So the political you know, they're a right wing organization spreading the misinformation they reported. There's just, you know, some troubling security bugs found in some cybersecurity election software stuff. It's the elections and software. It's just a little hacking blind spot. Now, it's not a serious thing. And the coders are Ukrainian because that makes sense. Plus, the people at CNBC say the peak interest rate era is over. Here's what investors are watching. We'll talk with Zach Abraham
about that. And also there's a diaper shortage and you won't believe why and the solution to this, maybe you will. We'll talk about this with the help of our YouTube channel YouTube dot com slash at Todd Herman and with the good graces of God Almighty.
The Todd Herman Show is one hundred and disapproved by big pharma technocrats and tyrants everywhere. No from the high mountains of Free America. Here's the Emerald City exile God her Man.
To day is a day the Lord has made in These are the time so which God has decided we shall live. It's wise council day. Even though I'm dressed in my beach clothes, It's wise council day. I got the note from your team, Zach. I'll tell them we'll edit this out now and we'll go through it. Only spend about sixteen hours to edit me into the wise council shirts, et cetera. We got the note from your team. How are you, brother.
Doing good man? No complaints, good, no complaints.
I don't know if you saw this, but you know there's this country, Brazil. You've been there.
I've never been there. I've always wanted to go. Yeah, I've sure been there.
So they have a judge there who's kind of seized control of the country and he's banned Twitter. Dash X has to shut it down. The so called Attorney General of Missouri, Keith Ellison. He's the guy who used to walk around with the ANTIFA handbook. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he's he's congratulating Brazil. He says, uh ubergodo, Brazil, Congratulations, well done. I mean he didn't come out and say for the censorship. But we obviously know what this means, right.
I nothing says democracy like a century free speech buddy, So.
Uh right, have you ever gotten that you can't say that from someone when you public speak or you do your podcast, your radio show. You've forgot that. You can't say that.
Oh yeah, well yeah, well there. For instance, I got a an email because when when COVID was coming out, I referred to it as the Kung Fu Flu, and I got a bunch of emails saying it was racist, and so I went on and issued a quote unquote apology that had me refer to it as the Kung Fu flu. About five more different lives. Just I'm just like, get out of here.
I had for a while when I was doing the what did I start with Afternoon Drive in Seattle, then did the morning show. I had a pre recorded apology and it came with some sappy music.
You know.
I just want to say I've learned a lot in this process, and to everyone I've may heard, I want to say, I'm just I'm just gonna, you know, attempt.
To do better.
We can only learn from this. So I'm reaching out to members of the harmed communities, and so we had this kind of generic thing and then i'd have my producer put in just this terrible, bad voice. So I've reached out to memories of the community, and it was just not my voice at all. And the whole point is you never say sorry. I've learned a lot, I've reflected. I've met with some members of the affected communities, you know,
and you never have the words I'm sorry. Leave your mouth, you find heart I apologize.
Uh no, Well, I mean there's times, yeah, right, I yeah, I'm I'm just a huge fan of apologies. I feel like it's especially when they're you know, when they're genuine. Yeah, I feel like they can just there's there's a I was actually talking with somebody this the other night. I am such a sucker for apologies, you know, I meaning somebody comes up and says, hey, man, I did you dirty? And I'm sorry about it?
Yeah?
Done? Game over, good, We're good, you know what I mean. Like, it's just, uh, it's always been such a respector of it, and I think it. I think it's a I think it's an admirable quality. Yeah, necessary to maintain. Well, I mean, I've been married for twenty years, so I feel like that kind of creditates you guys could apologize.
I think both people do, right, I mean, yeah, right, I think both people have to really and and part of that's, you know, meaning it I've never asked you this. I'll ask you this later in the show, but think about the worst screwing you ever got in business. Sorry for the bad language, but yeah, because I had this something happened to me in my internet radio startup, and
it was a phenomenal lesson. But I also got this moment where I got to be the guy this guy had to come to to get something done at Microsoft and the guy who screwed me. Oh, and I tried it not to make it adventuring, but let's talk about that. I wan actually think about this, Zach. There was a thing the political reported and it's I mean, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Number One, we've got Ukrainians coding software for US for elections cybersecurity, So there's that.
I think that's a good idea. And they decided then to leave in some kind of easter eggs in the code, backdoors and such. And one of the funny one of the funny things they did is they put in the Ukrainian national anthem right into the election software, just just to let us know, Hey, by the way, Zladimir, it.
Is that's actually kind of funny.
Right, But of course what that means is, look, we hit this in here and you didn't know it. And even the political is calling it a hacking blind spot that if they can do this and leave these holes, well they'd leave other holes.
Right. I don't know how any rational human being draws any other conclusion, right, right?
I mean, come on, and in our election system, honestly, and this, okay, here's the part we can't put on YouTube. Heads up, hey, production team, we're doing that part we can't put on the tubes. Is there anything in our election system that's actually set up so that you could actually prove fraud that is there any bit of it that you don't even have the base data?
Yeah? You know, it's one of the things that I think that I haven't heard anybody really talk about this, but it's something that I've found kind of amazing and scary and mind blowing from the very beginning. Where any system that you don't have the ability to audit, right, like the ambiguity around it all where I'm sitting there going, wait a second, there isn't a master tape someone like, No one's like come on, like, and this isn't the way systems like this are designed, right, So like, why
is it this is the one system now? I mean, I think there's some obvious answers, but why would where's the redundancy, where's the ability to look through? Where are the security? Like I you know, and and just to go to the people that here's what's wrong in this country.
Right, like we need to have some music when you start a sentence like that, hold on, right, here's what's wrong with this country Zach Abram.
Yeah, Well, like it's the angst back and forth, the two sides that you know, the two sides that really drives me nuts. Where if you take a step back and if you quote unquote believe in democracy, and if forty to fifty percent of the voting populace in this country think they got jobbed, why would you not be a proponent of a very easy way to go through and verify will because it was done correctly the first
I'm like, that's not what you were saying. And George Bush was elected in two thousand and I'll sit back and say the exact same thing about then again, reasons that we should have it should be built in to every system we use, should be a really easy way to go back and check this stuff. And I mean, everybody knows that we have the technology and the capability to do it. There's a lack of a will, and the lack of a will sort of points to motivate, right, like meaning, right, why else would you?
Right?
I had to fly once and I had lost my ID and I had to make this flight. I'm like, well, this isn't gonna happens. There's no stinking way this is happening. But I go to the airport. It's a business trip. I have to make the trip. Here's what's happened. I've lost my ID. So I'm gonna aask airline and I was premiere of premiere. You know what's your number? Sis? Okay, home address and your credit cards and phone number. And it took about an hour, but they got me on
the plane. Now, if I was Hispanic and had skipped over the line of the country and had a bunch of MS thirteen tattoos of that special line, have you seen that the MSON thirteen line at the airports?
Well, no, I'm assuming they give you not only to get you on the plane, they give you a free launch in fifteen hundred bucks on a debit card.
Yeah, then you get to keep the plane sweet, right, so pro you can do this, but here's I'm going to relate this financially. And they'll talk about some financial news and they get this like the biggest screw job you've rid in business. This would be like you, let's say that you are thinking of buying a company or no better way, Chief Investments or Bulwark. You're thinking of investing in a company, and you guys are sitting down, you get the spreadsheets, they've sent you, the p and L.
You guys pull it open. You're going, okay, wow, look at this growth. Wow, this is pressive, sensical, cost a good. And then you go, hold a second, what what currency is this in? Because there's no dollars signs And you call the company. Yeah, hey, listen, we've got the financials. What currency is this in? Well, that's the thing is we don't track it. Hold on, so some of this is rubles, some of this is dollars. We think there's dollars.
Yeah, we got some time taiwand bought in there or or tilt tybot you.
Know that's am I wrong? Or when you don't have the base of hey did you check their ID? They're sorry there what?
Well? Yeah, well, especially for a system like voting, right like meaning if if, if, like push all the politics aside, right, if we're sitting down to to devise and design of voting system. Right by definition, integrated into the system is going to be an ability to you know, there's gonna be any fraud capabilities. There's gonna be alarms built in there if somebody steps over something. But more importantly, there's gonna be very easy audits in there because you have
to verify what's going. It's just it is the most purposeful lack of ingenuity I've ever seen, like meaning you know, and it's the same like you said with the IDs, right like, this is not a political issue. Guys, you don't have to be a conspiracy theory theorist to sit there and ask yourself, wait a second, why wouldn't you want photo IDs to vote?
Well, I took a phone call once from a very very irate guy on Russia's show God Rest of the Maha years ago, and this guy called me goes, you know what I hate about guys like you? Here's what I hate. You don't have any ideas and how to make this better? Oh, election fraud, election has stolen you. Like if I have some ideas, will you listen to them. Yeah, but you don't have any ideas. All right, here's my idea.
Hold the election counting in casinos. Check the ID like you do when you go to casino, count the balance. With the eyes in the sky, you can spotlight every signature and compare it instantly to a database.
Yeah, do fingerprint facial recognition for ID.
All of it right there? Yep, there it is done.
And I'm sorry. But here's the other thing like this is this is such a straw man argument on so many levels because if you do not have the wherewithal, the determination, or the ability to get a photo ID, then you shouldn't be voting. There was and I don't care what anybody else says, You're not alienating anybody. It's the most ridiculous statement I know.
No way, So your wife has ID, Yeah she just.
Got it last week, or she could vote in the upcoming election.
But did you see there was Oh my gosh, I should have pulled this video, but it didn't know the discussion would go this way. There was a great video done in Harlem where a white guy went after Harlem and said, hey, how you doing. Hey, listen, do you know where the DMV's at Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it's right there. It's six blocks up that where I go get an ID. Yeah, you have ID, Yeah, I have idea. I live in New York City. I have to have idea to live here.
What do you think about politicians saying black people don't know how to get ID what you have to have idea? You know, every single black person they knew where the DMV was. Yeah, and every black person said, it's insulting, And of course it is. I want to get to some financial stuff because it fits in to me. There are so many things that people believe in this country, like that our elections are safe and secure. That's one
thing they believe. Those are other things they believe. We'll talk about this in relation to these interests, because you got to help me understand this real quick. When Zach came into the studio when he was here in the High Mountains of Free America, he walked in and said, and I quote, wow, it smells like a thunder storm in here. And I said, joking, do you ever watch the podcast or listen to this?
No.
I get his advice, but I'm just kind of surprised by it. If you have an Airbnb. If you have any business where the public enters, if you have public restrooms, don't tell the guy share the space with with the recording studio downstairs. It's a world class recording studios. Act seen it. It's beautiful guitars everywhere. His bathroom stunk to high stink in heaven, so gross. I just wanted to go around the neighbor and just apologize, because you could.
I could go get you know what, I should have gone to get the eten pereoxy leaf two, slammed it in there and just let the just stinking bathroom just degrade into filth. But I didn't. I actually got out a liesole wrap or thing and cleaned and rubbed the floor. In any case, you don't have to do that. If you have an Airbnb or rental hotels, you run businesses that smell that, or you just want your house to
smell absolutely fresh room people walk into it. Don't waste your money in an airfield because you're gonna have to replace the filters every single stink in year. For two to four undred bucks. Get the oxy Leaf to Thunderstorm device whole home coverage. I'll save you two hundred dollars plug it into the wall. In about three minutes, you will smell ozone because those three molecules go into the air and they eliminate the molecules that cause bad smells
by bonding to them and changing their molecular structure. Go to edenperiodeals dot comment ry code Todd three and there it is a two hundred dollars savings And when people walk in your house, they'll probably say, wow, it smells like there was a thunderstorm in here, and then you
can say, that's right. The Todd Herman shople We're working on one of these devices act that every hour when it produces enough ozone, it just goes with the Todd hermin shell because I think people want I think people want that in their houses, right, Sure, help me understand this. I got to get this is the FED sleepwalking into a policy mistake. Arbiton ARBDN analyst calls for faster easing of rates, and then I read in the same stinking
research period, the peak interest rate is over. Here's what investors are watching. This comes from CNBC September. The US Federal Reserve is all but guaranteed to join the European Center Bank blah blah blah blah blah blah, and cutting key rates. Analysts are eyeing a broadly support of environment for equities to the rest of the year and beyond, but weren't of several key risks. Currency markets will continue to focus on short term rates expectations and the extent
and pace of money monetary easing. I love that phrase, monetary easing. So help me break this down and understand it. Are they sleepwalking into a policy mistake? Or let me show you what I've learned at zach Abraham University. They only have two levers to pull and they've trapped themselves in this hell.
Yeah yeah, So first of all, are they sleepwalking into a policy error? Look? By definition, that's conjecture. So if this guy knows the future, then he can make that statement. I don't. I don't think that. And his argument is they're not cutting enough. Okay. What I would say to him is based on what data, there's this NOE So that might be his opinion. He may end up being correct,
but there's no data that backs that up. Okay. So, and here's the problem for let's have a little bit of grace and understanding for the FED as much as I pat pound on them, which I think they fully deserve it. But to be fair, Okay, you have to make policy decisions somehow, Okay, So the FED would much rather respond a little too late to things than respond
prematurely to something that doesn't occur. Right, So, when you look at what we're dealing with, when you look at the deficits, when you look at unemployment, stock markets at all time highs, housing prices at all time highs, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, does it look like the economy is slowly and it clearly is. Okay, but you can't what is the risk here? The real risk is inflation ramping again and going out of control, like we've talked about on this show, and I was just talking to
clients about it yesterday. Look, we all sit there and we fear because for our entire lives, bad negative economic outcomes meant falling prices. Okay, rising prices are a much bigger problem. Okay, there much much harder to deal with, And so we should always look at inflation should be and it's really not. And this is one of the biggest policy mistakes I think the FED does make, which is we should be more concerned about inflation than we
are deflation, right, and deflation caused serious problems. But at the end of the day, deflation is your currency value going up against other assets. How many how many countries around the world have gone under because their currency was too valuable? Yeah, nobody right now? Now. It can create some really ugly economic outcomes, breadlines. We saw what happened in the Great Depression. I'm not saying it's nothing we need to be worried about, but inflation is the is
the real threat. Okay, when you're sitting there saying that the Fed should cut harder right now, that's based on where you think things are going. There's just no bad data to back that up. So I completely disagree with them.
I think it would be a policy mistake if they cut quickly, and I think there's a big thing to say that even if they only cut twenty five basis points right now where everything is at, that's sort of a preemptive move too, because you're getting you're not getting signs from the labor market that you need a rate cut. You're getting signs of things slowing down. But remember they needed to slow down. Were not an economy that's going to grow at eight to nine percent a year, right,
that's ridiculous. And if you grow that hot, it means you have a bunch of inflation. So no, I you know, I'll throw this in the pile of people talking completely out of their backsides with absolutely nothing to back it up for because, like I said, I don't know outcomes. I can't tell the future. He may end up being proven correct, but there's just nothing in the data that would warrant the FED to cut. As a matter of fact, I think they're a little premature on the rate cut.
I understand it, but I think the I think the debate at the FED, and to be fair to them, it's kind of sounded like what this is what the debate has been, which is should we cut or not? These people calling for emergency rate cuts, I just there it's ridiculous. I mean, you've got a stock market trading at third I mean, housing prices at all time highs, stock prices at all time highs, gold at all time highs,
unemployment at four point one percent. There's absolutely nothing in the data that would warrant a more.
Aggressive cut except for one thing. November third, Well, now, Okay, that's right, because God willing, there will be a November third. We're gonna do you know, the ballots are going out next week in some states, next stinking week. The ballots are right right ear and right early, and often if they do the economy, they dropped the interest rates. This that's like snort and cocaine straight up your beak.
Yeah yeah, Well, and then, like I said, the other thing that you got to consider here, and this is why that guy you just read, I'm sitting there just shaking my head. Dude, you're insane. Like the last time the Fed did this, that's what created ninety nine two thousand, That's what created that was the that was really the seed corn for that whole You know, you're you're I mean,
you're cut right now. Even if they just cut twenty five BIPs, they're cutting into an environment where you've got full employment, record price record highs in housing, record highs in the stock market. It could get it could get absolutely nuts. So yeah, it's I just could not disagree with that guy anymore.
So this is all folks can affect your retirement. To understand that your retirement portfolio was not built in all likelihood you're ten to fifteen years five ten fifteen years for retirement. It wasn't constructed for times such as these where there are no rules and the rules are there are no rules. So that account that you've been creating and you've been living and you've been counting on could
be set up to be really, really risky. And this guy, Zach Abraham at Borer Capital Management, is obsessed with risk management by actively managing all portfolios which can reduce risk and volatility. That's where my money's at with Zach and all most of it. He won't let me put it all there because he says, what if I have a bad year. See, that's risk management. That's being consistent. Other people would do that, they'd say give us all your money and your kids too, plus your house and all
the other things. It just didn't do that at Bower. He's putting on a free live webinar. This is the twenty sixth of September, and it's really going to be about these current events and about how it creates risk and how Bulwark navigates this. These are free, but you have to registered to attend. Go to Know Your Risk radio dot com. That's kanow Know your Risk Radio dot com or call eight six six seven seventy nine risk.
He'll answer questions. Zach's a teacher at heart. And if you come away from this saying, hey, I can do this on my own, he'd leave you with his blessings. Got her go get it done. Maybe you can do this for me. I'm not into on the job training when retirement is just from the corner. So it's no your Risk radio dot com. And now because the government urges us to do this, A kind disclaimer from my friend Russ Simpok.
Investment advisory services offered through Track Financial loc and SEC registered investment advisor. The opinions expressed in this programmer for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. Any references to performance of security so it thought to be materially accurate and actual performance may different investments involved risk and are not guaranteed. Past performance doesn't
guarantee future results. Track twenty four three zero eight.
There it is, Thank you, Russ, Zach. Here's the headline for your fund finance and tell me if this indicates anything to you in the Way of Worldview. It's from Yahoo Finance. America is facing a diaper crisis, and the anti abortion movement may not be helping. I I'm sorry. I imagine this sometimes and it makes me a bad person.
And I'm just imagining judgment day and I'm next in line, and I know, you know, like the Lord Jesus, and there's probably not a line because he can do all things at once, but I'm imagining this line and I'm watching the Lord Jesus looks up and me like, hey, but you're next, You're next, And he's saying to someone, Okay, but why all the abortions? Why did you kill all the babies? He goes, look, dude, diaper shortage. There was a stink in diaper shortage. I had to kill the babies.
And the Lord's response to this won't be exactly what like that's why you're not coming in. It would have to be.
Yeah, I yes, hey there. I don't think that there's a I don't think that there's a problem we current currently face in this country that cannot be fixed by murdering more babies, right.
Like that's due me.
You listen these people talk about it, and you're just going right. The people pro creating so that our society lives on is the problem. And here's one thing I was going to say this, and this is a warning for everybody, because I've even seen it with some of our clients. There is a big disconnect right now in the way that people are viewing markets and financial matters and the way they're viewing the culture as a whole.
I cannot tell you how many people I know, or like I said, even clients of ours who are sitting there going we came to you for risk management. Nothing makes sense, Everything's all up there. But why aren't we in this stock? Why aren't we in that stock? Why why aren't we chasing the market? And you sit there and go, who wha, whoa, whoa. Don't be of two minds? Okay, why are you here? Why are you talking to us? Okay?
If you think it's all because we're going off the rails and we're not making any sense as a culture, and you see our government doing irresponsible things, what you're telling me is it shocks you that irresponsible things look better right now, right like you know, like perfect example of this last two days, over the last two trading days, gold is flat, maybe slightly up over the last two days.
Market's been getting annihilated. Price of oil has been hit hard. Okay, So gold is slightly up, price of oil gets hit hard. That's nirvana for gold mining companies. Right, input costs are going down, thing they sell is going up in price. Right, it's nirvana. Okay. Price of the average gold company has been slammed by five to six percent over the last couple of days. Right, And people people are like, why why do we own that? And I go, they go, it's down and I go, yeah, I know, they're like,
but why why why do we own it? Because they're making record amounts of profit and we're buying them for pennies on the dollar. And you say, They're like, but yeah, Zach, it's not going up. And I go, do you think that if this corporation continues to do things the way that they're doing them and continues to generate ever higher profits and margins and revenues, do you think that that stock price is going to keep going down? Okay? So
are you looking at reality? Are you really surprised that we live in a culture that isn't looking at real value? Does that surprise you do you also think that to end up on the right side of things out of this period of insanity, however long it lasts. Do you think doing the things that everybody else is doing is going to get you there? Or do you think it's
going to require some discipline? Do you think you're gonna have to hold on to things that maybe aren't being appreciated right now because society has lost its mind and it has no moral tether?
Right?
What do you think the other thing? Have you learned that concept in life that ending up in the best place is often made up of making the hardest choices, exercising the most discipline. Right? Does it always feel good? Does getting up in the morning and going to work out always feel good? Why do you do it because it puts you in a good place at the end of the deal? Right? Investings is the same way. If you're in the right things right now, you're probably pulling
your hair out. I know we are too, okay, But at the same time, why would you expect the rules of that game to be any different than the rest of the culture. And if you want to raise the best kids, if you want to have a successful marriage, if you want to have a successful portfolio. Guys, I'll tell you this right now, a really easy proxy that you should tell whatever society and culture is telling you to do to get that done, do the opposite. Right,
It's almost that simple. Right now now. Doesn't mean it's going to feel good right now, right, because we're in the doctor's strow, feel good type of deal. Right. The only thing you can't stand for is telling somebody that something they're doing is inappropriate. Right, It's an Alice in Wonderland deal. We can believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast, right, and yet we turn around and go, well, but why is it my portfolio performing up to the
S and P five hundred and go well? Because it's on crack and we're looking for real value. Right. We remember years like nineteen ninety nine when the Nasdaq was up one hundred percent in Berkshire Hathway was down twenty five percent. Why because it was real, It had real things going on. It wasn't just conjecture and smoke. And I'll tell you right now, man, I just it's one of those things, you know, And is it? No? It stinks.
I want to see stuff go up every single day, right, But what you know and we should all know this inherently is in periods of times of insanity, doing the right thing feels very painful. Why do we do it? Because it always ends up good?
Right, right right?
And same can be said a culture and that I mean, I just everybody's lost their minds, and including people that get it culturally, are buying into it over and you're sitting there going, guys, no, no, you know, if you're meeting.
You're getting it culturally. Men are not women. The elections are not secure. The FDA and the CDC are not our friends, nor is pharma. But dang it, that nvidiot man, there's no right right, that's that's so huge in that little gold company. Why would you write and for this example, I'm not buying an electric car. They can do all the mandates in the world. They're getting rid of the gas stoves. I'm not playing. But you want me to
buy local utilities, regional utilities right right? Well yeah, because see the government's forcing people to do these things, and these local utilities are going to But but what did you see what Nvidio did?
Yeah?
Right, I'll give you this because there's a less complicated example of this in my life is. There are days where I go pretty nuts on caffeine and I don't do it as much as I used to. But no, honestly, like the other day, we did my birthday workouts, and my birthday workout is always a major, major workout, and this year it was a pleasant surprise of a one nine and sixty seven meter run in the air runner
with my sealfit pack on. And then times, yeah, good times, eight rounds of twenty four overhead squats and presses and pull ups and see burpies, box jumps, something else and then to buy out was a row and good times. Had to get that done in under fifty seven minutes and all that, so it's good times. And on that day I juiced a little bit on the caffeine, So get done with that. Tell coach what's next. I'm on
for something else and I'm heading home, Zach. I'm thinking, you know what, I'm gonna go for a five mile run. I'm so ready. No, No, I'm gonna swim. No, I'm gonna swim and lift. And I'm I'm pulling in. I'm gonna swim and lift. I'm gonna get my kettlebells. I'm heading down to the beach. Swim lift, swim lift, swim lift. I go inside again. You know, I gotta eat first, so I sit down and eat, and you know what, I'm just gonna sit down for a second, and then I can feel it.
Oh, caffeine's leaving me. Oh yeah, I got a decision to make. Now I gotta chase the caffeine. I'm like going to the stove heating up some coffee and I'm drink. I can tell I'm late.
I missed the wave. And next thing you know, I'm sitting to my wife. I'm I'm take a nap. Then, I mean and it always fools me. I always think I'm at the crest, man, I'm going to ride this thing. And you can see the financial metaphor for this, right.
Yeah.
I think people can learn a lot from how people who are wise and smart and have been learned through you know, hard things that have happened to you. I wanted to ask you in a second to talk about to the degree that you can like the worst screwing you ever took in business and how that ended and what you learned from is. And then I'll relate this story. I think you get a kick out of this this thing that happened to me back in the internet radio days.
It was probably not the worst screwing ever took. That was when I learned that there was a member of my board of directors who wasn't voting his own shares. He hadn't invested in his own money. He'd actually another venture capital firm had backed him, and that venture capital firm had a competing interest wow, and caused this guy to say no to a six no, like sixty to eighty million dollar acquisition from Microsoft. It only would have
put like twelve million in my pocket. So right, it's no, biggie, it's not life changing money. It's not like I care. But we'll talk about this in a second. Zach and I have some friends in common. Some of them have passed on, some are still very much here. One of our friends in common is Tim Krukshank, the founder and CEO of Bone Frog Coffee. But at since we talked about Tim, I need to check in with him. You know, he lost his wife, Liz a few months ago. Coffee
company lives on. His girls had stepped in and really stepped up writing notes to customers, et cetera. I do want to tell you something about bone fog as you head into the wintertime or the fall, is if you have trouble waking up in this period of time. I was just mentioning caffeine. I am a little bit juiced today because I've had two of the door Kicker roasts.
Door Kicker is a light roast. And if you'd come to me before door Kicker was created and said try light rose coffee, I would laugh at you, point at you, call you names, belittle you, disrespect you, perhaps kick you in the ankle. But having had the door Kicker brand, I can tell you now I'm a convert. It's a light roast, but it's very tasty, non bitter, and it has the highest caffeine load of all the bone Frog coffees.
It's one of my favorite roasts. And then again, if you're still in hot weather and it was like ninety two degrees earlier, maybe eighty nine when I was out taking some sun in North Idaho, there's still the ice coffee. You put some pouches in water in your fridge overnight and you get an incredibly rich ice coffee. Go to Bonefrog Coffee dot com. Slash Todd use promo Coot Todd to get ten percent off your first purchase fifteen percent off subscription coffee because of who Tim is, retired Navy
Seal Buds instructor. Every single bag says God Country Team on it, and bone Frog itself is the insignia of fallen Navy Seals, Bonefrog, Coffee, dot Com sash dot. So Zach, I know we can't name them all, but I've I've actually had a very you know, in business, I've rarely taken really hard screwings. Really just got messed with or cheated that it wasn't cheating on my board of directors. And that guy apologized to me later I should have told you, and probably he was breaking some sort of
aiduciary thing and didn't tell me. But there was one guy who came in effectively tried to steal our company. I'll tell you about that. You tell me the worst kind of like screwjob you ever had in business.
You know, it's funny because it's really a double sided coin. So it was a total screw job, and yet it was the best thing that ever happened to me. So before we started Bulwark, I had a partner that I was working with and we had very complimentary skills, and so he was doing well on his own, but when we started working together, the results were really pretty amazing
for both of us. And it was one of those deals where the excitement for on his side lasted as long as to where I think that he thought that he had learned from me kind of you know what
value brought to the table, and I ended. Yeah. I ended up getting a call from him when I was in uh the hospital hospital with my youngest child about three three weeks after he was born, he developed pretty brutal case RSV and spent uh and spent seven days in the in the NICU and uh it was while I was in the hospital with my my son, No, Yeah, that he called me and said he wanted to part ways. Yeah, and uh.
Did you say, do you know I'm in the hospital with my son?
No? No. It caught me off guard, but it was also one of those moments where you went, Okay, I see, I see who you are and what you're about, and this really stinks for me, but yeah, I'm a big believer in that hole when somebody tells you who you are, believe him, you know. And so no, I I looking
back on it. I'm actually proud of it. I didn't get bitter about it, didn't didn't didn't freak out at him, just went to go on my on my own way, and then eventually took my experience from that, from what I learned from that deal, and my wife and I started bullwork. So, like I said, it's it was not cool. Yeah it was. It was a pretty low blow, but you know, it ended up being It ended up being
the best thing that ever happened to me. So it's one of those deals you can't really you know, yeah, I always feel like that's how things work, Like, I feel like that's how things work out a lot, you know, which is there's so many times where these unwelcome changes come into life and you look back on it a few years later and you're like, thank god.
Well it sounds like you were unequally yoked. I mean that's not a very Christian behavior, right, yeah.
Well, and that's not what that that's not what that person would have said. Oh yeah, but this is business.
Right, So but that's it. There is no this is business in church's church. No, I agree, And it can't work that way or you're not really walking into the Lord Jesus, because the Lord Jesus when he saw the temple and they were doing all the trading in the temple, he didn't go, well, yeah, that's but that's business, right, I mean you got to you gotta be able to raise money for the temple, So it's okay. He didn't say that at all.
Well, yeah, And I've always despised that when people say that, because you know, it's just business not personal. How I put bread on my table for my family is very personal to me. Yeah, and I think it's personal to everybody. And more importantly, I think it's like the ultimate morality, uh like unvailer, right, is don't tell me how you behave. Let me see you. Let me see how you behave when money's online.
Right, let me see your behavior when money's on the line or it's existential. You're under great periods of stress, then then I know you have morals.
Right.
If those morals go away during times of stress, then I know that you have stress, and I know that you have some things you like to do, you prefer to do, but you don't actually have morals.
Yeah right, yeah, because yeah, because pressure and heat unveils character.
Right, exactly.
It's who you really are exactly, and so you're not the decisions you make in the way you act when everything's rolling your way. It's like, let me see you under some pressure and under the gun, and then that's you know. And I teach that to my football kids all the time, which I'm like, Hey, the reason we drill this, the reason we work this in so much, is when you're tired, when we're down, when things are up against us, this is our real DNA and this
will be what comes out yep. Right. Conversely, you know, if that's your real DNA, it's going to show up eventually. You know.
I'm getting ready for a seal fit, which is just over two weeks away, and I know, I know there's going to be a periods of time in there where I'm going to have to turn the my cohort of guys and go, guys, I feel like I'm going to quit. Yeah, And we've had this discussion up front. Our coach just said, hey, don't be the guy that hides that you hide, that you stew on it. It builds up in your mind. And I don't know that this is a Christian or not. I haven't asked the question, I guess I could they
know I am. It's obviously in my bio and I talk about all time. I would have turned to the Lord the Holy Spirit, but I have these men around me. And he said, be the one to step up and say, hey, guys, I am feeling like I'm going to quit. Let your team talk, you know, no, let me take your ruck for a bit, like I'm good. It's a long ruck. I'll carry you know, you recover, maybe get me later. That's something that we need to be able to do
as well as morals is confessing this weakness. Right, I'm at a period of weakness and I need your help. I need you to step in. I need to lean on you a little bit. That's part of what they're trying to get across in this experience. So let me tell you mine. When I had the Internet Radio Company and with CEO, we had great backers Draper Fisher, Jervinsen and Watsats Ventures and Utah Ventures and some other companies vcs, and we were at this period of time where the
company done super well. We had revenues other people didn't have. We had ad insertion technology other people didn't have, and I got a call from one of the big, big funds in Silicon Valley. We're deeply interested. We'd like to see if we could lead your b round. Okay, So I fly down and of this meeting, and the guy takes me aside. His name is Peter, and he takes me aside and says, hey, I got a question for you.
Are you set on being CEO for life? I go no. In fact, I don't think I'm the right guy to take the company to the next stage. I'm an inventor or product guy. I'm actually I'm thinking about bringing in a CEO who could actually grow the company. Right, it's a different stage of company. Okay, there's a guy here. He's going to join our fund and invest some money, but he's going to just be observing. Okay. So this guy was a big deal in the radio business, and
I recognize his name right away. So he sits for all the meetings and very complimentary, et cetera. And so we get done. Peter says, you know what, we like it, man, We like it a lot. We'd like to fly up Monday and take a look at Hey, by the way, what do you think of Eric? It seems great what would you think of him as CEO? Look at that interesting, don't know. They come up Monday and he brings his chief technical guy and we sit the meetings. We have
to set the schedule. Eric's gonna go have these meetings. The Peter and the tech guy, They're gonna go have meetings. I get a email from my CTO Todd. This guy wants a copy of our source code, an actual copy. Yes, no, absolutely not. Well he says he needs it to make an evaluation. No, absolutely not. Then I get a note from my longest term best friend in whose home I lived, whose dad taught me the radio business. You have to get in here. Eric is trying to take the company
away from you. So he'd gone behind the scenes and had drawn my friends together, lifelong friends, and said, look, let's be honest. Todd doesn't do anything here. You guys are the one who built this, You run it. Why is he soaking up all the equity? And my friend said, you're an idiot, Like Todd designed this whole thing. Everything here came out of his mind. We built it for him, but he absolutely designed it. He is the mind behind this. And they said, you got to get in here. He's
saying he wants you out. So I go knock on the door, open it, Eric, get out. I know what you're doing. Get out. I go and get the VC and the tech guy leave.
It.
Turns out On plays to me, you're making a big mistake. I'm like, we know what you're doing. They later went and launched a company and they took our name and put it all over their website in their code so you couldn't see it publicly, but in their source code, so anytime someone was searching for the dial, they were trying to make that in there. We saw that right away. Then I get a phone call from Earthlink. We had a huge deal with Earthlink. We provided them internet radio,
they provided his distribution. The boss lady calls me from Earthlink. She goes Todd, I know we've got a five year contract. I know it's exclusive, but I gotta tell you. Ericson here and he's offered me one million dollars to be my internet radio provider. I go, so, hold on a second. He's offering to pay you to provide a service. Yes, take the money upfront, all of it. Give him six months to launch. To your satisfaction, it has to have all the functionality of our company, all of it. You're
gonna let me out of the contract. I'm gonna send you an email. Here's what I'm gonna let you do. She took the money. Six months later, he doesn't have anything near what we have. She comes back to me and I say, I'll take some of that Eric money and uh, we'll use that to do some promotions. She gave some of that to me. Long long story later, I'm at Microsoft and I was general manager of Media
Strategy Monization. That was a field title. Is really just a kind of senior director guy, but a cool field title. And a guy was in there stelling some tech. It did some streaming. So guess whose desk it comes across? Little me. I look at the email chain and I see the name, and so I call him and introduce myself. Hey, it's Todd Herman. Follow the phone off speaking and this is exactly what I hear. Oh god, hey, how are you.
Wait?
Are you the decision maker on this? Probably? Yeah, So listen. Can I get you go ahead and fly out to Seattle like to have an in person discussion? Won would you like me there this afternoon? He said, you're kidding I said, yeah, I'm kidding. I am willing to look at the tech, but I'm also going to write a note back to the chain saying you're the most unethical person with whom I've ever dealt in my career in business. So I guess, he goes, well, I guess there's no point.
I go, I don't know, are you lying about the tech? They might still buy the tech, but they're not gonna buy it from you, bro. And he said, this was during the King of the Universe time. I really apologize. I really apologize, I said, except your apology. Is he going to send that email? Yes, I have a fiduciary duty to the shareholders Microsoft to say you're a very unethical man. That was probably the worst attempt at a
screw job that ever happened. But again, it came back solid because it proved what we had was not easy to build. We spent a lot of time designing the system. There's a reason that it was the best system at the time. It makes sense. Yeah, I mean.
The thing that cracks about those scenarios and it always seems to play out like this, as you sit there and you look at the guy and you go, have you ever sat back and gone back and taken an inventory on that whole deal, because had you played it straight and just partnered and not, we all would have made way more money, right, we all would have made more money. But just you were like my grandfather. You say you're too smart by half, right, right?
I love that saying, Yeah, look, why take twenty five percent of a company that could be worth one hundred million, one hundred and fifty million bucks when you can take one hundred percent of a company that's that's gone in eight months.
Because they're because they're they're and he's the same way that my partner was. Because they're those people that whatever when when you're doing a deal with them, whatever is left on the table is a net loss to them. That's the way that they see it. Right, So whatever they don't take of the entire pie, it's not it isn't fair, it isn't proper incentives, it's everything as binary.
They either get it or they don't. And if they don't get it, all they see that as losing something and it's just the way they are.
That's an eloquent explanation of business narcissism.
Yeah right, yeah, yeah.
Right, it's Okay, to have a good deal for everybody. It doesn't have to be a killer deal for you.
Right, it's the best kind of business. I mean, Like I was telling a young guy this the other day. I go build a reputation for people doing well when they work with you. Like, if you want to have a successful career, be known as the guy that does good deals and people make money with him. Right, that's a wonderful reputation.
App It's one way of your life.
Yeah.
Always appreciate you coming on, my brother, Thank you for the wise counsel. Thank you for sharing that moment in your life. It was hard, but led the good things and remember this, God can make good out of anything. Appreciate you, my friend. This is the Todd Herman Shaw.
Please go be
Well, be strong, be kind, Please make every effort to walk in the light of Christ.