Transcript 0:00 [upbeat music] We're gonna help get this out. 0:11 Okay, guys, it's time to get a little energy for the night, and I gotta make sure that I'm drinking some water, so we're just gonna try and bang them both out at the same time And I'm going to be reviewing Hydro Rush. 0:25 Time to get up and start moving. Gotta reach out and grab my Crypto Rush from Hydro Rush. Let's go. We've gotta get this generator started, and we're gonna need the energy to do that and to go exploring. Vibes up, fam. 0:39 Gotta get your day started right. Gotta rush it so you're not rushed later. Cheers, fam. [upbeat music] Okay. You guys have magnesium in here, 66 milligrams. 0:56 Sodium, sea salt, 1,000. All right, that's pretty high. You got some potassium, keeps you nice and invigorated, keeps your bones and your joints going good, muscles from cramping up. 1:07 Thank you so much for joining me, Matt, at One Eleven Here Podcast. How are you feeling today, fam? It is a beautiful, beautiful Tuesday here in sunny Colorado. How is it in your neck of the woods in North Dakota, right? 1:23 If I'm not mistaken. Yep, yep. [laughs] North Dakota. Um- It's good... it's good. It's gotten a little bit warmer, and my cats, we've got a little catio, and we've got- Mm-hmm... 1:31 uh, two, two little guys huddled up together. They like to hang out there together. And then, um, our older lady cat... Well, she's not older, but she's, uh, hanging out in a different, different window. 1:42 So it's a good day when the cats are happy. Definitely, definitely, fam. 1:47 And I think that's how we, uh, bonded over time was, well, just not cats obviously, but our love and joy for everything in crypto as well, and then also the community aspect, right? And I know when- Mm-hmm... 2:00 I first met you, it, it... Man, it's gotta be at least almost two years now, right? I feel like I've known you forever, Matt. [laughs] We keep on- It's getting, it's getting close. Yeah, it's getting close. 2:09 Almost been a year. It's been about that long. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And we first met on Twitter Spaces, right? Mm-hmm. And then from that experience, we kind of just kept running into each other in spaces over and over again. 2:20 You know, consistency is key, especially when you're developing relationships with people online. And then it's just, it... one thing led to another. Finally got your number. 2:29 We finally got a meeting going here, and look at us. Mm-hmm. We're, we're here. We're here, and I'm really- We are here. Yep. [laughs] We're finally doing this. No doubt. 2:37 And, um, and yeah, maybe just general, um, uh, synopsis or highlight about your life just for the audience, you know, a little bit of ba- more background about Matt. Who is Matt? Why is he here? 2:48 [laughs] How is he so important that he got to be on One Eleven? Oh, I feel- You know? [laughs]... kind of presidential now. I'm getting an interview. [laughs] Ooh, you are. You are. 2:57 [laughs] Not everyone gets interviews over here at One Eleven Podcast. [laughs] Cool. So, you know, just kinda... Yeah, just a little bit of introductions I think would help us give us- Sure... 3:06 some context of, and then kinda layer the conversation as we, as we continue- Okay... on this, uh, new beginning story for you, so take it away, Matt. Ooh. Thank you. [laughs] Yeah. So, 3:16 um, yeah, I pretty much grew up rural. Um, I grew up on a farm, and that was where I got my, uh, love of cats. 3:24 Um, pretty much when I was growing up, it was kinda our job as the kids to go out and find these batches of kittens that would be born and- Mm-hmm... we would go out, we would try to tame them. 3:34 And, you know, some, some of the cat- some of the kittens would survive winter- That's awesome... others wouldn't. 3:38 So I, you know, I grew really attached to these, these groups of ki- kittens that would be born, and that was sort of where I learned to love cats. And then I also had a grandma who really loved cats. 3:48 She used to kind of do these little soap operas with the cats and give them voices, that sort of thing. So she was, she was like my lady. Mm-hmm. Um, my, my favorite adult, I'll put it that way. 3:58 And, uh, so yeah, pretty much, uh, went to college to be an English teacher, and I did that for about... 4:07 Well, actually I went to be a writer, and then I decided to be, um, be sensible and, and, and get a teaching degree. 4:14 So I taught English for little less than a decade, and, um, I did some technology stuff and ended up, uh, in, uh, a tech part of, of education, so just basically teaching curriculum technology to students, so. 4:29 Um, and then after that, around 2019, uh, my cat Thurston, who was just actually a farm cat that my parents, you know... 4:41 They pretty much had a neighbor who had these two white kittens, brothers, and Thurston was one of them, and he was like a little rapscallion running around out in the, you know, out in the dirt for the first part of his life. 4:53 And, uh, we went back for, I believe it was Thanksgiving one time, and they said, "Hey, check out these beautiful white kittens we've got." 5:02 And there they were, you know, Thurston and his little brother, who we call Crème Brûlée. Um, but we weren't able to take two. We were only able to take one, 5:12 and Thurston was the one who sassed me first, and I have a thing for- Mm... I like the sassy ones. I, I just, I like sassy cats and, uh- Mm-hmm... you know, people with a little bit of sass are kinda up my alley too. 5:24 So yeah, that was how we, that was how we ended up with Thurston. And, uh, in 2019, I believe, I posted a video which was pretty much just a conversation I was having with Thurston, which was normal for us. Mm-hmm. 5:38 And he kinda did a funny thing, which is throw his head back and, and meow, which is, like, his, just his, uh, signature move, I guess you could say. And, uh, that was the video that ended up going viral later that year. 5:52 Um, and pretty much, yeah, it just kinda led me into social media, which, you know, I've always been an internet native, but I never, you know, I never really, um, expected to be on social media very much. 6:06 So Thurston was kind of my window into that. Yeah, I did notice that. And this was even before your virality. Um, I just thought that, oh, this guy loves cats, you know? Mm-hmm. You had your cat PFP for a while. 6:21 [laughs] All of my PFPs are usually cats, yep. [laughs] Yeah, yeah. Of- of Thurston, the white cat, I think- Mm-hmm... that was your first PFP that I encountered on Twitter. Mm-hmm. 6:29 And so, uh, from that interaction, I was like, oh, he just loves cats. I, I didn't know that you had a viral video until later on when I noticed. I was like, wait a minute, how does he have, like, so many followers? 6:40 Thank you. Like, I don't get it. Like [laughs] Yeah. Yeah, I kind of, um- Crazy... I tend to not lead with that because, you know- Mm-hmm... 6:47 well, one of the things is, when Thurston had his viral video, you know, you know, we, we had kind of a choice to make. 6:54 And, um, you know, uh, there are some people that are really good at, like, kinda capitalizing on that. And for us, it was just more about having fun and, you know, the fans and people and, you know. So it wasn't... 7:08 You know, we didn't really go too far as far as, like, trying to turn it into anything. And, uh- Right... you know, so I, I've always wanted to keep him just a cat because he's, he's, he's a cat, you know? Sure. 7:20 He's my cat. He was my cat, so. Right. Right. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And he, he passed away a few years ago, right? Like- Yeah... how long has it been? Pretty much the same t- same day or same time as the Queen, basically. 7:32 Uh, so it's been three or four years now, and- Okay... uh, he... Yeah, he got... 7:39 Well, actually, he had gone through this really extended battle with, uh, kidney disease due to, you know, this diet we had him on that our vet put him on, and it turned out to be a bad diet. And basically- Oh... 7:52 we had to get him... We got him stem cell therapy to try to combat it, but eventually he ended up with... Nasal cancer was the thing that, that took him, so. Oh, okay. Nasal cancer. Interesting. 8:03 Yeah, kind of a weird one, you know? Yeah. That was... We just thought it was- Very uncommon... like a ru- a runny nose but, you know, it turned out to- Wow... 8:10 you know, be something worse than that, and that's how it goes. I did not know that was even a thing. Oh my gosh. Um- Mm-hmm... but yeah, I guess any type of cancer is, yeah, it's not good, for sure. Um- Mm-hmm... 8:22 I wanna go back to, um, you know, his virality. Um, so where did he, like... And maybe this is a really great way to, um, talk more about the content that people post. 8:37 And did you, when you were creating the content, when you post the content, like, did you know it was gonna go viral, or you were just, like, having fun? Like- I can kind of give you, like, a... 8:47 So it- it sort of- Mm-hmm... like, actually we started on Vine. Um- Oh, okay. Yeah. So I, I always kind of, you know, I know short-form video at the time had a lot of negative kinda connotation- Hmm... 8:59 or press or whatever. Yeah. But I really liked that the videos could be, like, punchy and fun- Mm-hmm... and experimental, you know? 9:08 So I spent time on Vine just experimenting with the, the format and, and trying to make it sharp and punchy and, you know, I liked that you could do stop motion with, with it too. 9:19 So that was sort of the, the, the DNA of, of, you know, it was these, you know, to try to keep it punchy. And- Mm-hmm... you know, now modern day, I think that's kinda normal, like, to, to- Mm-hmm... 9:31 really, like, recognize that, you know, you gotta keep the dopamine flowing. But, you know, Vine was kind of early to the table and, you know. 9:39 Uh, then when Vine shut down, which was kind of, like, just right after it had its kinda blow-up, it shut down almost immediately after, then we decided- Right... to move over to Instagram. Oh, okay. 9:54 And I believe that it was somebody had picked up one of his videos on Instagram- Mm-hmm... and posted to Reddit, was how it kind of originally got, you know, noticed or whatever. But- Oh... yeah, it wasn't really... 10:06 I had kind of... To be honest, I'd kind of thought like, well, you know, I had built, like, maybe a following of, like, 10,000 on Vine or something like that. Mm-hmm. And for me- Yeah... that was, like, a lot. 10:20 And, and I kinda was not really loving the idea of starting over again. And so I was just posting really for fun at that point, and- Mm-hmm... um, that was kind of... 10:29 Actually, a friend is the one that told me that I saw, you know, he saw my cat on, I think it was Facebook or something, 'cause I wasn't paying any attention to my social media [laughs] at the time, so. Oh. Yeah. 10:41 [laughs] But after that, then I, you know, I thought, "Oh, this will be fun. We can do..." 10:46 You know, 'cause I liked to, like, experiment with my videos, and, like, his YouTube was the place where I did, like, the most experimenting. 10:55 Like, I actually would, like, put, like, secret messages into the YouTube videos and- Oh... do stuff that was just kind of weird and unique. Like, there's this genre called YouTube Poop, which is just, like- [laughs]... 11:07 kinda like, you know, making, like, like, weird melo- You know, kind of like bringing in a mix of media, you know? Mm-hmm. Like, little, little moments from 11:20 old shows or little meme moments and just kind of pushing it into the video. Wow. And yeah, I had a lot of fun making videos that were just a little bit more experimental, not just, not only cat videos. Gotcha. 11:33 But they were all revolving around Thurston, you know. Mm-hmm. So it was just a mix of things. Had a lot of fun with that. Whereas Instagram, I mostly did short-form videos. 11:43 I had kind of, like, a personal rule, like, no longer than a minute. Sure. Or no, no longer than 30 seconds usually, but- Oh... a minute would be the max, you know? Right. Right. Attention spans these days, right? 11:55 Mm-hmm. But then you're able to cut it in such a way where you would have multiple videos, I'm sure, you know, that you could kind of, like, batch process. 12:03 Or did you have some sort of, like, system in place to do your videos, or you just kind of posted randomly? To, to be honest, I kind of, um, took the format from Vine, and then I just- Hmm... 12:15 sort of brought that into, you know, Instagram. So I would, pretty much I would kind of set like the same time limit as Vine. 12:23 Like, I would have a rough time limit of like six seconds per clip, and then I would move to another clip. 12:29 So it would be, that was kinda the flow of his videos, was really short, and then it would be another scene, and it would be, you know, something he did. And he was always doing some craziness. So it was- [laughs]... 12:40 really easy to have these short clips of him doing funny shit, you know, that- Mm-hmm... uh, I would pretty much like just kinda squash them together. Right. Right. No, that makes perfect sense. I love that. 12:52 And, um- Yeah, it was fun... 12:53 I think, yeah, I think it was those funny moments that, you know, that people really in- loved, and that's probably what gave you the traction and gave you the virali- vi- virality later, and then also Reddit, of course. 13:05 Yeah. Sounds like Reddit did a, a number on, um, Thurston. And, um- [laughs]... a lot of people just fell in love with the cat. 13:13 And, and you know, cats in general have always been trending on the internet for- Oh, I think cats invented the internet. [laughs] Exact- Yes. Exactly. I love that. Yeah, not dogs, cats. Let's be clear on that. 13:25 And, um, I think just, um, his personality and people, you know, they just related to him, and maybe his posture, and just that t- you know, that video and it just like- [laughs] Yeah... it just went viral because of it. 13:39 And, and you said you didn't really monopolize on the virality, like you had no interest. Like, did, did like brands approach you to sell like cat food- Oh, yes... or cat stuff and- Totally... 13:48 and you, and you turned it all down, huh? Because- Well-... you were just, like, having fun or? It, it was... Well, I'll kinda like explain, and this, this actually sort of dovetails into what I'm doing now, but- Hmm... 13:59 ye- you know, essentially, yeah, we really didn't monopolize on it. I mean- Yeah... 14:06 the most we did was we had a Redbubble where we had pretty much just, um, we, we picked artists out of our fan base, um, and basically we made enough on Redbubble to pay the artists, basically was about it. 14:21 And then I did ads on, on YouTube, but, um, you know, it's not like it was... I mean, it's not like it, it was probably a couple thousand over the whole course of it, so. Oh, wow. Okay. 14:33 But, but at the same time, you know, I mean, the incentive for me was, like, the fun of it. You know, I just really, I really enjoyed being able to be out there and be creative. Like- Hmm... 14:47 um, you know, I started out wanting to do creative writing and, you know- Mm-hmm... being able to put videos on the internet, [laughs] you know, and kind of 14:58 present them the way I wanna present them and do fun stuff with them. 15:01 That was why, like, YouTube was actually, even though he was most well known on Instagram and had the biggest number of following over there, YouTube was where I, like, really enjoyed, you know- Hmm... 15:13 making, making the videos because I could kind of do whatever I wanted basically. Got you. Got you. Shoot any type of format, doesn't matter the length and- Yeah, but we were- Just have fun with it... 15:25 approached by people wanting to buy rights to it or whatever. And, um- Mm-hmm... you know, I know that some, some 15:34 cat owners will, you know, they'll like wanna track everybody down who's posting the video, but we- Mm-hmm... 15:41 completely tried to lean the opposite way and pretty much told ev- And we told all our fans at the time, "If you guys wanna like, make art and sell it-" Hmm "... 15:50 if you want to, you know, make videos that we've posted your own-" Mm-hmm. "... like, do your thing, make money on it, like, go for it. Go, go, go to town." 16:01 Like, he's always been sort of more like, um, I've looked at it more as like he's, you know, not just mine, but he's sort of everybody's, you know. Yeah. 'Cause he's, he's himself. You know, he's, he's a really cool cat. 16:15 He was just o- a one of a kind cat and- Hmm... I think putting, putting a, a, a cat like that under lock and key somehow is just a kind of a travesty, to be honest. Yeah. 16:27 No, it's- I think that's true of a lot of cats actually, but that's- No. Yeah. [laughs] That, that's so true. It's good that you mention that. 16:35 And I think, yeah, just having just the, I don't know, the awareness on that I think is really important as a pet owner. 16:44 And, um, I, I, I love that you had that, yeah, just that awareness to, to really think about it and to really focus on the fun aspect of it all. And I think that's what we need to really do more of. 16:59 Um, I, I really think a lot of us on social media, we're always trying to find ways to monetize, monetize, and when you do that you don't really get anywhere with the content that you're making, you know? 17:10 And I also really do believe that people can tell if you're having fun or not and- Hmm. You know, I've watched YouTube for years, and I can always tell when somebody's phoning it in or when- Hmm... 17:23 they're just not having fun anymore and, you know, like a good example would be like, like PewDiePie, you know. Mm-hmm. I'm not a big PewDiePie fan. I don't watch PewDiePie, but it- Hmm... 17:34 you know, I'll catch clips of his from n- you know, from time to time and, or H3H3, Ethan, right? He's, you know, somebody... 17:43 I can still tell Ethan's having fun with it, but, like, I look at somebody like PewDiePie and he seems like he's not having fun with it. Um, although sometimes- For real... 17:51 they'll find a way to have fun with it later on. But yeah, I mean- Hmm... it makes you kinda feel, I don't know, just you don't really wanna watch it if they're not having fun. Right. Yeah, for sure. For sure, yeah. 18:04 I always feel like that too, and I, I'll always tell The people I work with too, I'm like, "Hey, if we're gonna work together, we're gonna have fun. 18:11 Like, we're gonna make this an experience," 'cause that's what life is made up of, all these little experiences, and you wanna look back on your life and you wanna make sure that you're having fun with the people that you surround yourself with, right? 18:21 And that you're connecting and collaborating and, and partnering- Mm-hmm... and, um, just investing in, right? We're all investments too at the end of the day. 18:30 Relationships, that's a, that's a big part of our time and energy. And so when we watch someone, right, uh, even on YouTube, that's an investment of our time. Mm-hmm. 18:41 So we really wanna make sure that we're experiencing that to the fullest, and if someone's not having fun, we clearly check out. Mm-hmm. Right? Like, we just don't want to, um- No doubt... 18:50 we don't wanna indulge in that, I guess is- Well, I'll say that's one of the reasons, you know, I've, I've caught, you know, your videos from time to time as well. And- Mm... 18:59 you know, I like watching you do interviews, and I like, I like- Mm... watching, you know, you travel. 19:04 And so to me, like, you're a good example of somebody who, you know, and I know a little bit about kind of, you know, your, you know, you travel a lot. You know, you're on the road. Yeah. 19:15 [laughs] Um, we've talked a- we've talked about, you know, travel before. I think that was one of our first conversations, was just I think we talked a little about Jer- Jack Kerouac or something like that. And- Yeah... 19:26 um- My favorite book. One of my faves, yeah. 19:29 Yeah, so I mean, to me that, that comes through that you're, you know, that you're out there and you're on an adventure, and that's part of why, you know, I, that's part of why I gravitated to, to doing th- this podcast with you is just because, you know, I wanna see you succeed. 19:45 I'll be honest. Mm-hmm. I wanna see everybody I come in contact with- Yeah... that I g- come to care about, I wanna see everybody succeed. And for- Yeah... what little part I'm able to help, I'll try to do that. 19:57 No, I really appreciate you saying that, Matt, because yeah, there's been doubts in my mind. Not every day is a positive day, right? Mm-hmm. 20:05 Like, we all go through our ups and downs, especially as entrepreneurs like myself. Mm-hmm. And so it's, um, it's a big challenge. Sometimes I feel like I'm Sisyphus, you know, just rolling up that- Yeah... 20:16 that rock up the mountain. The mountain. Back down, do it again. Mm-hmm. This, that, you know? Yeah. Yep. And it's just like that's [laughs] my 90. You, you, and you invest so much of yourself. You know, I can- Mm-hmm... 20:27 I can speak from experience to, like, doing, you know, like in the last, you know, couple years I've been trying different things, and there are times where you're just gonna be met with, like, sort of this, this yawning chasm of disappointment, you know? 20:44 And- [laughs]... and s- there are days where you just kinda wanna cast yourself in, [laughs] you know? Mm-hmm. Yeah. But then I have to tell myself, I'm like, "I don't want that life anymore." 20:55 Part of the reason I travel is because I want a different life. I don't want the generic 9:00 to 5:00 that everyone is in that- Mm-hmm... rat race about. I've always wanted that nomadic life, you know? Mm-hmm. 21:06 So I'm really proud to say that I am a digital nomad. I do travel around. I do capture different stories of different people- Mm-hmm... and I do really enjoy it. And it's like, 21:18 I always get to this point where it's like, "Okay, I love what I do. I have the energy. Now it's like, how do I monetize this," right? And- Mm-hmm... it's really difficult because- How do you make it sustainable? 21:29 How to make it... Yeah, exactly. How to make it sustainable, but that's another thing. It's like, I love what I do and it makes me happy, right? 21:35 And I shouldn't think about the monetization aspect, but at the same time, I do because, like, it's almost like this is, this is my thing. This is my bread and butter. Yeah. So it's like- Well, you're a human being, man. 21:43 You gotta, you gotta eat. [laughs] You gotta have gas. You gotta... There, there's no- I know. I know... shame in, in taking- No, there isn't... care of yourself. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, for sure. 21:52 But I'm just like that whole David Attenborough thing of, like, he literally had one path his whole life. He was a narrator for, um, uh, h- all these different animal documentary series that I really, really enjoyed. 22:05 Mm-hmm. I really aspire to be someone just like him, you know? Just, like, tell the story. Yeah. You know, travel around, meet different people or animals and just, like- I love it. Mm-hmm... just do that. 22:15 And I'm just like, "That's, that's so attainable." It really is, but it's like, it's just showing up every single day, putting in the work, putting in the time, putting in the effort. 22:27 And, um, really- Well, you've got a killer work ethic, dude. There's no doubt about that. Thank you. Mm-hmm. Thank you. I appreciate that. 22:35 And, and I wanted to go back to, um, a question on your work ethic actually, because this is something that I have found really, um, just interesting about what I've learned from you as well, and it's like- Sure... 22:47 do you have a format that you live by? Do you have, like, a routine that keeps you positive and uplifting, encouraging? 22:55 Like, tell us a little more insight about your day-to-day as, uh, as Matt, 'cause I'd love to hear that. Well, you know, there's a great analogy, like how dogs chase tires. That's pretty much me. [laughs] Well, n- no. 23:13 I mean, to be honest, a lot of my, a lot of how I approach life is the same way as I approach my day-to-day. It's just trying to keep, you know, people at the forefront, and- Mm-hmm... 23:25 um, and I try to keep, like, a narrow focus too, you know, because it's really easy to get distracted. 23:31 And I've ended up, you know, learning a lot over the last year about what, you know, what I want, what works, what doesn't work. Mm-hmm. Um, had a lot of disappointments, but you know, ultimately I'm here, you know? 23:48 I'm gonna, gonna just keep, keep putting one foot in front of the other and see where it leads. And, you know- Mm-hmm... hopefully it leads someplace cool, you know? Yeah. No, I love that. I love that. 23:59 And, um- I'd love to definitely, um, dive in a little deeper on- Sure... how you fell into crypto. Yes. 24:07 Because that's where we kinda met, and I was like, "Okay, I kn-", I'm sure you were aware of, like, I know that question's coming somewhere. And so- Yeah... even before the whole Thurston Waffles virality, you know. 24:19 Yeah. [laughs] Or I should say after that, right? Did- Yes... did you fall into crypto, or h- how did that kind of line up- Well-... uh, for you?... I can kind of explain exactly- Yeah... you know, how I ended up here. 24:27 Sure. So. Sure, sure. Do it. [laughs] You know, I, I first basically found out about crypto in probably '20... It was, like, the end of 2013. Mm-hmm. You know? 24:39 So it was a long, it was a long time before any of this, and I was just a dude trying to make a couple extra bucks pretty much- Yeah... was, like, what I was hoping to do, you know? 24:49 Pretty much like a lot of people in crypto, to be honest. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And basically followed it throughout the years. And, um, you know, I'm gonna just be upfront that I have some mixed feelings about crypto overall. 25:01 Me too. [laughs] I think that's not a surprise to you. I mean, I, you know- Mm-hmm... obviously there are things about the culture that I really don't like. There, you know- Mm-hmm... is some obvious problems with y- 25:15 y- the impact on the environment, you know- Mm-hmm... which is why I put most of my focus on crypto that's carbon neutral, but- Mm-hmm... obviously it's, you know, still got its issues, you know? Yeah. No. Mm-hmm. 25:27 But anyways, that brought me to, um... You know, and I never, I never kind of, like, um, hid the fact that I was into crypto. In fact, there was this interview with, um, Know Your Meme- Hmm... 25:40 from, like, during the whole viral thing with Thurston where I mentioned it. Because at the time- Mm-hmm... it didn't quite have the n- negative connotations it does now, right? Right. Mm-hmm. 25:51 But basically what happened was, you know, last, I think it was about a year and a half ago, I got a message from somebody who... 26:01 And by the way, after Thurston passed away, I went through kind of a really bad time- Mm... just in per- personal life. And- Makes sense... part of it was, was with Thurs- you know, because of losing- Mm... Thurston. 26:12 But- Of course... we moved and there was some family stuff and blah, blah, blah. Mm-hmm. 26:17 So I'm, you know, I wake up one day, open a message, and it's somebody basically made a meme coin of Thurston, which immediately kinda set me off. It bothered me because, you know- Mm... 26:30 I mean, he's my cat, and I, you know, and this person was reaching out to me and wanted me to be a part of it. And, like, I knew enough about crypto to know, like, what this is, you know what I mean? Right. Mm-hmm. 26:42 Mm-hmm. Um, and so I ended up sort of going into Telegram and just kind of meeting some of these people that were involved with it. And slowly over time, this really dumb idea formed of, like, using it to help animals. 26:57 [laughs] Um, but that's what I did, you know? Mm-hmm. The last year I basically kind of, I did a community takeover of that meme coin. I did a community takeover of a second meme coin. Um, and basically, you know, 27:14 I've used it to help animals in a variety of different ways, and that's still the ultimate goal of why I'm even online right now is basically to help animals, you know? Mm-hmm. 27:25 I'm, I f- the first thing I did was I went to Nashville to tour this, uh, shelter down there. They have a particular problem with hounds basically, where- Mm... people love hounds, right? But they- Mm-hmm... 27:39 you know, will, they're not allowed to keep them in town. 27:42 So these hounds will get bred, and then they'll end up, you know, in the city's, basically in the city shelters, but people can't adopt them because they're not allowed generally in, like, apartments and stuff. 27:53 They're too big a dog. Mm-hmm. So, you know, I pretty much, you know, that was one of my ultimate goals was to help them kind of improve their shelter 'cause it was in bad shape, basically. Mm. 28:05 I haven't gotten to that yet, but I did get to help a, uh, shelter in, uh, in Min, in, uh, sorry, in Wisconsin, that they basically had a pipe explode and it flooded the shelter. 28:21 They're pretty much a shelter for special needs cats, and they lost several cats during the process of that. And- Aw... basically, uh, okay, so this is kind of a funny story. 28:31 To me, it's funny, but there's, you know, you, you know as well as I do, there's a ton of scammers in crypto, right? Yeah. [laughs] So, so these guys had made, like, basically a meme coin where they collect royalties. 28:46 This was after I first got into it. Mm-hmm. And then the whole temptation is they'll go to a, uh, they'll go to a creator and pretty much say, "Hey, look, we've collected these royalties where you can, you know, 28:59 basically you can have the money, um, if you promote the thing." So I took- Mm-hmm... the money, but I didn't really promote the thing. Um, I kinda just- [laughs]... because they're royalties. Mm-hmm. 29:10 They're, all I had to do was log in. And yeah- Right... I mean, he's, you know, it's my social media. So then I gave that money to th- the shelter. Mm-hmm. 29:19 And then I got the really crazy idea of doing TNR in, uh, you know, different places in the world. So, like, what I'm working on now is I wanna do, like, decentralized TNR. Mm-hmm. 29:32 So basically, you know, one thing a lot of people don't understand is that 29:37 when it comes to doing something like TNR in another country, there are a lot of places in the world, like westerners don't understand that, like, you can't use PayPal for everything. Mm-hmm. 29:48 You, it, you can't use Venmo for everything- Right... because there are a lot of places where it's geo-blocked. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. 29:54 So if you wanna do something, for example, in Africa, or if you wanted to do something in a country that, you know... Which here's my philosophy, is that TNR has to be done everywhere. 30:05 You know, we shouldn't be picking and choosing which places, you know, which places deserve to have their animals cared for just because, you know, they might have a bad reputation as a c- you know, as a country or whatever, right? 30:19 Right. TNR should just be a worldwide thing that gets done. Mm-hmm. Or that we at least attempt to get it done. Um, because, you know, population control is how you prevent disease, and it's how you- Mm-hmm... 30:31 essentially, you know, prevent suffering is the way I look at it. It's the- Right... easiest, most quickest way to prevent suffering. Mm-hmm. 30:38 So anyways, within crypto, no surprise, there's a lot of Nigerian people who are there, which not like a lot of people think just to scam. 30:49 There are a lot of them there who are just trying to basically supplement their income. Right. Because just like people in America, a lot of college students in Nigeria 31:00 essentially are looking for jobs, and they've got a really shitty job market over there. Mm. To where basically it's who you know is the best way- Mm-hmm... I can put it. You know? Right. 31:10 If you have, say, an uncle who works in a place, then you're likely to get a job, or if your uncle knows a guy- Mm-hmm... or whatever. That's kinda how the job, the job situation works over there. Huh. 31:22 Um, so essentially, you know, you've got all these students who are just looking for a way to make an income, and I've met a ton of really awesome Nigerian people through that who are just in that exact situation. 31:33 They're students. They're trying to make a little extra money because they have a hard time finding a job. They're feeling the pinch with money. Same as a lot of students here in America, right? It's- Mm-hmm... 31:45 it's no different. Well, basically, you know, the idea occurred to me, well, hey, you know, I've met all these people. This is a country who probably doesn't have much in the way of TNR. 31:57 I'm gonna lean into that, you know? Mm-hmm. And I really don't care about the optics of it because like I said, from a philosophical perspective, TNR just has to get done all over the world- Mm-hmm... 32:08 you know, regardless of whether a place has a bad reputation or not. 32:11 So essentially, that's what I'm in the middle of right now is I'm in the middle of building out a TNR, uh, in Nigeria, and basically I did it by finding a vet who's not involved in crypto and convincing them to get the supplies. 32:27 And then pretty much, um, you know, get them to a person that I met that is really passionate about animals who will do the captures, basically. 32:37 So that's kind of what I'm working on, and I also have been meeting people in different countries as well. 32:43 Um, Russia, Indonesia, Mexico, you know, who I think also could be, you know, potentially a place that could do TNR. Right. So you want this to be like- So-... universal kind of- Yeah. Yeah. 32:57 I want it to basically be like, hey, if a person has an interest in helping animals- Mm-hmm... and they wanna do TNR, my ultimate goal would be connect them with supplies- Mm-hmm... 33:08 connect them with educa- educate them, and basically make, you know, make a system where we could do low-cost TNR without it having to be some big formal thing, you know? Mm-hmm. 33:19 That's the decentralized part is it would just be, here's a person who wants to do it. Here's a vet who will help. Let's connect the two people, give them some training- Mm... 33:30 and get them out there to, you know, do some population control. Mm-hmm. And ultimately, I don't really care if, you know, we're able to, like, solve a problem in an area completely. 33:40 It's more about, you know, just reducing the systemic suffering by- Mm... treating every single animal like it's a win. You know? Every single TNR to me basically is a win. Right. 33:52 And that's kind of, like, the approach I wanna take with it going forward. I love that. I love that. 33:58 Um, have you thought about, like, incentivizing people to do this, almost paying them, but getting, like, grants and certain funding that could shape- Yes... 34:09 people to do this, and then that way you would actually give jobs out to- Mm-hmm... people that really need them across the world, and then they feel fulfilled because they're doing something of value, right? 34:21 And they're getting paid to do it, so obviously that would give them a sustainable- Yes... income as well as doing, um, doing good in the world, right? Yeah. Um, and- So ab- absolutely. 34:32 I am, like, 100% I believe that volunteers should be paid. Mm-hmm. I mean, it can't always be what we'd w- like to pay them. Like- Right... you know? I, I would like- Something... to be able to just throw- Yeah... 34:45 money at this and make it all happen. I'm not that, I'm not that guy, you know? I don't have- Right... I, I'm not as, I'm not a wealthy man, right? [laughs] Not yet. But, but I'm passionate, you know, so I'm- Right... 34:56 I'm doing what I can. Right. And, and, you know, that's kind of ultimate, the ultimate goal. Um, and essentially, you know, I ended up, you know, even taking over the meme coin just thinking, "Hey, what if? 35:10 You know, what if I could take all this money that, you know..." 'Cause I basically, I, I own, like, a certain amount of it that is basically locked and then pretty much could be used for whatever in the future, right? 35:23 Mm. So I'm hoping that eventually that could fund the TNR. But even if it can't, I'm still gonna build it out and do it because- Mm-hmm... you know, I think it needs to be done, and I'm, you know, 35:36 I'm not sure if I'm the person to do it, but I'm gonna try. [laughs] Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Um, I'm just curious. 35:44 Um, have you also thought of connecting with other people who are wanting to do something similar as you- Mm... and almost, like, create collaborations or partnerships? 35:53 'Cause I feel like there's a lot of people out there that have this idea of, like, universal TNR-ing animals, um- Mm-hmm... across, across the globe. 36:02 So, um, have you thought about that at all, and what have you done- T- totally. Totally. I mean, that's, to me, like, I'm also... 36:10 You know, again, this is more of, like, a philosophical stance for me, but I'm a big proponent of decentralization because I think- Oh, okay... that, you know, if you look at, if you look at- Inequality, for example. 36:24 Mm-hmm. Um, you know, a lot of inequality comes from the fact that we have these institutions that essentially broker power, right? Mm. 36:34 Um, and that's why I really love the idea of putting, putting power back in the hands of individuals who can work together. Um, I'm really in favor of communities, um, community work. 36:47 Um, so the idea of working with somebody to do TNR, that's what I wanna do. [laughs] Legitimately. The only problem is I'm one dude- Mm-hmm... 36:55 and I've got a lot of things in the fire so, you know, I'm juggling a lot of stuff. So it's like I kind of, you know, I went down a lot of dead ends last year, I'll put it that way. You know? I was kind of- Mm. 37:07 I'll just level with you, I was, I was partly hoping to get a little bit more buy-in from the crypto crowd when it came to doing the TNR. Right. Um, and 37:17 look, I get it, everybody's really busy, but there wasn't as much buy-in as I was hoping for. Yeah. And maybe that was a misfire on my part, but ultimately, you know, 37:28 I've been down a lot of dead ends so, you know, I kinda, at this point I'm, I'm maybe a little bit more reserved. I need to be convinced that something's, you know, what it looks like. I'll put it that way. 37:39 Well, I've always seen, like, the crypto community has always been, like, there's a lot of, there's a lot of players, right? Mm-hmm. But there doesn't seem to be a lot of buyers. 37:50 There's not a whole lot of investors, there's just people- Yeah [laughs]... like promoting their project, promoting what they have, so you invest in them, right? 37:59 And there's a lot of, I guess, uh, tribalism is probably the best- Mm-hmm... word too. 38:04 And so I've always seen looking outside of crypto would probably be a much better bet, especially for what you're trying to do- Absolutely agree... 38:14 and hitting up, um, like Habitat for Humanity and all these, like really, like even bestfriends.org, the charity that I partnered with with my Hydro Rush, you know? And just, um, getting these animal, um, 38:27 uh, non-profits on board because they might not have, let's say, any TNR kind of services. And if you offer them- Mm-hmm... 38:35 offer them in a, uh, in their area, um, I'm sure they would have volunteers that were, would be willing to go through your training. You know? And this is just one, um, one idea I have for you. I've got- Yes... 38:49 quite a few different ideas. So maybe looking outside and really finding the people who are already doing- Yes... what they're doing, but doing something a little bit different. 38:59 They still care about animals obviously, but they're just not, they're not focused on TNR. And partnering- Definitely... with them and, like, making it really pronounced that what you're doing is global, right? 39:12 And that, that's a big deal too because that's something that I think, um, you know, will, will definitely establish more credibility and it's like- Absolutely... 39:20 you've been working on it for the past two years too, you know? There's like, "Oh, this guy's really serious. You know, he's not just gonna- Totally... flake out on us tomorrow." Totally. 39:28 He's got educational materials, he's partnered up with this doctor, many doctors around that actually wanna offer this. He's getting funding right now. And even finding a few grant writers. 39:38 Well, you're a writer yourself. You said it yourself. Um, I know if you can, um, have some type of grant writing in order, you could probably get a lot more funding than you think you do, you know? 39:49 I think, I think you just have to- Yeah... just open, open up your mind more than crypto. That, that's what I found anyway. Just even the- Sure... last few months, you know? 39:56 Going to all these different networking events and meeting all these small businesses and running more of a creative agency now, less of a radio show. 40:03 And I've just really, you know, figured out of like, wow, there is a massive world out there that really wants what I have, that has so much, you know, we have so much value sometimes, Matt, and I feel like we don't really focus- Mm-hmm... 40:17 on our value and really show it to people, and show how useful we really are because we're, we're so talented. I'm a big believer in that. And I think if people were to just listen, right? Mm-hmm. 40:29 And, and, and really open up, um, their minds and, and their pocketbooks, right? [laughs] And, and really see what we have to offer. It's, it's really a gem, you know? What we have is really, um, really special, right? 40:42 Yeah. So that's just something that I would definitely consider if I was you. Yeah. You know, just hitting those different animal, like nationwide. These are nationwide animal organizations, right? 40:52 That really, maybe they don't have a TNR service, and maybe now you can help them out with that. And who knows? They might even pay you for that. [laughs] 'Cause they have funding set aside. I don't know. 41:00 I, I don't know. Sure, sure. It, it's something that Yeah. I do have kind of a, I do have like, um, I'd like eventually for there to be like a pooled fund- Mm-hmm... 41:09 where essentially, you know, it would be one central thing that, you know, everybody could, could monitor basically, or there maybe would be some kinds of like controls over how it's spent or whatever. Mm-hmm. 41:22 Like multi- multiple people would have control over it, whatever. Yeah. Like the vision eventually would be, you know, pretty much like you could basically publicly fund these, you know, these TNRs. Mm-hmm. 41:35 Um, or even you could choose, you know, which- Mm... TNR to fund, basically. Yeah. You know? And, and I actually, I would also like these TNRs to kind of do their own socials as well, you know? Oh, yeah. 41:47 Like show things and, you know- Mm... I'm gonna be walking them through, you know, like some of the mechanics of it and how it has to be done. But as far as how they present it- Mm-hmm... 41:58 like that, that could kinda be up to them. So to me that's like, that would be part of the incentive for someone wanting to do the TNR, would be that you could kind of do your own socials. 42:09 And, you know, I would support the best that I can, basically. Um, but yeah, I'm, I'm open to all ideas, man. So I, keep them coming. I appreciate it. Yeah. Yeah, of course. Because, you know, if I had time. 42:22 [laughs] That's the kinda thing with us, you know, is that we run- Mm-hmm... out of time. We have all these ideas, but it's really hard to implement them because, yeah- It-... they take time to develop as well, so. 42:31 This, this is the thing, man. Like I did, when I was doing social media back- Mm-hmm... like half a decade ago- It was- Mm-hmm... a really different landscape than it is now. Like, I'm just- Oh, I bet... 42:43 I'm just telling you, like, it's not the same as it used to be. Mm-hmm. Um, everything is so optimized now that- Mm-hmm... I've, I've seen lots of really good voices that don't get heard, and that, that bothers me. 42:57 Because I think, I think, say around when I started Vine, you know, like maybe 20... I don't remember if it was 2017 or somewhere [laughs] around that, 2016. I don't... 43:07 Or maybe it was earlier than that even, I don't remember. Mm-hmm. But, you know, it was kinda like if you put in the work, and you brought the quality, and you had, like, a unique 43:18 product, if you wanna call it that, like- Mm... people would, people would take notice, you know? Mm-hmm. Right. I mean, that's just kinda how it was is like, not saying everybody got saw, got... 43:28 or got seen, but you had a much better chance of being seen as a unique creator doing something out of the ordinary, and it was similar to that in 2019. 43:40 But, you know, coming back to social media after all these years- Mm-hmm... it's not like that anymore. It's like- It's harder... 43:47 everything is about kind of leveraging the alg- algorithms to get your stuff higher and- Mm-hmm... 43:53 you know, even when you see a good voice, people are so jaded and so tired of being kinda disappointed so many times, or of just- Mm... maybe it's just the dopamine treadmill. I don't know. But they don't really- Mm... 44:08 respond the same way as they used to. Um, I don't know what it is, but it's definitely different, different than when I was doing it before. 44:19 Interesting how we've come into this type of topic, because this is actually what I'm working with with my clients. 44:24 Like, okay, so I have small business owners at the moment that I'm working with their social media, and my job is to get their videos, right, to trend. Mm-hmm. To go viral, essentially, right? 44:35 So I'm pulling out all the stops, all the AI I can muster to get these videos to perform, but not just to perform so the certain types of people, right, certain target market sees it- Mm-hmm... 44:47 buys into it, wants to contact. You know, I just take, for example, r- a realtor, right? We just had... I just had a meeting with a realtor today. Mm-hmm. And he's this close on booking me, right? 44:57 I'm just sending him the proposal contract he's gonna sign. We're gonna be doing, like, this whole 90-day program of social media marketing on Facebook and Instagram. So it's like he wants results, and I'm like- Mm-hmm. 45:09 Yeah... it's, it's tough in this type- It is... of market to get those results. But at the same time, if you're not top of mind, we live in this attention economy, and- Mm... 45:20 if you're not posting something, like you're, you're, you're almost nonexistent. So you kinda have to play the game. Mm-hmm. That's the thing. Don't care. 45:28 Regardless, regardless if, you know, your stuff is being seen or not, and he just needs someone to do it for him because he's just, like, checked out. He doesn't even wanna do it. 45:37 And I'm like, "Even if I do it for you, doesn't guarantee that you're going to get the success." Sure, you'll, you'll definitely... Consistency's key, sure. Having great content is key, too. Mm-hmm. 45:48 But at the same time, it's almost like you're playing Russian roulette or something, you know? Absolutely. It's really hard to, to really figure out what's, what piece of content's going to trend and what's going to not. 45:59 Usually- Yeah... if it's funny, usually if it has an animal or a kid, or you, you know, like you kinda know- Mm-hmm... what's gonna perform a lot better. 46:08 Um, but at the end of the day, you know, like I, I don't really even think we need to be posting just for the sake of posting, especially for business owners who want people to buy their services or products. 46:19 We need to be posting that focuses on our authenticity, right? Mm-hmm. Of who we are as people. Are we relatable? Do they like us? Yes. Do they trust us? And then will they- Yeah... start paying us? 46:31 And are we actually solving a problem for them? Yeah. You know? That's the biggest takeaway, so just showing that type of content. 46:38 And sure, maybe that content isn't viral, but that content's good, and that content's going to, you know- It is... 46:44 you're, you're, y- um, that, that's gonna show up for that realtor when he's, when, when the, uh, buyers see his face on social media, and they're gonna really like him because he's being honest with them. 46:56 He's being os- ho- honest about his day, and- Yeah... being honest about the ho... You, you see what I'm saying? So I think regardless- Totally... of, you know, how it performs, um, it really needs to be about 47:08 the, the people that you're serving, essentially, right? Mm-hmm. Uh, the certain demographic, the target market. 47:14 And I'm like, if I do that, if I can come out with my market research on ways that I can implement to get him to continue my service based off of what we're showing his a- audience, his target audience, of solving a problem- Mm-hmm... 47:29 to buying a house, like I've done my job, you know? Yeah, yeah. So I think it's more in line of now it's getting really niched down, right? Mm-hmm. Like the niches, niches are in the riches, so to speak. [laughs] Yeah. 47:41 And like, if, if, you know, I wanna see more cat videos, obviously I'm gonna go to the cat profiles, and I'm gonna enjoy this because it's fun, right? Yeah. 47:50 And I, and I even told this guy, too, it's like it's gotta be fun. It's gotta be- Mm-hmm... adventurous, it's gotta be an experience. It can't be boring, because they're gonna check out. Yeah, yeah. You know? 47:59 So I think we just have to make social media fun again. Yeah. And I think we're getting a little more, you know, we're just taking it too seriously. Mm-hmm. And we're just thinking about the money aspect again. 48:09 But I'm like, it's gotta be more than that, because people aren't gonna invest in you if it's just all about the money. Anyone can make all the money in the world. It's in, it's in relationships, right? It's like... 48:20 And, and I even told them, there's like three pieces of content that are always out here. There's educational, there's relational, and then there's aspirational. 48:28 This is literally the three piece of content we always see throughout. [laughs] Is, is it informative? Is it educational, right? Mm-hmm. Is it, like, relational? Are, are you, are we seeing you with friends? 48:38 Are you having a good time, your lifestyle, uh, who you're connecting with, right? Or is it aspirational? Are you inspiring us to do more than- Mm-hmm... just, uh, what we see? Um- Yeah... 48:48 and I think those three pieces, and I learned that from another podcast, by the way, just throwing that out. Cool. You can use that for what you want, Thurston. [laughs] Pretty cool. Because, um, I'm a big believer. 48:58 Like, that's really what it comes down to when you're looking at content. And, and- Yeah... 49:02 and notice that next time when you jump on, when you doom scroll or whatever, uh, Matt, about the, this content that you're looking at. You'll- [laughs]... you'll see it's only those three categories. Cool. I will. 49:10 Nothing, nothing else. So. Yeah. Yeah. But anyway, I, I, I went on a little bit of a rant there, but, um- No, no, not at all. [laughs] Um- Like, you're, you're very knowledgeable about it. I mean, I'm- Mm... 49:20 I consider myself kind of a, I'm, I'm not, like... I'm, like, a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to social... I mean, I know how it works and everything. Yeah. 49:29 But as far as, like, my own posting, I just sorta, you know, I just sorta just do it and don't- Mm-hmm... 49:37 I don't, I'm not usually thinking about, you know, h- I don't usually think about how it'll land, and that is- Mm... that's doesn't serve me, you know? Um, but at the same time, you know, I think that as I kind of get, 49:52 you know, further into this that that will become a part of it that I need to think about more, you know? I guess the best way to put it is I'm, I'm really passionate about ideas. 50:02 You know, that's the part that, that is fun for me. Mm-hmm. 50:05 The actual, like, how, you know, how to, like, like, you know, get it to be more seen, get it to be more vi- that I don't really enjoy that part of it at all, to be honest. It, it's, 50:17 it's just not for [laughs] it's not for me. It's hard. It's hard for one thing. Mm-hmm. Um, it's confusing. 50:23 You know, I'm not usually, I'm not usually good at, like, thinking about, like, a target audi- and this is a perfect example of, like- Mm... coming into crypto and thinking, "Okay, they will... 50:34 You know, if I, if I show up every day and I'm re- really passionate and I, you know, put in my all, you know, they're gonna, like, suddenly develop an interest in TNR." 50:46 Maybe that was, maybe that's a misfire, you know what I'm saying? Like, so to me- Right... sort of, like, I generally tend to, like, lead with, lead with the idea, lead with, you know, the passion. 50:58 And I don't, I don't always stop and think about whether I'm headed in the right direction, and that's something I'm kinda working on a little bit, you know? [laughs] Yeah. I feel like we should have a target. 51:08 That would be smart because then we can figure out how to get to that target, right? Um- Mm-hmm... or goal, right? No doubt. No doubt. 51:15 Um, if we don't have a goal, I w- we're, we're not, I feel like we're treading water in, in ways. And, um- Remember what I said about the dog chasing the tire? [laughs] Yes. Yes, Matt. I do. I do. [laughs] It's so funny. 51:27 A great analogy. I was thinking of that one movie, Up, you know, squirrel with that dog. Mm-hmm. And he's just, like, he, he's just totally checked out. He, uh, he's totally distracted all the time, and it's- Yeah. 51:37 Sometimes we do get that way. And n- not- Good mo- good movie, too, by the way... great. Oh, my gosh, one of my favorites. Yeah. I, I wish, um, Pixar made more movies like that nowadays, but, um- Totally... 51:48 yeah, that was a, a different time, a different time. But, um, but all that to say, yeah, uh, social media can be targeted, right, in a specific way. Mm-hmm. And it can really speak to a certain audience. 52:00 And, and basically I feel like that's where we've come to, right? Because it's just, it's so massive now. There's so many more people. And sure, your stuff won't be seen by- Mm-hmm... probably 99.9% of people out there. 52:13 But you know what? It doesn't matter because only if the small percentage that actually care about the type of content- Yeah... that you're serving them, those are the people that matter, right? Yeah, yeah. 52:22 And you have to keep them coming back. So, um, it is harder. It is harder for sure, but that's why you need to just do a little more market research if you really- Sure, yeah... 52:31 did want to kinda implement those, um, things. And this is what I walk through with, you know, my creative agency. But at the same time, I think it's just interesting. You know, content will perform regardless. 52:44 A- a- a- and I've seen this so many times on TikTok. I, uh, do you spend much time on TikTok at all, or are you mostly just Instagram? Um, you know, I've, I've, I had a period where I was on there more, but not lately. 52:55 Yeah. Got you, got you. And I've just noticed just some stupid, stupid posts, stupid videos, they just perform so well. And I'm thinking to myself, "Why?" You know? [laughs] It doesn't make any sense. Uh-huh. 53:06 And maybe some of it just doesn't make sense, you know? I'm just like, it's so- Totally. The absurdity of life. The absurdity, right. 53:13 So it's like as much as I wanna preach about what you should do, like, some of it'll just trend automatically just based off- Yeah. Well, actually-... maybe the person or the influencer, right, so. Yeah. 53:21 Going back to Thurston's meme, you know- Mm-hmm... I've said this many times before, I don't think that, I don't think that me or my cat are particularly special. 53:33 I do think that there's something, there's some element of randomness to it because- Mm... I'm telling you, like, I follow tons of cats that don't have a bunch of followers. 53:42 I follow cats that have, like, like 200 followers, you know, because I just love cats. And- Mm-hmm... there are so many people and so many cats out there that deserve that attention. Like- Mm-hmm... 53:55 if, if you can deserve attention, I guess, is what I'm trying to say is, like- Mm... I think that there are tons of interesting people out there, tons of interesting animals out there- Right... 54:05 that just, that just for whatever reason don't get seen. And, you know- Yeah... there's some, there's some level of chance to it. I really do think there's just a certain level of chance to it, you know? 54:15 And that's, like, a tough pill to swallow if you're somebody- Mm... that's out there trying your ass off to, you know, make it happen to, to think like, "Hey, maybe I can try my ass off, and it still won't happen." 54:28 Like, that is a tough pill to swallow, for sure. Um, so- Mm. Yeah. And, and a relatable one, I think, for a lot of people, too. Mm-hmm. Here's a question. Do you feel like everyone should be seen? Hmm. 54:43 Okay, I'll put it this way. I think, I think everyone should be seen, but that doesn't tell you how big their audience should be. You know- Mm... being, being seen to me, like, this is maybe... 54:55 Part of the issue with social media is we've placed such an importance on numbers and how big and how many. Mm. 55:02 When the reality is even if you have two people that care, like, that's two people that take time out of their day to, to pay attention to something you have to say. Like, that's, that's valuable to me, you know? Mm-hmm. 55:15 And I think, I think if you're not trying to use social media as a way to, like, make a living, then you should be happy with two people that pay attention, you know? I mean, that- Yeah... 55:27 that's an accomplishment, you know? Um- Right... I've got people that I've met through, you know, the last year, and I have people that I met back all the way back in 2016 that I still talk to, you know, regularly- Mm... 55:42 because they're just mega cool people, you know? So, like, you never know, you know. 55:47 Don't close your mind to, like, meeting amazing people just because of, you know, whether they do or don't have a lot of followers, you know. 55:56 There's, like, a n- a lot of amazing people out there to meet, and just strike up a conversation. Send them a DM, you know. That's how, that's how I get to know, like, 90% of the people that I talk to. 56:07 Like, just h- hit 'em up. Just send 'em a DM, you know, and you, you might be surprised what you find out you have in common. Yeah, reach out. Be proactive, not reactive, right? So- Mm-hmm... 56:19 I think that's really, really important. Great advice, too. And, and it kinda reminds me of, uh, one of the first books I read. Uh, my dad actually gave it to me, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. 56:30 Mm-hmm. Have you read that book? I haven't read it, but I know of it. You know of it, and you kinda know the general highlights, synopsis. Um, give me, give me a synopsis. 56:39 Um, basically it's not about you, it's about them, right? Mm. Mm-hmm. It's about asking questions. It's about investing in others before you invest in yourself, right? About- Absolutely... it's all about... 56:50 And these are just, like, some marketing, you know- Mm-hmm, yeah... strategies that you use for, for sales people, right? 56:56 Of get- getting to know people and, and I think we've, as a society, we've kind of lost that essence of asking questions to people- Mm-hmm... and just talking about ourselves and not asking, "What's up with you? 57:07 What do you do, and how do you do it, and how are you, you know, the way you are?" And just really taking a little more time, a lot more interest in people, being curious, right? Yeah. 57:18 That's another thing, staying, um, curious on others, too. Mm-hmm. 57:23 And really focusing, um, yeah, just on them and, um, their viewpoints, and follow-ups, and just making it a point where it's just over and beyond, um, your, your, your scope. 57:38 A- a- and y- you don't know everything, you know, a- and I hate those people that think they do. Mm-hmm. You know, I actually had a good friend, um, well, he used to be a good friend [laughs]. [laughs] Oh, yeah. 57:47 We don't speak anymore just because he was that way. Mm-hmm, yeah. He's like this know-it-all, and I'm like, I don't wanna surround myself with those types of people that think they know everything. Mm-hmm. 57:55 You know, I, I wanna be this- Open-minded... you know, humble person- Mm-hmm... that doesn't know anything, and I want to know more. See? Mm-hmm. This is why I'm asking you the questions. 58:03 This is why I'm showing up the way I'm showing up. This is why we're even doing this interview, to get to know you more, Matt, and to, uh, figure out, uh- Thank you... what makes you tick, right? 58:13 So, and this is why I'm so passionate about interviewing as well, because I don't know everything and I want to know. I want to know, you know? So- I also am passionate. 58:21 I love in- I've done a few interviews myself over, you know, last year I interviewed a, uh- Mm... Polish, Polish ent- entob- blah entomologist about, um- Cool. 58:33 [laughs] About basically pigeons are another animal that kind of gets dismissed, and they actually have- Mm... a pretty sad plight. Um, but I won't get into that. Okay. 58:43 But I love doing interviews myself, and I just- Oh... think it's so interesting to learn new things about people and- Yes. Yes, absolutely... 58:50 you know, and actually, Don, this is something that I think you do really well, is that- Mm... 58:54 you know, I think a lot of people, they put their social media up, and they put a, put a video, and they kinda just expect the n- the algorithm to, like, magically pick it up and make people care. Mm. 59:04 And the reality is you gotta, like, pound pavement. You've gotta talk to people. You've gotta be present and- Mm... you know, like, most of the way I do that is just through DMs. 59:17 Like, I prefer that to, like, you know, to, like, talking on the timeline personally. Mm-hmm. Right. 59:23 But you're really good at, like, you're really good at getting out there and, and talking to people, and that's, to me, like, what I think gives you your edge, is that you are willing to, to be out there communicating. 59:35 And a lot of people just kind of, a lot of people just kinda want it to kind of just happen. And you're not a guy who just wants it to happen. 59:44 You're a guy who wants to make it happen, and I think that's what gives you a good, a good leg up over a lot of, a lot of different creators, man. Thank you, Matt. No, I, man, I'm, I'm so happy you said that. 59:57 I wanna give you, like, the emoji hands right now. There we go. Celebration. [laughs] Party. Yeah, man. I've, I've spent a lot of time, um, developing my communication skills. 1:00:07 I think as a Space host, you spend time cultivating your communication skills. Mm-hmm. Um, talking to people every single day. You know, I've, I've been running a show literally almost two years. 1:00:18 I've taken a break this year because I c- finally came to the realization, you know, that, um, Spaces, it's, it's just not it. [laughs] Not it for me anymore. Yeah. Maybe I've moved on. 1:00:30 Maybe it's just, um, something that I just need to take a break. Maybe I'll come back to it. I- I don't know, you know? You know, I feel like for me, I just want it to be a little more targeted 'cause- Mm... 1:00:40 you know, like you, I, I spent just countless hours in them. And I will say it did, it did, it was great for networking. Mm-hmm. And it was also great for me to get more comfortable talking in front of people- Yeah... 1:00:51 because, you know, I wasn't comfortable talking in front of people last, at the beginning of last year and then I- Mm-hmm... talked to people all year, basically. And, um- So, but yeah, there's a lot of... 1:01:03 Your time is valuable- Yeah... you know? And I feel like that's what Spaces kind of misses, is it just kind of wants you to always be there, you know? Ah, when you can't. Instead of having it be for something important. 1:01:14 And I think, I think if it's important and valuable, then it's worth doing. Um, but I think if it's just filling time, which- Mm-hmm... 1:01:22 sometimes that's what it is, it's just filling time or trying to keep people present- Right... then yeah, that to me is not as valuable. Yeah, and it's just such a small market too. 1:01:33 There's only so many people that actually use Spaces, even know- [laughs]... about Spaces on Twitter. And I like- And a lot of them are the builders, like you said, or the people- Yeah... who are- Exactly... 1:01:43 working on something. Yep. Yeah. And they're not gonna invest in what you're working on, they want you to invest what they're working on, right? [laughs] Exactly. And I'm like, "Oh, yeah, I'm not..." 1:01:53 There's been so many times like that. And, a- and I, I've just, it, it... 1:01:57 Literally the last month I've had that realization, and that's why I've been spending the better part of most of my days going to IRL events, networking, like actual networking events and- Yeah... 1:02:08 meeting real people, because I find that way more beneficial, way more beneficial. And I always tell people too, I'm better in I- I'm better in, in IRL, right? I'm better in real life. 1:02:17 I've heard, I've heard that before, for sure. So it's like, um, why am I wasting my time here? Albeit I still do live streaming. I think live streaming has its place, and I think it is gaining traction more- Mm-hmm... 1:02:30 on other platforms, especially on TikTok. Ooh. And that's where I've been spending a lot of my time from- Cool... Spaces, doing more TikTok, uh, lives. 1:02:39 So you can always catch me later in the evenings, probably a little bit later today- Mm... 1:02:43 because after this, I'm gonna actually be going to a running club and getting my run in for the day because, um, I haven't done my daily workout. I'm very into health and fitness. I think you know this, Matt. 1:02:53 So- I do know. I do know. [laughs] I'm like, I gotta- This man is running freaking marathons and- I know... I'm run, run into the, run into the cupboard to get a box of, a, a, a bag of Doritos. No, I'm just kidding. 1:03:03 There you go. There. Not that bad, but still. [laughs] So bad for you, Matt. Don't do Doritos. [laughs] No, I don't. I don't. I'm joking, of course. [laughs] Um- Well, sometimes. Sometimes. Pretzels are fine. 1:03:14 Pretzels are fine. You get that salt, you know? I like pretzels. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, pretzels are great. You get that with some- It's great... Hydro Rush, you know, and you get the extra salts, you know? 1:03:21 Actually, we do sometimes- Get your sustenance... to replace the chips, we do like, um- Mm... like s- uh, oil and salt on like those seaweed, seaweed crisps, right? Ooh. It's pretty good. I like those. 1:03:32 They are, they're healthy for you too. Yeah. I love the seaweed crisps. Yeah. They're not bad. So good. Definitely. So good. But yeah, we're just kind of like, um... 1:03:39 I, yeah, I just find more value in live streams, and then also podcasting like this. 1:03:44 Like, as long as you're consistent, as long as you keep posting these episodes and, and you love it, and this is something I really love. 1:03:51 Like, I haven't gotten to the point where I've monetized this podcast yet, but that, that is in the works. Mm-hmm. That is in the future. Met some incredible people. 1:03:59 I just attended this, like, huge business conference in Denver last weekend. So I'm- Cool... I'm gonna be talking, interviewing some of those folks on this podcast and, and- Heck yeah... 1:04:10 getting a little more, you know, like, diverse in the people that I'm interviewing too, because a lot of my interviews are from crypto, right? That was my world. Mm-hmm. 1:04:18 But now I'm stepping into like this other world and it's, it's, it's definitely a lot more fun. It's a lot more rewarding and I just see- Yeah... more of the value in other- Mm-hmm... 1:04:27 people's ideas, thoughts, even from different parts of the world, you know? Yeah. And it's, um, it- it's really cool how this podcast is really transforming. 1:04:37 And honestly, I think, you know, if I could do anything in the world, Matt, it would be, it'd just be doing this, talking to people- Beautiful... and, and getting paid to do it. Beautiful. So we'll get there. 1:04:45 We'll get there, but- Heck yeah. [laughs] I'll be, I'll be... I'd love to be there, be there and watch, watch it happen, man. I hope it does. I hope it does. Yeah, but it will. It will. I know it will. 1:04:56 As long as you've got that consistency and it's... honestly, it's just a numbers game. The more people you meet, the more people you connect, the more successful you will be in the future. It's just- Yeah... 1:05:05 you have to keep showing up and keeping that positive mindset, having good energy. Man, having good energy really goes a long way, and I'm fueled by other people who have great energy, just like yourself, Matt, you know? 1:05:18 Aw, thank you. You've got one of these [laughs] people, I gotta give you flowers too. [laughs] You know, you're one of these people that just has really great energy, and I was like, "I gotta get him on the podcast." 1:05:27 I appreciate it. Yeah, of course. Of course. And- Well, no, it was fun. It was fun talking, man. I'd, I'd do it again. Definitely. Definitely. Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah, we're, we're kind of winding down here. Mm-hmm. 1:05:39 Um, and I know I don't wanna take up any more of your time. Just had a few more questions if you don't mind. Sure, shoot. We're kind of just wrapping it up here. No doubt. 1:05:45 But I would love to get your take on the future of Matt. Where do you see yourself, let's say, in the next- Ooh... three years of your life? [laughs] I, I did a five-year thing, but that might be a little too long. Mm. 1:05:57 Or maybe, I don't know, maybe just a year from now. Year from now for that. You know, honestly, um, I, I'm, I'm sort of, you know, this whole, this whole thing, this whole experience has just been about- Mm-hmm... 1:06:10 about putting myself out there again because after, you know, after Thurston passed away, I... And actually even when Thurston was alive, I would have long periods of, of being a hermit, and this is like the thing. 1:06:23 You know, I might sound really social, but I'm actually- Mm... an introvert, to be honest. You know? Right. People are kind of hard for me and so, you know, putting myself- Yeah... 1:06:32 out there again, especially doing things that I know people are not gonna like, like getting involved with this meme coin and help... You know, trying to do this thing in Nigeria. 1:06:42 Like, I knew pe- I knew people were not gonna let... There were gonna be a lot of people that didn't like that or didn't understand what I was trying to do- Yeah... even if I have good intentions. Mm-hmm. 1:06:51 The reality is, I didn't know what I was, uh, doing at first. I just kind of stumbling through it and figuring out, like, why am I here? And now I feel like I'm at this point where- I've tried a lot of things. 1:07:05 I've figured it out, like what it is that I'm trying to do, and I really want to just stay focused on doing the TNR, basically. Mm. 1:07:14 And, and so essentially I've got, you know, like three, three projects that I'm kind of focused on. The one is TNR. Right. I've got, you know, pretty much some people that I care about that I try to help. 1:07:27 And then the third is basically just kind of to just spread general kindness, because I wanna see- Mm... a return to like, I wanna see a return to kindness. 1:07:37 I think that's something that's been lost the last couple years. People are not very nice to each other, and that kinda makes me sad. Mm. 1:07:44 So yeah, what I wanna do in the next year and the next three years is just continuing to work on anything that helps animals, and then just try to kind of spread kindness and, um, make it cool to be nice again. 1:07:59 Because it's needed, man. It's needed for people to just be nice to each other. Definitely. No, I completely agree. Definitely have to be n- nicer as a culture, and just as a society too. 1:08:11 I feel like, yeah, we definitely [laughs] need to spread that nice gene around. Yeah. Need more kindness, for sure. You gotta keep- Well, I am-... so much kindness... from the Midwest, so, [laughs] you know. 1:08:20 I mean, you know what they say about Minnesota nice, so I mean, maybe- Um-... maybe that's where it comes from, that I wanna spread it around a little bit, but. Maybe. I don't know. [laughs] Yeah. 1:08:30 My dad's from Minnesota. I think I got that gene as well, you know. And then also that whole, like, southern comfort kinda feel too. Uh-huh. Growing up in the South has kinda made me that way. Mm-hmm. So. Yeah. 1:08:41 I definitely resonate with that too. Yeah. But, uh- Cool... but yeah. Uh, where can people find you, Matt, if they want to, let's say- Honestly-... connect with you or get involved- If-... 1:08:50 with what you're doing with the TNR- If they wanna, like-... and whatnot... if they wanna have a just a direct, like, just a honest conversation with me, the easiest place would be Discord. Okay. 1:09:00 Um, and that's just, um, Thirs- ThirstNWAFFLES. Um, but also Twitter. Twitter. Mm-hmm. 1:09:07 I'm still doing Twitter, but not as heavily, but I am kind of gonna come, be coming back to Twitter now that my TNR stuff is taking form. Okay. Um, so yeah. Twitter or Discord would be the ideal place. Okay. 1:09:20 And that's @ThirstNWAFFLES? Is that how you spell it? Um, so for the, you mean for the- For the Twitter- For the T-... or Discord... Twitter. Yeah. For, so for Twitter it's just @ThirstNWAFFLES. Mm-hmm. 1:09:31 And on Discord it's ThirstN.Waffles. Okay. Perfect. Awesome. Mm-hmm. Any- anything else you- And I love, I, I love to have a conversation with just anybody, so if- Yeah... 1:09:42 if anything you're hearing, y- you know, if you just wanna have a conversation with me, I literally will talk to anybody in the DMs. So just, just shoot me a message. 1:09:51 Um, you know, Discord's the easiest place to for sure reach me, and I'd be more than happy to talk to you about literally anything. Doesn't even matter if it's, you know, related to TNR. 1:10:01 It can just be life stuff, cats, I don't care. [laughs] I was gonna say, if it's not about cats, I don't wanna hear it. No, just kidding. [laughs] No, no. True. True. 1:10:11 You have to at least, you have to at least send one cat picture. Right. At least. At least. Awesome. That's like the, the price of admission. [laughs] At least. Come on. Um, but yeah, man. 1:10:22 Uh, Matt, I appreciate your time, as always. Thank you so much for an amazing interview. Oh, you bet. And, um, yeah. Uh, enjoy the rest of your, uh, productive Tuesday, which I'm sure you will. And, um- Thanks... 1:10:34 yeah, we'll, we'll see you next time, Matt. Appreciate you. Yeah, it was awesome talking, Don. Mm-hmm. Take care, man. Take care. You too. Bye bye. You bet. Bye.
