I don't think OpenAI and ChatGPT is gonna live up to the hype What hype? I mean, it's already hyped, so you think it's not living up to its hype right now? I don't think...
I think they're gonna lose placement in the AI race and by multiple placements. You know what's so fitting? Right now, this morning, I read that iRobot, who makes the Roomba, is filing for bankruptcy. So- Are you...
Is that different than- And it totally- Sorry, I'm gonna interrupt you- Go ahead... real quick. Is that different than... 'Cause I read it was, like, Chapter 11, not bankruptcy, but another word for it.
It was, like, f- uh, investment. I can't remember. Chapter 11 investment or so- Their, I do- I don't know. Anywho... I d- I did read they're filing for bankruptcy, but it's- Okay...
as part of an acquisition from a Chinese company that builds some of their parts currently, so I don't exactly know all the details, but I read why. 'Cause that was shocking to me. I mean, I was like, "Wait, what?"
'Cause Roomba's a household name. Y- y- Yeah... even if you don't have a Roomba but you have one of the knock-offs, you still call it a Roomba. Yeah, yeah. Like, that's just what you call it. Yeah. It's like Kleenex.
The thing is- Kleenex is a brand name. Yeah. But everyone who would know, no matter what the brand is, they just get Kleenex even if it's just- Yeah... tissue paper.
So I read about that, and the reason primarily is because of the level of competition since about 2020, 2022. Apparently Amazon offered to acquire Roomba in somewhere around that timeframe for, like, $1.7 billion.
I think it was blocked at court. I don't know all the details around it, but I'm not surprised. You go find a Roomba, if you just type in Roomba on Amazon, Google, wherever you buy stuff,
there's so many different versions- Weird... of a Roomba that's, like, knock-off. And- Yeah... and it doesn't even sound... It doesn't feel right to even say knock-off, 'cause they're actually very good products.
Yeah, yeah. So it's just the level of competition has heightened to where Roomba's not, like, a novel thing anymore. It's just one of many different brands. So I think reason I bring it up, OpenAI, ChatGPT,
I, I've been leaning Claude a lot recently, and Gemini is very good, and you have a lot of different alternatives to ChatGPT.
But I do think the OpenAI ecosystem is so, so much bigger than ChatGPT, and so that's where I think... I think ChatGPT has a lot of competition. I think OpenAI proper maybe has less. Yeah, I agree.
At least direct competition. But I do think ChatGPT is just gonna be one tool in a sea of many tools if you fast-forward five years. Yeah. You know?
Like, maybe- It'll always be, like, the first mover in a, in a way, but yeah. Maybe, like, the, maybe, like, the Microsoft of AI. What's up, kid? Mm-hmm. Who is that? Is that... Which one is it? [laughs] I know.
Uh, that was my oldest. I'm gonna text my- [laughs] Your k- your kid... family right now. Look, we need s- we n- we need more natural moments like that, to be honest. [laughs] Yeah, that was fine.
"Tell the kids to shut the hell up, and if they don't, I'm gonna come in there." [laughs] No. [laughs] That's not how it... That's not how it goes. But, but maybe- But I did say he just showed up on the pod.
[laughs] Maybe, just maybe it will turn into the Microsoft where they just own so many different products, so many different things, and they own the world from a technology perspective.
And I don't know, but I do think, to your point, yes, ChatGPT, I'm gonna focus primarily on that. I don't think they're gonna win the AI race whatsoever.
Gemini, in my opinion, is outperforming it on almost every single aspect now that I'm using it more and more. What do you think of Nano Banana? I mean, have you used it much? Used it a lot, actually.
That's where I go to to make images now, um, especially- I think-... their, they released something last, like, their latest version last week, and it is, like... It almost is scary how realistic videos are. Yes.
I think Nano Banana, Nano Banana, Banana, Banana. Nano Banana is better at adjusting images with new things- Mm-hmm... than any other tool. Really. Yeah.
Every other tool, you put an image in, say, "Hey, remove this, add this," and it's, like, inevitably- It changes the whole thing, dude [laughs]... going to change everything. It's awful. It's so frustrating. Yeah.
So I think Nano Banana, I... The other day, uh, we have a living room, we have two couches, and a TV mounted above the fireplace.
I took a picture of the whole living room, and I said, "Move the TV from above the fireplace to this wall," and I, you know, described which wall.
I then changed the two couches into a sectional and put the sectional on this side of the living room. I was really just visualizing, hey, what would it look like if we changed our room around, and it instantly...
Instantly, it took 10 seconds, but it did that without changing anything else in the room except the parts of the room that needed to be filled in because the TV was in a different place.
But it was like, it looked exactly like my house. I sent this to my wife. I was like, "Hey, what do you think about, you know, changing our, our living room up like this?" She's like, "How'd you do that?"
I was like, "Oh, just," you know, I walked her through it, but I was like, "Beside the point. What do you think of this, you know, new, new layout?" So- Yeah. Dude, that- Yeah, uh, Nano Banana's very impressive...
it is very impressive. That, so for example, I had a screenshot that I just wanted one little part removed, and I said, "Only remove this little area," and I explained the area, and it did.
And it kept the screenshot the exact same, and the screenshot had text in it and everything, and so it's, it's amazing at that.
Another thing that I use it for, actually, funny enough, is because I'm doing this little, like, side gig, not... I wouldn't even call it a side gig.
It's just kind of for fun, but, like, reviewing restaurants and wings right now. What I did, I, I can't go to a new wing place every single day. I don't have the capacity. Financially, it just doesn't make sense.
It's not smart, all that stuff. So what I did was, one, I was like, "Create me, you know, 20 different ways I can repurpose what I already have," and one of them was, like, top 10 wing places, things like that.
So I tried a new format, and I went to Nano Banana, and I said, "Create me a top, like, a top 15 wing place, but slideshow." And then I gave it all the names. Here's, in order, the top 15.
And then it, it cr- it created, like, the best thumbnails that I've ever seen in my life, and it was, like, Wisconsin was in the background. It was like, "Top 15 wings in Wisconsin," and it looked amazing.
It looked like this perfect YouTube thumbnail. But anyways, it's really good at images.
I also use-Like, for example, I had a, I had a-- I was analyzing nine hundred rows of data yesterday, and I was using Gemini over ChatGPT to analyze the data, and I was getting- Yeah... I, I liked it better, so.
Well, I think- I don't- It's, it's, it's putting creativity into the minds of people who are otherwise not technically savvy enough to, like, express on a screen their creativity.
A lot of people have all these crazy ideas in their head, but they don't-- they can't open Figma and, like, go make it or, you know, Illustrator and, like, actually design it.
And so great example of this on Threads a couple weeks ago. You know those, you know those posts that go viral, what should I put in this space? What should I do with this space?
It's always, like, a very awkward niche in a house or nook in a house. So I got, like, millions and millions and millions of impressions, fifty thousand likes- Of course you did.
[laughs] Uh, I think, I think even more comments. Uh, there were thousands of comments. Jeep commented, Lidl commented- Ooh... Wendy's commented. So, like, it went mega viral.
I think my most viral post across any social platform ever. But what was amazing and actually very funny is what people do to posts like that. You say, "What should I do with this space?"
[laughs] Everyone has the most hilarious ideas of what you should do. Yeah. And they always show you, and some of them are really well done.
Like, one of them, it was like a little nook in the top of someone's living room. Wasn't even my house. It was just a picture I found. Um, and one of them- Oh, yes...
was like a stairway to heaven, and it was like, it was like Jesus holding his arms open. Another one had, like, a, an escalator into a Lidl, and Lidl proper actually was the one that posted this.
And a Jeep, like, the company, put a Jeep up there. Yeah. It was, like, all that stuff. [laughs] But I'm like, I think memes are evolving because of AI. Yeah. I think people...
I wouldn't say people are becoming more creative, although I think there's an argument for that. I think people are finally given the most user-friendly tools in history of technology ever- Yeah...
to be as creative as they already were. I mean, imagine how many people had these crazy replies five years ago to a post like this who would've just described in words. Yeah.
And it would've been, like, kind of funny- Yeah... but nowhere near actually just going and doing what you're describing and showing it in a reply.
So a lot of these replies, one of the replies got like fifty thousand likes. Geez. Just the reply. So it's like, that's the type of thing I'm like, yeah, there's, there's an evolution happening.
You asked about OpenAI and ChatGPT. I just think the AI tools being launched are creating a different internet. Yeah, they are. So- Undoubtedly. A hundred percent...
what do you think about dead internet theory to that point?
Dude, so I saw you explain dead internet theory, or not explain it, but make a comment about dead internet theory the other day on LinkedIn, and I don't even know what that means 'cause I don't stay in touch with, with the world.
So tell me, is it, like, essentially that we are becoming dumb because of the internet or? No. Uh, it's way more interesting than that. Okay.
ChatGPT 5.2 says dead internet theory is the idea that most of what we experience online today is no longer driven by real humans- Mm. Okay... but by bots. AI-generated content, automated engagement- Yep...
and algorithmic loops, making the internet- Okay... feel hollow, repetitive, and dead. The theory, it's an academic theory actually.
It's an internet-born conspiracy originally that's become increasingly mainstream as AI content, fake accounts, and engagement farming have exploded.
And what's so prevalent right now, we've discussed this already, is these creators, I, I guess you would call them, like Instagram influencers who are not real- Yeah... AI models- Yep... modeling real stuff.
So, like, uh, I don't know, American Eagle having American Eagle jeans on an AI model who's not a real person, but the jeans are real.
Like, that type of stuff already exists, and brands are already, quote, "hiring" the AI people. So that's, like, the most in your face dead internet type of thing.
But the real, I guess, conspiracy you call it, but I don't even know if it's conspiracy anymore because it's really just happening in front of us, is a lot of, like, Reddit and Facebook, I think, is where it's most obvious.
You see a viral post, and you go scroll the comments, and it's literally just thousands and thousands- Mm-hmm... and thousands of people saying almost exactly the same thing. Yeah. They're all bots. It's just- Yeah...
fake accounts commenting- Yeah... on a viral post. I don't even know what the purpose is. Like, what's the end game? I was gonna say, what's the purpose? Yeah.
[laughs] I don't know, but that's, that's what the internet is. The internet is becoming- E-... what we call a dead internet because it's more AI and bot driven than people.
Now, obviously there's arguments against this, but that's what the theory is. Okay. You're asking what are my thoughts on that. I mean, I, I don't really have too many thoughts on that.
I think that that's exactly what is happening. When I'm thinking of what is the purpose, I have no idea. Maybe a cr- who knows, dude?
A creator makes a post, and he's like, you know, like, for the longest time you can go out there and buy bot followers, right? Like, that, that's always been a thing. You still can.
You go out there and- You'll get kicked off- You still can, for sure... a lot of platforms, but yeah, you can.
Yeah, a lot of platforms caught onto it, but, like, maybe that's the point is, like, I wanna buy bot comments, so it looks like I'm getting a lot- Yep... of engagement. I don't know. Yep.
Yeah, I mean, on LinkedIn you'll see it. There's all these weird accounts that just post the same AI response. It, it's super weird, and I don't know. I think those people,
s- LinkedIn specifically, have an ulterior motive where they want to build an audience, so they wanna make it look like they're engaging, but it's very obvious that, like, dude- Yeah...
this is not you, or lady, this is not you. Um- Yeah... this is just some weird SaaS tool that you're purchasing for $12.99 a month to go leave comments. Um- Yep... so, I mean, I do think that we'll...
I think we're getting into a world in which it is becoming increasingly difficult, we spoke about this a few times, but increasingly difficult to really know what post is real and what post is not, and maybe that's this dead internet theory thing as well, where it's like, dude, who knows what's real?
I have no idea. Like, I can't, I can't tell. Yeah. I, I don't know. Um- Do you think... Uh, there was a post I saw on Twitter the other day-Where, and it went viral, and rightfully so. It was a great idea.
But they said, "There's a open opportunity right now for someone to develop the first social media platform that has zero algorithms and is 100% real human to real human follower connection driven." And that's a
severe oversimplification of what a social platform is, and it's basically describing communities. But I wonder, fast-forward 10 years, 20 years, like, will, will social media as an idea be, like, obsolete?
Will people get so annoyed or I guess just exhausted by what social platforms in general are becoming that they're just gonna, like, rage against the machines and go back to, like, handwritten notes and IRL connections and coffee chats and stuff?
Yeah. Obviously, that's still happening. Yeah. You saw this post, like, maybe you didn't, but I posted on LinkedIn. I was like, "Dude, I'm kind of exhausted- Yeah... by this platform." Yeah.
And the reason I'm exhausted... It was so funny. So many people were like, "Oh, well, you're just not using it right." I'm like, "Jugger, I make so much money from LinkedIn, I'm using it right."
[laughs] "I'm exhausted about the platform." Yeah. It's just annoying. It's, it's, it's everyone's got an ulterior motive. Yeah, yeah, it's- Even the people telling me, "Well, you're not using it right.
The, you should be trying to meet people in real life," I'm like, "Even that's an ulterior motive." Yeah. Like, first of all, I do meet people in real life all the time. I make sales from LinkedIn.
My job is driven by LinkedIn. Both of my side hustles are driven by LinkedIn. Like, LinkedIn is central to a lot of what I do. Yeah. That's not the point. The point is, like, this is exhausting.
Dude, just- It's, you gotta keep up a facade so constantly. Oh, you gotta just act yourself. I'd argue I act more myself on LinkedIn than any person I follow on the platform. Yeah, you do.
I bet a lot of people would probably agree with that. Yeah. Yeah. No one acts more themself on LinkedIn than I do. But it's still, like, part of me wants to just delete my account. Dude. Just, like- Dude...
be done with it. Like, you guys, you guys don't even know. Should I do it? Yeah. I'll delete my account right now live on this episode. [laughs] Don't delete it now. Take a step back. I, I haven't posted in four days.
I don't think I'm gonna post this week. I actually am... And if I do, it'll be somewhat more just, like, sales related, something I've already posted in the past, maybe six months ago.
I'll just copy and paste because I don't have the energy or will or desire to sit here and create new content on LinkedIn. So I'm also in the same boat, where I'm exhausted with LinkedIn.
I was actually scrolling it yesterday, and I saw... [sighs] I, I might have scrolled it for maybe max five to 10 minutes, 'cause I, I, I'm- That was such a good sigh. Dude. I felt that in my soul.
[sighs] I saw, like, five different freaking posts about, "LinkedIn has updated their algorithm, and this is what you need to do," and I was like, "Dude, shut up. Like, come- I saw that too... on."
It's so- Like, shut up. Shut up. Why do you care? Yeah, or just- Like [laughs]... yeah, just, just, yeah, just don't. Just don't. Oh. It's just, just don't. I'm like- L-... oh, it makes- Yeah...
it, it just, it grinds my gears. Yeah. I should- So I, no. You know how effective I would be- If you deleted it?... at starting- Oh. [laughs]... at, no, at starting an anti-LinkedIn community?
I am good at starting communities. Like, repeatable process good. I've done it so many times. Thousands and thousands of hyper-engaged people every single time. What if I started an anti-LinkedIn community?
That would be hilarious. On LinkedIn. [laughs] The most ironic form of- Like an actual, like an actual page and stuff? [laughs] Like, LinkedIn sucks group on LinkedIn. I just say- Yeah, you should...
I'm like, I think 2026 is my year to really lean in heavy on IRL. Yeah. Like- Yeah...
I'm already, I'm in DMs with, I don't know, probably in the last, like, this calendar year, a few dozen people, not like hundreds, but a few dozen people that are like, "Hey, I live in Charleston," or, "Hey, I'll, you know, I'll be through Charleston.
Like, hit me up." Yeah. "You wanna go for a run? You wanna grab some coffee while I'm in town?" Or they live here and, you know, that type of stuff.
I've prioritized some of those connections, and I've even made really close friends from that, but I haven't prioritized them enough. Yeah. I think that's what I'm... And Darren McKee commented on this, and he's right.
As, as much as I'm like, "Oh, my gosh, LinkedIn sucks," he is right. I think there are really valuable opportunities that can come from it- For sure... if you just remove the screen and say, "Hey, let's meet.
What are you doing Friday morning? The coffee shop nearby opens at 7:00. Would love to hang out, get to know each other." It doesn't have to be weird. Five years ago, that wouldn't have been weird.
But now it's weird because so many people wanna hide behind their cameras or their microphones. Yeah. You know. Yeah. I think we wanna, we wanna- Dude... move back to IRL. That's, that's the goal here.
Cap- capitalize on that. I know when I, I think I spoke about this on the pod, but when I moved to North Carolina, I was like, "I want to run my own business." And so I met up every month with an entrepreneur.
And I just said, "Hey, can we go grab coffee? Can we go grab lunch?" And met some really good people, hung out with Darren McKee many, many times. Nice.
And yeah, I was like, "Every single month, I wanna meet someone new," and I did it for a year.
Met a lot of great people, had a lot of good people in my corner as well when I went off on demo, which was awesome, and it's important. I think it's huge.
Um, actually, Phil, Phil Schnee, I don't know if you listen to this, dude, but you messaged me saying that you're in Madison- What's up, Phil?... to grab dinner. My bad, dude. I had swimming lessons.
Um, I don't know how to swim, so I had to... No, I'm kidding. Yeah, I had swimming lessons with the kids. [laughs] Oh, that was good. All right. Oh, wait, wait. Ah. [laughs] All right.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna turn this whole plane around. Real quickly, not a sponsor, but they should. Have you ever had this? No. Ratio Yogurt.
But I wish I knew which one I have in my fridge right now, and it was so, is the thickest Greek yogurt I've ever had. This morning, I put some, some crumble in it, some, some blueberries. It's such a healthy meal, dude.
Dude, so- Anti-inflammatory, good for the gut. All right, but continue. What is Ratio Yogurt? This- Tell me more about it. This... Yeah, yeah, this isn't Greek, I don't think. It doesn't taste like Greek. Oh.
Greek usually has that, like, chunky, you-gotta-stir-it-up. I don't know. Maybe it's- Yeah, it's like thick... slight Greek. It looks Greek. Ingre- ingredients. Uh- Does it not say Greek yogurt?
No, it just says- All right. Well, what, what's so, what's so, what's so special about it? Tastes amazing. It tastes amazing. Twenty-five grams of protein, three grams of sugar. Trader Joe's?
A hundred and seventy calories. Pretty good. No, I used to just get it any grocery store, really. Uh, it's a really popular- Oh... yogurt right now. Cool. But really good. I'll check it out.
What I was gonna say, back to Kleenexes and things like that, are Ba- I know Band-Aid's a brand name, but are they called Band-Aids, or do we just call them Band-Aids? Uh, no, uh, it definitely isBand-Aids.
I mean- It's not like- It's not like-... adhesive something? Well, I think Band-Aid's a brand name, just like Kleenex. Yeah. But yeah. So if it's not Band-Aid by brand, it would be like bandage or- Ah, bandage, bro...
you're right, like adhesive something. Okay. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I, I don't- Okay... but, like, eventually stuff like that loses its IP. It's like the Mickey Mouse phenomenon, like Mickey Mouse's open IP.
They're making, like, a horror movie from Mickey Mouse or something right now. [laughs] It's like, oh my gosh, of course they are. Um, but yeah, I think Band-Aid is a brand name. Got it. Got it. Okay. Rollerblades.
Rollerblades is a brand name. No. Do you know what Rollerblades are called if they... Yes, this is, this is great. Do you know what Rollerblades are called when they're not Rollerblades? Rollerskates, skates? Dude.
Uh, wheelie- In-... wheelie feet?... in- inline skates. Ah, yes. [laughs] Isn't that the lamest possible thing they call Rollerblades? [laughs] You wanna go inline skating today, bro? Like, yo, check out... Yeah.
Yo, you wanna, you wanna check out this inline skate trick I just learned? Like, oh, man. Oh, dude. Yeah, there's a lot of things like that. There's a lot of things like that. Yeah, it's, it's like Roomba.
It's like Roomba. So, hey. Roomba. I think most people confuse being busy with actually moving their life forward. What are your thoughts on that?
I think most people just say that they are busy, and they kind of say that as if, like, "Yes, I'm progressing. I'm doing better in life."
But I think it's really just, "No, I'm just doing busy stuff, monotonous stuff that really is not meaningful, and it feels like I'm maybe moving forward." Do you think most people are in that boat?
I think scrolling is the most relevant, the most common mistake people make where they feel productive- Mm... when they're scrolling. Mm. Yeah. I mean, I fall into this category. Yeah. It, it upsets me.
In the middle of the day- I'm like-... like, if you have, like, five minutes, you're like- That's what I'm saying... "Ooh." [laughs] Yeah. Let me, let me... I don't even know.
Like, what excuse do you re- Like, what, what do you do, what productive thing happens when you scroll? Yeah. Uh, i- the question is do you think people struggle with this? Yes. I mean, I think people,
I think particularly people who work online.
I think it's actually easier for people who commute, go to work, clock out or whatever, leave their work at the office and go home, to not really fall into the category of, like, the blend of work and life. Yeah.
All I have to do is walk to my office in my house to be at work, and I try pretty hard to keep the room I'm in now separate from the rest of my life to a point where, like, I don't go into this room unless I'm working or doing something work productive.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And I try not to work anywhere else in the house. Uh, it just, it mentally just gets too up... You know, it, I don't know, it just messes my mental state. Yep. Um, so I don't know. Um,
what do you think? Yeah, I think most people would just say, "I'm busy," but it's not really anything that's productive or progressing their lives forward.
And then it's- I think people aren't as busy as they think they are. I think so, too. And I think that most people- Most people. And I think the ma- yeah, most.
I mean, there are people out there that are probably just- Yeah... grinding 23 hours a day. Some are. Yeah. Um, just to- Yeah... just to put food on the plates.
Another thing is do you think most people build a life they can tolerate versus a life they want? I think most people have to tolerate life- Ooh... because they don't have enough money to create the life they want,
and I think that's, in many ways, a failure of the system. The system is that the more money you have, the more flexibility you'll have in life.
Bartering is more or less nonexistent nowadays except in specific communities where there's, like, farmers and, you know, artisan craft makers and stuff. But for the most part, it's a capitalist country.
I mean, we're talking about the United States right now. We're not talking about the whole world. More money you have, the easier life will get in, uh, many ways. People say, "Oh, money doesn't buy happiness."
It's like that's true. Having more money does not mean you will be happy. But having more money does make it easier to- To be happy. [laughs]... build a life that will make you happier. Yeah. Yeah.
Uh, it just, uh, it ju- that's just, that's just facts of a capitalist country. Yeah. Uh- Yeah... I don't know. Dude. I do have a list- Just-... back to what we were talking about, of 10 different things.
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That are brand names that most people think are not. If we can just jump around here. Yeah, let's do it. Band-Aid. You are right. Just a Johnson & Johnson brand. Uh, they're called adhesive bandages- Nice...
if they're not Band-Aids. I said adhesive bandage. Xerox. That's a, that's a- Look. That's a, that's a big throwback. Xerox. That's a, that's a brand. Is that a printer or a fax machine? Photo- photocopier. Yeah. Okay.
I don't even know. That's a stupid one. I hate that one. Q-tip. Mm. Q-tip. That's a brand name. That's a brand... Yeah, so Cotton swabs- That must be Cotton swab... or like whatever. Okay. Yeah. Exactly. Swabby stick.
Yep. Little swabby stick. Vel- Velcro. Velcro. It's a brand name. What do you think Velcro's called? It's a brand name. Uh, it's, it has to be adhe- What do you call it? It has to be, like, adhesive something.
Oh, no, no. You're never gonna guess this one. Okay, now hold on. Hook and loop fasteners. Ah, yeah, yeah. I just didn't even wanna give you time for that one, 'cause there'd be- Yeah...
0% chance you were ever gonna guess that. Of course. No, that was my second guess. [laughs] Now, this is crazy. Dumpster. Oh, I know it's- Dumpster... garbage can It's a specific type of trash container. Okay. Wow.
Originally a brand. Wow. Okay. Isn't that crazy? Okay. Popsicle. Wow. Is it just a freeze pop or something? Ice pops- Or freeze-... on a stick. Ice pop, freeze pop. Yeah. [laughs] Jet Ski.
Just start call- just start calling it that. [laughs] You're like, "Yeah, I'm a logic." Yeah, exactly. Jet- I need an ice pop on a stick... Jet Ski is originally a Kawasaki brand, personal watercraft. So is it called...
That's what it's called, personal watercraft? Yeah, personal watercraft. Wow. Yeah. Okay. Okay. ChapStick, that one actually makes sense to me. Oh, I know this. Yes, I know this one. Yeah, yeah.
I don't know what it is, but I know that it's the brand ChapStick. Yeah, lip, lip balm, just lip balm. Ah. You should've just said lip- Yeah, uh... and that's it. [laughs] Just lip. Lip. Two more. Taser- Mm-hmm...
is a conducted electrical weapon. Apparently, Taser's a brand name. Nerd. And then Thermos. I know, seriously. Stupid jacket became such a nerd. Thermos is a tumbler? No. Tum- what about tumbler? No. What is a Thermos?
A tumbler is definitely a brand. Tumbler is definitely a brand. Uh, Thermos is a vacuum insulated bottle. Originally was a brand, Thermos. So anyways.
I'm glad that we have names for these, 'cause I would not call them anything [laughs] but their real names. It's, yeah. Well, it's interesting to think of how a brand creates a product- Can be so powerful, yeah...
and that product, yeah, like the brand is- Is the product [laughs]... inseparably the product forever. I mean, Kleenex and Rollerblades, that's like spans generations. Rollerblades had to have been around for...
Let me see. When were Rollerblades invented? Oh, dude. When were- 1736... Rollerblades invented? Everyone knows this. Everyone knows it. Tell me, tell me your guess. Tell me your guess. Yeah, like 1736 or 1893.
You think 1736? I don't know. You put some circles on a f- on a shoe, and like you have your first Rollerblade. [laughs] I d- what is it? The first- Don't say 19-...
known, the first known inline skate was created by John Joseph Merlin- Oh, I missed that... in London. Yeah. It was crude and hard to control, but the concept existed. 1760. You're not even that far off. What?
I was like- That's crazy... [laughs] I was 24 years off. [laughs] Dude. What? Okay, then various inline skates, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The late 1980s,
Rollerblades become so dominant that the brand name turns into the generic term. Wow. 1983, brothers Scott and Brennan Olson founded- Mm... Rollerblade Incorporated in Minnesota- What up, Scott?...
improving the design and marketing it heavily to hockey players and the public. Crazy. Tells you what marketing and brand recognition can actually do beyond generations. That's before I was born, 1983. That's crazy.
What, uh, what year would you have guessed since I guessed 1736? Would you have guessed in the 1900s? I would've guessed maybe late to late 1800s, if not 1900s, yeah. Yeah.
When you said 17, I thought you were just- You were like, "This dude" [laughs]... way far off. I'm like, "Was the wheel even invented in the 1700s?" Obviously, that's a joke.
Maybe not the tire, but the w- I don't know, dude. [laughs] The tire, definitely, no. Wait, well, let's find out. When were tires invented? Oh, this is... Hold on. This is fun. Tires- Do a whole episode on this... 1863.
1863. No way. Uh, I'm gonna guess. I'm not looking. I'm not gonna l- uh, I'm gonna guess 8- uh, 1901. Nah, dude, tires, come on. Ties on a bike and stuff? Okay. There's so many conditionals here. [laughs] Which tire?
1845. Oh, I was so close again. The first pneumatic, the first pneumatic air-filled tire was created. It worked- I'm, I'm counting that... but manufacturing was expensive.
Yeah, and then there's, there's 1888, '95, 1904, 1911, 1946, 1950s. It's all different forms of the tire, but we'll call 1845 the first pneumatic tire. Oh. That's crazy. That's funny. Wow. Dude. You never know.
That is wild. You never know. Um, hey, sad news. So I'm a big TikToker. I love watching TikToks. Um- I know you're obsessed... it's something I do every night before bed. You watch them non-stop while I'm at work.
I know. But I say this because, and we've talked about this a lot on the podcast, and I don't want to, like, bring in any dark or morbid stuff here, but- Oh, gosh...
a TikToker, famous TikToker if you're kind of, like, if you watch TikToks for 21-year-olds, then you know exactly who I'm talking about, Tucker Ganal. He's a 31-year-old TikToker.
He was part of this hustle house, kind of like just some... He was, it was three brother, brothers and a couple friends. They're all, like, you know, decent looking guys. Had fun, just did a bunch of games on TikTok.
Committed suicide yesterday, and there were zero signs. And I was like, "Dang, dude, like, this is nuts, man."
It goes back to, and we must have mentioned this on 20 different podcasts, like ask your friends and your family if they're doing all right. It's all it takes. Mm. It's all it takes. Yeah. It's crazy, dude. It is. It is.
Um, yeah. And I'm like, "Dang, now how do we turn out of that conversation into something a little bit more [laughs]..." No, I think
if you're listening to this, and when we say, "Ask your buddy how he's doing," if someone just popped into your mind, just, just text him. Don't convince yourself not to reach out.
Shoot him a, shoot him a text, "Hey, man, thinking about you. You've been good. Haven't heard from you in a while." That's all it takes. Yep. It'll take you less than 10 seconds to do this. You never know. Yep.
And- You never do... you know, you shouldn't just walk around assuming people are, like, considering ending their lives, but, like, be a good friend. Hit- Yeah... hit some people up today.
It's not, it's not asking that much of you. And if you're struggling, hit me up. You can find me, Daniel at Two Dads and Tech. Email me. Hit me up on LinkedIn. Hit me up on X. You can email me.
I'll, I'll sh- I'll give you my number if you email me. I'm not gonna give you my number on, uh, YouTube, but hit me up. Yeah. I would love to chat. I would love to chat. I am not an expert. I'm not a therapist.
I do not have any licenses behind my name, but I can listen. I'm very good at listening. So- Yeah... let me know. Same goes with me. Shoot me a, uh, message on, on LinkedIn. I, I feel like that's- Yes...
in, in the same vein, I feel like we've talked about this so many times, so I don't wanna continue to, but I just feel like so many people, especially males, and it, this is females too, but males specifically, like they keep so much bottled up.
Yeah. So what I did today for the first time, I'm hoping it becomes a habit.
My assumption, knowing myself, I'll do it for a week, I'll feel good, and I'll fall out of it, is, uh, I journaled this morning, just like brain dump- Nice...
everything I'm thinking about, what I'm stressed about, like what I'm happy about, how my workout was this morning. I woke up today feeling like... peaceful and light. Like, it was great.
I was like, "Oh, man, I feel rested." Awesome. But also, like, what I'm avoiding. Wrote down things like that. Um, so we'll see if it becomes a habit. But- Yeah. It's great...
all I have to say, yeah, reach out to Daniel or I on LinkedIn. Just know that, like, you're not weird for going through shit, stuff. Sorry. I didn't know that [laughs] I don't know if we cuss or not. Uh, you know?
[laughs] Yeah. Weird for going through stuff. Um, but yeah. [laughs] We... I, I journaled many, many years quite religiously every single morning.
Um, had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages written, so typed fi- on a, a document, and then I had at least two boxes filled with notebooks- Ugh. Wow... that were front to back written.
And, uh, I'm a big proponent. I, I, I don't do that anymore, and it's, it's a practice I would like to bring back. Yeah. Because I think to your point, you just get so much out of your brain. Yeah.
And there's psychology behind this. Even with to-do lists, making to-do lists will increase your propensity to complete things. Yeah. Literally just writing down the thing that you have to do. Um, and then the,
I don't know if it's endorphins or what happens, but crossing off something on your list has a biological effect on your brain to complete things.
So there's a lot, there's a lot to writing things down, especially commitments. They say when you're telling someone you're gonna do something, to write it down.
And uh, a management style, actually, if you're listening to this and you're a people manager, if your people are telling you, or if you're asking your people to do something, have them write down how they're going to do it.
And don't... Not in, like, a weird way, but like, "Hey, I would love for you to tell me five things you're gonna do this week." We do this at Beehive, uh, every week. 110 people now.
We have what's called a weekly success list, which is department by department. And every, you know, sales and support and engineers and, like, everyone says, "This is what I'm doing this week. Here's the target.
I'm gonna tell you at the top of the week, and then we're gonna report on it at the end of the week to see if we're on target or not." Nice.
So every organization does that, but then every single person in the entire company does that, all 110-plus of us.
Top of the week, the CEO, Tyler Dink, sends an email to the whole company, usually Sunday night, with a bunch of stuff, including submit your goal for the week.
Everyone submits it, and then at the end of the week on Friday, all hands, he used to go person by person.
There's too many people now, so he'll just kind of spot-check, like, popcorn style, maybe 20 people to give a report.
And next to their, uh, their name is what they submitted top of the week, whether they completed it or not, and then they give an update on it. If it's a yes, "Yes, I completed it. Here's why." "No, I didn't complete it.
Here's why." It's a really good accountability tool. Um, yeah. I love that. But also personal accountability. You can do that with yourself.
You don't have to be part of a company that does that to start holding yourself accountable to those things.
You'll probably find you're a lot more productive if you decide two, three, four, five things at the top of the week that you need to complete that week. Yeah. You're probably gonna complete those things. Yeah.
Yeah, there's, there's a lot of science behind that, and there's something called the Productivity Planner. Same thing. Did it for about two to three weeks. Felt great about myself. Fell out of the habit.
But it's one of those where it purposely makes it to where you don't overwork yourself, and it just says, "What three things will you get done today?" That's it, just three things. Write down what you're gonna get done.
That's cool. And it's like you're non-negotiable. Like, "I gotta get these done."
Um, and it, and it's not just like, "Oh, I want to move a deal from, you know, from business case to negotiation," because there's a lot of steps- Yeah... going to that.
It's literally like, "I need to email Daniel Burke about XYZ." There's that. Last question. I know you gotta jump here in four minutes.
How much of us as humans do you think is habit, and how little of us is, like, our, our true selves? Does that make sense? How much of us- Yeah... as people? Yeah. You see what I'm trying to say? Yeah.
I think a lot of people carry a facade that's learned and a defense mechanism because of trauma from some part of their lives where being who they really are caused some type of mental or emotional damage for them.
I think people... I just wrote about this. I'm gonna find this post. Yesterday. It's funny you're ask- It's, it's actually very funny. You have no idea I wrote this 'cause it was not on LinkedIn. I say...
Wow, actually really, really wild. Last night, 9:15 PM. "The modern human's desire to fit in and be liked and accepted has stripped them of their uniqueness.
In an attempt to be unique, everyone is the same, and no one is unique. Uniqueness is what will separate humans in the future from those who blend in." I wrote that literally 12 hours ago. Where'd you write it?
And on, on X. Okay. And that's, that's my opinion, and it's super philosophical, but I think people are carrying around a version of themselves that they would like to display to everyone- Yep... watching.
Very Black Mirror. You know, um- I think so too... I just watched Ready Player One, and it's... You know, Ready Player One is a great, like, action-adventure, kinda sci-fi movie in between past and future.
It's set in, like, 2040 or 2045 or something. And so actually the world is starting to turn a little bit into this in some of the ways that AI is evolving.
But what Ready Player One does, all the characters in this game, if you've ever seen the movie, you know, the TLDR on the movie is, uh, it's futuristic.
Most people in the future are living their lives in this video game more than in the real world. Oh.
And a lot of it has to do with this prize money that the founder of this fake universe left behind after he died, and it's worth something like $500 trillion.
It's basically like, hey, you own the entire world of money if you can find these, you know, golden goose eggs or whatever. So anyways, that's the premise of the movie.
But everyone in the-In a fake reality, again, where most of the humans are spending more of their time in the real world, have very specific versions of themselves.
Like, most of them look completely different in real life. They might be a different species.
I mean, there's people who are, like, walking around looking like Hulk, but it's like that ability to literally create the exact version of yourself, it's a very interesting concept. Yeah.
There's this part in the movie where the main character and, like, the secondary main character sort of start falling in love, and the main character says what his name is.
I'm blanking on his name, but he says something like, "I'm Daniel." She's like, "What are you doing? You never, ever tell people your real name in here." And he's like, "Well, but I'm falling in love with you."
She's like, "No, you're not. This isn't me. I look nothing like this. I- I'm showing you only the parts of myself that I want you to see." And it's that line,
like, this is, like, not supposed to be this deep movie, but there's so many allegories in that movie- Yeah... where I'm like, dang, that is social media. Yeah. Wow.
You're only showing people the parts of you you want them to see, which is what grinds my gears about social media, which is where we started this conversation. I'm like,
I try very hard and deliberately hard not to be this way. Yeah, yeah. Like, what you see is what you get on LinkedIn, on X, on Instagram. Like, I'm just, this is who I am. Yeah.
But even me, who I'm, like, aggressively trying hard not to be, me in real life is totally different. Like- Yeah. Yeah, yeah... totally different. Yeah. I'm just not the way I am online in real life.
[laughs] But, like, I would even consider myself less different than most people. Yeah. Most people are giving a very specific version of themselves. Yeah. And I'm like, that is a, it's a fake universe.
The internet is a fake universe, just like Ready Player One. Mm. And with that, Two Dads in Tech. [laughs] Dude, it's so true though. It's a great- It's so true... no, it's a great place. Yeah. Oh, man.
Um, yeah, so twodadsintech.com, everybody. All right? Go there. You can listen to the podcast there, got a shop there, all, all the fun stuff there. All of your updates will be on twodadsintech.com.
Other than that, rate us five stars on Spotify and Apple. That means a lot. Subscribe on YouTube. Hopefully we hit 800 here soon. I think we're at, like, 715, 720 or something like that. Something like that. Last.
We need to hit 1,000. I can't believe- We do... we haven't yet. We just- I don't know what I'm gonna do... haven't been prioritizing it, but... I know. Yeah. I know. Yeah. All right. Yeah.
Well, everyone- Thank you everyone- Yeah... for listening... go to twodadsintech.com. We'll see you all next week. See you next Wednesday. All right, buh-bye.