Good morning. Top of the morning to you. Top of the morning, man. Sorry about the, uh, the headphone- That's okay... issues. You- there's always an issue with my, with my audio- There's always an issue. Yeah, always.
With the two. It has to be. It wouldn't be- Ah... Two Dads of Tech without an issue with, uh, Troy's audio. It is so bad, dude.
How about, dude, how about Amazon laying off thousands of people and then going and signing a, like, a $38 billion whatever dollar deal with OpenAI? Yeah. Uh, insane.
Amazon laid off 30,000 corporate employees and what, 24 hours later, OpenAI signed a deal with them. I mean- Yeah... you know, I was just talking to my wife about the state of the job market right now, and
m- honestly just grateful I have a job and that we're okay financially. But the...
I think it's a record-breaking year, I don't know in how many years, 20 years maybe, maybe longer, in, like, skilled workforce, like, white collar layoffs, where there's a number of upper level middle management, you know, skilled contributing workers being laid off across the board in big tech, startups, you know, everything.
It's pretty- Yeah... it's pretty shocking. It is. Do you think... Okay, if you're running a business, on the surface it looks bad, but if you're running a business, do you think it makes sense? I think
if a person can't justify the amount of money they're being paid by the amount of money they make the company, and directly justify, then a layoff makes sense.
And I, I think a lot of people are not trained to justify the revenue that they bring to the table.
I think in sales, we actually have it easy because it's very measurable, and we say, "Look at the money I made you," and it's very easy to see in the actual invoice, oh yeah, that came from that seller.
A lot of other organizations in a company don't operate in that same way, and so it's up to accounting and, you know, the finance department to meaningfully justify the cost of an employee, which is typically the salary of the employee plus 30 to 50%, because it costs the company a lot more than the employee gets paid to just have that employee.
So yeah, I think it... I don't know.
I don't wanna be deaf, you, you know, what is it, uh, tone deaf to just how many people are without jobs right now and, um, you know, i- like the more, the higher up you are in a job the less, or the more time it's gonna take to- Yeah...
get a job. So, I mean, I mean, there's people are gonna be struggling. I mean, that sucks. Yeah. I was trying to put you in that position where you, like, awkwardly have to say, "Yeah, it makes sense as a business."
[laughs] But dude- Well, it-... hey, it makes- Go ahead, go ahead... it makes sense to let go of someone at- Yeah... in a, but like a mass layoff? I don't know. I mean, I think it's, it's very easy to...
It's very easy as someone who is looking from the outside at an Amazon to victimize the people who work at Amazon. "Oh, stupid Amazon makes trillions of dollars and has billions- I know...
of dollars in packaging waste," and, like, you didn't have to- Yeah... lay off these employees. You're, you're Amazon. It's like, well, it's kind of, like, not mutually exclusive.
Like, yes, they're Amazon, they have a crazy amount of money, but also at-will- Yeah... employment sucks. Like, at the end of the day- Yeah... I saw this thread, I was gonna say Tweet, but actually a thread.
I saw this thread about someone who got laid off for... I mean, this is crazy, mind you.
They work in, in some, like, you know, Michelin star, I don't know how high up, but, you know, they, they texted the chef and it was, like, a big deal.
"Chef, can I come pick up my paycheck between 3:30 and 6:00," you know, "this day?" Chef responded, and it's, like, a screenshot of this text.
Chef responded, "What did, what did, what did I say the last time I- you asked me that question?" And she's like, "You said come in any day after 8:00 PM." He's like, "Exactly.
So you'll get your check on Friday after 8:00 PM. Also, you're fired." And- Ugh... it was cold. It was cold. Yeah. I was like- Yeah... dang. Someone said, one of the first or highest comments was like, "That's illegal.
You should sue them." It's not. That's the thing. Yeah. At-will employment, you can fire someone for literally anything, and when you become an employee, you're signing that in your contract.
You're saying, "You can fire me for anything," and it is indefensible. Which is crazy when you get fired for those anythings, but that's what at-will- Yeah... employment means. Yeah.
There's only actually, I can't remember the second one. There's only two states out there that are not at-will, and it's Montana- I know. California... and I don't remember the second one. I think California.
So it's California? Okay. Well, I think- Maybe that's it... one, one of, one of the two you can actually go to court. The problem is you'll always lose. You will- Yeah. Yeah... always lose. Yes.
Unless it's like- However... intense discrimination and stuff like that. Like, those are the problems that it's like, okay, there's something else. Yeah. But, like,
the, the legitimately not illegal things that you fire someone for, you- Yeah... you're, you're, you're at a loss. Just take that. Absolutely. Yeah. So there's...
So chances are if you're listening, you live in an at-will state where you can get fired for anything.
Now, there's things where you can go, like, hire people, and they might help you get a bigger severance and, you know- Mm-hmm... things like that.
But at the end of the day, yeah, like Daniel said, you'll probably lose any legal ba- battle if you're like, "Hey, I got fired for the wrong reason," at the end of the day, they, they can just fire you.
Which is, it's crazy, but I mean- They-... I don't know. This business. I have no idea. I think Montana's actually the only one, by the way. I just looked it up. Oh, really? Really? I thought there were two.
For, for whatever- I thought there was two as well... reason, I thought California had some weird thing, but I know- What about Montana?... I think it's just Montana. Yeah. Dude, Montana's beautiful.
So I started something on Beehive this last weekend. You did. And the- Let's go. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell me about it. So, dude, listen to this.
I made a post on TikTok, and I was like, "I have a goal of finding the best wings in every single state, but I'm gonna start right here in Wisconsin since it's local to me." I love it. All right? I love it.
So I made this thing called Eat with Troy. This is about four days ago. Made this TikTok, Instagram, YouTube. I don't really post on YouTube and Instagram too much, but TikTok's, like, the main thing. Yeah.
And I just talked about wings in the state of Wisconsin, and of course people are very opinionated, like they want their opinion to be- Of course... shared and out there and stuff like that. Of course.
So I posted the first video. The first video got 14K views. It's okay. Not too bad.Second video got 139,000 views. Let's go. 6 plus thousand likes, 2,000 comments. The third one got 3,000. The fourth one got 70,000.
I have another one with 78,000, and this was all in the last four days. So it has like almost 2,000 followers and almost 14,000 likes in about four days. That's sick. And I actually made two.
So I'm gonna go out and eat at these places and, uh, I used... It's a company called Apify. They just, they have agents to- Sure... scrape anything and everything.
And so I posted the links to my most, three most viral videos. And I was like, "Scrape all the comments and then rate," like do not hallucinate, blah, blah, blah, right?
Rate all these restaurants based on how many times it was mentioned to find the best wings in Wisconsin.
So now I have a list of the top 40-ish places that I'm gonna try to go and visit and try and eat, and then I'll create a whole like blog, vlog, whatever style- Yeah... video.
So I've already made two videos, and I'm going- That's sweet... today for lunch to another- Build... place pretty close to me. So- Build on it. And dude- Build on it. I mean, that is it. I- That's it right there.
Dude, three places already hit me up. They're like, "Hey, if you come to our place, we'll give you free wings. We see that you're already stopping by." I'm like, "Hell yeah. Let's go."
[laughs] Dude, I, uh, I spoke at a dinner. This was two weeks ago now. Um, it's actually a personal friend of mine who owns an accounting business and happens to do my books and our taxes and stuff.
He said, "Hey, can you come speak at this dinner? We have an appreciation dinner for all of our clients every year." It was like a really nice dinner, Brazilian steakhouse. You know- Ooh... it was like super, super nice.
Huh. But I spoke for about 25 minutes, um, kind of Two Dads and Tech style- Yeah... interview.
He interviewed me on what I think the founders and the, like, the, the audience here was mostly small and medium sized businesses. So I'll call it 500,000 to $5 million in revenue.
And so you had anything from internet companies to construction workers to general contractors in the room.
And he asked me one of the questions, "What do you think founders are doing wrong with content, with social media, with the internet, with marketing?"
And I said, in a, in so many words, I said, "I think founders lose sight of themselves and the assets they create and rely too heavily on the people they've hired to be the marketers or the social people." Yep.
And I think people resonate with the founder story, and I think people resonate with it being told consistently, and I think when you are uncomfortable telling it, it means you're doing something right.
You should be telling it so often and reminding people so frequently of who you are that they latch onto that. Yeah. People buy from people, not from these brands that are meaningless.
And I think, why do I bring that up? You doing that, you are the founder of this wings- Channel thing. Yep. Yep...
thing, and people will latch onto that, to you being front and center, you being the face, you doing what's fun. I mean, that's why- Yeah...
the algorithm picked it up and why it will continue to, because you're being you. People are too- Yeah... afraid of being themselves. Yeah. That is what makes the internet go around. Yeah. Dude, and I
wh- I wholeheartedly agree with that. Any business, I think, like, you just need to have some sort of founder story, and I... The s- the sixth video, so they're all talking heads besides the reviews.
The sixth video, somebody commented saying, "Bro, you posted six videos. I don't see any wings." [laughs] And I was like- [laughs] I just...
So I responded to the, the comment and I was like, "I created this account 48 hours ago. Like, I just ate at two wing places in the last 24 hours. I'm making the edits right now." I'm, I'm full, man.
There's actually kind of- I can't eat anymore.
[laughs] Dude, I have a Milwaukee trip with six different wing places I'm gonna hit, but yeah, every single one of them, kind of like to your point, I'm looking at like the, the page.
They all say the same thing, and I'm just beating a dead horse. It's all, "I'm here to find the best wings in Wisconsin, and I'm documenting the entire journey." So what I then did was I bought eatwithtroy.com.
That's already a thing. Yep. Yep. Spun up a website f- with, uh, Beehiiv. Shout out, Beehiiv. Let's go. Let's go. Um, and then every video, so I'm gonna post a video like twice a week or whatever.
Every Monday I'm gonna drop a newsletter of... What I'll do is use AI as well as- Nice... like my actual transcript from the review and just have my review of like, "Hey, here's this restaurant."
So every Monday you'll get like a new wings restaurant delivered to- Sick... your inbox. So all AI, like, it... Well, not editing. Editing takes, I don't know- Sure... 30 minutes to an hour for each one. But,
um, yeah, it was, it's been kind of fun, but it's real, real weird in my opinion to record yourself eating in public. 'Cause I'm not doing it in the car. I'm at the restaurant. Yep. It's awkward. There's a, there's a...
Yes, I've thought of that before with food influencers where I'm like, yo, you, you gotta look weird to everyone around you, where you're like talking to the camera and taking a big old- You do...
juicy bite and, uh- Dude... there's, there's definitely an aspect where you just gotta get over yourself to, to be in the business and- It's so weird. Yeah, I don't, I don't like eating like that on camera. Dude, no, no.
I don't, I don't know if I would, but- I know, but-... it's, uh, it's interesting... who knows? Maybe I'll meet some friends.
I had about 10 to 15 people hit me up and was like, "Hey, when you go to this restaurant, let me know. I'd love to like meet up and eat some wings with you." Oh, 100%. All right. You should.
Like, I can't just meet up with everyone. And then also- Yeah... you will never please everyone when you're like publicly out there. That's true.
'Cause there's people that are like, "I can't believe you'd support that place. This, this, that." And then it'd be like, "Ew, like the fact that you even have this rated higher than that," blah, blah.
I'm like, "Just relax. Like, I'm just here to eat wings." And they're just helping your, your impressions go up- I know... to the right. I know. So, I mean, it's like whatever, let them, let them hate.
Are you, are you rating like, like point systems, like 9.3 out of 10- Yeah... type of thing? Or like how do you... Yeah. Yeah. So the two that I rated so far was a 7.8 and a 6.9. Not a 6.7. Yeah.
I was like, "Why not 6.7? Come on, man." Um, but- It's, it's already phased out. [laughs] I know. 6.7 died with Halloween. I know. So I am rating them.
I was gonna have like a more robust rating, like how do they look, how do they smell, crunch to meat ratio, sau- like sauce flavors, all that stuff. There you go. That became too much.
Ability to get all the meat off without grit, that's a big deal. Ooh, yeah, yeah. That's, it is a big deal. If you can get a wing clean to the bone without having to chew the- Like to, oh, yeah... the metatarsals.
Yeah, no, we don't want that. [laughs] Uh, but it's, uh... It, it became-That became like too difficult to just like talk about, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so right now at the end I just like, I'm...
Like I have a clip right here. Right now at the end, I just, uh, say like, "Hey, overall, this place was like a seven-nine. Their wings were okay." Yeah. This and that.
My hope is that if I focus, niche down on wings right now and I go eat wings, call it two times a week, if I, uh, focus on wings right now, can I then move on to like steakhouse, the best steakhouse in Wisconsin? Ooh.
And then those steakhouse places- Ooh... are like, "Yo Troy, come eat at this place for free." And I'm like, "Yes." Yep. Um, so that's- Come give me some wagyu.
So I was gonna do like Wings with Troy but I was like, that kind of narrows me down, so I just did Eat with Troy and I'll do different series of like best steaks, best tacos, best, you know, Indian food, et cetera.
So, we'll see where it goes. Um- Food influencer. Let's go. Yeah, I know. Whoever thought- That's sick... who, who would've thought? That's sick. But it's just, it's a weekend thing. It's a fun little weekend thing.
But hey- Let's go... if you're having free food. I, I also- Start influencing. I built something over the weekend. Ooh, tell, tell. Coincidentally. Tell, tell, tell. I know. Uh, I had- It's fun, dude.
I had an inkling where the running community on X, just like people who run and post about their stats and stuff, is ravenous. There's so many people.
So I was like, "I wonder if there's like a central place for these people?" There's not, so I created it. I created Runners of X community. And I was like, "You know, we'll see where this goes. Who cares?" Yeah.
Almost 1,000 people joined in the last 24 hours. Dude. And- That's-... I think it's gonna, I think it's gonna- How did you, did you just make a post and that gained, it just popped off? I made a couple posts.
And I know some pretty elite runners who I'm connected to, and I didn't ask them to do this, but a few of them posted like, "Yo, this sick running community just started," at like 85 members. 10x'd overnight.
It's at 850 literally since last night from 85, and I think it's gonna go over 1,000 in the next couple hours. In the newsletter? Subs? So next stop is 10,000. No, just community members on this community in X.
X has communities, like almost like- Oh, I didn't know that... Slack or Community Discord. Okay. Yeah, so- Okay... so X has- Holy cow. Sick... community features. Yeah.
So now the goal is to make it the largest, most engaged community of runners- Running community... on the internet. Dude. And I believe it can be. And- That's-... I mean, in short order.
I think we're gonna hit 10,000 this week. That's so- So it's pretty cool because there's just people like, like, just started- Yeah, that's a-... running all the way down to like Olympic m- Yeah...
marathoners and they're like, "Yo, I'd like-" That's so sick... you know, "Help me with... I'm, I'm trying to cross-train. What, what do you do?" Like, "What are the best super shoes?"
Like, "Hey, I'm, I'm doing a 50-miler for the first time. How do I think about fuel?" And it's like people who are like legit qualified are like responding. I'm like, "What did I just do?" Yeah.
I just created- That's so sick... and, and I'm not even an elite marathoner. I'm just a runner trying to make his way through running.
[laughs] But I'm like surrounded by these legit people, ultra-marathoners, runners, like elite, you know, 2, 2, like sub 2:30 marathoners, sub 2:20 marathon. I mean, like some serious runners.
So it's called- How much, how much thought did you put into that? Building stuff is so fun, dude. How much thought did you put into that? Like how much time do you think you thought of it?
And I'm bringing this up because I feel like a lot of people think that a lot more- Yeah... goes into something like this than it- Yeah... really does.
Like it just takes- How much thought before I posted it, before I did it? Yeah. [laughs] This is not an exaggeration. 45 seconds. Yeah. [laughs] Dude, that's, that's- Like-... literally how things are built these days...
45 seconds. That is so cool, dude. Yeah, I just did it. I love that. And I got eight members and I got 40 and I got 50. I was like, "Oh, I'm like 50-something." And that was in about one to two days.
And then 85, a few people just happened to post it, blew up. That was last night. Literally 10x'd overnight and it's just- That's-... like the engagement's insane. I mean, there's- Yeah...
hundreds of people engaging in these posts now and I'm like, "Yo, I just made something really, really cool," and it was just because- Yeah... I felt like it and spent 10 seconds doing it. [laughs] Yeah. Yeah.
That is so cool. I was thinking of with this whole wings thing, like just getting one shirt made that just says like, "Wings, bro," or like, "Wings, dude," or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. That's it.
Like very simple, oversized, "Wings, dude," and then wearing it for every single video and then people are like, "Ooh," like, "I want that shirt." Like, all right, well maybe I'll make them, so.
That was the idea with our TDIT- I know... uh, shop. We need to, we need to, we need to spin up some more swag there.
In my video last night for the Eat with Troy, I was rocking a dad hat, so we're gonna keep rocking that now. Well, did I tell you when I was, I was working from a Starbucks a few months ago?
I think this may have been in a previous episode, but I was working from a Starbucks and I was wearing a dad hat. Maybe we didn't talk about this. It's crazy. No, I don't remember. Someone came up to me, headphones in.
Someone literally came up to me and was like, "Hey, I'm so sorry, man, it looks like you're deep in work, but where'd you get the dad hat?" I was like, "Oh, this is something I made on Two Dads and Tech."
I'm like, "You can check it out at twodadsandtech.com." And I watched the shop and he bought one. Like, like- Really? [laughs]...
five minutes go by and I get a ping, "New dad hat purchased from," blah, blah, blah, and it shows like the, the ping of the IP and it's like right next to me. I was like, "That's that dude just bought his hat."
[laughs] So I'm like, people- Wow... like when, when you're not putting the brand front and center, I think this is a lesson for, for people actually, for, for companies as well.
I've seen this hot take so many times like, oh, swag is out. No one wants swag at an event. It's like, no, no one wants your swag. Yeah. Like, that's the problem. It's all about you. [laughs] It's all about you.
Like, no one wants your company's swag where your logo's like big front and center and then there's like something fun and creative. People want... I know.
That's why all of our Two Dads and Tech swag says nothing about Two Dads and Tech. None of it. Yeah, nothing. Because it doesn't matter. Nothing. Like, we're trying to create swag that people want.
We sent Sam Parr a hat after his episode with us and he like wore it- Yeah... at the gym that day, and he's like- Oh, he would love it... it, it's something you're proud to wear. It just says, "Dad."
It's just very simple. Yeah. But I think there's a lesson there.
I think companies who wanna give out swag, like make it about what people actually want to wear and go and wear, and then people ask them where they got it.
That's way more effective than your logo walking around when the reality is it's gonna gather dust in the closet. Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of dad, being proud of being a dad, stuff like that, it snowed this weekend.
And last night my son and I, at first I was like, "Ah." There you go. Is it still on the ground, like a lot of snow? Not a lot, but it's still on the ground. I see it right now. It's too cold.
Um, but it will be 66 this Saturday, so it's definitely gonna melt. But it snowed, and last night my son was like, like after his nap, he was like, "Hey, I wanna go play in the snow." And I was like, "Yeah, for sure."
And you know, parts of me, I was like, "Oh, this is gonna be real cold." But we ended up having a...
Like my nose is stuffy 'cause we played for so long in the snow, just throwing snowballs and making snow angels and stuff. Such a cool moment, just like-I, I'm not from snow, you know.
Like, I'm from Texas and, and Raleigh, North Carolina- Oh, that's right. Okay... where like it doesn't really snow much. Didn't occur to me. Um, yeah. But it was cool to like see that. And, uh, yeah, I'm gonna try to see
if he will get into skiing this year, at least if he can stand on skis- 'Cause you-... 'cause I'd love-... you ski. I've only gone three times, but it's all been- Oh... out west, big mountains, so like Utah and Colorado.
Are you any good? No, no, no. I thought you had gone more for some reason. Oh, okay. No, three times. I snowboard. And I- I've been snowboarding my whole life. Oh, that's so sick.
My, uh- Yeah, no, it's, it's pretty sick. My- Cali was the captain of her snowboard team. She's pretty rad too. Mm. Nice. Cali's the wife, everyone. So, um, yeah, so I'm gonna put on s- on some skis.
I'm Facebook Marketplacing some skis to see if there's any that obviously kids grew out of, they're selling them for cheap. And, uh- See how it goes... we'll see how he does. Here's a, here's a piece of advice.
If you know you're gonna go out west, although it sounds like maybe you're gonna teach him on some bunnies, like in Wisconsin, is that? Probably, yeah, probably here. Okay. But we're not gonna go out west this year.
Okay. If you're gonna buy used and you're gonna go out west, always do it out west. Find a place on Marketplace, talk with them, and then get them during your trip out there. Interesting. It's gonna be better gear.
It's gonna be better taken care of. There's gonna be more to choose from. Yeah. And better brands. Because ultimately, like there's- Yeah... so many shops and people buying consistently- That's true...
and it's like a part of a culture out there. Like you get a new board, you have a few boards, you have a few pairs of boots, you have a few straps, so you're just buying and selling stuff all the time.
I needed new boots. And I'm crazy. I have a size 15, so it's really hard for me to find boots. Yeah. Or shoes at all.
[laughs] But I, I bought them in Denver when I went out to snowboard a few years ago, thinking, oh, like exactly what I just described. Like I couldn't find any in frigging... Where did I live at the time?
I guess I was in Chicago at the time. But like no one's gonna be selling, one, good condition- Yeah... size 15 snowboard boots in Chicago. It's just like super random. Yeah. So I just found them in Denver.
Bought them- Yeah... while I was out there. Way better. Yeah, if I saw correctly, you just finished your second half marathon. I did. Tell us. Dude, big bummer.
I was, I was really sick two weeks ago with this, like, respiratory thing. Mm-hmm. Uh, so just like up late, coughing like crazy. You know, it's, it's the stuff that's just going around.
I mean, it's like what, what do you do? You got kids, and the, the season's changing. So I did not do well. I was shooting for 230, and I'll say- What is that pace?... I did not. I don't know what that pace is.
That is 11:26 flat pace. Okay. So I was, I was expecting to go out hot, which I did. So the 5K was okay. The 10K was like, eh. But then at mile 6.5, 7, it was bad, which is downhill the whole time, and I walked a bit.
That's frustrating. Uh. To me, it just feels like I didn't finish. I crossed the finish line in the right time, but it, it just didn't feel right, and I didn't feel right. My heart rate walking was in the 160s. Really?
Just walking. Through the roof. I couldn't, I couldn't catch my breath. Wow. I couldn't catch my breath- Interesting... like for five miles. I couldn't catch my breath. So I was like struggling.
So anyways, I have another half in two and a half months. Got it. The Charleston Half. Uh, if anyone's running that, hit me up. That'll be a lot of fun to meet you in real life.
But Charleston Half, that is, uh, January 31st. So I have like a full almost three months to not be sick. That's what killed me. I was- Yeah... trained. I was ready. I was mentally prepared. You were primed.
My body just gave up- Yeah... on me. So all I need to do- Damn... is train between now and then, just not get sick. I mean, that's the thing.
And honestly, it's not even not get sick, it's specifically not get a respiratory sickness. Like I couldn't breathe. [laughs] It was like so- Yeah, yeah... frustrating. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So- That is, that is frustrating.
Yeah, so I'm- Yeah... I'm frustrated. I finished, but like, not, not how I wanted to. Yeah. But, you know. You know, it is what it is.
A lot of people are encouraging me, like, "Dude, you got literally as many races as you want for the rest of your life." Hm. So it's like- That's true...
this is just one bad day in the grand scheme of things, and so I'm trying- Yeah... to keep my head up. Yeah.
I can't remember, are you trying to work your way up to a marathon, or at this point is it just like we're just maintaining, being healthy, stuff like that? I don't know. There's a Myrtle Beach marathon.
That's March 7th. Mm. That's kind of- I'm, I'm-... that's kind of close. That's, yeah, that's like 16 and a half weeks from now. So- Yeah... the, the training that I'm doing now and through the half for January 31st
is similar to what I would be doing if I were doing a full. So I, I'm, I'm flirting with- Yeah... doing the full. Hm.
I'll probably decide before I do the half, because it'd be way too close to decide, you know, that'd be like February, and the marathon would be like five weeks later. But yeah, I just, um- Ooh, okay...
it's just consistency. Yeah, I know. I, I felt like if I wasn't dealing with this, like, respiratory thing, and I still have like a minor cough right now. I'm just like suppressing it right now.
I feel like I need to cough. But, uh, like I could run. Yeah. I could run a marathon. That's, that's how I feel in my training, that's how I feel mentally.
That's why it's so frustrating, 'cause I'm like, "I can do this." Yeah. I just did it. Like I just did a long run right before the half marathon where I felt phenomenal. I ate breakfast. I was walking that day.
I did a bike ride that same day. Like I just felt like, "Oh, I could do this. I could do this, no problem." And then I got freaking so sick. So anyways, yeah, I don't know yet. I, I, I- Yeah...
did the lottery for Chicago next year. So I'll find out- Okay... if I'm getting into Chicago, uh, I think December 20th or something they tell you. So in either case, if I get into that, I'll do that.
Uh, I might also do, uh, Myrtle Beach. It just kind of depends. How do you... Do I just search up like Chicago lottery? Is that all I type in? Mm-hmm.
Yeah, you, basically the way it works is there's a qualification, so if you have a time qualifier, you just get guaranteed entry.
Then there's charities that you can run with, which is what I was gonna do last year, uh, before I got injured. I was running with Livestrong. Mm.
And so charities have X amount of registrations set aside that if you raise money for that charity, you get a guaranteed entry. And then there's a lottery, and so you just apply.
You give them your credit card, because if you get in, they will charge it immediately. It's like part of the agreement.
Like you're basically prepaying if you get in, but if you don't, you just don't ever pay, and it's zero dollars. So yeah, I'm in the lottery.
Last year there were like 50,000 odd runners, and I think-Something like 300 or 400,000 people [laughs] in the lottery.
So it's like, a- and the f- the runners include the, the guaranteed entries and the charities and stuff. So the, the odds of getting in the lottery are, are low and- Yeah...
and get slimmer every year because more people enter, but we'll see. Yeah, I might do, I might do a charity run this year too, or I don't know. I might not do it at all. Interesting. I should try that.
I just pulled it up right here. Be cool to... I mean, it'd give me something to work towards. Yeah. Have, have not been running. And you have plenty of time between now and Chicago. I know.
Yeah, I mean, you need- That's, I have way more than enough time... you need 12 weeks, really. A 12-week training block if you're, if you're a nobody.
I mean, obviously these elite runners, they could just go run one right now. You need 12 weeks, and best case- 12 weeks... you get 18 weeks. I need two weeks. 18 weeks is [laughs] 18 weeks is much better.
I mean, some people really do just go run marathons, but that's so bad for you, dude. You're, like, taking years off your life. Like, don't do that- Yeah, yeah... to yourself. Dude, do it the right way.
Like, respect, respect to the 26 miles. Like, that's... Some people can just go run it. I think it's stupid. I'm like, "Why would you do that?" Yeah. "What are you trying to prove?" [laughs] 'Cause they can.
[laughs] And you can't. And you're like, but if you could, you might. I am. You- Yeah, I might... you're like, "Wait-" You're right... "this text got a cool-" You're right. Dude, I, I text you about this.
I, uh, my wife and I, we booked a trip to Costa Rica in January. Oh. I gotta send you the details. Without me.
I know we're going for the first- Well, you, yeah, I just assumed that you decided you didn't want me to go when you didn't send me the details. It's cool. We don't have... It's cool, it's cool.
If you want, we can Airbnb- No, I already booked, I already booked our trip to a different co-... and bunk up in this. I already tripped to... It's already going to a different country as we speak.
Where, yeah, where you going? Yeah, where you going? Aruba. [laughs] Oh, I do. I've actually never been to Aruba, but I do love it. [laughs] I have never been to Aruba. I've been to Costa Rica, though.
But you love it, too? It's where we... Our, our honeymoon was in Costa Rica. Oh, where'd you go? Jaco. J-A-C-O. It's on the west side. Yeah, yeah. I know where- It's beautiful...
I thought it was, I thought it was called- Uh, we've talked about going back... Jaco. It's so good. [laughs] I thought it was Jaco. I think it's Jaco. Jaco? No, I think you're right. Is that a real place? Nah, I don't...
How do you- Let me, let me find out... pronounce? Jaco. Yeah, yeah. Because I've- Totally. Yeah. No. It's 100%. Yeah, there's a picture of me on Google.
Right when you, right when you get it, it's, uh, me, right there at my honeymoon. [laughs] Uh. No, this is, uh- Ya- Jaco. Jaco. Take away the H and it's a Y. Jaco.
This is why, this is why I remember it, 'cause this is, like, a very famous... I'm gonna show it right now. This is a very famous thing they have. Yeah, it is Jaco. You're right. This. You see this? I see me.
This is, like, a really cool- Yeah... uh, I don't know, thing. And it's right there over the, over the, what is this called? Statue? I mean, sign. I don't know.
Anyways, we have, somewhere we have a picture of us s- uh, in front of that, and that's, like, the thing you do when you go to Jaco. So. Oh, nice. Pretty cool. That's nice. Yeah.
How long, uh, how long did you stay in Yu- you'd go back? We would love to go back. That's awesome. We went there for our honeymoon. We were there for, like, seven days, and haven't been back- Nice... since.
That was almost eight years ago. We've talked about doing something on our 10th. We go somewhere every year, like, just for fun as a family. But, like, something- Yeah... where it's just the two of us, like a big- Yep...
anniversary trip we'd probably do on our 10th. When is that? Is that coming up? No, that, we're having our eighth this next year, so. But we're doing, we're doing a trip some point in February or March to just- Yep...
do, you know, a weekend, four-day thing, something. Yeah. Ours is, our fifth is coming up. We're gonna go to Vegas, I think. We met in Vegas. Very short- Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm... very short meeting, but, um, yeah, yeah.
Met in Vegas- That'll be fun... and we're like, "You know what? We haven't been back in five years." And I'm not, like, a big... Or, I mean, I was at some point a big Vegas guy, but haven't been back since.
I feel like it's gonna be, like, completely- Yeah... different now. Yeah. Where I'm like, I don't know. Dude, my nose is so stuffy. I- Can you tell? Can you tell my nose is stuffy? Uh, kind of. Kind of, but so am I.
Yeah. I mean, we just sound- Let's just- We just sound like we've got nose stuff... do this the whole time. [laughs] Um, my brother's in Vegas. I, I, I might go out there. There's CES is in Vegas.
I'm assuming you're familiar with CES. It's like a, I don't even know what it's called. Uh, it's the biggest- That sounds familiar... CES conference.
I can't remember what CES stands for, but it's the biggest technology conference in the world. Consumer Technology Association. CTS. No. Like, hundreds... No, C-E-S.
But- Hundreds of thousands of people go to Vegas every year for it. Oh. And is it all techs? Yeah. Like robotics and- Yep... things like... Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I see DJI. Okay. So I might be there in January for that.
That's cool. You wanna go to CES with me? Yeah. Come to CES. There's B- uh, is there software there? It's everything. So it's everything from software to hardware to- Everything... no underwear.
Yeah, it's- Like, all that? Wow. There's... Let me, I'll tell you. How many- January 6th to 9th... uh, I think there's, like, 10,000 companies that exhibit. It's insane. Let's see. There was 142K attendees last year.
There's 4,300 exhibitors. Yeah. 4,300 exhibitors and 1,400 startups. Yep, that's what I see. And then 142,000 people went last year. You think you're gonna meet Jeff Bezos? [laughs] Yeah.
I was in Vegas during CES for a different, smaller conference three or four years ago. Maybe two or three years ago.
Every, no joke, every single person you pass has a CES badge while you're in Vegas during those three days. I mean- Mm. It's that big. You, you aren't- Holy cow... in Vegas unless- Yeah...
you live there or are there for CES during those three days, 'cause there's just, the sheer amount of people there for it is insane. Interesting. Yeah. Do you, do you gamble at all?
Like, would you gamble if you go to Vegas? Would you put some money on black? I don't know. I would maybe play some poker, do a little bit of cash here and there. Uh, slot- But nothing... slot or two.
I'm not a big gambler. I've played a lot of poker- Same... in my life. Well, a lot of poker that, for someone that just plays poker for fun.
It's funny, I have to condition that because my brother is a professional poker player, and so- That's right, he is... the, a lot of poker spectrum is totally different. [laughs] But yeah, I mean, I like watching.
I like just- Yeah... kinda walking through, watching people have fun- Yeah, yeah... more than anything. But- Has your- What about you? Has your brother had any fat... I'll answer that soon. Has he had any fat winnings?
Like, real big? [laughs] Uh, yeah. You're like, "Yeah, look at this." [laughs] Um, well, I'll tell you right now. Working something up. Yeah. I think he's in, I think he's in the tournament right now for 700 grand.
Dang, that's cool.When you're a professional poker player, do you, do you just like... Okay, let's say you start from zero, whatever the number is. Let's say you start from zero- Yeah...
and you win a tournament that's 700K. Now, do you just play with like your own money or is like tournament money set aside and does that operate completely differently? Or like, you know what I'm saying?
Like, how do you- Yeah... go into one of these poker tournaments? Is it all your mon- like, I'm trying to figure that out. How does it work? You have- Do you just have one pot you play from? Mm, it's, it's complicated.
I would probably botch the exact details. But if you're rich and you start playing poker, you can obviously pay for buy-ins from your own money, but there's a pot, and usually it's tournaments.
Cash poker is different than tournament poker. He usually plays tournament poker where you have, I don't know, anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand people, and you have eliminations. Wow.
And so the pot and the winnings go, you know, variables as people buy in and are eliminated.
And sometimes those tournaments have a double buy-in where you can, before a certain timeframe or bes- before a certain ante, you can buy in again at the same cost.
Obviously, the risk is greater because you are buying the same amount of chips you were given originally, but now the people still remaining have much more chips. Yeah.
But there's still a chance that you win something big and you start competing again. So there's a lot that goes into it.
Um, at my brother's level, you typically have backers where they're basically investors, but the investment is you. And so- Interesting. Wow...
if you have a $25,000 poker buy-in, you might front 10 or 15 or 40% or something, but then you have backers fronting some amount of it, and then if you win, you pay out that same percent to the backers. Interesting. Wow.
Yeah. It's like a whole- Yeah... it's a whole world, just VC world. Wow. It is. It is, it is VC. That's- It's, it's VC, but for your poker. Interesting. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. Wow, wow. Do I, do I gamble? Yeah. No.
Like, if I go to Vegas, I'll maybe spend a few hundred bucks. Yeah, sure. But definitely not an avid gambler. I've only gambled... I mean, I've played like, you know, neighborhood poker.
Like that's kinda fun with some friends. Mm-hmm. Um, but gambled literally in a, in a casino was, well, a few times in Oklahoma when I was 18, 'cause you could be 18 and, and gamble there. Mm-hmm.
And then, yeah, that one time in Vegas, and I actually, I came out on top, which is good. There you go. All from, all from craps. My first time ever playing craps, and I went for a sales event, so it was my SKO. Nice.
The Australian people, the Australian reps were at the craps table with me, and I must have had beginner's luck because I've never played this. I don't know what the rules are.
I couldn't tell you what the rules are right now. Yeah. But I'm over here rolling, and every time I'm rolling, they're all like, "Yeah, let's go, golden hands. Come on, golden hands."
That's like- They're, they're freaking out. They're like... 'Cause they're, I'm putting like 25 bucks down.
They're putting like 1,000, and I won like eight hands in a row, and they're like, "Golden hands, keep it coming." [laughs] It was- Yeah... it was really fun. Um, but again- Uh, so-... I won. I don't know the rules...
I'm looking at, I'm looking at Michael right now. My brother, his name is Michael Burke. Um, he's in 2025 PokerStars NAPT in Vegas. Day three starts today. There's 40 players left of
738, and he is number eight right now, and it starts, uh, it's, you know, starts later this morning. So who knows by the time you're listening to this, uh, what the- Oh, yeah, dude... what the endgame will look like.
But he's, he's, his total winnings are at 2.3 million according to PokerStars. Yeah, I see 2.3 million. So. Yeah. Yeah. Holy cow. Um- Look at this man. He's, yeah, he's won a few, he's won a few real big pots.
Is he, um- He's been very close to winning a few unbelievable- Like massive... pots. Yeah. Uh, he, he, he plays golf with the guy who won five and a half million. He's like one of his best friends.
Uh, so he's just, like he's in the group. He's in the, he's in the posse- Wow... of the, the best poker players in the world. That's crazy.
He was at one point, he's I think 67 right now, but he was the 50th in the world on GPI, Global Poker Index, so he's, he's up there. That's wild. People, people know him. Yeah. Wow. That's sick. Good for him.
Is he- Yeah... is he very, is he, does he come from like a religious background and stuff, and does he have like a- Yeah... interesting upbringing like yourself, or was he more- Very different.
His, his story would be totally different than mine. Obviously we're in the same family and the same household, but the way he would probably tell his story would just be entirely different- Yeah...
than the way I would tell mine. Yeah. Um, but yeah, I mean- Yeah...
he, he comes from a religious upbringing and I don't know what he would say about his life right now, and, you know, the last 15, 20 years just look totally different than mine, but, you know- Did, uh-...
he's doing well for himself. Your other brother's a software engineer, right? That's right. Yeah. So what about him? Is he like...
I feel like a software engineer, like you're kind of a, and this is just a, a total, a total stereotype. Like a, kinda like a rule follower. Like you might, you know, maybe this is wrong, but [laughs] and I- Yeah...
just everyone, if you're a software engineer, I'm not saying you follow the rules, but- He breaks, he breaks the mold. He's, your typical software engineer, you, you think like- Tell us... not as, not as social.
I don't know. He's like super stereotypical, right? But he's not- I bet it is... he's not really that way. He's, he's a pretty social guy. He golfs. Uh, he lives down the street. We hang out all the time. Oh, heck yeah.
Um, he has a family. We have a family. All of our kids are like best friends. More like brothers than cousins. That's so cool. It's pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I mean- Wow. Awesome... yeah.
It's three very different paths professionally, but, you know, all best friends. I mean, we, we always talk about going on a golf trip together. We've done it once or twice.
Uh, like we went to Hilton Head for Thanksgiving as a family a few years ago, and, you know- Yeah... the three of us went out for a round, which was amazing. Um, so we've- Yeah...
I've done Kiawah with my younger brother. I've done Kiawah with my older brother separately. Which one's the older? The poker? Poker's his older brother. Which is the older? Okay. Got it. SE is older. Yeah. Got it.
I'm the middle. Sweet. Yeah. Got it. Yeah. I just booked my, just booked two months ago, booked my first like actual golf trip where I'm like actually- Nice... traveling to play golf.
I've never- You doing like a three-day, four-day round? It's Sunday to Thursday. Um, and then- Are you golfing on Sunday- So we're going to Scottsdale... or are you golfing Wednesday through Wednesday? Golfing Sunday
one round I believe, and then two rounds a couple of the days, and then one round on Wednesday, I believe, something like that. Nice. Nice.
My, my buddy that, that lives here, he does it every single year, and we're like new friends, and he invited me, and it's like absolutely. And I guess he does it with 15, 20 guys. They all go somewhere.
And he's a huge planner. Like, he wants to be a wedding planner, like that's his dream. Like go buy a wedding venue- Nice... and just him and his wife just plan weddings. Huge market, market for that.
So anyways, like he's planning everything from top to bottom. He already sent me like the transportation, like private chef this night that comes to the house, like all this. Nice. Like he's a huge planner.
So that's good. I said I need to relax. You said you're going to Scottsdale?Scottsdale. Scottsdale. That's gon- that's gonna be fun. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Yes, I'm excited. I'm excited. I, I feel bad.
This is my first time ever leaving the wife and kids for that long, and I feel bad. I'm gonna miss the kids, like, for sure. Yeah. Like, it's not easy to have two kids by yourself and put them to bed every night- Yeah...
wake 'em up every morning and doing everything else that you have to do, so. She's a rock star. I know. She is. I feel bad. I'm like, "You should go do a trip." But also, like, that's a long time to be away.
[laughs] So maybe not. No, it's gotta- Yeah... gotta fill the love tank. Goes both ways. Yeah, it does. Um, my wife is going to Boston with her, two of her college friends.
One of them just had a baby, and they're just gonna, like, be up there to support new mom. And, uh, so Friday night until S- until Monday morning, so I'll be with the kids. So Friday- Mm...
Saturday, Sunday night, and then, you know, four days, uh, almost. So it'll be fun. Yeah. Uh- It'll be a lot. [laughs] It'll be, it'll be challenging. But, like, you know, uh, I'm doing a round of golf.
Uh, so, like, you gotta give some- Oh, nice... you gotta take some. Mm. And she does so much for the kids. Yeah. I'm like, let me, let me just pull my pants up and be a big boy- [laughs]... and take care of the kids.
Yeah. Even though it's gonna be challenging, but, you know- No... it is what it is. She, she stays home, right? Like, they're not in daycare? One of them has preschool now, three days a week. Got it.
The oldest, and then the youngest is at home. Yeah. Got it. Okay. We have- Yeah... we have some nannies, like part-time, you know, babysitters, but, like- Got it... you know, we'll get help here and there. Got it.
Yeah, our, uh- For the most part... both of our kids are in daycare, so a lot of the times when we do book trips, it's like, "Hey, can you book a trip?
Like, book it during the week so during the middle of the days- Right... they can be at daycare, and I don't have to-" Yeah, yeah... you know, entertain them all day every day. But- Yeah... um, that's awesome.
Yes, that's incredible of her, 'cause that's, that's not easy to sit there and have kids at home. Obviously, the older's now in pre-K, but that's not an easy thing to do. Yeah. So she's awesome for that. Yeah.
No, I know. No, she is awesome. She is awesome. Um, and- That's it... you know, the more our business grows, the more we have to be flexible and figure out exactly what life- Yeah... is gonna look like.
2026 is gonna be a big year for Palmetto Parents, uh- I was gonna ask. How's it doing? We're doing really well. We're growing fast.
Got some big quotes out for some pretty big packages, and we just did one for $38,000 for next year to- Mm... book out, like, a, a whole year for us- That's sick... um, with one, one placement.
So yeah, that'll be, that'll be nice. I think we'll, I think we'll hit six figures, um, in the next 12 months and maybe more. Yeah. Uh, it just depends, you know, how, how much we invest in it.
But we have a writer, we have an ads team pushing acquisition, and then Courtney, of course, is, like, the real ops behind all of it. I'm just kind of the, the visionary and the logistics- Yeah...
on making the technology work and, you know- That's it... owning some of the, the stuff. So yeah. Yeah. It's, it's fun. I need to- It's a lot of fun...
I need to pick your brain on, I wouldn't say newsletter hacks, but how to grow it efficiently, especially with the Z with Troy thing. Like, what can I do- Mm-hmm...
to where I'm not spending so much time, but, like, I can put some stuff out there- Yeah... that's really helpful. But... I would do ManyChat as an easy app to kind of drive- Mm... subscribers from social.
ManyChat, M-A-M-A-N-Y Chat. Um- I was looking to- I won't get into all the details, but you can pretty easily drive customer or subscriber acquisition from, uh, IG and, you know, TikTok and all that stuff. So.
Interesting. Sweet. Particularly- Cool...
as you're going viral in those places, you can plug that pretty easily, and it would be very easy for someone to give you their email without redirecting off of the social app, so. Interesting. Sweet.
All right, I'll look into it. Yeah. Yeah. Wrap us up, man. Where can they find us? Twodadsintech.com. Everything is there. Please do go subscribe on YouTube. We're growing.
We have, uh, we have some pretty, some pretty hot episodes going out. We're doing some long form episodes. So we obviously have the, the episode, which is 45 minutes, give or take. We have short form.
We do that all the time, three days, uh, three short form videos a week on YouTube, on Instagram. We're flirting with more, like five to ten minute long form videos, and, uh, we wanna hear your feedback. Go check it out.
Check us out on YouTube, see if, uh, any of those resonate with you, and tell your friends. 2026 is gonna be a big year for us. We're coming up on 52 episodes soon, one year of Two Dads and Tech. Mm.
Had a lot in the pipeline, some days more than others. But appreciate you listening to us if you made it this far. See you next week. Yep. We'll see you next week.