Latest / Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden / Elevate Ep 28: Army Engineer to Founder & CEO - John Wechsler, Founder & CEO of spokenote

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Elevate Ep 28: Army Engineer to Founder & CEO - John Wechsler, Founder & CEO of spokenote · Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden

• 0:00
  Hey Mitchell, it's Sean. How you doing?
• 0:03
  Hey,
• 0:04
  >> good, good. Hey, I want to see if you
• 0:06
  can get with Megan and grab one of our
• 0:08
  jerseys um and just whatever we have uh
• 0:12
  in the closet. It's going to be on
• 0:14
  display. um um a podcast that I'm going
• 0:17
  on and uh we will find a uh we'll find a
• 0:20
  way to kind of put it on display here.
• 0:22
  But I figured yeah we'll when we at
• 0:24
  least give it to them we may throw over
• 0:25
  the TV or something but uh grab a u if
• 0:28
  we have a seakum or hallebertton and
• 0:31
  that'll keep it you know timeless.
• 0:37
  >> Welcome to the Elevate podcast powered
• 0:39
  by Braden. This is your front row seat
• 0:42
  to the stories of local leaders, both
• 0:44
  nonprofit and for-profit, who are
• 0:47
  shaping our community. Every episode
• 0:49
  brings you leadership insights, lessons
• 0:52
  from challenges, and practical
• 0:54
  strategies you can use today. And yes,
• 0:56
  we'll keep it real and have some fun
• 0:58
  along the way. If you're ready to
• 1:00
  elevate your leadership, hit subscribe
• 1:02
  and follow us on LinkedIn for updates
• 1:05
  and behind the scenes content. Now,
• 1:07
  let's dive in.
• 1:08
  Hey everybody, Jason M here with another
• 1:11
  episode of the Elevate Powered by Braid
• 1:12
  podcast and I'm excited. This episode's
• 1:15
  going to be awesome. Look forward to it
• 1:17
  for sure. I've really enjoyed the
• 1:18
  conversation I've had so far, both the
• 1:20
  four profits and the nonprofits, but you
• 1:23
  know, your journey when you and I
• 1:24
  chatted a little while back is pretty
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  cool and so it's going to be an awful
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  lot of fun. But John, welcome to the
• 1:29
  show.
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  >> Thank you for having me.
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  >> And currently you're with Spoken Note
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  and the CEO and founder, correct? Yep.
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  >> Started it about five years ago. Gotcha.
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  All right. So before we get to where you
• 1:38
  are today, we got a little while to
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  figure out that journey to how you got
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  here.
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  >> Sure.
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  >> So where you originally from?
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  >> Uh born and raised Indianapolis. Uh went
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  to Pike High School. Um and uh spent uh
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  spent a couple of years in the army
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  right out of high school. Okay. And uh
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  chose that path. That's how I paid for
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  uh my college. Um I had a brother that
• 1:57
  went to Michigan. I had family members
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  that kind of did different things. Uh we
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  had musicians in the family. We had uh
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  great athletes in the family. I think
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  mine happened to be I was a good soldier
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  and uh okay I went in and uh and served
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  our country for a couple of years.
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  Didn't realize kind of how admirable
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  that is today. I really respect uh those
• 2:16
  that serve and uh and run the other way
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  when there's trouble at the end of the
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  day. So first responders uh those in the
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  military I think as a country we really
• 2:24
  need to salute and honor them. And I'm
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  really happy that as an 18-year-old, I
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  chose that path uh as as one start to my
• 2:32
  career, helped me pay for college. And
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  yeah, so that's how I got started.
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  >> So Pike High School, right? So first of
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  all, before we go any further, thank you
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  for your service.
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  >> Thank you.
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  >> I mean I mean at the end of the day,
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  you're right. First responders, you
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  know, whether the policemen, their
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  firemen, nurses, anybody out there on
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  the front line supporting folks, man,
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  just you should give them your attention
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  and your respect. Amen.
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  >> Because they're doing something every
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  day for us. But as an 18-year-old kid,
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  you finish up high school and you decide
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  you're going to go down that path, like
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  you said, there's musicians, there's
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  athletes, you know, brother goes to
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  Michigan, where does the was it the fact
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  that you could go to the military and
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  get, you know, have your school paid
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  for? Is that kind of the genesis of why
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  you went that route?
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  >> That was it. And I'll never forget that
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  I went to uh went to the recruiter's
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  office and they had at the time it was
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  like Air Force, Navy, Army, uh Marines.
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  They were all there in the same little
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  recruiting station and I went into the
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  Air Force route because that's where I
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  thought I wanted to go. And as I was
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  walking out of the Air Force recruiters
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  office, I hit the vestibule and I was
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  getting ready to turn right to go out of
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  the building.
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  >> And the Army recruiter said, "What are
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  you looking for, man?" And I just said,
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  "I'm looking for college money." He
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  goes, "I got the shortest enlistment and
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  the most money." And I was like, "And
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  sold." Right.
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  >> Yeah. I'm like, it it was actually at
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  the time at 18, I learned one of the
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  best selling techniques I could ever
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  learn, and that is a clear message and a
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  a good sound bite. And literally, it
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  stopped me in my tracks. I went in, I
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  sat down and did the uh the test. They
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  do a quick little ASVAB uh battery where
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  they do a a quick assessment. And the
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  guy was like, "Look, man. you can pretty
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  much choose whatever job you want and I
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  can get you in on a two-year enlistment.
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  And that's what I was looking for. I
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  wanted a short commitment. Yeah. And uh
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  and I was looking to get the maximum
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  that I could for college. Later, I'm now
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  uh you know, a veteran. I'm a service
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  disabled veteran at that. And so there
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  are certain things that came along with
• 4:26
  my service to the country uh that I'm
• 4:28
  really thankful for to this day. But it
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  all started with that sound bite uh in
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  the vestibule at the recruiting station.
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  >> So So the guy is a good salesperson. He
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  gives you the sound bite. gives you a
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  two-year deal. So, two years, where do
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  you get assigned? Where do you go?
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  >> Um, I uh so I I signed up I went uh
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  intake here in Indianapolis and I went
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  to Fort Leonardwood where I was trained.
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  Um I originally went in uh for a job
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  that was ultimately eliminated. Uh and I
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  became a combat engineer. And so my job
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  was to uh build things and get them down
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  quickly. Uh getting things down quickly
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  usually involved uh TNT or C4. And so I
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  really became one of those uh guys and
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  uh that's the reason my hearing is
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  severely compromised to this day as an
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  18-year-old. I was literally the one
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  that would do the triggering and it
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  would literally blow something up and
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  you get to live every kid's dream to
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  blow crap up for a job.
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  >> It was fantastic at 18. I will tell you
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  at this age when the ringing in my ears
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  still has not stopped. Yeah.
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  >> It's not as cool. But uh but I was happy
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  to do it. I wouldn't change a thing and
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  it was just a great way to get started.
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  Oh, great way to get started. It is a
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  good opportunity for a lot of kids to be
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  able to get some dollars for college.
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  So, all right. So, you you do two years
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  there and then you finish up and so what
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  do you do next? Where are you going to
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  school?
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  >> So, I came back um and at that point I
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  was 20 years old. I was an independent
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  student at that point. So, I was able to
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  get max uh financial aid and things like
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  that and uh and I was able to uh uh uh
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  go to IU. Uh, I signed up at UPY and I
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  got in on probation. So, honestly, if it
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  were as competitive today, uh, as it if
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  it was as competitive back then as it
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  was today, I don't think I would even
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  make it into our state, uh, one of our
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  our best universities. They literally
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  would have probably said, "Yeah, why
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  don't you try some time over here or uh,
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  so I was thankful that I was able to get
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  in and immediately uh, made the deans
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  list an honorable my uh, my first
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  semester." No.
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  >> And so, I passed the test. I was able to
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  then begin to kind of start to pick the
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  courses I wanted versus the carefully
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  curated selection that they suggested.
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  And arguably, you know, I was on far
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  from a college preparatory curriculum
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  when I was in high school. I really
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  wasn't that interested in school. I
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  didn't understand the importance of it
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  at the time. The military really helped
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  me focus and really identify the value
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  of regiment and training and discipline
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  and optimism and all the things that
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  became the hallmarks of my life. Uh, I
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  began to apply and from there it was
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  game on. I ended up going down to
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  Bloomington for a bit. Uh, I did an
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  overseas studies program in the
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  Netherlands uh, through the school of
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  business.
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  >> Oh, no. And yeah, I was just a fantastic
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  journey for me at Indiana University.
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  Uh, far from believing that someday uh,
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  they would win a national championship
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  in football.
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  >> Oh, yeah. And because I mean back then
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  where they were the losingest school
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  ever, right, until the last couple
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  years.
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  >> Unbelievable. for fact we were a lot
• 7:22
  more likely to win a basketball
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  championship and and we did uh in the
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  80s um and so uh yeah it was just a
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  great way to get started and I'm
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  thankful for uh the journey.
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  >> Gotcha. So I so at IU you're studying
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  business but the Netherlands you had an
• 7:36
  opportunity to be How long were you over
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  there?
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  >> Uh I was over there for a semester and
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  then a summer I stayed over. Okay. So
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  the irony of all this is kind you look
• 7:43
  back on the on like kind of roll the
• 7:45
  tape on my career. Uh that was so
• 7:48
  formative in so many ways. Uh it
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  actually led to the creation of the
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  first business plan on which really my
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  entire career was founded. No.
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  >> And yeah, I wrote a business plan. Keep
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  in mind this was spring of 1990.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> So if I can let the old guy take you
• 8:03
  back to before the internet, so before
• 8:05
  internet,
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  >> before the iPhone, before digital
• 8:08
  cameras. Um I had dreamt up this concept
• 8:10
  of capturing images at live events. And
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  the idea was that I would give you the
• 8:15
  ability to buy that image later as a
• 8:18
  print, as a gift, as a t-shirt, as a
• 8:20
  mug, something like that.
• 8:22
  >> And so, so wait a second here. So, so
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  this is this is pretty early on. You're
• 8:26
  at a live event. 1990.
• 8:28
  >> Yep. What sparks this? Where are you?
• 8:31
  Were was there like a light bulb moment?
• 8:32
  What?
• 8:32
  >> Uh, it was a uh really more of an
• 8:34
  immersion uh than a a flash of
• 8:37
  brilliance um that every trip, every
• 8:39
  weekend, uh friends and I would go to
• 8:41
  different places. We'd go to the
• 8:43
  Acropolis. We'd go to the Berlin Wall.
• 8:45
  We'd go to the Eiffel Tower. We'd go to
• 8:47
  all these amazing places in Europe. And
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  I would use my camera to take a
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  photograph.
• 8:51
  >> Yeah. Yeah.
• 8:52
  >> And then I would turn around and I'd
• 8:54
  walk right over to a a gift shop and buy
• 8:56
  the same exact photo that I just took so
• 8:59
  that I could then send it to someone
• 9:00
  else. And I thought, well, I should be
• 9:02
  able to use my photo to send that
• 9:04
  postcard or that greeting to someone.
• 9:06
  Yeah. So, I created this concept of a a
• 9:09
  customized instantly mailable postcard
• 9:12
  at points of attraction around the
• 9:14
  world. My original sketches include
• 9:16
  lightning bolts and clouds. And I
• 9:18
  submitted it uh to my professor uh my
• 9:21
  marketing class as a as an extra credit
• 9:24
  project. And I I'll paraphrase I'm not
• 9:27
  exactly sure uh what he said, but it was
• 9:29
  something like I'm not sure what you got
• 9:31
  into at Amsterdam, but this is some
• 9:33
  pretty wild stuff.
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  >> No kidding. Yeah. And I didn't cart it,
• 9:36
  by the way, just to be clear. Um, but
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  uh, but I conceptualized uh, a world of
• 9:41
  digital, cloud, internet, and all that
• 9:44
  stuff at the time with abstractions. And
• 9:46
  maybe that's part of my early comic book
• 9:48
  interest where, you know, I was I was
• 9:50
  free share my mind to imagine the pow
• 9:53
  wow bang and then sketch that out. And
• 9:56
  from there, I ended up starting a
• 9:58
  company 10 years later called Wish You.
• 10:00
  and it focused on capturing images at
• 10:03
  live events for brands and and agencies
• 10:06
  and the properties and then allowing
• 10:08
  people to share those later via the
• 10:10
  internet. Uh and then we patented uh the
• 10:13
  idea of a photo uh management system
• 10:16
  that would GPS stamp imagery is cool. So
• 10:19
  as you take them um you would you'll be
• 10:21
  able to stamp a a geographic uh location
• 10:23
  stamp on it and it it started and then
• 10:25
  today you fast forward we still are in
• 10:28
  that space today of connecting people
• 10:30
  meaningfully with photos and and videos
• 10:32
  and imagery.
• 10:33
  >> You know you're you're the first guy and
• 10:34
  a couple of firsts on the show today.
• 10:36
  Number one first to say hey I had this
• 10:38
  kind of immersion moment to be able to
• 10:40
  start a business plan that's going to
• 10:41
  run basically your whole career. The
• 10:43
  second thing is you're going to get
• 10:44
  served some tea here in a minute, right?
• 10:46
  So, you're the first guy to have a have
• 10:48
  a tea brick stone in. And so,
• 10:51
  >> here's a little bit of tea. And the
• 10:53
  other thing that's a first is, dude,
• 10:54
  this is super cool. Right. So, we're
• 10:56
  going to get something added to uh to
• 10:59
  our studio here. Thank you very much for
• 11:01
  that.
• 11:01
  >> Absolutely. Jason, when we talked and
• 11:02
  and you mentioned that uh that people
• 11:04
  bring uh memorabilia and items to their
• 11:08
  company, I thought, well, you know, I am
• 11:10
  banking on the fact that I am likely to
• 11:12
  be the first and probably to be the only
• 11:14
  ever to give you a professional sports
• 11:17
  jersey
• 11:18
  >> with their logo on the front. So, this
• 11:21
  look at that right there.
• 11:22
  >> Basically, this was our partnership with
• 11:24
  the Pacers and uh this was really what
• 11:26
  kind of set our company in motion. There
• 11:28
  you go. And so, uh, hopefully that that
• 11:31
  lives, uh, on the walls here. It's
• 11:33
  incredible. By the way, I want to
• 11:34
  compliment you on the set, but also
• 11:36
  these items, like I know a lot of the
• 11:38
  people that are connected to these
• 11:39
  items, and it means a lot to walk in.
• 11:41
  It's a unique warmth that that brings to
• 11:44
  the experience. And so, just compliments
• 11:46
  to you and the team on on building the
• 11:47
  studio. Yeah, I appreciate that. What I
• 11:49
  was really thinking about was what in
• 11:50
  the world are we going to give you guys
• 11:52
  as a gift? And the answer was nothing.
• 11:54
  Well, what could I give? What could I
• 11:55
  give you that would be meaningful? But a
• 11:57
  book or something in here that's from
• 12:00
  your office, a hat, a shirt, a ball,
• 12:02
  whatever the case is that'll live here
• 12:03
  forever. People will see it forever in
• 12:04
  the show. So, um, all right. So, back to
• 12:07
  this 1990, you conceptualize this, you
• 12:10
  get going, and then you fast forward to
• 12:12
  2000 now,
• 12:14
  >> right? So, now in 2000, we've had some
• 12:16
  changes over the last 10 years. And then
• 12:18
  what's that? That business is Wishu.
• 12:20
  >> Wishu Wi Ho. It still operates today. Uh
• 12:24
  we ran it for a number of years. Ended
• 12:26
  up selling it um in uh 200 34 time
• 12:31
  frame. And then I stayed in involved
• 12:33
  with the company for just a little bit
• 12:35
  about a year and a half. Okay. For the
• 12:37
  owners and then uh today uh my friend
• 12:40
  David Bowling now owns that company and
• 12:43
  they they basically do the same thing
• 12:45
  that we did when we started it 26 years
• 12:48
  ago. No kidding. And that is we use
• 12:49
  digital photos, uh, digital video and
• 12:52
  data at live events to connect the
• 12:54
  brands that pay for those events. Wow.
• 12:56
  >> So brands like Snickers and GM and
• 12:58
  Coca-Cola, American Express, if you look
• 13:01
  at their events platform, you know,
• 13:03
  there's a ton of connectivity with the
• 13:05
  attendees using imagery, photos, and
• 13:08
  videos and and then you use that data to
• 13:10
  connect everything and that's what uh
• 13:12
  what makes those events go.
• 13:14
  >> That's cool. All right. So before we go
• 13:15
  on and kind of go through more of the
• 13:16
  journey, you you became an entrepreneur,
• 13:19
  right? So you decided you're going to
• 13:20
  start your own business. You finish up
• 13:22
  college. What was that like? Did you
• 13:24
  always think you were going to be an
• 13:25
  entrepreneur? Was that was that the goal
• 13:27
  coming out of school or what was your
• 13:29
  you know because some people think about
• 13:31
  it,
• 13:31
  >> right? I call them entrepreneurs. Yeah.
• 13:33
  >> Right. But then to actually go do it,
• 13:35
  throw your hat in the ring. What was
• 13:36
  that like for you?
• 13:37
  >> Yeah. I think uh I've always known uh I
• 13:40
  think that I was going to be an
• 13:40
  entrepreneur and I mean I way back I
• 13:42
  would go back to Littleby Lee and you
• 13:45
  know we have photos of me winning the
• 13:47
  prize packages for selling the most
• 13:49
  candy or popcorn and and I did it the
• 13:52
  oldfashioned way by the way. I mean I
• 13:54
  did it by knocking on doors and I was
• 13:56
  not afraid to ask somebody for the
• 13:58
  order, knock on the door and explain why
• 14:01
  it was important for that person to back
• 14:03
  our little league team by buying some
• 14:05
  popcorn or candy.
• 14:06
  >> Sure. And I think uh look, nothing
• 14:08
  happens until somebody sells something
• 14:09
  at the end of the day. And I think most
• 14:12
  entrepreneurs and most successful
• 14:14
  entrepreneurs are first and foremost if
• 14:16
  they're not brilliant techn uh uh
• 14:18
  technologists uh they're salesman. Yeah.
• 14:20
  >> And you have to be the evangelist for
• 14:22
  your company and you have to be fearless
• 14:25
  when it comes to taking a chance. And so
• 14:27
  I learned early on that, you know,
• 14:29
  there's really not a whole lot that can
• 14:31
  go wrong there. You can just not win and
• 14:33
  then you just get up and do it again.
• 14:35
  >> That's right. And so, you know, I used
• 14:36
  to love uh those contests and and
• 14:39
  selling and and building. And early on,
• 14:42
  uh I always had something going on,
• 14:44
  right? It was it wasn't always like the
• 14:46
  classic hustle, but I mean, I would do
• 14:47
  like uh leaf raking and, you know, just
• 14:50
  stuff like that, but I didn't really
• 14:52
  even have money to go buy tools to do
• 14:55
  something. So, I had to do things that
• 14:56
  required almost zero capital. and and
• 14:59
  that's why I'm really excited about
• 15:01
  things like um the high school hustle is
• 15:03
  a program that I'm a big believer in uh
• 15:06
  locally and the idea is to expose uh
• 15:08
  high schoolers to the idea of adding
• 15:10
  value to the world uh by starting a
• 15:12
  business. Yeah. And that's the way I
• 15:14
  started uh really coming up through high
• 15:15
  school and I think I've always known I
• 15:18
  was going to be an entrepreneur. I just
• 15:19
  started in a little different form.
• 15:21
  >> Yeah. Yeah. I love that. I think it was
• 15:22
  Warren Buffett used to buy like the
• 15:24
  packages of bubble gum and it was five
• 15:26
  sticks and they were it was a nickel and
• 15:28
  he would sell each one for two pennies,
• 15:29
  right? So you turn a nickel into a dime.
• 15:31
  >> Yeah.
• 15:31
  >> And so but it all starts somewhere and
• 15:33
  so that is super cool going all the way
• 15:35
  back there. All right. So you're at
• 15:36
  Wishu Wishu sells, right? So now you
• 15:39
  you've exited that business and is that
• 15:42
  your first successful exit? That's
• 15:44
  >> that was uh that was early on. Uh and
• 15:46
  then I took some time off after that
• 15:48
  exit. Um, we had at that time adopted uh
• 15:51
  our child from Kazakhstan and uh and so
• 15:54
  my wife and I took some time off just to
• 15:56
  be a family and we traveled around the
• 15:58
  country. We went to the zoo and Connor
• 16:00
  Prairie and the children museum and all
• 16:02
  the great assets here in Indianapolis
• 16:04
  for families to spend time together.
• 16:06
  Yeah.
• 16:06
  >> And we wanted to really invest in our
• 16:08
  family and uh and then uh I ended up uh
• 16:11
  jumping back into another venture after
• 16:13
  a couple of years. Okay.
• 16:14
  >> And uh Yeah.
• 16:15
  >> Gotcha. All right. So that next venture,
• 16:17
  what's that look like? what you doing.
• 16:18
  >> So I uh uh ended up uh after we I
• 16:21
  dabbled a little bit. You know how as
• 16:23
  entrepreneurs a lot of times you'll
• 16:24
  consult, you'll explore um and I did a
• 16:27
  couple of those uh uh little things like
• 16:30
  Fontu was a company that did
• 16:32
  permissionbased voice messaging. Okay.
• 16:35
  And uh our friend Bob Compton and uh
• 16:37
  Dustin Sap and Dave Kerr. There were
• 16:39
  some really great people involved with
• 16:41
  that company. Uh I went into that for a
• 16:43
  little while and then uh AD Alano uh had
• 16:46
  done some work uh for us at Wishu and
• 16:49
  Roki original software platform for that
• 16:52
  and so we were friends and and one
• 16:53
  evening we were together and he told me
• 16:55
  about his new company uh that he had
• 16:58
  started to make forms uh and make forms
• 17:00
  available for people to build DIY uh
• 17:03
  forms for their websites. And I'm like,
• 17:05
  that sounds really amazing. Something
• 17:07
  like everybody could use that and I
• 17:09
  wanted to be involved and uh ended up
• 17:11
  joining him to help launch that company
• 17:13
  out of his consulting firm. Okay. And
• 17:15
  that was 20 plus years ago.
• 17:17
  >> Today that company is, you know, uh is
• 17:19
  off to the races. It has hundreds of
• 17:21
  employees. Uh I was involved in the
• 17:23
  early days of that. There's a whole
• 17:25
  another group of people that built that
• 17:27
  company up to what it is today. So I
• 17:28
  take no credit uh other than being
• 17:30
  around when it started. Yeah. Um but uh
• 17:33
  you know just a fantastic company uh
• 17:35
  that was based here in Fischers for a
• 17:37
  number of years and now is more West
• 17:38
  Coast focused.
• 17:39
  >> Gotcha. All right. So so clearly an
• 17:42
  entrepreneur, clearly somebody that can
• 17:43
  see something and take it from ground
• 17:45
  zero up the stack. So I know you're at
• 17:48
  spoken note now.
• 17:49
  >> How long how long has it been you guys
• 17:50
  have been doing?
• 17:51
  >> It's been about five years. The the step
• 17:53
  in between that form spring form stack
• 17:56
  uh was about 10 years uh in creating
• 17:58
  launch fissurers. the Indiana IoT lab uh
• 18:01
  and that entrepreneurial infrastructure
• 18:04
  uh that now exists here at Fisers. And
• 18:05
  that, you know, was a significant part
• 18:08
  of of my last decade plus as I began to
• 18:12
  move out of launch fisers and the IoT
• 18:14
  lab and think about what was next. The
• 18:16
  idea for spoken note really presented
• 18:19
  itself with a friend of mine and uh and
• 18:21
  then we launched about five years ago.
• 18:23
  >> So five years ago there, I was hoping
• 18:24
  you'd go back and talk a little bit
• 18:25
  about launchers and some of those other
• 18:27
  things. So during those 10 years, you
• 18:29
  guys did a lot of stuff. I mean, there
• 18:31
  was a lot of stuff that happened in the
• 18:33
  city of Fisers over 10 years. So just be
• 18:35
  curious some of the fun things you did
• 18:37
  during those 10 years.
• 18:38
  >> Yeah, it's honestly how many hours do we
• 18:40
  have to talk about that because it was
• 18:42
  quite frankly as good as it gets. Um,
• 18:44
  you know, you'd have to go backwards in
• 18:46
  time to a point where we weren't a city,
• 18:48
  didn't have a mayor, uh, we had a lot of
• 18:50
  people that cared about this community,
• 18:52
  and that's kind of where it starts. So
• 18:54
  then uh town manager and I uh town
• 18:57
  manager Scott Fatnes had dreamt up this
• 19:00
  idea of what if we could commit a city
• 19:02
  uh to becoming becoming smart, vibrant
• 19:05
  and entrepreneurial. And that became the
• 19:07
  lens with which we looked at our
• 19:09
  community. And that's why the the hot
• 19:11
  tea, by the way, I'm I'm trying to get
• 19:12
  over this uh spring uh spring little uh
• 19:15
  cold, but it's right. Um the idea was um
• 19:18
  if we could invest in uh first a place
• 19:21
  that would allow entrepreneurs to bring
• 19:23
  their dreams to life, what would that
• 19:24
  look like? If we could then infuse that
• 19:26
  into municipal government, if we could
• 19:28
  infuse that into the high schools, if we
• 19:30
  could infuse it into every aspect of the
• 19:32
  community, what would that look like?
• 19:33
  And and today, what does it look like?
• 19:35
  It looks like buildings like the Braven
• 19:37
  building here. It looks like uh a
• 19:39
  vibrant downtown. It looks like a
• 19:41
  growing life sciences community. It
• 19:44
  looks like uh you know what you've seen
• 19:46
  recently announced in the news with
• 19:48
  major economic development incentives
• 19:50
  and investments in entrepreneurship and
• 19:52
  innovation. And so when we look back we
• 19:54
  look at thousands of jobs, hundreds of
• 19:57
  millions invested and a significant
• 20:00
  economic impact that probably outpaces
• 20:02
  anything we could have dreamt.
• 20:03
  >> Yeah. Right. I mean just amazing what
• 20:05
  you guys did over 10 years. So the last
• 20:07
  five years spoke note, right? Talk a
• 20:09
  little bit about that. tell a little bit
• 20:11
  about the business and and what you guys
• 20:12
  are out and the problem you're solving.
• 20:14
  >> Yeah, so it started out uh there really
• 20:16
  kind of three phases to this business.
• 20:18
  It started out as a uh a $10 sticker
• 20:21
  pack that you can buy on Amazon. You can
• 20:23
  still buy it to this day. And if you
• 20:24
  wanted to send a gift, let's say to a
• 20:27
  family member that lives in Phoenix, the
• 20:29
  the question mark is how would you time
• 20:31
  that video to land when the gift is
• 20:34
  received? That's the real challenge at
• 20:36
  the end of the day. And the idea is that
• 20:37
  if I'm sending you flowers, it'd be
• 20:39
  great for you to get the greeting right
• 20:40
  when you open the flowers, right? If I'm
• 20:42
  sending you uh a birthday present, I'd
• 20:44
  love for you to get the video right when
• 20:46
  you get the present.
• 20:47
  >> There's no real way. We're still
• 20:48
  connected, but there's no way to time
• 20:50
  that. And so the idea is you take a $10
• 20:53
  or a little sticker, one of the 10, so a
• 20:55
  dollar sticker, and put it on the gift
• 20:57
  and then record a video. When you link
• 20:59
  the video to that unique code, uh when
• 21:02
  the person receives it and scans it,
• 21:03
  that video plays.
• 21:04
  >> Oh, yeah.
• 21:05
  >> It's that simple. It's really cool. And
• 21:07
  and we started that way. Well, on the
• 21:09
  way to selling $10 sticker packs to
• 21:11
  thousands of people, business in this
• 21:14
  industry showed up and said, "But wait,
• 21:16
  could I use this for direct mail? Could
• 21:18
  I use this for training internally?
• 21:20
  Could I use this to help build my
• 21:21
  business?" And we started doing that,
• 21:23
  which was generating very large deals
• 21:25
  for us. So, instead of selling a $10
• 21:27
  item one at a time and shipping it to
• 21:29
  every single person, we started doing
• 21:31
  much larger deals, tens of thousands of
• 21:34
  dollars for business. and helping them
• 21:36
  become more efficient. Along the way to
• 21:38
  building that, we ended up with what is
• 21:40
  now known as a service software as a
• 21:42
  service platform and uh and people pay
• 21:45
  us monthly for a subscription to use
• 21:48
  this software to personalize videos at
• 21:50
  scale. So today the company is focused
• 21:52
  on what we call dynamic video which is a
• 21:55
  unique onetoone customization of
• 21:58
  messages so that the right person gets
• 22:00
  the right message any any time you're
• 22:03
  sending a video out. And if I can just
• 22:05
  explain briefly, the idea is instead of
• 22:07
  shooting a one-sizefits-all monolithic
• 22:10
  single video, you shoot the segments of
• 22:12
  that same video and then our software
• 22:14
  stitches it together so that based on
• 22:16
  the interest of the person, they get the
• 22:18
  correct video.
• 22:19
  >> Yeah, it's amazing, right? So, so it's a
• 22:22
  subscription based and and type types of
• 22:25
  clients you guys are targeting. Is it
• 22:26
  everybody out there? Is it higher ed?
• 22:28
  You know, what types of clients you guys
• 22:29
  going to have?
• 22:30
  >> Absolutely. So, we we have an ideal
• 22:32
  client profile. It's not our only client
• 22:34
  profile. So, it's important to note that
• 22:36
  while we focus on higher education and
• 22:39
  nonprofit, we do have corporate users.
• 22:41
  We have others that come along and want
• 22:43
  to use it and have actually great use
• 22:45
  cases. But, um, primarily where we're
• 22:48
  seeing big impact is for universities
• 22:50
  that want to connect with prospective
• 22:52
  students. So, yeah, it makes a lot of
• 22:54
  sense to personalize that video. Hey,
• 22:56
  hey, Jason, glad you're looking at WGU.
• 22:59
  Whatever the case is
• 23:00
  >> based on major, maybe you would modify
• 23:02
  that. So the a majors get one thing, the
• 23:04
  tech people, the manufacturing, the
• 23:07
  engineering, everybody gets a a
• 23:08
  customized message. You're a lot more
• 23:10
  likely to hit the heart. Think uh
• 23:12
  nonprofits, sad song, sad dog, you know,
• 23:16
  Sarah Mclofflin song, run the background
• 23:18
  like history light in the heart. There's
• 23:20
  a reason that that moves the needle
• 23:22
  because you're making an emotional
• 23:24
  connection. And so what we tell people
• 23:25
  is that a single face can make a
• 23:28
  connection way more than the statistics
• 23:30
  on the thousands. And so instead of
• 23:32
  talking about all the things that we're
• 23:34
  doing, show one story that's meaningful
• 23:36
  to the recipient and you're more likely
• 23:38
  to make an impact. That's a great idea.
• 23:40
  It's awesome. I mean, terrific business,
• 23:42
  right? So, you know, as you think about
• 23:43
  your guys's growth and and going to
• 23:46
  what's next, obviously it's a
• 23:47
  technology- based business. And so one
• 23:50
  of the segments I like to talk about,
• 23:51
  obviously we're a technology company
• 23:53
  here, is where do you see tech evolving
• 23:56
  in this space and are our clients
• 23:59
  receptive to it? Those types of things
• 24:00
  and where do you maybe see this going
• 24:02
  over the next year or so?
• 24:03
  >> Yeah, it's a really interesting question
• 24:05
  and it's a very dynamic environment. Uh,
• 24:07
  of course AI dominates an awful lot of
• 24:10
  the headlines. Um, we think it's a
• 24:12
  critical part of infrastructure going
• 24:14
  forward. uh we just happen to believe
• 24:16
  that another form of AI uh will begin to
• 24:19
  emerge and we call them authentic
• 24:21
  interactions, right?
• 24:22
  >> Oh, okay.
• 24:23
  >> And so the idea of uh AI today is there
• 24:26
  are a lot of what we'll call fake videos
• 24:28
  or AI generated videos that don't hit
• 24:32
  the mark because people can they can
• 24:34
  tell that it's not authentic. And we
• 24:36
  think that there are a lot of times
• 24:38
  where it matters that the the moment uh
• 24:40
  is more important than the message even.
• 24:42
  Mhm.
• 24:42
  >> And so the idea is that if the the auto
• 24:45
  shop is calling me to tell me my car is
• 24:47
  ready to pick up, the tires are done, I
• 24:49
  expect automation, right? Or the dentist
• 24:51
  giving me an appointment reminder. Sure.
• 24:54
  Right. Makes sense. But if you're
• 24:55
  calling to talk about uh something
• 24:57
  related to my mom's chemotherapy, she's
• 24:59
  going through a battle with cancer right
• 25:00
  now. It sure better be authentic.
• 25:03
  >> And so what we where we lean in is where
• 25:06
  uh the moment matters as much as the
• 25:07
  message. That's where we think we can
• 25:09
  help. And so, you know, authenticity
• 25:12
  reigns and and making that connection is
• 25:14
  where we focus
• 25:15
  >> where the moment matters more than what
• 25:17
  it says in a message.
• 25:19
  >> Yeah. So, that that's true, right? It
• 25:20
  allows you to be more authentic with
• 25:22
  those individuals. Again, somebody's
• 25:24
  calling to say my tires are done. Who
• 25:26
  cares? Yep.
• 25:27
  >> Right. At the end of the day, but you
• 25:28
  mentioned my mom's chemo or those types
• 25:30
  of things, you know, it needs to be
• 25:32
  delivered directly to them and it needs
• 25:34
  to be done with some care.
• 25:35
  >> Absolutely. And so, you guys are helping
• 25:38
  create that. And one of the things you
• 25:39
  showed me something when we were at your
• 25:42
  office. It was it was like a coin or
• 25:43
  something that you had produced a coin
• 25:45
  for maybe was it the military or
• 25:47
  something? Was that kind of to tell me a
• 25:48
  little bit about that coin that you guys
• 25:50
  had produced and the idea behind that
• 25:52
  because I thought cool.
• 25:53
  >> Yeah. Thank you for mentioning I carry
• 25:54
  it with me everywhere. My goal is in
• 25:56
  fact that that we ought to give you one
• 25:58
  of those to set out at least you can set
• 26:00
  it on the on the ledge. But the idea is
• 26:02
  that
• 26:03
  >> we celebrate our There it is. There you
• 26:05
  go. We celebrate our veterans uh with
• 26:08
  this coin. And the idea is it includes a
• 26:10
  spoken note code where you can scan that
• 26:13
  and you can play tributes that have been
• 26:15
  left to veterans uh by family members,
• 26:18
  friends, people that would know them. Uh
• 26:20
  or you can just uh you can leave one.
• 26:23
  >> Yeah.
• 26:23
  >> So in this case, the code has a dual
• 26:25
  use. You can either watch a video or
• 26:27
  leave a video.
• 26:28
  >> Okay.
• 26:28
  >> And we're basically building this little
• 26:30
  bit of spoken word history remembrance
• 26:32
  uh of a veteran community. This is a
• 26:34
  project that we took on ourselves solely
• 26:36
  to celebrate our veterans, but also at
• 26:38
  the same time is a showcase for how the
• 26:41
  technology uh how the technology works.
• 26:43
  So, super cool.
• 26:44
  >> Yeah, I'm not going to remember that
• 26:45
  one. So, you know, we talked a little
• 26:47
  bit of technology. We've talked about
• 26:48
  the business and where you guys are
• 26:50
  today and where things are going to go.
• 26:51
  I like that authentic AI as opposed to,
• 26:55
  you know, the other types of things
• 26:56
  we've talked about. So, let's let's talk
• 26:59
  a little bit about community. We've
• 27:00
  talked community a little bit when you
• 27:02
  talked about what you were doing here
• 27:03
  for 10 years before spoken note, but
• 27:05
  there's also a lot of nonprofits I know
• 27:07
  that you guys you pour into. So, when
• 27:09
  you think about community, what what's
• 27:11
  that mean to you?
• 27:12
  >> You know, I think uh it it boils down to
• 27:14
  each person to find their passion and uh
• 27:17
  and when you look at at what makes our
• 27:19
  community go, it's just a wide range of
• 27:22
  organizations that are kind of the
• 27:24
  fabric really of of our our communities.
• 27:27
  I think local and local leadership uh is
• 27:30
  kind of the the where it's at right now.
• 27:32
  You know, I remember when I was when I
• 27:34
  was growing up and you know, I remember
• 27:37
  learning lessons from uh whether it's
• 27:40
  JFK uh his role in history or Martin
• 27:43
  Luther King or even Reagan was my era
• 27:47
  and Mr. Gorbachoff, tear down this wall.
• 27:49
  Right. Right. I mean that inspired me
• 27:51
  really to serve my country as a military
• 27:54
  member. I remember thinking this is a
• 27:55
  leader. this is somebody that I can
• 27:57
  really get behind. I think today that
• 28:00
  has really kind of gone to the level of
• 28:03
  the local leader. And so it's the little
• 28:06
  league coach, it's the church pastor,
• 28:08
  it's the it's the teacher, the gym
• 28:10
  teacher or the science teacher that
• 28:12
  inspires that next student to do
• 28:14
  something great. And that's what I love
• 28:16
  about community involvement and getting
• 28:18
  engaged. Whether it's a high school
• 28:19
  hustle or or some other organization
• 28:22
  that serves our community, it's the one
• 28:25
  one-on-one boots on the ground
• 28:27
  engagement that can really change a
• 28:28
  community.
• 28:29
  >> Yeah, agreed. Let's talk a little high
• 28:31
  school hustle, right? So, let's dig into
• 28:32
  that. I think it's cool. Cool as well.
• 28:34
  And not everybody knows about it. You
• 28:36
  want to maybe just share a little bit
• 28:37
  about the background, what's going on
• 28:39
  over there?
• 28:39
  >> Absolutely. So you look at the the
• 28:41
  gentlemen that are involved uh with the
• 28:43
  organization is Scott Lingal and Pierce
• 28:45
  Servas and I'm I'll forget uh trying to
• 28:47
  name everyone but uh the thing that I
• 28:50
  wanted to wanted to point out is that uh
• 28:52
  Pierce Servas's grandfather was my first
• 28:55
  mentor uh as an entrepreneur like I mean
• 28:57
  if you want to go in the wayback machine
• 29:00
  uh yeah we're talking in the 80s when I
• 29:03
  was in college I had uh uh Dr. Bert
• 29:06
  Servos was assigned to me essentially as
• 29:09
  as a mentor in a program called the
• 29:11
  Indianapolis Entrepreneurship Academy.
• 29:14
  It was 10 students that met Friday
• 29:16
  nights and we would meet at Servas
• 29:19
  headquarters down on Waterway Boulevard.
• 29:21
  >> Okay. Yeah.
• 29:22
  >> And I was paired up with him as a mentor
• 29:24
  and forever learned lessons from this
• 29:27
  man that changed my life. And the only
• 29:30
  way I know to honor his investment in me
• 29:33
  is to turn around and do that same thing
• 29:35
  for any student that I can help. Not
• 29:37
  that I could in any way deliver the
• 29:39
  value that Dr. Burke did to me and to so
• 29:42
  many others in Indianapolis, but it was
• 29:44
  a great example on how to live and how
• 29:46
  to give back. And uh that to me is
• 29:48
  foundational to high school hustle. Uh
• 29:50
  the idea is they want to reach a million
• 29:52
  high schoolers in America with with
• 29:54
  hustles uh that could generate as little
• 29:57
  as $400. uh they're now looking at
• 29:59
  thousands of dollars is what the average
• 30:01
  high schooler uh will do uh with
• 30:04
  pressure washing and lawnmowing and
• 30:06
  every imaginable service that happens in
• 30:07
  a community but learning
• 30:09
  entrepreneurship and giving back uh to
• 30:11
  your community as part of that. Super
• 30:14
  awesome. I love what they're doing over
• 30:15
  there. I did not know that Dr. Bas was
• 30:18
  one of your original kind of mentors.
• 30:20
  That's cool. Absolutely right. And so
• 30:21
  one of the things and I don't always ask
• 30:23
  this this of of guests but you know
• 30:26
  you've launched and been successful
• 30:27
  multiple business. You've been an
• 30:28
  entrepreneur. There's a lot of folks
• 30:30
  like we've said before that um have
• 30:34
  maybe thought about doing things and
• 30:36
  maybe have an idea but they just haven't
• 30:38
  decided to take the jump. What would you
• 30:40
  share with them? You know what what
• 30:42
  would be your encouragement to somebody
• 30:43
  that maybe has something on their mind
• 30:44
  they're thinking about doing?
• 30:45
  >> Yeah. I mean it's a great question. I
• 30:47
  I'm not one that believes everybody must
• 30:49
  be an entrepreneur, right? I think it
• 30:51
  needs to be right for the person. Um
• 30:53
  there are situations and circumstances
• 30:55
  that would say maybe this it's not the
• 30:57
  right thing for for someone. I think you
• 30:59
  have to have buy in across the board
• 31:01
  from uh family members. Um the timing
• 31:04
  has to be right. Um but I think for
• 31:06
  those that have decided they want to be
• 31:08
  an entrepreneur, one of the most
• 31:09
  important things is to take action,
• 31:11
  right? You can make the perfect the
• 31:13
  enemy of the good and make it really
• 31:15
  hard to get anything off the ground. um
• 31:17
  the the ones that take action to begin
• 31:19
  to start, you need to experiment. Uh you
• 31:21
  need to test and try and most
• 31:24
  importantly not be afraid to fail,
• 31:25
  right? So I started a an event years ago
• 31:28
  called Failfest. And Failfest, uh
• 31:31
  Failfest. us, I think the website may
• 31:33
  still be up, was a place where we
• 31:35
  brought people that were obviously
• 31:37
  successful to tell stories about times
• 31:39
  when it didn't go their way and what
• 31:41
  they learned from it. And I I think we
• 31:43
  can all acknowledge that you learn
• 31:45
  probably more from your failures than
• 31:46
  you even do from your successes. And so
• 31:49
  most importantly as an entrepreneur, you
• 31:51
  have to be confident that failure is not
• 31:53
  final and you've got to take a shot.
• 31:55
  >> Yep. Great advice. I mean that's
• 31:57
  awesome. So maybe one more just kind of
• 31:59
  out of the blue questions that we
• 32:00
  haven't talked about, but you know kids
• 32:02
  getting out of high school today and
• 32:04
  looking to go towards college or
• 32:05
  different things. You know they can take
• 32:07
  a couple of tracks. They can go down the
• 32:09
  track of going to university. they can
• 32:11
  go down a track maybe of getting a job.
• 32:13
  Both are are terrific opportunities, but
• 32:15
  they need to take some action. So,
• 32:17
  thinking back, right, you you took
• 32:19
  action as an 18-year-old to go to the
• 32:21
  military. Just some thoughts maybe for
• 32:24
  those the younger generation that are
• 32:25
  getting into the workforce or maybe
• 32:27
  coming out of college. What would you
• 32:29
  encourage them with or what would you
• 32:30
  say to those folks?
• 32:31
  >> I mean, I would say again, follow your
• 32:33
  heart, follow your passion. uh the the
• 32:35
  one-sizefits-all model that most of us
• 32:38
  went down the path of which was college
• 32:41
  ultimately uh is less and less uh the
• 32:44
  mainstream path today. And so whether
• 32:46
  you're talking trades uh for uh for a
• 32:48
  high schooler to go learn how to become
• 32:50
  an electrician or a plumber or HVAC or
• 32:52
  even culinary arts uh you know uh you
• 32:55
  name it. I mean there are so many other
• 32:57
  options today. um the internet and
• 32:59
  technology and vibe coding and AI. I
• 33:03
  mean, there are just there are options
• 33:05
  that just simply weren't around even a
• 33:06
  decade ago. And so, most importantly, I
• 33:09
  would say this is the time to experiment
• 33:11
  as a high schooler and a college
• 33:13
  student. There's limited risk. By the
• 33:15
  time you get out of college, let's say
• 33:17
  you get a spouse, you have a family, all
• 33:19
  of a sudden the stakes are a lot higher
• 33:21
  for you to go out and and take your shot
• 33:24
  because if you fail, the rep the
• 33:27
  implications of that are a little more
• 33:29
  profound than when you're in high school
• 33:31
  or college. So my my biggest thing for
• 33:33
  the high school or the college uh
• 33:35
  student is to experiment. Find a mentor
• 33:39
  from find somebody that you can engage
• 33:40
  with and then most importantly be a good
• 33:42
  mentee. Right? Finding a mentor isn't
• 33:45
  the task, right? Being a good mentee is
• 33:47
  really the task. Will you follow through
• 33:49
  on what you're learning and hearing from
• 33:50
  someone that's been there before?
• 33:52
  >> Let's actually talk about that a little
• 33:54
  bit because everybody says, you know,
• 33:56
  find a mentor. The part that you
• 33:58
  mentioned, I think is actually one of
• 33:59
  those things that is one of the bigger
• 34:01
  struggles is you could find somebody
• 34:03
  maybe that's been there before, but are
• 34:05
  you willing to kind of humble yourself,
• 34:08
  right? and and understand that at the
• 34:10
  end of the day you maybe don't know
• 34:12
  everything and that's hard. There's a
• 34:13
  lot of pride out there and so finding a
• 34:16
  good mentor mentee. Um I think you can
• 34:19
  find that these days and in Indianapolis
• 34:21
  it's it's a little bit different than
• 34:23
  maybe some other cities you can pick up
• 34:24
  the phone and ask somebody for help. And
• 34:26
  I always kind of say if if if I were
• 34:29
  going to encourage anybody find somebody
• 34:31
  doing what you think you'd like to do,
• 34:32
  pick up the phone, call them. Chances
• 34:34
  are they'll probably talk to you.
• 34:35
  >> Absolutely.
• 34:35
  >> Right. And so it goes back to, you know,
• 34:37
  you being back in high school and Dr.
• 34:39
  Servas pouring time into you. I mean,
• 34:41
  could you, by the way, that's awesome. I
• 34:43
  mean, so, so that's just thinking about
• 34:45
  that part of your journey. And now you
• 34:47
  have the opportunity to do that for
• 34:48
  others as part of high school hustle and
• 34:50
  other things.
• 34:51
  >> Well, and it's, you know, the way I look
• 34:52
  at it is, you know, that's foundational
• 34:55
  to who I am. I mean, and I could list I
• 34:57
  mean, probably a dozen significant uh in
• 35:01
  influences in my life, but you know, you
• 35:03
  go to my key mentors in
• 35:05
  entrepreneurship, innovation, uh
• 35:07
  business, and finance. Man, I mean, I I
• 35:11
  just was really fortunate with the the
• 35:13
  the way that all uh went into motion.
• 35:17
  And most importantly, I I wish I still
• 35:19
  to this day try to be a better listener
• 35:22
  and a and more humble and taking
• 35:24
  feedback. And I I find that the more I
• 35:26
  do that, the better and better I can
• 35:28
  get. So, great advice. I mean, all the
• 35:31
  way around. I'll tell you from the
• 35:32
  journey from high school, you know,
• 35:34
  going through the military, starting
• 35:36
  business, you know, being an
• 35:38
  entrepreneur, a leader, doing all the
• 35:40
  different things around the city. Such a
• 35:42
  cool story, my friend. So, before we
• 35:43
  finish up, let's talk about a couple
• 35:44
  more things. Let's talk let's talk about
• 35:46
  fun, right? So, obviously, you've had a
• 35:49
  lot of fun in your career. So, working
• 35:50
  has been fun. and family. I know you got
• 35:53
  family as well, but what's fun outside
• 35:55
  of work? What are you doing?
• 35:56
  >> Well, it, you know, I mean, I I say I
• 35:58
  have a lot of interests um in terms of
• 36:00
  just things that capture my attention.
• 36:02
  Um I'm I'm curious about stuff. So, I
• 36:05
  mean, I like to experiment. I like to
• 36:06
  tinker. Uh I have a barn uh at at our
• 36:09
  home that is my domain. It's a 40x40
• 36:13
  little little place that is uh is is
• 36:16
  mine to experiment with, right? I don't
• 36:17
  get that in our home. I don't get to
• 36:19
  pick colors. I don't get to pick
• 36:21
  furniture. I get to suggest uh ideas,
• 36:24
  but you know, you go to the barn and if
• 36:26
  I want to make a wood shop, something
• 36:27
  super special, I'm going to do that.
• 36:29
  That's my current project. So, okay, I
• 36:31
  experiment with uh um we have a lot of
• 36:34
  trees that routinely will fall down. And
• 36:36
  from there, I make things with them. So,
• 36:38
  yeah, I noticed your purposeful design
• 36:41
  uh uh coasters. I've been to their shop.
• 36:43
  Uh great, great organization. Uh there's
• 36:46
  some others like that uh that I really
• 36:48
  uh really enjoyed supporting over the
• 36:50
  years, but I want to learn to uh take a
• 36:53
  piece of wood and turn it into something
• 36:54
  special. And so I'm I'm dabbling that
• 36:57
  right now. Um I love technology in
• 37:00
  general at the consumer level. So I like
• 37:02
  to I like to set up things like I have a
• 37:05
  whole AV tech setup that that looks like
• 37:08
  it's something out of a uh like a Braden
• 37:10
  headquarters here where you come in for
• 37:12
  a big business presentation. I just use
• 37:14
  it to string sports events in a barn.
• 37:17
  >> Yeah. Why? Why wouldn't you?
• 37:18
  >> Why not? You know, it's your space. It's
• 37:20
  your 40 by40s.
• 37:21
  >> Absolutely. Yeah.
• 37:22
  >> So, yeah. I mean, just varied interest.
• 37:24
  I mean, I love uh I'm a car guy at my
• 37:26
  heart. Um I we love to travel, my wife
• 37:29
  and I. Um easy to jump in the car and go
• 37:31
  somewhere or jump on a plane and go to
• 37:33
  Berlin for the Colts game or uh Paris
• 37:36
  for the Pacers uh uh trip last year. We
• 37:39
  we love to uh just, you know, travel and
• 37:42
  and have fun. And so,
• 37:43
  >> man, I'll tell you when I grow up, I'm
• 37:45
  going to be just like you, Kai. And I I
• 37:48
  I certainly appreciate your time and
• 37:49
  being uh, you know, somebody that's
• 37:51
  helping the community here in
• 37:52
  Indianapolis and, you know, drive
• 37:54
  technology, helping businesses. Spoke
• 37:56
  node's a cool business, right?
• 37:57
  >> Well, I appreciate that.
• 37:58
  >> And what you guys are doing and I think
• 38:00
  the opportunity for some of the
• 38:01
  nonprofits, the higher education, but
• 38:03
  really it it's more it's more the
• 38:06
  personalized piece than it is even the
• 38:08
  technology. Technology enables that,
• 38:11
  right? And I think that's a terrific way
• 38:13
  to be able to deliver it. As we think
• 38:14
  about the future with AI, if we can
• 38:17
  leverage it for people to be more human
• 38:19
  and to do the things that only we can do
• 38:21
  and to have more interactions like this,
• 38:23
  I think it's worth it.
• 38:24
  >> You're you're on the key point. In fact,
• 38:26
  what we talk about daily at spoken note
• 38:28
  is this technology movement, this AI
• 38:31
  movement, it should amplify our voices,
• 38:34
  not replace it. And so we are the
• 38:36
  advocates right now for that human
• 38:38
  interaction, authentic interaction,
• 38:39
  another form of AI, but we want to
• 38:42
  amplify uh those voices that matter, not
• 38:44
  replace them.
• 38:45
  >> Yeah, it's awesome. John, I wanted to
• 38:47
  thank you for being part of this this
• 38:49
  show, joining us, being a first to have
• 38:51
  something delivered to us and put on the
• 38:53
  TV and also to have somebody bring in a
• 38:55
  cup of tea to you know you're the man
• 38:58
  when somebody delivers your tea into the
• 38:59
  podcast.
• 39:00
  >> Greatly appreciate that and appreciate
• 39:02
  you being on the show. Thank you, my
• 39:03
  friend.
• 39:03
  >> Thank you. Appreciate it, Jay.