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Speaker 1: Hi.

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Speaker 2: I'm Brandon Hill from Boise, Idaho, and I play at

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Eagle Hills Golf Course.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to golf Mart. Hi.

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Speaker 3: This is Robert Hill from Heburn, Kentucky, and I play

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at Boo Links Golf Course.

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Speaker 1: This is Golf Smarter number one, twenty eight. And now

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we have a new mission to prove that we made

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the right decision.

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Speaker 2: And the right decision doesn't just mean the right decision

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for us, it means the right decision for the consumer.

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This is ultimately going to produce better product, hopefully at

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better prices, and just an all around better experience that

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goes beyond what anybody's experienced before simply by buying a putter.

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So we like the challenge of needing to sort of

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re earn everybody's trust, and so far, I think we're

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doing a pretty good job. I mean it's funny, like

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you read the comments online. I got really overwhelmed a

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week after the announcement was made. And when we screw up,

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because we're so engaged with everybody, it always seems like

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a much bigger deal. Like when somebody gets a crooked grip,

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they put it on a lab rats page with fifty

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thousand fans and they lose their minds. But six months

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ago we'd put a crooked grip out somebody to take

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a picture of it and say what gives and everybody

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be like, man, take it easy. They're a small company

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from Oregon, leave malone. It's just one grip, don't worry

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about it. And people would like have our backs. A

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week after the announcement comes up, somebody put a picture

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up of a crooked grip up there.

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Speaker 1: It's like Cee already cutting corners.

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Speaker 3: Lab Golf's newest heel shafted putter impresses old school skeptics

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with CEO Samon. This is Golf Smarter, sharing stories, tips

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and insights from great golf minds to help you lower

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your score and raise your golf IQ. Here's your host,

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Fred Green. Welcome back to the Golf Smarter podcast.

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Speaker 1: Sam, Thanks Fred, thanks for having me back.

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Speaker 3: Pal Uh you kidding. I would have you on more often,

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but I know that you're so busy doing your own

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social media. My god, you're everywhere. It's worked very well

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for you.

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Speaker 1: By the way. I like it out here in social media.

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Speaker 3: And yeah, yeah, between the podcasts and the videos and

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getting people fitted and showing off their new putter and

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how to do it. But I think my favorite has

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beat the boss.

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Speaker 2: We've got to We've got to get another one out there.

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We've got two episodes in the can or one episode

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in the can, maybe two, I don't remember, but one

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of them is against my brother and it's a pretty

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epic match.

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Speaker 3: Oh, now that one I'd like to see. I definitely,

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because you know I when I was up there with

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you and my friend Kevin, uh, we played with you

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and Liam and so getting you getting to watch you

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two play together is always a who Yeah, he's so

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much fun.

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Speaker 2: Liam's great and he's such a good player, and we

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didn't have him stuck in the shop building putters.

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Speaker 1: He'd he could. He could be making a few bucks

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at this game, but.

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Speaker 3: Probably but you know, I mean, he's living a dreams.

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You're you're you're all telling him to live a dream.

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Speaker 1: We're all having some fun for sure.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and talk about a dream. So the last time

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you were on I remember asking you, so, I mean,

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what do you do? Can you sell the company? This

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Morne You're like, no, we can't sell the company. It's

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too big, no one can buy it. And if the

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only reason they'd buy it is to shut it down.

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I won't let that happen. And I was like, okay,

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I believe you.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know that I said exactly that really,

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but yeah, I mean we obviously had to kind of

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mum as the word, you know, when you're when you're

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going through transaction stuff and contractually bound enough to speak

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of anything.

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Speaker 1: I don't remember what exactly our last one was, but.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we've been we'd been you know, working

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towards some kind of transaction for better part of the

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last two plus years, so we would have been, you know,

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at least testing the waters by the last time I

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was on your show.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, man, I mean, everything just moves so fast, and.

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Speaker 2: Uh it's it's impossible to convey the just weekly volatility

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that is, you know, our lives of this last you know,

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three months, and you know, we we pivot a lot,

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you have to, you know, in order to to to

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compete in this industry. And so yeah, we uh yeah,

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we started started a process looking for a potential partner

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or buyer a couple of years ago and courted by

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any number of uh private equity firms. Once we you know,

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put it out to market, a couple of other you know,

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potential strategic buyers and stuff, and I found some bad asses.

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Speaker 3: And it was so funny that when I heard the announcement,

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I was in Paris, Like, you want me to go

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knock on a door, I would send you a text

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you want me to go knock on a door for

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You'd say, maybe I can do while I'm here. I

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couldn't believe it. Yeah, it was a Parisian company, a

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French company that that invested and so how does that work?

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So they there, they don't come in and take over

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the company based on what I've read about this private

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equity firm that kind of lets people do what they're doing.

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Speaker 1: And yeah, I mean it's different depending upon the firm. Right,

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like there was be fair like none of the ones that.

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Speaker 2: Ultimately you know, kind of made it to the final

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you know, eight or so of potential suitors, none of

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them had designs to shut the company down and take

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it over.

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Speaker 1: I mean, lab is a very very unique business.

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Speaker 2: There's no it's not like you know, a pe firm

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that owns a bunch of gas stations buying a small

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little gas station company and just rebranding it and putting

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it into the mix, like there's there's no no how

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or there's no there's no widespread industry know how of how.

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Speaker 1: To do what we do.

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Speaker 2: Only you'd be a fool not to realize that a

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lot of what makes Labs so special as the culture

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and the people and so, you know, to to buy

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up a company like ours and then try to do

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it differently or better than what we're doing would just

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be silly. So the people that were that were you know,

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serious about partnering with us all understood that like we

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weren't going to leave Cross well, you know that I

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wasn't going to go anywhere, and the the you know,

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all the executives and the higher level folks that have

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been with us since the beginning, we're going to go anywhere,

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and uh.

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Speaker 1: You know, and they didn't want us to.

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Speaker 2: And so with with el Catterton, who you know, yes,

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was originally funded by Bernard Arnaut, you know, from Louis Vuitton.

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Like just for anybody curious about that association, it's not

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the company is not owned by Louis Vuitton. It's El

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Cadderton is its own, you know, private equity firm with

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thirty years of like a phenomenal track record of doing

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what they're doing with us, which is to you know,

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let the team that you know that got us here

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continue to continue to go. Now, they were tough around

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making sure that we had some go forward plans, because

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that's what they're buying, right, They're not buying what is,

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They're buying what will be.

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Speaker 1: And so you know, they they came in and they

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they you know, did.

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Speaker 2: A seven month long proctology exam to learn every single

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you know, in and out of the entire business to

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see where and this is where we were pressing them

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and the other potential seaers is how are you going

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to help us? And you know, before we hit the

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cord here, you and I were talking like.

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Speaker 1: Initially we just thought the time was right to cash

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a check.

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Speaker 2: And so we went out and we're talking to you know,

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actually a lot of customers who were you know, high

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net worth individuals and see if could put a group

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of them together to partner with us and.

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Speaker 1: And buy some equity.

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Speaker 2: And then you know, kind of a year into that

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process is when things really started to just go crazy

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and our lead times got totally out of control, or

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you know, the factory was like just the explosion of chaos,

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you know, twenty four hours a day. And it was

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then we realized like we needed more than money, like

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we needed help, you know, we needed you know, some

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experienced personnel, and we needed additions to our team that

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could take us to the next level. And that's where

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you know, these guys are badasses personnel.

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Speaker 3: Are you talking operationally or.

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Speaker 2: Think sales operations? Uh, you know, finance everything.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and yes, they're buying the people in the culture

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that's up in creswell understood. But bottom line, they're buying

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the results that they're seeing. I mean, how much of

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this centered around JJ thinking that but to win nothing?

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Speaker 1: It had nothing nothing.

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Speaker 2: I mean, you know, we closed on we closed on

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July fifteenth. The original letter of intent, I think the

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original uh you know letter of intent that we signed

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was in early January, so you know, the deal was

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in its very very final stages. And yes, the final

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stages take six weeks by themselves. So no, it was

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it was already done at that point pretty much barring

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you know, extraordinary circumstances. But it certainly helped everybody feel

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real good about it, you know, and and honestly, for

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me personally, like you know, yeah, I'm still you know,

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I'm still currently CEO. I'll be stepping down a CEO

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in a few weeks to assume a more product focused role,

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a founder role and working on acquisitions of you know,

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some other technologies to integrate into into LAB. But even

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as CEO, you know, being to the last few months since

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we closed the there isn't an emotional difference in the

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company being ours and not being ours, And there was

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when JJ made that putt. You know, I was having

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all kinds of anxieties about the deal. It's a scary

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ass thing, you know, like in it's my life. I mean,

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it's everything that we worked on and to you know,

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put it in somebody else's hands from a you know,

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a board chair level. You know, it was a scary thing,

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and there was something that felt a little unfinished or

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something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. And

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then when he made that putt, like it just it

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was just the perfect closing, you know paragraph in the

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chapter of Phase one of LAB, you know, labs arrival

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into the world of golf. With that putt was was

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totally complete and it just made it feel so good,

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you know, to go into phase two.

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Speaker 3: But actually Phase one was Bill Pressey and directed force

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and you were phase two.

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Speaker 2: I think I think of that as the I think

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of that as the prologue.

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Speaker 3: Okay. And while this was all going on in the negotiations,

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everything were you? Was it all on you? Or did

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you have a team that you brought in from the

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outside that you you used internally to help you guide

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you through that You've never been through anything like.

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Speaker 2: This, right, So yes, we had investment banking team called

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Baird that was there for both just general advice and

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then a lot of the technical work, you know, I

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mean a lot of it that I'm you know, way

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above my pay grade that I don't know anything about,

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you know, I mean the quality of earnings exercise was

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like I just never imagined that the level of sophistication

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involved in making these deals. Obviously they're, you know, a

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multi billion dollar fund that does this stuff for a living,

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and this is what they do, but I had no idea.

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Speaker 1: How how deep they go.

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Speaker 2: And so yeah, so the the Baird team was was

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very helpful, Like there their associates who were out in

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Eugene every other week and helping us through all that stuff.

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But they can't do it themselves, like they're there to help,

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you know, to help guide us.

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Speaker 1: And so.

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Speaker 2: Of the sort of half a dozen you know, executives

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at LAB that were a part of this, I probably

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had it the best, you know, our CFO, Amanda, I mean,

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I'm sure that she had multiple one hundred hour weeks.

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And Robert, who's going to be he's currently co CEO

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with me right now. He'll be our CEO here in November. Yeah,

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I mean, it just it can't be overstated. I mean,

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and when we started the process, you know, any number

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of people that I reached out to that had been

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through similar things would just.

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Speaker 1: Be like, dude, like it's it's crazy.

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Speaker 2: It's so emotional, it's so intense, and I'm like, okay,

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and I could not have been less prepared for the

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emotional burden that is this thing. I mean, just the

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volatility of it and the magnitude, right, I mean, it's

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this huge life altering event for so many people. And

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every day there's a you know, a new little fire

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that needs to get put out or a decision that

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needs to get made, and and then you factor that

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in with you know, meanwhile we're trying to run the company,

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you know, like while we're doing this, you know, all

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of this diligence and all of this stuff, and the

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company that we were trying to run happened to be

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in the middle of you knows, as you know, absurd

256
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a level of growth as you'll ever.

257
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Speaker 1: See in the golf business.

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Speaker 2: And and so not only does do we have to

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make a decision on X, you know, or why you know,

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we're running inventory or marketing spend or whatever the stuff is,

261
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but then you have to like make your decision and

262
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then look at it through the lens of how it's

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going to affect the deal and the transaction and the everything.

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And so couldn't make any key hires, really couldn't make

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any you know, big ticket purchase on inventory, couldn't you know,

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do there was just a lot of stuff that we

267
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were tied up on. So it was just a it

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was a wildly stressful thing. And like, you know, just

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just like with lab in general, I've always wanted tattooed

270
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on my forehead. Is like, you know, if it was easy,

271
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everybody would do it, and uh, you know, there's your

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own that's for sure. Yeah, And it wasn't easy, but

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very very very worth it and everybody's happy. Nobody lost

274
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in this deal at all.

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Speaker 1: And yeah, it's great, that's really great.

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Speaker 3: Before you, I'm so happy for you. And when you

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say they go they went deep with direction, I mean

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when they when they're when you're talking about the pe

279
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going in and looking at your company going deep, what

280
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are they and what surprises were there for you that

281
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you weren't anticipating that kind of depth, that kind of.

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Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, you'd want to interview the CFO or

283
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co o O and to get kind of the grittier

284
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details on it.

285
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Speaker 1: But like.

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Speaker 2: You know, being an entrepreneur, Earl, being an entrepreneur is

287
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in many ways just living by it will figure it out,

288
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like you don't actually you know, I.

289
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Speaker 1: Don't, I don't. I don't plan. Man, look at that

290
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if I pull on.

291
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Speaker 2: And I go with it, and you know, the at

292
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the level of investment that they're making and the risks

293
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that they're taking.

294
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Speaker 1: There is no there's no.

295
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Speaker 2: Potential outcome that wasn't deeply scrutinized. And so not only

296
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do you need to make plans, but you need to

297
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make a backup plan, a backup plan for your backup

298
00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:45,159
plan and three more backup plans behind that, and on

299
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every single facet of the business, from personnel to manufacturing,

300
00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:56,600
to sourcing to sales channels. I mean, I mean just

301
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answering the question of what is the total addressable market?

302
00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:08,839
What is the actual potential you know of your customer base.

303
00:17:09,519 --> 00:17:13,319
That was a six weeks long exercise that involves thirty

304
00:17:13,319 --> 00:17:17,839
different very high paid you know, professionals to scour the

305
00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:20,720
earth to understand and determine the actual answer to that question.

306
00:17:20,839 --> 00:17:22,640
Speaker 1: Yes, you can google what's the.

307
00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:25,240
Speaker 2: Size of the total putter market, but like that doesn't

308
00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:30,200
satisfy what it is specifically that they're looking for, So

309
00:17:30,319 --> 00:17:33,119
things like that, things you know, and is.

310
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Speaker 3: There a short answer to that question that takes months

311
00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:38,319
and months and months to to create.

312
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Speaker 2: No, And in fact, on that particular one, I actually

313
00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,319
wasn't terribly satisfied with the answer. But I think it's

314
00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:50,920
because it's not like how many people buy putters every year.

315
00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:53,880
Because one of the things that we know with lab

316
00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,880
is is that we shifted that, you know, because the

317
00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:01,119
technology was so new it changed can or behavior from

318
00:18:01,279 --> 00:18:03,319
you know, a normal replacement cycle of being say five

319
00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:04,960
years or whatever it is with a putter or three years.

320
00:18:05,039 --> 00:18:08,400
I'm not sure what it is on paper. Now somebody

321
00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:10,839
that bought a putter last year that's you know, a

322
00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,359
toe hang putter, face balance putter or whatever, now has

323
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,400
a reason to actually look at another putter despite you know,

324
00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,680
whereas they wouldn't have four years ago or five years

325
00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:23,319
ago because they'd just be making a lateral move. So,

326
00:18:24,279 --> 00:18:27,240
you know, there's just stuper nerdy stuff that goes into

327
00:18:27,559 --> 00:18:33,000
you know, determining this stuff and u and then there

328
00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:37,279
there was a huge burden on the operations team and

329
00:18:37,319 --> 00:18:40,720
the supply chain team because of the timing of this transaction.

330
00:18:40,799 --> 00:18:43,759
Lighted landed right in the middle of all this tariff craziness,

331
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and you know, we were we were on pace to

332
00:18:48,039 --> 00:18:57,759
close in March, and then when you know, whatever Liberation

333
00:18:58,000 --> 00:18:59,640
Day or whatever the hell they called it, you know

334
00:18:59,759 --> 00:19:03,279
hit like we put pencils down for six weeks because

335
00:19:03,519 --> 00:19:05,920
nobody knew how that was all going to shake out.

336
00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:11,279
And and for the second time, the fact that a

337
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,200
huge amount of our operation is in the United States

338
00:19:15,839 --> 00:19:21,680
came in real handy. And you know the first time

339
00:19:21,799 --> 00:19:26,559
was when COVID hit. You know, we were, I mean,

340
00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:29,279
we were in such a good position. I used the

341
00:19:29,319 --> 00:19:31,079
analogy I think on one of your shows in the past,

342
00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:33,519
Like we were like the bubble Gump trip boat when

343
00:19:33,519 --> 00:19:36,240
that you know, storm hit, and you know, we were

344
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the only one that managed to make it through with

345
00:19:38,599 --> 00:19:41,799
shafts on hand, and every other company in the world

346
00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:44,559
couldn't get their hands on any shafts. And we had

347
00:19:44,559 --> 00:19:46,519
an ops guy at the time who saw the writing

348
00:19:46,559 --> 00:19:48,440
on the wall and like literally was buying shafts out

349
00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,640
of people's garages, I mean, and scoured the earth to

350
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:53,599
you know, to make sure that we wouldn't run out.

351
00:19:54,079 --> 00:19:56,839
Speaker 1: And yeah, it was.

352
00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:01,799
Speaker 2: It was similar to that in that we were really

353
00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:05,880
lucky in that the impact of all the terist stuff

354
00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,440
was significantly less than you know, other consumer brands that

355
00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,160
were manufacturing a lot of stuff overseas.

356
00:20:12,599 --> 00:20:18,079
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, So I read everything I can get my

357
00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:21,839
hands on about you and the company, and I watch

358
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,000
every video I can. If I see your name or

359
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,519
I see lab pop up, I'm and almost every conversation

360
00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:29,799
I have on this show ends up being do you

361
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:32,720
use a lab putter? Why not? You know, I mean

362
00:20:32,759 --> 00:20:36,160
it's like I'm sitting here, I've got a number of

363
00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:39,640
them next to me. But that's besides the point in

364
00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,680
way and you're saying that JJ wasn't the tipping point

365
00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:48,160
for you. Guys, I did read a number and you

366
00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:52,400
can clarify this for me from your growth and what

367
00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:56,799
your sales were in twenty twenty four versus what your

368
00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:00,119
anticipated was going to be for this year twenty twenty

369
00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,599
five was three x.

370
00:21:04,319 --> 00:21:11,000
Speaker 4: Uh what did we do in And also when you

371
00:21:11,039 --> 00:21:12,920
and I started talking, you were saying, yeah, we do

372
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:18,000
about two hundred putters a month, and that's like, now

373
00:21:18,079 --> 00:21:20,079
down to the minute, you do that many in a

374
00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:20,920
minute or.

375
00:21:20,839 --> 00:21:25,640
Speaker 1: So, certainly in the first part of the day. Yeah.

376
00:21:25,279 --> 00:21:29,559
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I've read one hundred and thirty thousand

377
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,880
putters in twenty twenty four and you were supposed to

378
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:34,119
triple that in twenty twenty five.

379
00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, it'll be closer to three hundred and fifty thousand

380
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:38,680
units this year.

381
00:21:40,799 --> 00:21:43,039
Speaker 1: And yeah, I mean it.

382
00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:45,640
Speaker 3: Was how do you wrap your brains around that? I mean,

383
00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:49,720
you're you know, you're we've talked about your past and

384
00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:50,599
our past.

385
00:21:50,799 --> 00:21:51,079
Speaker 1: Either.

386
00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,880
Speaker 3: It's like you came from managing bars and bands and

387
00:21:55,960 --> 00:22:00,720
probably employing or managing a handful of people at any

388
00:22:00,759 --> 00:22:05,680
given time too. I guess my biggest question is how

389
00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,440
do you convince your family to buy in with you

390
00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:14,079
on this envoy. Are they proud of you now? Yeah?

391
00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:17,119
Speaker 2: Post transaction, I learned a lot about people's lack of

392
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:19,279
faith in this whole endeavor.

393
00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:20,279
Speaker 1: You know, it turned out my.

394
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,640
Speaker 2: Dad's investment, he was looking forward to using it to

395
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,680
take the losses.

396
00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:35,240
Speaker 1: And it's really funny.

397
00:22:35,279 --> 00:22:43,640
Speaker 2: There's when we raised half a million bucks I think

398
00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,319
in twenty nineteen. It was a friend's family and then

399
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:51,279
just some customers and stuff like that. And my brother,

400
00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:55,079
you know, he has his own company called Meriwether. They

401
00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:57,839
sort of real estate private equity, and they invest in

402
00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,640
a lot about stuff, but resorts and stuff like that. Anyway,

403
00:23:02,319 --> 00:23:04,839
he's got, you know, a deal with his partners that

404
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,119
any deal of any kind that lands on any of

405
00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,440
their desks has to be offered to the other three partners.

406
00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:14,920
And so in twenty nineteen he's like, you know, I guys,

407
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,599
you know, my brother and I and my dad are

408
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:18,599
you know in this Putter company.

409
00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,240
Speaker 1: We're raising some money. Do you guys want to you

410
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:22,079
guys want to jump in?

411
00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:24,640
Speaker 2: And I was like, like, do we really have to

412
00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:26,400
bring them in?

413
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,240
Speaker 1: And he's like, no, no, it's good, it's good. It's good.

414
00:23:28,279 --> 00:23:30,440
Speaker 2: And then he asked them and they're like, do we

415
00:23:30,519 --> 00:23:33,119
have to like do we have to get in on this?

416
00:23:33,799 --> 00:23:36,160
And you know, a couple of them put in like

417
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,559
five grand, you know, or ten grand there's something like that,

418
00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:40,960
and they're like.

419
00:23:41,519 --> 00:23:42,759
Speaker 3: I would have been there from that one.

420
00:23:43,759 --> 00:23:46,160
Speaker 1: And then and then what was so funny too, was.

421
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,440
Speaker 2: The guy that actually connected us without Cadterton was a

422
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:58,359
fraternity brother my brothers, and so we were meeting with

423
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,640
them out in New York at some point and I

424
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:03,400
was telling exactly the story of just when we were

425
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,680
going around to different friends and family and you know,

426
00:24:05,799 --> 00:24:08,039
asking for a few bucks on this crazy potter company

427
00:24:08,039 --> 00:24:10,079
that was going to be run by Sam, the Stoner

428
00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:16,079
bar owner, and and uh, you know and Mike, who

429
00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:18,240
was this guy that that connected us with el Catterton,

430
00:24:18,279 --> 00:24:19,920
you know, jumped in the conversations like, yeah, your brother

431
00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:21,240
called me to see if I wanted to put in

432
00:24:21,279 --> 00:24:22,400
some cash and I was like, and you didn't.

433
00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,160
Speaker 1: He was like did you know you? And I was

434
00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:31,240
I was like, it's like screwing your Mike, but uh yeah,

435
00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:32,200
it was. It was wild.

436
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:33,880
Speaker 2: I mean, and you know, to answer your question like

437
00:24:34,079 --> 00:24:35,960
how do how do you wrap your brain around it.

438
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,119
You don't like, I don't wrap my brain around it.

439
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:46,559
It's it's all completely surreal. It doesn't it's the magnitude

440
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:51,279
of everything that we've accomplished isn't for me anyway. It's

441
00:24:51,319 --> 00:24:54,960
too big of a concept to actually understand in my bones.

442
00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:00,240
And when I get my brain twisted around trying to to,

443
00:25:00,759 --> 00:25:05,799
you know, get around it all, that's when I actually

444
00:25:05,799 --> 00:25:09,720
get pretty uncomfortable. You know, I'm a lot more comfortable

445
00:25:09,759 --> 00:25:11,799
just kind of focusing on that which is right in

446
00:25:11,839 --> 00:25:13,640
front of me, and there's certainly a lot right in

447
00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:16,039
front of me to to work on. But there are

448
00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:19,920
brief moments, you know, there's and I would and it's

449
00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:22,680
so interesting. They're not necessarily the moments you'd think, but

450
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:27,200
there are just sweet brief moments where I am able

451
00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:30,480
to take a quick one point eight seconds.

452
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:35,880
Speaker 1: And take god damn, you know. But for the most part, now,

453
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:37,240
for the most part, it's like.

454
00:25:37,279 --> 00:25:40,519
Speaker 2: Ah, still on the Instagram, dms and stuff like that,

455
00:25:40,599 --> 00:25:42,920
and freaking out about some guy that's waiting for his putter,

456
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:44,839
and nothing really changes.

457
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,240
Speaker 3: Are you gonna be okay? Not being ceo?

458
00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:54,839
Speaker 1: Oh?

459
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:59,039
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that you that you gave practically gave

460
00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,880
birth to you would adopted as an infant for sure.

461
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,720
Speaker 2: So like being the chief executive officer of a business

462
00:26:06,839 --> 00:26:11,680
like this isn't about golf. It isn't about product, it

463
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:15,519
isn't about I mean, it's sure it includes those things,

464
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:21,039
but it also includes HR and budget reviews and you know,

465
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:24,799
and all kinds of very very technical business stuff that

466
00:26:24,839 --> 00:26:27,480
I don't. I just simply don't have the education for

467
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,480
I did a really good job of putting the rights.

468
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:38,160
No I don't. And now the piece that's exciting about

469
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:41,559
all of this, like Ikatterson has me sitting on the

470
00:26:41,559 --> 00:26:45,759
board the founder role that they've defined for me, Like

471
00:26:46,839 --> 00:26:48,359
you know, I kind of get to have my cake

472
00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:49,880
and eat it too. I kind of get you know,

473
00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,960
I'm the one that's still driving the vision for what

474
00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:56,480
lab Golf is, how we you know, exist in the world,

475
00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:00,599
what benefits we provide to golfers, what the brand tone is.

476
00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:02,720
Speaker 1: I still get to do all that stuff.

477
00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:09,200
Speaker 2: What I don't have to do is, you know, have

478
00:27:09,279 --> 00:27:14,480
any input on what consulting company should get the million

479
00:27:14,519 --> 00:27:16,920
and a half dollar contract to take us through an

480
00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,160
ERP implementation. You know, like you know, I don't have

481
00:27:20,279 --> 00:27:24,000
to handle any of that, so and r J and

482
00:27:24,039 --> 00:27:26,359
I are very close and very aligned on what it

483
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:29,200
is that we're trying to accomplish. And then there's you know,

484
00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:36,680
running the company day to day is a massive lift,

485
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:41,920
and we're trying to you know, grow LAB beyond what

486
00:27:42,079 --> 00:27:42,839
it is now.

487
00:27:44,559 --> 00:27:45,839
Speaker 1: And so I get to go off and do that,

488
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:47,359
you know, I get to go off and what does

489
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:49,160
that mean? You know, we're looking at.

490
00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:51,759
Speaker 2: Other companies, smaller companies out there that you know, we're

491
00:27:51,799 --> 00:27:56,240
little little baby labs that need, you know, help, And yeah,

492
00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:58,079
there's so many great technologies out there.

493
00:27:58,119 --> 00:27:59,720
Speaker 1: I mean, that's what I learned in the industry. And

494
00:27:59,759 --> 00:28:03,519
I think one of the things that helped me see

495
00:28:03,559 --> 00:28:04,519
the reality of what.

496
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:06,880
Speaker 2: The industry is and what it could potentially be is

497
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:08,640
the fact that I'm not an inventor. I didn't invent

498
00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:10,640
the potter, I didn't invent the technology. I have no

499
00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:13,559
you know, attachment to it, and so I'm still a

500
00:28:13,559 --> 00:28:15,920
consumer and I and now that I've been through what

501
00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:19,279
I've been through with LAB, what I see is tons

502
00:28:19,319 --> 00:28:23,160
of brilliant folks out there with incredible ideas that simply

503
00:28:23,519 --> 00:28:25,960
haven't caught the lucky breaks that LAB caught, you know,

504
00:28:26,079 --> 00:28:29,720
and and haven't been able to put themselves in the

505
00:28:29,759 --> 00:28:33,799
position to catch those breaks or to you know, find

506
00:28:33,839 --> 00:28:36,160
the right partnerships and find the right personnel and all

507
00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:39,240
that stuff. So I get to I get to go

508
00:28:39,319 --> 00:28:42,119
do that. I get to go continue to be an entrepreneur.

509
00:28:42,599 --> 00:28:45,920
And being an entrepreneur is a very very very different mindset,

510
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,920
different skill set, different day to day life than being

511
00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:52,160
a CEO, particularly a CEO of two hundred million dollar company.

512
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,240
I mean it's it's a lot of nuts and bolts. Yes,

513
00:28:55,359 --> 00:28:59,279
ultimately the buck stops, you know, with the CEO and

514
00:28:59,359 --> 00:29:04,119
any number of organizational structures. But we're still LAB and

515
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:07,680
we still do things a little differently. I have the

516
00:29:07,759 --> 00:29:13,880
utmost confidence in r J. Crazy experience, his wives, he's

517
00:29:15,319 --> 00:29:17,480
he's technically skilled beyond belief.

518
00:29:18,799 --> 00:29:21,920
Speaker 3: And so r J is Robert, who you're referring to,

519
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,640
is your co CEO now and he's taking over as CEO.

520
00:29:24,799 --> 00:29:30,319
Speaker 2: Correct, Okay, yep, yeah, And he's a great dude, and

521
00:29:30,319 --> 00:29:35,000
and with LAB right now for over two years, he's

522
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:39,160
he's he was brought on as a consultant to help

523
00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:40,880
us kind of figure out what we needed to do

524
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:44,839
to go to market, to have a transaction and then

525
00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,920
you know, we just had such a blast working together. Ultimately,

526
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,759
he was hired as president I think a little over

527
00:29:51,759 --> 00:29:55,960
a year ago, and yeah, man, I.

528
00:29:55,880 --> 00:30:00,400
Speaker 1: Mean he's he came on at exactly the right time.

529
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:04,000
Speaker 2: Early on, it was important that I didn't have to

530
00:30:04,039 --> 00:30:06,640
answer to anyone, that I didn't have to debate anything

531
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:10,440
with anyone. And then as the stakes grow, like a

532
00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:12,359
lot of these decisions you need to work through, and

533
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:14,119
he and I have a very very good yun and

534
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:19,480
yang thing going on, you know, coming at each other

535
00:30:19,519 --> 00:30:22,880
with not even opposing views and were mostly aligned on

536
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,119
any number of things. But there's a lot of nuanced

537
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:28,160
decisions that you know take place every day that.

538
00:30:31,039 --> 00:30:35,240
Speaker 1: Need some brighter folks than me, you.

539
00:30:35,119 --> 00:30:38,400
Speaker 2: Know, ultimately at least presenting us with the data and

540
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:40,880
the information needed to, you know, to make make the

541
00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:42,400
right decisions.

542
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:44,880
Speaker 3: And did he come from the golf.

543
00:30:44,599 --> 00:30:47,000
Speaker 2: Industry or he did and he was in like my

544
00:30:47,039 --> 00:30:51,720
first conversation with him was I mean, I was basically

545
00:30:51,799 --> 00:30:54,000
trying to talk him out of coming to work for

546
00:30:54,079 --> 00:30:58,319
us because I had this deep aversion to industry folks,

547
00:30:58,319 --> 00:31:01,000
and not only see an industry guy like I mean

548
00:31:01,279 --> 00:31:03,559
lived in Carlsbad for thirty years. He worked for Taylor

549
00:31:03,799 --> 00:31:07,440
three different times. He worked for Callaway, he worked Forever Compromise,

550
00:31:07,519 --> 00:31:08,559
he worked for Adams.

551
00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,079
Speaker 1: I mean he had his own marketing agency. I mean

552
00:31:12,119 --> 00:31:13,160
he's been in it.

553
00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:18,400
Speaker 2: And it wasn't until we were established enough with our

554
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:22,559
own ethos and our own way of operating that I

555
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:25,519
was comfortable bringing somebody like that into the fold without

556
00:31:25,559 --> 00:31:29,000
concern over them sort of diluting it into a you know,

557
00:31:29,039 --> 00:31:34,359
one of the major OEMs. And then he came, and

558
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:40,720
what was special about r J was like I was

559
00:31:40,759 --> 00:31:43,599
always worried about bringing industry people in because it's like, okay, no, no, no,

560
00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:45,640
you guys can't have a Colors. This is not what's done.

561
00:31:45,759 --> 00:31:47,920
The inventory costs are too high, and da da da.

562
00:31:49,519 --> 00:31:51,119
Speaker 1: And what happened when.

563
00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:52,599
Speaker 2: He came to visit the factory for the first time

564
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:56,359
was the exact opposite, which is like, thank you. I've

565
00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:00,279
just been wondering for years why people don't do this stuff,

566
00:32:00,799 --> 00:32:03,160
you know, within these you know, massive companies that you

567
00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:05,599
guys are doing right now. And so he has the

568
00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:08,240
experience and the knowledge to know what it is that

569
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:11,920
we're competing against. And the open mindedness and you know,

570
00:32:12,039 --> 00:32:16,079
passion around doing things differently that that makes this partnership perfect.

571
00:32:17,519 --> 00:32:21,960
Speaker 3: And now are you a major OEM?

572
00:32:22,079 --> 00:32:22,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess so.

573
00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,759
Speaker 2: Yeah, sure doesn't feel that way. Yeah, I mean we

574
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:30,039
were talking about that. Yeah, I mean we were talking

575
00:32:30,039 --> 00:32:37,799
about that in the marketing meeting, where like we were

576
00:32:37,839 --> 00:32:41,119
never particularly deliberate about a lot of the messaging around

577
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:42,079
being an underdog.

578
00:32:42,079 --> 00:32:43,640
Speaker 1: The world sort of did that for us.

579
00:32:45,279 --> 00:32:49,680
Speaker 2: And yeah, and we've noticed now that particularly with the

580
00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:51,880
fact that that that the transaction was announced the way

581
00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:57,279
that it was, like, yeah, the kind of industry tone

582
00:32:57,319 --> 00:33:03,000
shifted on LAB real quick, you know, and expected and

583
00:33:03,039 --> 00:33:05,880
I get it. I mean like it was such a cool,

584
00:33:06,079 --> 00:33:10,039
you know, rags to riches story, and everybody who ever

585
00:33:10,079 --> 00:33:12,279
owned a Lab hutter, or shared a Lab story or

586
00:33:12,279 --> 00:33:15,960
did anything with Lab felt some ownership of LAB. And

587
00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:18,960
I think when people heard that it was sold to

588
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:24,279
private equity, rightfully, so we're very upset because you know,

589
00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:26,559
you don't hear about the good things that happened with

590
00:33:26,599 --> 00:33:28,960
private equity, and we certainly all have heard any number

591
00:33:29,039 --> 00:33:32,119
of stories of private equity coming in and destroying wonderful businesses,

592
00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:35,240
and so people were upset and we.

593
00:33:35,279 --> 00:33:38,720
Speaker 1: Totally get it, and we actually kind of got excited.

594
00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:39,799
Speaker 4: Like.

595
00:33:42,079 --> 00:33:45,000
Speaker 2: We seem to do better when we've got something to prove,

596
00:33:46,039 --> 00:33:50,640
and now we have a new mission to prove that

597
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:54,000
we made the right decision. And the right decision doesn't

598
00:33:54,039 --> 00:33:55,519
just mean the right decision for us, it means the

599
00:33:55,559 --> 00:33:58,240
right decision for the consumer, Like this is ultimately going

600
00:33:58,279 --> 00:34:03,119
to produce better product fully at better prices, and you know,

601
00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,920
and just an all around better experience that goes beyond

602
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:10,679
what anybody's experienced before simply by buying a putter. So

603
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:14,119
we like, you know, the challenge of needing to sort

604
00:34:14,119 --> 00:34:16,400
of re earn everybody's trust, and so far, I think

605
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:18,719
we're doing a pretty good job. I think people were.

606
00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:20,920
I mean it's funny, like you read the comments online.

607
00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:24,800
I mean, geez, I mean there's the lab Rats page.

608
00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:27,880
I think you're on the Facebook page. You know that's

609
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:32,400
the fan group, And I mean I got really overwhelmed,

610
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:35,199
Like a week after the announcement was made.

611
00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:37,119
Speaker 1: You know, we screw up.

612
00:34:37,119 --> 00:34:40,239
Speaker 2: And when we screw up, because we're so engaged with everybody,

613
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:42,559
it always seems like a much bigger deal. Like when

614
00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,199
somebody gets a crooked grip, they put it on the

615
00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:48,239
lab rats page with fifty thousand fans, and you know,

616
00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:52,039
they lose their minds. But it used to be, you know,

617
00:34:52,119 --> 00:34:54,679
six months ago, we'd put a crooked grip out and

618
00:34:54,679 --> 00:34:56,079
somebody to take a picture of it and say what

619
00:34:56,159 --> 00:34:58,360
gives And everybody'd be like, man, take it easy. They're

620
00:34:58,360 --> 00:34:59,360
a small company from Oregon.

621
00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:01,239
Speaker 1: Leave alone. It's just one grip. Don't worry about it,

622
00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:03,599
you know, and people would like have our backs. A

623
00:35:03,639 --> 00:35:04,199
week after the.

624
00:35:04,159 --> 00:35:06,199
Speaker 2: Announcement comes up, somebody put a picture up of a

625
00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:07,159
crooked grip up there is.

626
00:35:07,159 --> 00:35:09,639
Speaker 1: Like, see already cutting corners. You know.

627
00:35:12,599 --> 00:35:15,599
Speaker 2: Yeah, we've had to you know, just sort of stay

628
00:35:15,639 --> 00:35:17,920
patient and take that, take that as it comes, and

629
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,599
take it for what it is. And we're just going

630
00:35:20,639 --> 00:35:22,719
to continue to do what we always do, which is

631
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:26,480
like not to be defensive and just to have compassion

632
00:35:26,519 --> 00:35:29,199
for our customers. And like, I totally get it. I

633
00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:34,280
totally get piples concerns about lab and what its future holds.

634
00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:37,079
Speaker 1: And I have the luxury of knowing it's going to

635
00:35:37,119 --> 00:35:37,599
be okay.

636
00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:41,599
Speaker 2: We just need to stay patient and wait for the folks,

637
00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:44,400
you know, with the consumers and our customers and our

638
00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:46,800
fans and stuff to realize like this was such a

639
00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:50,480
wind for everybody.

640
00:35:54,199 --> 00:35:56,920
Speaker 3: I there's a new putter I need to talk about,

641
00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:59,360
but I'm not there yet because you mentioned a few

642
00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:02,719
minutes ago there's lots of great companies out there who

643
00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:06,519
were doing amazing things that aren't getting noticed. But there,

644
00:36:06,599 --> 00:36:11,039
you know, we had a lucky break. What was Lab's

645
00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:12,039
lucky break?

646
00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:14,840
Speaker 1: We had a million? We had a million, Yeah, exactly,

647
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:20,039
that's that's that's the book. I think that one of

648
00:36:20,039 --> 00:36:21,920
the reasons that we.

649
00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:27,519
Speaker 2: Had more lucky breaks than the average company is again

650
00:36:27,599 --> 00:36:32,239
because I wasn't the founder or the inventor, you know, Like.

651
00:36:34,119 --> 00:36:35,800
Speaker 1: I mean, I think that's part of it. I don't know, man.

652
00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:40,920
Speaker 3: I I've talked to so many small manufacturers on this show,

653
00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:43,239
you know, because that's the ones I want to support,

654
00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:45,519
to these guys like you when we first met in

655
00:36:45,559 --> 00:36:51,320
twenty nineteen, and it seems to be the lucky break,

656
00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:53,239
if I can put air quotes on that. The lucky

657
00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:56,280
break is getting it seen on tour and then having

658
00:36:56,519 --> 00:36:59,159
somebody on tour have success with it.

659
00:37:00,639 --> 00:37:03,360
Speaker 1: Yes and no. I mean, like I think I've shared.

660
00:37:03,599 --> 00:37:06,559
Speaker 3: Adam Scott and you know from way back.

661
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:09,400
Speaker 2: But I mean I think I remember, I think I

662
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:11,679
told this story to you on one of the shows.

663
00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:14,559
Like so we just started to get a little bit

664
00:37:14,559 --> 00:37:18,320
of momentum in twenty nineteen when Adams started to use it.

665
00:37:19,679 --> 00:37:21,119
Speaker 1: He was leading the Masters through.

666
00:37:22,639 --> 00:37:25,400
Speaker 2: Two days in twenty nineteen and then the camera like

667
00:37:25,519 --> 00:37:27,880
zooms in on him missing an eighteen inch putt on

668
00:37:28,519 --> 00:37:31,760
you know, on sixteen on Saturday, and the phone stopped bringing.

669
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:34,400
And it was at that time that we realized, like,

670
00:37:35,719 --> 00:37:38,360
we can't rely on the tour. And I think that

671
00:37:38,639 --> 00:37:41,599
I think that that's that wasn't a break, that was

672
00:37:41,639 --> 00:37:45,280
a that was a smart, strategic just shift that we made.

673
00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:48,920
Literally that Monday, we got on a marketing calls with Zach.

674
00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:53,960
Speaker 1: He had Zach on your show from Rooted Solutions. You

675
00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:55,800
should anyway.

676
00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:02,519
Speaker 2: Zach was, you know, our marketing partner, and we realized

677
00:38:02,679 --> 00:38:04,559
at that moment that we can't rely on the tour

678
00:38:04,719 --> 00:38:07,719
and that we needed to make you know, we needed

679
00:38:07,719 --> 00:38:09,679
to make this about the people actually buying the putters

680
00:38:09,679 --> 00:38:13,280
and not these you know, these these Greek gods that

681
00:38:13,639 --> 00:38:16,519
can do whatever they want with any club in their hand,

682
00:38:16,639 --> 00:38:19,000
you know, like we needed to make it about you

683
00:38:19,079 --> 00:38:21,840
and me, and so we shifted our you know, our

684
00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:25,519
marketing focus and our messaging to be about the consumer.

685
00:38:25,559 --> 00:38:27,840
And I think that that's where a lot of these

686
00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:31,039
companies missed the mark. I think a lot of these

687
00:38:31,039 --> 00:38:34,360
companies have great technology that they're certain is going to,

688
00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,840
you know, improve the tour players game, and they just

689
00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:39,239
sit out there and wait.

690
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:41,320
Speaker 1: And wait and wait and wait and wait and wait

691
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:45,119
and wait, and it just it's so rare that it happens.

692
00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:49,000
It's so rare that you can get a relevant touring professional,

693
00:38:49,559 --> 00:38:54,000
you know, to really give a look to legitimately new technology.

694
00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:56,159
And one of you know, one of our competitors, I mean,

695
00:38:56,159 --> 00:39:00,679
one of the one of the other companies in a you.

696
00:39:00,599 --> 00:39:03,800
Speaker 2: Know, ZT Space or whatever the hell they're calling it.

697
00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:08,719
You know, we're well beyond us when we started, and they.

698
00:39:08,719 --> 00:39:11,559
Speaker 3: Send it being zero tech, zero torque, right.

699
00:39:12,519 --> 00:39:16,000
Speaker 2: And they which it isn't actually zero torque, but I

700
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:17,840
guess the industry decided that's what it's called.

701
00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:18,079
Speaker 1: Now.

702
00:39:21,079 --> 00:39:22,960
Speaker 2: They send a dude out there every week, you know,

703
00:39:23,199 --> 00:39:24,719
every single week, just sitting on the side of the

704
00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:26,440
putt and green with a bag full of putters, just

705
00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:29,000
hoping that you know, a top ten player comes along

706
00:39:29,039 --> 00:39:31,199
and decides to grab it, and they did no marketing,

707
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:33,960
and they didn't improve the product, and they didn't you know,

708
00:39:35,079 --> 00:39:37,039
engage with their consumers at all.

709
00:39:37,719 --> 00:39:40,840
Speaker 1: And there they are, you know, and.

710
00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:45,880
Speaker 3: So I think I think they Yeah, the huge element

711
00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:48,360
of it was, as we talked about the start, was

712
00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:51,559
the social media element that you're correct, you're all, you're

713
00:39:52,679 --> 00:39:57,960
you're approachable, you're sincere, you don't put on any airs

714
00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:00,360
about being the best out there. You just are what

715
00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:05,320
you are, and it's connected on so many levels. Congratulations,

716
00:40:05,519 --> 00:40:10,360
thank you, I'm very I'm very proud of you for this. Uh,

717
00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:13,719
It's amazing how well it has worked for you, and

718
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:17,559
how consistent you've been, even through this transition that you've

719
00:40:17,559 --> 00:40:20,880
made and all the stress on it, You're still there

720
00:40:21,239 --> 00:40:25,679
regularly on so many different shows, so many different videos,

721
00:40:25,679 --> 00:40:29,800
so many different podcasts, and you know, and.

722
00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:31,719
Speaker 2: I love doing it and I don't get why other

723
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:35,719
people don't, you know, like I to me. And I

724
00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:38,599
think this probably came from both the music and the

725
00:40:38,599 --> 00:40:40,800
political background. Honestly, is where I spent most of my

726
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:44,199
time online, you know, learning to communicate with folks and

727
00:40:44,199 --> 00:40:49,239
and how to you know, use social media to accomplish

728
00:40:49,239 --> 00:40:58,639
a goal. Versus to vent and uh and uh, yeah, man,

729
00:40:58,679 --> 00:41:02,320
I mean it was the only vehicle or avenue that

730
00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:04,559
I even knew to utilize.

731
00:41:04,599 --> 00:41:07,360
Speaker 1: I never gave any thought to anything else. And so

732
00:41:11,119 --> 00:41:13,840
and I think that that's and I think that's.

733
00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:15,840
Speaker 2: Part of one of the things that worked out really

734
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:19,639
well for us, where like I genuinely enjoy it, Like

735
00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:24,079
I wake up every morning, I enjoy looking through Facebook

736
00:41:24,079 --> 00:41:27,800
and Instagram and looking at other people's products and listening,

737
00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:29,480
you know, reading comment.

738
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:32,320
Speaker 1: Threads and all of this stuff. I legitimately enjoy it.

739
00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:36,199
Speaker 2: I find it fun and it's not an act of discipline.

740
00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:39,000
I don't need to work at doing it. And then yeah,

741
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:40,000
it happened to work.

742
00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:40,239
Speaker 1: Out that.

743
00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:44,800
Speaker 2: You know, Yes, being transparent and open and you know,

744
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:48,840
vulnerable with your with your customers is good.

745
00:41:49,199 --> 00:41:51,559
Speaker 1: That's what we want. That's what especially now, you know,

746
00:41:51,639 --> 00:41:52,719
like there's too much.

747
00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:56,920
Speaker 2: Like the way that marketing that the marketing machines in

748
00:41:56,960 --> 00:41:59,599
all kinds of industries have worked in the past is

749
00:41:59,599 --> 00:42:01,960
shifting so dramatically right before our eyes.

750
00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:04,559
Speaker 1: And the fact is, like one of the things.

751
00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:09,440
Speaker 2: That the biggest shifts is that the consumers more educated

752
00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:12,159
than they've ever been because you don't need to take

753
00:42:12,199 --> 00:42:14,719
the manufacturer's word for it anymore. And it used to

754
00:42:14,719 --> 00:42:16,559
be that the only place you get information about the

755
00:42:16,599 --> 00:42:19,440
new driver was you needing to trust the fact that

756
00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:22,599
the ad that says you get ten more yards is real. Well,

757
00:42:22,599 --> 00:42:24,400
now you can see the ad that says you get

758
00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:27,239
ten more yards, and you go onto YouTube and find

759
00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:30,000
fifteen different people that have actually tested it on a robot,

760
00:42:30,039 --> 00:42:31,519
tested it in their hands and find out if it

761
00:42:31,559 --> 00:42:33,079
is actually, you know, ten more yards.

762
00:42:33,159 --> 00:42:34,920
Speaker 1: So there's no point in doing that anymore.

763
00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:40,360
Speaker 2: And so it's entirely just about you know, doing you,

764
00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:44,519
you know, and letting letting the consumer into the process,

765
00:42:44,719 --> 00:42:47,039
you know, enjoying having them be a part of it,

766
00:42:47,039 --> 00:42:49,639
which is, you know, a staple of how we operate

767
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:51,760
is just making sure that the feedback that we get

768
00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:54,519
from our customers that we're reading every day is actually

769
00:42:54,679 --> 00:42:58,920
you know, put into the process and put into the

770
00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:01,519
decisions that we make. And I think that a lot

771
00:43:01,519 --> 00:43:03,719
of the other companies out there, small or large, I

772
00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:08,039
think they'd get a little insulated, you know, in their

773
00:43:08,079 --> 00:43:11,119
own little worlds of you know, like if you're a

774
00:43:11,119 --> 00:43:13,400
little company, you need to be you need to be

775
00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:16,960
obsessed with your product, and positive that it's the best

776
00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:19,280
thing in the world and that nobody will ever, you know,

777
00:43:19,360 --> 00:43:20,960
come up with anything better. And then if you're the

778
00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:23,119
bigger companies, you need to stay in your lane and

779
00:43:23,519 --> 00:43:27,000
keep doing what you're doing. And it doesn't seem to

780
00:43:27,039 --> 00:43:30,639
be a lot of interest or opportunity even if there was.

781
00:43:30,639 --> 00:43:35,559
Speaker 1: Interest in in in engaging with and engaging with customers.

782
00:43:36,239 --> 00:43:38,800
Speaker 2: And I think that's where that's why we've been able

783
00:43:38,800 --> 00:43:39,519
to get where we are.

784
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:43,559
Speaker 3: Well. I think that as far as the online social

785
00:43:43,599 --> 00:43:46,440
media element to it, you and Bryce and are right

786
00:43:46,519 --> 00:43:53,760
up there as far as taking advantage of Yeah, and

787
00:43:54,360 --> 00:43:57,119
people are like Bryce, in no way, I'm like, dude,

788
00:43:58,079 --> 00:44:02,599
hate the ideology, not the people. Okay, let's just we

789
00:44:02,639 --> 00:44:04,599
don't have to go there. Just because he had that

790
00:44:04,679 --> 00:44:07,360
guy on one of his shows, and I think Break

791
00:44:07,400 --> 00:44:13,079
fifty is brilliant, but it's a whole different conversation. So Yeah,

792
00:44:13,119 --> 00:44:17,440
I just think that you've found the magic. You rub

793
00:44:17,519 --> 00:44:20,039
the bottle and the genie came out at the exact

794
00:44:20,119 --> 00:44:23,880
right time in the right way, and it's mind blowing.

795
00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:28,199
Speaker 2: But yeah, you and you asked like some of those

796
00:44:28,239 --> 00:44:31,000
lucky breaks like yes, so we had this social media

797
00:44:31,199 --> 00:44:34,760
edge but like, I don't know that lab becomes lab

798
00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:37,440
if COVID didn't happen, Like if we didn't have a

799
00:44:37,519 --> 00:44:43,719
moment where the entire planet got online twenty four hours

800
00:44:43,719 --> 00:44:47,880
a day, you know, like where you know there there

801
00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:49,960
was a handful of moments like that that would certainly

802
00:44:49,960 --> 00:44:53,519
be the most significant that enabled our stick of being

803
00:44:53,559 --> 00:44:55,840
online and connecting with customers.

804
00:44:56,079 --> 00:44:59,039
Speaker 3: And the science proved it, and you know where a

805
00:44:59,039 --> 00:45:00,920
lot of people like, we've we got this brand new thing.

806
00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:02,760
We've got a great new tea. It's like, yeah, but

807
00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:05,360
then there's no science behind it, right, you had the science.

808
00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:08,800
What Bill did with the science improved it, and the

809
00:45:08,840 --> 00:45:12,519
revealer was like, Okay, it's a graphic example of what

810
00:45:12,559 --> 00:45:15,639
it is that you're doing. Made a huge difference. Now,

811
00:45:16,239 --> 00:45:19,559
when we first met and I got my first LAB putter,

812
00:45:19,639 --> 00:45:23,480
what I was so excited about And again I told

813
00:45:23,519 --> 00:45:25,400
this too many times. I started playing golf in my

814
00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:29,320
mid thirties, Okay, and from the first time I started

815
00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:31,840
playing golf, to me, a putter with a center shaft

816
00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:35,599
made more sense than a heel shafted putter. And so

817
00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:37,599
I've been putting and then it was like, oh, look,

818
00:45:37,679 --> 00:45:40,639
Lab golf and they got the science and center shafted.

819
00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:44,960
I'm in heaven here. And so now that I'm totally

820
00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:48,960
hooked on the center shafted stuff and been doing it

821
00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:52,239
for years, you guys come out with a heel shafted

822
00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:57,599
putter to satisfy the desire of the old school putting world,

823
00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:04,599
I'm sure. And it has everything that any old school

824
00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:07,519
or regular golfer is gonna want. It's got the looks

825
00:46:07,559 --> 00:46:11,239
of a normal tipe putter, the D shape, and it's

826
00:46:11,239 --> 00:46:14,320
got a heel shafted but your science is still there.

827
00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:18,239
And so now I'm trying the heel shaft and I've

828
00:46:18,239 --> 00:46:20,360
played a couple of rounds with it, and it's a

829
00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:21,719
real adjustment for me.

830
00:46:24,039 --> 00:46:27,119
Speaker 1: Really, Oh for sure.

831
00:46:27,159 --> 00:46:30,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I I think that you know, you

832
00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:35,360
and I probably and I certainly wasn't this way pre Lab,

833
00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:38,599
but you know, eight years into using LAB putters exclusively,

834
00:46:38,760 --> 00:46:40,719
like I hit the ball.

835
00:46:40,559 --> 00:46:42,679
Speaker 1: At the bottom of the shaft. That's how you want,

836
00:46:42,840 --> 00:46:44,599
just how I.

837
00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:47,880
Speaker 2: Exactly and this shaft, you know, is you know, at

838
00:46:47,920 --> 00:46:50,559
an angle, and as long as I just playing this

839
00:46:50,679 --> 00:46:53,239
shaft and have the bottom of the shaft cut through

840
00:46:53,320 --> 00:46:55,480
right right through the middle of the ball, I'm gonna

841
00:46:55,519 --> 00:46:58,880
make some putts. So yeah, it has been an adjustment.

842
00:47:01,960 --> 00:47:05,519
If I'm honest, I'm not totally sold. I Liam Liam

843
00:47:05,559 --> 00:47:12,440
made me one h earlier, about a month and a

844
00:47:12,440 --> 00:47:17,159
half ago that I really like and and I'm you know,

845
00:47:17,239 --> 00:47:19,480
given at the old college try. And I'm starting to

846
00:47:19,519 --> 00:47:20,960
remember and this is where you and I would depart,

847
00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:23,800
because it sounds like you've used center shafted putters since always.

848
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:26,119
Speaker 3: I remember you're talking about. I have fifty putters in

849
00:47:26,159 --> 00:47:28,639
my basement and every every round I would play with

850
00:47:28,639 --> 00:47:29,280
the different putter.

851
00:47:31,559 --> 00:47:33,280
Speaker 1: And in fact, I used to use.

852
00:47:34,679 --> 00:47:38,079
Speaker 2: Super heel shafted putters, you know odysty number nine shapes

853
00:47:38,119 --> 00:47:40,840
and in NAPA shape or eightiot or two shape, stuff

854
00:47:40,840 --> 00:47:43,760
like that, super toe down heel shafted putters. And so

855
00:47:44,199 --> 00:47:46,840
I'm starting to like remember what I liked about lining

856
00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:47,400
them up and.

857
00:47:48,920 --> 00:47:55,360
Speaker 1: All of that. But we don't make putters for me,

858
00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:56,000
you know.

859
00:47:56,039 --> 00:47:59,800
Speaker 2: We make putters for for for for everyday golfers. And

860
00:47:59,840 --> 00:48:03,000
like the fact is, and I totally get why, because

861
00:48:03,119 --> 00:48:05,400
I did have the experience that was different than you,

862
00:48:05,440 --> 00:48:08,079
where center shafted putters made no sense to me early on,

863
00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:11,960
Like I always, I couldn't stand them. They set up

864
00:48:11,960 --> 00:48:13,760
shut and super messed up to me.

865
00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:14,159
Speaker 1: And so.

866
00:48:15,679 --> 00:48:21,760
Speaker 2: I'm just so happy to see people who were, you know,

867
00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:25,159
clear as day that they would never be able to

868
00:48:25,239 --> 00:48:29,760
use a center shafted putter having that lab experience, you know,

869
00:48:29,840 --> 00:48:33,519
having that holy crap, I just let it go and

870
00:48:33,559 --> 00:48:36,400
it just squares itself up and where I need to be.

871
00:48:36,559 --> 00:48:39,519
Speaker 1: And so you know, that's what's so happy making about it.

872
00:48:39,960 --> 00:48:45,960
Speaker 2: I the one regret I have about it, and nobody

873
00:48:46,039 --> 00:48:46,880
to blame but myself.

874
00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:48,639
Speaker 1: I had my team even trying to talk me out

875
00:48:48,639 --> 00:48:48,800
of it.

876
00:48:48,880 --> 00:48:54,000
Speaker 2: But the stock release that we did, we did with

877
00:48:54,039 --> 00:48:56,480
the press gript two degrees beforeward shaft lean and then

878
00:48:56,519 --> 00:48:59,239
a two degree press gript on it.

879
00:48:59,360 --> 00:49:02,559
Speaker 1: I didn't really appreciate that without the shaft going in

880
00:49:02,599 --> 00:49:05,920
the middle and without a.

881
00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:12,280
Speaker 2: Knowledge that you need to sort of that you you

882
00:49:12,320 --> 00:49:14,119
need to lean the shaft forward to get it to

883
00:49:14,199 --> 00:49:17,559
set up. A lot of these first time lab people

884
00:49:17,559 --> 00:49:22,440
are lab potentials, are going and grabbing you know, the

885
00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:25,079
os hs with two degrees of lean a two degree

886
00:49:26,320 --> 00:49:28,559
press grip on it, and it's setting up really shut

887
00:49:28,599 --> 00:49:31,800
to a lot of people. And it's just because most

888
00:49:31,840 --> 00:49:33,800
people set up putter down in their brains trying to

889
00:49:33,840 --> 00:49:36,039
make the shaft vertical. If you make the shaft vertical

890
00:49:36,079 --> 00:49:37,480
with two degrees of shaft lean, the face is going

891
00:49:37,519 --> 00:49:40,679
to shut. And so the zero degree lean, which one

892
00:49:40,719 --> 00:49:42,639
did you get zero lean or with a press grip

893
00:49:42,719 --> 00:49:42,960
on it?

894
00:49:43,000 --> 00:49:45,920
Speaker 3: Well? I had a two degree lean on it. And

895
00:49:46,000 --> 00:49:50,039
my nephew, Calvin Green, who works for you, We're not related,

896
00:49:50,480 --> 00:49:54,880
but he said, you know, because of where it sits

897
00:49:54,960 --> 00:49:57,119
on the face and the butty, you might not want

898
00:49:57,159 --> 00:49:59,880
to do, okay, So I won't do the lean, and

899
00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:03,039
and then it kind of limited my grips too, because

900
00:50:03,119 --> 00:50:06,039
I love the press two grip that I had on

901
00:50:06,079 --> 00:50:10,400
my d F three and my my OS one, but

902
00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:15,239
I couldn't get that, and so I was but it

903
00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:17,639
had that the grip that it had had a ridge

904
00:50:17,679 --> 00:50:19,880
down the center that really hit a finger wrong. And

905
00:50:19,880 --> 00:50:23,719
that's what I've never liked about the the DF two

906
00:50:23,719 --> 00:50:28,639
point one was the grip had this ridge down the

907
00:50:28,679 --> 00:50:31,880
back edge that hit my finger wrong, one of my

908
00:50:31,920 --> 00:50:35,280
fingers wrong. And so he said, well, just so Calvin's like,

909
00:50:35,519 --> 00:50:36,760
just go get a grip that you want.

910
00:50:37,760 --> 00:50:38,960
Speaker 1: That's the nice part about zero.

911
00:50:39,000 --> 00:50:40,800
Speaker 3: And that was beautiful and I sent it to him,

912
00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:42,440
and it was three days later it was back to me.

913
00:50:42,519 --> 00:50:46,360
I ended up getting a wind grip thick, but it

914
00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:49,320
didn't have that ridge back in the back of it.

915
00:50:52,360 --> 00:50:55,920
Speaker 1: Yes, the same yeah, that it.

916
00:50:55,840 --> 00:50:57,760
Speaker 3: Came to a point and just hit my finger wrong.

917
00:50:57,840 --> 00:51:00,960
Gave me a yeah. I don't know, I was just whining.

918
00:51:02,239 --> 00:51:04,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, But I mean it's it's a great putter. It's

919
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:07,039
going to keep getting better, and it's.

920
00:51:06,840 --> 00:51:10,280
Speaker 3: Going to satisfy a lot of people who've probably been reluctant.

921
00:51:10,519 --> 00:51:10,880
Speaker 1: For sure.

922
00:51:10,920 --> 00:51:13,960
Speaker 3: I think that's a huge thing. So are there more

923
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:16,800
Potter designs to be had?

924
00:51:17,079 --> 00:51:19,119
Speaker 1: I mean, no, that's it. That's it.

925
00:51:19,599 --> 00:51:22,760
Speaker 3: You're done, Okay, No one's ever going to buy the company.

926
00:51:24,639 --> 00:51:25,880
Speaker 1: We've always got stuff in the works.

927
00:51:25,920 --> 00:51:28,199
Speaker 2: And of course, you know, that's one of the most

928
00:51:28,239 --> 00:51:32,280
wonderful things about you know, the our new owners here

929
00:51:32,400 --> 00:51:34,199
is like I mean, our R and D team is

930
00:51:34,199 --> 00:51:37,239
twice as big as it was three months ago. Our

931
00:51:37,239 --> 00:51:39,840
technology and the machinery available to us in order to

932
00:51:40,239 --> 00:51:41,320
you know, develop.

933
00:51:40,960 --> 00:51:41,639
Speaker 1: Product is.

934
00:51:43,199 --> 00:51:45,519
Speaker 2: Is twice as twice as much as it was, you know,

935
00:51:45,559 --> 00:51:48,960
a few months ago. And so now we.

936
00:51:48,920 --> 00:51:54,079
Speaker 3: Have he's got enough land it, you have enough landed

937
00:51:54,159 --> 00:51:58,000
it Criswell to expand operation and build out.

938
00:51:58,400 --> 00:52:01,320
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, that's great. It's really, really, really great.

939
00:52:01,400 --> 00:52:06,039
Speaker 2: And yeah, I'm so excited about the product side of things.

940
00:52:06,079 --> 00:52:08,840
And you know, I've actually kind of the last eighteen months,

941
00:52:09,920 --> 00:52:12,119
I haven't been nearly as involved as I would have

942
00:52:12,239 --> 00:52:14,000
liked to have been, just because my world was.

943
00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:16,519
Speaker 1: About getting that deal done.

944
00:52:17,639 --> 00:52:20,320
Speaker 2: And now that it's done, I get to get back

945
00:52:20,320 --> 00:52:21,880
into the R and D room with the guys, with

946
00:52:22,039 --> 00:52:24,519
the engineers who actually know what they're doing.

947
00:52:24,559 --> 00:52:29,440
Speaker 1: And uh, it's just awesome.

948
00:52:29,559 --> 00:52:31,960
Speaker 2: I mean, and and and the timing too was amazing too,

949
00:52:31,960 --> 00:52:34,239
because we finished the R and D space. You know,

950
00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:39,760
when you were there, it was still a pool, right, Yeah,

951
00:52:39,840 --> 00:52:45,719
there was a pool and a jacuzzie and that atrium.

952
00:52:44,400 --> 00:52:47,719
Speaker 3: Yeah right, barbership in the barbershop.

953
00:52:47,159 --> 00:52:48,400
Speaker 1: And that was on the other side of the building.

954
00:52:48,440 --> 00:52:50,519
Speaker 2: But yes, the problem shop is now the break room

955
00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:56,880
and the pool and the spy area is now, you know,

956
00:52:57,079 --> 00:53:00,480
totally state of the art R and D space and

957
00:53:00,559 --> 00:53:02,719
to really being able to we're going to be pushing

958
00:53:02,760 --> 00:53:06,840
some stuff forward that the next the next twenty four

959
00:53:06,880 --> 00:53:11,000
months of product coming out of Lab will be profound.

960
00:53:11,079 --> 00:53:14,960
Speaker 3: And we'll have our eye on it again, Sam, to

961
00:53:15,079 --> 00:53:18,000
you and your brother and your dad. I'm so happy

962
00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:21,679
for you, guys, and I'm so happy for the company

963
00:53:21,679 --> 00:53:25,199
and everybody that works there because I've witnessed it firsthand

964
00:53:25,199 --> 00:53:28,039
that it is about the people and the culture. You've

965
00:53:28,039 --> 00:53:30,880
done an amazing job over there, and I'm just so

966
00:53:31,039 --> 00:53:34,400
incredibly proud to be a witness to it from this close.

967
00:53:34,800 --> 00:53:37,159
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Fred, and we could not have

968
00:53:37,239 --> 00:53:39,920
done it without you and the other Fred Greens of

969
00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:41,840
the world that have enough of an interest in this

970
00:53:42,320 --> 00:53:45,480
stupid ass game to take time out of their day

971
00:53:45,800 --> 00:53:49,400
to record stuff and tell our story. And I appreciate

972
00:53:49,400 --> 00:53:50,440
you how