March 13, 2024 • 35 mins
This episode is about Jake Strack and his road to adult hood. There is not a straight path. There can and will be twists and turn and it is part of the process. Jake has a belief that most people don't know what they are doing. They are possibly the expert at their area but not at all areas. Be willing to fail, fail often fail fast. Jake talks about Hanlon's razor "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity". Find our contact information on our website!
And the ability to connect to and with people with Mingle!
As well as the ability to ask the mom question.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Adulting Decrypted.
We are your hosts.
I'm Gene, and I'm starting myfirst year of college.
I'm Ashton.
I'm a music performer, composer,and educator.
I'm Gene, a high school senior.
I'm Roscoe, the dad.
Those are my three sons, andthis is Adulting Decrypted,
where we discuss ways to becomeadults and the things we need to
(00:22):
know to be successful in life.
Dad (00:24):
Today.
We're really excited to haveJake Strack from Miingl with us
today, and he's going to sharesome details and about how to be
an adult as a serialentrepreneur.
We're really excited to have himon the show and teach us more
about our, entrepreneurialspirit.
As everybody knows as a listenerthat we all like to create and
develop, and we're excited aboutto find a common So, Jake, go
(00:44):
ahead and introduce yourself alittle bit.
Jake (00:46):
Yeah.
I'm Jake Strack, a COO and cofounder of Miingl, which is M I
I N G L no E.
We're a video conferencingapplication that we're looking
to revolutionize the way peopleconnect online.
I like to say that we're,bringing the promise of making
the world a smaller place thatwas promised by the internet
back in 1988 or late eighties.
(01:08):
when Al Gore invented it, right?
And Al Gore invented it.
Yes, exactly.
And I think that we have thecapability to actually deliver
on that promise because what weneed is face to face
communication and Miingl allowsfor that.
Dad (01:22):
You know, we love it.
We've talked a lot about howwe're losing some of that.
There's so many transactionalrelationships and we're missing
out on some of that connectivityrelationship.
So that seems like a really neattechnology.
Jake (01:33):
Thank you.
Yeah, we hope so.
Ashton (01:35):
Yeah, you're talking with us about the concept just
before we started And itactually to me, it's like, I
think I'm into that.
I think I could use that becauseI think 1 thing that happened
after.
covid is definitely a loss of alot of human connection in a lot
of ways where we went to rely ontechnology, but the technology
infrastructure didn't reallyfacilitate, the social lifestyle
(01:57):
that I think humanity craves alot of ways.
Jake (02:00):
Did you guys notice that afterwards in the events, when
you went out to events andstarted meeting with people
again, we all reverted back tofart jokes.
Because we didn't know how totalk to each other anymore.
It was so, I was sitting in, Iwas sitting in a bar outside and
everybody's smoking.
And I just noticed thateverybody started reverting to
those childhood jokes because weliterally didn't know how to
(02:21):
talk to one another.
It was so weird.
It's
Ashton (02:23):
crazy, crazy how fast that skill needs to be rebuilt.
Dad (02:27):
And you know, it's interesting.
It is a common ground.
The kids were just talking.
My daughter is a school teachernow, and there were some sayings
you guys had as kids.
That we're still active in theschool.
And they're like, this is thefirst time you've ever heard it.
And she's like, no, this hasbeen around for, as long as I've
been around, elementary school.
I can't remember what they wereright off the top of my head.
You guys got this?
Gideon (02:46):
They were Bill Nye quotes.
Oh, it's like Bill Nye.
The science guy, but he was likefilling in with different
things.
Dad (02:52):
So, so it doesn't surprise me, Jake, that we go back to
what we're comfortable with.
All right.
What, what we know.
Jake (02:57):
Well, you know, you always part joke always delivers a good
laugh.
Dad (03:00):
That's that's true.
That's true.
Potty humor, potty humor isstill alive and well at the
Allen household.
Jake (03:06):
default to dad jokes.
You've you've heard, I heard, Iheard a great one today that
made me bust up laughing.
Yeah, it was milk is the fastestliquid because it's past your
eyes before you even see it.
Nice.
That is a good one.
I'll admit that took me asecond.
You got there.
well, hey Gideon when does ajoke become a dad joke?
Gideon (03:29):
When's that?
Jake (03:29):
When it's a parent,
Gideon (03:32):
I got that one faster, a lot faster, I would hope so.
Dad (03:37):
So Jake, you, you're visiting as we visited a little
bit, you mentioned that you'vehad quite the career to, to get
to where you've created Miingl.
Can you share with the listenerand let the boys ask you some
questions about entrepreneur andthe road to get to where you've
got.
And it might not be the straightpath that we all envision.
Jake (03:53):
Yeah.
Well, you know, along the wayyou make it, you make a lot of
mistakes.
And it's really interesting whenyou're now, I'm now 42.
I'm pretty successful.
And you look back at it and yourealize that that whole time you
thought you looked up to peoplethat were me or people that are
of large companies, or evenpeople that work at like
Pentagon.
now I realize that when I'vetalked to these people, nobody
(04:16):
knows what they're doing.
Which is kind of a scary thing,but it's also relieving,
especially if you were youngerto understand that nobody knows
what they're doing.
And so my background is Istarted my career as an
operations manager for thiscompany called swamp tech, which
did evaporative cooler service.
And I eventually became theowner of that company.
I took a 2nd mortgage out andbought it and that's how I
(04:37):
started my entrepreneur.
Life,
Dad (04:39):
hey, can I ask you a question?
Yeah, go ahead.
when you're getting ready to buythat and take out that second
mortgage and really kind of buyin, do you buy into that so I
bought a zoo, 30 seconds of,crazy insanity, mindset, or did
you spend months calculating itand trying to figure out your
risk ratio?
Where do you fall on that line?
Jake (04:55):
Well, it was a, it was an opportunity and I knew it was an
opportunity.
I had worked for the company forlong enough.
And so the whole story is mystepfather had purchased the
company for a place for his kidsto work.
I came on as the operationsmanager.
And he was a CPA and he was 1 ofthose finger on the pulse guys,
you know, he had to know whatwas going on and he was super
stressed out 1 day.
(05:16):
And I said, hey, pops, what areyou looking to get out of this
thing?
You know, like, what's yourmotivation?
And he, goes, you know, andhonestly, I just want what I put
into it.
And we had already 2 extra 3 X,the size of the company by that
point.
So I went.
Well, that's a no brainer.
I'll buy it off of you and I'llfigure out how and so I went and
figured out how to Get the moneyto buy the company
Dad (05:37):
You know what?
I love about that is is thatwhen you started as the
operations manager That wasn'tyour intent necessarily to buy
that company you were in thereYou were working and then also
you're like this is kind of acool business.
I could see myself doing this,you know as a job and then you
pursued that opportunity so Ithink a lot of times we get to
work and we start thinking aboutall the things we hate about our
job or the things we can'tchange, but instead you kind of
(06:00):
said, okay, what's theopportunity?
So thank you for sharing that.
I think that's good for us.
It's not always outside of whereyou're at.
Sometimes it's inside of whereyou're at and you can find that
chance.
Jake (06:09):
I mean, isn't it the joke that, the man makes plans and
God laughs.
Dad (06:13):
You want to make God laugh?
Tell him your plans.
Yep.
That's what, that's what I heardit.
Yeah.
I do believe that way.
You say I've had a few moreyears of practice.
I'm 50, so you'll get there.
Jake (06:23):
I, you don't have that much on me.
I turned.
Happy birthday.
so, I got into that.
And it was really a no brainerbecause we had already grown 3
times the size.
And then when I took it overit's almost like the floodgates
opened, right?
Because I was able to finally doall the things that.
I thought we're best and the egotrip that comes with that when
(06:43):
you're, when you 16 X a company,Is and you take over 90, 98
percent of a market is absurd.
Nobody can tell you what you'redoing wrong.
You know, like, it's.
It's really difficult.
But at the same time, you'realso in the stage of imposter
syndrome, I remember when Ifinally had to make the choice
that what I'm playing with ismonopoly money.
(07:04):
And I pretended that I wasplaying monopoly instead of
actually playing with moneybecause it was just so much
easier for me to.
Live my normal life and comeover here and then spend money
the way I needed to spend moneyfor a business, And to take
advantage of the opportunitythat came, even when the 2008
hit and everybody pulled back onadvertising.
I went more in, I went, okay,that's when I should actually,
(07:27):
it's going to spend better if Itake over.
So I was very risk averse.
I jumped into things head 1stand that's really what got me
into my 1st mistake.
And my 1st mistake was notaccepting the beast for what it
was.
I had a very successful company.
It was seasonal.
So I had to get rid of people.
I had 32 employees at 1 point.
But I kept trying to hold on tomy employees.
(07:48):
I kept trying to build a bridgeand start another company.
And that's where it started tokind of fall apart.
If I had really looked at it.
And went, you know, what, whatswamp tech is, is it's a
seasonal company.
I would have taken instead ofputting 80 grand into TV
advertising, I would have putthat into training and been able
to churn people out real fast.
(08:08):
But.
I was at a conference and I waslistening to somebody, the
business instructor from the,you who had started something
like 100 businesses, they did apanel and I raised my hand and
I'm like, hey, what, what shouldI be spending on advertising?
He gave me the generic answerof.
If you're a growing companyshould be spending 8 to 10
percent and I'm like, well,that's a lot of money.
So I might as well do TVadvertising, you know, because I
(08:30):
have to, and that was a mistake.
my situation did not apply towhat he was saying.
And that just goes to show you,you know, once again, he gave me
the textbook answer.
But he didn't actually give methe right answer because he
didn't know what he was talkingabout in my situation.
Dad (08:44):
That, you know, what's interesting about that is you
said, as you're growing abusiness to 16 X and, I don't
know if you guys know what thatmeans.
16 X when he's throws thatnumber out, do you guys,
Gene (08:54):
that sound like 16 times more
Dad (08:55):
that's it.
he's grown his sales by 16%.
So if it was a million dollarsin sales, he's now doing 16
million in sales.
Am I capturing that flavor?
Right?
So, you said originally thatwhen you were making that kind
of money and having that kind ofsuccess, nobody can tell you
anything, And so I found itinteresting that the UU guy
you're sitting there going, huh,there's one question I do have.
And then he told you the wrong,answer.
(09:16):
And that's when you jumped on.
and I'm not saying it's right orwrong.
I just think it's interestingthat sometimes we hear the
experts advice.
But we don't understand theexpert's perspective.
He did a hundred companies.
He knows what he's talkingabout, but does he know what I
need to do?
I'm not saying questioneverything, but, check it maybe
with your gut.
Or when did you know it was thewrong decision?
(09:36):
Were you well down that path?
Jake (09:37):
I would say I would have probably been able to recover
from that one.
And we would have been okay.
I will say that the positive tothat is.
Our name became the name forswamp coolers in Salt Lake City,
we owned 98 percent of themarket before we left, before we
sold, which is a massive, amassive amount, and there were
other issues, like I said, Ididn't accept it for what it
(09:58):
was, I did things like I startedChristmas lighting, and I tried
to get into that.
you would look at me and go,Hey, he's successful.
He knows what he's talkingabout.
But I didn't, I didn't know howto technically scale a business.
I had never scaled before.
I barely had just started abusiness.
And it's one of those thingsthat.
The combination of the decisionsI've made were ultimately the
(10:21):
reason why it failed.
And honestly, one of the thingsthat you learn in business as an
entrepreneur is that if youcan't step away from the
business and have the businessrun, you don't have a viable
business.
You have another job, right?
I was telling my
Dad (10:33):
wife that I've had a couple of good jobs that I've called my
own business, as a consultant,it's all hinted upon what I go
in and fix and do and improve.
So I like that.
I think that's good advice tous.
Jake (10:44):
and so, I think I just told my kids that I was
recording a podcast in thebackground, which is all good.
But ultimately it was acombination of things and not
accepting it for what it was andnot really honestly, like I
said, not knowing what I wasdoing near the time.
So I had a lot of personalthings happen.
I had my brother and his wifeand their three kids commit
suicide.
(11:05):
Which was international news.
my wife left me at the time.
And I was also dealing withrepressed memories from
childhood abuse and I, at thatmoment realized something.
I said, I'm the biggest hurdlefor the company, which was
actually kind of an interestingmoment for me was realizing that
I'm the 1 holding us back and Ican clearly see it because I was
(11:25):
in the state.
I was in.
And so I went, okay, you knowwhat, let's hire a CEO to take
over for me.
And if I'm hiring a CEO, I gotto pay him year round.
So, therefore, we probably haveto get into heating.
Let's go ahead and do that.
And so I got a CEO, we workedout a deal to get our funding
for our 1st year of heating.
week before our heatingdepartment was supposed to open,
(11:48):
our investor pulled.
And so we were dead in thewater.
and then we sold off the pieces,right?
It was just like, well, youknow, we did our best.
We tried our best.
And so we sold everything off.
Ashton (11:57):
So, I kind of wanted to ask about this while you're
talking about this whole thing,because you were in this
situation where you felt likeYou're the biggest fish in the
pond, right?
And imposter syndrome issomething that I think about
frequently.
So like in the moment Or evenlooking back on that now when
you're bringing in another ceowere you aware of the feelings
of imposter syndrome?
(12:17):
Did you take a lot ofconsideration into those about
the decisions you made at thattime?
Because it sounds quick in astory.
I was going to say gettingsuccessful so quickly But that's
not always how that feels, it'sjust an interesting thought to
me that to be the biggest fishand still be like, I don't know
what's going on.
Jake (12:34):
Well, it brings me to one of my favorite thought
experiments of all time.
Right.
Is now let's just imagine foranybody who's listening.
I'm going to write the numberone, and then I'm going to write
a lowercase L, and then I'mgoing to write an uppercase I.
And they all look the same,right?
And it's not in that order iswhat I'm writing it.
if you ask me why it's this way,I'm going to tell you it's
(12:54):
because nobody knows what
they're
Ashton (12:56):
doing.
Jake (12:57):
we claim to know what we're doing.
We might have a good idea, butultimately we don't know.
I think when you, humbleyourself in that way.
You realize that even the topCEOs C suite people, when you
get into conference room withthem, they may be experts in an
area, but they still don't knowwhat they're doing.
(13:18):
They're just really good atpretending
Ashton (13:19):
they do and that's something you probably would
draw comfort from and then inthe position that you were in.
Jake (13:25):
absolutely.
Well, and even in my positionnow, I mean, I deal with people
that are, I dealt with a lot ofC level people in my time.
I've done big data health beforethis and I was dealing with
doctors.
I was dealing with people thatwere way more educated than I
ever had been.
And they were some of the onesthat helped me realize how much
that's true that people justdon't know what they're doing,
(13:46):
they might know something andthat's okay.
But if you're a child, andyou're looking at this, what I
recommend is by knowing that,you know, that that means that
you have that freedom to stepinto something that you don't
know how to do.
And work on it and, you know, ithonestly fell, just keep failing
at it because you're going tolearn, It hurts when you fell
(14:07):
you stub your toe, you figureout that you're not going to
kick the side of the stoveanymore.
you touch the stove and you burnyourself.
You learn that's failure.
Right?
And that's how humans are meantto work.
And that's how entrepreneurshipworks.
It's like.
Test something else thehesitation of trying to know
before you execute is going todestroy your success,
Ashton (14:27):
Well, taking comfort in the fact that you're not
infallible.
Therefore, no 1 else is.
So, it's, you can just go forit.
Dad (14:34):
That's a very freeing mindset I would have to echo
that and take as somebody who'sbeen in a lot of big rooms and
I, I tell people, I don't knowthat I'm a conspiracy theorist
as much as I believe that peopleare promoted to their highest
level of incompetency and thenthat's what we get, and so
everybody's like, no, it's aconspiracy theorist.
I'm like, okay, maybe, but thereality is, I think most people
(14:54):
are just not as good as we thinkthey are.
You know, they put their pantson one leg at a time and, you
know, they have to do their hairor not, if you're like me,
Jake (15:03):
they're still fixing their hair in the mirror, if they see
themselves, you know, like haveyou ever heard do you know
Hanson's razor?
You heard that Hanson's razor,anybody know what I'm talking
about on that?
So razors are things were, Ibelieve it's Greek and Hans the
most popular is the simplestanswer is often the correct one,
and that's Hanson's razor.
(15:24):
There's this one called Hamlet'srazor, which might be my
favorite, and it is do notattempt to describe with malice
that can be described withstupidity.
Dad (15:34):
Oh, I like that.
That might be the tagline,right?
That might be the tagline ofthis episode, right?
because if you look at that assaying, Hey, most people aren't
out to harm me, They don'teither know any better or
they're stupid.
either one of those are freeingthoughts, you know, and they
just don't get it.
someday they'll go through thesecrisises where they get knocked
off their, success pattern or,go through their trials.
(15:54):
I like that.
Jake (15:55):
Well, and even let's, let's take it internally too.
What about the situation where.
We beat ourselves up over thingsthat there's no way we could
have known.
Right.
We, we keep ourselves up atnight worrying about how we
harmed someone, but really the,honestly, the smartest thing you
can do and the best thing youcould do for ever harming
someone or, a perceived harm toyour family or whatever is to
(16:16):
learn, right.
Is to develop and learn fromwhat just happened.
Right.
it's part of the reason, like Isay, why Miingl is so important
because if I'm talking to youface to face.
If I say something that hurtsAshton's feelings, I'm going to
see that I'm going to fill themirror neurons are going to hit
me and I'm going to feel thatpain.
And so now I know to correctthat answer But now, if I say
(16:38):
something, it makes Gideon smileand happy.
I know that I just did that.
So I now I'm going to adjust theway I communicate and the way I
am to develop a bettercommunication with the people
that are around me.
Dad (16:50):
And it sounds like Miingl allows you to, to reach out to
that individual, right?
That's, that's one of theneatnesses of the app, right?
Or the tool.
Jake (16:58):
Yeah.
So imagine you're in a room with20 people and you see one person
you want to talk to, you canclick on them and it'll cluster
to them.
And now you're in a separatelittle conversation and
everybody can see in the venuethat you're clustered.
So they can come join you guys,or they can go do their own.
And so it looks just like thereal world.
So think when I walk into avenue in the real world, I see a
(17:20):
bunch of people and I see peopleclustered together.
That's how Miingl looks.
And then I can click on thoseclusters or I can click on that
individual.
And so it allows for that realcommunication and that real free
flow, as an
Dad (17:33):
individual who might be involved in many different
circuits, you could jump overinto one and say, Hey guys, that
was fun getting to know you.
I'm going to go bounce overhere.
And as somebody who's anintrovert maybe might stay in
that one cluster with real deepconversation a meaningful
conversation to them.
That's neat
Ashton (17:48):
Yeah, well, I think a lot of what we're mentioning
about and this might be too Idon't know if this is a good
question or not.
But we're talking a lot aboutlike how Like interacting with
people and recognizing people'ssituations and things like that
with Miingl Have you guysthought about stuff like the
apple vision stuff?
Like are you going to have asituation where people are going
to be in person chatting witheach other now?
(18:10):
Or is it more of just a room toroom?
Jake (18:13):
I mean, it's a good question.
And I do like the, it's not youwere going to say that.
I don't know if this is a dumbquestion and I'll tell you right
now.
There's never ever a dumbquestion.
There's dumb answers.
And there's even dumber peoplewho give those dumb answers
yeah, it's not malice, it's juststupidity.
what I can see happening withthe way it's set up, and we're
kind of betting the oppositedirection, Miingl is betting
(18:36):
more on a simplistic 2dimensional computer screen, but
it is possible to use those samekind of technologies to where
I'm there with AR and I have mygoggles on and I can see these
little bubbles and I can connectwith people.
That are there on their computeror that are there in person.
Right?
And so it can kind of blend thatcommunication, but that's down
(18:59):
the road.
by that time, I'm hoping thatI've sold the company and that's
somebody else's problem.
Ashton (19:04):
So, do you find the most joy from building stuff then?
Building stuff to sell it, or isit more of like just any passion
project that you get, it's kindof fun to just work on.
Jake (19:13):
I wish I lived in a world where I could just ideate all
the time.
Ideation for me, solvingproblems is.
I mean, I have, a, I have apitch deck that has 85
inventions in it because I haveto write'em down.
And if I don't, then it keep meup at night.
But what I'm learning more andmore is that I should stop
(19:33):
falling in love with good ideas,and I should start falling in
love with difficult problems.
Wow.
Like, and the reason being is'cause.
If you really, really start toresearch problems, then you can
actually bring about a solution.
That's powerful ideas.
When it's created are alwayslooking for a problem to solve.
(19:54):
I'm, I think you start on theproblem side, and you're going
to do a lot better for anybodythat wants to study that a
little bit further.
Look at, like, the mom test.
It's a really good book.
About how to solicit advice fromyour mom without getting her to
lie to you about your idea.
Ashton (20:09):
I'm gonna have to check that out because that is that is
definitely something that well,so A little bit about me is I,
like to write music and stuff.
And part of the challenge ofshowing music to your friends or
your family is everyone feelsobligated to be like, Oh yeah,
that's awesome.
Dad (20:24):
Or we don't know any better in all fairness.
Ashton (20:26):
Oh yeah, cool.
Sure.
Why not?
Dad (20:29):
I told the action when he did marching band, I was like,
did we do good or did we do bad?
You know,
Ashton (20:35):
I'm not smart enough to know.
I've been lucky enough.
Every time I show my mom'sstuff, she's always like, Yeah,
why is that happening though?
What about this though?
And it's been good because I'mlike, sweet.
Thanks.
Yeah, try to live with it for 30years.
I mean,
Jake (20:49):
I love you.
I love you.
You know what?
They just challenge you to bebetter.
That's how it works.
Those, you know, honestly, thoseare the best people in the world
for you, like, for anyentrepreneurs, somebody who can
what I like to say issuffocating the baby in the crib
is the best possible thing youcan do.
And I know that sounds awful.
But what I'm saying is, I justpresented you with my ego.
Here's my great idea.
(21:10):
And I'm so excited about it.
Crush my hopes and dreams.
Please.
Because if you can crush themwith your words, that means it's
not a good idea.
Wow, that's so strong.
Ashton (21:20):
Yeah.
Dad (21:21):
I mean, it just gives you a different, idea to look at.
Right.
So I had, I've had a pet projectthat I've hidden for a while
because I didn't know where Ifelt, you know, I wasn't ready
for that, ego to be crushed.
Right.
So I've been very careful.
that's powerful to think about.
Jake (21:34):
Well, and how much time did you save me?
And guess what I just did?
I just felt, and then I learned,and now I'm adapting.
So, if I'm trying to solve thisproblem and I come up with an
idea and I bring that idea tosomebody and they murder that
idea that I felt I learned I goback to the problem and I keep
trying to solve the problem.
It doesn't mean that I stoppedBut I'm focused on that instead
of the solution that I love myego over here.
(21:56):
The problems over here.
Ashton (21:58):
Right?
Well, I always like to say,like, when it comes to
conversations, not about what isright, but more is who is right.
And what is best for us?
Because when people get to thewhat is right phase, they don't
allow their ego to be crushed.
But I, would you say that thatlesson came to you, going back
to the swamp cooler businesswhen you were in that phase, do
you think you still held thatsame perspective as you do now?
(22:19):
Or did that come, over time?
Jake (22:20):
No, I was still very egotistical even after the
company was gone, I thought Iknew business.
I thought I was a salesperson,which I realized I wasn't.
I just happened to own an itch.
And I got humbled quite a fewtimes after that.
Like I thought I knew what I wastalking about and I would try
something and I realized that Ididn't.
I'll give you examples.
I fell in love with the EDMscene at the age of 35.
(22:43):
after I sold off the company andgot divorced.
And I started throwing eventsbecause it was like, you know,
this looks pretty easy.
I've run businesses for yearsand honestly, I lost money
constantly throwing events andit is really difficult to be
successful at throwing events.
And I thought I was just goingto come in there and it wouldn't
be a problem because I knewbusiness and I was going to be
able to do something similar towhat I had done in the
(23:06):
evaporative cooler market, whichwas to change the market.
Just tweak it here and there andactually make something that
works better.
And people would show up andtrying to get in that market,
trying to get into entertainmentit's not, it's not the same.
And so I got humbled.
I realized real fast that.
Yeah I don't know how tomobilize people.
I don't know how to mobilize abig group of people to go to an
(23:28):
event.
I don't know how to make thathappen.
And most people would say that Iprobably wasn't unsuccessful at
that.
I mean, my event group.
We did end up Getting 600 peopleto the middle of the desert for
a music festival, but ultimatelythat still didn't pay the bills.
You know, it was like, and soyou look at these other guys
that are doing it and they'repaying their bills with doing
shows and you're like, I'm, I'mlost.
(23:50):
I don't even, I can't evenfigure out how they're pulling
it off.
it was through those Times offailure again, and again, that
kind of humbled me and allowedme to learn.
And I'm telling you, if youstart out with humble and you
start out, I don't know what I'mdoing.
And when you fail, you're like,that's not a bad thing.
That means that's my opportunityto learn.
Then you're going to get a lot.
Oh,
Dad (24:08):
sorry.
I'm going to cut you off realquick.
I think that's got to be some ofour own mental game though.
Is is to be okay with thatfailure because it's not even on
the outside world because I lookat something that you try And go
I didn't even perceive it as afailure, right?
I didn't I didn't perceive thatin their action or that that
thing you tried as a failure asas the observer I'd just be
like, oh, that's kind of cool.
At least you tried it, you know,at least you put yourself out
(24:30):
there But me internally I mighthave said oh I failed and then
to your point I chew it up allnight over and over and over and
over Instead of saying, Hey, Ifailed.
That's cool.
What lesson did I learn, youknow, or do I get out of events
altogether?
Ashton (24:46):
Well, and for me, the interesting conversation that
comes up there is I haven'tfound the word for it yet.
I was trying to find it asyou're talking through there
too.
But is finding the line betweenhumility, but then also not
maybe self deprecation.
because I know for me when itcomes to oh, I know I can't do
that thing A lot of timesinstead of being a creative
(25:07):
force of like, oh, I can't dothat thing Let me figure that
out.
It becomes more of a I can't dothat thing.
I don't know how to do thatthing and so Meh, you know And
so like finding finding a linewhere humility breeds that that
desire to fail
Jake (25:24):
Well, I think it's humility in the idea that I
don't know.
I can't tell you that.
I know that.
humility should never be.
I can't do that.
I don't know that, but I can doit.
I'll figure it out.
I'm tenacious.
that's 1 of my, like, if youlooked at my top 3 values,
that's 1 thing I value the mostis I'm tenacious.
I'll figure it out.
Eventually, you know, like,you're not going to get rid of
(25:45):
me that easy.
But it's so I can do it.
I just don't know how to yet,and I don't know it yet.
And that's the humility isstaying in that space of not
knowing and being coachable andlearning from what's coming to
me
Gene (25:59):
quote from Thomas Edison, where he says, I didn't fail
time.
I found a thousand ways thelightbulb doesn't work.
Jake (26:07):
That's a good one.
I like Thomas Edison's one.
Although, didn't he just stealthe lightbulb?
Gene (26:11):
If he stole the lightbulb, then he can steal the quote.
I don't care.
Jake (26:14):
It's, you know what?
He can have it.
He stole the light bulb I'm surethe person who came up with the
quote wasn't too angry about it.
They were probably more aboutangry about the light.
That's light bulb being stolen.
Dad (26:25):
Gideon as the youngest, as the youngest member, does this
resonate with you?
Any thoughts on it?
Gideon (26:29):
About which part?
Dad (26:30):
Just the whole concept of failure or, you know, the, the
learning as you go, or people,people are genuinely don't have
the best answer, right?
Because how many times have wesaid, Oh, what are you going to
be when you grow up?
Oh, that's dumb.
Well, we never say that.
We're like, Oh, that's cool.
Maybe you can't.
What are your thoughts on any,any of that?
Gideon (26:47):
my brain's been running a lot and I've been doing a lot
of thinking.
There's one Ted talk, actually,I'm sure most of us have heard
it, but it's the guy doing, Ican't remember if it was like 30
or 90 days.
But he was like, I strive tofail every single day.
so he would try something hard.
He's like the first day I'mgoing to ask somebody for a
hundred dollars because he knewhe would fail.
Like he knew he'd fail and itwas, it was actually on
(27:09):
rejection, but the idea is thesame that the more you do it,
the less it feels like failureand the more it feels like
learning.
my brain went I thought it waskind of interesting,
Dad (27:19):
thank you for the share.
that's great.
Because really this conversationis, you know, Ashton's following
it and he's, you know, it'smaking sense.
He's like, Hey, this is whereI'm at in my journey, but we got
to remember those listeners thataren't there, right?
What did they get from thisfeeding?
What do they take away?
So I appreciate your insight tosay, Hey, rejection, failure,
you can lump it.
kind of all together.
I'm afraid to ask the prettygirl out.
(27:40):
I'm afraid to, whatever, go tothe gym.
I'm afraid to, dance in therain.
I don't know.
Maybe I'm afraid to dance inthe, because of lightning, but
Jake (27:47):
I always tell my kids, but I don't think they listen is
like, if you don't ask,
Dad (27:52):
that's a good one.
If we just ask, we got so manycool things when we'd say, Hey,
can we do this?
And people look at you and go,I've never been asked or, or we
pretend like we know what we'redoing.
We've, we found that to be theeasiest way To get away with
stuff,
Jake (28:03):
I mean, the group of my friends have talked about hiring
people to pretend that they'rethere's secret service people
or, bodyguards and have themroll up in an black SUV, and
walk into like a club orsomething and be like, Hey,
Jake's tracks on his way in,whatever you want him and see
where they put us.
And then, you know, like, when Ishow up and I come with my
entourage, they're like, Ohyeah, we got this room over here
for you.
(28:24):
If you want someone, I'd help.
Gideon (28:26):
I think that'd be awesome.
I also volunteered to be abodyguard.
Gene (28:30):
I don't think I'm big enough, but I'll drive a car.
Jake (28:33):
I'll only need multiple cars.
It's gotta look real.
But ultimately that would provemy, that would prove my point
that nobody knows what they'redoing.
Right.
Cause if I showed up and theyput me in a room, that would
really tell them.
That's awesome.
Especially
Dad (28:43):
if we do something like the eagle has landed.
Well, that's great, man.
I really appreciate theconversation and, and I know
I've learned a lot And Jake,I'll be honest.
I could talk to you all night,but we need to need to be
conscious of the listener andthe timeframe of our episodes.
So thank you so much for jumpingon and talking about, your
failure, your success, whatyou're doing with Miingl any,
thoughts that, if it was like,Hey, this is you know, I don't
(29:05):
want it to be like too dark, butlike gravestone or what, what
would you want to make sure itgets passed on from your message
and your growing and yourlearning?
Jake (29:13):
Hmm.
Enjoy it, Enjoy the failure.
Enjoy the journey.
it's a blast, man.
Like if you're not failing,you're not having fun, get out
there and get beat up and learn.
it makes life so much moreentertaining.
Dad (29:28):
That is it.
That's a great way to finish.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thanks for jumping on in such alast minute.
Really appreciated it.
Thanks for spending time andteaching the boys and stuff.
the power and your passion aboutit is, is contagious.
You know, we could, we couldbottle this up and share it
every day and not get enough ofit.
So thank you.
Jake (29:45):
Yeah, I appreciate it.
Thank you all for listening andAnd, and I love your guys's
podcast premise.
I like the idea of having yourkids on here and teaching deep
decoding adult.
Cause you know, ultimately it's,that's, that's probably the most
important thing we can do isteach the younger generations
how to navigate a little bitbetter.
Yeah.
See you.
Thank you so much.
Dad (30:04):
Yeah, that's powerful.
So thank you.
Gideon (30:06):
And listener just as an extra heads up if you would like
to share your stories aboutfailure or trying something new
or Entrepreneurship, we wouldlove to hear about them and you
can send us anything through oursocial medias instagram linkedin
Facebook we have a reddit thatis awesome to add to and our
email of course all that can befound on our website So we'd
love to hear everything aboutand respond.
(30:31):
Thank you for listening to thisweek's episode of Adulting
Decrypted.
We really enjoyed having thisweek's conversation and we hope
you did as well.
If you ever want to comment onour topics, you can send us a
message through our websiteadultingdecrypted.
com, our email adultingdecryptedat gmail.
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at Adulting Decrypted.
(30:53):
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Welcome to Adulting Decrypted.
We are your hosts.
I'm Gene, and I'm starting myfirst year of college.
I'm Ashton.
I'm a music performer, composer,and educator.
I'm Gene, a high school senior.
I'm Roscoe, the dad.
Those are my three sons, andthis is Adulting Decrypted,
where we discuss ways to becomeadults and the things we need to
(00:22):
know to be successful in life.
Dad (00:24):
Today.
We're really excited to haveJake Strack from Miingl with us
today, and he's going to sharesome details and about how to be
an adult as a serialentrepreneur.
We're really excited to have himon the show and teach us more
about our, entrepreneurialspirit.
As everybody knows as a listenerthat we all like to create and
develop, and we're excited aboutto find a common So, Jake, go
(00:44):
ahead and introduce yourself alittle bit.
Jake (00:46):
Yeah.
I'm Jake Strack, a COO and cofounder of Miingl, which is M I
I N G L no E.
We're a video conferencingapplication that we're looking
to revolutionize the way peopleconnect online.
I like to say that we're,bringing the promise of making
the world a smaller place thatwas promised by the internet
back in 1988 or late eighties.
(01:08):
when Al Gore invented it, right?
And Al Gore invented it.
Yes, exactly.
And I think that we have thecapability to actually deliver
on that promise because what weneed is face to face
communication and Miingl allowsfor that.
Dad (01:22):
You know, we love it.
We've talked a lot about howwe're losing some of that.
There's so many transactionalrelationships and we're missing
out on some of that connectivityrelationship.
So that seems like a really neattechnology.
Jake (01:33):
Thank you.
Yeah, we hope so.
Ashton (01:35):
Yeah, you're talking with us about the concept just
before we started And itactually to me, it's like, I
think I'm into that.
I think I could use that becauseI think 1 thing that happened
after.
covid is definitely a loss of alot of human connection in a lot
of ways where we went to rely ontechnology, but the technology
infrastructure didn't reallyfacilitate, the social lifestyle
(01:57):
that I think humanity craves alot of ways.
Jake (02:00):
Did you guys notice that afterwards in the events, when
you went out to events andstarted meeting with people
again, we all reverted back tofart jokes.
Because we didn't know how totalk to each other anymore.
It was so, I was sitting in, Iwas sitting in a bar outside and
everybody's smoking.
And I just noticed thateverybody started reverting to
those childhood jokes because weliterally didn't know how to
(02:21):
talk to one another.
It was so weird.
It's
Ashton (02:23):
crazy, crazy how fast that skill needs to be rebuilt.
Dad (02:27):
And you know, it's interesting.
It is a common ground.
The kids were just talking.
My daughter is a school teachernow, and there were some sayings
you guys had as kids.
That we're still active in theschool.
And they're like, this is thefirst time you've ever heard it.
And she's like, no, this hasbeen around for, as long as I've
been around, elementary school.
I can't remember what they wereright off the top of my head.
You guys got this?
Gideon (02:46):
They were Bill Nye quotes.
Oh, it's like Bill Nye.
The science guy, but he was likefilling in with different
things.
Dad (02:52):
So, so it doesn't surprise me, Jake, that we go back to
what we're comfortable with.
All right.
What, what we know.
Jake (02:57):
Well, you know, you always part joke always delivers a good
laugh.
Dad (03:00):
That's that's true.
That's true.
Potty humor, potty humor isstill alive and well at the
Allen household.
Jake (03:06):
default to dad jokes.
You've you've heard, I heard, Iheard a great one today that
made me bust up laughing.
Yeah, it was milk is the fastestliquid because it's past your
eyes before you even see it.
Nice.
That is a good one.
I'll admit that took me asecond.
You got there.
well, hey Gideon when does ajoke become a dad joke?
Gideon (03:29):
When's that?
Jake (03:29):
When it's a parent,
Gideon (03:32):
I got that one faster, a lot faster, I would hope so.
Dad (03:37):
So Jake, you, you're visiting as we visited a little
bit, you mentioned that you'vehad quite the career to, to get
to where you've created Miingl.
Can you share with the listenerand let the boys ask you some
questions about entrepreneur andthe road to get to where you've
got.
And it might not be the straightpath that we all envision.
Jake (03:53):
Yeah.
Well, you know, along the wayyou make it, you make a lot of
mistakes.
And it's really interesting whenyou're now, I'm now 42.
I'm pretty successful.
And you look back at it and yourealize that that whole time you
thought you looked up to peoplethat were me or people that are
of large companies, or evenpeople that work at like
Pentagon.
now I realize that when I'vetalked to these people, nobody
(04:16):
knows what they're doing.
Which is kind of a scary thing,but it's also relieving,
especially if you were youngerto understand that nobody knows
what they're doing.
And so my background is Istarted my career as an
operations manager for thiscompany called swamp tech, which
did evaporative cooler service.
And I eventually became theowner of that company.
I took a 2nd mortgage out andbought it and that's how I
(04:37):
started my entrepreneur.
Life,
Dad (04:39):
hey, can I ask you a question?
Yeah, go ahead.
when you're getting ready to buythat and take out that second
mortgage and really kind of buyin, do you buy into that so I
bought a zoo, 30 seconds of,crazy insanity, mindset, or did
you spend months calculating itand trying to figure out your
risk ratio?
Where do you fall on that line?
Jake (04:55):
Well, it was a, it was an opportunity and I knew it was an
opportunity.
I had worked for the company forlong enough.
And so the whole story is mystepfather had purchased the
company for a place for his kidsto work.
I came on as the operationsmanager.
And he was a CPA and he was 1 ofthose finger on the pulse guys,
you know, he had to know whatwas going on and he was super
stressed out 1 day.
(05:16):
And I said, hey, pops, what areyou looking to get out of this
thing?
You know, like, what's yourmotivation?
And he, goes, you know, andhonestly, I just want what I put
into it.
And we had already 2 extra 3 X,the size of the company by that
point.
So I went.
Well, that's a no brainer.
I'll buy it off of you and I'llfigure out how and so I went and
figured out how to Get the moneyto buy the company
Dad (05:37):
You know what?
I love about that is is thatwhen you started as the
operations manager That wasn'tyour intent necessarily to buy
that company you were in thereYou were working and then also
you're like this is kind of acool business.
I could see myself doing this,you know as a job and then you
pursued that opportunity so Ithink a lot of times we get to
work and we start thinking aboutall the things we hate about our
job or the things we can'tchange, but instead you kind of
(06:00):
said, okay, what's theopportunity?
So thank you for sharing that.
I think that's good for us.
It's not always outside of whereyou're at.
Sometimes it's inside of whereyou're at and you can find that
chance.
Jake (06:09):
I mean, isn't it the joke that, the man makes plans and
God laughs.
Dad (06:13):
You want to make God laugh?
Tell him your plans.
Yep.
That's what, that's what I heardit.
Yeah.
I do believe that way.
You say I've had a few moreyears of practice.
I'm 50, so you'll get there.
Jake (06:23):
I, you don't have that much on me.
I turned.
Happy birthday.
so, I got into that.
And it was really a no brainerbecause we had already grown 3
times the size.
And then when I took it overit's almost like the floodgates
opened, right?
Because I was able to finally doall the things that.
I thought we're best and the egotrip that comes with that when
(06:43):
you're, when you 16 X a company,Is and you take over 90, 98
percent of a market is absurd.
Nobody can tell you what you'redoing wrong.
You know, like, it's.
It's really difficult.
But at the same time, you'realso in the stage of imposter
syndrome, I remember when Ifinally had to make the choice
that what I'm playing with ismonopoly money.
(07:04):
And I pretended that I wasplaying monopoly instead of
actually playing with moneybecause it was just so much
easier for me to.
Live my normal life and comeover here and then spend money
the way I needed to spend moneyfor a business, And to take
advantage of the opportunitythat came, even when the 2008
hit and everybody pulled back onadvertising.
I went more in, I went, okay,that's when I should actually,
(07:27):
it's going to spend better if Itake over.
So I was very risk averse.
I jumped into things head 1stand that's really what got me
into my 1st mistake.
And my 1st mistake was notaccepting the beast for what it
was.
I had a very successful company.
It was seasonal.
So I had to get rid of people.
I had 32 employees at 1 point.
But I kept trying to hold on tomy employees.
(07:48):
I kept trying to build a bridgeand start another company.
And that's where it started tokind of fall apart.
If I had really looked at it.
And went, you know, what, whatswamp tech is, is it's a
seasonal company.
I would have taken instead ofputting 80 grand into TV
advertising, I would have putthat into training and been able
to churn people out real fast.
(08:08):
But.
I was at a conference and I waslistening to somebody, the
business instructor from the,you who had started something
like 100 businesses, they did apanel and I raised my hand and
I'm like, hey, what, what shouldI be spending on advertising?
He gave me the generic answerof.
If you're a growing companyshould be spending 8 to 10
percent and I'm like, well,that's a lot of money.
So I might as well do TVadvertising, you know, because I
(08:30):
have to, and that was a mistake.
my situation did not apply towhat he was saying.
And that just goes to show you,you know, once again, he gave me
the textbook answer.
But he didn't actually give methe right answer because he
didn't know what he was talkingabout in my situation.
Dad (08:44):
That, you know, what's interesting about that is you
said, as you're growing abusiness to 16 X and, I don't
know if you guys know what thatmeans.
16 X when he's throws thatnumber out, do you guys,
Gene (08:54):
that sound like 16 times more
Dad (08:55):
that's it.
he's grown his sales by 16%.
So if it was a million dollarsin sales, he's now doing 16
million in sales.
Am I capturing that flavor?
Right?
So, you said originally thatwhen you were making that kind
of money and having that kind ofsuccess, nobody can tell you
anything, And so I found itinteresting that the UU guy
you're sitting there going, huh,there's one question I do have.
And then he told you the wrong,answer.
(09:16):
And that's when you jumped on.
and I'm not saying it's right orwrong.
I just think it's interestingthat sometimes we hear the
experts advice.
But we don't understand theexpert's perspective.
He did a hundred companies.
He knows what he's talkingabout, but does he know what I
need to do?
I'm not saying questioneverything, but, check it maybe
with your gut.
Or when did you know it was thewrong decision?
(09:36):
Were you well down that path?
Jake (09:37):
I would say I would have probably been able to recover
from that one.
And we would have been okay.
I will say that the positive tothat is.
Our name became the name forswamp coolers in Salt Lake City,
we owned 98 percent of themarket before we left, before we
sold, which is a massive, amassive amount, and there were
other issues, like I said, Ididn't accept it for what it
(09:58):
was, I did things like I startedChristmas lighting, and I tried
to get into that.
you would look at me and go,Hey, he's successful.
He knows what he's talkingabout.
But I didn't, I didn't know howto technically scale a business.
I had never scaled before.
I barely had just started abusiness.
And it's one of those thingsthat.
The combination of the decisionsI've made were ultimately the
(10:21):
reason why it failed.
And honestly, one of the thingsthat you learn in business as an
entrepreneur is that if youcan't step away from the
business and have the businessrun, you don't have a viable
business.
You have another job, right?
I was telling my
Dad (10:33):
wife that I've had a couple of good jobs that I've called my
own business, as a consultant,it's all hinted upon what I go
in and fix and do and improve.
So I like that.
I think that's good advice tous.
Jake (10:44):
and so, I think I just told my kids that I was
recording a podcast in thebackground, which is all good.
But ultimately it was acombination of things and not
accepting it for what it was andnot really honestly, like I
said, not knowing what I wasdoing near the time.
So I had a lot of personalthings happen.
I had my brother and his wifeand their three kids commit
suicide.
(11:05):
Which was international news.
my wife left me at the time.
And I was also dealing withrepressed memories from
childhood abuse and I, at thatmoment realized something.
I said, I'm the biggest hurdlefor the company, which was
actually kind of an interestingmoment for me was realizing that
I'm the 1 holding us back and Ican clearly see it because I was
(11:25):
in the state.
I was in.
And so I went, okay, you knowwhat, let's hire a CEO to take
over for me.
And if I'm hiring a CEO, I gotto pay him year round.
So, therefore, we probably haveto get into heating.
Let's go ahead and do that.
And so I got a CEO, we workedout a deal to get our funding
for our 1st year of heating.
week before our heatingdepartment was supposed to open,
(11:48):
our investor pulled.
And so we were dead in thewater.
and then we sold off the pieces,right?
It was just like, well, youknow, we did our best.
We tried our best.
And so we sold everything off.
Ashton (11:57):
So, I kind of wanted to ask about this while you're
talking about this whole thing,because you were in this
situation where you felt likeYou're the biggest fish in the
pond, right?
And imposter syndrome issomething that I think about
frequently.
So like in the moment Or evenlooking back on that now when
you're bringing in another ceowere you aware of the feelings
of imposter syndrome?
(12:17):
Did you take a lot ofconsideration into those about
the decisions you made at thattime?
Because it sounds quick in astory.
I was going to say gettingsuccessful so quickly But that's
not always how that feels, it'sjust an interesting thought to
me that to be the biggest fishand still be like, I don't know
what's going on.
Jake (12:34):
Well, it brings me to one of my favorite thought
experiments of all time.
Right.
Is now let's just imagine foranybody who's listening.
I'm going to write the numberone, and then I'm going to write
a lowercase L, and then I'mgoing to write an uppercase I.
And they all look the same,right?
And it's not in that order iswhat I'm writing it.
if you ask me why it's this way,I'm going to tell you it's
(12:54):
because nobody knows what
they're
Ashton (12:56):
doing.
Jake (12:57):
we claim to know what we're doing.
We might have a good idea, butultimately we don't know.
I think when you, humbleyourself in that way.
You realize that even the topCEOs C suite people, when you
get into conference room withthem, they may be experts in an
area, but they still don't knowwhat they're doing.
(13:18):
They're just really good atpretending
Ashton (13:19):
they do and that's something you probably would
draw comfort from and then inthe position that you were in.
Jake (13:25):
absolutely.
Well, and even in my positionnow, I mean, I deal with people
that are, I dealt with a lot ofC level people in my time.
I've done big data health beforethis and I was dealing with
doctors.
I was dealing with people thatwere way more educated than I
ever had been.
And they were some of the onesthat helped me realize how much
that's true that people justdon't know what they're doing,
(13:46):
they might know something andthat's okay.
But if you're a child, andyou're looking at this, what I
recommend is by knowing that,you know, that that means that
you have that freedom to stepinto something that you don't
know how to do.
And work on it and, you know, ithonestly fell, just keep failing
at it because you're going tolearn, It hurts when you fell
(14:07):
you stub your toe, you figureout that you're not going to
kick the side of the stoveanymore.
you touch the stove and you burnyourself.
You learn that's failure.
Right?
And that's how humans are meantto work.
And that's how entrepreneurshipworks.
It's like.
Test something else thehesitation of trying to know
before you execute is going todestroy your success,
Ashton (14:27):
Well, taking comfort in the fact that you're not
infallible.
Therefore, no 1 else is.
So, it's, you can just go forit.
Dad (14:34):
That's a very freeing mindset I would have to echo
that and take as somebody who'sbeen in a lot of big rooms and
I, I tell people, I don't knowthat I'm a conspiracy theorist
as much as I believe that peopleare promoted to their highest
level of incompetency and thenthat's what we get, and so
everybody's like, no, it's aconspiracy theorist.
I'm like, okay, maybe, but thereality is, I think most people
(14:54):
are just not as good as we thinkthey are.
You know, they put their pantson one leg at a time and, you
know, they have to do their hairor not, if you're like me,
Jake (15:03):
they're still fixing their hair in the mirror, if they see
themselves, you know, like haveyou ever heard do you know
Hanson's razor?
You heard that Hanson's razor,anybody know what I'm talking
about on that?
So razors are things were, Ibelieve it's Greek and Hans the
most popular is the simplestanswer is often the correct one,
and that's Hanson's razor.
(15:24):
There's this one called Hamlet'srazor, which might be my
favorite, and it is do notattempt to describe with malice
that can be described withstupidity.
Dad (15:34):
Oh, I like that.
That might be the tagline,right?
That might be the tagline ofthis episode, right?
because if you look at that assaying, Hey, most people aren't
out to harm me, They don'teither know any better or
they're stupid.
either one of those are freeingthoughts, you know, and they
just don't get it.
someday they'll go through thesecrisises where they get knocked
off their, success pattern or,go through their trials.
(15:54):
I like that.
Jake (15:55):
Well, and even let's, let's take it internally too.
What about the situation where.
We beat ourselves up over thingsthat there's no way we could
have known.
Right.
We, we keep ourselves up atnight worrying about how we
harmed someone, but really the,honestly, the smartest thing you
can do and the best thing youcould do for ever harming
someone or, a perceived harm toyour family or whatever is to
(16:16):
learn, right.
Is to develop and learn fromwhat just happened.
Right.
it's part of the reason, like Isay, why Miingl is so important
because if I'm talking to youface to face.
If I say something that hurtsAshton's feelings, I'm going to
see that I'm going to fill themirror neurons are going to hit
me and I'm going to feel thatpain.
And so now I know to correctthat answer But now, if I say
(16:38):
something, it makes Gideon smileand happy.
I know that I just did that.
So I now I'm going to adjust theway I communicate and the way I
am to develop a bettercommunication with the people
that are around me.
Dad (16:50):
And it sounds like Miingl allows you to, to reach out to
that individual, right?
That's, that's one of theneatnesses of the app, right?
Or the tool.
Jake (16:58):
Yeah.
So imagine you're in a room with20 people and you see one person
you want to talk to, you canclick on them and it'll cluster
to them.
And now you're in a separatelittle conversation and
everybody can see in the venuethat you're clustered.
So they can come join you guys,or they can go do their own.
And so it looks just like thereal world.
So think when I walk into avenue in the real world, I see a
(17:20):
bunch of people and I see peopleclustered together.
That's how Miingl looks.
And then I can click on thoseclusters or I can click on that
individual.
And so it allows for that realcommunication and that real free
flow, as an
Dad (17:33):
individual who might be involved in many different
circuits, you could jump overinto one and say, Hey guys, that
was fun getting to know you.
I'm going to go bounce overhere.
And as somebody who's anintrovert maybe might stay in
that one cluster with real deepconversation a meaningful
conversation to them.
That's neat
Ashton (17:48):
Yeah, well, I think a lot of what we're mentioning
about and this might be too Idon't know if this is a good
question or not.
But we're talking a lot aboutlike how Like interacting with
people and recognizing people'ssituations and things like that
with Miingl Have you guysthought about stuff like the
apple vision stuff?
Like are you going to have asituation where people are going
to be in person chatting witheach other now?
(18:10):
Or is it more of just a room toroom?
Jake (18:13):
I mean, it's a good question.
And I do like the, it's not youwere going to say that.
I don't know if this is a dumbquestion and I'll tell you right
now.
There's never ever a dumbquestion.
There's dumb answers.
And there's even dumber peoplewho give those dumb answers
yeah, it's not malice, it's juststupidity.
what I can see happening withthe way it's set up, and we're
kind of betting the oppositedirection, Miingl is betting
(18:36):
more on a simplistic 2dimensional computer screen, but
it is possible to use those samekind of technologies to where
I'm there with AR and I have mygoggles on and I can see these
little bubbles and I can connectwith people.
That are there on their computeror that are there in person.
Right?
And so it can kind of blend thatcommunication, but that's down
(18:59):
the road.
by that time, I'm hoping thatI've sold the company and that's
somebody else's problem.
Ashton (19:04):
So, do you find the most joy from building stuff then?
Building stuff to sell it, or isit more of like just any passion
project that you get, it's kindof fun to just work on.
Jake (19:13):
I wish I lived in a world where I could just ideate all
the time.
Ideation for me, solvingproblems is.
I mean, I have, a, I have apitch deck that has 85
inventions in it because I haveto write'em down.
And if I don't, then it keep meup at night.
But what I'm learning more andmore is that I should stop
(19:33):
falling in love with good ideas,and I should start falling in
love with difficult problems.
Wow.
Like, and the reason being is'cause.
If you really, really start toresearch problems, then you can
actually bring about a solution.
That's powerful ideas.
When it's created are alwayslooking for a problem to solve.
(19:54):
I'm, I think you start on theproblem side, and you're going
to do a lot better for anybodythat wants to study that a
little bit further.
Look at, like, the mom test.
It's a really good book.
About how to solicit advice fromyour mom without getting her to
lie to you about your idea.
Ashton (20:09):
I'm gonna have to check that out because that is that is
definitely something that well,so A little bit about me is I,
like to write music and stuff.
And part of the challenge ofshowing music to your friends or
your family is everyone feelsobligated to be like, Oh yeah,
that's awesome.
Dad (20:24):
Or we don't know any better in all fairness.
Ashton (20:26):
Oh yeah, cool.
Sure.
Why not?
Dad (20:29):
I told the action when he did marching band, I was like,
did we do good or did we do bad?
You know,
Ashton (20:35):
I'm not smart enough to know.
I've been lucky enough.
Every time I show my mom'sstuff, she's always like, Yeah,
why is that happening though?
What about this though?
And it's been good because I'mlike, sweet.
Thanks.
Yeah, try to live with it for 30years.
I mean,
Jake (20:49):
I love you.
I love you.
You know what?
They just challenge you to bebetter.
That's how it works.
Those, you know, honestly, thoseare the best people in the world
for you, like, for anyentrepreneurs, somebody who can
what I like to say issuffocating the baby in the crib
is the best possible thing youcan do.
And I know that sounds awful.
But what I'm saying is, I justpresented you with my ego.
Here's my great idea.
(21:10):
And I'm so excited about it.
Crush my hopes and dreams.
Please.
Because if you can crush themwith your words, that means it's
not a good idea.
Wow, that's so strong.
Ashton (21:20):
Yeah.
Dad (21:21):
I mean, it just gives you a different, idea to look at.
Right.
So I had, I've had a pet projectthat I've hidden for a while
because I didn't know where Ifelt, you know, I wasn't ready
for that, ego to be crushed.
Right.
So I've been very careful.
that's powerful to think about.
Jake (21:34):
Well, and how much time did you save me?
And guess what I just did?
I just felt, and then I learned,and now I'm adapting.
So, if I'm trying to solve thisproblem and I come up with an
idea and I bring that idea tosomebody and they murder that
idea that I felt I learned I goback to the problem and I keep
trying to solve the problem.
It doesn't mean that I stoppedBut I'm focused on that instead
of the solution that I love myego over here.
(21:56):
The problems over here.
Ashton (21:58):
Right?
Well, I always like to say,like, when it comes to
conversations, not about what isright, but more is who is right.
And what is best for us?
Because when people get to thewhat is right phase, they don't
allow their ego to be crushed.
But I, would you say that thatlesson came to you, going back
to the swamp cooler businesswhen you were in that phase, do
you think you still held thatsame perspective as you do now?
(22:19):
Or did that come, over time?
Jake (22:20):
No, I was still very egotistical even after the
company was gone, I thought Iknew business.
I thought I was a salesperson,which I realized I wasn't.
I just happened to own an itch.
And I got humbled quite a fewtimes after that.
Like I thought I knew what I wastalking about and I would try
something and I realized that Ididn't.
I'll give you examples.
I fell in love with the EDMscene at the age of 35.
(22:43):
after I sold off the company andgot divorced.
And I started throwing eventsbecause it was like, you know,
this looks pretty easy.
I've run businesses for yearsand honestly, I lost money
constantly throwing events andit is really difficult to be
successful at throwing events.
And I thought I was just goingto come in there and it wouldn't
be a problem because I knewbusiness and I was going to be
able to do something similar towhat I had done in the
(23:06):
evaporative cooler market, whichwas to change the market.
Just tweak it here and there andactually make something that
works better.
And people would show up andtrying to get in that market,
trying to get into entertainmentit's not, it's not the same.
And so I got humbled.
I realized real fast that.
Yeah I don't know how tomobilize people.
I don't know how to mobilize abig group of people to go to an
(23:28):
event.
I don't know how to make thathappen.
And most people would say that Iprobably wasn't unsuccessful at
that.
I mean, my event group.
We did end up Getting 600 peopleto the middle of the desert for
a music festival, but ultimatelythat still didn't pay the bills.
You know, it was like, and soyou look at these other guys
that are doing it and they'repaying their bills with doing
shows and you're like, I'm, I'mlost.
(23:50):
I don't even, I can't evenfigure out how they're pulling
it off.
it was through those Times offailure again, and again, that
kind of humbled me and allowedme to learn.
And I'm telling you, if youstart out with humble and you
start out, I don't know what I'mdoing.
And when you fail, you're like,that's not a bad thing.
That means that's my opportunityto learn.
Then you're going to get a lot.
Oh,
Dad (24:08):
sorry.
I'm going to cut you off realquick.
I think that's got to be some ofour own mental game though.
Is is to be okay with thatfailure because it's not even on
the outside world because I lookat something that you try And go
I didn't even perceive it as afailure, right?
I didn't I didn't perceive thatin their action or that that
thing you tried as a failure asas the observer I'd just be
like, oh, that's kind of cool.
At least you tried it, you know,at least you put yourself out
(24:30):
there But me internally I mighthave said oh I failed and then
to your point I chew it up allnight over and over and over and
over Instead of saying, Hey, Ifailed.
That's cool.
What lesson did I learn, youknow, or do I get out of events
altogether?
Ashton (24:46):
Well, and for me, the interesting conversation that
comes up there is I haven'tfound the word for it yet.
I was trying to find it asyou're talking through there
too.
But is finding the line betweenhumility, but then also not
maybe self deprecation.
because I know for me when itcomes to oh, I know I can't do
that thing A lot of timesinstead of being a creative
(25:07):
force of like, oh, I can't dothat thing Let me figure that
out.
It becomes more of a I can't dothat thing.
I don't know how to do thatthing and so Meh, you know And
so like finding finding a linewhere humility breeds that that
desire to fail
Jake (25:24):
Well, I think it's humility in the idea that I
don't know.
I can't tell you that.
I know that.
humility should never be.
I can't do that.
I don't know that, but I can doit.
I'll figure it out.
I'm tenacious.
that's 1 of my, like, if youlooked at my top 3 values,
that's 1 thing I value the mostis I'm tenacious.
I'll figure it out.
Eventually, you know, like,you're not going to get rid of
(25:45):
me that easy.
But it's so I can do it.
I just don't know how to yet,and I don't know it yet.
And that's the humility isstaying in that space of not
knowing and being coachable andlearning from what's coming to
me
Gene (25:59):
quote from Thomas Edison, where he says, I didn't fail
time.
I found a thousand ways thelightbulb doesn't work.
Jake (26:07):
That's a good one.
I like Thomas Edison's one.
Although, didn't he just stealthe lightbulb?
Gene (26:11):
If he stole the lightbulb, then he can steal the quote.
I don't care.
Jake (26:14):
It's, you know what?
He can have it.
He stole the light bulb I'm surethe person who came up with the
quote wasn't too angry about it.
They were probably more aboutangry about the light.
That's light bulb being stolen.
Dad (26:25):
Gideon as the youngest, as the youngest member, does this
resonate with you?
Any thoughts on it?
Gideon (26:29):
About which part?
Dad (26:30):
Just the whole concept of failure or, you know, the, the
learning as you go, or people,people are genuinely don't have
the best answer, right?
Because how many times have wesaid, Oh, what are you going to
be when you grow up?
Oh, that's dumb.
Well, we never say that.
We're like, Oh, that's cool.
Maybe you can't.
What are your thoughts on any,any of that?
Gideon (26:47):
my brain's been running a lot and I've been doing a lot
of thinking.
There's one Ted talk, actually,I'm sure most of us have heard
it, but it's the guy doing, Ican't remember if it was like 30
or 90 days.
But he was like, I strive tofail every single day.
so he would try something hard.
He's like the first day I'mgoing to ask somebody for a
hundred dollars because he knewhe would fail.
Like he knew he'd fail and itwas, it was actually on
(27:09):
rejection, but the idea is thesame that the more you do it,
the less it feels like failureand the more it feels like
learning.
my brain went I thought it waskind of interesting,
Dad (27:19):
thank you for the share.
that's great.
Because really this conversationis, you know, Ashton's following
it and he's, you know, it'smaking sense.
He's like, Hey, this is whereI'm at in my journey, but we got
to remember those listeners thataren't there, right?
What did they get from thisfeeding?
What do they take away?
So I appreciate your insight tosay, Hey, rejection, failure,
you can lump it.
kind of all together.
I'm afraid to ask the prettygirl out.
(27:40):
I'm afraid to, whatever, go tothe gym.
I'm afraid to, dance in therain.
I don't know.
Maybe I'm afraid to dance inthe, because of lightning, but
Jake (27:47):
I always tell my kids, but I don't think they listen is
like, if you don't ask,
Dad (27:52):
that's a good one.
If we just ask, we got so manycool things when we'd say, Hey,
can we do this?
And people look at you and go,I've never been asked or, or we
pretend like we know what we'redoing.
We've, we found that to be theeasiest way To get away with
stuff,
Jake (28:03):
I mean, the group of my friends have talked about hiring
people to pretend that they'rethere's secret service people
or, bodyguards and have themroll up in an black SUV, and
walk into like a club orsomething and be like, Hey,
Jake's tracks on his way in,whatever you want him and see
where they put us.
And then, you know, like, when Ishow up and I come with my
entourage, they're like, Ohyeah, we got this room over here
for you.
(28:24):
If you want someone, I'd help.
Gideon (28:26):
I think that'd be awesome.
I also volunteered to be abodyguard.
Gene (28:30):
I don't think I'm big enough, but I'll drive a car.
Jake (28:33):
I'll only need multiple cars.
It's gotta look real.
But ultimately that would provemy, that would prove my point
that nobody knows what they'redoing.
Right.
Cause if I showed up and theyput me in a room, that would
really tell them.
That's awesome.
Especially
Dad (28:43):
if we do something like the eagle has landed.
Well, that's great, man.
I really appreciate theconversation and, and I know
I've learned a lot And Jake,I'll be honest.
I could talk to you all night,but we need to need to be
conscious of the listener andthe timeframe of our episodes.
So thank you so much for jumpingon and talking about, your
failure, your success, whatyou're doing with Miingl any,
thoughts that, if it was like,Hey, this is you know, I don't
(29:05):
want it to be like too dark, butlike gravestone or what, what
would you want to make sure itgets passed on from your message
and your growing and yourlearning?
Jake (29:13):
Hmm.
Enjoy it, Enjoy the failure.
Enjoy the journey.
it's a blast, man.
Like if you're not failing,you're not having fun, get out
there and get beat up and learn.
it makes life so much moreentertaining.
Dad (29:28):
That is it.
That's a great way to finish.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thanks for jumping on in such alast minute.
Really appreciated it.
Thanks for spending time andteaching the boys and stuff.
the power and your passion aboutit is, is contagious.
You know, we could, we couldbottle this up and share it
every day and not get enough ofit.
So thank you.
Jake (29:45):
Yeah, I appreciate it.
Thank you all for listening andAnd, and I love your guys's
podcast premise.
I like the idea of having yourkids on here and teaching deep
decoding adult.
Cause you know, ultimately it's,that's, that's probably the most
important thing we can do isteach the younger generations
how to navigate a little bitbetter.
Yeah.
See you.
Thank you so much.
Dad (30:04):
Yeah, that's powerful.
So thank you.
Gideon (30:06):
And listener just as an extra heads up if you would like
to share your stories aboutfailure or trying something new
or Entrepreneurship, we wouldlove to hear about them and you
can send us anything through oursocial medias instagram linkedin
Facebook we have a reddit thatis awesome to add to and our
email of course all that can befound on our website So we'd
love to hear everything aboutand respond.
(30:31):
Thank you for listening to thisweek's episode of Adulting
Decrypted.
We really enjoyed having thisweek's conversation and we hope
you did as well.
If you ever want to comment onour topics, you can send us a
message through our websiteadultingdecrypted.
com, our email adultingdecryptedat gmail.
com, Or, through our Instagram,Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts
at Adulting Decrypted.
(30:53):
If you have any topics for theshow that you would like us to
talk about, or if you are aparent and want us to talk about
something your kid should know,send us a message on any of the
accounts mentioned.
If you would like to be a guestor have an idea for someone you
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(31:16):
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