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Tactical Wealth is the show 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 who’ve 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. Let’s 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;13 - 00;00;41;01
Unknown
But learning the grind, that was really the biggest lesson I got. Being on a surface ship, being on an oyster, it was a grind. The first time you saw I'm in charge of all this and I don't know anything like literally anything. But there was a switch in me in the surface Navy where I decided I need to tighten this up a little bit.
00;00;41;03 - 00;01;03;09
Unknown
Some people wait for others fight for it. Welcome to Tactical Wealth. The show were disciplined 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;03;09 - 00;01;13;18
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;13;21 - 00;01;39;19
Unknown
Welcome back to another episode of Tactical Wealth. Today's guest, Errol Dobler. You will not be surprised is a former Navy Seal, but beyond that, he is actually also a naval surface warfare officer. He was an FBI agent in federal law enforcement, and he is currently the founder of flash AI and the author of Ice Cold Leader. We're really excited to have him today.
00;01;39;19 - 00;02;00;13
Unknown
After 13 years serving and wearing the cloth of the country. He transitioned to entrepreneurship and is building some extraordinary companies. So, Errol, welcome to the show to see you. Good to see you. Good to be here. Great. It great to have you. So we have somewhat parallel paths. We started as young men at the United States Naval Academy.
00;02;00;16 - 00;02;18;15
Unknown
Right. Tell me, what drew you to the naval service? You know, it's hard to say, because I don't really come from a military family. My uncle went to the Naval Academy, but I didn't have a super close relationship with him. So it wasn't like, oh, I want to be like my uncle. But my neighbors were a naval Academy family.
00;02;18;15 - 00;02;36;29
Unknown
And from where did you grow Long Island? So out in Bayshore, Long Island. And so I'd go over there all the time. They were older than I was, and they had this Naval Academy pamphlet, whatever it was. Right? The little book. So I was flipping through it and it's cool. And, you know, I was I was sixth grade at the time, whatever it was.
00;02;36;29 - 00;02;57;13
Unknown
And there's the one page that said Navy Seals. And now back then you didn't just there was nothing, right? It was truly what it was meant to be like. I didn't hear about Navy Seals til I showed up at the Naval Academy. Exactly. So, so. But the picture was, you know, it was a, you know, a squad, a platoon, whatever it was.
00;02;57;13 - 00;03;24;29
Unknown
And they all had the UTS on and they were just standing there. And I remember thinking and I read it and it was very nebulous what it said. I remember who are these guys even at that age? I'm like, what? It was just something. Now fast forward, I mean, high school. I was a football player and a cross player, and I was going to get I was going to go to a college for lacrosse, right.
00;03;25;02 - 00;03;46;01
Unknown
And I remember told my coach, I'm like, you know, I got to figure out where I'm going. And he goes, well, where do you want to go? And somewhere in the back of my mind I go the Naval Academy. And he goes, okay. He goes, you've never bought that up before. You know, we were talking Hopkins and Syracuse and all the the big lax, all the big lacrosse schools.
00;03;46;01 - 00;04;05;27
Unknown
Yeah. So, you know, they came and watched me and then, you know, I got in, I went to the prep school first, which where most athletes and prior enlisted go. And then once I got in, you know, because I was there for lacrosse. Right. But something in the back of my mind then once I got there, everybody goes through the iteration.
00;04;05;27 - 00;04;19;02
Unknown
I want to be a pilot. I want to be a marine. I want, you know, but I was pretty locked in, and that's when I was like, all right, I'm going to I'm going to get this seal thing one way or the other. So that's where it came from. Pretty. Yeah. Not an exciting story, but that's it. That's the story.
00;04;19;02 - 00;04;37;06
Unknown
But as you learned, life is not a straight line. And you actually did not get a Seal billet straight out of the Naval Academy, I did not. So I was I used to say I was a bad student, I wasn't I was a lazy student when I needed to be a good student. I was a good student, but I was generally a lazy student.
00;04;37;06 - 00;05;01;12
Unknown
So my class rank was was was poor, I was, I was, I was pretty low. And at the so what was happening was they had ten billets that year for Seal teams. And you knew who all the guys were. So you'd go around and try to talk somebody out of it and all that stuff. And but at the time they had it was a tiered thing.
00;05;01;12 - 00;05;18;04
Unknown
You had an interview, you had the PT test, and then you had your class rank. So I was like, I've got a fighting chance, right? Because my class rank is going to kill me. But if I could do good enough on the other ones, I could squeeze into maybe that 10th spot. And at the last minute they changed it all.
00;05;18;04 - 00;05;44;28
Unknown
The class rank. Right? So you went through everything and I'm like, no. So at the Naval Academy, right. They have the selection night party. Well, I was so low that after I picked I went to the party and not only was it over, they had cleaned up. So so I'm staring at the board and I wasn't crying, but I might as well have been.
00;05;45;00 - 00;06;00;13
Unknown
And I'm just like, I can't believe this is happening to me. I'm going to end up on one of these ships. And one of my instructors came over. He was a captain. And it's one of those moments, right? The changes you changes your life a little bit. And he's like, what's wrong, son? And I told them, I don't want to be on a ship.
00;06;00;13 - 00;06;20;12
Unknown
Dang, dang dang, I want to be seal and it's not going to happen. And f this. And he goes, look, that's the ship you want to be on. And it was the USS Monongahela. It was an oil. And I'm like, that sounds like the absolute worst ship. He goes, no, he goes, everybody's going to want to pick the destroyers and something sexy.
00;06;20;13 - 00;06;38;09
Unknown
He goes, that ship is out to sea all the time. And I'm like, that's the opposite of what I want. He goes, you're not hearing me. He wants you to get called. He goes, you get on that ship, you'll get called in under a year if you work your ass off. And that will stand out when you try to go the lateral.
00;06;38;12 - 00;07;06;03
Unknown
He was exactly right. It was misery. But I got it was time to. I got my pin in, like nine months. And for people to understand the lateral transfer process is that you have to acquire your surface warfare officer, pin a warfare qualification in an entirely different community, and then you can reapply to the board to get the opportunity to become a Navy Seal, i.e. you get a billet to go to buds and try out.
00;07;06;06 - 00;07;25;29
Unknown
You get you get to go to the triad only after you get called, only after you get called. And they took one person right that year. So what was the Lady Margaret? You remember the lady who like, ran everything? Was that her name? Margaret. Right. Margaret is the secret story of naval special warfare. She ran the community. She's not very right.
00;07;26;00 - 00;07;47;23
Unknown
She's still alive. She's retired. I asked the same question to another frogman the other day. Okay. The only way I know she's still alive is because nobody has said she's passed. If Margaret had passed, it would be the shot heard around the frog community. Right. And so I know she's still around. She's not at Millington anymore detailing seals, but she was the single most important person in the Seal community for decades.
00;07;47;23 - 00;08;11;09
Unknown
She was the single point of contact to get in the true gatekeeper. And, you know, you get her number, she'd take your call. Hey, you know, whatever you say. And so the neighbor that I talked about is kind of coming full circle, you know, that had the Naval Academy pamphlet. Well, one of his best friends was a former was a seal God, I can't remember his name.
00;08;11;09 - 00;08;34;01
Unknown
And he was a legend. He, you know, he was a great guy. And he just happened. I happened to be home. I happened to meet him, told the story, and he goes, I'll call Margaret. And I'm like, wow, that would be great. And he came back. And so poor Margaret, right. Like nobody like she was either. Sometimes it was like effin Margaret.
00;08;34;07 - 00;09;00;22
Unknown
Right? But, you know, he told me I had seen him. He goes, you know, I talked to her. She's like, thank you. Because I'm looking at 20 resumes and all these guys are great, right? Like, how am I supposed to pick? So that was it. I got somebody to put a good word in and that was it. And I think we can like, pause for a little micro lesson in entrepreneurship or getting what you want here.
00;09;00;23 - 00;09;35;17
Unknown
You know, Margaret was simply the administrative person in the detailers office at Personnel in Millington, Tennessee. But what happens in often happens in bureaucratic systems is the principal, the Seal community manager. The detailer would rotate every two years. So Margaret was the staple of consistency for decades. And she had what in organizations you call informal power, the ability to make things happen because she was the consistent force across time.
00;09;35;17 - 00;09;58;03
Unknown
And so, you know, she might have been and it's sort of this life lesson in like, yeah, you need to understand who the principles are, but you also need to understand how the rivers of power work. And she firmly swam in the rivers of power. She she's the classic gatekeeper. So after I left the Seal teams right. And in between the Seal teams and the FBI, I was in sales.
00;09;58;03 - 00;10;22;16
Unknown
And so this is back in 2000. I sold copiers. Right. The Vietnam of sales. You could sell a copy or you could sell anything. And then you know that I left that to some of sales so I can have my copier days. It's true. And it was it was in Manhattan. That's where I worked. But the point I'm making is you always had to go through a Margaret.
00;10;22;18 - 00;10;42;13
Unknown
Right. And and at the time, it's not like selling like it is today. I'm not saying it's easier or harder, but you got in the phone book, you went right, and then you went and you knocked on doors and you bought that gatekeeper, that Margaret. He bought her flowers, he bought her some candy. You, you know, whatever it was, tickets to the show.
00;10;42;15 - 00;11;08;11
Unknown
And eventually you'd wear them down like, God. Okay, I'll get you in. But anyway, that was. Yeah. That was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A lesson learned in the bureaucracy of the Seal teams. Not in not on the field of battle. That's right, that's right. Amazing. So I want to talk more about your time in the surface community. Well, but because, you know, we've had several seals who have become great entrepreneurs and they've built companies.
00;11;08;11 - 00;11;38;15
Unknown
I'm curious if you think that your time in the surface community, understanding Big Navy, if there were key insights and lessons from that time of your service, that would help you later on when you started building companies? Yes. I mean beyond just the like, hey, I have to fight and get this done. No, no. So there's a lot and I don't talk as much about my surface days just because it's quite frankly not as everyone wants to hear about the seals, the sexy seal stories.
00;11;38;15 - 00;12;09;10
Unknown
Right. And that's fine. But learning the grind, that was really the biggest lesson I got being on a surface ship, being on an oil, it was grind. It just day in, day out. My first group that I division that I led, right? I was a division officer. There were 30 young sailors and I was on the first ship that had women on it too.
00;12;09;12 - 00;12;37;08
Unknown
So now there was that new dynamic of women on the ship, which really only played out when you were underway, because now you got young men and women on the ship. You had to hose them down to keep them away from each other. So but it was it was a new thing, right? And so it was literally first day coming in, young folks, most of whom also were older.
00;12;37;10 - 00;13;00;15
Unknown
Right. The challenge that was the first time you saw I'm in charge of all this and I don't know anything like literally anything. And then learning to have to rely on your chief petty officer for the mundane and then the little things that happened, you know, somebody getting a speeding ticket, not knowing what to do, calling me. And I'm like, I don't know, you know what I mean?
00;13;00;16 - 00;13;22;29
Unknown
So, look, I know that's all stuff that you get in the regular Navy and certainly in the Seal teams, but it's also I, I will not say a lesser quality of of sailor. It's a different sailor. Right. It's not. You go into Seal team for Seal team one you go to buds. There's generally going to be the same type of person there.
00;13;23;01 - 00;13;44;11
Unknown
Yeah. That's what I was curious about. Like what I always found when I transitioned from the military to the private sector is, you know, the sheer amount of motivation in the Seal teams. It's, you know, a bunch of sled dogs and they want to run. It's high. And. Yeah, and your your job is to actually kind of pull the reins occasionally because people get, you know, they get way far out there.
00;13;44;16 - 00;14;07;19
Unknown
But I'm curious if on the in the Fleet Navy, you found that in some ways more analogous to the civilian sector, you have to motivate 100%. It was it was it wasn't the same type. There was your the bad was bad, right? Right. You know, in the Seal teams and you know, the bad is still pretty good. You know what I mean?
00;14;07;22 - 00;14;30;11
Unknown
In the surface Navy, the bad was bad. Like people who just wouldn't work and were like, I'm just here to collect the paycheck and and made no bones about it. And then the good was as good as anybody. Right? So yeah, with the, with that type of motivation and, and then for me, knowing in the back of my mind I wanted to be a seal, it was hard for me to grasp.
00;14;30;14 - 00;14;51;18
Unknown
Why don't you want to do your job of lack of motivation? Yeah. I don't understand it. So the ability to. That's where I learned the importance of professionalism, right? Because like every young officer, I made the mistake of trying to be friends with all of them. I made all the mistakes of fraternization, going out and drinking. It just it was a mess.
00;14;51;18 - 00;15;21;00
Unknown
I can't believe I made it through, but there was a switch in me in the surface Navy where I decided I need to tighten this up a little bit. I had some great mentors, and I remember the biggest compliment I got was one of the young ladies who worked for me. She was a first class petty officer, and one day she goes, you know, sir, you used to be an ensign and now you're an officer, and I'm proud of you.
00;15;21;02 - 00;15;43;23
Unknown
And so you had to make that switch, though. And what I also learned from that was even in the surface Navy where people are unmotivated, you, if you get their respect, they will work for you. They will do it. And what was the key to earning that respect? Was it working hard? No, I was a hard enough worker.
00;15;43;23 - 00;16;06;01
Unknown
It was being a professional, just being I look, I'm myself. I'm a pretty fun guy. I like to make jokes, but I had to tighten all that up, right? I had to tighten up. I'm drinking till four in the morning. Oh, I and I got to be on the ship at six. If you think that they don't notice that they do.
00;16;06;07 - 00;16;31;20
Unknown
They absolutely do. So was that it was hey, here's the plan of the day and I'm going to come in and check on you for it. All the things you're just supposed to do. Yeah, that a lot of officers don't do. Yeah. Clear commander's intent trust and verify and lead from the front. We'd by example and just keeping a high standard all the time and holding them to it.
00;16;31;20 - 00;16;53;17
Unknown
And initially it was pushback like, oh what happened to you type of thing. But you know that was also another lesson like, okay, you have to push through that. You have to push through the what happened to you? Okay. Because and that was it. It was just because I knew I'm like, I'm better than what's happening here. I'm better than the mistakes I'm making.
00;16;53;20 - 00;17;18;00
Unknown
I'm better than somebody walks into our space. It doesn't look good. It looks messy, you know? And so it just was kind of that. Yeah. Professional pride I get it. Amazing. And then so you you sort of take the reins, you take control, you get your warfare qualification as surface warfare officer, you claw your way to Bud's. What Bud's class were you?
00;17;18;05 - 00;17;44;13
Unknown
I graduated 194. But I always say 193 because, because that's the class I went through hell week with. And we and I'm proud of that class because we started with 200. Now the two hundreds of misnomer because when we got there we had so many guys. That was the first rolled some to the next. Well, what happened was they had so many they they did a pre but so they split us in half right.
00;17;44;14 - 00;18;04;24
Unknown
And essentially it was the first three weeks and we I didn't know that. So I was the one and the other guys just hung out. Yeah. Well we lost you know we lost. We finished that with like ten guys. I'm like what is going on here? Like, this isn't even buds. Yeah. It's the beat down before the beat down the beats before the beat down like the extra goodness.
00;18;04;24 - 00;18;25;23
Unknown
And then we classed up and it's another hundred guys now because all these guys are gone. And we finished hell week with ten guys. So that's the long story of why I, I claim 193 is my class, but I graduated with one 1994. Burke's was editor Burke's in that class of 93. He was one of my instructors. Never forget him.
00;18;25;26 - 00;18;50;13
Unknown
Well, if he was, it might have been an instructor. I can't remember all the instructors. That's. That's hilarious. Awesome. So you graduate buds. You went to Seal team four? Yeah, you went four and then Seal team one after that. Team one. Yeah. No fun one, is there? It was fun. I had to relearn all the lessons that I just told you about the surface community again.
00;18;50;14 - 00;19;13;19
Unknown
Yeah, but I think for people who don't know, Seal Team one was obviously the first Seal team that was commissioned. It has this kind of storied reputation, but the culture of Seal Team one has always been extraordinarily serious. It was. Well, I was there. Steve Fitzgerald, Commander Fitzgerald was my Co to this day the best leader that I've ever had.
00;19;13;20 - 00;19;33;26
Unknown
So I didn't I didn't get a lot of that. He was a good guy. He wanted to have fun and he liked to get. So I didn't see as much of that. Maybe that was part of the problem, though, because maybe everybody else did. Like, who's this guy? Amazing. So so total. You completed your service and then tell me about your transition out.
00;19;33;27 - 00;19;59;13
Unknown
Well, the transition out was so I got medically discharged. So from that fall in the house. No. So it was it was a combination. So that fall in the house I had broke both my wrist and you know, I hit my head. But like everybody we were on pre-deployment training. She hit it. I hit, of course I did.
00;19;59;14 - 00;20;23;17
Unknown
Right. So, you know, the corpsman was like, sir, your wrists are broken. I'm like, wrap them up. And he's like, wrap them up. Like, wrap them up. He's like, okay. And that was it. The the head injury two weeks later I won't belabor the story, but what happened was I had a brain bleed and I, I was in such intense pain.
00;20;23;17 - 00;20;42;27
Unknown
We were just practicing climbing. We were just jumping the water through a caving ladder over them, were climbing at night, and I curled up in the corner, and I remember some of the guys going, where's where's Dobler? And I couldn't. I was in so much pain I couldn't be like, I'm over here, I need help. And guys started leaving.
00;20;42;27 - 00;21;01;27
Unknown
I'm like, oh my God, I'm going to die. I said, somebody saw me. They brought me to the hospital. They couldn't figure it out. And what had happened was when I hit my head going through the floor in Monterey, what do you think we did? We went to the hospital. We were all geared up. Right. And we finished training, by the way, it was one of those, right?
00;21;01;28 - 00;21;25;06
Unknown
You know how it was. It's it's it's not right to do that. That's just the way it was. Okay? It's just the way it was. And I said, hey, look, we're I'm Lieutenant Dobler. I need some of the stitches. Right? You can see my skull. And they were like, well, and we're like, can you please just get a doctor to stitch in, like, the paperwork?
00;21;25;06 - 00;21;50;10
Unknown
No paperwork. Yeah. So it never. I had the receipt that I was there. Never went into my medical record. Yeah. I think for people who don't it is true that is the way it was. Because what would happen previously and there was a culture of hiding. It actually starts in buds because in buds, if there's anything wrong with you medically, you hide it, you get rolled or you get dropped, right?
00;21;50;11 - 00;22;10;28
Unknown
So you learn how to hide all your medical conditions. That carries over to deployment. You know, you don't want to you don't want to miss your deployment. So like, you know, the doc comes in. Anybody got any problems? Nope. Good to go. All good. Yeah. All good. Yeah. That's. You're exactly right. That's exactly what it was. So. Yeah, it sounds crazy now to hide a head injury.
00;22;11;02 - 00;22;29;19
Unknown
Right. Because we're so much smarter and so much more so much smarter. And. Yeah. And again, when I tell these stories, I do like it's a joke. It's not the right way. It it wasn't ego. It's just the way it was. You can't explain it just like you said. So anyway, I was in the hospital, I was vomiting, it was a mess, and I did.
00;22;29;21 - 00;22;54;04
Unknown
They did three Spinal tap on me. Did you ever. Spinal tap the the the the needles. Like this thing. Right. It's it's awful. And I remember they the first one in I went oh and then they yelled at me for moving. I'm like, are you kidding me? And so they kept finding blood in my spine. And so the third one, I was there for a week.
00;22;54;07 - 00;23;15;21
Unknown
They're like, okay, there's no blood. I guess you're good. I go, I can go home. They're like, yeah, I went home, called The Command, and I'll never forget. I think it was it was over Thanksgiving because I remember being on my couch in the dark and just be like, oh. And the command was like, Will we see you Monday?
00;23;15;28 - 00;23;36;01
Unknown
I'm like, yeah. So back to work. You go. That's not why I got medically discharged. Right. So I got so I was on deployment. That's my favorite part. That's not why I got medically discharged. Yeah. That little boo boo is not why I got medically discharged. Not. But so we were because I was going to spend my entire career in the Seal teams.
00;23;36;01 - 00;23;56;25
Unknown
I loved it. So we were on deployment and we got a call for an op. And back in 1999, you don't get a lot of nine over 11. The op tempo wasn't high, it was not high at all. And we got called for a visit, board search and seizure and we had a day to rehearse, which was great.
00;23;56;27 - 00;24;19;25
Unknown
And the sea state was really, really bad. Your Seinfeld right? The the sea was angry that day might read. Right. So you know, even the probably way out of parameters, but you wanted to go way out of parameters. And so I remember with I was with my chief and he's like, this looks bad. I'm like, it does. I go, but let's we got a day to rehearse.
00;24;19;25 - 00;24;39;29
Unknown
Let's get out there. Let's see. He's like, yeah, you're right. And I said, well, just abort. We gotta know though. That's why they call us. We got to know. We got to be able to say we went out. We tried and here's why we can't do it. And you know, the guys like Jesus. So I went up to the captain and I said, hey, we're ready to go for the rehearsal.
00;24;39;29 - 00;24;59;09
Unknown
And he's like, you're not you're not going out in this. We're not launching the boats. And I just stared at him and I the conversation we had, it was the internal monologue. Because what I was saying, well, what I said was, I go, well, if the weather's like this tomorrow for the OP, are you launching us? He goes, well, of course.
00;24;59;14 - 00;25;27;19
Unknown
So that's when I stared at him and he knew what I was going, you can't launch me tomorrow in the same weather. Not today. And he just stared. He goes, fine, go. So anyway, the law, it's. If we had more time. I tell you the whole story because it is a good seal story, but the long and short of it is, as I was up at the top of the ladder to pull myself over the guy holding the bottom, the sea state was so heavy he got bounced.
00;25;27;20 - 00;25;50;10
Unknown
He let go of the ladder. When I was at the top of the wave, it hooked on to the cleat. Random 1 in 100 and so when it came back down, the ladder exploded. I was just about to pull myself over. It literally blew my shoes off my feet. They took like another 20ft fall or whatever, 30ft fall right back.
00;25;50;11 - 00;26;10;10
Unknown
And the things that go through your mind, right it all. It's all true. It all goes through your mind like, whoa, this is really it, right? I can't believe this is going to happen. And I do remember thinking the first thought was was good life. You know, good life. No. No regrets. You made some mistakes and I was really happy.
00;26;10;10 - 00;26;28;15
Unknown
I'm like, hey, that's good. Right? And then a couple other things went through. I thought of my dad because we had a really good relationship. He since passed, but I remember thinking, this is gonna be really hard on him. But the last thing I thought was go out like a man, give the boys watching you follow your death.
00;26;28;15 - 00;26;46;21
Unknown
Something to talk about. Like. Oh, Dobler. He didn't scream. He just. He just took it like a man. That's probably ultimately what saved my life. Because I was nice and relaxed. I hit the the cover of the the engine cover. My arm snapped over the side, bounced back up. I thought I was going to fall in between the boats and just get sucked in.
00;26;46;21 - 00;27;02;06
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. So anyway, all of the injuries so that. So then their x ray, my body while I'm out and all this, they're like well Jesus, how do we know. You know, we don't even know how you broke both of your wrist.
00;27;02;08 - 00;27;36;13
Unknown
So all I never told them. And they're like, you know, you got what is this scar on your head, you know, and the whole thing. So I got medically discharged. I took the medical discharge because I was also going through. And typical team guy fashion divorce, a divorce. Yeah. See? Yeah, yeah. You know, there is a pattern. No, but I want to pause you for one second because I think it's it's worth as a point of information two things from your story, which is, is really interesting.
00;27;36;15 - 00;28;06;11
Unknown
One, the lesson there just this is about seals, not about entrepreneurship, is that quite often our training is more dangerous than the operations themselves. You got vastly hurt both in training and preparing for an op, and people don't realize that. In fact, we lost two seals doing VBS visit, board search and seizure just in in the last. In the last couple of years, we lost two guys, one who went out of the boat, another who went after him.
00;28;06;13 - 00;28;26;28
Unknown
And that's really tragic. And it just shows that, you know, being the premier maritime special operations component in the world comes with cost because the water is its own element. We do these really hard missions, by the way. It's also the most important mission in the world right now in the Straits of Hormuz. Boarding ships is literally the most important mission in the world right now.
00;28;26;28 - 00;28;56;28
Unknown
It's the epicenter of global commerce, and Seals are arguably the best in the world at doing exactly this. We are. And, you know, there's always good there's always good debate among the special operations guys. Right? But, you know, I'll go to the grave with we go to the water because I remember we had a we had a marine contingent with us and they wanted the OP and you know, as and the guy the captain was a great guy.
00;28;56;28 - 00;29;19;03
Unknown
We were really good friends. We became really good friends. And as we were talking to, you know, whoever we were talking to who's going to get the OP, I just said, look, we really having this debate, you know? And I looked at him, I go, how many VBS did you do in your workup? Yeah. And he's like, yeah, but we're good.
00;29;19;04 - 00;29;45;18
Unknown
You know even he had to. And so we got it. Yeah. So anyway so that was so you were hurt pretty bad. I was hurt pretty bad. I had both, yeah, it was bad. But, you know, I would have stayed in. I would have if. And but what was happening again with the divorce. And I'm not saying anything bad about my ex-wife, truly, it was both of us.
00;29;45;20 - 00;30;03;20
Unknown
But she brought it to the command, right. This son of a bitch. Yeah. So. And people also don't realize the divorce rate in the Seal teams is like 92%. That's. That's why I could guess it before you were saying it, this is, you know, many parts of your story are atypical. This part is not it's completely typical, but.
00;30;03;20 - 00;30;28;19
Unknown
And so. And what happened was I didn't know I had traumatic brain injury, so I had changed. Yeah. We didn't even use that one. We didn't use it. It didn't exist. You're exactly right. And so my inability to focus I was lax. She was crushing me from every end and I couldn't do anything. And you're hurt and I was hurt.
00;30;28;19 - 00;30;51;03
Unknown
But by the time I had gotten back from the. There's almost a whole new like the commanded change. They didn't know me. Yeah. So then all they saw was this guy was having marital who's having marital problems, who's just what? He doesn't look motivated. Broke his broke. What is this? And oh I should tell people when I say broke you probably were broke.
00;30;51;10 - 00;31;11;22
Unknown
Especially going through a divorce. Not money. But we say broke. We mean like your body is broken. Body steel lexicon for your body is broken like you're walking around. You can't PT, PT and the Seal teams is like one of those things. It's kind of how you measure each other 100%. And so I left with my tail between my legs.
00;31;11;23 - 00;31;28;13
Unknown
Now it's funny because which makes for a tough transition, which makes for a tough transition and real quick because I do I you know, we want to talk about entrepreneurship. But you know, I saw Mark Devine was on your show. Yeah. And Mark is I've never met Mark personally, but I consider him a friend because we've we've spoken.
00;31;28;13 - 00;31;50;29
Unknown
He endorsed the book and I was on his podcast. But for 20 years I didn't talk to a Navy Seal because I just assumed I was a ship bag and nobody would want to talk to me. And I got introduced once I started Ice Cold Leader. I was on a guy's podcast and I wish I could remember his name.
00;31;50;29 - 00;32;11;03
Unknown
It's really it's a dad podcast. Anyway, he's like, oh, I'm going to introduce you to Mark Devine and you're going to go on his. And I didn't say anything. And he makes the introduction. I told my wife, I go, I'm not going on. I go, I'm not doing it because he's going to take the opportunity to make me feel like terrible.
00;32;11;06 - 00;32;32;23
Unknown
And, you know, my wife being my wife was great. She convinced me to go on. Of course, Mark was tremendous. But here's the thing that changed my life. And I and I do want to I'm sure you saw in the episode that Mark was a huge inspiration to me because he is so thoughtful. He is sort of a spiritual guru within the he was ahead of his time.
00;32;32;24 - 00;32;50;03
Unknown
Yeah. And this is going to be another example as to how he was ahead of his time on this. I was explaining this story a little bit. And, you know, I just kind of said, you know, and I guess I was still immature and I just made these mistakes and I was moving past it. Right? Just trying to own it and get past the next thing.
00;32;50;04 - 00;33;14;08
Unknown
And he goes, well hold on. He goes, you had brain injury. He goes, you were you were injured. You clearly were suffering from traumatic brain injury. And that's probably the cause of those decisions. I moved, I was like, oh, maybe. And I said to my wife, I did you hear what he said? And now she saw the change in me and she knew something was wrong.
00;33;14;08 - 00;33;35;05
Unknown
And there is a cure to this, by the way, intranasal insulin. If we have time, I'll tell you about it. But I got that kind of off label treatment and it cured my brain. But my point is the transition for me. So thank God for Mark Devine for putting that in my head. Right? Because he saved my life, I think, and I've told them that.
00;33;35;05 - 00;34;02;07
Unknown
And anyway, so as you go back now to a transition. I'm injured. I've got a tremendous head injury. My behavior is changing and I didn't want to leave. So there's there's my training because you had fought so hard to get there, which magnifies this common problem. Like you leave the Seal teams or you leave the military community, you have a strong sense of mission and purpose and identity, and you get out and it's like, what the fuck am I going to do?
00;34;02;09 - 00;34;22;06
Unknown
Yeah, and I didn't. And it wasn't a bad decision. I didn't want to get out. Right. So there's a little bit of a difference. I can see a lot of the guys and gals who get out now who maybe like, oh, maybe we've been a little premature on that. I got I was shown the door and I was shown the door unceremoniously.
00;34;22;08 - 00;34;42;22
Unknown
The medical community, shame on them back then. Like they gave me a hard time at the at the table. Right. The medical board. I'm like, you guys called me in. I'm not trying to convince you that I'm injured, right? And they're like, well, you look fine. Because and I wanted to say because that's what we do. We get past our injuries.
00;34;42;23 - 00;35;06;15
Unknown
Right? I still I barely missed a workout, right? I had to cast on I can do like, presses, right. Whatever it was, you know, it was just I just remember, like, God damn, that was awful. So I it was a hard transition for me because I didn't give it any thought at all. It just happened. And so I reached out to a friend of mine and I said, man, I don't know what to do.
00;35;06;17 - 00;35;27;29
Unknown
And he goes, well, you got to go into sales. And I'm like, okay. I go, I've never sold anything. He's like, don't worry about it. Because he was in I grew up with him and he was in the private sector. He just said, he goes, he goes, go sell copiers. I go, why? He goes first if you can sell a copy or you can sell anything and be they'll take anybody.
00;35;27;29 - 00;35;50;00
Unknown
So don't worry about you. Get a job. So that was it. And you did I did, I did, and I learned to sell and I led sales teams and it was great. I loved it. And sales matters ultimately. Right. Like that is a good proving ground for entrepreneurship because like if you're building a company, I promise you you're selling something.
00;35;50;00 - 00;36;09;00
Unknown
I don't know what it is. I don't know what the product is. Maybe you're selling yourself, like whatever. Like, yeah, but you're selling something I joke for and sales is hand to hand combat. I joke, ice cold leader. I am a salesman and part time. I do leadership consulting. Right? Because you're selling all the time, right? You're constantly selling the company.
00;36;09;02 - 00;36;28;23
Unknown
I'm not the founder of flash AI. I'm the CEO. The founders are two guys. It's just got to make because they're watching this. Like, is he claiming these that that son of a. Yeah. But anyway. But even there even as as CEO as we go into law enforcement agencies and tell them this amazing tool we've got for them which hopefully we can talk about, you're selling.
00;36;28;24 - 00;36;50;06
Unknown
Yeah, you're constantly selling. So you do that and then at some point you decide to go into the FBI. Yeah. What prompted that. So what happened? I ended up leaving. So back then software was had become a huge thing. Right. And so I got a software job and they give you a base salary and commission. Whoa. It was amazing, right?
00;36;50;08 - 00;37;08;13
Unknown
And so I was with the software company and I was about and they had done turnover and I survived a cut, but I had a new boss who wanted to get rid of me. Right. They bring new people in when they're cutting. They want to bring their people in. And I had had this deal set up. It was going to be like a $2 million deal.
00;37;08;13 - 00;37;33;05
Unknown
And back then that was massive money for Con Edison right here in New York for our software. And I traveled with him. We were going to have a meeting. We were going to close it. Right. It was it was done. And that meeting was at 11:00 on September 11th, 2001. So I'm in a hotel. We're getting ready to go.
00;37;33;05 - 00;37;58;05
Unknown
And, you know, it all happens and I anyway, I mean, I remember thinking out the Starbucks, right? And everybody's like, oh, a helicopter ran into the thing. That was the first thing a helicopter ran. It doesn't look like a helicopter. But anyway. Was it. It was weird. So. And I'm not proud of this cash. I'm going to tell you anyway, this is how locked in I was on that that was happening.
00;37;58;08 - 00;38;18;20
Unknown
I call and I'm like, hey, this is doable. I've got a meeting with the chairman of the Heaven. I'm assuming that's canceled. Jesus Christ, I just I was like, we got to close this thing. Frontside focus. That's it. Right. And you know, so anyway, so that day, you know, I lost my brother in law. That day, I was with my sister.
00;38;18;27 - 00;38;37;16
Unknown
The whole thing going to all the hospitals. What a nightmare. But that was the day I was like, well, I got to get back in the fight. I called the Seal teams who I can't remember who I talked to. He was great. He's like, look, you think you're going to get a platoon? Yeah. You're not, but we'll take you back because we need.
00;38;37;18 - 00;38;51;21
Unknown
And I'm like, let me get back to you. And that was cool. At least he was honest, right. And I appreciated that. That was on the table. And I said, well, I'm just going to lie to the CIA and the FBI and whoever gets back to me first, that's where I'm going. And the FBI did, and that's where I went.
00;38;51;22 - 00;39;18;21
Unknown
Amazing. And how long did you spend at the FBI? 13 years. So I was eight years. I was eight years, eight years in the Navy and then 13 in the FBI. And you did a joint interagency deployment to Afghanistan with the FBI. I did, so they had at the time the Rangers, the Seals, Delta and Green Beret. And this was just beautiful, perfect timing to be in this position.
00;39;18;24 - 00;39;42;23
Unknown
You know, they were crushing targets. And before the big troop surge, there was this big special operation surge that was happening. And they just were they needed help with, you know, sensitive site exploitation, battlefield interrogations. Right. So they stuff the FBI has more domain expertise. And that's right. We didn't know that shit in the Seal team. We had to learn it.
00;39;42;24 - 00;40;02;17
Unknown
Yeah. And so what they did was they had a program, HRT led the program. They would embed HRT guys with all of them, and they would handle that part of it. But, you know, you were out on patrol, you were fighting. They got so overwhelmed. Then they reached out to the Swat teams and it was the big Swat teams in New York.
00;40;02;17 - 00;40;26;01
Unknown
I was on New York Swat team and they said, we need help. So then there was a whole program to make that cut, and that was the real deal. And it was hard. So you had the selection to go was hard. And then the training they put you through was first rate. And and so then I was attached to the 75th Ranger Regiment for, I don't know, four months.
00;40;26;01 - 00;40;51;08
Unknown
And it was we I think we averaged it out. It was a combat op like every third day. It was it was tight. We didn't lose one guy. But once a week probably we'd have to go out and, you know, play taps for somebody from the other Ranger regiments who had gotten killed. Yeah. Or something. Yeah, that's that's wild.
00;40;51;08 - 00;41;21;12
Unknown
So what what an interesting experience. It was like all your experience at that point was cumulative. And then what made you leave the FBI and transition to building your own stuff? So the FBI, it's so funny. And you were Swat, but you still have to be a regular cases, right? You are a regular case agent. So I work for cases, get lots of part time duty.
00;41;21;14 - 00;41;42;13
Unknown
Yeah. And we had a great Swat. It's only the HRT guys that are only HRT is full team. That. You're exactly right. And we had a great New York Swat team. It was great. Right. And so that is like your your side hustle is being on the Swat team. But your day to day is like case building cases, finding criminals, having informants that tell you shit.
00;41;42;14 - 00;42;10;28
Unknown
Yeah. And I loved it and I worked I worked terrorism primarily initially. And then I moved to Russian organized crime, which I loved that also. And then I did some gang work in new Jersey. But, you know, I loved working cases. I loved the work of the FBI special agent, I loved it, excuse me? You know, building cases, getting sources.
00;42;11;01 - 00;42;34;24
Unknown
You know, you have to leave people through your cases. I loved it, but I had gotten so tired of the bureaucracy. So when I left New York City. Right. You can if you don't like somebody or somebody doesn't like you in New York City, you can actually even on your squad, your squads are so big, you can you can avoid them and not see them.
00;42;34;27 - 00;42;51;06
Unknown
Well, I transferred down, so I met my wife in the FBI. She was an analyst and we worked all these cases together. And she was from South Jersey. And there's an office down there, Atlantic City office. And we somehow we were like, oh, let's try to see if we can go there because, you know, it's the shore and it'll be fun.
00;42;51;06 - 00;43;11;18
Unknown
Well, that was a tiny office, so you could get away with ignoring a lot of the problems that the FBI has in New York, because if and, you know, I made my share of enemies because I used the system against people who are trying to stop me from doing work. And you're like, why would anybody try to stop you from doing work?
00;43;11;18 - 00;43;36;25
Unknown
Well, because that's the text. It's the way it is. Right? So they would say, well, you you can't do it because this says this. I'm like, okay, you're right. That does say that I'd find for other avenues. Yeah, but this says this. And I think people don't understand the culture of the FBI having worked with the FBI a bunch by its nature, because you're doing Department of Justice criminal prosecutions, it is a very rule bound organization that is baked into.
00;43;36;27 - 00;43;57;10
Unknown
And it has to be because you have to follow the rules, because ultimately, everything you do end up in a court of law. That's right. Right. So the the, the DNA of the organization is very inherently rule bound, very opposite of the Seal teams, by the way, which is inherently about breaking rules and finding ways around. So I could see how that could be could be an interesting like culture clash.
00;43;57;12 - 00;44;23;04
Unknown
Well, there was and and I as you might imagine, I had a I was really good at recruiting sources. So when you're recruiting a source they're finding the ways in. Right. And not everybody likes it. And so my, my operations were typically had some danger to them and they were super aggressive. But when you had somebody who would listen to you, right.
00;44;23;06 - 00;44;44;05
Unknown
And I'd walk them through it, I said, look, but here's how we're in two team guy fashion. Here's how we're. That's right. Here's how we're mitigating it. Yes, this can happen, but here are all the things we're doing to mitigate. A reasonable person would go, oh, I hate it, but okay. When I got into the Atlantic City office, it was a small office.
00;44;44;05 - 00;45;05;28
Unknown
They're all there forever. They didn't see me coming. And yeah, like a tornado. Like a tornado. And I didn't want to be I want so I can I can also say, I would suggest that perhaps after 13 years at the FBI, after eight years in the Seal teams, this happened to me. So maybe this is what happened to you.
00;45;05;29 - 00;45;25;01
Unknown
There comes a point in time where you want to be captain of your own ship. Yep. You've worked within organizational structures for so long, and then at some point, you know, look, you might sell that ship into really shallow waters, right? But at least you want to be master of your own destiny. And did you reach that point 100%?
00;45;25;02 - 00;45;50;27
Unknown
I said, I can't I can't take it anymore. I can't take the obstruction. I can't take the egos, I can't take the jealousy, I can't take it. And I was at a family function and my brother in law was there, and I was moaning like a, you know, I was moaning and complaining and he's staring at me and I'm like, what are you staring at me for?
00;45;50;27 - 00;46;12;16
Unknown
He goes, Errol. He goes, I pay a guy with half your qualifications, a boatload of money to talk about leadership. And I go, that's a thing. I had no idea. He's like, yeah, it's like $1 billion thing, Errol. And I'm like, well, I think I could probably do that. I put together a plan. I think I can do this.
00;46;12;16 - 00;46;34;23
Unknown
I kind of put my philosophy on paper because if I'm going to teach it and I left and just cut bait, and that became the basis of the book that. So the the book, I put the book out books, books several years old. And, you know, everybody says you need to write a book. It's not that easy.
00;46;34;24 - 00;46;55;14
Unknown
And I was lucky to get it actually published. I didn't self-publish this one, but what I thought was, I think I like my process. What I say is I developed a leadership process, and it's based on all of the things that I learned. And I thought to myself, how did I get through these very sticky situations in the Seal teams in the FBI?
00;46;55;15 - 00;47;14;21
Unknown
How did I do it? How did I come out on top? How did I do it calmly? How did I do it without leaving a path of destruction behind me? In contrast to the mistakes I made right out in, you know, on on, you know, outside of work? What was the contrast? And I decided, well, there was a process.
00;47;14;21 - 00;47;42;08
Unknown
There's a thought process. I was always thinking the same thing. So that was the basis for it. And I said, I think people could learn from it. Now there's two iterations to the book. First part was just the process. I didn't know at the time that I had traumatic brain injury when I wrote the first iteration. Once I realized I did, I was able to go back and go, Holy crap, that's how I got through.
00;47;42;11 - 00;48;06;19
Unknown
Like, that's how I got through the night with the fifth of Jack Daniels and my service revolver, right, ready to blow my brains out because I didn't know what was happening. I went through the process to get me through that tough time. Right. So I did a second iteration, and that's the one that got published explaining, here's where the thing actually came from.
00;48;06;20 - 00;48;28;22
Unknown
Yeah, there's some FBI dangerous stuff and some seal dangerous stuff, but I was dying a slow death. How did I get through this? Because lots of guys aren't getting through it, right? And we know those numbers. So that's when I got it published. So the first part is kind of some of those stories, right? I was a mess.
00;48;28;24 - 00;48;49;21
Unknown
My life was going down the toilet, I got lucky, I found this thing called intranasal insulin, which I had been working tirelessly to help get funded. It's in it's, you know, it's in testing right now in the FDA process, but nobody believes it. And although the Seal Foundation did did donate to it. So that was cool, I thought.
00;48;49;21 - 00;49;12;05
Unknown
But anyway, so that was the basis for the book, right? First it was I think people could learn from this. Second is here's here's where it's validated. Yeah. And why ice cold leader. What's that? I was a so I'm a certified Wim Hof instructor. Yeah. And I know him. Yeah, yeah. So then you know the deal and I got so I got certified.
00;49;12;05 - 00;49;29;23
Unknown
Wim was actually at our certification. He doesn't do that anymore. I think he probably bounces in. He was there and they don't mess around. It was first you have to do an online thing. Then you go to a two day thing, and then you have to get invited to the five day thing. It's a real deal. And then you have to recertify every year for the test.
00;49;29;23 - 00;49;58;12
Unknown
Anyway, the point is, I had done that before. I knew I had had traumatic brain injury, and I remember I had I learned about half through ice cold. Well, at the time I was liter 193. I changed names, but I was doing a leadership retreat for a client and it was going to be a three day retreat. And he called the CEO, called me and said, can you implement this Wim Hof method?
00;49;58;12 - 00;50;25;01
Unknown
And I'm like, what the hell is the whim Hof method? I didn't know. I'm like, yeah, he's like, call this guy. It was the instructor. After I got off the phone with him, I signed up for the online course to start. And so I'm doing it. And as I start now, the cold showers and the breathing, my wife two days in goes, look, I don't know what this thing you're doing is, but you can never stop.
00;50;25;04 - 00;50;49;28
Unknown
Yeah. And I said, well, why? She goes, you seem different. She goes, you still there's still that heat coming off you. But I don't know, you just seem a little more present, a little more aware. Now we know all the stuff now. Resetting the nervous system, bringing out the inflammation. Right. All the good things at the whim Hof method, breathing and the cold exposure does.
00;50;49;29 - 00;51;08;00
Unknown
Yeah. So that went a long way to save in my life. So when we had to kind of rebrand because that later 193 was cool for me because it was my bud's class. But people like, so what are you leader for 18? Yeah. So we're like, no, no, we're the ice cold leader. And so that's we just rebranded I love it.
00;51;08;01 - 00;51;28;12
Unknown
And as Seals, we are not strangers to the idea of cold therapy. We started that early in our careers. Not purposely though. Yeah not purposely. Yeah. It's different when you take ownership and you do it. That's right. And you control it. Yeah. Amazing. And then so here you are. You've you've had success. You you're now building you you wrote a book.
00;51;28;13 - 00;52;00;20
Unknown
You built a personal brand around this. You are a bona fide hominis Dominus entrepreneur. And now you've joined a startup as well. So tell me about that. So what happens? And this will resonate now with you with everybody who started a business. Right. The income is this. You're you're fat, you're thin, you're fat, you're thin. And what we what I realized quickly was there is I have ability to scale because I have a process that other people can teach.
00;52;00;20 - 00;52;26;14
Unknown
And I had a whole group ready to go because I was about to get this deal that would have warranted it. But I was always in that middle, like, I don't have enough business to start giving it away because I need the money, but I'm overloaded, right? I don't have time. So, you know, so you're here and I did have one guy who was a coach for me for for a few years.
00;52;26;14 - 00;52;49;15
Unknown
He did a great job. But anyway, you know, me and my wife were talking and and we were living out in Colorado at the time, which don't even get me started on Colorado. You know, the cost of living is 15 times higher than everywhere else. And so we're not saving any money. And our kids are in crappy schools, even though we're in this pristine Aspen Valley area.
00;52;49;15 - 00;53;10;08
Unknown
And, you know, we just said we gotta we gotta figure something else out. And it was just we need another stream of income and it's not swag, right? We got to sell more hats, but we didn't know what that looked like. So we started reaching out. And we've got coaches to right. You got to do that. You got to spend your money on talking to other people.
00;53;10;11 - 00;53;29;10
Unknown
And it's weird. You know, I don't I don't mean to sound, you know, metaphysical and everything, but when you put it out in the universe, man, it will. Something is going to happen. So we were other streams, other streams. And I got this call from this guy who was running a startup, and it was a military grade kind of technology.
00;53;29;10 - 00;53;49;25
Unknown
And he goes, look, you'd be the perfect CEO for this thing and all your contacts, but it's going to be deferred compensation and the whole thing. And I was like, okay, now a whole new thing. I didn't stay with them because there was two guys. The one guy who built the technology was a jewel, like a true genius I love.
00;53;49;25 - 00;54;12;04
Unknown
And the other guy was just a complete asshole, like, like, I don't need this. But I was with him for nine months. I learned about fundraising. I learned about technology, and I'm like, okay. And I didn't get paid because it was all deferred comp and it was based on the fundraise, which may happen. But, but then a client, a former client.
00;54;12;05 - 00;54;34;11
Unknown
Right. I had he was looking for a coup and he called and I introduced him to a couple people and we stayed in touch and he said, well, how about you? And I'm like, okay, well, it'll be a fractional basis. And that's a company called equity who I'm still with, and it's a tremendous company. But then I was never a big networker.
00;54;34;14 - 00;55;01;05
Unknown
So I learned to network. I had to do it. And you're starting to like swim in the pool of startup landing here. Like, so you're in the startup ecosystem and you're starting to onboard through osmosis, like all of all of the challenges and and and so now I'm learning to network. I moved to Ohio at this point. And you know, one of my best friends, good friend, lived there.
00;55;01;05 - 00;55;21;26
Unknown
I hooked up with him. He knows everybody. He's like, oh, he and I said, you know, I gotta I'm trying to raise money for this one thing. He's like, let me introduce you to this guy. So I'm talking about this other company and he's like, what's your background? And so I'm telling he goes, man, we're working with a company right now and it's flash AI.
00;55;21;29 - 00;55;44;14
Unknown
And he goes, they're doing some really interesting stuff with AI and case management. He goes, you'd be perfect for them. And I'm like, well, introduce me. This time goes by like months. I'm like, oh, I guess I wasn't the right guy. I get a random call. He's like, hey, the the founder, one of the founders wants to meet you.
00;55;44;16 - 00;56;07;28
Unknown
I meet with Cass and we sit and talk, and I was very honest with him. I'm like, look, here's what I'm doing, right? But this sounds great. And I said, I'm not coming on without my wife, because trust me when I tell you. Yeah, she's an analyst. She was an analyst. She's we would hire her anyway. And he was like, okay.
00;56;08;04 - 00;56;33;12
Unknown
And he hires me and we do. We do it. You know, it's still part time even though I spend. Right? Because they're still in the early stages. And what was good about them. Cash is the original company was a company called AI owl. And what they did was they went out and they taught AI to anybody, right? They were at schools, they were everywhere businesses, and they were law enforcement.
00;56;33;19 - 00;57;01;13
Unknown
And they saw a need. They built their product, not let's build it and hope they come. It was. Oh my God, this law enforcement thing, they have all these problems. They have young kids and I say young kids, college kids mostly. Now the founders are seasoned entrepreneurs. Right. But who built this unbelievable law enforcement case management tool AI, without knowing anything.
00;57;01;13 - 00;57;26;16
Unknown
So as Jen and I come in and then the other leader is is trace. And he's a great guy and they don't need what they needed. Then was me and Jen's like domain expertise, gravitas in the meetings with law enforcement. Right. We can go back and forth with them. We know. All right. We've got to go through, you know, some inappropriate humor first.
00;57;26;22 - 00;57;51;26
Unknown
Sound the other side. Well, this is this is like the classic meme about every defense tech startup that it has, like the the business guy who graduated from GSB, the 19 year old coder, and then the Seal team six veteran to tell war stories. Right. And that's how you get a big defense contract. It's kind of so you know so but you knew the culture of the client, right.
00;57;51;27 - 00;58;09;18
Unknown
So the people of the customers or the people that you're trying to sell to, and you could probably also make sure that the product. Right. Because there's always this disconnect between engineers and what happens in the valley. Right. And the actual customer and what they need in their sort of day to day life. And you could probably bridge that gap.
00;58;09;19 - 00;58;30;16
Unknown
Well, it's almost like you've done this before, once or twice. Right? Because that was exactly it. It was two fold everything you just said. But it's also a very young team. And the two founders, again, they they are true entrepreneurs. They got other stuff going. And so now there's some basic organizational leadership things that we can put in place.
00;58;30;16 - 00;58;58;02
Unknown
And you know, and that's all we're doing. So my wife is the conduit mostly to working with the engineering team. Hey, here's what it needs to look like. Here's how it actually needs to work to okay. Client. Right. And there's going to be more than a law enforcement application to this because big banks have investigations. They need to do law firms, right.
00;58;58;03 - 00;59;17;13
Unknown
They have investigators and they're cut for time. So that's the other thing. And that's mostly my job. Right okay. Jen's going to handle making sure what's in the tool needs to be in the tool. And I'm going to be the one now going to these meetings all the stuff you just said, but also putting some basic leadership stuff.
00;59;17;13 - 00;59;31;12
Unknown
And, you know, we talk about this generation of youngsters and what I've come to, and I've worked with them through Ice Cold Leader and.
00;59;31;15 - 00;59;52;17
Unknown
This generation is fine. Yeah. They're fine is the bottom line right there. Every generation has people because it's like, well, who who do you target for ice cold leader. What's your niche market? And that's you got to have it. But at the end of the day, be my wife, figure it out. It's our niche market is the people who want it because some people want it.
00;59;52;18 - 01;00;14;27
Unknown
Right. And the best clients I had were the CEOs who did it first, and then they bought it down and working with the young kids. And my point is these youngsters, they're all in on okay, the organization, make a plan. Wait a second. We can't go on and do this till this is done. Right? Wait, you said you were going to do this.
01;00;14;29 - 01;00;46;01
Unknown
I'm asking you now so that accountability and this group loves it. Yeah, they love it. They're eating it up and they're crushing this AI flash AI. I promise you, this is going to be the standard for putting AI into those sensitive law enforcement agencies. Because if I had had it and Jen had had it, my wife the ability to accelerate through massive amounts of data, find what you need and then make investigative decisions.
01;00;46;05 - 01;01;05;23
Unknown
Unbelievable. Oh, awesome. Awesome. Well, listen, we were 17 once and we went to a place that was considered a leadership laboratory, and that's that's where it started for us. And so it's great that you can pass on those ideas to the next generation of leaders. We like to end with a segment that we call rapid fire. It's like shooting steel.
01;01;05;25 - 01;01;33;13
Unknown
This is the metaphor. You know we get instant feedback. So here we go. Best investment you ever made. My wife nice. Good at appropriate answer that will keep you from being a team guy twice over the dumbest financial mistake you made. The list is long and it's it's it's it's embarrassing. But I'm going to stay with the truck one.
01;01;33;14 - 01;01;46;14
Unknown
Right. Buying a truck that I absolutely couldn't afford. But it was such a good truck. Military skill that's been the most helpful in entrepreneurship.
01;01;46;16 - 01;02;09;12
Unknown
The organization and planning. People don't plan, they don't plan properly. And the contingency planning, most importantly, who's going to be doing what? When's it going to be done? What will we do if that's that's the one that's really always continues to resonate? Yeah, absolutely. Military habit you still keep to this day.
01;02;09;14 - 01;02;37;28
Unknown
Be on time. Yeah. Be on time again I it makes me nuts when people are late. And I think people do it to me on purpose now just to drive me crazy. But yeah. Book that changed your mindset. Ice cold leader leading from the inside. Shameless ABC always be selling. Yeah, no, I was I was a I devoured leadership books.
01;02;37;28 - 01;03;04;19
Unknown
I will tell you though, the leadership secrets of Attila the Hun. I read a really long time ago and it's it's so applicable. And it was based in Attila the Hun. But some very basic things that you can do. As a matter of fact, I'm rereading it now. I've read it probably 30 times. It's short, it's small, and I just always kind of come back to that one.
01;03;04;19 - 01;03;29;28
Unknown
So how can people connect with you and follow your work? Yeah. So ice Cold leader is ice cold leader. Com where do they get the book? They can get the book at Ice cold leader, Amazon Barnes and Noble also exist. Yeah I think it does. Yeah. The the and then LinkedIn Errol Dobler and then my Instagram is is at Ice Cold Leader.
01;03;29;28 - 01;03;52;00
Unknown
Thank you so much. It was an honor to have you here. It was an honor to to swap old seal stories as well. And good luck with with Ice Cold Leader. Yeah, I think you're on an extraordinary path. And it's been really it's been really cool to hear how you've assimilated this sort of circuitous career path, and that it's all coagulated into where you are today.
01;03;52;01 - 01;04;11;06
Unknown
Well, I appreciate it and good luck to you and tactical wealth. I think this is an important show you're putting on. And if we can have these honest conversations, I guarantee there's how many hundreds of veterans will watch this and go, okay, I'm not the only one. Right. And that's that's really going to help. So I appreciate you having me on that.
01;04;11;06 - 01;04;34;10
Unknown
That's the big idea for sure. Thank you. All right. Thanks for walking in with us today. 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 subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive content and extended cuts of your favorite episodes.
01;04;34;10 - 01;04;43;12
Unknown
Until next week. Stay tactical. Stay driven.
01;04;43;15 - 01;05;02;16
Unknown
Tactical wealth is a GB of media production brought to you by valor, a military focused initiative from Seabrook 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 and offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any securities.
01;05;02;16 - 01;05;12;11
Unknown
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. Disclosures.