WEBVTT - Shark Tank's Daymond John Backs Gamestar+

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio for our next

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<v Speaker 1>guest is an entrepreneur in every sense of the word.

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<v Speaker 1>He once ran is apparel operation out of his mother's basement,

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<v Speaker 1>but it is a lot more today now. Damon John

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<v Speaker 1>is the CEO of a multibillion dollar lifestyle brand he founded, Fubu.

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<v Speaker 1>He's also CEO of the marketing firm The Shark Group.

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<v Speaker 1>He's one of the judges on ABC's long running series

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<v Speaker 1>Shark Tank. He's a best selling author, and his latest

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<v Speaker 1>venture really combining his love of board games and game

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<v Speaker 1>shows by backing a new interactive streaming platform called game

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<v Speaker 1>star Plus. Damon John is founder and CEO of Fubu,

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<v Speaker 1>among many other things. He joins us on the phone

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<v Speaker 1>from Miami. Damon, it's good to chat with you again.

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<v Speaker 1>How are you? Oh, it's great chatting with you as always.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm great, good good. Hey. Um, let's get into what's

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<v Speaker 1>what was appealing to you about game Star Plus. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a mix of a physical board game, next generation app

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<v Speaker 1>you got IoT tech in there is this the metaverse?

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<v Speaker 1>You know? I think it is I think I think,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I think everything is going to be in

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<v Speaker 1>the metaverse. But you know, I guess the simplest way

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<v Speaker 1>to say it for all the listeners, it's kind of

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<v Speaker 1>like Netflix for game Night, you know, and me being

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<v Speaker 1>a huge lover of games, and I think, uh, board games.

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<v Speaker 1>I think, you know, through this last two years, all

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<v Speaker 1>of us have picked up some of that old love

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<v Speaker 1>for board games. This was just a new delivery of

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<v Speaker 1>form of delivery of board games. And that's why I

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<v Speaker 1>thought it was an absolutely amazing investment. So all right,

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<v Speaker 1>you made an investment, like where's it going to go?

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<v Speaker 1>What's tell us how it's going to play out? Here?

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<v Speaker 1>I'm thinking about our audience. They're investors and trying to

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<v Speaker 1>understand and as the technological world continues to really evolve,

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<v Speaker 1>where do you see this all going? Well, I think

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<v Speaker 1>that more people are going to start living in the

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<v Speaker 1>meta earth and or you know, online and doing what

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<v Speaker 1>they're doing. But you're bringing the simplicity of Game Night

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<v Speaker 1>like a Netflix, and I think that for the initial customer.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, we we're launching and we already launched Family

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<v Speaker 1>Feud really great, uh I P. You have obviously Steve

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<v Speaker 1>Harvey there after that we have seen it would marry

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<v Speaker 1>a Low Piz and Jeopardy with Ken Jennings Wheel of Fortune,

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<v Speaker 1>and there's so many more slated. These are all titles

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<v Speaker 1>of people really love You average out about anywhere from

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen to twenty dollars for you know a game. But

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<v Speaker 1>this is a subscription of about three dollars three ninety

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<v Speaker 1>nine a month and you get you're gonna get tons

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<v Speaker 1>of games. And this is definitely something that I think

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<v Speaker 1>some of the streamers are gonna want to acquire down

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<v Speaker 1>the road because they need to get more eyeballs and

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<v Speaker 1>keep more stickiness on their platforms, and I think this

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<v Speaker 1>is a way to do this without having to compete

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<v Speaker 1>for more content from other streamers. So talk to us

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<v Speaker 1>about this platform. You mentioned family few that it is

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<v Speaker 1>out there and it's streaming, So how many consumers are

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<v Speaker 1>using it? What's the stickiness of someone who signs on

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<v Speaker 1>and stays with it? Well, it too early to tell

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<v Speaker 1>the stickiness because we just launched it and you can

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<v Speaker 1>go to Target dot com and get it or going

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<v Speaker 1>to Target because there are some uh physical components to

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<v Speaker 1>the game, some cards you may want to have, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's a little too early to look at that. And

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<v Speaker 1>you know, listen, after being one shark thank every year

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<v Speaker 1>seeing people tell me they're going to do a good

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<v Speaker 1>jillion dollars in the first week. I cannot to give

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<v Speaker 1>ums like that. I just yeah, I like the fundamental

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<v Speaker 1>of knowing the I p s. They're knowing the celebrities,

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<v Speaker 1>they're knowing my reaches, they're knowing people are moving towards

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<v Speaker 1>streaming in all different forms, and knowing the metaverse is

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<v Speaker 1>coming around. I like, I like all the different things

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<v Speaker 1>in position for success. So is the game right now, damon?

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<v Speaker 1>Is it one that's meant to be played when people

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<v Speaker 1>are physically together or is it to the point now

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<v Speaker 1>where you can actually play with people who are not

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<v Speaker 1>in the same space as you and you do this

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<v Speaker 1>over the internet? Well out right now is going to

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<v Speaker 1>be physically together, But it's going to grow to that.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, there are games that exist in apps that

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<v Speaker 1>exist they're all separate that obviously you can play separately.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, that's nothing new, um, But right now it's

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<v Speaker 1>physically in the home because then you'll be able to

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<v Speaker 1>stream all the games to that home and uh and

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<v Speaker 1>and and and the physical components of there too, a

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<v Speaker 1>couple of those pieces, so right now you need to

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<v Speaker 1>be in the same household. Hey David, you know, as

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<v Speaker 1>you guys build this out, content content, content, and we

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<v Speaker 1>see it with the streaming services, but that's going to

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<v Speaker 1>be true for this platform as well. Is it fair

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<v Speaker 1>to say that it's gonna you know, there's gonna be

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<v Speaker 1>maybe as you guys build it out and add content.

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<v Speaker 1>In terms of profitability, it may take a little while,

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<v Speaker 1>I would say so, but um, you know, listen to

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<v Speaker 1>the two founders come from both the board, from the

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<v Speaker 1>gaming world and from the lightnessing world. I think that

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<v Speaker 1>there's going to just be a lot of massive I

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<v Speaker 1>p there and you know if I would have you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we we already saw this. You know, years ago we

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<v Speaker 1>thought the Netflix was something wasn't going to happen. Now

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<v Speaker 1>you have Kulu, Netflix and all these type of things.

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<v Speaker 1>I think this is going to be the new normal.

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<v Speaker 1>What other titles are you thinking of? You mentioned that

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<v Speaker 1>you have, um seen it with Mario Lopez, Jeopardy with

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<v Speaker 1>Ken Jennings, Uh, you know Wheel of Fortune coming, You

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<v Speaker 1>already have family Feud out. How else are you thinking about?

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<v Speaker 1>I don't want to call it content. Necessarily it is content, Um,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's it's kind of it's a little different in

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<v Speaker 1>the sense of like, you know, it's interactive. Well, we're

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<v Speaker 1>looking at all ips. You know, one of my favorite

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<v Speaker 1>ips monopoly of course, but you know we a deal

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<v Speaker 1>of no deal or you know the price is right Pyramid,

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<v Speaker 1>you know. I think I think, um, all of these

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<v Speaker 1>ips go to be on there. What's the acquisition process

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<v Speaker 1>for getting that intellectual property? Like, is it really tough

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<v Speaker 1>to get monopoly? It is? Really, well, it's it's it's

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<v Speaker 1>somewhat tough, but you have people like myself, Steve Harvey,

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<v Speaker 1>the great founders who worked over at Sony and various

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<v Speaker 1>other places. We all have, you know, the right connections

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<v Speaker 1>of Mattel and have Bro, and I think that they're

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<v Speaker 1>always trying to expand their IP and put it in

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<v Speaker 1>different hands as well. So, um, I don't think this

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<v Speaker 1>one is going to be as challenging because we're kind

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<v Speaker 1>of like in that blue ocean space with this, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's not too many other competitors in this area delivering

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<v Speaker 1>it on the same platform. So I think it's gonna

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<v Speaker 1>be fairly easy. Well, what's interesting too, this whole idea

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<v Speaker 1>of family game night, right right. Uh, that I think

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<v Speaker 1>about in terms of your potential audience, UM, has to

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<v Speaker 1>make it even more attractive. Yeah, because listen, you have

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<v Speaker 1>you have three to four generations that can live in

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<v Speaker 1>a household and still all love and value the same game.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean when when we think about all the shows

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<v Speaker 1>that are on Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, and all these

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<v Speaker 1>shows that are still a mailers And I just did

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<v Speaker 1>Celebrity Family few the other day and it brought me

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<v Speaker 1>back to my child. I've been watched family including family

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<v Speaker 1>feeling in a long time, and I had the most

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<v Speaker 1>amazing time. And I think that when you bring in

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<v Speaker 1>families around where all of them can appreciate these legendary

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<v Speaker 1>I p s the legendary games, I think I think

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<v Speaker 1>it will be a new boost to the gaming market

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<v Speaker 1>in this sense, to the board game market. Hey, Damon,

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<v Speaker 1>I gotta ask. A couple of days ago, you conducted

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<v Speaker 1>a conversation with Facebook formerly Facebook now Meta founder of

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<v Speaker 1>Mark Zuckerberg, where he really talked about his vision for

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<v Speaker 1>the metaverse. Uh. We talked a lot about Facebook. The

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<v Speaker 1>company's stock is down about since its highs back in

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<v Speaker 1>um September. Uh, what was the vision that he laid

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<v Speaker 1>out for the Metaverse to you? And and and at

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<v Speaker 1>south By Southwest assassinating conversation with him, and I got

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<v Speaker 1>to more of the human aspect of him. We did

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<v Speaker 1>go through some of the technical aspects. But you know,

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<v Speaker 1>when I asked him questions, he sounded like that bright, young,

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<v Speaker 1>um um customer obsessed entrepreneur that just wants to help

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<v Speaker 1>and change people's lives. And I think that as he

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<v Speaker 1>was talking about the metaverse and all the things that

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<v Speaker 1>will bring uh, he was looking for more creatives and

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<v Speaker 1>entrepreneurs to really define what it is. I mean today

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's it's kind of like where we had the

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<v Speaker 1>iPhone one. You know, that's where it's really at today.

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<v Speaker 1>But I mean some of the things we were talking about,

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<v Speaker 1>how people who are you know, maybe in a wheelchair

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<v Speaker 1>can now dance and sing and swim and and more

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<v Speaker 1>mature people can have that first date again with their wife. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>That that obviously brought joy to me. But talking about

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<v Speaker 1>how we're working, you know, I'm I'm questioning myself should

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<v Speaker 1>I open an office again. I half my employees don't

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<v Speaker 1>want to work. I don't want to work in office

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<v Speaker 1>do want to come in now there's a medium, Damon,

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<v Speaker 1>We gotta run, so nice to check in with you, Damon.

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<v Speaker 1>John over at fubou and of course as his latest

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<v Speaker 1>investments for Tim's enevich um Carollmaster who was safe evening