? 34:03 – Eric: Safari is nice for non-developers. Safari is lightweight and very fast. I have been a browser whore. I go from bedroom to bedroom from Opera to Firefox to Chrome. I fall into the Chrome field though. I have a problem with Chrome, though, and that it knows me too well. Google can sell my data and they do. 37:14 – David: With BRAVE, weren’t they doing something with the block chain and bit coin to reward you for browsing? 37:38 – Eric: Yeah I think that’s being run by... 38:03 – David: I still use CHROME b/c I like the extensions. It’s important to know why you are picking a certain browser. When you are talking about development you need to know who your target audience is. What kind of apps do you use? 39:54 – Eric: It’s interesting to see how much traffic the Android Browser gets. You want to switch over to other parts? For my tech software...I use Polymail.io for email. I use THINGS to keep me on-track, I use SLACK, BRAVE BROSWER, iTerm3 and MERT. I use FANTASTICO (calendar), and I use BEAR (for my note taking). What about you? 41:21 – David: I use iTerm3, too. I’m on 3 different Slack channels. I have been using DISCORD. Other tools that I use are SPECTACLE (extension) among others. I try to keep it slim and simple, though. Another one is EasyRez (free download) and you can adjust the screen resolution on your desktop monitors. It’s important to target my audience better. I do like PARALLELS, too. 44:24 – David continues: Screenflow, Apple Motion, and Adobe After Effects CC. 45:04 – Eric: I use 1 PASSWORD and BETA BASE. 46:04 – David: Have you heard of Last Pass? 46:15 – Eric: Oh sure! I have been using though 1 Password and I guess there some loyalty there. 46:54 – David asks Eric a question about 1 Password about pricing. 47:12 – Eric: I want to pay with money than with something else. 47:23 – David: It’s owned by LogMeIn, and they have tons of experience with security. 48:00 – Eric: I am going to put an article here that compares all these different apps so you can see the similarities and differences side-by-side. 48:40 – David: Anything else? Banking passwords? 48:54 – Eric: Nah, I am excited to see where we are. I like Mojave for the desktop but I don’t like it for the constant number of resets that I’ve had to do. I love what I do. 49:34 – David: Yeah, I agree. I haven’t experienced any major setbacks, yet. 49:55 – Picks! 50:03 – Eric: I think this whole episode has been PICKS! 50:15 – Advertisement: Get A Coder Job! End – Cache Fly! Links: Get a Coder Job Course Ruby Rust Ruby Motion Ruby on Rails Angular React React Native Komodo Bestand Duet Atom.io EasyRez Polymail.io Docker Adobe After Effects CC LogMeIn Brave 1 Password iTerm3 VS CODE iPad Pro Last Pass GoDrive Mojave EMAX Back Blaze Discord Sublime Text AWS Cloud9 StatCounter GitHub: Mert Bear App Process.st Pi-Hole Sponsors: Sentry Cache Fly Fresh Books Picks: Dave ProxMox Pi-Hole Eric Open Source Funders

Welcome To Plotpoints Podcast! This is Plotpoints Podcast! www.plotpoints.com Show Notes September 14, 2018 EP 135 My co-host is Author/Screenwriter Christopher Stires #Starbeasts #PaladinsJourney #RebelNation #TheInheritance #DarkLegend Starbeasts (presales) Amazon Page BarnesAndNoble See Chris' full bio at end of the show notes. 00:00:00 Intro #EastboundAndDown, #jerryReed #SixthSense #gonewiththewind Mark 00:01:00 WELCOME/TABLE TALK Mark, Chris 00:10:45 BURT REYNOLDS #TheLongestYard #Gator  #Nickelodeon  #SmokeyandtheBandit  #Semi-Tough  #The End  #Hooper  #StartingOver   #RoughCut  #SharkysMachine    #StrokerAce  #CannonballRun #CityHeat 00:017:00 WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON? Mark, Chris 00:22:00 Info Break ~ Need a Writing Class?  For info go to www.scriptwritingclasses.org LEARN PODCASTING For info go HERE ~ 00:25:00 GREAT MOVIE ENDINGS - Chris' List Chris #empirestrikesback #chinatown #godfather #planetoftheapes #theverdict #sixthsense #inception #memento #dakrknight #identity #toystory3 00:35:00 ERNEST LEHMAN IN DEPTH Mark #ExecutiveSuite #Sabrina #SomebodyUpThereLikesMe  #TheKingandI #SweetSmellofSuccess #NorthbyNorthwest #WestSideStory  #ThePrize #TheSoundofMusic #WhosAfraidofVirginiaWoolf #HelloDolly! #PortnoysComplaint #FamilyPlot #BlackSunday 00:45:00 Q&A Mark Question from Eric: What is the difference between MONTAGE and SERIES OF SCENES (or SERIES OF SHOTS) and WHEN SHOULD YOU USE THEM? 00:48:00 OUTRO FILM NETWORKING and INDUSTRY GUESTS?  YES!  SEPTEMBER 19th, TECH ADVISER DEPUTY SGT JEFF WALKER UPCOMING AT C3 Vape and Coffee (www.ocfilmandtv.com) MEETUP DETAILS Need a Writing Class?  For info go to www.scriptwritingclasses.org #scriptwritingclasses.org ~*~  #ocscreenwriters #ocfilmandtv #alejandroseri #finaldraft  QUESTIONS?  COMMENTS? 919-Scripts www.ocscreenwriters.com #ocscreenwriters Why Does Your Screenplay Get Rejected? (Mark's article for Creative Screenwriting Magazine) www.ocfilmandtv.com #richdalessio #c3vapeandcoffee Call 816-WRITERS for info on the MeetUps Meetup www.ocscreenwriters.com / www.ocfilmandtv.com HEY! Tell us what is your favorite Scifi, Romantic Comedy or Comic Book movie? Call (919) Scripts and shout it out to us. Resources: 919-SCRIPTS to leave a message/ask questions. www.plotpoints.com (show blog and more) www.ocscreenwriters.com - by writers for writers. Be Inspired, Do Good Work! Need a Writing Class?  For info go to www.scriptwritingclasses.org #scriptwritingclasses.org Writers Guild Registration – www.wgawregistry.org U.S. Copyright Office - www.copyright.gov Podcast available on iTunes All Material copyright (c) Mark Sevi #marksevi Christopher Stires is a novelist, short-story writer and screenwriter living in Riverside CA. He has four novels currently in print. PALADIN’S JOURNEY, REBEL NATION, DARK LEGEND, and THE INHERITANCE (Winner of the 2003 Dream Realm Award for Horror) are available from Zumaya Publications (http://www.zumayapublications.com/). PALADIN’S JOURNEY: SABIAN (the sequel to PALADIN’S JOURNEY) will soon be released by Zumaya. STARBEAST (a reprint/retitle of TO THE MOUNTAIN OF THE BEAST) will soon be released by World Castle Publishing (http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com/home.html). He has had more than 70 short stories and articles appear in publications in the United States, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. With co-writer, Mark Sevi, he has had one screenplay optioned. He is a member of Facebook and Goodreads.

Welcome To Plotpoints Podcast! This is Plotpoints Podcast! www.plotpoints.com Show Notes September 14, 2018 EP 135 My co-host is Author/Screenwriter Christopher Stires #Starbeasts #PaladinsJourney #RebelNation #TheInheritance #DarkLegend Starbeasts (presales) Amazon Page BarnesAndNoble See Chris' full bio at end of the show notes. 00:00:00 Intro #EastboundAndDown, #jerryReed #SixthSense #gonewiththewind Mark 00:01:00 WELCOME/TABLE TALK Mark, Chris 00:10:45 BURT REYNOLDS #TheLongestYard #Gator  #Nickelodeon  #SmokeyandtheBandit  #Semi-Tough  #The End  #Hooper  #StartingOver   #RoughCut  #SharkysMachine    #StrokerAce  #CannonballRun #CityHeat 00:017:00 WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON? Mark, Chris 00:22:00 Info Break ~ Need a Writing Class?  For info go to www.scriptwritingclasses.org LEARN PODCASTING For info go HERE ~ 00:25:00 GREAT MOVIE ENDINGS - Chris' List Chris #empirestrikesback #chinatown #godfather #planetoftheapes #theverdict #sixthsense #inception #memento #dakrknight #identity #toystory3 00:35:00 ERNEST LEHMAN IN DEPTH Mark #ExecutiveSuite #Sabrina #SomebodyUpThereLikesMe  #TheKingandI #SweetSmellofSuccess #NorthbyNorthwest #WestSideStory  #ThePrize #TheSoundofMusic #WhosAfraidofVirginiaWoolf #HelloDolly! #PortnoysComplaint #FamilyPlot #BlackSunday 00:45:00 Q&A Mark Question from Eric: What is the difference between MONTAGE and SERIES OF SCENES (or SERIES OF SHOTS) and WHEN SHOULD YOU USE THEM? 00:48:00 OUTRO FILM NETWORKING and INDUSTRY GUESTS?  YES!  SEPTEMBER 19th, TECH ADVISER DEPUTY SGT JEFF WALKER UPCOMING AT C3 Vape and Coffee (www.ocfilmandtv.com) MEETUP DETAILS Need a Writing Class?  For info go to www.scriptwritingclasses.org #scriptwritingclasses.org ~*~  #ocscreenwriters #ocfilmandtv #alejandroseri #finaldraft  QUESTIONS?  COMMENTS? 919-Scripts www.ocscreenwriters.com #ocscreenwriters Why Does Your Screenplay Get Rejected? (Mark's article for Creative Screenwriting Magazine) www.ocfilmandtv.com #richdalessio #c3vapeandcoffee Call 816-WRITERS for info on the MeetUps Meetup www.ocscreenwriters.com / www.ocfilmandtv.com HEY! Tell us what is your favorite Scifi, Romantic Comedy or Comic Book movie? Call (919) Scripts and shout it out to us. Resources: 919-SCRIPTS to leave a message/ask questions. www.plotpoints.com (show blog and more) www.ocscreenwriters.com - by writers for writers. Be Inspired, Do Good Work! Need a Writing Class?  For info go to www.scriptwritingclasses.org #scriptwritingclasses.org Writers Guild Registration – www.wgawregistry.org U.S. Copyright Office - www.copyright.gov Podcast available on iTunes All Material copyright (c) Mark Sevi #marksevi Christopher Stires is a novelist, short-story writer and screenwriter living in Riverside CA. He has four novels currently in print. PALADIN’S JOURNEY, REBEL NATION, DARK LEGEND, and THE INHERITANCE (Winner of the 2003 Dream Realm Award for Horror) are available from Zumaya Publications (http://www.zumayapublications.com/). PALADIN’S JOURNEY: SABIAN (the sequel to PALADIN’S JOURNEY) will soon be released by Zumaya. STARBEAST (a reprint/retitle of TO THE MOUNTAIN OF THE BEAST) will soon be released by World Castle Publishing (http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com/home.html). He has had more than 70 short stories and articles appear in publications in the United States, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. With co-writer, Mark Sevi, he has had one screenplay optioned. He is a member of Facebook and Goodreads.

Today's focus is art therapy. Eric's sister, Maria Riddle, graduated in 2017 from the Master's in Art Therapy program at IUPUI in Indianapolis. Maria discusses the process of integrating art into more traditional methods of therapy. - Some of the topics include: How has your art supported your personal wellness? When did you decide to pursue art as a career? Examples of art therapy process in a clinical setting What was it like growing up with Eric? What does healing mean to you? - Shownotes: Tribe by Sebastian Junger American Art Therapy Association IUPUI Art Therapy Program Maria Riddle email: maria.riddle@centerstone.org - Next Episode: Tony Robert's discusses his book, Delight in Disorder, and the benefits of writing. Unedited with Eric!

News: Lots of hotfixes the last few days. Garrison outpost changes coming. Hearthstone Goblins vs. Gnomes is live. "The Last of Us" bug? New Charity pet What's up with the iLvL of followers? Eric does Ashran Is it server/faction switch time for Eric? What's going on with max level garrison missions? Mages finally feel like mages. To tailor or not to tailor. PvP happened on Emerald Dream

News: Lots of hotfixes the last few days. Garrison outpost changes coming. Hearthstone Goblins vs. Gnomes is live. "The Last of Us" bug? New Charity pet What's up with the iLvL of followers? Eric does Ashran Is it server/faction switch time for Eric? What's going on with max level garrison missions? Mages finally feel like mages. To tailor or not to tailor. PvP happened on Emerald Dream

asset title: Episode 22: Episode 22: Truth and Consequences filename: ra_22.mp3 track number: 22/22 time: 12:07 size: 11.37 MB bitrate: 128 kbps If things had not been so wildly hectic here at Radio Arlecchino of late, this exciting episode would have appeared quite a bit sooner! But here it is at last, full of bone-chilling encounters of the second and third kind! Hypothetically speaking, that is. If you don’t tell the truth, you have to face the consequences. And we spell it all out for you, in every poignant tense and mood required. And what if Antonella were suddenly to be whisked away to Rome again, leaving Eric to his own devices in front of the microphone? Would it be sad, or would a clever plan be hatched? What if you were to listen in…?Dialog: ItalianNostalgia e desiderio Antonella: Se potessimo tornare indietro...Eric: Non lo farei, neanche se potessi.Antonella: Come mai? Credevo che tu fossi preso dalla nostalgia.Eric: Più forte della nostalgia ora è il mio desiderio di avere un incontro ravvicinatoAntonella: del secondo tipo?Eric: e anche del terzo.Flashback 1 Arlecchino: Ecco, arriva il Dottore! Temo che lui ce l'abbia con me. Mi arrampico sulla scala, così non mi vedrà..Flashback 2Pantalone: Non c'è nessun altro qui che abbia visto quello che è successo? Colombina: Te lo racconto io come è andata. Dunque, quando ha visto che ero proprio lì sotto, ha messo appositamente un piede male sulla scala! Mi ha guardato all'alto e penso proprio che l'abbia fatto apposta a cadere.Flashback 3Antonella: Sopra la scrivania, su quello scaffale... Prendi quella scatola...Eric: Cosa c'è dentro...?Antonella: Dai, dai, svita il cappuccio...Eric: Antonella... ma cos'è questo?Antonella: Oh, scusa, hai preso quella sbagliata, scusa, scusa... Ci dev'essere un'altra, controlla.Eric: La vedo, ma oso aprirla?Antonella: Ma sì! Abbi coraggio, Eric!Eric: Accidenti!Antonella: Oh, Eric! Che mani di pasta frolla che hai! Quelli sono i miei fagioli saltellanti!Flashback 4Dottore: Avete visitato il Vittoriano? Avete ammirato il Foro Romano?i turisti: Sì!Dottore: Siete andati ai Musei Vaticani? Avete messo la mano nella Bocca della Verità?i turisti: Sì!Dottore: Avete camminato da Piazza Navona fino alla Fontana di Trevi?i turisti: Sì!Dottore: Avete salito la scalinata in Piazza di Spagna?i turisti: Oh, sì!Dottore: Siete stanchi?i turisti: Sì!Antonella: Quei poveri turisti hanno camminato per tutta Roma in piena estate!Eric: Perciò sono stanchissimi.Flashback 5Dottore: Se ho dei petardi! Pulcinella, portami una scatola di petardi per il giovanotto... E per la signorina, queste meravigliose candele magiche “Gatto Nero”, un balocco divertente per tutta la famiglia...Oh, Pulcinella sì lo conoscono... Eccoli eccoli eccoli! Signori e signore, bambini di tutte le età, venite... sentitemi... Partecipate alle feste di San Giovanni, di Capodanno, di Natale, a tutte le feste dell'anno... Qui ci sono i rumori più sbalorditivi, le luci più brillanti, i colori più stravaganti, il fumo più misterioso, qui ci sono... i fuochi d'artificio Gatto Nero!Sì, sì... i razzi “Gatto Nero” sono giustamente famosi in tutto il mondo! Osservate...Accendo ora la miccia... Colombina, per favore...Colombina: Ecco, DottoreDottore: Grazie, mia cara... Et nunc... State per vedere qualcosa di veramente inverosimile....Colombina: Oh! Lei senz'altro lo vedrà, Dottore!Dottore: Tre... due... uno... Fuoco!Meravigliatevi ora davanti all'incomparabile pirotecnica 'Gatto Nero'!Antonella: Il Dottore ha fatto un bel viaggio sulla luna...Eric: grazie a Pulcinella che gli ha dato una mano con il razzo.Riflessioni e ricordi Eric: E se tu non fossi andata in Italia quell'estate, io non sarei rimasto qui da solo nello studio.Antonella: È vero che qui nello studio ci si può sentire abbandonati...Eric: Soprattutto in estate, quando i nostri amici attori sono tutti partiti per andare in vacanza.Antonella: Sarei molto più contenta adesso se fossero qui con noi.Eric: Pantalone rimproverebbe Pulcinella...Antonella: se Pulcinella avesse la faccia tosta di affrontarlo. Eric: Se vedesse entrare un bel giovanotto, Arlecchina--Antonella: --farebbe senz'altro la civettaEric: e Colombina si arrabbierebbe. Se Pulcinella suonasse il mandolino....Antonella: potremmo ballare la tarantella.Eric: dovremmo ballare invece la square danceAntonella: se ci fosse la signora Balanzone. Eric: E dove sono andati quei Balanzone?Antonella: Hanno lasciato un messaggio sulla segreteria telefonica. Senti.Dottor Balanzone: Saremmo andati a Rimini a trovare i genitori della signora Balanzone se non ci avessero invitato a partecipare a un seminario sulla square dance ad Austin! A dopo, amici! State bene! Buone vacanze!Antonella: E Pantalone?Eric: Ha lasciato questo biglietto:Ha scritto: 'Avevo intenzione di rimanere a Venezia, nonostante la folla di turisti, ma invece sarò nel Cadore... È vero, non amo le montagne. Comunque, a dire il vero, non ci andrei affatto se il Duca che mi ospiterà non avesse una nipote diciottenne che sta per ereditare un sacco di quei ducati.'Antonella: Ho sentito abbastanza. Il duca e i suoi ducati. Certe cose non cambiano mai...Eric: E tu, cosa faresti se non dovessi stare qua?Antonella: Bene, mio caro, stavo proprio per dirtelo... Io, di queste ipotesi, non ne faccio. Come dovresti ormai ben sapere, neanch'io rimarrò qui...Eric: Non è possibile! Di nuovo?Antonella: È estate... Roma! Ciao, Eric! Ti mando una cartolina!Eric: A presto, Antonella! Buon viaggio e buon divertimento!Antonella: Grazie! Ciao! Eric: Ma cosa faccio io adesso? Se ci fosse un modo di farlo, anch'io ci andrei. Se ci fosse giustizia in questo mondo, anch'io ammirerei il panorama dal Gianicolo... anch'io mangerei tartufo a Piazza Navona... anch'io berrei acqua Pansellegrino davanti al Colosseo... Dialog: EnglishNostalgia e desiderio Antonella: If we could turn back...Eric: I wouldn't do it, even if I could.Antonella: How come? I thought you were overcome with nostalgia.Eric: Stronger than nostalgia now is my desire to have a close encounter--Antonella: of the second type?Eric: and of the third as well.Flashback 1Arlecchino: There, here comes the Dottore! I'm afraid he has it in for me. I'll climb up the ladder, that way he won't see me.Flashback 2Pantalone: Is there noone else who saw what happened?Colombina: I'll tell you how it went. Now, when he saw that I was right under there, he deliberately took a false step on the ladder! He looked at me from above and I do believe he fell on purpose.Flashback 3Antonella: Above the desk, on that shelf... Get that jar...Eric: What's inside...?Antonella: Go on, unscrew the lid...Eric: Antonella... what's this?Antonella: Oh, sorry, you got the wrong one, sorry, sorry... There should be another one, take a look.Eric: I see it, but do I dare open it?Antonella: Of course! Be brave, Eric!Eric: Yikes!Antonella: Oh, Eric! What a butterfingers you are. Those are my jumping beans!Flashback 4Dottore: Have you visited the Vittoriano? Have you admired the Roman Forum?The Tourists: Yes!Dottore: Have you gone to the Vatican Museums? Have you put your hands in the Mouth of Truth?The Tourists: Yes!Dottore: Have you walked from Piazza Navona to the Trevi Fountain?The Tourists: Yes!Dottore: Have you climbed the Spanish Steps?The Tourists: Oh, yes!Dottore: Are you tired?The Tourists: Yes!Antonella: Those poor tourists have walked all over Rome in the middle of the summer!Eric: That's why they're worn out.Flashback 5Dottore: Do I have firecrackers! Pulcinella, bring me a box of firecrackers for the young man. And for the young lady, these wonderful Gatto Nero sparklers, a fun-filled amusement for the whole family.Oh, Pulcinella they know... Here they are, here they are, here they are! Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, come, hear me... Join in the feasts of Saint John, of the New Year, of Christmas, in all the holidays of the year... Here are the most amazing sounds, the most brilliant lights, the most extravagant colors, the most mysterious smoke, here are... Gatto Nero fireworks!Yes, yes... Gatto Nero rockets are justly famous throughout the world! Observe...Now I light the fuse... Colombina, if you please...Colombina: There you are, DottoreDottore: Thank you, my dear... Et nunc... You're about to see something truly incredible....Colombina: Oh! You're about to see it for sure, Dottore!Dottore: Three... two... one... Fire!Now wonder in amazement before the incomparable Gatto Nero pyrotechnics!Antonella: The Dottore took a fine trip to the moon...Eric: thanks to Pulcinella who gave him a hand with the rocket.Riflessioni e ricordi Eric: And if you hadn't gone to Italy that summer, I wouldn't have been left here alone in the studio.Antonella: It's true that here in the studio one can feel abandoned...Eric: Especially in the summer, when our actor friends have all left to go on vacation.Antonella: I would be much happier now if they were here with us.Eric: Pantalone would scold Pulcinella...Antonella: if Pulcinella had the cheek to confront him. Eric: If she saw a handsome young man come in, Arlecchina--Antonella: --would surely play the flirtEric: and Colombina would get mad. If Pulcinella played the mandolin...Antonella: we could dance the tarantella.Eric: instead we would have to dance a square danceAntonella: if Mrs Balanzone were here.Eric: And where have those Balanzones gone?Antonella: They left a message on the answering machine. Listen.Dottor Balanzone: We would have gone to Rimini to visit Mrs Balanzone's parents if we had not been invited to participate in a square dance seminar in Austin! See you later, friends! Stay well! Have a great vacation!Antonella: And Pantalone?Eric: He left this note:He wrote: 'I intended to stay in Venice, in spite of the crowd of tourists, but instead I will be in the Cadore... It's true, I'm not fond of the mountains. Anyway, to tell the truth, I wouldn't go at all if the Duke who will be hosting me didn't have an eighteen-year-old niece who's about to inherit a pile of ducats.'Antonella: I've heard enough. The duke and his ducats. Some things never change...Eric: And you, what would you do if you didn't have to stay here?Antonella: Well, my dear, I was just about to tell you... These hypotheses, I'm just not going to be making them. As you ought to know by now, I'm not staying here either...Eric: It's not possible! Again?Antonella: It's summer... Rome! Ciao, Eric! I'll send you a postcard!Eric: See you soon, Antonella! Have a good trip and have fun!Antonella: Thanks! Ciao! Eric: Now what do I do? If there were a way to do it, I would go too. If there were justice in this world, I too would admire the view from the Janiculum... I too would eat tartufo in Piazza Navona... I too would drink Pansellegrino water in front of the Coliseum....

asset title: Episode 14: The Holiday Special filename: ra_14.mp3 track number: 14/22 time: 13:14 size: 10.85 MB bitrate: 112 kbps In Episode 14, The Radio Arlecchino Holiday Special, Eric has been invited to join our commedia friends as they celebrate the season backstage before opening a new show. As they share reminiscences of holidays past --and really past-- we'll review the grammar points we've encountered so far: narrating in the past, expressing emotions and opinions, issuing commands, and using pronouns. Of course the big question is: will Antonella make it back from Rome in time for the holidays? Only one way to find out ... let's listen!Dialog: ItalianPanettone GnammagnaDottore: Ecco il vostro vecchio amico, il Dottor Balanzone, che vi ricorda che le feste sono sempre migliori quando c'è il delizioso panettone Gnammagna! È vero... Festeggiate gustando la delizia dell'incomparabile panettone Gnammagna!Dialog: EnglishDottore: Here's your old friend Dottor Balanzone, reminding you that the holidays are always better when there's delicious Gnammagna panettone! It's true ... Celebrate while enjoying the incomparable delight of Gnammagna panettone!--I'm sorry, guys, I won't explain even one of them to you. Nobody will ever be able to explain them to you.Dialog: ItalianAt the Teatro BisognosiArlecchino: Chi è che bussa? Chi è? È Babbo Natale?Eric: No, no, Sono io!Arlecchino: Ah, sei tu! E tu chi sei? La Befana?Eric: Macché Befana! Sono io! Eric!Arlecchino: Eric! E perché non lo hai detto subito?Attenti, ragazzi! Ecco il nostro presentatore radiofonico!Colombina: Eric, come stai?Eric: Bene, bene, grazie, Colombina! Ma che bel costume!Colombina: Grazie, l'ho fatto apposta per il nuovo spettacolo ...Arlecchino: Su, dammi il cappotto, vieni qui vicino al fuoco ...Eric: Ecco, grazie ...Pantalone: È un piacere rivederti! Arlecchino, portagli qualcosa da bere!Arlecchino: Subito, signore!Dottore: Gaudeamus igitur, insieme dum sumus!Eric: Grazie, Dottore, è un piacere rivederLa!Dottore: Sed -- ubi est?Eric: Vorrà dire, Dottore, dov'è ...Dottore: Ubi est pulcherrima puella Antonella? Colombina: Già, Antonella! Non è venuta con te?Pantalone: Dov'è la nostra Antonella?Eric: Ma non è ancora tornata da Roma!Dialog: EnglishArlecchino: Who's knocking? Who is it? Is it Father Christmas?Eric: No, no, it's me! It's me!Arlecchino: Ah, it's you! And who are you? The Befana?Eric: What do you mean, the Befana! It's me! Eric!Arlecchino: Eric! And why didn't you say so right away?Attention, guys! Here's our radio announcer!Colombina: Eric, how are you?Eric: Fine, fine, thanks, Colombina! What a beautiful costume!Colombina: Thanks, I made it especially for the new play ...Arlecchino: Here, give me your coat, come here near the fire ...Eric: Here, thanks ...Pantalone: It's a pleasure to see you again! Arlecchino, bring him something to drink!Arlecchino: Right away, sir!Dottore: Gaudeamus igitur, insieme dum sumus!Eric: Thank you, Dottore. It's good to see you again!Dottore: Sed -- ubi est?Eric: You mean to say, Dottore, where is ...Dottore: Ubi est pulcherrima puella Antonella? Colombina: That's right, Antonella! Didn't she come with you?Pantalone: Where is our Antonella?Eric: But she hasn't come back from Rome!Dialog: ItalianA Visit from the PostmanArlecchino: Chi è che bussa? Chi è? È Babbo Natale?il Postino: No, no, sono io! Aprite!Arlecchino: Ah, sei tu! E tu chi sei? La Befana?il Postino: Macché Befana! Sono io, il postino! Arlecchino: Ah, sei tu! E perché non lo hai detto subito? Allora c'è posta per noi?il Postino: Ehi, apri, e lo saprai!Pantalone: Apri, apri, Arlecchino!il Postino: Buona sera, buona sera, brava gente! Ecco la posta!Colombina: Oh, che sacco enorme!Dottore: Pereat tristitia! Pantalone: Grazie, signor Postino! Arlecchino, prendi quel sacco!Arlecchino: Mamma mia, quanto pesa! Vediamo cosa c'è dentro!Colombina: Cosa c'è, Arlecchino?Arlecchino: Oh, guarda, quanti biglietti!Colombina: Ce ne sono tanti!Dottore: Vivant biglietti!Pantalone: Grazie, signor Postino! Non possiamo offrirLe -- ma dov'è andato?il Postino: Eccomi qua, signore! C'è anche questo pacco!Brava gente, devo scappare. Tanti altri biglietti e pacchi da consegnare. Buone feste! Buono spettacolo!Dialog: EnglishArlecchino: Who's knocking? Who is it? Is it Father Christmas?il Postino: No, no, it's me! Open up!Arlecchino: Ah, it's you! And who are you? The Befana?il Postino: What do you mean, the Befana! It's me, the postman! Arlecchino: Ah, it's you! And why didn't you say so right away? So, there's mail for us?il Postino: Hey, open up and you'll find out!Pantalone: Open up, open up, Arlecchino!il Postino: Good evening, good evening, fine people! Here's the mail!Colombina: Oh, what an enormous sack!Dottore: Pereat tristitia! Pantalone: Thank you, Mister Postman! Arlecchino, get that sack!Arlecchino: Zounds, how heavy it is! Let's see what's inside!Colombina: What is it, Arlecchino?Arlecchino: Oh, look at all the cards!Colombina: There's so many of them!Dottore: Vivant biglietti!Pantalone: Thank you, Mister Postman! Can't we offer you -- but where has he gone?il Postino: Here I am, sir! There's this parcel as well!Fine people, I must be off. Plenty of other cards and parcels to deliver. Happy Holidays! and a Good Show!Dialog: ItalianA Happy SurprisePantalone: Questo pacco mi preoccupa un po'... Non ho ordinato niente. Colombina?Colombina: Io no, signor Pantalone.Pantalone: Dottore?Dottore: Misterius magnus mihi quantus tibi ...Pantalone: Oh, per carità ... Arlecchino?Arlecchino: Chi è che bussa? Chi è? È Babbo Natale?Ah, sei tu! E tu chi sei? La Befana?Antonella: Macché Befana! Sono io, Antonella!Arlecchino: Antonella! E perché non lo hai detto subito?Eric: Antonella, ciao! Come stai?Antonella: A dire il vero, questo non è il mio modo preferito di viaggiare .... Aiutatemi! Grazie, amici ...Eric: Ma, Antonella, come mai ...?Antonella: Ero tornata nello studio, lì mi hanno detto che eri qui ... Oh, i giri che ho fatto ...Dottore: Mirabile dictu!Pantalone: Venga, professoressa, a tavola con noi ... Brindiamo al ritorno di Antonella! Arlecchino!Arlecchino: Sì, signore!Colombina: Ecco i bicchieri!Pantalone: Arlecchina, aiuta Arlecchino con le bottiglie, spumante per tutti!Arlecchina: Sì, signor Pantalone! Arlecchino, vieni, ti do una mano ...Pantalone: Ecco, professoressa, si accomodi ...Antonella: Grazie, molto gentile... ma... mi dia per favore del tu ....Pantalone: Come no ... ecco un bicchiere per -- per te ....Arlecchina: Colombina, questo è per il Dottore...Colombina: Ecco a Lei, Dottore ...Dottore: In vino jubileus!Colombina: Eric,Eric: Grazie, Colombina!Arlecchina: Per il signor Pantalone ...Pantalone: E ora, cari amici e colleghi, brindiamo al gioioso ritorno della nostra cara amica---Antonella: Ma scusate un momento ... a proposito di cari amici ... il nostro Pulcinella--dov'è?Pantalone: Non ti preoccupare ...Colombina: Pulcinella c'è --Arlecchino: Eccome!Colombina: Il nostro spettacolo stasera comincia con una sua canzone ...Arlecchina: Non smette di fare pratica ...Arlecchino: E' un po' nervoso ....Colombina: Ma lo vedrai nello spettacolo, e senz'altro anche dopo ...Antonella: Meno male! Pantalone: Come dicevo ... ad Antonella!Everybody: Ad Antonella!Pantalone: Bentornata sia! E che non ci lasci mai più per così tanto tempo!Everybody: Cin cin!Dialog: EnglishPantalone: This package worries me a bit ... I never ordered anything. Colombina?Colombina: Not I, Mister Pantalone.Pantalone: Dottore?Dottore: Misterius magnus mihi quantus tibi ...Pantalone: Oh, for heaven's sake ... Arlecchino?Arlecchino: Who's knocking? Who is it? Is it Father Christmas?Ah, it's you! And who are you? The Befana?Antonella: What do you mean, the Befana! It's me, Antonella!Arlecchino: Antonella! And why didn't you say so right away?Eric: Antonella, hi! How are you?Antonella: To tell the truth, this is not my favorite way to travel .... Help me!Thank you, friends ...Eric: But, Antonella, how on earth ...?Antonella: I had gone back to the studio; there they told me that you were here ... Oh, the circles I've been in ...Dottore: Mirabile dictu!Pantalone: Come, professor, to the table with us .... Let's drink to Antonella's return! Arlecchino!Arlecchino: Yes, sir!Colombina: Here are the glasses!Pantalone: Arlecchina, help Arlecchino with the bottles, sparkling wine for everybody!Arlecchina: Yes, Mister Pantalone! Arlecchino, come, I'll give you a hand ...Pantalone: Here you are, professor, make yourself comfortable ...Antonella: Thank you, you're very kind ... but please, address me as 'tu' ....Pantalone: Why of course ... here's a glass for -- for you ...Arlecchina: Colombina, this is for the Dottore ...Colombina: Here you are, Dottore ...Dottore: In vino jubileus!Colombina: Eric,Eric: Thanks, Colombina!Arlecchina: for Mister Pantalone ...Pantalone: And now, dear friends and colleagues, a toast to the joyous return of our dear friend--Antonella: One moment, please... speaking of dear friends ... our Pulcinella--where is he?Pantalone: Not to worry ...Colombina: Pulcinella is here --Arlecchino: And how!Colombina: Our show tonight opens with a song of his ...Arlecchina: He won't quit practicing ...Arlecchino: He's a bit nervous ....Colombina: But you'll see him in the show, and certainly afterwards as well ...Antonella: That's good! Pantalone: As I was saying ... to Antonella!Everybody: To Antonella!Pantalone: Welcome back! And may she never leave us again for so long!Everybody: Cheers!Dialog: ItalianThe BefanaAntonella: Grazie, grazie! Ma cosa sono questi?Arlecchino: Oh, i nostri biglietti!Colombina: Ce li ha portati il postino, con il tuo pacco!Dottore: Ecce bigliettus tibi, Colombina!Colombina: Grazie, Dottore! Guarda! Qui ce n'è uno per te, Arlecchino!Arlecchina: Da chi è?Arlecchino: Vediamo ... oh! è da mio cugino Carlos ... quello che mi ha spiegato chi è la Befana ... 'Caro Arlecchino,' mi scrive ... 'ricordi come una volta volevi sapere tutto sulla Befana? e io ti raccontavo ...Carlos: Mentre i tre Re Magi andavano a Betlemme per portare i doni a Gesù Bambino, hanno visto una vecchia e hanno insistito che li seguisse per far visita al piccolo Gesù, ma la donna non ha voluto. Poco dopo, tuttavia, la vecchietta ha cambiato idea e, dopo aver preparato dei dolci per il bambino, ha cercato di raggiungere i Re Magi, ma loro erano già lontani e non ha potuto raggiungerli. Così, ancora oggi, la notte prima dell'Epifania (il 6 gennaio), la vecchietta, che si chiama la Befana, porta dei regali a tutti i bambini buoni nella speranza che uno di loro sia il Bambin Gesù. Quella notte tutti i bambini italiani vanno a dormire aspettando i regali della Befana che arriva volando su una scopa. Ma i regali arrivano solo ai bambini buoni, a quelli cattivi la Befana porta il carbone.Arlecchino: Come mi manca il mio bravo cuginoDialog: EnglishAntonella: Thank you, thank you! But what are these?Arlecchino: Oh, our cards!Colombina: The postman brought them to us, along with your package!Dottore: Ecce bigliettus tibi, Colombina!Colombina: Thank you, Dottore! Look! Here's one for you, Arlecchino!Arlecchina: Who is it from?Arlecchino: Let's see ... oh! it's from my cousin Carlos, the one who explained to me who the Befana is ... 'Dear Arlecchino' he writes ... 'do you remember how at one time you wanted to know everything about the Befana? and I told you ...Carlos: As the three kings were going to Bethlehem to take their gifts to the child Jesus, they saw an old woman and urged her to follow them to visit little Jesus, but the woman refused. Shortly thereafter, however, the little old lady changed her mind, and after preparing some sweets for the child, she tried to reach the three wise men, but they were already far away and she was unable to catch up with them. So, even today, on the night before Epiphany (the 6 January), the little old lady, called the Befana, takes gifts to all good children in the hope that one of them will be the little Jesus. On that night all Italian children go to sleep awaiting the gifts of the Befana, who arrives flying on a broomstick. But gifts come only to the good children; to the bad ones the Befana brings coal.Arlecchino: How I miss my good cousin!Dialog: ItalianThe Santa Lucia Christmas Market in BolognaPantalone: Ragazzi! Ecco un biglietto da Irene!Dottore: Irene, la mia concittadina!Pantalone: Proprio lei, Dottore! 'Caro Pantalone e Compagnia,' ci scrive, 'ricordate quel Natale che avete trascorso qui? Pulcinella andava sempre in cerca di dolci!'Irene: Santa Lucia è il mercatino di Natale dove tutti gli anni i miei genitori mi portavano a comprare qualcosa per il presepio e un pezzo di torrone o di croccante. Faceva freddo, ma passeggiavamo lentamente in mezzo a tanta gente e tutto brillava e profumava. Mi piacevano tanto le figurine per il presepio, soprattutto quelle che si muovevano, e sceglierne solo una da portare a casa era difficilissimo. Ho continuato ad andare a Santa Lucia anche da adulta; è sempre bellissimo, ma c'è un mistero: più io diventavo adulta, più il mercato diventava piccolo ... adesso sembra grandissimo solo alle mie bambine!Pantalone: Ah, quelle bambine oramai non saranno più tanto piccole neanche loro!Dottore: le mie figliocce ...Arlecchina: oh, non pianga, Dottore -- ecco un biglietto per Lei!Dialog: EnglishPantalone: Fellows! Here is a card from Irene!Dottore: Irene, my countrywoman!Pantalone: The very one, Dottore! 'Dear Pantalone and Company,' she writes, 'remember the Christmas that you spent here? Pulcinella was always off looking for sweets!'Irene: Santa Lucia is Bologna's Christmas market where my parents took me every year to buy something for the Nativity scene and a piece of nougat candy or hazelnut brittle. It was cold, but we would stroll slowly among all those people and everything was bright and smelled good. I loved the Nativity figures, especially the ones that moved, and to pick only one of them to take home was very hard. I kept going to Santa Lucia even as an adult; it's still quite beautiful, but there's one mystery: the older I've become, the smaller the market has gotten ... now it seems enormous only to my little girls!Pantalone: Ah, not even those little girls will be so very little by now!Dottore: My god-daughters ...Arlecchina: Oh, don't cry, Dottore -- here's a card for you!Dialog: ItalianLucky New Year TreatsDottore: Sì? Oh! Non creditur!Colombina: Da chi è, Dottore?Dottore: Una mia ex-studentessa! Sheilah! Quanto le piacevano le feste di Capodanno ... Sentite:Sheilah: Mi ricordo bene un Capodanno con una famiglia del Piemonte ...Per pranzo abbiamo mangiato lo zampone con lenticchie che la mamma aveva cucinato tutta la mattina (le lenticchie portano fortuna) e tante verdure fritte con una pastella leggerissima; per dolce, naturalmente, c'era il panettone. Abbiamo brindato con lo spumante. Fuori nevicava e faceva freddo, ma noi stavamo bene in casa insieme. L'anno prossimo vorrei tanto che anche mia madre cucinasse le lenticchie per Capodanno! Arlecchino: Tutto questo parlare di lenticchie e panettone! Mi fa venire una fame da ... da ...Arlecchina: Da Pulcinella?Arlecchino: Proprio così!Pantalone: Allora gradirai un po' di questo squisito pandoro di Verona che mi hanno regalato i miei nipoti!Dialog: EnglishDottore: Yes? Oh! Non creditur!Colombina: Who is it from, Dottore?Dottore: A former student of mine! Sheilah! How she loved the New Year's holiday! Listen:Sheilah: I remember well a New Year's spent with a Piedmontese family ...For lunch we ate a stuffed pig's foot with lentils that the mother had cooked all morning (lentils bring good luck) and so many vegetables fried in a really light batter; for dessert, of course, there was a panettone. We toasted with sparkling wine. Outside it was snowing and cold, but we were comfy together inside. Next year I'd really like for my mother to cook lentils for New Year's too!Arlecchino: All this talk of lentils and panettone! It's making me hungry as ... as ...Arlecchina: As Pulcinella?Arlecchino: That's it exactly!Pantalone: Then you will enjoy a bit of this exquisite Veronese pandoro that my nephews gave me!

asset title: Episode 9: Imperative - Build a better mousetrap filename: ra_09.mp3 track number: 9/22 time: 9:42 size: 7.96 MB bitrate: 112 kbps In Build a better mousetrap, we will focus on the tu forms of the imperative -- the most frequently used. While the tu forms of second- and third-conjugation verbs are the same as the present indicative, the forms for first-conjugation verbs are different. The imperative for these is the present indicative stem + -a, as in guarda! (look!). The second anomaly is in the negative command form, where non is placed in front of the infinitive of the verb rather than in front of the imperative verb. Let's listen as the Dottore demonstrates the new anti-mouse technology of the TopoKill 9000, a supertrap capable of catching more than a mouse!Dialog: TopoKill 9000Italian-------Dottore: Gentili ascoltatori, qui il vostro amico il Dottor Balanzone. Questa situazione vi è conosciuta? Non vi vergognate di dirmelo, lo so, lo so ... Colombina: Oh, Dottore, che orrore! che paura! che schifo!Dottore: Come dico ai miei allievi all'Università, 'Pudor non in habere sed in tenere est.'Colombina: E la soluzione, Egregio ...?Dottore: Eccola qua! La nuova TopoKill 9000! La tecnologia anti-topo presenta una supertrappola, senza pesticidi, che rispetta l'ambiente, riutilizzabile, con esca naturale!Colombina: Ma ci vuole molto tempo per--Dottore: È pronta nel giro di secondi!Colombina: Ed è di uso semp--Dottore: Di semplicissimo uso!Colombina: Ma funziona veram---Dottore: Efficientissima!Colombina: E ... non ci sono ... cioè ...Dottore: Igienica!Colombina: Ma per i bambini.--Dottore: Innocua per i bambini e gli animali domestici!Colombina: Oh, Dottore. questa nuova TopoKill 9000 mi sembra una meraviglia! Ma Lei crede che io sia in grado di utilizzarla correttamente?Dottore: Niente sarebbe più facile! Vieni, mia cara. Osserva cosa vuol dire 'semplicissimo uso'!Colombina: Oh, non lo so ... io, a dire il vero ... è che io ...Dottore: Non avere paura! Abbi coraggio! Eccola! Vedi quanto è bella! Dai, prendi.Colombina: Oh! E ora, come si fa ...?Dottore: Spingi la levetta ...Colombina: Così?Dottore: Brava! Spingila verso il basso .... Ecco! Benissimo! Colombina: Oh1 È facile ...English-------Dottore: Kind listeners, your friend Dottor Balanzone here. Is this situation familiar to you? Don't be ashamed to tell me so. I know, I know ...Colombina: Oh, Dottore, how horrible! How frightening! How disgusting!Dottore: As I tell my students at the University: 'The shame is not in the having, but in the keeping.'Colombina: And the solution, Professor?Dottore: Behold! The new TopoKill 9000! Anti-mouse technology presents a supertrap, without pesticides, that respects the environment, re-usable, with all-natural bait!Colombina: But does it take long to--Dottore: It's ready in a matter of seconds!Colombina: And is it simple to u--Dottore: Ever so easy to use!Colombina: But does it really wo---Dottore: Extremely efficient!Colombina: And, there aren't any, I mean ...Dottore: Sanitary!Colombina: But to children.--Dottore: Harmless to children and pets!Colombina: Oh, Dottore, this new TopoKill 9000 seems a marvel! But do you believe that I'm capable of using it properly?Dottore: Nothing could be easier! Come, my dear. Observe what 'Ever so easy to use' really means!Colombina: Oh, I don't know ... I, to tell the truth, it's that I ...Dottore: Do not be afraid! Have courage! Here it is! See how beautiful it is! Come on, take (it).Colombina: Oh! And now, what does one do?Dottore: Push the trigger ...Colombina: Like this?Dottore: Fine! Push it down .... There! Excellent! Colombina: Oh1 It's easy ...Dottore: And what had I told you? Now, remove the bait cover ...Colombina: Ah! Done! Dottore: Perfect! The TopoKill 9000 is now ready to be used! Place the trap in an appropriate place ...Colombina: Mice rarely cross open surfaces ...Dottore: So, set the trap with the opening turned to the wall!Colombina: Here? Like that?Dottore: Right there, fine. Just like that ...Colombina: And now?Dottore: Perform a check at regular intervals!Colombina: Gracious!Dottore: Pulcinella! Zounds!We must point out that the use of spaghetti as bait is inadvisable.Colombina: But, Dottore, what shall I do now to free this wretch's finger?Dottore: Simply press down rapidly on the little door ...And the TopoKill 9000 is already ready to be re-used!Colombina: Poor Pulcinella! Come with me. Don't cry any more ...Dottore: Dear listener: Get the TopoKill 9000 and say as the Dottore says --Mus musculus, Hail -- and Farewell!Dialog: A phone call from Antonella in ItalyItalian-------Eric: Pronto...Antonella: Ciao, Eric! Sono Antonella!Eric: Ciao, bella! Come stai?Antonella: Bene, bene... va ora in onda Radio Arlecchino?Eric: Va in onda, sì! Meno male che ci sei anche tu, ora, telefonicamente...Antonella: Grazie. Senti, fammi un favore, per favore.Eric: Come no! Dimmi.Antonella: Ho lasciato una cosa lì nello studio che volevo portare in Italia. Aiutami ora a trovarlo, poi me lo spedisci...Eric: Va bene... Dov'è?Antonella: Dunque... Guarda, vai alla mia scrivania...Eric: Ci vado... ecco, ci sono.Antonella: Sposta quel grande dizionario Zarganti...Eric: Oh, è proprio pesante! Spero che non sia questo quello che ti serve...Antonella: No no no, sotto il dizionario -- cosa c'è?Eric: Be', ci sono due foto, una di Nanni Moretti... e una di -- Johnny Depp?! firmate pure! 'ad Antonella, con amicizia...'Antonella: No no no no no, quelle non le toccare... . Lascia quel libro....Eric: Allora?Antonella: Sopra la scrivania, su quello scaffale... Prendi quella scatola...Eric: Cosa c'è dentro...?Antonella: Dai, dai, svita il cappuccio...Eric: Ahù... Antonella... ma cos'è questo?Antonella: Oh, scusa, hai preso quella sbagliata, scusa, scusa... Ci dev'essere un'altra, controlla.Eric: La vedo, ma oso aprirla?Antonella: Ma sì! Abbi coraggio, Eric!Eric: Accidenti!Antonella: Oh, Eric! Che mani di pasta frolla che hai! Quelli sono i miei fagioli saltellanti!Eric: Te li mando?Antonella: No, no, quelli non mi servono! Ma mi raccomando, non li lasciare lì per terra!Eric: Adesso pulisco...Antonella: Bene, Eric, non fare più sciocchezze. Prova a vedere nel cassetto...Eric: Va bene...Antonella: Se è lì, è proprio in fondo, in fondo... dietro tutte quelle cartelle... Stendi la mano, allunga...Eric: Ma-- Ah-- Antonella: Eric! Se c'è un topo, buttalo via! Che schifo!Eric: Ormai si sarà spaventato...Antonella: Senti, Eric, ti richiamo dopo. Mi restano pochissimi minuti sulla mia scheda...Eric: D'accordo, tanto, io devo trovare un'aspirina... Arisentirci.Antonella: A presto, mio caro...English-------A phone call from Antonella in ItalyEric: Hello ...Antonella: Ciao, Eric! It's Antonella!Eric: Ciao, bella! How are you?Antonella: Fine, fine ... is Radio Arlecchino on the air?Eric: It's on the air, yes! And it's a good thing you're here now too, telephonically ...Antonella: Thanks. Listen, do me a favor, please.Eric: Of course! Tell me.Antonella: I left something there in thet studio that I wanted to bring to Italy. Help me now to find it ... then you can send it to me.Eric: All right. Where is it?Antonella: Well then .... Look, go to my desk ...Eric: I'm going ... I'm there.Antonella: Move that big Zarganti dictionary ...Eric: Hey, that's pretty heavy! I hope that isn't what you need ...Antonella: No no no, under the dictionary. What's there?Eric: Well, there's two photographs, one of Nanni Moretti, and one of -- Johnny Depp?! Autographed even! 'to Antonella, in friendship ...'Be', ci sono due foto, una di Nanni Moretti ... e una di -- Johnny Depp?! firmate pure! 'ad Antonella, con amicizia ...'Antonella: No no no no no, don't touch those .... Let go of that book ....Eric: Now what?Antonella: Over the desk, on that shelf ... Grab that can.Eric: What's in it ...?Antonella: Go on, go on, unscrew the lid ...Eric: Yow ... Antonella ... what is this?Antonella: Oh, sorry, you grabbed the wrong one, sorry, sorry ... There must be another one, check it out.Eric: I see it, but do I dare to open it?Antonella: Of course! Be brave, Eric! (Have courage!)Eric: Yikes!Antonella: Oh, Eric! What a butterfingers you are! Those are my jumping beans!Eric: Shall I send them to you?Antonella: No, no, I don't need those. But please, don't leave them there on the ground!Eric: I'll clean up now ...Antonella: Good, Eric, no more foolishness (Don't do any more foolish things). Try looking in the drawer ...Eric: All right ...Antonella: If it's there, it's way in the back, behind all those folders .... Reach out your hand ... Stretch ...Eric: Ma-- Ah--Antonella: Eric! If there's a mouse, throw it out! Gross!Eric: By now he'll be frightened ...Antonella: Listen, Eric, I'll call you back later. I have very few minutes left on my card ...Eric: Fine, I've got to find an aspirin anyway .... Talk to you later.Antonella: Soon, my dear ...

Thank you Arie Abecassis for the introduction to our guest today Eric Doty ( https://twitter.com/DMZilla ) , founder of Loupe ( https://loupetheapp.com/ ). Loupe is a free app built for the modern sports card collector. We talk about box breaks, how he thinks about the sports card collecting market, solving the classic chicken or the egg, supply/demand trap early on and his approach to leadership. A couple of books that inspired Eric: Educated: A Memoir ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399590501/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?creative=9325&creativeASIN=0399590501&ie=UTF8&linkCode=as2&linkId=861caeb574bc4bae2fd6a1c2d06f817a&tag=theconsumervc-20 ) by Tara Westover Factfulness ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250123828/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?creative=9325&creativeASIN=1250123828&ie=UTF8&linkCode=as2&linkId=4d40296dfb96265770cd9b5abe40544a&tag=theconsumervc-20 ) by Hans Rosling Here are some of the questions I ask Eric: * What was your attraction to entrepreneurship and collecting cards? * If they can do it, I can do it. * What was the insight that led you to founding Loupe? * Take us to that moment of what led you to focus on Loupe full time? * Describe to us what box breaks are for those who aren't familiar? * How do you think about trust and accountability? Validating cards in the break are legitimate? * How are communities created on Loupe? * How did you approach growth early on? * What was your approach to fundraising? * What were some of the biggest hurdles or question marks potential investors had? * What was it like fundraising during COVID? * Influencer * What's one thing you would change when it came to venture capital? * Do you have room limits? * What's the best piece of advice you've received? * How has that impacted you a leader or as a CEO? * How do you think about communication amongst your team? * Is it hard to build culture * What's one piece of advice for founders?