E: 22- Eric "FarCognitions" CMO of AdvancedGG

spk_0:   0:01
what is happening? Everybody hope. Having a fantastic morning snack. Mid afternoon. Nap evening, wherever you are in your day. I hope it's great. Welcome back to another week of the bonified experience. Podcasts. My name is Kyle. Take a bona fide gaming this week. We have a special guest on the show. His name is Eric. He is the chief marketing officer at advanced dot G. It is one of the next level gaming supplement companies that I am actually partner with or have an affiliate with. They're one of my favorite companies. I have no problem hyping them up. I was really excited to have Eric on the show. We dive deep into the business of Advanced. What got them there? What? His journey is what the current metta is. You know of e sports drinks and what is in store for advanced dot g. Next eyes. Without further ado, I'll let him take it from here. Enjoy. Good evening, Eric. How you doing this afternoon?

spk_1:   1:11
Doing great, man.

spk_0:   1:12
Yeah. Why gets this evening? Um, I started a little bit. There is still late afternoon for us. Early evening. Glad to have you on board, my friend. Welcome on and thank you. Ah, I know you're gotten extremely busy schedule, so thanks for thanks for making the time to come on here.

spk_1:   1:26
No problem. It

spk_0:   1:28
think about me. Absolutely. Absolutely. So before we get started, once you go ahead and Ah, tell us a little about yourself, who you are. Um, you're kind of a little bit of a smaller back story, you know.

spk_1:   1:38
Here. Ah, so my name is Eric? Um no. By Eric. Or I go by my online alias, which is far cog or far cog missions. Um, have a little history. Their toe started off of the game or tag, but surprisingly, a lot of people, even in the business world. Well, call me by my game or Tiger aliens, Far cog or far cognition. Um, what the I am the head of marketing at Advanced or Advanced G. Um, let's see. Have been working with advanced now for about two years. Ah, the company has been public for Ah, about a year and 1/4 so yeah,

spk_0:   2:21
I didn't know that they were under that. Your republic.

spk_1:   2:24
Well, not public on, like, the stock exchange or anything like that, but just public in terms of, you know, selling yourself to the public. You know, it takes a little bit of behind the scenes work before it comes out, so

spk_0:   2:34
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, Absolutely. I understand that. All right, So how did you? I mean, speaking of advanced, you know, how did you get involved? You know what was kind of back story behind that?

spk_1:   2:44
Sure. Um So, like I said about, ah, you know the exact timeline, but, ah, about two years ago, Ah, myself, along with Peter, the CEO advanced. Um, and, ah, some other people that are kind of behind the scenes. Um Ah, we have this idea that it was idea of of Ah. So it's basically people from the dietary supplement world and from the gaming world. Um, so we got together. We were a group of people. I come from the gaming world. Um, you know, we all had our own expertise, had a lot of, um, experience influencer marketing. Um, it's digital marketing in general. Um, so, yeah, we got together and ah, no advanced was formed. Um, And at that point, we kind of all knew that it was going to be successful because we had all the right tools in place already. We already understood the gaming industry or the gaming community. Um, you know, a lot of us were very endemic to the space, Um, which I would say is very important. It doesn't matter really how much money you have if you come in to the gaming community and you're gonna expect just be, you know, instantly. Successful because you have millions of dollars in the bank. Um, it doesn't work like that. You know, the gaming community is very cliquey. Um, you know, they stick by each other. It's it's one big kind of community family. I like to call it like it almost like a high school. It's very, you know, quick. E. There's hierarchies. Um, and you have to be endemic to that space. You have to live, eat, breathe, sleep it. Otherwise you're gonna stand out like a sore thumb. So let's just say yeah, let's say Coca Cola tries to come in and come up with a competing brand to advance G fuel. You know some of these other brands out there? Um, they probably end up being a laughing stock within a few months because they're probably would just stand out as like, they don't know what they're doing. You know, they don't really know. Gamer, streamers, YouTubers. They don't understand the means. The language that we use. Um, so, yeah. So, you know, a lot of us were very endemic to the space. Um, we had a background. So I guess me specifically, um,

spk_0:   4:54
had

spk_1:   4:55
a background in running e sport events for a long time. And actually, I worked with Peter on a lot of those projects. So Peter and I had a long history already. And one of the other owners of Advanced is, um, the guy who owns Tracker Network. Which sites? Like halo halo tracker dot com. Uh, important. A tracker. Apex tracker, Destiny tracker. I mean, there's so many sites there. They have the number one that tracking site kill, death ratio and all that in almost every single game, except for one or two that are, you know, proprietary by lake blizzard or whatnot. I think over watches. You know, they kind of own that. Um, So there's some other people behind the scenes as well. Um, yes. So Peter and I pretty much are the main driving force um, you know, in terms of day to day, you know, and not including all the other staff that worked with us. Um, but we're really, you know, kind of the vision behind advanced, um, and ah, again, us having deep roots in the gaming space has allowed us to just really understand things. You know, we had a lot of friends already that they were willing to support us. We had ah, you know, for example, a lot of big streamers and YouTubers specifically in the destiny space. Um, you know, supported us from day one. Um, and I just touched a little bit on that. Peter and I come from the destiny community. I would say if if we if there's any community, you know, that we kind of strung out of, um it would be the destiny community. Um, we ran destiny, competitive events for years. We were known as Ah, yeah. Some people would refer to us as the the godfather of Destiny E sports. Like we we created the scene when there was no seen. So the

spk_0:   6:51
same thing

spk_1:   6:51
happened with some other games out there with, like h one d one. Ah, even fortnight um, in the beginning, there was no rial, you know, formalized, seen so up to the community to create one. And Peter and I lead, you know, lead that force. And we became, you know, kind of respected for it. And we, you know, got, you know, became friends with a ah lot of really good players who came on to become, uh, you know, a lot of very famous streamers. And so we just had a lot, a lot of history and a lot of roots there and that really carried over to advance. So yeah. So now we are where we are now, and, ah, things they're really, really exciting. So

spk_0:   7:35
absolutely. I mean, I've been a huge fan of your product since, uh, I don't even know where I found you. I think I found you from your Logan. That's that. That's where I first found you guys. Yeah, Yeah, we were in a couple streaming communities together, so I that's That's initially where I I saw that I immediately fell in love with the product once. You know, once I was I tried it for the very first time and, you know, so advanced. Like what What is the problem that you are solving?

spk_1:   7:59
No. Good question. Um, so usually when someone asked this question, I like to you Do they really use the comparison? Cause it's the question that most people are really asking. Um, you know, when they when they ask that question, they're asking, What's the difference between you and G? Fuel is really what people are saying, you know, without saying it, because G feel you could say they've already solved the problem. So what are you doing differently? Well, in a nutshell, what we're doing differently is we're very product focused. You know, marketing is important to us, but definitely our first priority. Or I'd say, second power because first priority is customer service. That's a huge thing for us. We just really believe that. How customers about treating them right in every which way that you have nothing. So that's the first priority. Second priority is his product quality. So we noticed that no one in this space was producing riel products that have really benefits, right? Riel, clinically dosed, fully dose products. Um, that do exactly what they advertise to dio. Um, if you don't know a lot about the dietary supplement world. There's a lot of gimmicky products out there, Um, and when and specifically when it comes to, you know, energy type products or focused type products. Ah, lot of companies are crunching just on cheap caffeine and fillers fillers such as multitude Extra in, um, and there's some other ones out there, and they put just really cheap caffeine and caffeine that is almost so cheap. It's almost free, and then you know it. But it also takes up a little bit of space. So if you put just that cheap caffeine in a container with some flavoring, it would just be a tiny little, you know, thing of specs, right, which would be very small. So they got to fill that space with something so they end up filling with just just gobs of filler, right? And that's what they're selling. And that's why they don't talk about within their product. They just say, Hey, by and I'm not speaking to just one company particular, um, there are good things about you know, their products as well, But, um, you know, that's really what their model was. Keep their products is cheapest possible and sell the brand, you know. So this is what you're drinking? You're drinking this right as opposed to your drinking. Just specks of cat feet, right? Nobody really paid attention to the ingredient. So we saw an opportunity there because there's so many amazing ingredients out there. I mean, we are. We are in the future now. I mean I mean, the years 2020. There are amazing ingredients out there. Now, here's the problem, Right? And here's why. You would say, Well, why doesn't every company do that right? Um and the answer is it's very expensive, Right? So say you have a great ingredient like Alfa GPC or, you know, our our the the most, uh, the main ingredient focus, which is new level, Um, a full dose of that cost 34 times as much as an entire John jarred tub of someone else's products that one ingredient alone. If you give a full clinical dose of it, it's very, very expensive, right? So we decided Okay, our costs would be a lot higher, but we'll be able to solve a problem that's not being soft, you know, get producing real products that have real benefits. I'm sure a lot of people you know, not just gamers could benefit from a product that helps you focus better than improves cognitive function and that there's clinical studies to back it up, right? You know, again, new level will speak a limit on that new level, which is the primary ingredient in focus is the first, and Onley clinically studied. Um, e sports ingredient, right? Um, rial, double by double blind placebo controlled clinical trials, which is the highest standard of any type of scientific study. Um was done on that ingredient, and we were the first company to use that ingredient. And still, at this point, I believe, were the only gaming supplement company with it. Ah, in their products that will change soon. Trust me, because it's a amazing ingredient. And in fact, I know for sure there's a huge brand that's going to be, ah, using in their products coming out soon. Um, and we don't you know, it is fine. It's it'll be lots of, you know, great products coming out. But we really wanted to push the space forward. Um, you know, to it to ah, to an area where you know there's real products right pox that have been, you know, that are safe that are, you know, relatively healthy and ah, and actually give you the effects or the benefits that you're hoping for. So yeah,

spk_0:   12:36
I like that. Yeah, because the one the one thing that stuck out to me is, you know, it Z to improve cognitive ability. I know one of the one of the biggest problems and this is came to me whenever you're speaking, is, you know, the over abuse of Adderall, you know, in the sports world. And, you know, I'm I come from a history of you have drug addiction. I've been sober for quite a long time, but it's it's something that, like I noticed a lot and especially when you see these players on camera, like on, uh, postgame interviews or just like air just absolutely cracked, you know, And it's it's a problem, because what must literally Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, because it's What people don't know is that it's actually legal methamphetamine that they're putting in their body, you know, and it's it's absolutely insane. So I think what you guys are doing is really incredible. And is there a question behind that Is there anything that like Are you partnering with doctors, any medical professionals to almost kind of supplement that you know, to where you could start changing people's minds around that?

spk_1:   13:34
Ah, that is a great question. The question is, really what you're asking is, is education educating our audience or educate educating the entire space? How could we do that? Um, it's a great question, because if we were able to do it, um, you know, well or effective enough, we wouldn't have toe even do any marketing or any selling. It would just if people really knew what they were putting in their body in a lot of other cases. And again, I don't want to take, you know, single out any specific brand. But there are a lot of amount there that are playing that game of the proprietary blend. They're hiding all their dozing under ah, loophole that happened in in the early nineties, called it to Shaya Act that basically says that you could hide your ingredients under proprietary blend, claiming that, um, that it was useful so that nobody can copy their formula. But it it doesn't work that way at all because anyone in the dietary supplement industry knows. And any regular person knows that if they know about a particular ingredient, they know what what the dose is that you need to feel it. So, like when you go into Starbucks, you don't say, Hey, let me get a drop of of coffee of caffeine. You want your full 100 150 milligrams of caffeine because that's that's what's gonna give you the effects, the desired effects that you want, right? You don't ask for pixie dust worth of, you know, worth of an ingredient. Um, but that allowed a lot of these companies, you know, to be doing what they're doing today. Um, So anyhow, educating, educating the audience is very important. And if I had that answer for, you know exactly how we could do it, Ah, then ah, you know, it would be it would be great things to be a lot easier, but we're still struggling without you know, we're struggling with getting that message out there, and I don't know if the answer is, you know, partnering with a doctor. You know, things like that help, you know. But there it is. Very expensive. All sorts of marketing

spk_0:   15:24
moves

spk_1:   15:24
are expensive. Is it really? You know, what's what's the best way to go about doing that? Um, we like to let you know, the clinical studies behind some of our ingredients speak for themselves, and and we do, You know, we do tweet about that post about that. Um, you know, we just made a post the other day about breaking down new level. And what new level actually is, which is new levels created by a company called Nutrition 21. They have a long history in doing clinical trials. Um, they used to even do clinical trials in the pharmaceutical space for a while. Um, but they have, you know, a lot of very, very awesome ingredients. Um, yeah. So it is gonna take a lot of time to really spread that message. Um, but that's why we also have the sample packs. You know, we we give the sample packs away at a very low price or really free. They just pay the shipping. Um, and it allows people to try the products, you know, for themselves, and then usually they you know, they noticed the effects right away, not to mention the flavor systems Really good. We do work with some of the best flavors in the entire dietary supplement industry. I mean people that have created a lot of flavors that you drink every day. Editor convenience stores are the people that flavor our products. Um, so, yeah, so

spk_0:   16:40
that's awesome. That's really cool. And that's yeah, it because And I know because E sports is such a brand new, it's such a brand new scene, you know, it's It's kind of like the with, whether it's whether it's with gaming organizations, whether it's with companies trying to get into the space. You know, it's almost like the wild, Wild West. So it's cool to see that there's people. There's people like yourself in the in the entire unit advance that are actually genuinely trying to do the right thing and sell the right product where people can trust it and know exactly what's inside of it. You know, you're Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Since joining since joining advance, you know what's been your biggest challenge personally,

spk_1:   17:15
uh, um, I mean, I would take what we just talked about is

spk_0:   17:20
probably

spk_1:   17:20
the biggest challenges educating the audience. Um, you know, and we want to do it in a way, and it even me. Personally, I don't like to bash other companies, you know, I don't want to be like, you know, this brand socks. That brand sucks. Because the reality is a lot of people go that route. A lot of companies go that route, and they're not trying to hurt anybody. They're just trying to grow a business, you know? And there is, you know, they're still caffeine. It gives you a nice little kick and, ah, you know, and a lot of killers are gonna hurt you. You know, they might, you know, make you overweight are Well, in some cases, certain fillers, you know, can be a little misleading, such as multi Dextre, because that does, um, absorb into your body like a sugar. You know, spike your insulin levels so diabetics can take it, so probably could be advertises, You know, sugar free. That has multi Dexter in it. Um, but a diabetic can't take it, so that's a little misleading there, But generally speaking, um, it's not really gonna hurt people. It might not be that you know, the healthiest thing for them. Uh, you know, there's a lot of other brands that are in convenience stores, energy drinks that people buy and drink all the time. That really, you know, playing that exact same game. Um, you know, so we don't want to bash other people, but it's like, How do we get that message out there? T say, like, look, you know, we've put a lot of effort into making, you know, like the best of the best products, and we've spent a lot of money. Our costs are very high, right? Our costs are we've had, you know, multiple experts. I estimate the cost of a lot of the leading brands out there compared to ours and ours are 10 times, you know, even more in that case is 10 times more cost to make our products. So how would love to get out on a microphone and be like guys like this is what this is what you're comparing. You have this product of this product, but at the end of the day, to its different products for different, he's not. Everybody wants to spend. We have a higher price point to like our focus products to 44 99 45 bucks. Um, some of leading brands are selling. You know, most of them are trying to stay in the same, you know, area. And they're selling for 34 99 you know, just 10 bucks more. Um, but, you know, again, some people they want that energy drink from the can, You know, the convenience store of the 7 11? Whatever. Um, and they're fine with that. Um, and others, you know, want that serious, you know, knew a tropic cognitive enhancer that's going to do something beyond just caffeine. So so many companies air crunching on caffeine and caffeine is not the only great ingredient out there. There's so many other great ingredients. Such a selfie inning. Fantastic or a mostly found in green tea and other teas. Um, it has a relaxing effect, but it also has a great focus effect. Right, So it just it calms you down. It doesn't put you to sleep. Um, it helps with the jitters, Actually, that that's one of the main ingredient that helps the jitters and focus. So we actually have Alfie meaning in focus as well, as well as chill. And it's because it offsets, you know, some of the stimulant, right? It offsets that that jittery feeling that you get, um but yeah, there's so many. There's tons of brand that aren't even using that, you know, some of them are. Some of them aren't. You know, the leading brands that I looked at aren't using it and, you know, yeah, it'll raise your costs and they'll and but so again, it's not. Everybody is a health fanatic and cares about those things. Um, but for the ones do those are the people that we want to serve. So

spk_0:   20:34
yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. And so 11 probably you mentioned was chill. Um, and, you know, I I remember latching on to chill. Remember it first noticing it. What is it like? What is that? You know? And is anyone else doing that right now?

spk_1:   20:47
Sure. Good question. Um, so chill is definitely one of ah, you know. Ah, Advance claim to fame. Um, we we rushed to get that product out there. You know, we did everything we could to make sure that we were the first. Um, you know, in terms of a product like that, and basically what chill is is ah so right Now we have two product lines and, you know, hashtag intel. We have another product line coming out relatively soon. Um, but for now and for the past, we've had, ah, the focus line and the chill line. So another another opening that we saw in the space, You know, their opportunity, um, was catering to the audience or the people that don't want Ah, stimulant, right? They have enough of it or they have anxiety problems. You know, they get, you know, they drink enough caught. Maybe they're huge coffee lowers which me? I personally love coffee, and I'll still drink coffee in the morning and sometimes leaving drink decaf. I like the aroma like like the hot. You know, it's just something about the whole coffee experience that I like. You know, I like going into coffee shops, bring my laptop and so I love coffee. Right? And focus was never meant to replace that, but anyway, you know, some people have their stimulant kick. They're happy with that. They're satisfied with that. And even to those people, I would still say you know, that they would you know that they could benefit from focus because focus isn't just caffeine. It has riel, cognitive enhancing benefits, you know, focus. Benefits. Uh, you know, it could help you with your work project of your study project. Um, but the chill is catering to the people who do not want any type of stimulant. They do not want any caffeine. They want the opposite. They want something to calm them down to chill them down. So we formulated a product, Um, that cater to exactly that, um, and going with the same, you know? Ah, you know, aligning with the same values that we had with focus is we wanted to use real ingredients that have real effects, real benefits, right? So when you're thinking of what's the best ingredient to use to help you relax, you know, that doesn't have side effects and all that, um, it's TBD TBD, you know, and specifically CBD isil it, which has zero absolutely zero THC. And there's, you know, there's a variety of reasons why we chose that form of CBD. Um, but, you know, we wouldn't have gone through the length, You know, the hoops that we had to jump through Tiu have a CBD product, and trust me that it was a lot. A lot of attorney fees. A lot of you know,

spk_0:   23:21
a lot

spk_1:   23:21
of reading and research and all this. Um, you know, we've limited ourselves to be able to sell that product, you know, only with the United States. Right now, we have some issues with payment processors, and you know all these things, and we could have easily just called it chill and put just some, you know, put just healthy eating and a couple other ingredients in it. Um, and I bet it was So what sold great people who loved it. But again, it would have been a gimmick product, and it would not aligned with our values and not to mention TBD in a water saw in a micro encapsulated water soluble, um ah, form. It's very expensive. It's really, really expensive. In fact, it's probably more expensive off top my head than ah, then new level. Um, so in another, that ingredient alone would cost 34 times the amount of the entire product of a lot of other companies, their entire tub, just that one ingredient alone. Um, and and then the other thing about that, um, you know, CBD, that could be sourced from a lot of different areas. Um, we wanted to make sure that our CBD was grown and sourced in the United States because we have the highest standards when it comes to quality control. Um, and again, the price was, you know, at least triple the amount that if you were to source it overseas or something, right? And there's a lot of companies doing that. I'm telling you, there are a lot of companies, and this is it's a shame, because it really hurts. You know it for everybody. But there's a lot of companies in the dietary supplement world that are just all about keeping their costs as low as possible, where we wanted to fill the gap and give people product that they can trust. Um, you know, with great ingredients. So, um yeah. So simply put, chill is ah is our formula that helps relax you. It calms you down. Um and, ah, but it doesn't put you to sleep. So, you know, it's after you have that long, stressful day, you know, either working, um, gaming, you know, studying for for, you know, your college exam. Um, it's that product just to calm you down, but you can still do activities. You know, uh, afterwards, right, it's not like drinking alcohol or something. We just annihilate to you when you're old, goofy and at it, you know, out of your

spk_0:   25:30
mind. Thats

spk_1:   25:31
just calms you down enough. But you can still read a book. You can still game, which specifically what was done for the gaming lifestyle. You can game and you can stream and still be yourself. But just with, you know, a calming feeling. So

spk_0:   25:46
that's cool. I mean, it's because you guys are really salt. Like what? What that says to me is that you know, you're allowing people to choose what they want to consume when it comes to like caffeine, cause I'm personally am a huge coffee fan. I have one of those Nespresso machines and all the pods and the you know, I I'm I'm a nut for And so it's I love the lower Yeah, thank you snob. Is the red the right word for it? You know, it's so it's it's cool that you're catering. It's like it. People are just not going to be, you know, I guess, for lack of a better term focused on focus, You know that you can give them something that allows them to still have, ah, greater cognitive ability of greater contrary. Guess awareness is the better word without having to substitute or feel like they're substituting their own already 100%. Yep, absolutely

spk_1:   26:34
you dedicated to those people to. And so,

spk_0:   26:37
yeah, exactly. It's giving people what they want, providing real value. And, you know, one thing you had mentioned earlier is Ewing, a heavy product based company. So, as as a marketer is chief marketing officer, you know, how does that differ from a company whose solely like not solely but, like, has a heavy emphasis on marketing, I guess, is what I'm trying ask,

spk_1:   26:59
Um, eso ah, company that put marketing before

spk_0:   27:04
product

spk_1:   27:04
development, research and development

spk_0:   27:06
is,

spk_1:   27:07
um, those companies really are again. It's just all about having their costs as low as possible. And that, and they try to, you know, ignore, um, any questions or sidestep any type of focus on, um, on what's in their product. It's always about the brand out there, you know, and again, marketing is something important to us, and we've done a lot of marketing and and we're going to continue to do so and you kind of have to in this world, Um, but product research and development over products is a higher priority, um, than it is for marketing. So for those other companies, you know, a lot of them are, You know, it's like, I know what things are like behind the curtains now and I know really kind of, you know, some of the games that they're playing and what they're doing and, ah, and there, you know, for lack of a better term.

spk_0:   28:02
They

spk_1:   28:02
are, you know, pretty much white labelling products in a way they're just blends of, you know, filler blends with caffeine and they're just they're coming out with a variety of different flavors. It is just a game that they're playing, and it's not just them. If there's a lot of companies out there and that's their model is just brand brand brand and and the product the research development stuff takes a back seat. Um, and that's and that's their choice there that, you know, they specifically made those choices at various points in the company. Um, they had could have had many opportunities you know, toe, do you remove a certain ingredient or two? You know, um, put, you know, more clinically dosed ingredients in there? Um, yeah, that's your question.

spk_0:   28:51
Yeah, Yeah. No. Perfect. Perfect. And, you know, when it comes to marketing a gaming product versus marketing a traditional product, my dogs Bragan. Uh, when it comes to marketing, you know, like how, like, if you've done marketing for other companies, how does marketing for advanced different from marketing forward, say, a traditional company that's selling normal products to normal people?

spk_1:   29:12
Um, again, I would go back to the culture. It's really about the culture of the gaming slash. I don't even like to call it the gaming community or the

spk_0:   29:21
gaming

spk_1:   29:21
culture. I like to call it the or, you know, you could say gaming slash east boards, but I like to call it the online entertainment company. Our community, Um, that's really what it is. It's not just gamers, you know. There's some people on Twitter that don't game it. All right. Are some people on YouTube

spk_0:   29:36
and

spk_1:   29:37
we still cater to those people. We still work with those people. Um, so that's what that's what I'd really say. is that? We, um you know, we've learned we've learned the culture here. You know, I've learned the culture in this in this type of, um, no atmosphere and, um, in comparison to, you know, other companies that I've been with and catering to people outside of that world. Ah, I guess the biggest difference. Let's say, what's something that I could say about the standard? You know, gamer were, um yeah, I'd say the gaming community is by and large, very. There are a lot smarter I say in. Generally speaking, they're pretty. They're clever. They're all really good on computers. They're able to Google something in two seconds. So I would say you're playing with fire if you're selling, you know, a trash product, because it's eventually going to come out. And actually, there's a lot of experts that are saying that the gaming supplement industry is about 5 to 10 years behind the fitness slash health and wellness industry. We're in the fitness slash health and wellness. Um, you can't sell a proprietary blend product anymore. You can't get away with doing that. People are gonna call you out on it. Um, if you noticed a lot of the popular, like pre workouts and proteins. They're open label. They know that customers have become, you know, smarter now, and they understand these things. Um, and I would say that, you know, the gaming community is is coming up quick, like, soon. We're not going to do anything. They're just gonna know right away. And they're gonna say, Hey, I'm not putting anything in my body unless I know exactly what's in that. Um, you know, So I say, that's the biggest thing is that, you know, gamers are unique in the fact that they're a little bit smarter. They're better with computers. Um, but you know this space, this gaming, such on my entertainment space. It's also a lot of fun. It's been I've worked. Um, you know, I've worked in financial planning and financial advising and, um, you know, working with mutual funds and insurance, life insurance and things like that sounds in that whole financial world for a while. Um, and it's just it's definitely a lot more fun working in this industry, that's for sure. You know, I miss going to all the conventions and everything before this whole virus thing hit. Um, a lot of good times here, you know, it's great. I think that's why everybody really wants to work. And, you know, oh, a lot of people dio would love toe to have this be kind of there a career to have a career in this industry. So,

spk_0:   32:05
yeah, I mean, it's what all brought us together mean There's a common. There's a common core that brought us together, and that's that. Our deep love and passion for video games and it can it can bring out the best in people. And you know what's funny about those conventions that you mentioned is that it's the The irony of going to those is almost phenomenal because you get a bunch of people who are socially awkward in one big place altogether. It's it's a It's a lot of fun to like, be a part of that and just don't you know what I mean? It's it's It's almost kind of comical. You get a roomful of socially awkward people like housing, trying to interact in, you know, in real life. Funny

spk_1:   32:41
how it all these up to those points to like, because you have all this time you spend online and then, like for like, months, months, months, and then it comes all comes to a point where you meet up at, like, twitch con or something, and then you like me people that you've never seen before in your life. But you've been playing games with them every day for frickin you know, maybe years. And you're like, Holy crap! Like it's

spk_0:   33:01
you in real life.

spk_1:   33:03
It's really It's a really unique world, man. It's and it's cool. Awesome. I love it. I mean, I really, truly love this base. I love the people in it. Um, I'm so blessed to be, you know, to be able to have a career in this, you know, to make a living. Um, you know, working with all these great people. So

spk_0:   33:22
yeah. Yeah, And one thing I want to I want to touch on. I want toe going to code here in just a second. But the you know, when it comes to like going to actual events, can you can you touch on the importance if you're trying to grow a stream or if you're trying to go drug, grow YouTube channel? If you're trying to grow the content Creator, I know how important are like those in real life events?

spk_1:   33:42
Sure. Um I mean, ah, it seems like it was almost a loaded question because you almost kind of hinted at that. It is very important. And it and the answer is yes. It is very, very important. Um, going going to a live event. And this is it's kind of hard to talk about this now because who knows when they'll be back, right? It could be a while. I mean, even when the country opens up, it's ah, who knows if there's gonna be conventions with, you know, tens of thousands people in one spot. Um, so I don't really know what the answer is now, but you know, before when they do start happening again, it vital that you do that because you're able to network, um, levels that you just cannot do online. So, for example, some of the strongest relationships I have with huge celebrity influencers or content creators, um, I've made in person at these events, and so these are people that I've maybe even tried to reach out to in the past, and they and it's just was impossible, you know, to get close to them, right? And like and then you see, and you're like, Wow, these people are like real celebrities. They ghosted me. They won't talk to me that I can't even touch

spk_0:   34:51
him

spk_1:   34:51
with it. It's just, like, impossible to reach him. Um, And then you go and then you go to the one of these events in real life and you, you know, there's, like, a after party at one of the bars or something, and you go up, you know, any and you say hi them and they're super chill and downer and you talk and then, boom, you form a bond and then, you know, and now now you have a connection that could last a lifetime. It doesn't really matter how big they are. I mean, um, for the most part, it's like it breaks down that barrier to entry. You know, that's the simplest way to put it really removes that incredibly difficult, you know, to get past barrier to entry. Um, so, yeah, it's vital to networking. And networking is actually absolutely a must if you want to be a successful creator nowadays. So

spk_0:   35:37
yeah. No, thank you. And and it definitely was because I had my own experience, but coming from a, you know, coming from a market, you know, the chief marketing officer of any sports company. I wanted to ask that from, you know, from or of your perspective because I've had my own experience, but from that it really kind of hones in on what? Like what the real benefit actually is. Because, you know, you're right. People can be taken ghost online, But when you go meet someone in person, you know, there's much more of a genuine connection. You know, it's it really amplifies. And I admit, I met some of the coolest people. I get some of these conventions and has been the greatest time.

spk_1:   36:11
100%?

spk_0:   36:12
Yeah. Yeah. So you know, Kobe 19. You know, how has that affected advanced as a company,

spk_1:   36:19
huh? Let's see. So, um I mean, the one thing that we just talked about, um,

spk_0:   36:26
and

spk_1:   36:27
canceled all our events I mean, we had some great events coming up, Um, that we put a lot of money into, you know, our whole booth set up, We're actually gonna you know, we were gonna invest. Ah, go. A lot of our go a lot bigger this year, I should say, um, you'll have twice his big booths and banners, backdrops. And, um, you're really gonna go all out this year. And we invested in some of that stuff already, and we can't use it now. Um, so it ah, and say that's the biggest thing you know. But other than that, I mean, how does it affect us? You know, generally speaking or as a whole hasn't really affected us too much yet. Um, in fact, you know, sales have still been been going very well, you know, maybe even better. Um, but it's hard to say if it's because of, you know, a lot of the kind of seeds that we planted months ago. Or, um, you know, is it because there's been this huge influx of people you know at home and being online all day? I know for sure, with streamers that are experiencing a huge you know, boom and ah, and their subscribers and all that in there, you know, the revenue is that back and be directly correlated to the fact there's more people at home. However, those people that are donating and subscribing and all that even them like it's going. The ripple effect is going to catch up with everybody eventually. Um, now it is only if it's gonna come down to If this, you know, lock down keeps going Or is it? You know, if it if it last for let's if this lasted for a year, every single person on Planet Earth would feel it, you know, heavily, right? I mean, even even twitch twitch streamers that are doing better than ever right now and have triple the amount of subs and all that, um, even them they would start losing a ton of subscribers because people just would not have that money to just give somebody else. Um, when they need to spend every last time they have on food or, um, so anyway, right now there, it hasn't been going on long enough to affect us directly in the type of business that we have. But I do fear that if it if it keeps going on like this, it will, um so fingers crossed that it doesn't And ah, you know, really, I I more so concerned with the companies and the people that it has affected. Um, because it's It's a serious thing. Um, and you know, a lot of people, you know, lost their jobs, their went out of business. And these air these their jobs, they're not gonna come back. They're gone. I mean, there's gonna be millions and millions of jobs gone. Um, and, ah, you know, and then what's worse, You know, people call in sick. They've lost loved ones. Ah, you know, to serious things. So I guess I guess the business is important. And I wanted to stay afloat for everybody. Steak, for the staff sake. You know, for, you know, everybody that's involved, but ah, definitely. You know, health, health is wealth. You know, health is the most important thing. And the fact that that I'm healthy and my family has been healthy is is really all that matters to me right now. Um, but that could change. You know, there's people in my family that might have had it already, but, you know, we're able to overcome it. Uh, so it's really, really scary right now. Um, so just hoping for the best for everybody.

spk_0:   39:42
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, as the company I work for personally, like there's, um you know, there's parts of the product that, like there's a certain like the small business side of our company's fate, like has dropped a significant amount. But our personal services, as far as like living will last will testament. You know that skyrocketed, you know, because people are starting to think about getting their affairs in order, you know? And it's Ah, it's your You're very right about the once these jobs are gone, you know, they're not relevant anymore. You know, they're not gonna be relevant in the new way that we do things. Yes,

spk_1:   40:15
that's a great point because because a lot of businesses air pivoting now and these air permanent moves that they're changing over Ah,

spk_0:   40:21
lot of

spk_1:   40:21
app developers have really taken advantage of this and built these APs that are going that air, you know, being taken on by big grocery stores. Before there were a lot of other countries have been doing grocery store, you know, delivery for a long time Now. They really, you know, there, um, communities have accepted it, have taken it on early, but ah, in us. It's going to change. And I think it like you said a lot of the things they're going to be, um, things that it's gonna be the new way of life going forward. So,

spk_0:   40:52
yeah, and the what was interesting. And I don't think anyone could have predicted that it happened like this, But I had I had a college professor. I think it was about three years ago he had mentioned, you know, that there was at the rate that technology is growing, you know, at the rate that which were doing things, there's going to be a lot of jobs, like a lot of common jobs that are just gonna be irrelevant in probably next 5 to 10 years. Just because, you know things will drastically change. And you're gonna almost seen elimination of some of these, like jobs that aren't really technically needed in the future. That's gonna be replaced by technology. So it's, you know, it's interesting to see, and now is not really the right time to like like when this is all over, we can take a step back and analyze it. But this is really interesting to see, like what people are actually valuing. Now, would that were in lock down and that were you know that we're in. No, it's so it's it's it. I haven't directly been impacted by it. You know, in my family hasn't as well, so I'm very, you know, I'm in a very similar boat, and so it's not as real to me, but it's still like, you know, watching you staying aware and watching is it's a very scary thing, but it's it's interesting to see what companies are doing, and it's so there's a lot of companies are doing a lot of good, and I'm honestly really impressed with that. You know, it's it's cool to see some people step up to the plate here.

spk_1:   42:09
Yeah, no, there's, um there is a ah dietary supplement company that produces products similar to ours. Except they focus on the fitness and health and wellness. And they dedicated, they said, like 30% of their manufacturing facility to making immunity boosters, vitamin C and zinc, magnesium. Things like that. Um, and they produced palace and palace of this, and they're just shipping it out to nurses and doctors so they could have it for themselves for free. Um, so it's been

spk_0:   42:40
cool

spk_1:   42:40
to see people step up to play in and do you know nice things like that? And, um, and there's people taking advantage of the situation

spk_0:   42:46
to It's

spk_1:   42:46
hard to say. It's like, You know, there's some that are doing good while also benefitting their company, and it's hard to say that bad, you know or not. I mean, is there a little longer than providing real value and bettering? You know, things and not not every company is in the position to give away pallets and pallets of free product. You know, um, you know, if you have a lot of cash in the bank, you've been around for a long time. The company's very matured, then yes, um, you know, businesses are, you know, there's people behind them to and, um but

spk_0:   43:16
I

spk_1:   43:16
know it's been really, really cool to see Ah, a lot of all the good that's been happening. Um, so,

spk_0:   43:23
yeah, I know. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah, it's cool to see. And so, you know, leads me to my next question as a leader of company who's trying to make you know, a ah, you know, a splash in that, You know? I guess, I guess. Ah. Dinner. A splash in the east sports scene. You know when there's when there's a time like this or when there's a pandemic and when there's a whole lot of uncertainty, you know, as a leader, you know, how do you inspire the people blow you? How do you inspire your coworkers or even people right at your level when there's so much uncertainty in the world?

spk_1:   43:54
Um, um I mean, I guess just stay calm and ah, you know, for my own sanity, you can't be reading the news, watching the news, listening to the news all the time.

spk_0:   44:05
Um,

spk_1:   44:06
you gotta definitely take it serious. Ah, but, you know, you gotta kind of just a quick It's not happening in a lot of ways, you know? Yeah. You definitely have to have certain things front of mind. Such as, um, you know, the social distancing and not really leaving your house or wherever you're at often. But really, I think it's just acting somewhat, you know, the same before it. You know, someone normal and ah, not acting. You know, if you can help it not, you know, being worried and, you know, anxious and stuff all the time. Because that does affect company morale. You know, it does. It does have a ripple effect.

spk_0:   44:41
So yeah. Yeah, Absolutely. Absolutely. In your what steps are you guys taken to ensure the company's success in a time like this?

spk_1:   44:51
Um mm. I mean, I guess we're continuing to Do you know what we always dio um, it said our company hasn't really been hit as

spk_0:   45:01
hard as

spk_1:   45:02
a lot of other companies because we are mostly online based. Um, so, you know, just working hard, doing everything that we can to just keep everything smooth. Um, you know, we've definitely felt something's directly. There's been some, you know, just the other day. Ah, United States Postal Service announced, and I think ups as well. I'm announced 2 to 4 days. Ah. Delayed shipping for everybody's orders. Everybody that's using them. Um, so things like that, you know, we have toe, you know, keep our customers and, you know, audiences aware of that. And so we have to take those extra steps, and I'd say we really just been working a lot harder. Um, I mean, I've pretty much worked every waking hour anyway, but

spk_0:   45:48
we've

spk_1:   45:49
been doing in trying to cram more stuff in little time, just toe. Stay ahead of the curve of all the craziness and things that are happening. So, for example, let's say you know the lead time on producing Shaker cups. You know was, you know, a month or something before now you have to expect could take three months. Take four months. You know, if you have to be prepared and you might have toe, you know, start thinks early, right? So let's say we do a big launch. Um, we'll have to get to work on the next launch, you know, right after right. And there's no really buffer time if you you have to plan everything out, right? Everything at least six months to a year out, I would say. Uh, so

spk_0:   46:35
it's that Ximena. It's extremely valuable when it comes to, you know, when it comes to people there, especially the brave souls that are starting companies in this time. Yeah, I know my

spk_1:   46:46
heart is really hard to get money right now. If you're trying to, you know, raise money for your

spk_0:   46:49
business.

spk_1:   46:50
Um, so,

spk_0:   46:52
yeah, it's definitely a challenging in the industry that I work in for my for my day job. It's we see it all the time. You know, it's Ah, it is a It is a common thing. So it's but yeah. So when I get want to get focused back onto you back onto advances the company as a whole, you know, um, as a whole was what has been yells single most or your greatest success?

spk_1:   47:15
Um uh, See, I would really say the products, man. I mean, I'm just so proud of our products. The team, you know, our research and development team, our manufacturing team, Um, be just not to toot our own horn too much, but we've just nailed it like the products are on point especially, um, the new focus line that came out. Um, I mean, again, using that new level, being the first company to use new level forming that relationship with nutrition 21 exclusively being that first company, um, and forever, you know, to have the first in the entire world no one's ever done. As far as I know, um, double blind placebo controlled clinical trials on it on e sport athletes proving its effectiveness. That means all of their companies out there are making that have products like this are making arbitrary claims. There's no backing to them. They're just randomly saying it does this or that. Whereas ours is actually backed by science proof, right? So if you're a gamer and you think that it's very important, you know, lets your PC player, um, you want to have the best keyboard, right? So maybe you want you know, that 60% keyboard Get that extra space for your mouth, you know, have the best mouse, you know, the ones with the holes in it to get, you know, more light on you, even if it gives you just a slight edge on your competitors. When there's millions of dollars on the line or you're trying to be the best player in the world, you need that. So why not you spend all that money and all those things you know, best headset best monitors Just to be have that slight edge. Why not? You know it. Spend it on something that improves, you know, cognitive function, right? Probably the single most important thing. Um, So anyway, I say our biggest achievement is really our product quality. We really nailed it. Um, and the feedback we get tremendous feedback all the time. Um, and it just makes us feel amazing. Um, yeah, but I would say that. So

spk_0:   49:14
yeah, And myself as well. You know, my myself as well. It's It's it's hard. It's hard to knock it, you know, it as as a coming. Surely you guys, didn't you achieve some of this great success without some failure, you know? So what was, like, the biggest learning opportunity, The biggest failure that you all experienced getting to that point?

spk_1:   49:30
Ah, you mean any new business? Are you know, entrepreneur, Sir, if you get into that lifestyle, you're going tohave a tremendous amount of fails of things that you have to overcome. It's just constant. It's 24 7 There is hurdles. Um, and you have to be that type of person you have toe. If you're not built like that, then you're not You're not gonna last long like you really have to have very thick skin. Um, you're gonna have I mean, here's Here's an example. There was There was a moment where we were sending out twice double of everybody's orders for, like, a month, straight month and 1/2 straight. Everybody that ordered got twice the amount of product that costs us twice the amount of shipping. Um, I mean, that cost us a lot of money. Um, I mean, it's not the worst thing to have, because it would be a lot worse if they got half the amount of products, right? I'd rather I'd rather than be happy. So that was, You know, again having a happy customers is the most important thing. But there's just so many mistakes and things like that that happened and, you know, they could have been preventable. But you do, you know, you really do the best you can and you try, you know, toe have all the right systems in place. And and, you know, the main thing is that you don't do the same mistake twice. That's the main thing. But it's gonna be a constant. Any business out there. If they said that they didn't have the type of issues, they're lying to you. That's what a lot of customers don't see. So they might say like, Oh, you know, how come this Costis, your price bad? It's like, Well, first of all, one our products just straight up landed Costs are very expensive to produce to their so much that goes into it that you don't get to see, like, what happens with all those lost packages, right? We have hundreds and hundreds of loss of packages that just vanish, like like, are the post guys taken it or something? I don't know. You know, our are will be shipped overseas internationally. You know, if they get caught at ah, at the, you know, in customs are, um or, you know, some countries. I think they literally just steal the packages. And it's just crazy. And we have to foot the bill for all of that. And then that means that we have to announce a new, you know, shipment out on these international orders Could be, you know, $20.30 dollars, $50 shipping cost, um, and then the cost of the new products, the time energy that it takes to do that to fix it. Um and, you know, and we have to foot the bill for that. And then we need not only do we not make any money on that, but we lost money. Um, and if these things, if you don't manage this stuff well, if you don't have the right. You know, Q A team, you know you're not, you know, crossing, you know. Ah Ah. You know, if you're not dotting all your I's and crossing all your teas, then, ah, you're gonna have yell unmanageable amount of problems. Uh,

spk_0:   52:17
yeah, yeah. Awesome in what's you know, So kind of kind of wrapping up here, what's you know, what's next for Advanced?

spk_1:   52:27
What's next for advance? So, um, we do have a new product line coming out, and so that's exciting. We have a ton of new flavors coming out focused flavors. Um, there will be new chill flavors coming out at some point as well. Um, a ton of new shakers. I mean, just a ton of product coming, And this is stuff that we've been working on behind the scenes for a while now, Um, and ah were really about to just unload, like, with so many different options and some of these flavors, I had a chance to try some of them. And they're just phenomenal, like some of our best yet. And, um, you know, I mean, even now the flavors, I am super happy with them that mango and everything is on point. Um, you know, the dragon fruit Kiwi chill is is one of my favorites. Um, but some of these new flavors coming out are really, really phenomenal. And again, so many options. I mean, I'm talking like you're gonna be shocked with when you see how many different varieties and options we have because they're spent. You know, when people say now, like, Oh, you don't have enough options, you know, like so And so company has, like, all these different options, more flavors and, well, we heard you. And ah, and that's comment. So any other thing, too, is Ah, because advance has been so successful. Um, we've we've been running out of inventory, you know, And that's that's been a huge challenge of ours is Ah, we've constantly been out of stock of different flavors. We just cannot seem toe, you know, just stay ahead of that. But again, this we've, you know, everything that's made by advanced, you know, this is important to know has been reinvested into the company. And a lot of companies don't do this, you know, they pay themselves ridiculous salaries and this and that I mean literally like, you know, almost every penny has been reinvested back into advanced, and that really is in reinvesting back in the customers because the customer is gonna have a better experience because of it. We invested in a lot of great software for our back end, you know, marketing and help us to, you know, manage our relationships better with partners. And, um, but I think that people would be really, really pleased when they see all the new flavors and the new product lines we have coming out because there are a few different product lines coming out, and they're all really, really exciting. They all stick with our same standards of being different, being special again. The chill, you know, it has that water soluble, micro encapsulated TBD, the focus that has that, you know, clinically proven e sports ingredient. And you know, our new product lines. They have something special about them as well, right? Everything we produced has to be unique has to be different. It has to be, you know, solving. Um, it's its own Ah, problem that's never been solved before, right? We don't want to be a knock off brand, you know, to anyone. So, um, when any. Whenever anybody says that to it's it's Ah, it really? Ah, it kind of makes no sense because, um, that's the furthest from from what advances about. So it's about being advanced. You be advanced.

spk_0:   55:25
So you guys got you guys get really clever with you? What? I mean, with your names. Yeah. Yeah, I I really dig that. It's it. Just roll off the tongue and it fits. And it just It just feels right, you know? Awesome. Uh, you know, thanks for thanks for doing this. And, you know, when A I want to wrap this up by asking more of a personal question. Ah, and it's, you know, there's a couple different ways of asking this, but it's you know what you want to be when you grow up today?

spk_1:   55:52
I like that. Like that question. Um, so I want to be. And I was thinking about this the other day, and I mean, and I really think about this a lot, but I was really kind of putting it into perspective the other day. Um, I want to be the head are the provider of my entire family, my immediate family like we've had a lot of my family has had a very tough ah, you know, upbringing. A tough life, you know? So my siblings have had, you know, tough predispositions in life that they didn't choose. Um, and I would love Ah, Teoh, when I quote unquote grow up, be able to be that provider for them. And, um and you know, not just financially, but, um, you know, with all sorts of things that they needed just be there for them. Um and yeah. So that's what I would say. It's just be that be that main provider for my family, So

spk_0:   56:54
I like it speaks. Yeah. Yeah, I like that. Really cool. Where is so, um you know, going forward or when people are after people Listen, this podcast working, they find you Where you the most active?

spk_1:   57:07
Um, you find me personally on Ah, Twitter. I'm on Twitter a lot. My personal handle is at far cognition. F a r far t o g n i t i o and s So far cog missions so they could find me at far cog missions. They confined advanced. You know, the company that we've been talking about this, um, they could find that, um, at advanced g. So advanced past tense, um, with the G at the end of it. And that is ah, the handle pretty much everywhere. In fact, uh, you know, we've It was a lot of effort and a lot of work to get that handle without the underscore a lot of

spk_0:   57:50
back and

spk_1:   57:50
forth to get that with various people. Um, so we do have the at advanced GG on Twitter at advanced G on instagram at advanced E G on YouTube, LinkedIn, um, and Facebook. I believe it's ah, advanced dot g on Facebook. And then, of course, our website is advanced dot g and something important to know. Chill, you know? So the chill, the relax or formula is Onley available in the United States currently, And that's available on a separate website at chill by advanced dot g.

spk_0:   58:27
Awesome. A. I appreciate your time. Thank you so much, my friend.

spk_1:   58:31
Hey, for having men, I've got a bite.

spk_0:   58:36
Yeah, well, thank you for tuning into another week of the bonified experience. Podcasts. If you haven't already, it would mean the world. If you gave this podcast alike, it subscribed to whatever platform you are listening on. I am working on getting this out tomb or different platforms as we speak, as well as uploading some of the current episodes to my YouTube channel. Speaking of YouTube, if you have not subscribed to this already, I don't know what you are doing. It would. I am uploading brand new content that is related to Halo Ale, Master Chief collection, Hail Five years of war four Gears of War five call duty, modern warfare, gunfight as well as war zone shenanigans. I've recently put out a video. It was the pirates of the Caribbean themed video of our war zone antics. It was quite a bit of fun. And lastly, y'all, if you think that someone would would get value out of this if you think that someone would benefit from listening to this podcast, I know this is a different take. This is more on the business side of it, and I believe that you're having a lot of different perspectives. Is the main goal this to show every aspect of what makes e sports relevant and what makes e sports happen and what all the all the work that goes into this scene. So again, like subscribe share follow at me on Twitter. Tell me what your favorite part was. I really look forward to the next episode. You all of a fantastic week.