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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Deal.

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Speaker 3: I'm your host, Jason Kelly, back with my partner Alex Rodriguez.

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Speaker 2: You're in Miami. I'm in New York.

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Speaker 3: Coming up later on the show, We've got Mike Ropoli.

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Speaker 3: Oh my god, this guy, the two of you, it

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Speaker 3: was it was just like a comedy show, like what

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Speaker 3: is your deal with Mike Ropoli.

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Speaker 1: You know, Big Mike's from the Big Apple and you

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Speaker 1: know he went to Saint John's. But he's got a

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Speaker 1: personality bigger than the Big Apple. I mean, he is

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Speaker 1: bigger than life. Everything he does is huge, whether it's

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Speaker 1: everything he's done in the soft drink business, in horses,

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Speaker 1: and his latest project with Saint John's has been nothing

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Speaker 1: but spectacular, while bringing in Rick Patino and really supporting

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Speaker 1: that program from eight to eight.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, well, sadly for him and probably good for us.

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Speaker 3: We recorded this prior to this week because he would

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Speaker 3: be in his bag, as the kids say, this week,

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Speaker 3: because Saint John's went out with a bit of a whimper.

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Speaker 4: It was.

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Speaker 5: I was gonna say it's hard to watch. It was

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Speaker 5: hard to watch for Micropol.

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Speaker 3: I will say it was not as hard for me

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Speaker 3: to watch as a Georgetown guy, because I don't like

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Speaker 3: Saint John's at all. I mean, they have had Georgetown's

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Speaker 3: number for a long time. But you know, to your point,

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Speaker 3: he has invested, Mike has heavily into that program. It's

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Speaker 3: a real window into the business of college sports and

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Speaker 3: how much money is at stake with nil with a

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Speaker 3: transfer portal. They have built an incredible program and as

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Speaker 3: you say, it's just the latest thing that he's built.

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Speaker 2: I mean, what a career vitamin water.

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Speaker 3: I feel like is one of those signature deals where

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Speaker 3: equity really came to the four for the athletes and

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Speaker 3: the celebrities who were involved. I have to think that

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Speaker 3: caught your attention when when it was going down right.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and no question about it, it was a watershed moment

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Speaker 1: for all athletes and entertainers, especially when you read the

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Speaker 1: numbers of fifty cents and David Wright, and you know

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Speaker 1: Kobe's also been in other of his partnerships, and that's

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Speaker 1: when the light went up for all athletes. And then

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Speaker 1: Sanders said, wait a minute, maybe there's an opportunity to

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Speaker 1: get equity and build real wealth versus just you know,

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Speaker 1: collecting a check. But again, you've got to give Micropoli credit.

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Speaker 1: He's a pioneer all throughout. He jokes around him being

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Speaker 1: a c student at Saint John's, but he's truly one

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Speaker 1: of the smartest people that I've ever met. Eq Iq.

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Speaker 1: He can be a stand up comedian. As you saw,

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Speaker 1: he is psychony and then he's fearless Jason, that's the

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Speaker 1: one thing. And he has an incredible work ethic that

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Speaker 1: comes from his parents.

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Speaker 6: I mean, he's awesome.

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Speaker 3: I've never seen anyone who has your number like this guy.

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Speaker 3: So I do want to mention March Madness because a

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Speaker 3: couple of things. First of all, later this week, you

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Speaker 3: and I are headed to Atlanta. We're going to do

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Speaker 3: an event with our friends at Invesco. We're going to

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Speaker 3: talk to the athletic director of Georgia Tech all about

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Speaker 3: the business of college sports, March Madness, everything that's happening there.

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Speaker 3: I get to show you around my hometown a little bit.

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Speaker 3: That's gonna be really fun. I've spent a lot of

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Speaker 3: time in Miami. Now you get to spend at least

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Speaker 3: a little bit of time in Atlanta. I mean, you've

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Speaker 3: been out to Truest Park and you've you know, played

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Speaker 3: the braves and stuff, but you know, like hanging out

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Speaker 3: in Atlanta with me, that's a different thing. But the

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Speaker 3: other thing I wanted to mention related to March madness.

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Speaker 3: I know you've been watching the tournament, maybe even a

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Speaker 3: little more closely this year because we've brought you into

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Speaker 3: the fold brackets for a cause, which is the huge

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Speaker 3: charity thing that we do here at Bloomberg. My colleague

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Speaker 3: and friend Peter Grower, our chairman emeritus, who I believe

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Speaker 3: you met for the first time just a few weeks ago.

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Speaker 3: We roped you in and I bet you're paying a

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Speaker 3: little more attention to your bracket, right there's money on

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Speaker 3: the line.

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Speaker 1: I really am, And you know, anytime this is the deal,

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Speaker 1: when money's a probably pay closer attention, you know.

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Speaker 6: But you know, talking about Peter, who.

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Speaker 1: Was the great host with you that night, I mean,

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Speaker 1: what an incredible role model. I mean, this guy has

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Speaker 1: the passion of like a fifty year old. He is

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Speaker 1: like so full of great energy. He told this beautiful story.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Jason Fort, Kelly and I to dinner.

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Speaker 1: We had an awesome time and we hope we get

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Speaker 1: invited back. But yes, I am paying close attention to

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Speaker 1: my brackets.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and so just for our listeners out there, So

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Speaker 3: this is something I've worked on for the past nine

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Speaker 3: or ten years here at Bloomberg.

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Speaker 2: It's called Brackets for a Cause.

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Speaker 3: And we get, you know, really important influential folks like yourself.

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Speaker 3: We get David Solomon, the Sea of Goldman Sachs, John Gray,

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Speaker 3: the president of Blackstone Cliffastist, Dwight Anderson, some really well

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Speaker 3: known hedge fund managers. Joe Reese from Helena Capitol who's

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Speaker 3: worked across Wall Street, Jenny Johnson who runs Templeton, Michelle

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Speaker 3: Side who ran Russell Investments for a long time.

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Speaker 2: I mean, the list goes on and on.

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Speaker 3: Carolyn Tish Blodjack co Yeah, Gary Kohane of course, the

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Speaker 3: vice chairman of IBM. And what's cool is everybody pledges

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Speaker 3: twenty thousand dollars they pick a charity. We have a

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Speaker 3: record sixty one people playing this year, which means so

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Speaker 3: you as you know, you picked your men's bracket and

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Speaker 3: your women's bracket. So more than six hundred thousand dollars

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Speaker 3: is in each of those pools, and the winner gets

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Speaker 3: fifty percent of that money to their charity. So you're playing,

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Speaker 3: I believe for the Boys and Girls Club of Miami Dade.

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Speaker 2: So their set.

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Speaker 3: If you can pull it off, they're set for a

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Speaker 3: big payday, Jason.

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Speaker 1: For you, six hundred thousand is pocket change and public

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Speaker 1: for me, I mean, for us humble people from the ground.

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Speaker 1: I mean, this is real life changing money.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: And what's funny is we have heard I mean, it's

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Speaker 3: not funny, it's amazing. We've heard over the years that

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Speaker 3: you know, this is money that really can change the

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Speaker 3: trajectory of an individual charity. So it's really cool. I'm super,

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Speaker 3: super excited that you're evolved. So we're watching the brackets

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Speaker 3: closely and again we're gonna be in Atlanta. We're going

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Speaker 3: to talk a lot about March Madais. It's been a

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Speaker 3: fun tournament so far. Although I will say one of

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Speaker 3: the interesting things, you know, talking about the deal and

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Speaker 3: the business of college basketball, there have been We're going

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Speaker 3: to talk about this with the athletic director of Georgia Tech.

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Speaker 3: There have actually been fewer upsets. There are fewer Cinderella

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Speaker 3: teams because of the trans for a portal like the

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Speaker 3: teams are really stacked at the highest level and so

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Speaker 3: you don't have these teams sort of coming out of nowhere.

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Speaker 3: It actually has had a profound effect on the tournament.

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Speaker 3: I think so kind of fascinating. I'm not sure people

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Speaker 3: saw that coming.

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Speaker 1: This is such a different time now with where college

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Speaker 1: basketball is today, with the nil and players being able

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Speaker 1: to move. I mean I saw one interview from Rick

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Speaker 1: Patino that he actually said, we're not looking at one

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Speaker 1: high school player this summer, which for me was like,

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Speaker 1: I couldn't even comprehend it because we grew up Jason

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Speaker 1: with you go.

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Speaker 6: After high school.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Donald's all American.

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Speaker 1: So I think what you're seeing is these are pro

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Speaker 1: players that happen to be in college and it becomes

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Speaker 1: a lot more predictable because you bringing in kids that

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Speaker 1: are twenty one to twenty three to twenty four year olds.

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Speaker 6: And I think that's taken.

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Speaker 1: A little bit of the upset away from the tournament.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.

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Speaker 3: And you know it's happening in the men's game, it's

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Speaker 3: happening in the women's game as well. So we'll see,

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Speaker 3: you know, ultimately who comes out Sweet sixteen obviously starts

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Speaker 3: this weekend.

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Speaker 2: People are gonna be watching that very closely.

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Speaker 3: All right, coming up, Micropoly, he is gonna have me

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Speaker 3: and Stitches making fun of you, and so people really

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Speaker 3: need to tune into that because it's the side of

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Speaker 3: you I've never seen and a guy who has been

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Speaker 3: wildly successful across all aspects of sports and business.

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Speaker 1: So that's coming up, Jason, I have to say one

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Speaker 1: thing about Micropoley. So Tom Brady had his roast on Netflix. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna put We're gonna position this as the a

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Speaker 1: Rod roast on Bloomberg because that's exactly.

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Speaker 6: What it was.

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Speaker 3: Oh my god, it was unbelievable, unbelievable.

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Speaker 5: All Right, we're super, super excited to have Micropoley with us.

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Speaker 3: I have to say, like having been a part of

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Speaker 3: a little pre show, Alex, I've never quite seen your

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Speaker 3: react to another human being quite like this, and I'm

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Speaker 3: so excited to get into it. Mike, thank you so

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Speaker 3: much for joining us. We have so much to talk

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Speaker 3: to you about. But I mean, let's talk about what

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Speaker 3: I just alluded to, which is you guys know each

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Speaker 3: other really well. You you know, looked at deals together.

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Speaker 3: Do you remember the first time I'm just opening you up,

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Speaker 3: but do you remember the first time you met Alex

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Speaker 3: Rodrick Guz.

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Speaker 4: We were actually introduced by a banker, JP Morgan. After

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Speaker 4: they introduced me to Alex, I stopped using them because

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Speaker 4: I didn't really I didn't like who they were referring

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Speaker 4: me to. So uh. But but we we had a

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Speaker 4: like this personality and this banter that we have, We've

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Speaker 4: had like day one, like it never stopped. You know.

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Speaker 4: One thing about Alex is I'm very funny, and he

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Speaker 4: tries to be funny. So it's cool to watch that.

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Speaker 4: But you know what, when he says something funny to me,

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Speaker 4: I laugh, And when I say something funny to him,

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Speaker 4: he laughs. And it's a very good personality when you

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Speaker 4: actually like getting ripped on as much as you like

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Speaker 4: ripping people. And obviously no sensitivities, no insecurities, you know,

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Speaker 4: a great French where you can just be yourself and

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Speaker 4: say whatever you want.

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Speaker 3: It's interesting because, you know, being introduced by a banker.

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Speaker 3: That's sort of interesting to me. Again, like when you

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Speaker 3: think about like how you normally get introduced to athletes,

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Speaker 3: It's like, oh, I was at a game and I

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Speaker 3: was with my buddy and we went into the locker

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Speaker 3: room and there's this guy. It's like there aren't many

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Speaker 3: athletes who get introduced to by a banker, so clearly

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Speaker 3: like there were deals afoot.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean years ago, you know, Alex and I

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Speaker 4: and Jennifer of Vinie Viola looked at purchasing the Mets.

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Speaker 4: So I mean obviously we might have known each other through.

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Speaker 4: You know, I did deals at Vitamin Order from two

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Speaker 4: thousand to two thousand and seven, and I was a

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Speaker 4: Met fan, so I signed David Wright. I didn't sign

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Speaker 4: any Yankees, that was part of my deal. So Alex

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Speaker 4: and Derek Jeter were out automatically. But we always knew

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Speaker 4: of each other in business, and I always always impressed

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Speaker 4: Alex as a as a ball player. You know, was

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Speaker 4: very intrigued by business. I mean he was very into it.

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Speaker 4: And you know, I was friends with Kobe Bryant, who's

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Speaker 4: very interested in business, Tom Brady, who's real business and

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Speaker 4: honestly really impressed with what he's done with real estate

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Speaker 4: and what him and Walk has done with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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Speaker 4: I mean, they've made him a hot brand and they've

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Speaker 4: done I mean, he's done an amazing job with the Timberwolves.

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Speaker 4: I mean I've done a much better job with Saint

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Speaker 4: John's University in Brickentino and making them a top ten

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Speaker 4: team overnight. But Alex is learning from me, I'm sure

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Speaker 4: with basketball.

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Speaker 3: Also, do you remember meeting Mike Fred You know, it's like,

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Speaker 3: obviously you guys knew of each other, and I want

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Speaker 3: to talk in a minute about the vitamin water specifically

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Speaker 3: because it was a seminal deal I think, especially in

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Speaker 3: this intersection of athletes and business. But Alex, you know,

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Speaker 3: talk to us about you know, sort of the first

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Speaker 3: time you guys really got to know each other and

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Speaker 3: getting in on the Mets deal, because that's another deal

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Speaker 3: that I think people will look back on as really

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Speaker 3: starting to change the landscape of who's buying teams and

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Speaker 3: how they're getting bought and sold.

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Speaker 1: Well, when I read his bio and I saw that

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Speaker 1: he was at a Saint John's alum with a two

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Speaker 1: point two great point average, I.

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Speaker 6: Said, this is my kind of guy. I'm gonna get

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Speaker 6: along with this guy.

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Speaker 1: No, but in all seriousness, obviously his reputation speaks for

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Speaker 1: itself and it precedes him. When you meet these titans,

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Speaker 1: it could go many different ways. And literally, like Mike said,

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Speaker 1: in the first three minutes, he had me laughing my

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Speaker 1: you know what off, and it was a sincerity about it.

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Speaker 6: I think in the first twenty five minutes ago, I.

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Speaker 1: Was, look, I don't know who you are, but whatever,

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Speaker 1: I'm in for twenty five million, And by the end

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Speaker 1: of the conversation he's like, I can go as much

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Speaker 1: as two hundred, but I don't know if I like

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Speaker 1: you that much. So anyways, it was an incredible relationship.

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Speaker 1: I learned so much. We also had the privilege to

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Speaker 1: learning from Benny Viola, who's, you know, a great friend

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Speaker 1: of both Mike and I and a great mentor to

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Speaker 1: both of us.

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Speaker 4: You know, it's hort to find people sometimes in your

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Speaker 4: life that will be brutally honest with you. I mean,

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Speaker 4: I've said some things to him that I'm sure he

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Speaker 4: wasn't happy about, and he said some things to me

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Speaker 4: that were not happy about. But having that come from

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Speaker 4: the heart or the brain and really think about what

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Speaker 4: somebody said, I mean, you know, I'm sure Alex like me.

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Speaker 4: We get a lot of people who tell us what

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Speaker 4: they think we want to know versus just being brutally

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Speaker 4: honest with each other. And we have that relationship in business.

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Speaker 4: But then we also have it on our personal side,

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Speaker 4: and anytime you can laugh and think with someone, it's

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Speaker 4: a really cool experience.

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Speaker 1: So, Mike, you have had this incredible career, You're full

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Speaker 1: of energy, your world class manager of businesses like whatever

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Speaker 1: your next business is, we have such trust that I

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Speaker 1: would just say I'm in tell me the idea later,

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Speaker 1: where do I wire the money? My question to you

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Speaker 1: is who mentored you? Is people like Vinnie Viola others

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Speaker 1: that have you have modeled your career at or is

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Speaker 1: it a combination or is it from sports? Where where

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Speaker 1: did you get this desire and disability to be such

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Speaker 1: a great entrepreneur.

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Speaker 4: Alex is not just people have influenced me. I've always

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Speaker 4: been driven by me. You know, I've told everyone. I mean, Alex,

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Speaker 4: you Kate, You're one of the best players in baseball

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Speaker 4: of all time. And you might have had role models,

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Speaker 4: but at the end of the day, you would in

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Speaker 4: the you were working out, you were taking batting practice.

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Speaker 4: You know this this assumption that people can mentor you.

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Speaker 4: It's good. I think people can influence you, but at

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Speaker 4: the end of the day, you know, there's a great

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Speaker 4: poem Man in the glass. It's really about you looking

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Speaker 4: at yourself and saying what do I want to do?

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Speaker 4: And sometimes when I give people advice and it works,

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Speaker 4: they tend to thank me. And I said, I didn't

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Speaker 4: do any of the work. I just suggested something, and

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Speaker 4: you put the eighteen hours a day. You put in

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Speaker 4: this seven days a week. You know, my dad was

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Speaker 4: a waiter. He was born in France. My mom was

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Speaker 4: a seamstress. I know your upbringing, you know your dad.

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Speaker 4: You're not having a relationship you and your mom having

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Speaker 4: multiple jobs. I mean, your mom didn't teach you how

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Speaker 4: to hit a baseball, right she but she had that

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Speaker 4: work ethic and she had two or three jobs to

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Speaker 4: keep it going. I was first generation. My dad was

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Speaker 4: a waiter at the Marriott in Lexington and he works

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Speaker 4: six days a week, fourteen hour days. He and I

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Speaker 4: only saw him on Sunday. So he didn't teach me

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Speaker 4: as much as I watched the work work ethic to

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Speaker 4: give me this life. And you know it's something that

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Speaker 4: I want to you know, my two two great point average.

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Speaker 4: I love it. It's comical to a higher degree than

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Speaker 4: you've ever had because you're past agree. But we won't

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Speaker 4: go into that. But but what it did was at

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Speaker 4: the end of the day, it's it's about you know,

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Speaker 4: when you graduate, O with a four point oh or

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Speaker 4: three point h or two point zero. Once you graduate,

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Speaker 4: or even if you don't graduate, there's no textbook for

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Speaker 4: the real world. It's about grit, it's about determination, it's

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Speaker 4: about leadership, it's about hiring great people working together as

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Speaker 4: a team. And it's so important. You know, I say,

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Speaker 4: the A students work for the C students. You know,

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Speaker 4: I was a D student, so I don't know what

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Speaker 4: that means, but it's the only story.

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Speaker 2: But you own the company.

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Speaker 4: But it's so important. Like what we learned at our

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Speaker 4: age is I think we're missing that with young children

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Speaker 4: right now, Like kids in their twenties are more lost

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Speaker 4: than I've ever seen before. We coddle these kids, We

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Speaker 4: tell them that this four hundred thousand dollars education is

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Speaker 4: going to get you this great job and this great opportunity.

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Speaker 4: And they get out into the real world and it's

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Speaker 4: like culture shop. They got the helicopter parents that oversee

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Speaker 4: their life. And Jason, I know your background, Alex said,

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Speaker 4: you know, we grew up with grit, Like we have

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Speaker 4: to teach kids grit. Adversity bills greatness, make a mistake,

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Speaker 4: you know, I say, if you're not failing, you're not

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Speaker 4: trying hard enough. And I think with this social media

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Speaker 4: world where every mistake is you know, magnified, is it

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Speaker 4: really magnified or is it magnified inside someone's head? Because

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Speaker 4: I love being wrong showing me a better way, and

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Speaker 4: I'm going to follow that path.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I mean, it's interesting to put that in the context

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Speaker 3: of your career too, Mike, because you know we alluded

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Speaker 3: to it earlier. You know, you've taken two huge swings

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Speaker 3: in the beverage industry, and I grew up in that

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Speaker 3: business insofar as my dad worked for Coca Cola for

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Speaker 3: a long time. I know it's been a key business

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Speaker 3: partner of yours. I watched that business and one of

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Speaker 3: the things that I observed from a very young age

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Speaker 3: is it is fiercely competitive. You know, not just because

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Speaker 3: you have Coke and PEPSI who are you know you

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Speaker 3: said it best, or the Red Sox and the Yankees.

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Speaker 3: Like it's just like one of the fiercest rivalries that

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Speaker 3: still exists in business. But there's also this entire other

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Speaker 3: world KDP and others who were all going after the

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Speaker 3: beverage business. But you look at that and you're like, no,

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Speaker 3: I think I can do something there, Like what's the

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Speaker 3: thesis there? Where you see a real opportunity to do

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Speaker 3: something meaningful in beverages.

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Speaker 4: It's funny. I had two chapters in beverages at Vitamin Water.

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Speaker 4: When we started that, I was twenty nine years old,

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Speaker 4: and I sold the company at thirty seven. Then I

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Speaker 4: vowed never to be in the beverage industry again. And

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Speaker 4: then I needed a challenge, so at forty two I

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Speaker 4: started Body Armour and I had that for ten years.

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Speaker 4: It's almost like, you know, Michael Jordan has had his

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Speaker 4: first three championships, then took two years off to play baseball,

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Speaker 4: found out how tough it was, and then went back again.

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Speaker 4: And the first part was that I was very naive,

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Speaker 4: you know, I thought I can get you know, Vitamin

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Speaker 4: went into McDonald's. I didn't know about Fountain Soda and

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Speaker 4: Coke Exclusive. If I would have known own what I

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Speaker 4: knew at thirty seven, at twenty eight, twenty nine, I

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Speaker 4: might have been too scared to take a chance being

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Speaker 4: naive and not knowing like got you there. We did

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Speaker 4: one hundred thousand our first year and I'm like, Wow.

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Speaker 4: Then we did a million, Then we did three to nine.

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Speaker 4: The last year we did seven hundred and twenty one

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Speaker 4: million before we sold to Coke.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 4: So zero to seven twenty one. And it was about

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Speaker 4: sharing success. Every employee was a shareholder. I was thirty

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Speaker 4: with people forty and fifty years old reporting to me,

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Speaker 4: but sharing the sharing success where you know, I didn't

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Speaker 4: have the money to pay Coca Cola or Pepsi salaries

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Speaker 4: when I signed David Wright or Shaquille O'Neill or Brian

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Speaker 4: Urlacker or David Ortiz. I couldn't afford the endorsement deals

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Speaker 4: that they got from other companies. So I gave them

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Speaker 4: stock options so David Ortiz could go, hey, I own

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Speaker 4: body Armor. Hey, David Wright could say I own They

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Speaker 4: couldn't say they owned gator Ade. They couldn't say they

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Speaker 4: owned Coke. So you know, fifty cent word out there

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Speaker 4: is that you know he had ten percent of the company.

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Speaker 4: He made four hundred million without getting my life in dangered.

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Speaker 4: I'm going to tell you that's not accurate, but I'm

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Speaker 4: not going to give you the real number.

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Speaker 2: But but he did, he did fine.

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Speaker 4: He did great. But for him the perception that everybody

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Speaker 4: thought he made four hundred million was more valuable to

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Speaker 4: him than if he really made four hundred million. Everybody

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Speaker 4: thought he made ten million. And it was just that

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Speaker 4: I started at thirty one years old. What I think

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Speaker 4: was sports endorsement deal, equity deals, equity deals. I did

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Speaker 4: that with equity, and then you know, at Body Armor,

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Speaker 4: I did again, but Kobe owned ten percent, and I

401
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Speaker 4: took six million dollars from Kobe. So I said, hey,

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Speaker 4: I'm not going to give you equity. I'm Micropoli. If

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Speaker 4: I was playing basketball, I would pay you, but you're

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Speaker 4: gonna pay me. So Kobe came in there, and it

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Speaker 4: was equity. And when Alex and I, hey, I'm going

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Speaker 4: to throw in two hundred million for the Mets, and

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Speaker 4: you're going to throw two hundred million for the Mets,

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Speaker 4: you know, it's not like Alex was going to get

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Speaker 4: a ten percent discount because you know, he had seven hundred,

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Speaker 4: seven hundred more home runs a may. Actually I think

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Speaker 4: it was six something, six nineties, but that's okay.

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Speaker 2: Six But I round forward took my friend.

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Speaker 4: So that's the importance. But what you guys talked about

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Speaker 4: people in brand is like the players and the team.

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Speaker 4: You know, got to make sure there's the right chemistry,

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Speaker 4: got to make sure people are aligned. Everybody has to

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Speaker 4: be rowing in the same direction. So building teams through

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Speaker 4: great people and giving them equity. You know, I say,

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Speaker 4: you know, when Alex won the World Series, he was

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Speaker 4: the old only player that got the World Series ring.

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Speaker 4: The whole organization got the ring. You know, the front

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Speaker 4: office of everyone that worked there, it's the same thing.

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Speaker 4: You know, invited more water. The shipping clerk made seven

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Speaker 4: hundred thousand dollars, the receptionist made four hundred thousand, and

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Speaker 4: we had you know, two hundred people make over a million,

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Speaker 4: and two hundred people make over five hundred thousand. And

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Speaker 4: body armor we sold.

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Speaker 2: For eight billion off of their equity. You're saying, off of.

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Speaker 4: Their equity, off their stockps.

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Speaker 6: Wow.

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Speaker 1: So, Mike, you mentioned Kobe Bryant, and I love Kobe,

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Speaker 1: and I know how close you guys were in Vanessa,

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Speaker 1: who's an incredible woman as well. My question to you is,

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Speaker 1: if Jason and I were Kobe, take us back to

435
00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:23,240
Speaker 1: the conversation. It's very, very difficult, as you know now,

436
00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:27,360
Speaker 1: even more so than to have any athlete slash entertainer

437
00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,119
Speaker 1: write a check for one dollar yet along six million.

438
00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,560
Speaker 1: What was your kind of thirty second pitch to Kobe

439
00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,240
Speaker 1: to hook him because you are also a great salesman.

440
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:38,840
Speaker 4: Well it was an easier hook than you think because

441
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:43,520
Speaker 4: he contacted me. Okay, So I knew Kobe at the

442
00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,040
Speaker 4: end of Viten Water in two thousand and eight and

443
00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:48,520
Speaker 4: he was still trying to win championships. We did a

444
00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,720
Speaker 4: Kobe Bryant Lebron Vitamin Water twenty four to twenty three,

445
00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,080
Speaker 4: and I was always in touch with them, and he

446
00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:58,360
Speaker 4: was always intrigued Alex very similar to business. He wanted

447
00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:01,080
Speaker 4: to talk business, not basketball. You wanted to talk business

448
00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:03,720
Speaker 4: not baseball, which is always intriguing. And I always know

449
00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,560
Speaker 4: when I meet you know, somebody like you or Kobe,

450
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,719
Speaker 4: when you start talking about what you want to know

451
00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:13,880
Speaker 4: versus what you know best and always love your curiosity

452
00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,160
Speaker 4: is second or none. And Kobe was the same thing.

453
00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:20,240
Speaker 4: And ask intelligent questions. When I say intelligent, I'm meaning Kobe,

454
00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:24,640
Speaker 4: not you so much. But at the end of the day,

455
00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,200
Speaker 4: when he tore his achilles, it was the first time

456
00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:31,040
Speaker 4: in his life he couldn't be in the gym. It

457
00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:33,199
Speaker 4: was the first time in his life he couldn't. And

458
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:35,679
Speaker 4: Kobe was very similar to you, was a visionary. He

459
00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:38,520
Speaker 4: saw the end of his career. Who's in the back nine?

460
00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:41,199
Speaker 4: You know? In fact, with that Achilles, that could have

461
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:42,960
Speaker 4: been the last hole. He just didn't know about it.

462
00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,399
Speaker 4: So we got start talking about business, and at the

463
00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,040
Speaker 4: end of the day, it wasn't even about body Armor.

464
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:52,520
Speaker 4: It was about Kobe inc. It was about business. I

465
00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,840
Speaker 4: was intrigued by his curiosity and I just loved talking

466
00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:00,280
Speaker 4: to him. When I started body Armor, I start to

467
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:04,040
Speaker 4: send samples and get his opinion on it. And then

468
00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:08,040
Speaker 4: we were one million minus six million dollars. We were

469
00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:12,320
Speaker 4: four million minus ten, and we were six million minus sixteen.

470
00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:15,000
Speaker 4: I went to dinner with Kobe and he asked me

471
00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:19,800
Speaker 4: a couple of times about investing, and Alex, if you

472
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:21,760
Speaker 4: wanted to invest in we were six minus sixteen. I

473
00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,120
Speaker 4: would say, give me all your money. But I liked Kobe,

474
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:25,160
Speaker 4: so it was a little different here.

475
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:25,879
Speaker 6: Okay, So.

476
00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:30,720
Speaker 4: When Kobe asked me to invest, I said no the

477
00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,600
Speaker 4: first time, and I blew him off the second time.

478
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,560
Speaker 4: But he got me at Mastro's. In this one on one,

479
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,439
Speaker 4: he's drinking his boker and I'm drinking my red wine

480
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,719
Speaker 4: and he says I want to invest, and I'm like,

481
00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:43,560
Speaker 4: I caught it.

482
00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:43,760
Speaker 6: Beat it.

483
00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:46,200
Speaker 4: He goes, Mike, I'm giving it to my trainer, I'm

484
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,240
Speaker 4: giving it to my kids. I'm giving it to my

485
00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:50,520
Speaker 4: soccer moms. I'm giving it to my younger the younger

486
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,600
Speaker 4: players on the team, giving it to everybody. My nutrition

487
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,520
Speaker 4: is my chef like, you know, hey, I want to invest.

488
00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:01,399
Speaker 4: And I'm like, dude, we're losing twelve sixteen million dollars

489
00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:03,800
Speaker 4: a year. If I didn't like you, I would take

490
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,000
Speaker 4: your six million dollars. I actually like you. I'm not

491
00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,200
Speaker 4: going to do it. I said, Kobe, there's a one

492
00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:12,000
Speaker 4: percent chance of this making it. And he looked at

493
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,960
Speaker 4: me with this puzzled look. About one percent and one

494
00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:19,200
Speaker 4: percent and he paused, and he said, I was raised

495
00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:22,560
Speaker 4: in Italy, I played high school ball in Philadelphia. My

496
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,760
Speaker 4: dad signed my contract. I was drafted at seventeen, I

497
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:30,560
Speaker 4: got married at twenty. I won five championships MVPs one percent.

498
00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:33,199
Speaker 4: Those are the best odds of my life. And I

499
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:37,119
Speaker 4: was like, wow, but Alex, that's the athlete mentality that

500
00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:41,159
Speaker 4: guys like Tom Brady, you and Kobe have the odds

501
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,640
Speaker 4: of you being who you were were point zero zero one.

502
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:45,760
Speaker 4: The odds of Kobe being who he was was point

503
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:49,680
Speaker 4: zero one. When you tell somebody one percent, guys, that's

504
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,119
Speaker 4: the easiest thing he's ever done in his life. So

505
00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,320
Speaker 4: I took six million dollars from him and Jason, I'll

506
00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 4: be honest with you. I went back and told my

507
00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:01,400
Speaker 4: two CFOs Family Office CFO and body on our CFO,

508
00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:05,159
Speaker 4: I'm taking six million from Kobe, but if it doesn't

509
00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:07,720
Speaker 4: work I'm going to give him back six point nine

510
00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:10,640
Speaker 4: and tell them that we made fifteen percent. I took

511
00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:13,520
Speaker 4: it more from me interesting I needed that fire at

512
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:17,440
Speaker 4: forty two. I couldn't lose Kobe Bryant's money. I wasn't

513
00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:21,159
Speaker 4: going to let this fail. We built a beautiful brand together,

514
00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:24,879
Speaker 4: an amazing friendship, and you know, I'm so blessed that

515
00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,920
Speaker 4: people like Alex has come into my life, Tom Brady

516
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,480
Speaker 4: has come into my life, and Kobe has come into

517
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:34,359
Speaker 4: my life. They're so great, and they got this these

518
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:39,400
Speaker 4: minds that very few people have. They're misunderstood by their genius.

519
00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:41,760
Speaker 4: And then I come in and I get to kind

520
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,280
Speaker 4: of like pick their brains as they picked my brains.

521
00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:48,200
Speaker 4: And you know, it's amazing that God has put these

522
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:51,240
Speaker 4: three people in my life. And you know the curiosity

523
00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:54,240
Speaker 4: and how they see things is so different. The value

524
00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,480
Speaker 4: that Kobe added was second to none. He knew nothing

525
00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,000
Speaker 4: about beverages, you know, but it was so important.

526
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:01,800
Speaker 6: Mike says, you like me so much.

527
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:03,960
Speaker 1: Can I invest ten million dollars to your next start

528
00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:05,439
Speaker 1: and you give me back ten point nine?

529
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:08,240
Speaker 4: You know what, I'm going to give you ten point nine,

530
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:10,000
Speaker 4: but it's gonna be worth a billion, so I'm gonna

531
00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,880
Speaker 4: rip you off the other way. So yes, I will

532
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:15,800
Speaker 4: give you ten point nine. Give me the ten million.

533
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,159
Speaker 4: Now I'll use it for ten percent interest, No problem.

534
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:20,480
Speaker 4: It was, you know, it listened. It was. I always

535
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,520
Speaker 4: thought God put people like Alex and Tom and Kobe

536
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,919
Speaker 4: into my life for a different purpose. With Kobe, you

537
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,480
Speaker 4: know what. On February twenty fourth was a five year

538
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:33,000
Speaker 4: anniversary of the celebration of life. Kobe knew his stock

539
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,719
Speaker 4: was worth two hundred million when he passed away, and

540
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:38,879
Speaker 4: we were trending up. When Coke bought fifteen percent of

541
00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,080
Speaker 4: the company. They gave me a check at a two

542
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:44,040
Speaker 4: billion dollar valuation for three hundred million, so to be

543
00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:47,119
Speaker 4: able to give him back twenty eight million in twenty eighteen,

544
00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:49,359
Speaker 4: and for him to know his stock was worth two

545
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,720
Speaker 4: hundred million. Thank god I had that day and he

546
00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,080
Speaker 4: knew it was going in the direction. And you know what,

547
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,119
Speaker 4: his great great great grandkids are always going to be

548
00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 4: taking the total amount that he made four hundred and

549
00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:04,520
Speaker 4: forty million dollars. And you know it's a sad story. Wow,

550
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:06,600
Speaker 4: it's but it's beautiful in a certain way.

551
00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:09,560
Speaker 3: Also, Yeah, And I don't want to lose sight of

552
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:13,639
Speaker 3: the underlying element here, and you both alluded to it,

553
00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:20,240
Speaker 3: which is this whole notion of athletes, entertainers and others

554
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:25,280
Speaker 3: who were involved envitamin water. Specifically, you had folks like

555
00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:30,439
Speaker 3: Alex and Kobe who who I think understood this implicitly.

556
00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,680
Speaker 3: In this value of ownership versus endorsement of either writing

557
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:37,679
Speaker 3: a check or getting equity instead of you know, endorsement compensation.

558
00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:40,960
Speaker 3: That was a radical idea. And I know you said

559
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:43,119
Speaker 3: you did it a little bit out of necessity, but

560
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,840
Speaker 3: did you anticipate how much that would I think it's

561
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:51,640
Speaker 3: fair to say permanently alter the way athletes, especially look

562
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,880
Speaker 3: at their value and their ability to create even more

563
00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,640
Speaker 3: value by again pursuing equity rather than endorsement.

564
00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:05,000
Speaker 4: You know, it was a combination. But I didn't just

565
00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:07,680
Speaker 4: do it for the athletes. That are. If you were

566
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,640
Speaker 4: a marketing agency that we used, I gave the equity.

567
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,640
Speaker 4: If you were packaging, you made my caps and my labels,

568
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,280
Speaker 4: I made you an investor. Every employee, from the shipping

569
00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:20,560
Speaker 4: clerk to the receptionist to the president of the company,

570
00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,960
Speaker 4: I've always made as an investor. You know, I've always

571
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:26,760
Speaker 4: learned as a kid. You know, success is best when shared.

572
00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:30,959
Speaker 4: Having more winners, having more people vested in the company

573
00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:33,800
Speaker 4: or the brand, or in the vision of what you're

574
00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:37,000
Speaker 4: trying to create, is so important. And you know, listen,

575
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:38,760
Speaker 4: if I could have a ten percent employee pool and

576
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,080
Speaker 4: a five percent partnership pool, most likely I'm taking it

577
00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:45,479
Speaker 4: from myself, but I've said to some entrepreneurs, which you'd

578
00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:47,720
Speaker 4: rather have one hundred percent of a ten million dollar

579
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,040
Speaker 4: company or ten percent of a ten million dollar company?

580
00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:51,920
Speaker 4: You do the math. You know, Alex has heard to

581
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,280
Speaker 4: be saying this before. Being a kid from Queen's you know,

582
00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:58,000
Speaker 4: I was always a think, big, dream, bigger person. And

583
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:01,080
Speaker 4: when you tell me no, it means yes. You know,

584
00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,200
Speaker 4: and if he told me yes, it means it's easy

585
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:06,399
Speaker 4: for me. So I want tough. You know, grit is

586
00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:11,120
Speaker 4: so important and that next generation needs to be taught grit. Yeah,

587
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:13,960
Speaker 4: if I could teach that next generation something, it's grit.

588
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:14,760
Speaker 2: Yeah.

589
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:16,960
Speaker 3: I guess one of the things I've observed from where

590
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:18,760
Speaker 3: I sit, and obviously sit in a different seat than

591
00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:23,320
Speaker 3: you guys do. What I saw post vitamin water and

592
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:27,360
Speaker 3: in many deals since, is this idea that it actually

593
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:32,080
Speaker 3: Because I take your point about equities for everyone, and that's.

594
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:32,360
Speaker 2: That's a great thing.

595
00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,200
Speaker 3: I think specifically for athletes, what it did was it

596
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:39,840
Speaker 3: actually changed the perception of themselves. You know that, because

597
00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:42,640
Speaker 3: I do think that athletes for a long time are like, yeah,

598
00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:44,840
Speaker 3: I'm really good at baseball or I'm only good at basketball,

599
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,440
Speaker 3: and somebody's going to pay me to like slap my

600
00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,120
Speaker 3: name on this. But wait a second, Now, I'm an

601
00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:55,000
Speaker 3: owner that changes a lot of their own mindst this notion.

602
00:28:55,560 --> 00:29:00,240
Speaker 3: We now look at athletes differently because they're owners. Is

603
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:02,920
Speaker 3: that a fair observation, you think so, Jayson.

604
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 6: Here here's the deal. There's one thing.

605
00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:08,720
Speaker 1: Not all equities created equal, and this is where it

606
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,800
Speaker 1: gets tricky, right, You have to decipher, Okay, is ex

607
00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,000
Speaker 1: company going to pay me a million dollars or they're

608
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:16,440
Speaker 1: going to give me five percent of the company. In

609
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:18,720
Speaker 1: many cases, I would say nine out of ten take

610
00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:21,320
Speaker 1: the million dollars, deposit it, and call it a day.

611
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:23,560
Speaker 6: However, here's the caveat.

612
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,880
Speaker 1: If Micropoli calls you Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Vinnie Viola,

613
00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:32,560
Speaker 1: Mark Lorie, that equity's worth a lot more because these

614
00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:35,800
Speaker 1: guys are one of one and they do not lose.

615
00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,000
Speaker 1: And I haven't talked to Mike about this, but he

616
00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:40,240
Speaker 1: sold companies for billions and billions of dollars.

617
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:42,320
Speaker 6: It's never been an easy ride.

618
00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:44,800
Speaker 1: There's been struggles where ninety nine out of one hundred

619
00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:48,360
Speaker 1: entrepreneurs would have failed flat on their face because people

620
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,880
Speaker 1: have had better idea than Mike, but they don't have

621
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:54,160
Speaker 1: the execution, the vision, and the energy and the grid

622
00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:55,000
Speaker 1: to do it.

623
00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:58,280
Speaker 4: Mike, Yeah, I mean, Alex, that's a great answer, and

624
00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:01,000
Speaker 4: it just shows that my mentor is really working with you.

625
00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:04,600
Speaker 4: So I feel real good with it. So I'm actually

626
00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:08,680
Speaker 4: very honored right now and so appreciative watching you answer

627
00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,800
Speaker 4: that question so eloquently. He not only is one hundred

628
00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:14,840
Speaker 4: percent right. I can add to that where when I

629
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,320
Speaker 4: started to give equity, it was two thousand and two

630
00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:22,640
Speaker 4: thousand and eight. This was before social media, so they

631
00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,760
Speaker 4: weren't using that. But that was the first step of wow,

632
00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:28,960
Speaker 4: I'm an owner. Now you add where every athlete is

633
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,440
Speaker 4: a brand and every athlete has a platform, and that

634
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:36,040
Speaker 4: took it to another level. So it's a combination of

635
00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:39,880
Speaker 4: the equity plus the platform, because I mean, there are

636
00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:43,000
Speaker 4: certain athletes like you know, listen, I use this guy

637
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:44,880
Speaker 4: and I he's the one of the greatest basketball players

638
00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:47,320
Speaker 4: of all the time. But Tim Duncan didn't get the

639
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,880
Speaker 4: greatest endorsement deals because he wasn't Kobe Bryant, you know.

640
00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:52,880
Speaker 4: I mean, but he's a Hall of Famer and a

641
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:56,920
Speaker 4: top fifty player. So now with the platforms, I mean,

642
00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:00,280
Speaker 4: you see, certain athletes aren't even that talented that have

643
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:03,560
Speaker 4: two million TikTok followers and one hundred, you know, fifty

644
00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:07,000
Speaker 4: million Instagram followers. They make more money being on the

645
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:09,680
Speaker 4: bench than they do if they played. So it works

646
00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,760
Speaker 4: both ways. What Alex says though about do you bet

647
00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:14,480
Speaker 4: on the horse or do you bet on the jockey?

648
00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:17,720
Speaker 4: Like that's it. When I started to do body armor again.

649
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:20,480
Speaker 4: And I used to talk to agents about players that

650
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,640
Speaker 4: we were going to sign to equity deals. The funny

651
00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,200
Speaker 4: thing that they would say is, Mike, I've done twenty

652
00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,360
Speaker 4: equity deals in the last fifteen years and only one

653
00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:32,080
Speaker 4: has panned out, and it was vitamin Water. So he

654
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:34,680
Speaker 4: said the other fourteen that he did didn't work out.

655
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:37,840
Speaker 4: So I set this thing where everybody says, take equity,

656
00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:39,440
Speaker 4: you're going to make a four billion dollars, it's going

657
00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:42,400
Speaker 4: to be great, and Alex is right. It's ninety nine

658
00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:45,840
Speaker 4: out of one hundred and Alex again, great point was

659
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:48,360
Speaker 4: bet the guy that's done it before. Bet the guy

660
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,320
Speaker 4: that what do you call it? You know, some people

661
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:52,520
Speaker 4: give up equity for money and they do five years

662
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:54,840
Speaker 4: and guess what, they got nothing out of it. So

663
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:57,160
Speaker 4: it's a right balance of what you want to do

664
00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:00,000
Speaker 4: and what you don't want to do. So it's very important.

665
00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:01,120
Speaker 2: Interesting.

666
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:17,720
Speaker 3: So walk us through a little bit the Tom Brady deal,

667
00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:21,040
Speaker 3: because you've mentioned this sort of drive of athletes, all

668
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:25,000
Speaker 3: of whom are legendary in their sports. You know, Tom Brady,

669
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:28,600
Speaker 3: I think has followed a template that you know, Alex

670
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,520
Speaker 3: and Kobe certainly set in a lot of ways, and

671
00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:34,160
Speaker 3: I think Alex would say Magic Johnson, you know, sort

672
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:36,680
Speaker 3: of created the original template that a lot of these

673
00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:40,560
Speaker 3: guys followed. Talk to us about Brady. You know, we've

674
00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:42,840
Speaker 3: sort of seen him in an entirely different light. You know,

675
00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:45,360
Speaker 3: we watched him call the Super Bowl. He has been

676
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:48,440
Speaker 3: terrific as a businessman. Talk to us about your business

677
00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:49,800
Speaker 3: relationship with him.

678
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,840
Speaker 4: You know, it's funny. I got to know Tom through

679
00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:55,840
Speaker 4: horse racing because he's a big horse racing fan, goes

680
00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,680
Speaker 4: to the Kentucky Derby and a guy by the name

681
00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,800
Speaker 4: of Odd and Fips introduced me a while back. And

682
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:05,680
Speaker 4: when Tom was building his TV twelve and his Brady

683
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:08,480
Speaker 4: brand business, he ran him as two separate businesses. So

684
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,800
Speaker 4: a couple of times we'd have a conversation about his businesses,

685
00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:17,880
Speaker 4: and in all transparency, they were struggling because Tom was

686
00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 4: the face of the brand and the founder of the brand.

687
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,520
Speaker 4: But Tom was focused on winning Super Bowls. That's all

688
00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:26,200
Speaker 4: Tom wanted to do. He didn't want business to get

689
00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:29,480
Speaker 4: in the way of winning championships. So I told Tom,

690
00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:32,120
Speaker 4: I said, what if you did more business and less football,

691
00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:34,680
Speaker 4: how many Super Bowls would you win? And it wouldn't work.

692
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:37,760
Speaker 4: He thought he can be a part time entrepreneur or

693
00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:40,280
Speaker 4: do this five hours a week and just high peedable

694
00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:43,320
Speaker 4: for brands that are called Brady or TV twelve, you

695
00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,600
Speaker 4: can't because you're the brand and hiring someone to be

696
00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:48,520
Speaker 4: used not going to work. You know, it's not going

697
00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:50,160
Speaker 4: to be like, you know, we're going to bring Alex

698
00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:52,080
Speaker 4: in to play Tom Brady a quarterback and just put

699
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,560
Speaker 4: number twelve on him and watch them, you know, throw

700
00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,120
Speaker 4: in three interceptions with three batters. He's not going to

701
00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:01,360
Speaker 4: work that way, Okay. So explaining that to Tom was

702
00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:04,520
Speaker 4: very like, Wow, I thought business was you just hire

703
00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:07,360
Speaker 4: other people and it works. Now it doesn't. So what

704
00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:09,799
Speaker 4: I did is I started to coach and mentor him

705
00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:13,520
Speaker 4: a little bit about the brands, and we built this friendship.

706
00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:16,560
Speaker 4: And then I bought this brand called No Bull and

707
00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:20,360
Speaker 4: it was a CrossFit brand that was kind of getting

708
00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:23,600
Speaker 4: into the sneaker category. And I love the name. I mean,

709
00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:26,160
Speaker 4: when you talk about Alex and Kobe and Tom Brady

710
00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:30,000
Speaker 4: and even Micropoli, there's a no attitude about us, get

711
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,560
Speaker 4: it done. We win a championship or we lost. You know,

712
00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:35,000
Speaker 4: you're either first or your last second's the first loser,

713
00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:39,000
Speaker 4: and that's what that noble mentality was. So when I

714
00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:42,080
Speaker 4: bought this brand and I started being friendly with Tom,

715
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:44,960
Speaker 4: I said, you know, noble shouldn't just be a sneaker

716
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,440
Speaker 4: in a power company. You know, we should do nutrition.

717
00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:50,920
Speaker 4: Nike doesn't do nutrition. So we bought TV twelve, we

718
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:54,240
Speaker 4: merged the Brady brand, and now we're bringing this together.

719
00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:57,280
Speaker 4: I'm fixing and flying this plane. Unlike where I started

720
00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:00,839
Speaker 4: Vita Wortar from scratch and made my mistake and grew

721
00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:03,480
Speaker 4: the brand. Same with body Armor. Here, I got one

722
00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:06,040
Speaker 4: hundred and eighty million dollar company that is doing it

723
00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:09,839
Speaker 4: fifty percent right, but is also bankrupt. And I'm coming

724
00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:12,120
Speaker 4: in to save this company, and I'm trying to fix

725
00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:15,000
Speaker 4: and fly this plane. And then Tom had two businesses

726
00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:18,440
Speaker 4: very similar, so we merge them together. And what I

727
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,880
Speaker 4: tell Tom is last year was preseason and this is preseason.

728
00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:26,440
Speaker 4: Really the noble mentality making people better physically, mentally and

729
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:30,040
Speaker 4: emotionally almost life coaches in a way, that's the goal

730
00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:34,640
Speaker 4: for twenty twenty six to twenty and thirty five just unknowable.

731
00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:37,719
Speaker 6: Because I love this concept. What is the vision for you?

732
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:39,920
Speaker 1: I hear where it was and where it is today,

733
00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:42,520
Speaker 1: where is it in the next three to five years,

734
00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:43,080
Speaker 1: what would it be.

735
00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:45,560
Speaker 6: What's a good comp and who do you exit to.

736
00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:49,000
Speaker 4: Alex I think that's a great question. I mean to me,

737
00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:52,759
Speaker 4: I want to create the Noble Wellness Company. Everybody needs

738
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:56,759
Speaker 4: wellness nowadays. It's about not only physical wellness, but it's

739
00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:00,200
Speaker 4: that mental wellness, it's that emotional wellness. I want this

740
00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,120
Speaker 4: brand to be there for you nutrition wise, with Noble

741
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:06,239
Speaker 4: you know, Electrolytes and Noble Protein. I wanted to be

742
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:10,200
Speaker 4: there for podcasts like this where we can teach people,

743
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:14,640
Speaker 4: whether they're older or younger, school age, kids, grandfar others,

744
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:17,480
Speaker 4: about dealing with life. I think Noble you know, I

745
00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:19,880
Speaker 4: want to come out with something called Noble TV and

746
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:23,279
Speaker 4: have you guys on that platform and have Tom and

747
00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:26,680
Speaker 4: Rick Patino on a platform about coaching and discipline and

748
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:30,880
Speaker 4: about nutrition and about you know, Pete, about gratitude, about grit,

749
00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:35,800
Speaker 4: about you know, faith and friends and family and real life,

750
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:40,440
Speaker 4: like real, authentic, genuine life. Because sometimes people think, oh

751
00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:42,759
Speaker 4: my god, that guy has it great. That woman she

752
00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:46,359
Speaker 4: is unbelievable. They don't know the adversity that she's going through.

753
00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:48,880
Speaker 4: They don't know about I mean, Alex, I know you

754
00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:51,640
Speaker 4: as a friend. I'm sure there's things. You have two daughters,

755
00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,360
Speaker 4: two great daughters. You know, you know, an amazing girlfriend

756
00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:57,200
Speaker 4: of business. You know, how many days do you not

757
00:36:57,239 --> 00:36:59,480
Speaker 4: have a problem, Chason? How many days do you have

758
00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:00,359
Speaker 4: an easy day?

759
00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:00,920
Speaker 6: You know?

760
00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:05,600
Speaker 4: People don't understand that, and we as influences need to

761
00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:08,040
Speaker 4: share that. You know what, I have a bad day too.

762
00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:11,399
Speaker 4: I have a problem too. I have adversity also, It's

763
00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:13,960
Speaker 4: all normal, you know, Jason. The one thing I just

764
00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:16,720
Speaker 4: want to hit upon is I did this global study.

765
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:20,920
Speaker 4: I'll ask you and Alex, what percent of people in

766
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:23,640
Speaker 4: this world spent a lot of money on this have

767
00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:26,759
Speaker 4: mental illness? Some sort of mental illness. You guys want

768
00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:27,560
Speaker 4: to take a guess.

769
00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:32,760
Speaker 6: You guys, uh, fifty okay, Jason, I'll go higher.

770
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:34,480
Speaker 2: I'll go sixty two.

771
00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:38,960
Speaker 4: Okay, you guys are close. It's one hundred percent everybody

772
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:40,880
Speaker 4: had I made it up, Alex. I know I shocked you.

773
00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:41,680
Speaker 2: It's made up.

774
00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:44,920
Speaker 4: Okay, No, I know you're shocked. Wow. So it's one

775
00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:49,120
Speaker 4: hundred percent. Everybody has something. If we tackle this stigma

776
00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:52,279
Speaker 4: with that, everybody has something, And at the end of

777
00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:54,239
Speaker 4: the day, if we can talk about it and laugh

778
00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:56,840
Speaker 4: about it. And how do you deal with being OCD

779
00:37:56,960 --> 00:38:00,680
Speaker 4: and trusting other people and stop being a micromanager. Your

780
00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:03,840
Speaker 4: ADHD is all over the place, like we all have

781
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:10,120
Speaker 4: something and noble wants to change mental illness into mental wellness.

782
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:13,560
Speaker 4: You know, fight through this man, pick each other up

783
00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:15,920
Speaker 4: like your teammates did, and when you're in a slump.

784
00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:19,160
Speaker 4: Or I mean Tom Brady, he came into my life.

785
00:38:19,719 --> 00:38:21,920
Speaker 4: You know, at the end of his career. He was

786
00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:25,400
Speaker 4: going through a tough divorce, He had some business issues

787
00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:28,759
Speaker 4: and you know, like I met Tom Brady after he

788
00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:30,839
Speaker 4: won the Super Bowl with Tampa. You know, I joke

789
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:33,160
Speaker 4: with Tom, I'm like, dude, you're hurting my reputation. You

790
00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:34,920
Speaker 4: haven't done anything really good in the last five.

791
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:35,839
Speaker 2: Or six years.

792
00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:38,520
Speaker 4: Like like like Tom, I mean, I got I'm a winner, man,

793
00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:40,480
Speaker 4: What the hell have you won those mikes? I mean,

794
00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:43,160
Speaker 4: maybe you should say I want him. When I introduced

795
00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:45,200
Speaker 4: Tom Brady, I said, this is my friend Tom. He's

796
00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:48,280
Speaker 4: lost three Super Bowls, one hundred game. I get facts.

797
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,319
Speaker 4: Chasing it, asked, I get facts. I just don't tell

798
00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:51,520
Speaker 4: me about the seven championships.

799
00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:52,000
Speaker 1: You know.

800
00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:56,200
Speaker 4: So, but you know what great motivators, great coaches, great leaders,

801
00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:59,640
Speaker 4: but more importantly, great doers in life, no matter what

802
00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:02,640
Speaker 4: the busines. This is. Yeah, like my goal is you know, listen,

803
00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:04,839
Speaker 4: we all want to be better every day. I don't

804
00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:06,800
Speaker 4: even tell my team that they're doing good. I just

805
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:09,240
Speaker 4: told them they sucked LUs today. You guys sucked LUs today.

806
00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:12,040
Speaker 3: Mike Bloomberg likes to tell people. He hasn't never said that.

807
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:13,719
Speaker 3: I don't think he said this to you, Alex yet.

808
00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:16,240
Speaker 3: But if you tell him you've got an amazing new assignment,

809
00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:19,200
Speaker 3: you're doing something, he says, don't mess it up. But

810
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,960
Speaker 3: spoiler alert, he doesn't say mess but you got the idea?

811
00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:26,120
Speaker 1: Yes, So, Mike, obviously you have so much going on

812
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:26,640
Speaker 1: in your life.

813
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:27,800
Speaker 6: You're such an inspiration.

814
00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:30,440
Speaker 1: And I got to tell you personally, speaking for listeners

815
00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:33,040
Speaker 1: and Jason, who I have not shared this with. Anytime

816
00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:34,720
Speaker 1: I've come to a ford in the road, I usually

817
00:39:34,719 --> 00:39:37,120
Speaker 1: call you. You always take my call, no matter how

818
00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:39,960
Speaker 1: busy you are, and you always are there to give

819
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:43,279
Speaker 1: me sound advice. But I was so inspired when we

820
00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:46,120
Speaker 1: took a great run at acquiring the METS. I thought

821
00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:50,120
Speaker 1: we really had an amazing general partnership team, and of course,

822
00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:51,839
Speaker 1: you're basically a queen's guy.

823
00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:53,680
Speaker 6: Love the Mets. We love the Mets.

824
00:39:54,239 --> 00:39:57,400
Speaker 1: Next chapter, you see the Boston Celtics should be selling.

825
00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:01,640
Speaker 1: Is there an opportunity for you or a vision for

826
00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:03,680
Speaker 1: you to be a great general partner, because I think

827
00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:05,759
Speaker 1: what you can do for a franchise where you've done

828
00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:07,399
Speaker 1: your whole life, all you going to do is win

829
00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:09,520
Speaker 1: and make a franchise better. Any thoughts there?

830
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,400
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, first of all, I appreciate what you said, Alex.

831
00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:15,279
Speaker 4: And even though we didn't buy the Mets, you could

832
00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:17,719
Speaker 4: say it was a failed process or we lost the bid,

833
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:21,320
Speaker 4: and we all took it very hard because we really

834
00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:23,400
Speaker 4: put our heart and soul in this for four months.

835
00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:26,360
Speaker 4: It was seven days a week. But I remember saying

836
00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:29,360
Speaker 4: to you, like, I'm so happy we lost that process

837
00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:32,920
Speaker 4: because this friendship and this relationship would have never happened

838
00:40:33,239 --> 00:40:36,240
Speaker 4: if we didn't have that. So sometimes even when you lose,

839
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:39,560
Speaker 4: you wind up winning. And for me, it was like,

840
00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:42,680
Speaker 4: this relationship is very special. Only the Mets are having

841
00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:45,160
Speaker 4: this relationship. I'd rather have this relationship than the Mets.

842
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:47,400
Speaker 4: As far as sports, I meane, you guys know that

843
00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:50,200
Speaker 4: I'm trying to win the Kentucky Derby. I won British Cups.

844
00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:53,879
Speaker 4: I'm over ten in the Derby Steaks. Yeah, I won

845
00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:56,919
Speaker 4: the Belmont Steaks. I wanted the Travers twice. I've won

846
00:40:56,960 --> 00:40:59,840
Speaker 4: these dream races. I actually liked. Being over ten in

847
00:40:59,840 --> 00:41:02,440
Speaker 4: the Kentucky Derby means I got there ten times by

848
00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:05,439
Speaker 4: the way, right, And it means that every time there's

849
00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:08,640
Speaker 4: a journey to get there. I don't even have to

850
00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:12,240
Speaker 4: win the Kentucky Derby, just getting there, taking my friends,

851
00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:15,319
Speaker 4: taking my family. My dad's eighty four, my mom's seventy nine.

852
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:17,959
Speaker 4: They go to the races. Joy is nine years old.

853
00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:19,919
Speaker 4: She went to our first Derby when she was eleven

854
00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:21,960
Speaker 4: months old. It took me forty five years, it took

855
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:25,160
Speaker 4: her eleven months. And it's just it's such a party.

856
00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:28,480
Speaker 4: If we win one hundred, people celebrate. If we lose

857
00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:31,480
Speaker 4: ninety nine, people celebrate. Because I pay for everything and

858
00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:33,520
Speaker 4: I'm the only miserable person sitting in the corner. So

859
00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:38,120
Speaker 4: it's great. But am I going to own a sport team? Yeah?

860
00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:42,040
Speaker 4: I think I want to impact people's lives, just like

861
00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:45,239
Speaker 4: I've been impacted by so many people, and impact work

862
00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:47,719
Speaker 4: is a two way street. Every time I feel like

863
00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:50,919
Speaker 4: I impact somebody, they impact me. And I know why

864
00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:53,319
Speaker 4: you asked the question about an owner. You know that

865
00:41:53,360 --> 00:41:55,520
Speaker 4: if I buy a basketball team, you'll never win a championship.

866
00:41:57,480 --> 00:41:59,800
Speaker 4: A lot of owners are afraid of that, so people

867
00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:02,200
Speaker 4: me to keep me out of the league, you know.

868
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:04,839
Speaker 4: So yeah, I listen, I'd love to do it, but

869
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:09,160
Speaker 4: there's so much time to build teams like the Noble

870
00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:12,560
Speaker 4: Team that's my sport team, the body armor team, the

871
00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:15,799
Speaker 4: Vitamin Water team. I want to build those teams. And yeah, listen,

872
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:17,440
Speaker 4: I think in ten years. I mean, I mean, I'll

873
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:20,319
Speaker 4: probably start as as a minority owner and work my

874
00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:22,600
Speaker 4: way up. I mean, if you want help in Minneapolis,

875
00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:24,239
Speaker 4: I mean, I'm giving you free advice anyway. I mean,

876
00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:26,120
Speaker 4: I mean what that I mean you want me to

877
00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:28,040
Speaker 4: pay for it, I'll do that also, but whatever. But

878
00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:30,040
Speaker 4: it's it's a dream. It's a check the box thing.

879
00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:31,799
Speaker 1: By the way, this is the way it is when

880
00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:35,760
Speaker 1: we talk on eevery time, Like literally I'm rolling over myself. Yeah,

881
00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:38,839
Speaker 1: and look, I think it is Mike the funniest guy

882
00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:41,960
Speaker 1: in the world. Probably not, But there's a chemistry. There's

883
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:44,880
Speaker 1: a chemistry that works, and that stuff you like to

884
00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:47,000
Speaker 1: bottle it. And he's right. We didn't went out on

885
00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:49,000
Speaker 1: the Mets, but we won on this beautiful relationship.

886
00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:51,720
Speaker 4: You know, I think it's good for people to see

887
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:55,800
Speaker 4: Alex and me like this because when you have real friends,

888
00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:58,240
Speaker 4: this is how you can be very open and honest

889
00:42:58,320 --> 00:42:59,640
Speaker 4: and be able to share your opinion.

890
00:42:59,719 --> 00:43:00,600
Speaker 2: So yeah, really good.

891
00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:03,560
Speaker 4: And Alex said, I'm not the funniest person. Probably it's

892
00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:06,400
Speaker 4: only because I choose not to be clear, it's not

893
00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:08,480
Speaker 4: my focus right now. One day it will be maybe,

894
00:43:08,640 --> 00:43:09,160
Speaker 4: all right.

895
00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:12,160
Speaker 3: So you you you so far chosen not to be

896
00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:14,200
Speaker 3: an NBA owner and not to be the funniest person.

897
00:43:14,239 --> 00:43:16,560
Speaker 3: So it's like, watch this space. I mean, you know,

898
00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:30,319
Speaker 3: we've we've got a lot to look forward to, all right.

899
00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:33,360
Speaker 3: So we end every episode with a quick lightning round

900
00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:36,560
Speaker 3: five questions will bounce it back and forth and I'll

901
00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:38,400
Speaker 3: kick off and then and then Alex will jump in.

902
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:40,879
Speaker 3: All right, what's the best piece of advice you've ever

903
00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:42,720
Speaker 3: received on deal making or business?

904
00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:44,080
Speaker 4: Close the deal?

905
00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:47,400
Speaker 6: Who's your dream deal making partner?

906
00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:49,000
Speaker 4: God?

907
00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:51,560
Speaker 5: What's the most nervous you've ever been?

908
00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:54,640
Speaker 4: I'm anxious every day. I can't tell you the most nervous.

909
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:58,880
Speaker 4: I'm driven by nervousness, only the paranoids of ud.

910
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:02,239
Speaker 1: What's your hype song before a big meeting or a

911
00:44:02,239 --> 00:44:03,080
Speaker 1: big negotiation?

912
00:44:03,960 --> 00:44:06,600
Speaker 4: Eminem, what is that? Yourself? What's it? Alex?

913
00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:10,520
Speaker 2: Come on, lose yourself, lose yourself. There you go, I'm spaghetti. Yeah.

914
00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:13,440
Speaker 3: What's your advice for someone listening who wants a career

915
00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:14,319
Speaker 3: like yours?

916
00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:17,520
Speaker 4: Work eighteen hours a day, seven days a week. Don't

917
00:44:17,560 --> 00:44:21,120
Speaker 4: worry about the path it will find you. Just keep working,

918
00:44:21,200 --> 00:44:24,080
Speaker 4: keep grinding. I've been doing this for thirty years. Eighteen

919
00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:26,759
Speaker 4: hour days, seven days a week. Every day I wake

920
00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:30,239
Speaker 4: up broke by midnight. I'm a multi billionaire. I enjoy

921
00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:32,319
Speaker 4: two hours. I go to bed at two, wake up

922
00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:35,399
Speaker 4: at six dead broke again every single day. That's it.

923
00:44:36,239 --> 00:44:38,239
Speaker 4: Eighteen hour days, seven days a week. Never give up,

924
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:38,960
Speaker 4: just keep doing it.

925
00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:43,600
Speaker 3: Wo All right, well you heard it here. This is

926
00:44:43,600 --> 00:44:46,319
Speaker 3: how you become Micropolly. Mike, you are one of one.

927
00:44:46,480 --> 00:44:48,920
Speaker 3: We are so happy to have gotten you on this

928
00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:50,440
Speaker 3: show and got some time with you.

929
00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:51,920
Speaker 2: All I ask is.

930
00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:56,480
Speaker 3: That at some point, whether it's New York, Miami, Minneapolis,

931
00:44:56,719 --> 00:44:58,319
Speaker 3: I want to have dinner with the two of you,

932
00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:00,200
Speaker 3: because this is my favorite show to watch.

933
00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:01,919
Speaker 2: This has been amazing. Thank you so much.

934
00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:05,120
Speaker 4: Thank you. Jason, and I got your text that you're

935
00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:09,040
Speaker 4: looking to replace Alex and I'll be available, but I

936
00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:11,080
Speaker 4: got the text. Thank you so much for sending it

937
00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:14,080
Speaker 4: for me. So yeah, Alex, sorry it didn't work out

938
00:45:14,080 --> 00:45:17,120
Speaker 4: for you again, but you know, but this is great.

939
00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:20,799
Speaker 5: Yeah, but listen, we've created this great relationship.

940
00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:22,879
Speaker 2: So you know, it's like you know, everybody wins.

941
00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:25,879
Speaker 4: Jason, great, met you and Alex. You said it best.

942
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:28,719
Speaker 4: It's this is what a live FaceTime call that we're

943
00:45:28,719 --> 00:45:30,880
Speaker 4: having that we've had over the years.

944
00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:35,239
Speaker 2: Thanks now, everybody again, all appreciate it. Thanks so much.

945
00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:45,560
Speaker 3: The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and me Jason Kelly.

946
00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:49,279
Speaker 3: This episode was made by Anna Maazarakus, Stacey Wong, and

947
00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:53,200
Speaker 3: Lizzie Phillip. Amy Keene is our editor. Our theme music

948
00:45:53,239 --> 00:45:56,920
Speaker 3: is made by Blake Nples. Our executive producers are Kelly Laferrier,

949
00:45:57,560 --> 00:46:00,719
Speaker 3: Ashley Honig, and Brenda Newnham. Auman is the head of

950
00:46:00,719 --> 00:46:06,280
Speaker 3: Bloomberg Podcasts. Additional support from Rachel Carnivale and Elena Los Angeles.

951
00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:08,719
Speaker 3: Thanks so much for listening to the Deal. If you

952
00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:11,840
Speaker 3: have a minute, subscribe rate and review our show. It'll

953
00:46:11,840 --> 00:46:14,839
Speaker 3: help other listeners find us. I'm Jason Kelly. See you

954
00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:15,279
Speaker 3: next week.