Marble Institute of Technology
Marble Institute of Technology
Jul 5, 2026
Reinventing the Supplement — Sam Bregman (Melts) | Founders & Friends Ep. 1
Reinventing the Supplement — Sam Bregman (Melts) | Founders & Friends Ep. 1
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1:04:30
Transcript
0:00
[claps hands] Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Marvel Institute of Technology. My name is Riley Roseby, and I'm thrilled for today's video. It is a nice conversation with my dear friend, Sam Bregman.
0:14
Now, Sam is the founder of Melts Strips. I got some here, right? Melts NAD+ Dissolving Strip. So rather than having to use needles, injections,
0:29
stuff we don't wanna deal with, Sam innovated, [laughs] took leaps of innovation in the supplement strip, I guess just in the supplement space, and created the supplement strip space.
0:46
So as you can see, here is my Melts strip. I put it on my tongue, press it to the roof of my mouth, and I'm off and running. I'm super excited for you guys to learn, listen, hear about Sam's
1:03
never-ending journey to the creation of Melts, all the pivots he's had to endure, what excites him about the future. Without further ado, because this isn't about me yapping,
1:16
please enjoy my conversation with Melts founder, Sam Bregman. [wind blows] Around two years of R&D, went from strips that tasted really, really horrible, [laughs] like people were spitting them out.
1:31
My roommates said they tasted like dog food, I think. It, it, [laughs] they were not great. To now strips that are pleasant tasting and everything from lemon drop to Japanese mint, orange cream skull, y- you name it.
1:43
It took time to,
1:45
to figure out where the opportunities were, and I think you have to go deep enough in a space to find the opportunities that are the real unlocks for growth because those aren't gonna be advertised, you know, in a,
1:57
a social media post or a blog or something. That's how I'm gonna play the, the short game- [laughs]... is just live streams. Like, I'm- [laughs] I don't know.
2:08
I'll, I'll also take some of, like, the little videos if I am just speaking into my phone and, like, sharing it on Instagram. I'll put that up on some shorts, but, like, I'm, I'm not trying to play the short form. Yeah.
2:20
Quick hooks. Could be... it could be a mistake, but why not? Why not? It'll work out. It'll work out, but I'll try and get some creek time, river time either today, tomorrow.
2:36
We got the 4th coming up on Saturday, right? And, like- Okay... and then we'll jump into us talking about the Melts, because I don't have them here physically.
2:47
We're waiting on the UPS because we don't have drone delivery yet. [laughs] I know. We need some UPS drone delivery. Dude, we need some UPS drone delivery. How much do you want to get fucked up?
2:56
Also- Do you wanna hear something crazy?... there's a guy's name- Go ahead. Oh, yeah. Sorry, go ahead. No, no, no. I wa- I, I wanna hear you first. Jeff Tang, was that his name? Maybe. Maybe. I don't know.
3:09
Is it that Asian guy? Yeah, kind of an Asian guy. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, so he, he tried... You know, he made some BPC strips recently, um, and had, like, a peptide party in SF.
3:21
I, I gotta, I guess send, send him some peptide strips. [laughs] There you go. There's a market untapped over there. Also, on my camera it's showing, um, your video is, is frozen most of the time.
3:32
Is it showing like that on your end too, or- No... your Wi-Fi's kinda- It's probably... Dude, I don't have the best Wi-Fi here. Like, I think- Gotcha... I'm working with, like, 20, 20 megabytes or something really weak.
3:43
Oh. [laughs] Okay. Good. So yeah.
3:45
It is, it does record though, you know, locally on each one of our devices, so even if it, like, kinda freezes or something, hopefully it's smooth enough though so you can make out and, like,
3:56
there's no issues with the conversation. Um- Yeah... I do wanna share... Maybe we save it. But dude, so I've been tracking this FAA flight registry data for a couple months now, right?
4:09
Drones are taking off, because they're adding drones to that list. Mm-hmm. And in the, what, three-ish months, Zipline, right? Mm-hmm. The, the drone delivery company.
4:22
They've added almost 1,300 drones to the flight registry in, like, three months. Really? I don't know how to get allocation into that private, uh- [laughs]... company, but dude, they are...
4:38
I mean, and the next, the next company is DGI, 535. And then you have Cirrus at 150. So, like, they are just blowing it out of the water, um, in that capacity, so super excited- A lot of growth... for that.
4:57
I know that Cirrus did drones too. No, no, no. So that's just total new registrants. So there's no- Oh, got you. Got you. Yeah. So there's been 150 new Cirrus aircraft registry on the flight registry. What did I say?
5:15
1,300 for Zipline's drones. Yeah. Something's afoot, man. A lot of progress. A lot... Yeah. Stuff- Hey... is being deployed. Something's being deployed. Um, I'm, I'm excited for their IPO if and when, hopefully soon. But
5:33
all right, let's get this thing going. Are you ready? Let's do it. I am. Do you have questions for me? 'Cause I have questions for you. You don't have- Um-... to ask, but just, like, in your mind. Yeah.
5:48
Well, I guess I have... I got a high level. Is there a certain way you wanna take the conversation? 'Cause I, I don't wanna end up yapping and taking things in a different direction too much.
5:57
Um- Dude, I'm, I'm trying to play as loose as possible with this. Okay. So, like, it's kind of just like two homies hanging out. Um- Like I said, you're an innovator, you're a creator, you're an entrepreneur.
6:11
You've made pi- countless pivots, you know?
6:14
[laughs] From where we were working out at Planet Fitness together to where you are now, like, you know, I think at one point in time you were talking about doing granola bars with electrolytes at the gym. ElectroBites.
6:27
[laughs] ElectroBites. ElectroBites. That's gonna be a soundbite right there. Gosh, that was so funny. But no, man, I mean, just kinda wanna keep it free-flowing. Uh,
6:39
I don't wa- I don't wanna say like Joe Rogan style, but, like, I really appreciate how it's very organic. You know?
6:46
He has some structure to the conversations, but it's not like, "Okay, Sam, so tell me about, tell me about when you knew you needed to create Melts, and, and that one moment- Yeah...
6:57
when everything aligned and the stars aligned, and, you know, you woke up and you all of a sudden had a company," right? 'Cause, like, you and I both know that's not how it works.
7:05
You, you have an idea, you play with it, you fail, you iterate, you play, you fail countless times. So that's kinda what this is. Like, let's just iterate, um, fail, hopefully not too epically, but...
7:21
[laughs] No, that sounds good. All right, folks, well, I'm here with Mr. Sam Bregman, the founder of Melts. Melt Strips? Just Melts? Getmelts.com? What's, what's the official company name? Melts Supplement Strips.
7:38
Melts Supplement Strips. I love it. Well, Sam, the reason I wanted to have you on here is because you're an innovator. You're an entrepreneur. You've made countless pivots.
7:50
You are, you know, innovating the supplement nutrition landscape. So I figured why not start with some good friends on the channel, and we'll see where this goes. Let's do it.
8:07
Okay, Sam, so walk me through your journey. Not, like, your whole life journey, but, you know, just the, the Melts journey, because just before we came on here, I made a comment about
8:18
one of the pivots you went through, goodness gracious, what would that have been, like four years ago? Five years ago? Oh, sorry. Yeah. I started R&D in 2020... Yeah, four years ago. Four years ago. Sam,
8:37
I'm so sorry, but did you see my light cut out? One second. Yeah. One second. Okay. [laughs] I wanna make sure this is bright.
8:54
Sound and light, right? [laughs] Say, say that again? I said sound and light. The... Yeah, two of the most important things. Um, yeah, right, right now, I can... [laughs] You're good on sound, on light. [laughs] Dude.
9:09
Got a little bit. It's funny, if you... The reason- This is such a mess. I'm almost tempted to leave this all in there just because it's a comedy. Yeah, that'd be pretty funny.
9:16
Like, I've never done this before kinda thing. [laughs] Well, it's hilarious. On my end, it keeps freezing. Like, I get a couple seconds of movement from you every maybe minute or two, and then it's just stuck [laughs]
9:30
in one position. Okay. How's that? And then I see you again- How's that?... a minute later. All right. I, I still can't see anything, but if it looks good on your end, [laughs] I trust that it's good.
9:37
It looks good on my end. It's the, it's the Wi-Fi we're working with, but the lighting is better so you can actually see my face. Um, no, but talk to us about the pivots. Talk to us about the pivots, because
9:50
to set the stage, we were working out at Planet Fitness... Goodness, this was probably '22. 2022, 2021, somewhere in there. And what Melts was at that point was very different than it is today.
10:04
So as somebody who's innovated, like, actually made an innovation in a industry, like, how did that all come together for you to be like, "I wanna try something completely new that nobody else has ever done before"?
10:22
There is no roadmap, right? Like, y- you're, you're bushwhacking. You're trailblazing. Yeah, I mean, [laughs] it, it certainly was not a smooth journey or one that I could have predicted.
10:37
I, I think what happened, you know, so I, I grew up having to take injections, um, of a medication for, like, f- around five years. And so with the needle- The journey sort of started, right, injections with a needle?
10:50
Yeah. Okay. Correct. Yeah, yeah. And as you can imagine, it wasn't super fun. The medication burned. Um, I would bruise. And I was like, "Why can we not deliver these compounds without the poke?" So that kind of...
11:03
That start... got my brain going in the space of alternity or alternative delivery methods. And then, um,
11:11
couple years later, developed a different medical condition [laughs] and that required rapid delivery of, in that case, it was electrolytes at the time.
11:21
So when I would get sick, I needed aid quickly, and I didn't wanna go and get IVs or wasn't able to, um, if I was on the go or traveling. And everything, you know, electrolyte pills
11:36
s- were a typically slow onset time, um, with their performance, so that didn't really do the job. Pretzels, you know, only do so much.
11:46
Um, I'm a, I'm a big fan of, uh, a couple electrolyte powders that you mix in a drink.
11:51
Those are great, but again, still didn't hit as fast as I needed, and e- and everything still required pills, which I already had pill fatigue from, um, or the messy powders and having to drink an entire bottle of water just to get those
12:04
couple grams maybe of whatever you're trying to get into your body. So-
12:08
That was the foundation of how do we deliver compounds without the poke, without the water, without pills, faster and more efficiently because also...
12:17
I s- I mean, pills were first developed, like vitamin pills, in the early 1900s, and for the last century... So it was basically pills in the early 1900s, then powder supplements came out around half a century later.
12:30
Um, and so what happened is people got tired of the pills, powders came out, and then people got tired of the messy powders, and then gummies came out, and then people got tired and realized that those were full of sugar, sometimes more than candy actually.
12:41
So then it's like what's the natural progression of what's next? What's cleaner, easier, faster? And strips are that. And so it's funny, a couple years ago, I did not know...
12:56
Like, before we started R&D, I didn't really know that strips were even an option, [laughs] which- Listerine, man. Come on. Keep your breath fresh.
13:04
Well, [laughs] I mean, I was definitely taking those in junior high, but I didn't know that they could be used as a delivery format for supplements.
13:12
And I had a conversation with a guy, um, at a cousin's birthday party funny enough, uh, and he does private equity, I think, on the East Coast, and quant trading over in LA or vice versa.
13:24
And so he's flying back and forth all the time, big supplement guy. And so we got talking, and he, he put me on the track of some alternative, um, delivery methods, and then that led, that led to some research.
13:38
Then a grant from ASU for a couple thousand dollars to begin R&D, a trip out to- So-... our lab and our current manufacturing partner. Um, and then from there it's grown. So I mean, yeah, we started with
13:49
other formats that did not taste good and didn't work, [laughs] and then fortunately through failing and learning the issues with those,
13:57
we're able to build the strips and now have built products that are being used nationwide by parents, busy professionals, clinicians. So it's been a- Myself. Yes. [laughs] Yes. I'm a user. I'm a user.
14:09
Our, our friends in Colorado, um, our, our favorite live streamers. [laughs] So, um, it... yeah, it's been, it's been great, and it's really neat. As you said, like, we are helping pioneer the next
14:23
generation of supplement delivery. Um, and we're excited. We're becoming a leader in the space, and hopefully over the next couple years or, uh, decade or so we'll really be the dominating force there. No, I love it.
14:38
And I think you said something that's really, really important. Like, why is failure so essential when you're innovating? I know...
14:47
Like, maybe this sounds like a silly question, but, like, you're not gonna go stumble upon a new way of doing something without failing at least once. Like, you know, you're not gonna just pull up and hit
15:00
spot on the bullseye, like, first go. So how many different iterations when you went and started leaning into the supplement strips did you go through? Yeah.
15:11
'Cause, um, if I remember correctly, like, this wasn't just, "Riley, we're gonna do supplement strips," and then the next day you send me some and it's like, "Dude, go, go sell this."
15:22
[laughs] No, it was definitely, uh... There was a learning curve for me for sure. I mean, we spent two years in R&D on the strips, and- Two years on the strips alone. So even after everything...
15:33
Like, once you got to the supplement strip ideation, it took two years of R&D to continue that endeavor to get a finished product. Correct. Yeah.
15:43
To- And like, one of the main challenges is with the strips, because of the size, I mean, they're incredibly small, very, very thin, there is a, a limited amount of ingredients that you can include.
15:53
And so with certain actives, um, or even some of the raws, they have a very bitter taste, for example, and so you have to mask those, and masking them can be really, really hard.
16:05
It's like with our first product, I mean, every single batch was tweaking a little bit of this, a little bit of that, [laughs] trying to get the flavor where it was to the point where my mom didn't wanna peel it off the roof of her mouth and spit it in the, uh, in the sink.
16:16
[laughs] So it definitely was, was learning. But I think one of the main things that I've found throughout this process
16:22
was, like, thinking back to, you know, business classes in, in college, there's that typical project of, you know, come up with a business idea, pitch it to the class, and then if you want to try to turn it into something.
16:33
I think it's a great exercise, but a lot of those ideas tend to be very low-hanging fruit that are hard to actually turn into, like, a profitable scaling company. So for example, um, like a
16:51
laundry service for dorm rooms. Okay. Cool. Like- Dude, I would've- Maybe-... I would've eaten that up. I would've loved that. [laughs] Yeah.
17:00
[laughs] There's definitely a lot of students who have tried [laughs] if you're, uh, if you're in the Valley. And, um, I don't know, maybe the go-to-market's a little off or something.
17:09
But I think what's tough is when you... w- whether it's a new business idea, R&D, whatever it is, um, the first stage... Like, you have to get
17:19
those low-hanging fruit ideas out of the way, and then as you get deeper is when you start to come across the new novel stuff.
17:25
You start to be able to develop things that people haven't thought of before because you're... y- y- you have variables that weren't in the equation previously that you can now play with.
17:36
You learn how to, for example in our case, do R&D a lot more efficiently, and then also, like, who do you need to bring in potentially to make that process a lot more successful? So, um,
17:49
yeah, I mean, around two years of R&D. Went from strips that tasted really, really horrible, [laughs] like people were spitting them out. My roommates said they tasted like dog food I think.
17:57
It, it, [laughs] they were not great. Um, to now strips that are pleasant tasting and everything from lemon drop to Japanese mint, orange creamsicle, y- you name it. So, um, definitely was gonna be... It, it took time to
18:13
To figure out where the opportunities were. And I think you have to go deep enough in a space to find the opportunities that are the real unlocks for growth because those aren't gonna be advertised, you know, in a,
18:25
a social media post or a blog or something like- Of course... if, if there's a spot to capitalize on, it's likely that private companies are going to do that.
18:33
So just make sure that you're, um, you know, jockeying into position and getting yourself in the spot to
18:39
take advantage of those opportunities and become aware of those is, I think, one of the things I've found to be most important. Okay. So you were involved pretty heavily with the entrepreneurship program at ASU, right?
18:52
Like, you got some funding. Yeah. You wo- won some awards. ASU is known- Yeah. So they were one-... to be the number one in innovation. How was that whole process? Yep. [laughs] And,
19:05
like, what do you wish you could have told yourself going into that process? Because I went through a similar program in high school. They actually, like, helped us launch a business.
19:16
Me and some buddies, we created a water bottle company. It was super cool. It changed colors when you put in cold water, like, kinda like a Coors Light can, but it was a metal water bottle.
19:27
But, like, that process of building a business kind of in a classroom sandbox setting versus [laughs] like going and getting your ass kicked real time in real life, like, how was that process different?
19:40
And, you know, maybe to some entrepreneurial students out there who are currently at ASU or anywhere around the world, like, how does that process differ from reality, like getting out of the education system? Yeah.
19:56
I mean, it's certainly d- it's different. Like, when you're in pitch competitions for grants, like smaller grants, it's such a different environment than trying to raise capital from sophisticated investors.
20:10
Um, it, it's- And you've done both. I think it's important to know you've done both. Yeah. Yes. A- and yeah, lots of learning. Certainly very, very different process.
20:18
I mean, early on, especially like a university competition, you're selling yourself and the hopes that your idea, your vision is going to become something. Um, but if you lose the money, the company goes to zero.
20:33
It's a grant. It, it, the university, I think, sees them as losses, and if it turns into anything, then awesome. So there's also less of a, I mean, certainly responsibility to go and
20:43
build with the money and try to produce results, but less of a fiduciary responsibility than taking on [laughs] actual capital, um, whether it's hun- a couple hundred thousand or couple million to start. And
20:59
I, I think through rai- I mean, through the early on process to raising, you just learn how to play the game.
21:04
So, like, for example, early on, ASU has a program called Venture Devils where we got our first 5K to begin R&D, and
21:11
that was like, okay, like learn how to, you know, sell myself, um, get a couple of the judges to like me because, like, one of the judges in particular, uh, I mean, she sold a previous company for, I believe it was 100 million plus,
21:23
and she told me after because she liked me a lot and believed in me that she helped me go from what would've been $2,500 to 5,000. That certainly made a big difference early on, got us a couple more rounds of R&D in.
21:37
So learning how to play the game and then following up and building relationships with people there helps with, you know, future trips and additional grants, um,
21:45
and then leveraging those faculty members to figure out what other opportunities are there out there. If it's, you know, another pitch competition, if it's a written grant through the school. We were able to get
21:56
a little over $8,000, I think, through basically grant pitch competitions, which when you're a broke college kid, that's a lot of money, and [laughs] it's really helpful to go and start some- When you're starting from zero, that's a lot of money.
22:10
You're like, "Oh my goodness, I can go change the world with this." [laughs] Exactly.
22:15
And then the next tier of the ASU ecosystem, kind of once you get past those initial grant opportunities, is what's called the New Venture Challenge.
22:23
So it's a nine-week investment competition led by, again, a guy named Scott Waldie.
22:29
He's a serial entrepreneur, um, incredible mentor, very, very nice guy, and also very real with you, which I appreciated because it's easy when you're early on, you know, to get the fluffy feedback.
22:39
Family and friends are like, "Oh, you know, you're the best entrepreneur ever, and [laughs] this thing's gonna go great." That's usually not the reality.
22:45
And so having somebody who will be very direct and push back on basically everything with constructive feedback is so helpful. And it wasn't just him. He brought in other very experienced investors and entrepreneurs.
22:58
Um, there was a physician as well who also was an, uh, an investor in, in the case. So I got to talk with the doctor a bit throughout the period. Um, and the class went well.
23:06
We ended up getting first place, and we actually got, I think, one of their biggest awards they've given out. So we, we won first place, got 35,000 through that, um, and then got an additional 15,000.
23:16
So 50K in a safe was a, a healthy start, and that really helped us get going and then leverage that to go and raise our first round. So it, it's, it's playing the game and figuring out what does each competition want.
23:32
Um, with investors, you know, it's like I found you can't really go and tailor things too much to each specific investor. It's, you need to be yourself and the company and sell that, and if it's a fit, if it's a fit.
23:46
Or if it's a fit, it's a fit. If it's not, then maybe something else down the line, um, works out.
23:52
But with the pitch competitions, like, there's definitely goals it seems that each of these competitions have, and just making sure that the pitch, um, and your company aligns with those I found to be really helpful.
24:02
And it's like, have fun too. They don't want necessarily somebody, you know, in a fancy s- Like, it's, it's not a, a hedge fund meeting. It's a university pitch, so be yourself. Um,
24:14
the, the entertaining pitches, of course, with a good business behind it, uh, always seem to do better than the, um, super uptight ones. No, that, I mean, it's... You gotta have fun, right? That energy is contagious.
24:27
The judges can feel it,
24:30
your future customers can feel it, the suppliers and the folks that you're working with in the R&D, you know, you carry that enthusiasm, that energy, like they're gonna wanna help you more and help you get across the finish line.
24:43
But let's, um, let's kind of pivot a little bit to more, like what excites you about the future, right? As somebody who's innovated, continues- Mm-hmm... to innovate within your, within your own industry.
24:57
Like, I don't know if you feel the same way, but AI, flying cars, drones, like you mash all of these things together and it's like I have no idea what the next 50 years is gonna look like.
25:09
Like we are truly going through a renaissance period. And I know we went to an event, gosh, it was probably six, nine months ago down in Tempe, and we saw some drone guys. Uh-huh. But like what else excites you
25:25
about the coming age of all this technology? For better or for worse, you know. Like, I mean, you could have some cautionary tales as well. Yeah.
25:34
I mean, I think the whole idea, at least right now, that like robots are gonna kill us is very unlikely. I don't think it's going to happen. [laughs] Dude, we gotta, we gotta kill that narrative.
25:42
We gotta kill that narrative. I, I know. Robots are not gonna kill us. I mean, unless we're being stupid, right? Like... Yeah.
25:49
[laughs] Um, I mean, I, I think certainly the, the transportation method, which I know you and I have talked about,
25:56
uh, pretty in- extensively, like flying cars and being able to leverage vertical transportations that have been confined to the ground is such an interesting change.
26:06
Um, and, and the infrastructure, right, is already being built out and whether it's package deliveries or human transport or medical transport, it's... There's a lot of opportunity there.
26:16
I think it's really gonna continue to, to scale, especially with the, um, the implementation of like AI-guided flights where you don't need necessarily a person with a controller to
26:29
control the, the drone throughout its, its flight to the delivery point and then back. Um, I think like the biotech- So I, I, I wanna touch, I wanna touch- Okay... on that point though, right? Yeah. Because I think
26:41
in some of the research work I've done, the reason Americans love our cars, and you know, I'm in there with them. I got a great truck. I like to have fun. I like to go venture around.
26:53
But like everyone's like, "Oh, well, there's so much freedom with, with the automobile."
26:57
But like, in a world where you're not potentially flying yourself but you're still able to travel and commute, like, are you concerned with the, the autonomy of the technology kind of taking over in that capacity?
27:13
Or are you like, "No, man. Just get me there. Like, I don't care how it happens. I don't necessarily need to be the pilot."
27:20
Like, if the tech is, is, has proved efficacy, you know, if there is legitimacy behind it, like do you need to be in full control? Are you happy letting the computers just take charge? Yeah.
27:35
I mean, I think there's a level of manual control that's important. Like we see in the Teslas, right, with the full self-driving mode.
27:40
You can go from Phoenix to California without hardly touching the wheel and have a safe drive, uh, to there. But there's still the, the option for the human to take over and manually steer, you know, brake, et cetera. So
27:55
I think a similar thing will happen, especially, like aviation has such a deep part in our history. You know, everything from the, uh, Or- Orville brothers, right? Are they the ones that...
28:12
Or am I- Wright brothers... what's, what's their last name? I'm pretty sure- I know I'm sure it's not Orville... it was Orville Wright, if I'm right. Oh, yes, yes.
28:18
[laughs] Um, yeah, I mean, I think it's part of like human creation of finding new ways to, to explore and to see. And so I'm sure the, the automated
28:33
flights will be an option, but I, I'm hoping that the manual controls will still be there as well, as either a backup or if somebody prefers. Because, like I would love to get my pilot's license down the line.
28:44
Yeah, it'd be fun to have like a Tesla in the sky, but like I wanna fly sometimes too, you know? It just, it adds another level of,
28:51
of immersion into the experience, um, where you go from being more of the creator of the experience instead of just the experiencer. So I, I think it'll be really neat.
29:03
Um, and I also think we'll probably see some people going back to a lot more prehistoric methods of transportation. So whether it's cars, maybe there's more manual.
29:13
Like I know some of the s- the sports car companies, Ferrari and those folks, you know, the recent EV drop [laughs] which was not a winner for them. And so- Come on, man. You gotta give Johnny Ive some love.
29:23
I think he did a good job. I think- Yeah. I mean, the car looked okay, but I don't think it's gonna sell for very long... it, it was 10 years too late in my opinion, right? Like they should've been on that game- Yeah...
29:32
long ago, but I gotta give credit- Yeah... where it's due. Johnny Ive is a legend, so I'm not gonna dog him. No, he's a great designer. The, the Instagram comments are just not loving the vehicle. [laughs] So, um, yeah.
29:43
Okay, but are they buying the vehicle? That's what I wanna know. Like it, are they a customer? Because, you know, it's not a vehicle- Yeah... for everybody.
29:51
So like unless you got the bankroll to go buy one of those- [laughs]... in my mind, like take your opinion and go yell at clouds. [laughs] Yeah. No, that, that's a fair point.
30:01
I think what they're gonna do, I mean, I don't know, Ferrari seems to have a history of having buyers, um, you know, uh, need to acquire various vehicles to then get the, the higher level, more desirable, uh, options.
30:15
So I have a feeling that the Luce or whatever it's called will be one of those sorts of things. But, um, yeah, I mean, I think we'll see people like- I haven't even went and asked them yet.
30:23
I don't know if they've even started delivering, but I know they're, I know they're gonna come up there Yeah. When you see your first one, you'll have to [laughs] you'll have to take a photo Like, I, I'm gonna freak out.
30:33
I'm gonna, I'm gonna be so excited. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah. Oh, that's awesome.
30:37
But I think with, like, with planes we'll probably see also more people getting into aviation, but flying maybe older Cessnas or, you know, that kind of stuff, so they have a full manual controlled experience.
30:49
Uh, I think that'll be neat. And then kind of going back to the AI side, like a way from transportation and into, you know, more, uh, I guess, biotech in this case.
30:58
AI has already proven to be incredibly impactful in drug discovery, and I think that's gonna be one of the biggest leaps forward in how fast new drugs can be identified and created.
31:10
Uh, it's gonna be a big breakthrough, and I think it's gonna save a lot of lives.
31:13
And even, you know, whether it's pharma application or in the supplement space too, like it's something that I'm keeping my eye on of i- i- is there tools that would make sense for us to use
31:23
down the line as we potentially develop new products? So I, I'm super excited. Um, I mean, Claude is like my personal- What's-... assistant as well, so- Of course... on a daily basis, I'm a big fan.
31:31
[laughs] That's great. What's, um, what's the FDA doing? Have they taken any measures of, like, using AI to help with the approval process, right? Because it's one thing...
31:44
I mean, I think aviation and biotech are similar in this regard of regulated industries, where, like, it's one thing to say, "Oh, we've discovered this new drug." It's a completely another thing of
31:56
getting it through the FDA approval process. You know, how many... There's what? Three phases. There's kind of like two parts within phase three if I'm not mistaken.
32:06
I mean, this is from my biotech trading days, so I'm not, I'm by no means an expert. But, like, there's red tape there. There's litigation. There's bureaucracy. So just because we can create it and create the compound
32:21
with AI, like, are the processes getting accelerating as well with the new technology coming down? Yeah, it's a good question. Honestly, I'm not sure. I've been so heads down in the, uh, the supplement space for...
32:35
The, uh, the pharma realm has just been kind of new since, um- Well, that's a good thing- Right?... that you don't have to deal with that [laughs] I, I am glad I don't have to deal with that currently.
32:44
Um, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually finds its way in. My guess is just because regulatory stuff seems to be typically slow to change, it'll probably be more on the, uh, innovation discovery side.
32:55
And with that, I mean, if a company can come across a, a novel compound that can be a, you know, multi-billion dollar success for them and do XYZ for whatever disease, I have a feeling that they'll try to push that.
33:10
They'll still have to invest, you know, what could easily be hundreds of millions or billions of dollars into the development and the testing. But I, I think it's, it's finding its way in there.
33:18
I feel like every month on X I'm seeing a new, uh, AI biotech company, so. [laughs] Dude... it, it seems money and, and attention is going there. Well, so I've been, like...
33:27
I mean, in the markets I've been just patiently waiting, and we're starting to see it. Biotechs are... I don't know if you follow biotechs very much, but, like, they're rocking.
33:35
Like, they have been going straight line higher for the last few weeks. And I've been so patiently waiting for, like, this biotech AI bubble, 'cause you just know it's coming.
33:44
Like, there was a massive bubble within biotech during the dot com era, right?
33:49
And, like, you think about how computers changed the game in dev- developing new drugs, and that was, like, really a watershed moment within computers and technology, and now we're kind of going through a similar watershed moment with AI where
34:04
it's gonna be booming for biotechs. And, you know, I think that's a good thing and a bad thing. Like, it's, it's probably gonna catch some folks on the way down, but
34:17
never been easier to start a biotech company probably, if I had to guess. I'm not, I'm not interested, by the way. [laughs] Yeah. I, I think the one thing with AI that is,
34:29
uh, like, very important to keep in mind, especially for
34:33
more of the college age population right now, because it- it's so easy to hop on Claude and feel like you're, you're a expert in whatever you just spent five minutes, you know, going back and forth on. Um,
34:46
but AI, like, especially for biotech and, you know, some stuff in the supplement space, and I'm sure other industries as well, there's still a good amount of information that is kept private, um,
34:57
for, you know, commercial use. Like, there... S- certain data sets aren't available, and so you don't always get the full picture when you're working with some of these AI tools.
35:08
Um, and so for folks who are knowledgeable, like if, you know, if they have their PhD in biochem and have done a lot of research there, they're probably super, super excited. But, um, I, I probably wouldn't advise a,
35:24
I don't know- You're saying you-... econ college grad or like-... you're saying to the 14-year-old watching this, "Don't go start a biotech company just because you got Claude." Is that what you're saying? Yeah.
35:33
Maybe stay in school a little longer, work on some side projects [laughs] before you go- Well, I mean, you-...
35:37
and race for a, a new- I, I guess my approach to AI is a lot to, like, I mean, and you could push back on this, but, like, to me AI is very similar to money and just capital, right?
35:49
In the sense that it's just a magnifier. It accelerates the timeline. Yeah. It magnifies your ideas. You have more of a voice. Like, you can go out and do things more.
36:00
So if you're already an expert, it, yeah, a 10X is 100X is you, you know? But if you are still starting from square one, you know, like one times zero is zero, right? Did I do the math right? [laughs] That is correct.
36:18
Yeah. [laughs] You did, at least if, if my math is correct. [laughs] I mean, hey, dude, I went to ASU just like you. So I mean, I'm no- Yeah... I'm no Ivy educated man.
36:27
Um, I wanna, I wanna go back to aviation though[laughs] It is the Harvard of the Southwest. I wanna go back to the aviation standpoint though, because, you know, you have had a unique opportunity of flying
36:42
not just commercially, right? Through this whole journey, you know, you've met people who've opened different doors for you.
36:51
That magic of what regional based and, like, private aviation unlocks, not just from a, you know, I can post an Instagram story and I'm in a private jet. Like, fuck that. Yeah.
37:03
[laughs] The, the real unlocks in time efficiency, productivity, and just how you think about the world, right? Like, I- we have a mutual friend, Brett Conrad, who bought a plane a handful of years ago.
37:17
And when I saw, like, how their entire life's changed, their relationships within their family, their business relationships, the relationship of just, like, playing.
37:28
You know, like being able to jump in a plane and go fly somewhere fun, and like that's your weekend. Or like connecting with family who might be a couple states away, and it's not that big of a deal. Like,
37:39
did that, did that change your mind of like, "Oh my goodness, I... Like, I need to get in the air more. Like, this is... I can't do what I wanna do unless I have this ability or these means"? Yeah.
37:54
It, it was a total eye-opener. I mean, like, so the, the first private flight that I was able to experience, um, the, the gentleman who invited me on, he, he made a joke that the plane was like a time machine.
38:11
And I was like- Boom. Yes, 100%. Yeah, yeah. Uh, you know, and I, I thought it was funny. Like, I laughed. I'm like, "Okay, cool." Like [laughs] it was...
38:19
I don't really know what that means, but I guess we're about to experience it. And I mean, so that day we, we went from Arizona to a neighboring state where our manufacturing facility is.
38:35
Did or had a meeting with their, with the lab team, completed R&D, at least that, that batch of R&D, and got back to Arizona by, like, 1:30 PM. It was insane. If, if I was to take a commercial flight
38:51
and do that same thing, it would've taken me probably at least double the time, and spend two hours in the airport, half an hour commute, the slow boarding process. You're on the plane, you know- I was gonna say- So-...
39:02
good luck getting, like, a smooth taxiing, landing. Like, you know, you're probably sitting on the plane- Exactly... for an hour doing nothing too. Yeah, some dude's, like, asleep on you.
39:11
You know, it's just, [laughs] it's just such a different experience.
39:14
And then if, if you have a, a meeting to get to, then you're stuck in at the back of the plane waiting 30 minutes for everybody to grab their suitcases and then slowly walk off. So it, it was totally different.
39:22
I mean, it was... One of the main changes that I have been able to experience and, like, a mindset shift that I've adopted throughout this process has been
39:36
really going from, like, you know, in, in high school for example. Feels like you've got a lot of time.
39:41
You know, you're, you're hanging out, you're chilling with your friends, you're going to class, you know, playing sports, whatever. But there's not really, like, a- Just sitting in the park lot. Yeah.
39:47
Do you guys ever hang out in the park lot? Yeah. [laughs] We, we chat after classes and stuff. Uh, uh, but I, I don't think many people in high school are asking themselves the question of, like, "How do I
39:59
have the highest level of operational efficiency throughout my day?" And it's like once you start a business, you're forced to ask that question because you're wearing so many hats.
40:07
There's so many things to do, um, in order to, to try to grow and reach, you know, if, especially if you have investors, like a sizable exit. And so that flight was one of those things where I'm like, wow.
40:19
Like w- if you're trying, if, if you're trying to really build something or if you are scaling a company that's already very successful,
40:26
private flights can be a really, really big ti- time saver or maximizer on efficiency for that day. And also just the experience, like everyone on that flight, it's so easy to have
40:39
such positive, powerful conversations in those settings because everyone's happy. Who doesn't wanna be flying private? Like, you know, you walk up to the hangar, the plane's ready to go. You taxi off in five minutes.
40:49
You're in the air. The plane is beautiful. Um, you know, there, there's no like... If you have to use the restroom, it's a nice experience- Easy peasy...
40:56
instead of, you know, the, yeah, the janky- Although I had, I had to pee in a bottle. I've had to pee in a bottle up in the air. I... [laughs] Dude. Okay. That's a different story. That's, I mean, yeah, but...
41:06
Yeah, maybe on like a Cessna, you know. If you're flying, like a, a plane that's maybe a bit, a different caliber, [laughs] it's, it's a bit different. Um, and yeah, it was just crazy.
41:19
Like, when we left I was like, wow, like that was so much, so much that we got done so fast because of the method of transportation. So incredible experience.
41:27
Um, I mean, I hope one day I will be able to secure my pi- pilot's license and get a plane. I don't know if it'll be- We'll get there... the ones that I flew on, but like regardless- We'll get there...
41:37
being able to have that con- that, that autonomy in the air I think is just so, so powerful. I mean, talk about freedom, right? Yeah.
41:43
In my mind, that's like freedom at its highest form, and I am a little disappointed just within the private aviation industry.
41:51
But like this is just humans being humans of, like, we're so focused on the glitz and the glam and the, you know, look at all the $100 bills that I have that are fake on the counter of my private jet. Like,
42:04
that's not what it's about. It... Like what you're saying, dude. Like, you, you got things done. If you would've had to drive, make that drive, you know. Like, it would've taken you a day to get there.
42:16
You would've slept- Mm-hmm... in a crappy hotel, gotten crappy sleep, woken up, been off your game, go meet with them. You come back to the hotel, then you drive back home the next day. Like, it's a, it's a no-brainer.
42:31
And so part of what I wanna do with this and where I see this whole trend going is, like, that private aviation experience is not gonna be I mean, it's gonna be hard to reach.
42:42
Like, it's a very difficult milestone to reach.
42:46
But I'm thinking, like, with the advent of all these electric aircraft, the EVTOLs, we're seeing all this drone activity going on, like getting that barrier to at least come down a peg or two to where more and more people are able to experience that.
43:02
Because I feel like for some folks, for most folks really, like they just can't even imagine what that life is like. I mean, I know my parents, I'd be like, "You know, like- Right...
43:10
it would take me about an hour to fly home from where I'm at to where they're at." And it's like a four and a half, five-hour drive. If traffic on I-70's bad, it could take an entire day.
43:20
Like, most people don't even acknowledge or understand or even, like, have the creative, creativity of like, what if I could just fly? Mm-hmm. And like there's... Dude, there's regional airports everywhere, you know?
43:34
So like wherever you need to go, there's probably a regional airport to accommodate. 100%. I, I, I think there's,
43:42
not only are you able to get to, you know, favorite spots, maybe a city where your family lives or that sort of stuff for a business meeting, um, faster, but
43:52
I think there's so much, I think there's so much benefit from traveling and seeing new places. And I think as, like w- with these LLMs,
43:59
so many people are getting the same input, and so I think it's leading to a lot of the same result. Like you see this in, in ads now or like the GPT-created posters. It all looks the same.
44:09
People want c- like actual unique creative taste, and I think you get that from unique inputs. And I've found, like some of my, my best or biggest ideas have come from being physically at a higher altitude,
44:22
so a rooftop of a tall building, in a plane. Like, I have this weird thing that happens every single time I'm on a flight and I'm looking out the window. I'm like, "Okay, it's literally time to do this." Dream.
44:33
Dream big. Yeah. E- exactly. And so I think the altitude is a- Dude, we gotta get you up here to Colorado, get you at high altitude, let your brain just run rampant. [laughs] I know. Sometimes too, we'll, we'll, uh...
44:46
Yeah, we, we got, we gotta find the time to make that happen. Now, uh, I think there's also kind of just, uh, you know, selfishly adding a bit of the health touch, I didn't realize this until I went on the private plane
44:58
that there is a level of, of health optimization happening on private flights, at least some of them, compared to commercials. Like when you fly commercial, um, you know, the- I always get sick... in- yeah, the interior,
45:15
um, environment can lead to, you know, like your immune system can have a harder time. It has to fight harder. It's easier to get dehydrated. Um, some of these private planes are able to keep- The junk food.
45:25
Hold on, but we gotta keep going to this, dude. The junk food, the food options at the airport, right? Yeah. Like it's, it's just as bad as a convenience store where you're just buying Funyuns and gummy worms.
45:37
Just $20 for- I mean, I'm all for Funyuns and gummy worms at the right time, but like- Yeah [laughs]... in a logistics standpoint, like if you're traveling and you need to eat,
45:47
like it's not, it's not in your favor in those environments. No, it, it, it- So I'm sure the private experience, you know, you could eat where you want to eat.
45:56
They might have catering that has real food that's not- We actually got Chipotle, funny enough, [laughs] on the way coming back. Um- What else do you want? Chipotle in the sky, man.
46:05
Uh, that's all, that's all you can ask for. Uh, but it's interesting, like with these private planes, at least the nicer ones tend to have, um, int- lower interior cabin pressures.
46:14
And so when you fly you get less jet lag too, which is just another benefit where you can go even if it's a long flight and you can adapt and get back on pace faster with whatever your life, you know, consists of, work, trip, et cetera.
46:26
Dude, I'm so happy you brought that up. And so- I never would've thought of that. Yeah, I, I didn't even know it was a thing, and it's... I mean, it really makes a difference.
46:33
Like think about if you go to, let's say you have a big conference, you're flying from, I don't know, Arizona to New York.
46:38
It's easy to get jet lagged from a flight, you know, coming back or forth and like, you know, kind of puts you off for maybe a day or two or three, uh, especially like if you're going to Europe or something, you're like a farther flight.
46:50
But if you're able to be in an environment that is more conducive to optimal health always, just like think about how much better, right, how much more energy you show up to those meetings or that conference with,
47:02
how your sleep quality is improved, your recovery is better, you know, if you're still working out let's say your, you know, morning before the conference or whatever.
47:07
So it's, uh, it, there's a lot of levels here that people don't understand. I mean, of course there's also just the challenge of like you have to be...
47:15
I, I, I think plane ownership in some ways is very glorified, especially with the private jet stuff.
47:20
What, what I've learned is it's usually not a smart economic decision unless you are very, very much in the position to be able to afford one of those.
47:29
Otherwise, it's like it's cheaper to rent and charter, and it's, it's probably a better decision actually most of the time to do that. You just can't say you own a plane, but it's, I think it's just an ego thing, so.
47:39
It is what it is. You know, we can't all be like our friends up in Canada who are the highest, uh, usage airplane in the country, but one day. [laughs] Are they? The, the top, uh, top flyers? No, I, I, uh,
47:58
friend of a friend has the title for the most frequent flyer of a private jet in Canada. Sick. Yeah. Founder of a little apparel company we're all familiar of. Yes. [laughs] Yeah. Um- Nice...
48:13
yeah, I mean, like when you get to that level, right, it does completely unlock things and, yeah, probably purchasing a plane makes sense. But even just like being able to experience,
48:24
dude, even just experiencing a small airplane, right? Like if you've never- Yeah... flown in a small airplane before, just to like get in there and like
48:33
if you can rather than just like doing a loop around the airport and like coming back and landing, like if you can land somewhere else and then it clicks in your brain like, "Wait a second, it took us 10 minutes to get here, 15 minutes to get here.
48:45
It would've taken me an hour to drive here." Like- Uh-huh To me, that's, that's the magic moment. But, dude, we gotta keep innovating, right?
48:56
That's the only way this is gonna come to, to more folks is if we continue to innovate in the aviation space so that it's more accessible. 100%. 100%.
49:05
I think with that, too, there was, um, a clip I saw a while back, I think it was, um, um, Elon or maybe it was Naval or somebody talking about how, like, the, the human race, you know, tends to expect because tech and medicine and all these different things have advanced over time,
49:20
that they will inherently continue to do so. But, like, if nobody builds, nothing's gonna happen. You know, things just come to a standstill. And I think there w- will always be
49:28
a, a segment of the population that will build no matter what, but I, I think it's an important reminder, like we have a responsibility if we wanna see that stuff happen, that we have to help create that tech.
49:36
Dude, we do. I mean, in my mind, it's like you're either growing or you're dying, right? Like, you're either continuing to move forward or you're moving backward, and
49:49
we've seen examples in history of us going backwards, and it's very ugly. Mm-hmm. It is not the direction we wanna go.
49:56
So it's like, yeah, we have to overcome some of the cause of concern with AI, with robots, with autonomy, with the, you know, the data centers, all this stuff.
50:05
But, like, if we don't continue to progress, it gets really ugly really quick, and I don't wanna live in that world, that's for dang sure. We've almost done this for an hour, Sam. This was far beyond my expectations.
50:20
It's going by quick. So thank you. [laughs] Um, do you have any questions for me? Pepper me. Yeah. Um- Hit me with your best shot. Okay. Flying cars, do you have a favorite design you've come across so far, and why?
50:36
No, because I don't think the iPhone of flying cars is out. Like, it's... In my mind... Okay, so Leo Flight is probably the closest thing to, like,
50:45
coming up with an idea that could work that is truly, like, kind of that driveway takeoff flying car idea, right? Um, but the way I'm looking and kind of thinking through this is
51:02
it took, what, almost 20 years from when cell phones really kind of trickled into the market before, uh, the, the iPhone came around, right? We had the big brick phone.
51:17
There's that classic image in, in the first Wall Street movie of Gordon Gekko on the beach with his big old brick phone, and, like, it was a cool status thing. But then, I mean, that was probably, what, early '90s?
51:30
So both... None... Neither one of us were even an idea, right? And then it took all those years before Steve Jobs came around and before we have the iPhone.
51:40
And now it's just, like, the default design of, like, this massive touch screen that is invasive in my mind, and that's, that's what we got.
51:51
So it's like it's hard for me to think about what that design looks like, um- Mm-hmm... because I think we have a few leaps forward in innovation when it comes to propulsion, when it comes to fuel, aerodynamics. So
52:07
I don't even think that design is in somebody's brain yet, Sam. I think we have, like, a few more steps before somebody's like, "Oh, shit, what if we do this?" I am really excited about magnets.
52:19
Uh, I don't know if I mentioned this to you, but I met a gentleman just through LinkedIn who is designing magnetic propulsion aircraft. Now, he's... Like, he is not building anything just yet, but dude, [laughs]
52:38
like, I'm all for that. Like, he is putting himself out there and going so contrarian to what the previous ideas and design understanding have been. And, like, to me, that's where the magic is gonna be found.
52:53
I don't necessarily think the magic is gonna be in EVTOLs. I think that's a good first step. Get the flywheel going. Get us to, like, dream about innovating in aviation.
53:05
I don't know if you ever read that, uh, Jay Storrs' hall, Where's My Flying Car? But it talks- I didn't, no.
53:12
Dude, it talks about how there's just this massive stagnation in aviation innovation, and I know that's a lot, a big mouthful. But, like, since the '60s and '70s.
53:22
So really, like, after we went to the moon, like, we just kinda stopped trying to continue to put things in the air at, like, a really high level. Um, and so what happens
53:37
when people start to believe that you can actually innovate in these areas? Uh, are you, are you familiar with George Soros' law of reflexivity? I'm not. Can, can you teach me it? Oh, man.
53:50
So this is, this is such a beautiful principle. So, like, it's a... Everything's a feedback loop, right?
53:59
We all live, coexist in these feedback loops, and the idea with the law of reflexivity is as an idea attracts more attention and attracts more capital, it, it increases its odds of materializing in the real world, which in turn increases its odds of raising further capital, right?
54:19
So you have this beautiful feedback loop that is driven by belief in capital, and, and people's energy and wanting to progress.
54:27
Now, sometimes these feedback loops move really, really quick, and they blow up in a bubble, in a financial bubble, right?
54:36
We, we've all seen those, the dot-com bubble, the tulip bubble, the 3D printing bubble in, like, 2014, 2015. We're in some sort of a bubble right now within the... all these memory stocks.
54:48
But if you can break and continue, like, that feedback loop doesn't stay stagnant. Right? Like anything else, it compounds.
54:58
So maybe there's one company trying to create a new airplane design, and they raise, you know, shits and giggles, 10 million bucks. Mm-hmm. They get success. Somebody else sees it.
55:09
They wanna join them, or they start their own company, right? And then the total amount of funding that's coming into that industry jumps up to 100 million. Okay, for aviation, that's not a big number.
55:20
Like, you're still probably not gonna get off the ground, pun intended. But
55:26
as you could s- Like, you could see how this feedback loop is, is going, and if there's success and that feedback loop continues to evolve, like, we have no idea what it turns into. Like, I don't know.
55:37
Could you imagine talking to Elon or Peter Thiel during the, uh, PayPal mafia days and being like, um, "Here's where we're at in 2026"?
55:48
Like, with, with any sort of accuracy, I don't think any of those guys could have fully articulated how the web, e-commerce, social media, how all this stuff would evolve, you know? So we, we have no idea.
56:02
Um, but you can't put the genie back in the bottle. That's, that's my thing. So when I'm seeing these- [laughs]...
56:08
eVTOLs, when I'm seeing the drones, we saw the economics of war change within the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and- Mm-hmm... now drones are taking center stage. They're, they're changing regulation around supersonic flight.
56:24
So- Mm-hmm... I don't know, man. That's why I'm doing this, though, 'cause, like, I have no idea. [laughs] I love it. I mean, yeah, I, I think
56:35
when you're this early, I feel like if you're directionally correct, you will end up being materially correct, at least in some regard. Um,
56:44
and maybe it's like the strips where you work on, you know, a lot of different things, and eventually you come across a totally unexpected new plane design or drone or whatever it is, uh, that becomes
56:57
the thing, the winner. So we'll- Do you know what I'm really interested in, is honestly, and maybe this is a l- this is kind of b- bahumbug of me, but, like, the FAA needs some work. It needs a massive facelift.
57:14
And I know they're talking about it, but, like, I would love to see and figure out, and I'm sure Palantir's working on it, but, like, who's building the autonomous FAA system?
57:25
And, and is this a project that, like, we're actually taking seriously? Not to remove humans from the equation completely, but, like, we have the technology.
57:36
AI is fucking smarter than all of us, especially in something that data-driven. You know, there would be some times when, like, humans have to step in and make critical decisions. But, like,
57:48
from a system smooth operational standpoint, like, AI would probably do... you know, run laps around us. And so it's just like,
57:59
are we, are we taking this stuff seriously, and are we building and positioning for the future versus having to constantly b- be playing catch-up? And it's like, oh, shit- Mm-hmm... we have these eVTOLs.
58:09
We don't even know what to do with them. You know? Like, we don't have the infrastructure ready for it. Like, 'cause then it's nev- C- then that feedback loop gets stalled, and it gets
58:20
slowed down, maybe blown up entirely. So I would love to see some, like, material, material progress on the regulatory side of things. A lot like what they did with the interstate system, right?
58:37
Like, that is a massive project that came down from the top that everybody bought into. And maybe that's harder in 2026 to get folks to believe in a project of that scale, but
58:51
it certainly feels like it's necessary, especially if flying cars are gonna come to fruition. [laughs] Yeah. No, I, I think it's a, a very interesting idea. I'd be curious to learn more about the history of how that, um,
59:04
went from, you know, proposal through Congress and approval to then what is likely... I mean, I can only imagine billions and billions and billions of dollars in spend.
59:14
And then, like, successful implementation, like, where we can actually drive, you know, across the country on roads that work [laughs] and get us to the right place. So I think it's a good idea.
59:22
I'm super, super pumped where things are going. Um, and I, I have a feeling that, Riley, you will be certainly a part of this revolution i- in one way or another. Dude, I just wanna, I just wanna have fun.
59:35
I wanna do hood rat shit with my homies, so this is some hood rat shit- [laughs]... with our homies. Um, yeah, I mean, like, let's, let's kind... try and go do something crazy, right? We only got one shot at this.
59:49
Well, if, if you don't take a shot, it's like, what... I don't know. I, I... The idea of looking back and thinking that I lived small is something that's so scary to me, so yeah, you have to take the shot.
1:00:00
Here's the cool thing, Sam. Yeah. I'm gonna close with this. I'm gonna close with this, 'cause this is a really cool thing.
1:00:05
Like, all my life I've been interested in, you know, I'm, I'm probably somewhere on the spectrum. It's a spectrum. But, like, planes, trains, automobiles. Like, I've always been obsessed. And I went down this- Mm-hmm...
1:00:15
rabbit hole of moving to New York, leaning into the financial markets, working for financial market media companies, and, like, going all in on that capacity.
1:00:25
And probably within the last year, I've made this slow pivot towards aviation and kind of what we're doing here now.
1:00:35
As I'm on this journey with aviation, dude, the doors are just flying open, and I think that really speaks to just alignment within yourself and what you wanna do and how you wanna proceed.
1:00:48
Because, like, the stars just start to align when you're on that right path, no matter how ridiculous it sounds.
1:00:57
And maybe you had some of that experience where it's just like, how did all this come together at the right moment, at the right time?
1:01:04
You know, maybe after you made a big pivot that you were scared to make, you know, close a door that you didn't wanna close, and then all of a sudden 20 doors open, and you're like, "Holy smokes, which one do I pick?"
1:01:18
Yeah. I, I think when you... I don't know whether you wanna call it the, the universe, God, w- w- whatever... I don't know. P- people believe in these things. We can use universe. No, no, no, we can use universe.
1:01:31
Or- I understand what you're saying. Let's just use universe though. Um, yeah, I, I think when you start working on the thing that is really the right thing for you, it's a different feeling, and it's like
1:01:44
y- you know when it's there and you know when it's not. Or actually, you know when it's there, you might not know if it's not what you might think it is.
1:01:52
But once you come across the thing, I think it's like this undeniable obligation that you feel to go and build that because it's so much fun, because you feel like you are one of...
1:02:04
Or like y- you are uniquely the person who's able to go and, um, and implement that change. And I think it seems right that's like sort of or maybe completely what you're feeling as you're
1:02:16
getting deeper and deeper into- Well, it's, it's like there, there's more doors that open up, and like y- you're met with more ease, right? Like when- Mm-hmm...
1:02:25
I was trying to go work in New York, dude, I pounded on every fucking door I could. I wrote letters to different hedge funds, tried to get a job at them. Like, also while I was in school, I took an unpaid internship,
1:02:37
lived in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, got robbed that summer. I mean, crazy things occurred kinda throughout that whole journey, and it was such a fight. Like, it was always just this uphill fight.
1:02:48
And like, since I'm kind of like really leaning into aviation and what all of that entails, it's, it's like I'm floating down the river versus trying to swim upstream, right? 100%.
1:03:03
I think that's the best way of putting it, where it's like you're just going with the flow versus, you know, trying to exert your will to create a specific out- Yeah. Yeah.
1:03:15
I- it's certainly, I mean, like R- like Rick Rubin says, I mean, y- I love that guy's book. Um, yeah, uh, when you get in the zone, like it just, it happens. It's natural, and you can...
1:03:24
Even if you don't have the technical skill, you can feel the right path, which is, I think, a super special thing. Yeah. Dude, let's end it on that note. That was great. That was great. Boom.
1:03:35
[laughs] Sam, thank you as always. I, I'm so grateful for you and for Melt and for our friendship. Love you. And I'm excited to do this again, God knows where. I don't know. Maybe we'll be on a plane.
1:03:48
[laughs] Maybe in a plane next time. Maybe in a plane. How fun would that be? That would be awesome. That would be awesome.
1:03:54
But maybe the plane needs to be grounded, and maybe it needs to be like a old shitty airplane just so people aren't like, "Oh, these guys are just here for clout," you know? Yeah.
1:04:03
I mean- We can do like a Cessna with Starlink, you know, or so- [laughs] something fun. Yeah. Yeah, certainly. Um- All righty, my friend. Well, thank you so much for doing this. We'll get it up and- Of course...
1:04:13
out and out in the world here soon. But keep crushing it. Keep crushing it. You too. Thank you. Thank you for having me on. I appreciate it. Of course. Anytime. [laughs]
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