How Snapchat Stars are Making Millions: Insider Secrets | Van Oakes DSHH #859

Summary

Digital Social Hour Podcast Summary
Episode: How Snapchat Stars are Making Millions: Insider Secrets | Van Oaks DSHH #859
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Van Oaks

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1. Introduction and Background

In this engaging episode of the Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly welcomes back longtime guest Van Oaks, marking his return after a hiatus since 2021. Van shares his evolving role from Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for the popular TV show Diesel Brothers to his current focus on consulting and new entrepreneurial ventures.

“Yeah, it's been a minute,” (01:11) Van begins, expressing enthusiasm about reconnecting and diving into new projects.

2. Leveraging Social Media for E-commerce Success

Van delves into his experience with the Diesel Brothers, highlighting the seamless transition from a TV show to a thriving e-commerce brand. He attributes much of the success to a strong social media presence, which propelled the show to become the number one TV show on the Discovery Channel for eight consecutive years.

“They had a social media following and then they came out with a TV show. It was number one and it ranked up there for eight years,” (01:49) Van explains.

He contrasts traditional reality TV royalties with the lucrative opportunities on platforms like YouTube and Snapchat, emphasizing the superior CPM (Cost Per Mille) rates on Snapchat.

“YouTube... CPMs alone pay you a hundred grand per episode,” (02:41) Van remarks, illustrating the financial advantages of digital platforms over conventional TV.

3. Advertising Platforms: Snapchat vs. Facebook

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the comparative benefits of advertising on Snapchat versus Facebook. Van highlights Snapchat's resurgence and its generosity towards content creators, awarding significant payouts to top influencers.

“Snapchat is paying the most by far, it's not even close,” (03:10) Van asserts, criticizing Facebook for its lack of engagement and support despite its vast advertising spend.

He shares his own accolades, mentioning his recognition as the Snap Star of the Year in 2019 and his role as a top media buyer on the platform.

“They flew me out to New York, did the whole thing. It was actually pretty cool,” (04:00) Van reflects on the personalized support Snapchat offers compared to Facebook.

4. Marketing Strategies: Giveaway Model

Van discusses the innovative giveaway model employed by his agency, Go Media. This strategy involves purchasing merchandise that enters customers into high-value giveaways, such as trucks or Lamborghinis, every month.

“When your offer is that good, you're selling a T-shirt and I'm selling a T-shirt. But if you buy my T-shirt, you can win a truck,” (05:33) Van explains, emphasizing how compelling offers can drastically reduce customer acquisition costs and enhance engagement.

He highlights the effectiveness of this model in generating high engagement and low-cost traffic, stating:

“Traffic's usually three times cheaper when your offer is so good and it gets a lot of engagement,” (06:27)

5. Personal Struggles and Mental Health Journey

The conversation takes a deeply personal turn as Van opens up about his battle with mental health, stemming from a life-altering accident involving his family. He recounts the traumatic experience of a side-by-side vehicle rollover that resulted in severe injuries to his children and immense financial strain due to medical bills.

“I struggled with heavy depression. The darkest, darkest time in my life as a parent,” (08:14) Van shares, detailing the emotional toll and its impact on his marriage and personal well-being.

Despite traditional therapies and pharmaceuticals failing to alleviate his depression, Van found solace in alternative treatments such as MDMA therapy, psilocybin therapy, and ayahuasca. He credits these methods with his recovery.

“I did the MDMA therapy, I did the psilocybin therapy, and then I did the ayahuasca... it's never come back,” (13:51) Van affirms, highlighting the effectiveness of these alternative approaches in overcoming his depression.

6. Health and Biohacking Practices

Van emphasizes the critical importance of health, particularly sleep, in achieving personal and professional success. He shares his extensive biohacking regimen, which includes:

• Advanced Sleep Technology: Utilizing a Sleep Number bed that regulates body temperature and adapts firmness based on movement, alongside tracking sleep with the Oura Ring and Whoop devices.

  “I never had better sleep than I have right now,” (22:19) Van praises his sleep setup, underscoring the benefits of quality rest.

• Exercise: Daily workouts, except Sundays, to release endorphins and maintain mental clarity.

  “The most underrated thing that you can do for your emotions and for your physical wellbeing is exercise,” (28:08) Van states, advocating for consistent physical activity as a cornerstone of mental health.

• Sleep Hygiene: Advocating for an eight-hour sleep schedule, minimizing blue light exposure before bed, and avoiding stimulants like caffeine and alcohol to enhance REM and deep sleep cycles.

  “The leading cause of autism in kids is lack of REM cycle sleep while their mom's pregnant,” (20:24) Van warns, linking sleep quality to long-term health outcomes.

7. Future Projects and Innovations

Looking forward, Van shares his excitement about a new project aimed at democratizing venture capital investments. Recognizing the barriers faced by average investors, such as accreditation and high minimum investment requirements, Van is developing a marketplace that connects everyday investors with venture funds.

“It’s going to connect, it’s going to go through your whole portfolio and say like you're heavy on residential, you're light on stocks, you need this, you need that,” (31:39) Van describes the platform's functionality, which leverages AI to personalize investment opportunities.

He envisions this platform as a bridge between small investors and high-return VC deals, effectively lowering the entry barriers and optimizing investment strategies through real-time portfolio analysis.

“This website will be able to make what's called an SVP to where people can vest... it opens up VC investing to your average day,” (32:17) Van elaborates, emphasizing the platform's potential to revolutionize personal investing.

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Notable Quotes

• “Snapchat is paying the most by far, it's not even close.” — Van Oaks (03:10)
• “When your offer is that good, you're selling a T-shirt and I'm selling a T-shirt. But if you buy my T-shirt, you can win a truck.” — Van Oaks (05:33)
• “I struggled with heavy depression. The darkest, darkest time in my life as a parent.” — Van Oaks (08:14)
• “The most underrated thing that you can do for your emotions and for your physical wellbeing is exercise.” — Van Oaks (28:08)
• “This website will be able to make what's called an SVP to where people can vest... it opens up VC investing to your average day.” — Van Oaks (32:17)

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Conclusion

In this episode of the Digital Social Hour, Sean Kelly and Van Oaks provide a compelling blend of entrepreneurial insights and personal resilience. Van's journey from scaling e-commerce through innovative social media strategies to overcoming profound personal challenges offers listeners valuable lessons in both business and life. His commitment to health, mental well-being, and groundbreaking investment platforms underscores the multifaceted approach required to thrive in today's digital and fast-paced world.

Listeners are left inspired by Van's candid storytelling and actionable takeaways, reinforcing the podcast's mission to equip entrepreneurs and professionals with the knowledge and motivation to succeed.

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Note: This summary excludes advertisement segments as per the podcast guidelines.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

Xanax. One of the worst things you can take to go to sleep. I didn't realize how bad it was for you. I would just take it because it would help me sleep. It wasn't until like a month in, I went to my doctor and I was like, no, I've been taking it every night. But when I would take Xanax, my REM cycle, I would get good sleep, deep sleep, but no REM cycle. Damn. Do you know what the worst one for your sleep period is? Alcohol.

[C]

Alcohol.

[A]

Alcohol.

[C]

All right, guys, got Van Oaks. It's been a while since you've been on a pod, right?

[A]

Yeah, it's been a minute.

[C]

I was doing some research. You used to go on a lot. Like five years ago.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. I kind of tone back a lot of that stuff. But this is a welcome opportunity.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Jam with you. It's been a minute and you're up.

[C]

To new things now, so it'll be exciting.

[A]

Yeah, I'm excited.

[C]

Are you still doing the Diesel Brothers stuff full time or is.

[A]

So I consult with them. I stepped away as the CMO there in 2021. Did some other stuff, so. But I still work pretty closely with them.

[C]

Nice. Yeah, that was your bread and butter at the time, right?

[A]

At the time, that was the big one. Right. It started out as just agency work and then morphed into like a CMO position.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Took a lot of time.

[C]

I've never seen a TV show transition so well to E commerce.

[A]

Dude, it was the number one TV show on Discovery Channel in history Launch.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

Like, because I think because they had a social media following and then they came out with a TV show. It was a number one and it ranked up there for eight years until they decided they just didn't want to do.

[C]

Incredible.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

There's Only so much you could do, right?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, they were just like, over. I think they were just over it. They realized that YouTube paid a hell of a lot more money than Discovery Channel.

[C]

Do that. Oh, dude, YouTube.

[A]

Oh, it's not even close. Wow. Close. Because they were getting paid. Reality TV show people don't realize they only the stars get paid. Everybody else in the reality TV show is not getting paid well, so only the two main guys were getting paid. And they were getting paid like, I don't know, 20 million or 20, 20,000 an episode. But then when you go to YouTube and you transition to, you know, 3.5 million followers, you get a million views. Just the CPMs alone. Not even integrations or anything. Just the CPMs alone pay you a hundred grand episode.

[C]

Wow. So MrBeast is making a million episodes?

[A]

Probably. Well, it ranges. So CPMs range from $4 up to 15 if you're financed.

[C]

Right.

[A]

So, like, these Graham guys and all the finance guys. Crushing.

[C]

Yeah. And you were getting a ton of views on Snapchat too, right?

[A]

Yeah, we're crushing Snapchat for a long time. And Snapchat making a big resurgence right now too. Saw that, like, all the influencers back.

[C]

Because they're paying, so they're paying the most.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. It's crazy.

[C]

By far, too. It's not even close.

[A]

It's not even close.

[C]

My Instagram is a joke, dude, because I get like 30 million monthly impressions or whatever and I get like 10 bucks.

[A]

Yeah, it's crazy. It's unbeliev with Snapchat's paying Snap stars, you know, and all you gotta do is just post because it serves your ad every, like, in between every two stores or three stores, and you get paid every time.

[C]

Dude, if I got 30 million on Snapchat, that'd be, what, like a hundred K at least.

[A]

These guys crush. I know. Like, Logan, Paul and all these guys were the ones that got the decent guys into it. They're like, dude, you gotta do this.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, it's paying more than any of these other platforms.

[C]

Nuts. Yeah. Bryce hall and Dobrik, they're crushing it.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And you were the biggest spender on snat in 2019, right?

[A]

Yeah, so I don't think I was. I won the Snap Star of the year in 2019, and I don't think it was. I was the best media buyer on the platform. I just think we were spending more than most people were spending. So they, like, got an award. They flew me out to New York, did the whole thing. It was Actually pretty cool. Like not a lot of other. Like Facebook's never flown me out. Spent over a hundred million dollars on Facebook. They don't give a shit. They don't even know who I am. Right.

[C]

Spent that much on Facebook.

[A]

Oh, yeah. Over time. Holy crap. But Snap spent a lot less and they're like flying me out. Like they flew me out to LA last week for a meeting with Evan, with the owner who literally spoke to 50 of us that were just DTC, like advertisers. And he's just like, what do you guys want? What else can we do better? Like he's actually working there.

[C]

That's so cool.

[A]

Snap putting in the work right now.

[C]

I've never seen Facebook or Twitter or anyone here. Never.

[A]

None of them even give a shit.

[C]

LinkedIn.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. Damn. 100 million on Facebook and now are you still seeing success with paid ads on Facebook?

[A]

Oh yeah.

[C]

It's got more expensive.

[A]

It's more expensive, but it's still the 800 pound gorilla in the room. It's still, it's, it's the necessary evil. Right. I would say most brands are like 60, 70% Facebook. You know, most of my brands that we work with are like 50 and then the rest of it's kind of split up between other platforms. It's still, it's, it's still the primary driver for prospecting traffic.

[C]

Nice. And are you still doing the giveaway model?

[A]

Yeah, still. Right, well, so the Diesel brothers, they, when I stepped away in 2021, they've kind of, they do it occasionally, but they're partnering more with brands. They just don't have a ton of time with the YouTube channel. But my agency, Go Media, that's what we do. We have a law firm in house so that people and, and just to explain what the giveaway model is, it's like every dollar you spend on our merchandise get you entered to win a truck or a Lamborghini or something like that. And we actually give these away every month. Right. So inside the agency we have a law firm that licenses and registers and bonds this so that you're all covered legally. And then, yeah, we push traffic. Want to shop Walmart Black Friday deals first. Walmart plus members get early access to our hottest deals. Join now and get 50% off a one year annual membership. Shop Black Friday deals first with Walmart.

[B]

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[A]

Because when you're, when your offer is that good, you're selling a T shirt and I'm selling a T shirt. But if you buy my T shirt, you can win a truck. It's an auction based platform. I'm going to win all those auctions. So we find that traffic's usually three times cheaper when you're.

[C]

Damn. Yeah, that's insane.

[A]

Just the CPMs alone because the offer is so good and it gets a lot of engagement and people are like, holy shit. You know, this is crazy.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So it pays for itself. Just.

[C]

That's awesome. And I saw at one point you were getting 56x roas.

[A]

Dude. It was, that was. Those are wild times. This, mind you, this is like 2019, you know, and that's. That was at lower spend, I think the biggest day we had a 1.46 million day.

[C]

Holy shit.

[A]

Selling shirts, selling T shirts.

[C]

That's insane.

[A]

Selling T shirts. And the crazy thing about that day was that our daily spend limit, it was newer. You take a company from, they were doing, they had done 1.3 million before we came through, before I came through. And then we take them up to, you know, 5 million in a month and 1.5 in a day. It's going to break everything, right? So our daily spend limit, if I could have spent more, we would have. And we would have done a lot more. But Facebook caps how much you can spend, you know, so it took, it took a while to get that up.

[C]

I filled up. Now as you're making all this money, you're dealing with some mental stuff, right?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think always, I think always most of the people that are turned on, like, like you see him and you're like, that guy's always at a 10, always at a 10. Those are kind of the people that, in my eyes, you just need to ask how they are, you know. And it's most of the time the people that nobody ever. It's the comedians, the life of the party, these types of people that are always going that, that typically kind of struggle with mental health.

[C]

Right. Because they're overcompensating. Right. They're putting all their eggs in one basket.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. It's. It's a lot, man.

[C]

Yeah, it is a lot. Did you start having like anxiety attacks?

[A]

So no, I think so. I struggle. Let me back up. So I. I struggled with heavy depression. So I in high school, my whole life. Depression. What was not a thing. Yeah, yeah, right. Like it was like just be happy, your friends are depressing. Like no, just. And I never understood it. I really didn't because I'm a pretty positive person. It just didn't make sense to me. So what had actually happened was. And I'll try to get through this without. I got in an accident with my family. And do you know what a razor is? A side by side. It's like a Polaris razor. It's like a four seat four wheeler with a cage.

[C]

So there's no like doors and windows.

[A]

No doors, windows. But it's got like a roll cage on it. And we were out with the family. Had my whole family there. And I actually rol with my vehicle.

[C]

Damn.

[A]

And one of my daughters was ejected and the other one actually got rolled up on.

[C]

Holy.

[A]

And literally like I could. I found my one daughter after everything kind of said I couldn't find my other. Lift the thing up off my daughter unconscious. Long story short, they had to be lifelong. She had the one that was rolled on, had to get a brain surgery.

[C]

Damn.

[A]

And dude, maybe, maybe the darkest, darkest time in my life as a parent. If you're a parent, you'll learn really like your kids are your life and you don't really realize until maybe that's possibly going to be taken from you how important they are. So like we went through this thing. I'm an entrepreneur, so I didn't have insurance.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, right.

[A]

Like I self pay everything. So like with the life flight with everything added up. Thank God they're fine. You know, they were. They all healed okay. Got them back. But medical bills, six figures, right? We're talking literally half a million dollars.

[C]

Holy shit.

[A]

Half a million dollars in medical bills that you know, that puts a lot of weight on a person having that much debt. Like I don't care how much money you're making. That's a lot of money. Right. So for the first year we dealt with just the kids, make sure the kids are okay. And then after that it put a damper on my marriage like because all we were focusing on were the kids. We had no time for.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

So then our marriage struggles. So then we worked a full year on the marriage and then after the marriage, you know, counseling did everything. We're good. I finally two years Later. Got to step back and focus on myself and be like, dude, I'm pretty up.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

Like, because that's my fault. I was driving, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And, yeah, it just put me in a really bad headspace. And what had. Like, that was the first time that I actually started to experience depression. And it was like something I had never felt that took out, like, literally a chemical imbalance that I could not shut off. And I'd never felt that in my life that, like, go away. And it would not go away. And it just. The heart out, it would just get worse and worse and compound and compound. And it led me into a pretty dark spot, man. I try, like, tried a lot of things. I'm good now, but like, therapy, pharmaceutical drugs, all the things to try to help, and none of it really helps.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

But we're good now. I did a lot of alternative medicine is actually what kind of.

[B]

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[A]

Change that for me.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And that's. That's something I want to talk about, because that's something that's not really offered when people are going through situations like that. So that. How did that come about?

[A]

So what happened was so once again, going to therapy. I hate therapy. Not for me. You know, you're feeling this way because of this.

[C]

It didn't work for me either, dude.

[A]

I just had a hard time with it, and I tried and it just didn't work. So then I went the route typical American goes to go to the doctor and get drugs, right? So then I'm on antidepressants, and I feel like a fucking like. Like a wall. I'm like a walk walking around rock that has no personality, no anything. I was just so vanilla, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

It was just a bad thing for me. So the medication didn't work. So then, like, what else are you gonna do, right? I read a book called Stealing Fire. I can't even remember the name of the. It's Keller or something like that. Yeah, that sounds right. It's called Ceiling Fire. And it talked about, like, how the top performing CEOs and Navy Seals, how they get into flow state. And it talked a little bit about MDMA and its effects on PTSD and the depression following. So, like, then I looked into that, got into huberman a little bit and realized that there's like, significant, significant evidence that MDMA is, Is extremely helpful for PTSD induced depression. You know, psilocybin therapy is great for just regular depression, but PTSD induced depression, which is what I had. They suggest MDMA therapy.

[C]

Interesting.

[A]

So I. Dude, I looked. I. I looked for doctor, I looked for. So I found a therapist, did that. I did the MDMA therapy, I did the psilocybin therapy. And then I actually, like, the last step, I did ayahuasca.

[C]

Wow. Full send.

[A]

Full send. Dude, I would. Like, when you're struggling with this, I'm talking, like, and I'm not talking a little depression, I'm talking, like suicidal depression. When you're in that state of mind. My answer to the depression was to the debt. Like, I got five, but I have a $2 million life insurance policy. And I know this isn't right to think this way, but when you're going through this, it's like, dude, if I got in an accident, my family would be set. There would be no debt. There would be no anything. They don't need me anyways. I'm the one causing these problems.

[C]

Damn.

[A]

So, like, dude, I had it all mapped out.

[C]

Holy crap.

[A]

I had it all mapped out. I knew when. I knew where I called, I raised my life insurance. So when you're in that spot, dude, you fucking try anything. Dude, I was open to anything. So I did the mdma, I did the psilocybin therapy, and then I did the ayahuasca. Two rounds. Two rounds of that with a sh. With a full shaman and everything. And I swear to God, it's never came back. Like, I. I'll get. I'll get down. But when you've experienced true depression and like, the chemical imbalance and you can't shut it off, that's never came back.

[C]

Holy crap. From ayahuasca.

[A]

Twice. Two times. What.

[C]

What did you see specifically that gave you so much conviction?

[A]

So, like, if you want to go through the full journey, right? Like, like my. Okay, I'll take you through a journey.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So we sat. We sat. And. And you take the ayahuasca. You've got a shaman there to kind of guide you through the process. It's not something that I would ever suggest you take recreationally which I've heard of people doing, which made no sense, like, don't do that. But I sat with a shaman and we worked through this two day thing. You fast before you get your body prepared, you do this. And basically what had come was I was. Long story short, I was in the galaxy in a glass box with God. And I sat in this glass box with him. And on the walls were trials and tribulations. And I had a little basket, like, you're in a grocery store. And I was just picking. I was just picking trials and tribulations and all these things. And God literally said, like, that's enough, you're good. And I was just like, I want more. I want to be stronger, I want more. So I just kept adding. And then he said that one in there, basically pulled out the wreck and he's like, this is over, this is done. You can put it back on the shelf. So I put it back on the shelf. And then that was kind of the whole thing, was that I chose these tribulations. I wanted this. I wanted to be strong. One of the things that I got out of this whole situation was prior to the wreck, I have four kids, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And during the wreck, I had three and my wife was pregnant with the fourth dude. I was working, like, will you grind, like, as an entrepreneur? Like, I'm sure, you know. Oh, yeah, you're putting in seven, seven days a week.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

You never stop. And this, this. And I have kids at home, but I'm just always turned on when you do an online business. Money never sleeps.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

So I'd be home and I'd be like, working away my kids be like, dad, look at this. I'm like, yeah, cool looking around.

[C]

Right.

[A]

And literally one of the biggest blessings in my life was this accident. Because after that you just realize how fragile life is. It's fragile and it could be taken away at any moment. Right. So I kind of stepped back and I realized how important it was for me to be present with my kids. And ever since then, I've had a completely different relationship with my kids. Literally. I get home from work then, and I suggest you, if you ever have kids, you don't have kids, right?

[C]

Yeah, I want them.

[A]

You want them. Awesome. You're young, though, 27.

[C]

Yeah. I'm thinking 30.

[A]

Getting their 30s somewhere around. That's about right? 30s. One of the things I suggest you do when they're old enough is when I get home at 6:00. You know, I put my phone on my nightstand by my Bed. And I just leave it there until I put the kids to bed at 8:00.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

Two hours. That's two hours of your day that you're completely devoted to the kid. Because you'll learn. With kids, you're on your phone and they're like, dad, look at this. And you're like, you're just not tuned in.

[C]

Right.

[A]

You're not really tuned in with them. So I'll put it on the nightstand. Ever since the accident, it's just the kids time for two hours where I just focus. That's the only time I have with them. I work full time. So like that two hours a night is the most valuable time to me.

[C]

Incredible.

[A]

Just spend with the kids with no phone, no interruption, dude, social media wait. Emails can wait. Text can wait two hours. Business can wait two hours. Your kids can't. Your kids, when they grow older, they're not going to say, my dad made a ton of money. They're going to say, my dad was present. You know, my dad was always there. Right, Right. So that's kind of the. The silver lining of the accident, the all of that stuff. What's came out of that is my appreciation for my children and how fragile I.

[C]

What a beautiful story, man.

[A]

It's crazy.

[C]

That is nuts.

[A]

I actually got through it without crying, so that's pretty good.

[C]

Yeah, I was gonna cry, bro. Holy crap. That's such. Such deep trauma that you had to overcome, Dude.

[A]

It's heavy, man. And now taking the step back now, hindsight, greatest blessing in my life.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

Because prior to it, I was grinding and maybe I would have never got out of that. I would never spent the proper time with my kids.

[C]

Yeah. So it's almost like the universe had a plan for you to go do something like that.

[A]

No doubt. No doubt. Now, had it ended worse then I probably wouldn't be singing the same song. But my kids are great. Everything's great. And I just realized how fragile it all is.

[C]

Wow. Incredible, man. And then from there, you got super into biohacking and health too, right?

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. Once again, once you learn how fragile this all is, you really appreciate what you have and especially your health. Like, I'm a freak. Like. And I think a lot of the entrepreneurs that I know that really understand how your body works, they're. They're the same way.

[C]

Tony Robbins wrote a whole book on it.

[A]

They're all the same way. Right. You don't realize how important your sleep is. Like, I. So as not, once again, as an entrepreneur, I was the type that's like, sleep when. Sleep when you die. I need five hours sleep, max. May. You know, four and a half I can do. And I was just always, go, go, go, go. I read a. I read a book called why We Sleep by Matthew Walker is what it is, bro. You want to read a book that'll scare the shit out of you? Read why We Sleep.

[C]

Really?

[A]

It's linked to everything. Leading cause of cancer, leading cause of autism in children.

[C]

Holy crap.

[A]

Lack of REM cycle sleep while their mom's pregnant.

[C]

Damn.

[A]

So let's say the mom's up drinking caffeine all the time and not sleeping properly. Your baby can't get REM cycle sleep.

[C]

Oh, my God.

[A]

The leading cause of autism in kids.

[C]

So when the mom sleeps, the baby sleeps. That's how it works?

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Like, if you. Well, once again, if she's stimulating herself with caffeine and all this stuff and, like, not giving proper rest to herself, the baby's not resting either.

[C]

Dang.

[A]

So, like, it's really important. Sleep's, like, the most important thing to you. Like, the leading. Yeah. The third leading cause of death in the United States is medical malfunction. Bad practice from lack of sleep doctors. Oh, my third largest killer in the United States is doctors malpractice because of lack of sleep.

[C]

Yeah. I see you got the aura ring. Right? So you track your sleep.

[A]

Aura, whoop, you name it. You got both. Dude.

[C]

Dude.

[A]

I'm a dude. I got. So I got a sleep number bed. Okay.

[C]

What does that do?

[A]

Sleep number Won the CES Award two years ago for the technology. The leading technology in the world was a bed. Why? Because this bed actually regulates your body temperature. Like, if you're too hot. So to get proper sleep, your body temperature needs to drop 2 degrees. So it'll actually cool your body and warm your feet. So your feet need to be warm, your body needs to be cool. And then this body, this bed actually will, like, harden and soften depending on how you're moving during the night. So if you're moving too much, it'll, like, soften up. So you stop moving and it'll harden up. And then it can sit up if you're snoring. Like, it knows if you're snoring.

[C]

Holy crap.

[A]

It'll, like, sit you up six inches so you don't. So, like, I do that. I do the oura ring. I do the whoop. I'm tracking every second of REM cycle and deep cycle sleep.

[C]

I love that I'm out to get one of Those mattresses, did they read.

[A]

They're really. They take a little bit to get used to. Give them time. Because it's like a glorified air mattress and it's not the most comfortable the first couple of times you sleep on them. But give us some time. I've never had better sleep than I have right now.

[C]

I could see it.

[A]

There's a lot of stuff that goes into that though, too. Like prior, like, no phone time, two hours. Like, do you sit on your phone in bed? Most people do, yeah.

[C]

But now I turned on the blue light blocking and now I could sleep way easier.

[A]

Yeah, no doubt. Blue light block. If you're on your phone in your bed, wear the blue light blockers, change your phone so that it's not. So that it's in the red light or the yellow light, whatever it is. And then try to cut down the lights. So heavy LED lights in your house cut down all that stuff and then just kind of wind down before bed. And then your Sarcadian rhythm. It's always the same. Like, the best time for you to sleep is really like nine until 8:00. They want you to get eight hours of sleep. There's very few people that. Actually there's the people that. There's only 5% of the population that need less than five hours of sleep.

[C]

Wow. How do you find out if you're one of them?

[A]

There's a test. There's a test. And I forget what it's called, but basically they run your blood or whatever and then they'll know whether you're one of those 5%. But I run into people all the time. It's just like, oh, I only need five hours. Literally only 5% of the nation needs that, dude. Everybody else needs a full eight hours of sleep.

[C]

I remember they asked all the sharks about, like, how long you sleep, and Damon John answered, like four or five hours. I was like, what the hell? And then I don't want to jinx it, but he got cancer.

[A]

Like, cause of cancer?

[C]

Yeah. I don't know if there was a relation there.

[A]

No, there definitely is. Read, read. Why we sleep. It's all data, factual information that they've ran tests on leading cause of cancer. Once again, heart attack. You know? Do you want to know what the number one day for heart attack in the United States is?

[C]

Is it Monday?

[A]

Nope, it's the day after daylight savings time.

[C]

Ah.

[A]

Because you lose one hour of sleep and it just spikes heart attacks. Because people that. They're so used to that. And when you cut A full hour off of sleep from a whole nation. That's the, that's the highest day for heart attack.

[C]

Holy crap. I could see it though, because when I have early flights, I feel like the whole day always, always.

[A]

It's so important, man. Like, I, like, I cannot emphasize. And muscle recovery way more than so retaining what you. So there's three, two cycles of sleep. You got deep sleep and then you got your REM sleep, right? And then you got light sleep. But like, deep sleep is where. So during your day you learn everything. Deep sleep is where you actually filter out what you learned and say you're like, yeah, this is good. No, this is not. Like, yes, this is important. No, this is not. And then REM cycle sleep is where you internalize that.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

So if you're getting shitty REM cycle sleep, you'll. You won't remember all the stuff that you learned during the day. That's what internalizes, right? So you should be getting quality at least over an hour of both deep and REM cycle sleep to properly learn and retain what you learn during the day. And there's a million things that you can take to sleep, like sleeping pills. Horrible for you.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Really bad for you. Xanax, one of the worst things you can take to go to sleep. I used to like, I got prescribed Xanax during this wreck because I had crazy anxiety and I didn't realize how bad it was for you. I would just take it because it would help me sleep. I would pass out, right? And then it wasn't until like a month in, I went to my doctor and I was like, no, I've been taking it every night. And he's like, let's not. And I was like, what do you mean? He's like, it's a control, a substance, like one of the most addictive substances there are. Let's not take Xanax. But when I would take Xanax, my REM cycle, I would get good sleep, deep sleep, but no REM cycle. Damn. So my brain, my rem, I wasn't retaining anything. So like, I would measure all of the stuff, you name it, all the drugs, all that. I could tell you what they all do to your sleep. Do you know what the worst one for your sleep period it is?

[C]

Caffeine. Alcohol.

[A]

Alcohol, alcohol, alcohol, caffeine. You need to stop after like it has like a six hour lifespan to it. So you stop after like 6pm you should be cool. But alcohol is by far and away and it's not even close to the worst Thing that you can do for your sleep. So the myth of a nightcap. I'm gonna take a little nightcap and go to bed. No, it completely shuts down all your REM cycles.

[C]

Holy crap.

[A]

Shuts it down. So, like, you'll sleep. You think you slept, but you don't remember anything from the day before. You don't retain any of this stuff. So. So, yeah, I pay attention to that.

[C]

Yeah. That's good to know. Because there's college students that pull all night or studying, and then they don't remember.

[A]

Oh, dude. Dude. So you know what residency is?

[C]

No.

[A]

For doctors.

[C]

Oh.

[A]

Kind of doctors that do residency. That's basically where you go and you work for, like, I think it's 72 hours, like, three days straight. No sleep. Right. Everybody does it in college. That's what you do. You go to residency. You go. You work three days, no sleep, and then you take three days off. Whatever. So the whole practice of residency was created by a doctor that said this was good for you, and there hadn't been any studies. They later found he was addicted to cocaine.

[C]

What?

[A]

The guy who invented residency was addicted to cocaine. And they didn't realize how bad this was for you by, like, not sleeping. So once again, one in 20 doctors will kill a patient because of lack of sleep. One in 20, right. So it's, It's. It's really prevalent. If you're going into a doctor, if you're going to have a surgery, ask them how much sleep they have. You have the right to know. You have the right to know.

[C]

I would have never thought to ask that for.

[A]

Dude, one in 20 people killed because of lack of sleep of a doctor. Right. So that. And then when you're studying, you know how people cram for and study all night and they don't sleep and then they go in to take their test? They retain none of that. The most important part of studying and learning is the sleep following. Like, you need a full eight hours of sleep so that your rent so that you can internalize what you learn. Because if you don't get that sleep, it's just in one ear out there.

[C]

Yep. I've split tested it with podcasts where I'm like, traveling early in the morning and I've barely slept. I'm way worse.

[A]

No doubt.

[C]

Like, it's not even close.

[A]

No doubt.

[C]

Wow, that's good to know about the surgeon. If I ever get surgery, I'm asked for or a sleep score, bro.

[A]

What's your sleep score? What's your boobs say?

[C]

That's nuts. What other biohacking do you do other than the sleep stuff, man?

[A]

I do like the red light therapy. I've got a sauna. I've got ice bass. I do, like. Do you know the PMF mat?

[C]

Yeah, I just started doing that.

[A]

Oh, dope. Yeah. So I have a. I have a sauna with PMF mat in there.

[C]

Oh, it's in it.

[A]

In it.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

Red light in it. So I've got the infrared PMF and then the infrared light as well.

[C]

That's cool.

[A]

All in one spot. So I'll do that. I'll do the ice bath. I go to the gym. That's the one non negotiable I have in my life. Is the most underrated thing that you can do for your emotions and for your physical wellbeing and mentally for your mental wellbeing is exercise. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for depression. That was the one thing that would always help when I feel that way. Go work out. If you can get your heart rate, you know, up for 15 minutes a day, it releases endorphins into your brain. That makes you happy.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

And most people don't realize it's literally faking happiness by working out and getting it done. So then I'll go to the gym. I do that every day except Sunday. I take Sundays off. But literally, I don't think I've missed. And yeah, that's my non. Even when I travel.

[C]

You've inspired me because I've been slacking on the gym, dude.

[A]

It's. It's the most. And even for your mental clarity, like, it really is. Like, if you. If you get into good working out and releasing the endorphins into your brain, your. Your brain fog just completely eliminates.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

Right? Right. You think clearly your. Your day starts better. You don't go work out before bed. That's bad for your sleep.

[C]

Is it?

[A]

Yeah. Anyway. Because it raises your body temperature. Right.

[C]

So how soon before bed would you say three.

[A]

If you're gonna work out at night, work out three hours before you go to bed.

[C]

Got it.

[A]

Right. But I would prefer I. I would suggest working out in the morning because of the endorphins that are released and you go into your day just on fire.

[C]

Got it. So I'll start waking up an hour earlier and working out.

[A]

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is. Like, it's changed my life dramatically. And do it early because if you wait until the middle of the day to go work out, life happens, dude.

[C]

Right?

[A]

Like you got A call, you've got this fired, you got to put out. But if you'll go at like 5:30 in the morning before business, before everybody even wakes up, you're done at 6:30 and then, then life starts. Nothing will ever interrupt that. And you can get in that habit of it.

[C]

I love them. And what are you working on next and where can people find you?

[A]

I'm working on a really dope project.

[C]

Yeah? You talk about it or not?

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Like the most excited I've ever been about a project. Well, like I've always, let's put it this way, I put 10 out of 10 effort into a lot of projects that are like three out of 10. I've got my agency, it's great, you know, but the exits, minimal. Right. I've got Tuff Ring, which is a silicone ring brand. Right. But it's an e Commerce exit 3x multiple. Right. I stepped into the VC world for a minute and then I wasn't for me. But I realized there's a big gap. VC funds are trying to raise money from anybody and anywhere. They're like, hey, do you know anybody that has 250 liquid and is an accredited investor? It's like it's all referral based really. And then I've got investors or friends and family reaching out to me saying hey, I got 100 grand. Where do I end investing? There's nothing to connect these two. There really isn't. There's nothing like it. So I'm making a marketplace. I've got the MVP model done. We'll start raising money for it next week. And then basically what it's going to do is it's going to connect, it's going to go through your whole portfolio and say like you're heavy on residential, you're light on stocks, you need, you need this, you need that.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Here's an investment for you in our platform will connect them with the fund and then we take a percentage of the deal.

[C]

Wow. Each one of these, that's brilliant.

[A]

So they can't access the investors. Investors can't access them. Once the deal's done, they'll know. But like until then we facilitate.

[C]

Dude, I'd love to be an affiliate for that actually.

[A]

Dude, you got it.

[C]

Because I'm the same as you, I.

[A]

Have both sides and there's also so like a lot of these VC deals, like you have to be an accredited investor and you have to have $250,000 liquid and then you can get this wild ass deal 18% over two months.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

But your normal little investor could never even get access to those deals.

[C]

You can't.

[A]

One, you don't know the people. Two, you're not accredited and you don't have enough money. But this website will be able to make what's called an SVP to where people can vest. Let's say you want to go into that. You got 100 grand, I want to go into it, I got 150. It'll form an LLC for us together and then we'll get and invest into these deals. So it opens up VC investing to your average day.

[C]

Joe, that's great because people are fighting for 8% a year, dude.

[A]

Average fighting for it. And there's deals that are. Would blow your mind that these VC guys get, but you just never hear about it because you're like, or I don't ever hear about it because I'm not accredited and so forth. And now we can get.

[C]

Dude, that's incredible because when you factor in inflation, taxes and everything, all of it, 8% of yours, like 2%, all of it.

[A]

And then last, last part of it is it will be managed by AI. So like you'll upload your full portfolio and then it'll look through your whole portfolio and say, listen, you need more stocks or you need more resident residential real estate. And it will find the deals for you and you don't have to pay. Like normally you have to pay a fund manager 10%, everything that they're doing for you. Right. You don't have to pay anything. You just eliminate part of the fee.

[C]

Two, that's brilliant.

[A]

AI sees that stuff in real time. So as deals come through and deals come in, they see it immediately as to where most VC fund, like a fund manager wouldn't even know that that deal came out. They couldn't even tell you about it. Like an investment advisor, they couldn't even tell you about it.

[C]

That's incredible, bro. Can't wait to see that. We'll link it below if it's out by the time this airs for sure. Awesome, man. Thanks for coming on and I appreciate it. Yeah, you killed it, man. Inspiring story. Thanks for watching guys, as always. See you next time. Thanks.