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Tactical Wealth is the podcast built to empower the military and veteran community to take control of their financial future.
From navigating the military to civilian life transition, to launching businesses, growing your income, and building long-term wealth, each episode brings you real stories and actionable insights from those whoโve gone from boots on the ground to building lasting wealth.
Hosted by Kaj Larsen, former Navy SEAL, award-winning journalist, and mission-driven entrepreneur. Kaj successfully co-founded a financial technology company and sold the company in 2024. The podcast features hard truth conversations with successful veteran entrepreneurs, CEOs, and top financial experts.
Whether you're still in uniform or already charting your next chapter, this podcast gives you the tactical tools to lead with impact in your finances and beyond. Letโs get tactical.
Tactical Wealth is a Gebbia Media production, brought to you by Siebert.Valor, a military-focused initiative from Siebert Financial. The Tactical Wealth podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Siebert Financial. This podcast does not constitute investment advice, an offer to sell, or a solicitation to buy any securities. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Listeners should consult a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions.
For more information and disclosures, please visit siebert.com/disclosures.
00:00:04:09 - 00:00:17:20
Unknown
The quality of life in the Seal teams was doing this and the opportunities on the outside was just doing this. I was never made that. My identity as a Seal. It was my job and I was good at it, I was passionate, I was all in, but as soon as I wanted to do other things, I walked away.
00:00:17:22 - 00:00:38:17
Unknown
Why are you good at this? Why are you good at that? I'm not good at this or that. I'm good at learning. And I learned how to learn in the seals. I'm going to go make something. You go build my life.
00:00:38:19 - 00:01:00:21
Unknown
Some people wait for others fight for it. Welcome to tactical wealth. The show where discipline, service and real world experience become pathways to financial power. I'm your host Kaj Larsen On each episode, we bring you the stories and the wisdom of those who have gone from boots on the ground to successful careers, from military to wealth, and how they've done it.
00:01:00:21 - 00:01:11:09
Unknown
So you can apply those insights to your own mission and your own life. This is tactical wealth, from military to money.
00:01:11:11 - 00:01:42:10
Unknown
Welcome back to another episode of Tactical Wealth from the Original Sin. What do we call this place like Sin City? Yeah, yeah, I think that's what it's called. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, right. This is city. But we are talking about completely wholesome things today. Joining me today super excited. I know you'll be shocked to hear another frogman on the podcast, but this is a very close personal friend of mine, Daniel Corbett, the author of American Mercenary.
00:01:42:12 - 00:02:12:12
Unknown
He was a Seal. He joined the Navy in 2002. Is that right? That's correct. Right. And you served until 2012. So you did active duty. Active duty? Ten years. Active duty. This is one of the most wild and circuitous stories which you'll probably know. There are books. There's all kinds of content out there about Dan, but the part of Dan that is probably lesser known in the public eye is that he is a really interesting serial entrepreneur, an incredibly creative mind who's constantly building businesses.
00:02:12:12 - 00:02:31:18
Unknown
So. Dan, welcome to the podcast, buddy. Good to have you. Yeah, I'm so happy we linked up here. I know, and it's funny, people probably think we're friends from the Seal teams, but we didn't really know each other in the sale teams. We really became friends afterwards talking about how do we leverage these skills right to to do the next great thing and to build a business.
00:02:31:20 - 00:02:48:21
Unknown
And I think that was really the genesis of our friendship. Yeah. And then it really took a turn for the, for the, for the better. When I found out, like you did an app and you had an exit and I'm like, oh, that's one of my ventures. I'm like, really gung ho about, like, I give me all your knowledge, like like, okay, help me.
00:02:48:22 - 00:03:06:08
Unknown
Yeah, okay. And then after we had exhausted my knowledge after five minutes, then we went on to talking about the next topic. So no awesome. Stoked to have you. Just for people who don't know you, who haven't read the book American Mercenary, which is awesome. I will pay you like you know, at the risk of fluffing you, I'll pay you a compliment here.
00:03:06:08 - 00:03:27:17
Unknown
I gave your book to my dad. Loved it. Right? For some reason, my sister, who's probably, like, not the typical like reader of of your life story of your trajectory, picked it up also loved it. Yeah. That's cool. Calling me about it. That's cool. Like an emergency room physician. Like extraordinary person. But, like, I just wanted to be expected, the content to resonate with her.
00:03:27:18 - 00:03:46:15
Unknown
That's cool. It means a lot because the way we wrote it wasn't, you know, chest thumping. I'm so cool. I did this, I did that. It was more of like a human experience mixed with almost a true crime feel. And the biggest compliment I got with the publisher when we did it, they said, this reads like a fiction crime book, and it's nonfiction.
00:03:46:15 - 00:04:05:03
Unknown
That's insane. And I think the human aspect and me just being completely honest and real resonates not only with the vets which are going to read anyways, but across both genders and everyone else in between. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, look, I have a single data point, but proof positive. I'll take it. The book is bigger than bro culture.
00:04:05:03 - 00:04:25:13
Unknown
Like. Thank you. Yeah. Although there's plenty of bang bang in there. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. I mean a decade in the Seal teams including Red Squadron at Seal team six. So you're you started. Tell me where you come from. Like, how'd you get into the military in the first place? High school. Small northern California town. Super. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
00:04:25:19 - 00:04:42:22
Unknown
Super athlete. And I didn't know what I wanted to do, and I never thought of it because, like, high school wasn't bad for me. Like, it was awesome. So at 16, I thought that would just be life. And I don't come from a family of academia, like, oh, you're gonna go to Brown like grandpa. Like there was none of that.
00:04:43:00 - 00:05:00:22
Unknown
So I was like, I do, and I was in the gifted after school programs, but I didn't want to hang out with them. They were just kind of like, you know, gifted after school type people. And I was an athlete. I hang out with them and they were just kind of like dumb jobs. I mean, obviously there's outliers in every community, and those are gross generalizations.
00:05:00:22 - 00:05:14:21
Unknown
But that was kind of like, I'm like, man, what do I fit in? And someone showed me, I think it's called the silent Option, like the old VHS tape. And they're interviewing one of the guys and they said, hey, what makes you feel so good? And I guess it's not that we're that good, it's just everyone else sucks.
00:05:14:22 - 00:05:36:06
Unknown
And I'm like, that's clever. These guys are fit. And I joined in 2001. Delayed entry had mom and dad sign as an insurance policy to not get sucked into a senior trip and think about junior, whatever. So graduated boom 18 Straits and Navy. Nice. And what class were you? Two? Four. Four. Nice. Okay, so you're just after me.
00:05:36:06 - 00:05:57:14
Unknown
So we're essentially the same generation of frogmen. Okay, so you're going through 2002, and your first Seal team was five. You're at five on the West Coast, and then eventually you screened and you went over to Seal Team six. And how was that experience for you? You know, they're both awesome. I got really lucky with my timing, even at five.
00:05:57:19 - 00:06:22:15
Unknown
My first deployment was Summer of oh five Ramadi. So I was like, it was good. And then Seal Team six was just it was what I felt like, the natural progression. And it was definitely as a young man, it was very eye opening, like how professional and mature you had to be just to even be there in a daily basis.
00:06:22:17 - 00:06:41:15
Unknown
It was awesome. It was a lot. But I mean, I loved my whole career, so it was great. Yeah. And what made you decide to transition out of sales teams? The biggest thing is when I went to the career counselor office, when I'd already left team six as an instructor, and I'm like, you know, I think I'm up for this, like 85 k re enlistment.
00:06:41:15 - 00:07:06:08
Unknown
And I went in and she's she's like, nope. What do you mean no? You did a thing that was a star program and you got capped, but you didn't dissolve it in time to because you were unemployment. I'm like, well, I guess I'm getting out. And it was it was easy to stay in because the quality of life before in the Seal teams was way up here and it didn't matter what the opportunities were on the outside, it was so good.
00:07:06:08 - 00:07:25:02
Unknown
But for me personally, the politics and whatever you want to call it, the quality of the quality of life and the Seal teams was doing this and the opportunities on the outside was just doing this and it just was a pure business decision. Yeah, yeah. No, no, it's and there's also I always say this to guys at the same time.
00:07:25:03 - 00:07:45:19
Unknown
Well obviously like we both believe in service. There is a point of diminishing return right. There's no difference from an outside perspective of having spent a decade in the Seal teams or having spent three decades in the Seal teams. True, you were sealed Seal team six. If you're going to get out and do other things, it's better to do that sooner because the path to entrepreneurship is is hard, right?
00:07:45:20 - 00:08:06:18
Unknown
It's not. And not only that, if you think you have more to offer yourself than what you're currently doing, I think there's some guys out there that are like, I'm a Seal. That's all ever been. I'm gonna stay in here till they make me leave. Okay? Good for you. I knew I had more to give myself, which sounds crazy coming from, you know, the top, top place in the world to be as an operator may like.
00:08:06:18 - 00:08:25:22
Unknown
No, I want to do other things. Yeah. And I think, you know, going we can get into it later. But like, that's what helping transition and be as successful as I am because I was never made that my identity as a Seal, it was my job and I was good at it, I was passionate, I was all in, but as soon as I wanted to do other things, I walked away.
00:08:25:23 - 00:08:50:16
Unknown
Yeah, like we'll get into it in like more granular detail, but I completely, 100% concur with the thesis that if the identity that you carry into the civilian world is that, like I'm a Seal or whatever, and you don't evolve that identity, it will create a glass ceiling for how successful you can be. Right? Because we all have to like, adapt and grow.
00:08:50:17 - 00:09:16:04
Unknown
You have to be on this like lifelong quest for learning and like the private sector environment. It thanks you for being a Seal, but it doesn't reward you. Make me Excel spreadsheet with functions. Cool, cool your seal. And not only that for your opportunities on the outside. If you keep at it and only identify as that, you get some form of like late life arrested development.
00:09:16:06 - 00:09:37:04
Unknown
It is growth. Yeah, like this is where I'm at and so I'll ever be. Yeah, yeah. And there are just like it's a different it's a different battlefield. It's a different landscape. And so you have to continue to evolve both like cognitively and actually spiritually, emotionally in order to be successful in this different terrain. That's all. Like it's not bad.
00:09:37:04 - 00:09:55:22
Unknown
And I, I think both you and I have seen guys who are, like, so rigid in their core identity of having done this incredible rockstar thing, which we did right, but then not being able to evolve. That doesn't translate into success in the next stage. So let's talk about the next stage. You didn't jump right into entrepreneurship? No.
00:09:56:03 - 00:10:16:17
Unknown
What did you do when you got out? And I got out. And this is the birth of the book I became I went private for myself and I was doing stuff all over the world. Private contracting. Yeah. Essentially what you were doing as a team guy, but making more money as a yes and kind of really hanging it out there.
00:10:16:18 - 00:10:48:07
Unknown
Yeah. But with less. Yeah. But I liked it, I like it, it was fun, I was challenging did that. That kind of came to a natural ending point. And then my buddy had this big private wealth company, and I did that for a couple of months, but it was a house of cards, went to nothing. And then one day I was cleaning out my storage unit, and I saw some shot timers and a bunch of ammo I had and my guns, and I said, maybe I can do something with that.
00:10:48:09 - 00:11:06:03
Unknown
Yeah, and that's when you started your first venture. Yep. Okay. So for people who don't know, you were doing PMC work, which a lot of people call mercenary work, right? You get rolled up in Serbia, you spent a year in Serbian person, is that right? Or year and a half? 18 months. 18. 18. Well, and I stood court in Serbia.
00:11:06:04 - 00:11:26:07
Unknown
Yeah. Was acquitted. Right. Yeah, yeah. And did you pick up Serbian while you were in? Yeah, yeah, I know two words in Serbian. I don't know if I ever told you this, which means ball and peach, which we know. Yeah. Even in Serbian. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I played water polo. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Right. So that's how I learned.
00:11:26:12 - 00:11:48:01
Unknown
Okay. So you get out, right. You've had this like, wild, wild, topsy turvy career. Now you decide you want to start your own venture. And you, you looked at like the tools that were, like, right in front of you and decided. What did you decide was that at this point, I'm already in Arizona. I'm in Scottsdale, pretty fluent and pretty red.
00:11:48:07 - 00:12:06:01
Unknown
So we have this affluent red area. And I was like, you know, I could do private shooting lessons, all right. I know how to shoot. I know how to teach. And that's when I started shooting group. I kind of at a necessity because I didn't really have a job. And, you know, like we just talked about, no one gives it, like, cool.
00:12:06:01 - 00:12:29:20
Unknown
You're still team six. What can you do to make my company money? That'll justify whatever paycheck you're asking for is I don't want to. I don't want a boss. So I started my shooting company. And just like any venture, unless super lucky unicorn, first two years, pretty slow. And then just gathering momentum. Yeah, it's funny. And I was always curious why you named it sentient.
00:12:29:20 - 00:12:46:23
Unknown
Because one of the things, one of the ways I always describe you to people who don't know you or who've only read your book or whatever, on the surface, could be very easy, that you're like a knuckle dragging, hundred pound gorilla, you know, kind of frogman. But you're actually, like, incredibly cerebral, like you're always thinking, you're always reading, you're always doing things.
00:12:46:23 - 00:13:09:21
Unknown
They're kind of like outside the box of what people would expect. And I was curious if that was the genesis of the nation. Yeah. So I wanted to do sentient because there's too many people that are just out there shooting, and I want people to know why we're shooting each bullet for each iteration, for each drill. I want them to be aware of it, sentient of it.
00:13:09:22 - 00:13:20:22
Unknown
Yeah. So there's a purpose behind everything we do on the range, right? Yeah. Right. Good. And so. And how was that as your first venture?
00:13:20:23 - 00:13:37:03
Unknown
I think I was just I'm cut out for it, so I liked it. I liked learning how to build a website or when to hire someone, how to market it, how to price point. You know, because it's like guys are like, oh, you're still team six. You can charge 50 grand for the day. I'm like, sure. No, you can't.
00:13:37:05 - 00:13:58:07
Unknown
You know, it doesn't matter. You can charge what the market bears. Exactly. So like fighting the price point. I was going to each gun store in Arizona in a 50 mile radius, with a little flier printed out, like, just straight up grassroots, damn near knocking on doors. Hey, can I hang up this flier here with the QR code?
00:13:58:08 - 00:14:20:11
Unknown
Sure. And how would you characterize that business now? It's kind of like perpetually running, right? You continue to do it. You've had success. You've been able to build that into a sort of self-sustaining. Yeah. I have an ongoing relationship with Swat team in California. I've done some stuff with the Border Patrol. I have returned clients high net worth all in Arizona.
00:14:20:13 - 00:14:40:03
Unknown
Yeah, it's actually as scalable as I want it to be. I just have so many other ventures going on that I'm like, I'm really particular on who I even take to the range now, and it's a good problem to have. Yeah. And the the skills that translated from the military to this specific business are quite obvious, right? Like, obviously you know how to shoot.
00:14:40:04 - 00:15:07:07
Unknown
You know how to instruct, right? You know, you know how to be arranged. Safety officer. What were the what were the hard parts of the business for you? The things that the military didn't prepare you for, just budgeting. Yeah, right. I'm like, I'll just provide all the ammo. When you start looking at ammo prices and realizing how much you shoot when you have one versus two versus three versus four students on the range and you go, oh, I'm making like 50 bucks, right?
00:15:07:08 - 00:15:31:04
Unknown
Right. Like, okay, so learning how to budget and actually not just thinking, oh this paper targets whatever. It's like five bucks. The staple gun. This it adds up and you need to know what your actual ROI is per class, per evolution per hour. So that was the biggest learning curve. Yeah for sure. Yeah. And and okay you built that business.
00:15:31:04 - 00:15:49:18
Unknown
And then what part of you like what like what inner part of you said like okay this is great. But now I have like other aspirations. Like I have another round I want to call. I like how that happened. So but you're one and a half in is when I got a call from my agent who's now at William Morris Endeavors, and he's like, hey, I heard your story.
00:15:49:18 - 00:16:06:05
Unknown
Do you want to do a book? And I was like, sure. I mean, I think I said no the first time because I was still kind of playing with the idea of still being a mercenary. And then he called again and I said, let's do it. So I got to learn, like the book business world, it's its own business, its own animal with his own rules and and everything.
00:16:06:05 - 00:16:33:03
Unknown
So I learned that. And I've always been, like, creative. And I always loved creative writing in high school and shit. So it was fun doing the book. And then one day I was sitting looking at, you know, my shooting business. I said, I it's cool to be the brand, but you cannot scale.
00:16:33:04 - 00:16:50:00
Unknown
I can't scale, I can't be in two places at once. Right? And even if you build a cadre and a team around you and hey, this guy is actually better than me. But you wrote the book. You have the followers. We want to train with you. So, like, okay, this isn't really scalable. I can put food on the table, but I can't scale it.
00:16:50:00 - 00:17:13:00
Unknown
And in 2011, I had a crazy idea for an app and I recruited my co-founder and I said, hey, can you one, can you do it? And two, are you willing to do it? I have no money. He's like, I'm in. That wasn't sorry. That was in 2012. And when I was locked up for 18 months, I read Branson's books.
00:17:13:00 - 00:17:35:16
Unknown
I read Total Recall by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Great book. And I'm like, you know, I'm going to call up Paul, my developer co-founder. I said, we're going to get this thing done. We're taking it to market. Win, lose or draw, I don't care. We're doing it. And we've been grinding on my latest venture, my app, since for like the last two years.
00:17:35:17 - 00:17:57:10
Unknown
And we're making headway. And what's the core conceit of the app? So the app is was born out of me either playing chess on chess.com, on my on my phone and not enjoying myself. Because Jeff, chess is a very fickle mistress, like consume you and steam's coming out of your ears. Or I was watching people make epoxy wood tables for like five hours.
00:17:57:11 - 00:18:19:19
Unknown
I'm like, okay, there needs to be something in between. I could do it. My phone that isn't making me. I'm losing IQ by doing it. Or I'm like being frustrated. And and it all started with me texting a friend and we leave open ended sentences and he'd finish him and I'd at. And I make this an app. So the app's called Epic Story Time and all it is.
00:18:19:20 - 00:18:37:01
Unknown
It's a social gaming app. You invite up to three three other friends. We have AI Auto Prompt, the title of the story, and you each get two rounds of 20 words each, and it really turns into a burn session, like someone just gets completely roasted. And we got a couple of gaming mechanics in there and more to come.
00:18:37:02 - 00:18:50:17
Unknown
We got secret words, so you'll get a secret word and you got to sneak it in there and I get points. If I guess it. You get points of no one guesses it. And then we have a who's who setting where I know it's us for. But when you write, it's green. When Jeff writes, it's blue. When I write, it's pink.
00:18:50:17 - 00:19:09:15
Unknown
Whatever. And you have to try to guess who wrote what. Like, oh, that had to be Jeff. And you're like, oh no, that was actually me. So yeah. So we're playing with a bunch of different mechanics and what do you call it? Epic story time. Epic story time. Yeah. And it's interesting. In entrepreneurship, I often like frame entrepreneurship as a scientific process.
00:19:09:16 - 00:19:31:14
Unknown
Right. And like the scientific method, you start off by identifying a problem in the world. What problem are you trying to solve for with your new venture problem? Trying to solve not separately market share. It's huge. But the problem is getting people off of the mind numbing apps and doing something that's fun where you have to be creative.
00:19:31:14 - 00:19:50:15
Unknown
And that's why we started implementing AI auto prompts for people who aren't that like, write a story about what am I doing? Anything you want. It's endless. But some people aren't that creative. So we have an option to have AI auto prompt, the title and the. So it could be like a really scary title, but it's a comedy.
00:19:50:15 - 00:20:13:03
Unknown
So you're like, oh, that's fun. And you can start writing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it seems to me also there's this great, there's this great book. I forgot the title of it, but it's it might be Jonathan Haidt, but it's essentially this guy wrote this thing called like, everything you think is bad is good for you, right? And you know how every generation, like laments, like new technology, like, oh, these, these tablets into phones.
00:20:13:04 - 00:20:35:23
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. When TV came out, you know, or whatever. But this book posits that like, imagine what would happen if reading was if, like, gaming was invented prior to reading, right? Like reading was the second invention, right? You would have all of these parents lamenting like, oh, my child, you know, just does this little solo activity that doesn't interact with any other children.
00:20:35:23 - 00:21:00:01
Unknown
And they're like, they're obsessed with this. That's a crazy thought. It's a crazy thought experiment, right? And instead, gaming. Right, which often gets a bad name, like people are like gamers or whatever. If you think of it as this, like hyper connected creative process among a socialized group of peers. And all of the data tells us that, like, young children are like and the next generation are having trouble with, like socialization and especially when everyone had to go to school from home.
00:21:00:01 - 00:21:16:13
Unknown
Right? So it's almost like, okay. Am I going to like, you know, be a salmon spawning upstream and like trying like create children and take technology completely away from them? Or am I going to lean into it with technology that is like engaging your brain in a more and just, but dare I say it, in a more sentient way?
00:21:16:14 - 00:21:41:01
Unknown
Hey, yeah, and just with some left and right boundaries. Right when it gets too much or, you know, some like firewalls here and there where you need to put. Yeah. Why not? And also, I think there's a lot of empiricism, a lot of data around play, especially in early childhood development at play as like a process for cognitive development for children that learning game theory.
00:21:41:01 - 00:22:02:00
Unknown
These are the rules. These are my teams. My goal. Yeah, yeah. And the part that's funny for me. What's so amazing is like, here's you with like, you know, among a group of wild men, the Seal teams. Your story is perhaps one of the wildest, right? Yeah. But yet here you are, like building, like a creative gaming app.
00:22:02:01 - 00:22:21:22
Unknown
Like it seems like an ill fit. I know, and I hear that a lot. And it's never bad. People love it. Okay. But, you know, it's funny because it is like a little bit hard to believe. And I tell people think, oh, you're a Navy Seal. It's so cool. It opens all the doors. I'm like, yes, having my background does open doors for me.
00:22:21:22 - 00:22:41:04
Unknown
But you know what I have to do as soon as I walk in? As soon as I walk in that room, I get painted into a corner. You like, you know, every gun. All you care is guns, gun, gun, gun, fitness, punch things. And it's not. It's true. You are all those. You do know everything. I can do all those things, but have to really fight my way out and be like, oh, I have a business.
00:22:41:04 - 00:22:57:17
Unknown
Oh, what is it, a knife company or whatever, you know, they're going to already think. So. It's cool that I get to have those doors open because of what have I achieved in the Seal teams. But at the same time, now I have to fight my way out of the corner. They get put in to prove that I know I'm doing something totally different.
00:22:57:17 - 00:23:21:21
Unknown
Forget all that. And now that you've embarked on this new venture, you have to do all the things you have to like raise money, like, you know, manage a tech team, you're offshoring the tech know you're coding some of it yourself, right? Yeah. You are, which is amazing. Yeah. Okay. So you're having to teach yourself code, right? You're doing this like all of the difficult things of building a, you know, B2C facing like consumer facing company.
00:23:22:00 - 00:23:49:16
Unknown
Right? So not just the marketing but the tech like all the shit raising money. What are the biggest challenges for you of this new venture in tech entrepreneurship? Just the learning curve. And I trust my developer wholeheartedly. Like can we just add a timer? Okay. And I'm having him build, you know, I want there be one minute per turn, one hour per turn.
00:23:49:16 - 00:24:08:16
Unknown
And it's like, let me, let me learn how to do this. I'm like, just type it in chat GPT and don't tell you. He's like, that's not how this works. So expectation management. And so you know I'm going to learn I'm going to learn. I'm going to download every software program I can, every AI tool I can and try to teach myself.
00:24:08:16 - 00:24:28:18
Unknown
And the more I learn, the more I have more respect for my developer and co-founder, I think, yeah, just getting to that world and he's telling me about WebSockets and this and that and I'm like, what? So just learning a new language. Yeah. Also at a time, I think the other problem, you know, when I was building my tech company.
00:24:28:19 - 00:24:51:08
Unknown
Right. Like we you tend to think in sort of static moments in time. Right. But the truth is entrepreneurship is more like surfing. The medium itself is moving. Right. So like the velocity of change that's happening right now in tech and like, you know, where the puck is going even in terms of fundraising. Right. Like for there was a moment where what you were doing circa 2012.
00:24:51:09 - 00:25:09:04
Unknown
Right. That was the hottest thing to be funded in Silicon Valley. You know, you had pink has come with Zynga and all of these places and stuff. I would say now, like the primary emphasis, you know, AI and B2B SaaS is really like sucking up all the oxygen in the room, right? So you have to like, surf all of these little microwaves as well.
00:25:09:09 - 00:25:32:17
Unknown
Yeah. And you know, I'm going to stay on my project regardless because I'm passionate about it and I believe in it. Yeah. Yeah. That it's super cool. Okay. So we like to do this little section. Oh before I do I just want to wrap. So what's the next phase for the that we're going to do a playtest with some people from one of the universities in Arizona get final feedback because you can't build an app for everyone.
00:25:32:19 - 00:25:55:14
Unknown
Yeah. Right. And the playtest is just to see if it's intuitive as we think it is, just the functionality. And then after that, we'll probably be fundraising to build out native apps versus running React Native and spitting out iOS and Android. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. Well, again, this is not to, you know, not to pimp my own thesis too much.
00:25:55:14 - 00:26:18:04
Unknown
But like in terms of scientific method, I would call this like right center mass target for how people should think about tech development and entrepreneurship. You've had a problem that you saw. You have a hypothesis, you built that hypotheses, you're testing that hypothesis. And we're most entrepreneurs fail is that they don't test appropriately or get correct data and feedback from that process.
00:26:18:04 - 00:26:34:14
Unknown
They're so strong and wrong in their idea that they're unwilling to be nimble enough and flexible enough to pivot based on the the feedback and the data. I will not let my ego get in the way of this failing. Yeah, yeah. Awesome, awesome. Can't wait to see what's next on it. Okay, we like to do this little section.
00:26:34:14 - 00:26:53:05
Unknown
It's called rapid fire. I call it kind of like shooting steel okay. Feedback stream of consciousness okay. You will. Which makes it I got, you know, best investment you ever made. My fiance. Awesome. Dumbest financial mistake you ever made. My fiancee.
00:26:53:07 - 00:27:03:06
Unknown
Dirty. That is hands down the best double tap answers we've gotten in the entire three seasons of doing this epic.
00:27:03:08 - 00:27:16:22
Unknown
This this one. I mean, a little more seriously, what do you think the Navy skill that's been most helpful in business is learning how to learn. Yeah. Dirty. Why are you good at this? Why are you good at that? I'm not good at this or that. I'm good at learning. And I learned how to learn in the Seal teams.
00:27:16:23 - 00:27:41:12
Unknown
I understand how I acquire new data and information and apply it. And I think knowing what works for you, visual understanding, the psychology behind it or the methodology or the theory behind it. And when you go into a room clearing, as you know, you need to understand why, because they can't show you every single possible angle and room in the whole world.
00:27:41:12 - 00:28:11:23
Unknown
So learning the philosophy behind the why in learning has made me. That's probably the biggest thing I've taken away from being the Seal teams. Yeah. Yeah, that's that's that is super interesting to me. I have noticed that different people learn in different ways. I suspect that you and I are the same. We have to have like start with like whatever you call it, commander's intent, mission and purpose, understand where we're going and then we can sort of build in the micro steps and decisions to get there.
00:28:12:00 - 00:28:32:08
Unknown
That is also my learning style. So that resonates deeply with me. So learning how to learn. Yeah, learning how to learn. And what I would also say is look, especially for you guys at six, right? I don't think people quite understand like the scope and range of mission sets that are required of a tier one special operation dream.
00:28:32:10 - 00:28:50:09
Unknown
Dream it up. Right. We'll figure it out. Yeah. I mean like look even baked in inherent within the acronym. Right. Sea, air and land. We have to be masters of these three different domains. Not even all special forces units are required to be able to operate in the maritime environment, which adds this layer of complexity. So already every seal shoots, every seal jumps, every seal dives.
00:28:50:09 - 00:29:10:11
Unknown
You have to be near expert level at all three of these different mediums. There is a tremendous amount of onboarding of data that comes, whether it's shooting or jumping or diving, that you have to learn. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, yeah. And if you if you know a way that's going to streamline that for you, it's just going to be that much easier for you.
00:29:10:12 - 00:29:34:20
Unknown
Yeah I know I said shooting steel but it slowed us down. So I'll press the accelerator and pick us back up on pace. Military habit that that benefits you in business and in life. Fitness a book that changed your mindset. Atlas shrugged. Nice. How so? I was a young man when I read it and I was like, man, there's people doing stuff and there's people not doing stuff, and it's kind of bullshit.
00:29:34:20 - 00:29:57:08
Unknown
And when I read Atlas Shrugged, I was like, oh, I'm not feeling one that feels this way. I'm going to go make something. I'm going to go build my life. And unfortunately, I read that before Fountainhead, which ruins Fountainhead for you. You should have read Fountainhead then. But anyways, I digress. And is there a daily routine that helps you be productive and successful?
00:29:57:10 - 00:30:15:07
Unknown
My morning runs. I mean, that's where that's my meditation, my ideas, my ideas for the app. I'll practice my languages. I'll have conversations in different languages in my head. It's just like my really my Zen area where I kind of get that like flow state and I get the ideas just come and you do that first thing in the morning.
00:30:15:08 - 00:30:42:22
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I echo that. I mean, I, I have like somewhat of a morning routine, but part of it is defined by fitness and some of it is defined by what's not included in the routine. Like I won't check email, respond to text messages or messages or whatever till a certain time in the morning because I had once, you know, like it might be a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I got this lodged in my head once that somebody said like, oh, those are all reactive mediums, right?
00:30:42:22 - 00:30:59:04
Unknown
And I like to own the first part of my day. I like proactive, I like that, right. So if I, if I'm working out or like whatever I'm doing, none of that. I'm responding to other people, to poles on other people. Like I'm defining my own agenda. I'm planning my dive and diving my plan. I like that, right.
00:30:59:05 - 00:31:18:23
Unknown
And then later on, of course, like we live in the world and then like, you know, people need queries and all of that stuff. But yeah. So yeah, and I would say, I would say almost to the man and woman, the successful entrepreneurs like yourself who have been on this podcast all have some component of physical fitness that helps define their day.
00:31:19:00 - 00:31:36:10
Unknown
Yeah. And people. Oh you're vain. You work out 90% of your workout is for this. Yeah, it's cognitive fitness. That's it. Keeps the knife sharp. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Is there advice that you would give other members of the military if they're thinking about transitioning into entrepreneurship? Yes.
00:31:36:12 - 00:31:57:07
Unknown
Have the right partner, not only in business, but whoever's next to you in the room romantically. Whatever. It's really hard to eat top Brahman and rice for two years when someone's next to you, like, go get a job at subway. But, like, that's not going to help you. That and drop your ego, take the trash out and be a new guy again.
00:31:57:07 - 00:32:14:19
Unknown
And I think a lot of guys get hung up on that. They don't want to start over from scratch. I don't want to guess what you're doing something else now. You're not going to start at the top guy. Yeah. So drop your ego and ask for help. You'll be surprised. People will be surprised how many people will be like, yeah, I'd love to hear what you say.
00:32:14:19 - 00:32:36:11
Unknown
Like we're downstairs earlier. Yeah, I'd love to stay in touch. Easy. Yeah. So awesome to have you. Thank you for sharing your insights. Of course. It's been such an honor to watch your journey. Thanks. There's. I feel like we've just, like, scratched the surface on this because people. I think they can get it from listening to you. Like, there's a lot more coming out, right?
00:32:36:15 - 00:32:55:09
Unknown
American Mercenary is like, the very tip of the iceberg. I hope so. Yeah, yeah. I happen to know you have a bunch of good stuff. Where can people find you? Like, how can they follow along with what you're doing? Mostly on Instagram. It's at American Underscore mercenary, which is also the title of the book. Easy peasy. I'm assuming it's available on Amazon and.
00:32:55:12 - 00:33:20:02
Unknown
Well, yeah, or even just go on my website, which is on my Instagram profile, and just get yourself a signed copy. Sidecar. Oh, hey. Hey, I like that, I like that. Great. And I can't wait to see what you're cooking up next. Thanks for coming in. Thanks, buddy. Always good to have you. Thanks, man. All right. Thanks for locking in with us today.
00:33:20:03 - 00:33:42:10
Unknown
Shout out to Siebert Valor and Siebert Financial for supporting our journey. We'll be back next week with another powerhouse conversation. More founders, more builders and leaders who are playing offense in life and in business. Make sure you're subscribed to our YouTube channel for exclusive content and extended cuts of your favorite episodes. Until next week. Stay tactical. Stay driven.