WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.600 Hey, It's Josh Carp and it's Friday, which means that 2 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:05.960 we are airing a Golf Smarter Mulligans episode from the archives. 3 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:09.359 This week's rerun is episode five h two with Derek Ruky. 4 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:13.560 We also have new interviews every Tuesday. Next week I'll 5 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:16.800 be speaking to Bradley Hughes, the former player and a 6 00:00:16.839 --> 00:00:19.440 top flight instructor who will be joining us to talk 7 00:00:19.480 --> 00:00:21.640 about his approach to the golf swing. 8 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:25.719 Golf Smarter Premium number five hundred two published on August eighteen, 9 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:29.079 twenty fifteen. Welcome to the Golf Smarter Podcast. 10 00:00:29.160 --> 00:00:29.480 Derek. 11 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:32.920 Hey, Fred, how are you? I am great. How are 12 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:33.520 you doing today? 13 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:34.719 I'm doing very well. 14 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:37.200 Thank you very much, and thank you for turning me 15 00:00:37.240 --> 00:00:40.399 on to the newest GPS product to hit the market, 16 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:45.840 t link. I'm very excited about this because you've seemed 17 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:50.479 to accomplish something very important in the GPS market and 18 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:53.359 that is a great price point. 19 00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:56.399 Yeah. Thanks it. 20 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:58.439 It's been quite a treny that gets where we are now, 21 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:02.759 and we had to do a few things very differently 22 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:08.400 in the markets to get to a price point. But yeah, 23 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:10.680 we're just going and I'm excited to get it in 24 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:13.840 your hands and get your feedback and yeah, and kind 25 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:17.640 of just chat about it here on the podcast, and. 26 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:19.640 That is what we'll do, is chat about it for 27 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:21.280 a while. But I need to know. 28 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:23.799 I mean, you look like you know, we we've had 29 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:27.159 ads ads for Harry's razors on the show multiple times. 30 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:31.319 You don't even look like you shave man. You are 31 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:35.319 awfully young to be the sometimes you shave. 32 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:37.239 Yeah, but. 33 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:43.719 How is it that you young entrepreneur yourself got into 34 00:01:43.879 --> 00:01:44.719 a golf product. 35 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:46.280 Tell me, tell me the story on that. 36 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:48.319 Yeah. Sure, So. 37 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:53.159 Golf kind of became my passion when I was twelve 38 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:55.599 years old. I I feel like people that kind of 39 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:57.959 latch onto the sport have that you know, that aha 40 00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:00.560 moment where they're on the golf course and they you know, 41 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:02.799 all of a sudden, the potts start dropping and they 42 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:05.599 start like hearing the birds chirping, and they start seeing 43 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:07.920 the divots flying. And I just kind of fell in 44 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:10.479 love with it when I was twelve years old, And 45 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:13.520 you know, I just decided, like one day, like there's 46 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:16.960 no other way I would rather spend every single waking 47 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:21.120 second than spend it on a golf course. So I 48 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:26.800 basically did just that. From the age twelve to twenty, 49 00:02:26.840 --> 00:02:29.080 and I became pretty good. I started playing in like 50 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:32.639 junior golf events. By the time I was eighteen, I 51 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:36.240 was a top ten junior golfer in Canada, and then 52 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:39.240 that landed me a golf scholarship to go play for 53 00:02:39.319 --> 00:02:43.840 a university in Texas, which was, you know, kind of 54 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:47.840 the main goal that I wanted to you know, achieve 55 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:53.080 out of starting golf competitively. And when I got to university, 56 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:57.759 I started to kind of recognize that the skills that 57 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:02.120 you have to develop in to become a great competitive golfer, 58 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:07.680 we're also very advantageous to an educating setting or even 59 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:10.919 just business. And that's like having a good work ethic, determination, 60 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:13.639 and just really being able to dedicate yourself to something 61 00:03:13.639 --> 00:03:17.159 for an extended period of time. And so I kind 62 00:03:17.159 --> 00:03:22.120 of started moving away from you know, competitive golf being 63 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:25.719 like everything I focused on, you know, fourteen hours a 64 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:28.840 day on the range, to wanting to put that kind 65 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:32.719 of work ethic into something else that could potentially just 66 00:03:32.759 --> 00:03:35.000 put me ahead a little bit. And so when I 67 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:38.080 was in university in Texas, I was I started like 68 00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:40.439 day treating the stock market full time. When I was 69 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:44.520 in my dorm room. I started an eBay business where 70 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:47.159 I was like importing goods out of China into my 71 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:50.520 dorm room and selling them moneybay, and I built that up. 72 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:54.039 It was actually became pretty big, and I was making 73 00:03:54.039 --> 00:03:55.919 some good money out out of my dorm room. So 74 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:59.360 I decided, like, look, I'm just going to enjoy golf 75 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:03.159 for what it is and not continue to invest all 76 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:06.759 this time into it. And so I went home, and 77 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:09.960 that eBay business was actually ended up failing for me. 78 00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:12.280 It was a big failure. 79 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:17.519 And I learned a ton from kind of doing these 80 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:21.199 little tiny ventures on the side and you know, going 81 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:23.560 through a few successes and a few failures. And then 82 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:28.160 I ended up finishing or enrolling to finish my degree 83 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:32.639 here in Calgary, Alberta at Mount Royal University in their 84 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:37.639 Innovation and Entrepreneurship program. And in the first class that 85 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:41.360 you take for the entre program, you basically just come 86 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:44.720 up with an idea around something that you're passionate about. 87 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:48.360 And so for me, you know, the whole Malcolm Gladwell thing, 88 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:51.040 what have you invested your ten thousand hours in? What 89 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:53.120 do you you know, really know? And so for me, 90 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:59.120 that was golf. And I saw these GPS watches, you know, 91 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:03.639 becoming really popular along with this wearable tech. And it 92 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:06.199 was pretty obvious why they were becoming so popular, Like 93 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:10.519 as a golfer, it's you know, especially an average golfer, 94 00:05:10.759 --> 00:05:12.439 you just want to be able to enjoy your game 95 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:15.720 and not have to think about too much. So being 96 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:17.759 able to just look at your wrist and have a 97 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:22.399 yardage really quickly, you know, it became popular. And so 98 00:05:22.480 --> 00:05:25.920 I tried these watches on, and you know, long story short, 99 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:29.439 I just decided these watches were great, but they were 100 00:05:29.480 --> 00:05:35.120 far too distracting. They were bulky heavy, really cumbersome, and 101 00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:37.199 they were expensive. So I just wanted to find a 102 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:41.560 way to you know, create that same kind of convenience, 103 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:45.079 but put it into something that was much more affordable 104 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:48.879 and much more comfortable to wear, kind of more like 105 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:52.399 wearing a bracelet, like one of those balanced bracelets that 106 00:05:52.439 --> 00:05:55.279 you see golfers wearing. And so that was the original 107 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:58.680 vision for it, and you know, along the way, I 108 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:00.800 just picked up a bunch of mentors. I met the 109 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:05.360 right investors. I brought on my co founder and CTO 110 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:07.959 who had the technical background behind this, to kind of 111 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:12.319 develop software behind it. And then I consider myself just 112 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:14.000 to be kind of a hustle and the vision of 113 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:18.319 the company, and it definitely takes a lot of hustle 114 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:21.360 to get something like this off the ground, especially being 115 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:22.600 you know, twenty one years old. 116 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:29.759 Tell me the moment that Tell me about the moment 117 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:34.600 that you just you you came to that realization that, yeah, 118 00:06:34.759 --> 00:06:37.839 maybe the tour golf is not going to work for me. 119 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:40.920 Tell me what that what that epiphany was like. And 120 00:06:40.920 --> 00:06:42.920 it's like, no, I think if I'm going to make 121 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:44.680 a lot of money, it's going to be in business 122 00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:45.480 and not in golf. 123 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:50.279 Yeah, it's funny. It was a very specific moment actually, 124 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:56.160 when I was playing a qualify around. So it's like 125 00:06:57.160 --> 00:07:00.160 university golf, like all of the entire team gets out 126 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:02.240 of the course and they do qualifier rounds to see 127 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:04.519 who's going to go to play at the next tournament. 128 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:06.759 And the next tournament was in Vegas, and I just 129 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:09.439 really wanted to go to Vegas. So I put a 130 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:11.920 lot of pressure on myself for this tournament. And while 131 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:14.920 I was in my qualify round, I was playing, you know, 132 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:17.800 I was having a bad time, Like I just really 133 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:21.120 wasn't enjoying the game as much as I used to 134 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:26.000 I I kind of put too much pressure on myself 135 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.199 for it. And during that round, I had some open 136 00:07:29.240 --> 00:07:31.439 trades in the stock market and I ended up making 137 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:34.240 like three thousand dollars in a matter of hours. And 138 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:38.439 I'm just like, look, I I think I would rather 139 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:41.759 dedicate my time to something that's really working and I'm 140 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:45.920 actually getting some enjoyment out of then, you know, something 141 00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:48.000 that's kind of started to become more of a chore. 142 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:50.800 And I felt like I had milk golf for all 143 00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:55.160 that it could give me, and you know, just realizing 144 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:58.600 that it wasn't It didn't feel like quitting to me 145 00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:01.920 because it felt like the lessons learned and the skills 146 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:04.079 I gained out of trying to become a very highly 147 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:07.120 competitive golfer or the reason why I could make money 148 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:09.160 in the stock market in the first place, So why 149 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:11.360 not apply that to something else? 150 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:17.519 And what skills and lessons were those that you learned? 151 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:19.319 And you know, I mean, like you talked about how 152 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.720 you failed miserably on eBay and that probably was a 153 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:26.720 huge lesson too. I mean, what do we learn from 154 00:08:26.759 --> 00:08:29.120 doing things right? We just keep repeating it, not knowing 155 00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:31.560 why it was right. It just happened, but here you 156 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:34.799 are getting experience at a young age to teach you 157 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:38.200 something on how to move forward totally. 158 00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:42.799 I Yeah, golf is a microcosm of life. I definitely 159 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:44.440 believe that. And I feel like a little bit of 160 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:46.679 an old soul just because of everything that I've had 161 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:48.679 to go through on the golf course, which is strange 162 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:52.320 to say, but one of the big things that I've 163 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:55.399 learned that's really helped with getting a startup off the 164 00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:58.799 ground is when you're running a startup and you're getting 165 00:08:58.840 --> 00:09:03.559 something like t Link, it seems like on a daily basis, 166 00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:07.080 what is the best thing of your entire life happens 167 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:10.240 to you, and on the exact same day, the worst 168 00:09:10.279 --> 00:09:12.080 thing of your entire life happens to you. 169 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:14.360 There's constantly new things. 170 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:17.279 Up in the air that are happening that you know, 171 00:09:17.399 --> 00:09:19.840 one second you get a five thousand unit order and 172 00:09:19.879 --> 00:09:22.519 the next second your manufacturing breaks down and you can't 173 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:24.399 even get those five thousand units off the ground or 174 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:26.840 something like that. And what golf has really taught me 175 00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:32.039 is it's not so much about how you perceive something 176 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:34.399 is good or bad on a golf course, whether that's 177 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:37.159 a miss three foot putt or you know, a chip in. 178 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:40.879 It's more about how you actually deal with that situation 179 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:45.600 and react to it. So what golf taught me is 180 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:51.240 in between that I guess that stimulus of something good 181 00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:54.320 or bad happening to you and your reaction to it. 182 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:57.679 In between those two things is really opportunity that almost 183 00:09:57.799 --> 00:10:01.759 nobody recognizes to pro assess it, to think about it, 184 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:04.559 and to react in a way that someone else might 185 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:05.039 just kind. 186 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:06.879 Of pull the trigger on an emotional response. 187 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:09.960 And when you get emotional on the golf course, things 188 00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:11.480 can go bad very quickly. 189 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:18.320 You did learn a lot that's awesome. 190 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:25.279 To the Golf Smarter podcast audience. We are also broadcasting 191 00:10:25.320 --> 00:10:28.000 this live on Periscope, and to those of you who 192 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:30.159 are watching on periscope right now, if you have any 193 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:33.759 questions for Derek about his lessons learned or about t Link, 194 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:36.240 which we're going to talk a lot about, please go 195 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:39.679 ahead and submit them on your phone right there and 196 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:42.039 let us know what you're thinking about and if you 197 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:49.320 can hear properly, Derek, growing up when you got hooked 198 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:52.679 on golf and then all of a sudden you realize, 199 00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:55.399 you know, you took it as far as you could 200 00:10:55.960 --> 00:11:02.279 that you felt when you made that decision that it's 201 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:04.120 not going to golf is not going to be your 202 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:07.279 life as far as being on the course, was that 203 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:13.240 a relief? Was that depressing? Were you happy? 204 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:16.159 How? How did that make you feel. 205 00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:20.399 At the time of making that decision? It was it 206 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:24.600 was a little tough, just because I know how much 207 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:28.080 time I had invested into one singular thing, which is 208 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:30.080 learning how to hit a ball into a hole in 209 00:11:30.200 --> 00:11:35.519 as few strokes as possible, you know, So that kind 210 00:11:35.559 --> 00:11:38.720 of went through my head of how many thousands of 211 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:42.159 hours have I invested into this one thing that you know, 212 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:45.960 I might not really use anymore to you know, try 213 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:50.279 and further a career in it. But I quickly kind of, 214 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:53.200 you know, I was able to recognize that those hours 215 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:55.919 weren't just going into, like I said, hitting a ball 216 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:58.639 into a hole, but more so into just kind of developing, 217 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:03.519 uh as a person, you know, developing that work ethic, 218 00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:06.399 which is something that I feel is always separated me, 219 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.879 you know, being always being the first on the range 220 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:10.360 and then the last off at the end of the 221 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:13.480 day of the golf course. So now that's just translated 222 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:16.639 into you know, the first into the office and the 223 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:19.120 last out or whatever it might be. And I was 224 00:12:19.159 --> 00:12:23.200 actually when I realized that it was actually a feeling 225 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:27.759 of excitement to realize that, like, holy, I have all 226 00:12:27.799 --> 00:12:32.399 these extra hours that I used to invest into golf 227 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:37.080 that I can invest into other things, you know, and 228 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:39.759 that kind of it kind of excited me to have 229 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:42.840 this free time to just put into something that you know, 230 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:47.159 might actually leverage that time investment into something much bigger. 231 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:52.200 I have to ask all the hours that you had 232 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:57.120 invested in playing, in learning about yourself and learning about 233 00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:59.320 the game and what it taught you about how to 234 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:03.320 conduct yourself. You've been vague in our emails, and I 235 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:07.360 need to ask for myself, what did Golf Smarter have 236 00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:08.519 to do with any of that? 237 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:13.000 Yeah, Golf Smarter was It's actually so cool to be 238 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:17.279 on this for me because so I was so like 239 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:20.039 all I wanted to do was get better at golf. 240 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:23.320 So when I practiced when I was younger, like I 241 00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:25.960 don't know, probably from fourteen and up, I'd be on 242 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:28.159 the range for four or five hours at a time, 243 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:31.840 and I thought it was extremely inefficient. This is the 244 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:34.799 way that I thought it was extremely inefficient for me 245 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:37.919 to be listening to music while I was playing, when 246 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:40.799 I could instead be listening something that was actually building out, 247 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:42.840 you know, my mental game, or maybe a new tip 248 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:44.480 that I could be using on the range while I 249 00:13:44.519 --> 00:13:47.320 was practicing. So I would just be practicing away in 250 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:49.240 a way, and I would just listen to Golf Smarter 251 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:52.679 while I was playing, and I felt like, you know, 252 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:55.240 even if the guy beside me was practicing just as 253 00:13:55.240 --> 00:13:57.879 hard as I was, I had like an extra edge 254 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:00.399 on that guy just because, you know, I was picking 255 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:03.320 up this tip that maybe he would never learn and 256 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:07.159 being able to apply it. So that was It's kind 257 00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:08.679 of cool to actually be on this now. 258 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:11.559 Well, it's very cool to have you on. 259 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:14.919 I'm flattered that you would use that as a way 260 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:16.039 to improve your game. 261 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:16.919 Thank you. 262 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:20.519 It's very cool to have you on the show too. 263 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:27.360 So now let's talk about te Link. I'm really impressed. 264 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:30.960 You know, you talked about the other products out there 265 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:32.759 being bulky, heavy and expensive. 266 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:36.759 What what did you want to address. 267 00:14:36.440 --> 00:14:43.159 Immediately on UH and and for those again watching on periscope, 268 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:46.639 I'm holding up the box right now for the t Link, GPS, 269 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:50.919 golf Watch, convenience, comfort and style. What were the things 270 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:54.360 that you felt you needed to address immediately in improving 271 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:55.879 on what was already in the marketplace. 272 00:14:56.919 --> 00:15:00.360 So the key thing right off the bat for me 273 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:04.759 was just the overall size and style of the watch. 274 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:08.080 When I tried on the original, you know, like the 275 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:10.399 Garment s one, I think was the first watch that 276 00:15:10.519 --> 00:15:13.480 was really started blowing up in the market. I tried 277 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:18.159 it on and it was so uncomfortable and distracting that 278 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:22.240 I could hardly even hit the ball straight just because 279 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:24.200 I wasn't I'm not used to wearing a watch when 280 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:26.080 I play golf, Like I just wear one of those 281 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:30.440 balanced bracelets, and that's that's pretty much it. And I 282 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:32.480 know a lot of I just knew by nature of 283 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:34.720 playing a lot of golf with amateur golfers. I just 284 00:15:34.759 --> 00:15:36.559 know that a lot of people don't like to wear 285 00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:39.679 watches when they play because of that exact reason, big 286 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:43.960 and bulky. So the first thing was, is there a 287 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.919 way to kind of scale down, you know, this technology 288 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:51.399 into something that's much more smaller, kind of rolls with 289 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:55.120 your wrist nicely, it's light and feels more like a 290 00:15:55.159 --> 00:15:59.639 fitness tracker than you know, a big, bulky watch. And so, 291 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:02.480 you know, that was the first big thing, and then 292 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:07.120 I just kind of recognized that, like the golf GPS 293 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:11.039 retail market is kind of like this small pond with 294 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:12.919 big fish in it. You know, you got guys like 295 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:16.639 Garmented Bushno and Skycaddy and names that everyone knows. So 296 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:19.559 I needed to find a way to get a price 297 00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:22.600 down to that ninety nine dollars level just to kind 298 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:25.720 of make it more of an impulse buy for people. 299 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:31.120 And so yeah, really the first two months of having 300 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:34.639 the idea was just validating it in my network that 301 00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:40.000 people really would value having a lightweight, small device that 302 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:44.399 could be worn like so teelink can be worn both 303 00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:46.440 as a watch and as a belt clip. The unit 304 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:48.960 pops out, and so I wanted to make sure that 305 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:52.279 that was something people would value over potentially having more features, 306 00:16:52.840 --> 00:16:55.320 and the response was overwhelmingly yes. 307 00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:57.840 So that kind of gave the go ahead. 308 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:02.519 Smart move, very good. I'm for those who again are 309 00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:05.160 on periscope. This is this is what my t link 310 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:08.279 looks like on my wrist. It is very lightweight, it's 311 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:10.480 very comfortable. There you go, he's got one too. Of 312 00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:13.640 course he's got one. Now I've got one too. It's 313 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:20.960 very lightweight, it's very comfortable, it's not distracting. And but 314 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:23.839 you know, how is it that you were able to 315 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:27.119 get away from the two hundred and ninety nine three 316 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:32.640 hundred ninety nine four fifty, you know, five hundred dollars 317 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:37.680 price point with something that is so lightweight, comfortable, small. 318 00:17:39.240 --> 00:17:42.359 How does it work? And why is the price so 319 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.279 different than what the big boys have to offer. 320 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:47.680 So the big thing that we had to do. 321 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:51.920 Was we're trying to make sure that the focus on 322 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:56.680 the device side is strictly on providing that comfortable experience 323 00:17:56.920 --> 00:18:00.759 and yet having that really accurate data a low cost. 324 00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:03.119 So the way that we were able to do that 325 00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:06.519 is by utilizing a piece of technology that pretty much 326 00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:09.839 everyone in North America uses on a daily basis, and 327 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:13.200 it's really the most powerful thing that any of us 328 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:18.759 own right now, and that's your smartphone. So we figured that, 329 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:21.720 you know, in order to cut down on costs on 330 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:25.000 the device side, some of those big costs include like 331 00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:28.960 having enough memory and having a built on GPS onto 332 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:32.319 the device that's constantly pulling GPS, which requires a larger 333 00:18:32.359 --> 00:18:36.480 battery as well to handle that GPS signal. And so 334 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:39.559 what we decided to do was why not utilize a 335 00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:44.559 GPS battery and memory platform that everyone carries with them 336 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:48.799 at all times. So t Link just uses Bluetooth to 337 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:52.400 connect with your phone and then run off the GPS 338 00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:57.359 that's built right into your phone. So we're able to 339 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:00.920 kind of keep the hardware and the core technology onto 340 00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:06.640 something that you already own. And that also allowed us 341 00:19:06.680 --> 00:19:11.960 to differentiate ourselves kind of from an updating perspective as well, 342 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:14.279 because one of the big problems that these GPS watches 343 00:19:14.359 --> 00:19:18.000 have is golf courses are constantly being updated and you 344 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:20.240 have to plug your watch into your computer, go to 345 00:19:20.359 --> 00:19:22.599 Garmin dot com or whatever it is and download a 346 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:26.920 new database, as opposed to with us, since it's on 347 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:30.680 the app, everything's just being pulled from the cloud, so 348 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:33.799 anytime a course is updated, you never have to update 349 00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:37.759 the app do anything. You're constantly getting the freshest database 350 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:39.759 and you know that you're getting the most accurate yardage 351 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:40.400 as possible. 352 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:42.079 So yeah, by. 353 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:46.240 Utilizing the phone, we're able to dramatically reduce all of 354 00:19:46.279 --> 00:19:49.839 our costs and be able to have some you know, 355 00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:51.599 some good margins at a low price point. 356 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:58.200 For a while, I've been using the Bushnell Hybrid, which 357 00:19:58.359 --> 00:20:01.359 I rarely see people use, and I think it's really 358 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:03.880 one of the better ones that are out there because 359 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:06.039 not only does it have the GPS, but it has 360 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:07.640 the range finder on it as well. 361 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:09.839 I picked mine up on eBay. 362 00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:13.960 And so you get front, middle, back, but you can 363 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:17.759 also you know, scope out the pin so you have 364 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:20.599 better understanding of how deep, you know how much room 365 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:23.599 you have to play. But I have been enjoying this 366 00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:26.079 for the quick glance, you know, it's like or when 367 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:27.759 somebody else says, can you give me a read boom? 368 00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:30.640 I don't have to go nuts over it. But I 369 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:37.680 live in an area that is spotty on cell service. 370 00:20:37.720 --> 00:20:39.759 There's a lot of hills, a lot of mountains here. 371 00:20:40.759 --> 00:20:44.240 The San Francisco area is notorious for having bad cell 372 00:20:44.359 --> 00:20:47.440 service on all of the major carriers and minor ones 373 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:51.319 as well. There's been one time where I went out 374 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:54.200 and played using my te link where when I was 375 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:57.920 on the first tee it wasn't connecting. But then once 376 00:20:57.960 --> 00:20:59.799 I started walking the course, I looked down and I 377 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:01.599 had signal, so I was finding the rest of the 378 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:04.079 way once it did connect. But there was one time 379 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:06.599 that I just couldn't connect. 380 00:21:06.839 --> 00:21:09.440 How do we get around? Do you have you figured 381 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:10.079 anything out? 382 00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:13.079 That if you're having spotty cell service that you still 383 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:14.400 can use the te link. 384 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:20.759 Yeah, so that's probably the biggest big factor have right now. 385 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:25.119 You do need a cell service for it to be 386 00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:27.920 the most accurate heritage as possible. We did happen to 387 00:21:28.279 --> 00:21:32.880 develop an algorithm that helps with that a little bit. 388 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:34.759 So the way that GPS works. 389 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:37.799 Is it's constantly pulling from you know, the satellites that 390 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:42.440 are nearby and requesting your location to just coordinate with 391 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:44.759 them and do all the math to determine exactly where 392 00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:47.079 you are and when you don't have, you know, when 393 00:21:47.079 --> 00:21:48.880 you're not above one of those satellites. One of the 394 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:51.559 things that we found we could kind of hack into 395 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:54.960 it to get slightly less accurate, but at least give 396 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:59.039 you yard just you know that are reasonable by tapping 397 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:01.880 into the cell towers that around you and triangulating your 398 00:22:01.880 --> 00:22:06.000 position based on that. It's very confusing. I did develop it. 399 00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:09.279 My business partner who's kind of like the computer genius, 400 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:14.000 did that. But yeah, in all honesty, you need to 401 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:18.519