Dec. 2, 2025

LAB Golf’s Newest Heel Shafted Putter Impresses Old School Skeptics with CEO Sam Hahn

LAB Golf’s Newest Heel Shafted Putter Impresses Old School Skeptics with CEO Sam Hahn
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Season 20

GS#1028  Sam Hahn, CEO of L.A.B. Golf, currently the hottest golf company in the world, returns to discuss the company’s explosive growth and the details of their recent acquisition by private investment firm, L Catterton. Also discussed is how Sam's prolific use of Social Media has helped grow brand loyalty and exposure. Also covered is the radical, yet traditional design of their latest putter innovation, the Oz1.iHS.  This is the first heel shafted putter released by L.A.B. with the head co-designed by PGA star Adam Scott. The discussion highlights the company’s journey from small-town startup to global success, its unique culture, and the challenges of scaling while staying true to its roots. Fred Greene praises Hahn for his leadership, authenticity, and perseverance. Hahn expresses gratitude for the support of golf media and fans, emphasizing that Lab’s next phase will build on the same passion and culture that fueled its rise.
This episode with Fred & Sam can be seen on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/-jLPMeKcoLQ

This episode is brought to you by Warby Parker with over 300+ locations to help you find your next pair of glasses. You can also head over to warbypaker.com/golfsmarter right now to try on any pair virtually!
This episode is sponsored by Indeed. Please visit indeed.com/GOLFSMARTER and get a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT. Terms and conditions apply.
This episode is sponsored by HIMS. Start  your free online visit today HIMS.com/golfsmarter and received personalized ED treatment options.
This episode is also brought to you by Taelor, an award-winning menswear rental subscription service. Visit taelor.style and get 25% OFF your first month of men's clothing subscription with our exclusive code GOLFSMARTER.

If you have a question about whether or not Fred is using any of the methods, equipment or apps we’ve discussed, or if you’d like to share a comment about what you’ve heard in this or any other episode, please write because Fred will get back to you. Either write to golfsmarterpodcast@gmail.com or click on the Hey Fred button, at golfsmarter.com

WEBVTT

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Hi.

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I'm Brandon Hill from Boise, Idaho, and I play at

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Eagle Hills Golf Course.

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Welcome to golf Mart. Hi.

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This is Robert Hill from Heburn, Kentucky, and I play

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at Boo Links Golf Course.

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This is Golf Smarter number one, twenty eight. And now

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we have a new mission to prove that we made

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the right decision.

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And the right decision doesn't just mean the right decision

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for us, it means the right decision for the consumer.

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This is ultimately going to produce better product, hopefully at

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better prices, and just an all around better experience that

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goes beyond what anybody's experienced before simply by buying a putter.

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So we like the challenge of needing to sort of

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re earn everybody's trust, and so far, I think we're

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doing a pretty good job. I mean it's funny, like

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you read the comments online. I got really overwhelmed a

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week after the announcement was made. And when we screw up,

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because we're so engaged with everybody, it always seems like

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a much bigger deal. Like when somebody gets a crooked grip,

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they put it on a lab rats page with fifty

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thousand fans and they lose their minds. But six months

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ago we'd put a crooked grip out somebody to take

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a picture of it and say what gives and everybody

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be like, man, take it easy. They're a small company

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from Oregon, leave malone. It's just one grip, don't worry

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about it. And people would like have our backs. A

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week after the announcement comes up, somebody put a picture

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up of a crooked grip up there.

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It's like Cee already cutting corners.

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Lab Golf's newest heel shafted putter impresses old school skeptics

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with CEO Samon. This is Golf Smarter, sharing stories, tips

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and insights from great golf minds to help you lower

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your score and raise your golf IQ. Here's your host,

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Fred Green. Welcome back to the Golf Smarter podcast.

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Sam, Thanks Fred, thanks for having me back.

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Pal Uh you kidding. I would have you on more often,

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but I know that you're so busy doing your own

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social media. My god, you're everywhere. It's worked very well

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for you.

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By the way. I like it out here in social media.

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And yeah, yeah, between the podcasts and the videos and

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getting people fitted and showing off their new putter and

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how to do it. But I think my favorite has

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beat the boss.

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We've got to We've got to get another one out there.

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We've got two episodes in the can or one episode

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in the can, maybe two, I don't remember, but one

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of them is against my brother and it's a pretty

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epic match.

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Oh, now that one I'd like to see. I definitely,

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because you know I when I was up there with

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you and my friend Kevin, uh, we played with you

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and Liam and so getting you getting to watch you

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two play together is always a who Yeah, he's so

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much fun.

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Liam's great and he's such a good player, and we

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didn't have him stuck in the shop building putters.

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He'd he could. He could be making a few bucks

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at this game, but.

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Probably but you know, I mean, he's living a dreams.

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You're you're you're all telling him to live a dream.

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We're all having some fun for sure.

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Yeah, and talk about a dream. So the last time

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you were on I remember asking you, so, I mean,

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what do you do? Can you sell the company? This

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Morne You're like, no, we can't sell the company. It's

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too big, no one can buy it. And if the

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only reason they'd buy it is to shut it down.

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I won't let that happen. And I was like, okay,

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I believe you.

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Yeah, I don't know that I said exactly that really,

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but yeah, I mean we obviously had to kind of

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mum as the word, you know, when you're when you're

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going through transaction stuff and contractually bound enough to speak

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of anything.

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I don't remember what exactly our last one was, but.

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Yeah, I mean we've been we'd been you know, working

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towards some kind of transaction for better part of the

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last two plus years, so we would have been, you know,

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at least testing the waters by the last time I

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was on your show.

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But yeah, man, I mean, everything just moves so fast, and.

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Uh it's it's impossible to convey the just weekly volatility

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that is, you know, our lives of this last you know,

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three months, and you know, we we pivot a lot,

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you have to, you know, in order to to to

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compete in this industry. And so yeah, we uh yeah,

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we started started a process looking for a potential partner

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or buyer a couple of years ago and courted by

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any number of uh private equity firms. Once we you know,

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put it out to market, a couple of other you know,

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potential strategic buyers and stuff, and I found some bad asses.

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And it was so funny that when I heard the announcement,

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I was in Paris, Like, you want me to go

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knock on a door, I would send you a text

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you want me to go knock on a door for

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You'd say, maybe I can do while I'm here. I

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couldn't believe it. Yeah, it was a Parisian company, a

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French company that that invested and so how does that work?

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So they there, they don't come in and take over

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the company based on what I've read about this private

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equity firm that kind of lets people do what they're doing.

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And yeah, I mean it's different depending upon the firm. Right,

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like there was be fair like none of the ones that.

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Ultimately you know, kind of made it to the final

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you know, eight or so of potential suitors, none of

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them had designs to shut the company down and take

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it over.

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I mean, lab is a very very unique business.

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There's no it's not like you know, a pe firm

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that owns a bunch of gas stations buying a small

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little gas station company and just rebranding it and putting

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it into the mix, like there's there's no no how

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or there's no there's no widespread industry know how of how.

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To do what we do.

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Only you'd be a fool not to realize that a

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lot of what makes Labs so special as the culture

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and the people and so, you know, to to buy

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up a company like ours and then try to do

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it differently or better than what we're doing would just

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be silly. So the people that were that were you know,

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serious about partnering with us all understood that like we

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weren't going to leave Cross well, you know that I

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wasn't going to go anywhere, and the the you know,

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all the executives and the higher level folks that have

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been with us since the beginning, we're going to go anywhere,

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and uh.

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You know, and they didn't want us to.

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And so with with el Catterton, who you know, yes,

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was originally funded by Bernard Arnaut, you know, from Louis Vuitton.

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Like just for anybody curious about that association, it's not

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the company is not owned by Louis Vuitton. It's El

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Cadderton is its own, you know, private equity firm with

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thirty years of like a phenomenal track record of doing

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what they're doing with us, which is to you know,

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let the team that you know that got us here

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continue to continue to go. Now, they were tough around

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making sure that we had some go forward plans, because

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that's what they're buying, right, They're not buying what is,

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They're buying what will be.

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And so you know, they they came in and they

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they you know, did.

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A seven month long proctology exam to learn every single

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you know, in and out of the entire business to

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see where and this is where we were pressing them

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and the other potential seaers is how are you going

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to help us? And you know, before we hit the

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cord here, you and I were talking like.

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Initially we just thought the time was right to cash

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a check.

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And so we went out and we're talking to you know,

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actually a lot of customers who were you know, high

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net worth individuals and see if could put a group

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of them together to partner with us and.

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And buy some equity.

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And then you know, kind of a year into that

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process is when things really started to just go crazy

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and our lead times got totally out of control, or

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you know, the factory was like just the explosion of chaos,

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you know, twenty four hours a day. And it was

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then we realized like we needed more than money, like

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we needed help, you know, we needed you know, some

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experienced personnel, and we needed additions to our team that

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could take us to the next level. And that's where

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you know, these guys are badasses personnel.

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Are you talking operationally or.

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Think sales operations? Uh, you know, finance everything.

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Yeah, and yes, they're buying the people in the culture

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that's up in creswell understood. But bottom line, they're buying

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the results that they're seeing. I mean, how much of

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this centered around JJ thinking that but to win nothing?

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It had nothing nothing.

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I mean, you know, we closed on we closed on

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July fifteenth. The original letter of intent, I think the

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original uh you know letter of intent that we signed

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was in early January, so you know, the deal was

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in its very very final stages. And yes, the final

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stages take six weeks by themselves. So no, it was

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it was already done at that point pretty much barring

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you know, extraordinary circumstances. But it certainly helped everybody feel

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real good about it, you know, and and honestly, for

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me personally, like you know, yeah, I'm still you know,

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I'm still currently CEO. I'll be stepping down a CEO

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in a few weeks to assume a more product focused role,

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a founder role and working on acquisitions of you know,

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some other technologies to integrate into into LAB. But even

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as CEO, you know, being to the last few months since

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we closed the there isn't an emotional difference in the

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company being ours and not being ours, And there was

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when JJ made that putt. You know, I was having

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all kinds of anxieties about the deal. It's a scary

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ass thing, you know, like in it's my life. I mean,

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it's everything that we worked on and to you know,

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put it in somebody else's hands from a you know,

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a board chair level. You know, it was a scary thing,

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and there was something that felt a little unfinished or

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something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. And

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then when he made that putt, like it just it

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was just the perfect closing, you know paragraph in the

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chapter of Phase one of LAB, you know, labs arrival

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into the world of golf. With that putt was was

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totally complete and it just made it feel so good,

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you know, to go into phase two.

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But actually Phase one was Bill Pressey and directed force

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and you were phase two.

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I think I think of that as the I think

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of that as the prologue.

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Okay. And while this was all going on in the negotiations,

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everything were you? Was it all on you? Or did

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you have a team that you brought in from the

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outside that you you used internally to help you guide

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you through that You've never been through anything like.

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This, right, So yes, we had investment banking team called

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Baird that was there for both just general advice and

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then a lot of the technical work, you know, I

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mean a lot of it that I'm you know, way

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above my pay grade that I don't know anything about,

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you know, I mean the quality of earnings exercise was

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like I just never imagined that the level of sophistication

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involved in making these deals. Obviously they're, you know, a

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multi billion dollar fund that does this stuff for a living,

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and this is what they do, but I had no idea.

225
00:12:30.279 --> 00:12:31.519
How how deep they go.

226
00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:36.919
And so yeah, so the the Baird team was was

227
00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:39.799
very helpful, Like there their associates who were out in

228
00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:43.519
Eugene every other week and helping us through all that stuff.

229
00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:47.759
But they can't do it themselves, like they're there to help,

230
00:12:47.799 --> 00:12:48.879
you know, to help guide us.

231
00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:49.240
And so.

232
00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:55.279
Of the sort of half a dozen you know, executives

233
00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:58.000
at LAB that were a part of this, I probably

234
00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:02.399
had it the best, you know, our CFO, Amanda, I mean,

235
00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:07.759
I'm sure that she had multiple one hundred hour weeks.

236
00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:13.159
And Robert, who's going to be he's currently co CEO

237
00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:17.639
with me right now. He'll be our CEO here in November. Yeah,

238
00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:21.080
I mean, it just it can't be overstated. I mean,

239
00:13:21.080 --> 00:13:23.879
and when we started the process, you know, any number

240
00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:25.320
of people that I reached out to that had been

241
00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:26.679
through similar things would just.

242
00:13:26.679 --> 00:13:29.120
Be like, dude, like it's it's crazy.

243
00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:32.960
It's so emotional, it's so intense, and I'm like, okay,

244
00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:39.200
and I could not have been less prepared for the

245
00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:42.919
emotional burden that is this thing. I mean, just the

246
00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:46.039
volatility of it and the magnitude, right, I mean, it's

247
00:13:46.039 --> 00:13:51.000
this huge life altering event for so many people. And

248
00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:56.720
every day there's a you know, a new little fire

249
00:13:56.759 --> 00:13:59.039
that needs to get put out or a decision that

250
00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:01.600
needs to get made, and and then you factor that

251
00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:05.360
in with you know, meanwhile we're trying to run the company,

252
00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:08.519
you know, like while we're doing this, you know, all

253
00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:12.480
of this diligence and all of this stuff, and the

254
00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:14.919
company that we were trying to run happened to be

255
00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:19.000
in the middle of you knows, as you know, absurd

256
00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:22.759
a level of growth as you'll ever.

257
00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:23.759
See in the golf business.

258
00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:26.279
And and so not only does do we have to

259
00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:29.279
make a decision on X, you know, or why you know,

260
00:14:29.399 --> 00:14:32.240
we're running inventory or marketing spend or whatever the stuff is,

261
00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:34.679
but then you have to like make your decision and

262
00:14:34.679 --> 00:14:36.159
then look at it through the lens of how it's

263
00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:39.759
going to affect the deal and the transaction and the everything.

264
00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:43.200
And so couldn't make any key hires, really couldn't make

265
00:14:43.240 --> 00:14:48.039
any you know, big ticket purchase on inventory, couldn't you know,

266
00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:49.799
do there was just a lot of stuff that we

267
00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:53.679
were tied up on. So it was just a it

268
00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:58.600
was a wildly stressful thing. And like, you know, just

269
00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:02.360
just like with lab in general, I've always wanted tattooed

270
00:15:02.360 --> 00:15:04.279
on my forehead. Is like, you know, if it was easy,

271
00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:10.159
everybody would do it, and uh, you know, there's your

272
00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:13.840
own that's for sure. Yeah, And it wasn't easy, but

273
00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:19.279
very very very worth it and everybody's happy. Nobody lost

274
00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:21.120
in this deal at all.

275
00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:24.000
And yeah, it's great, that's really great.

276
00:15:24.039 --> 00:15:27.080
Before you, I'm so happy for you. And when you

277
00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:31.720
say they go they went deep with direction, I mean

278
00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:33.879
when they when they're when you're talking about the pe

279
00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:37.559
going in and looking at your company going deep, what

280
00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:41.480
are they and what surprises were there for you that

281
00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:44.919
you weren't anticipating that kind of depth, that kind of.

282
00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:50.000
I mean, honestly, you'd want to interview the CFO or

283
00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:54.919
co o O and to get kind of the grittier

284
00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:55.799
details on it.

285
00:15:55.879 --> 00:15:56.399
But like.

286
00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:03.080
You know, being an entrepreneur, Earl, being an entrepreneur is

287
00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:08.080
in many ways just living by it will figure it out,

288
00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:14.080
like you don't actually you know, I.

289
00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:16.559
Don't, I don't. I don't plan. Man, look at that

290
00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:19.639
if I pull on.

291
00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:23.639
And I go with it, and you know, the at

292
00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:26.200
the level of investment that they're making and the risks

293
00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:27.279
that they're taking.

294
00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:29.679
There is no there's no.

295
00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:37.399
Potential outcome that wasn't deeply scrutinized. And so not only

296
00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:39.159
do you need to make plans, but you need to

297
00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:41.559
make a backup plan, a backup plan for your backup

298
00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:45.159
plan and three more backup plans behind that, and on

299
00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:50.759
every single facet of the business, from personnel to manufacturing,

300
00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:56.600
to sourcing to sales channels. I mean, I mean just

301
00:16:56.720 --> 00:17:03.399
answering the question of what is the total addressable market?

302
00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:08.839
What is the actual potential you know of your customer base.

303
00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:13.319
That was a six weeks long exercise that involves thirty

304
00:17:13.319 --> 00:17:17.839
different very high paid you know, professionals to scour the

305
00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:20.720
earth to understand and determine the actual answer to that question.

306
00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:22.640
Yes, you can google what's the.

307
00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:25.240
Size of the total putter market, but like that doesn't

308
00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:30.200
satisfy what it is specifically that they're looking for, So

309
00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:33.119
things like that, things you know, and is.

310
00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:35.799
There a short answer to that question that takes months

311
00:17:35.880 --> 00:17:38.319
and months and months to to create.

312
00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:41.200
No, And in fact, on that particular one, I actually

313
00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:44.319
wasn't terribly satisfied with the answer. But I think it's

314
00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:50.920
because it's not like how many people buy putters every year.

315
00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:53.880
Because one of the things that we know with lab

316
00:17:53.960 --> 00:17:56.880
is is that we shifted that, you know, because the

317
00:17:56.920 --> 00:18:01.119
technology was so new it changed can or behavior from

318
00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:03.319
you know, a normal replacement cycle of being say five

319
00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:04.960
years or whatever it is with a putter or three years.

320
00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:08.400
I'm not sure what it is on paper. Now somebody

321
00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:10.839
that bought a putter last year that's you know, a

322
00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:13.359
toe hang putter, face balance putter or whatever, now has

323
00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:16.400
a reason to actually look at another putter despite you know,

324
00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:19.680
whereas they wouldn't have four years ago or five years

325
00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:23.319
ago because they'd just be making a lateral move. So,

326
00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:27.240
you know, there's just stuper nerdy stuff that goes into

327
00:18:27.559 --> 00:18:33.000
you know, determining this stuff and u and then there

328
00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:37.279
there was a huge burden on the operations team and

329
00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:40.720
the supply chain team because of the timing of this transaction.

330
00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:43.759
Lighted landed right in the middle of all this tariff craziness,

331
00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:47.960
and you know, we were we were on pace to

332
00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:57.759
close in March, and then when you know, whatever Liberation

333
00:18:58.000 --> 00:18:59.640
Day or whatever the hell they called it, you know

334
00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:03.279
hit like we put pencils down for six weeks because

335
00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:05.920
nobody knew how that was all going to shake out.

336
00:19:05.960 --> 00:19:11.279
And and for the second time, the fact that a

337
00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:14.200
huge amount of our operation is in the United States

338
00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:21.680
came in real handy. And you know the first time

339
00:19:21.799 --> 00:19:26.559
was when COVID hit. You know, we were, I mean,

340
00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:29.279
we were in such a good position. I used the

341
00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:31.079
analogy I think on one of your shows in the past,

342
00:19:31.160 --> 00:19:33.519
Like we were like the bubble Gump trip boat when

343
00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:36.240
that you know, storm hit, and you know, we were

344
00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:38.240
the only one that managed to make it through with

345
00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:41.799
shafts on hand, and every other company in the world

346
00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:44.559
couldn't get their hands on any shafts. And we had

347
00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:46.519
an ops guy at the time who saw the writing

348
00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:48.440
on the wall and like literally was buying shafts out

349
00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:51.640
of people's garages, I mean, and scoured the earth to

350
00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:53.599
you know, to make sure that we wouldn't run out.

351
00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:56.839
And yeah, it was.

352
00:19:58.920 --> 00:20:01.799
It was similar to that in that we were really

353
00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:05.880
lucky in that the impact of all the terist stuff

354
00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:09.440
was significantly less than you know, other consumer brands that

355
00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:12.160
were manufacturing a lot of stuff overseas.

356
00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:18.079
Yeah. Yeah, So I read everything I can get my

357
00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:21.839
hands on about you and the company, and I watch

358
00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:24.000
every video I can. If I see your name or

359
00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:27.519
I see lab pop up, I'm and almost every conversation

360
00:20:27.640 --> 00:20:29.799
I have on this show ends up being do you

361
00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:32.720
use a lab putter? Why not? You know, I mean

362
00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:36.160
it's like I'm sitting here, I've got a number of

363
00:20:36.200 --> 00:20:39.640
them next to me. But that's besides the point in

364
00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:44.680
way and you're saying that JJ wasn't the tipping point

365
00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:48.160
for you. Guys, I did read a number and you

366
00:20:48.200 --> 00:20:52.400
can clarify this for me from your growth and what

367
00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:56.799
your sales were in twenty twenty four versus what your

368
00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:00.119
anticipated was going to be for this year twenty twenty

369
00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:02.599
five was three x.

370
00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:11.000
Uh what did we do in And also when you

371
00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:12.920
and I started talking, you were saying, yeah, we do

372
00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:18.000
about two hundred putters a month, and that's like, now

373
00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:20.079
down to the minute, you do that many in a

374
00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:20.920
minute or.

375
00:21:20.839 --> 00:21:25.640
So, certainly in the first part of the day. Yeah.

376
00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:29.559
Yeah, I think I've read one hundred and thirty thousand

377
00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:32.880
putters in twenty twenty four and you were supposed to

378
00:21:32.920 --> 00:21:34.119
triple that in twenty twenty five.

379
00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:37.920
Yeah, it'll be closer to three hundred and fifty thousand

380
00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:38.680
units this year.

381
00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:43.039
And yeah, I mean it.

382
00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:45.640
Was how do you wrap your brains around that? I mean,

383
00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:49.720
you're you know, you're we've talked about your past and

384
00:21:49.960 --> 00:21:50.599
our past.

385
00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:51.079
Either.

386
00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:54.880
It's like you came from managing bars and bands and

387
00:21:55.960 --> 00:22:00.720
probably employing or managing a handful of people at any

388
00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:05.680
given time too. I guess my biggest question is how

389
00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:08.440
do you convince your family to buy in with you

390
00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:14.079
on this envoy. Are they proud of you now? Yeah?

391
00:22:14.359 --> 00:22:17.119
Post transaction, I learned a lot about people's lack of

392
00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:19.279
faith in this whole endeavor.

393
00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:20.279
You know, it turned out my.

394
00:22:22.200 --> 00:22:26.640
Dad's investment, he was looking forward to using it to

395
00:22:26.680 --> 00:22:28.680
take the losses.

396
00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:35.240
And it's really funny.

397
00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:43.640
There's when we raised half a million bucks I think

398
00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:47.319
in twenty nineteen. It was a friend's family and then

399
00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:51.279
just some customers and stuff like that. And my brother,

400
00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:55.079
you know, he has his own company called Meriwether. They

401
00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:57.839
sort of real estate private equity, and they invest in

402
00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:01.640
a lot about stuff, but resorts and stuff like that. Anyway,

403
00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.839
he's got, you know, a deal with his partners that

404
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:07.119
any deal of any kind that lands on any of

405
00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:10.440
their desks has to be offered to the other three partners.

406
00:23:10.920 --> 00:23:14.920
And so in twenty nineteen he's like, you know, I guys,

407
00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:17.599
you know, my brother and I and my dad are

408
00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:18.599
you know in this Putter company.

409
00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:21.240
We're raising some money. Do you guys want to you

410
00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:22.079
guys want to jump in?

411
00:23:22.119 --> 00:23:24.640
And I was like, like, do we really have to

412
00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:26.400
bring them in?

413
00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:28.240
And he's like, no, no, it's good, it's good. It's good.

414
00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:30.440
And then he asked them and they're like, do we

415
00:23:30.519 --> 00:23:33.119
have to like do we have to get in on this?

416
00:23:33.799 --> 00:23:36.160
And you know, a couple of them put in like

417
00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:39.559
five grand, you know, or ten grand there's something like that,

418
00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:40.960
and they're like.

419
00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:42.759
I would have been there from that one.

420
00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:46.160
And then and then what was so funny too, was.

421
00:23:47.880 --> 00:23:50.440
The guy that actually connected us without Cadterton was a

422
00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:58.359
fraternity brother my brothers, and so we were meeting with

423
00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:01.640
them out in New York at some point and I

424
00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:03.400
was telling exactly the story of just when we were

425
00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:05.680
going around to different friends and family and you know,

426
00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:08.039
asking for a few bucks on this crazy potter company

427
00:24:08.039 --> 00:24:10.079
that was going to be run by Sam, the Stoner

428
00:24:10.119 --> 00:24:16.079
bar owner, and and uh, you know and Mike, who

429
00:24:16.119 --> 00:24:18.240
was this guy that that connected us with el Catterton,

430
00:24:18.279 --> 00:24:19.920
you know, jumped in the conversations like, yeah, your brother

431
00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:21.240
called me to see if I wanted to put in

432
00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:22.400
some cash and I was like, and you didn't.

433
00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:25.160
He was like did you know you? And I was

434
00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:31.240
I was like, it's like screwing your Mike, but uh yeah,

435
00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:32.200
it was. It was wild.

436
00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:33.880
I mean, and you know, to answer your question like

437
00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:35.960
how do how do you wrap your brain around it.

438
00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:38.119
You don't like, I don't wrap my brain around it.

439
00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:46.559
It's it's all completely surreal. It doesn't it's the magnitude

440
00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:51.279
of everything that we've accomplished isn't for me anyway. It's

441
00:24:51.319 --> 00:24:54.960
too big of a concept to actually understand in my bones.

442
00:24:56.640 --> 00:25:00.240
And when I get my brain twisted around trying to to,

443
00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:05.799
you know, get around it all, that's when I actually

444
00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:09.720
get pretty uncomfortable. You know, I'm a lot more comfortable

445
00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:11.799
just kind of focusing on that which is right in

446
00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:13.640
front of me, and there's certainly a lot right in

447
00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:16.039
front of me to to work on. But there are

448
00:25:16.119 --> 00:25:19.920
brief moments, you know, there's and I would and it's

449
00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:22.680
so interesting. They're not necessarily the moments you'd think, but

450
00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:27.200
there are just sweet brief moments where I am able

451
00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:30.480
to take a quick one point eight seconds.

452
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:35.880
And take god damn, you know. But for the most part, now,

453
00:25:36.200 --> 00:25:37.240
for the most part, it's like.

454
00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:40.519
Ah, still on the Instagram, dms and stuff like that,

455
00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:42.920
and freaking out about some guy that's waiting for his putter,

456
00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:44.839
and nothing really changes.

457
00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:53.240
Are you gonna be okay? Not being ceo?

458
00:25:54.680 --> 00:25:54.839
Oh?

459
00:25:54.920 --> 00:25:59.039
Yeah, I mean that you that you gave practically gave

460
00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:02.880
birth to you would adopted as an infant for sure.

461
00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:06.720
So like being the chief executive officer of a business

462
00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:11.680
like this isn't about golf. It isn't about product, it

463
00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:15.519
isn't about I mean, it's sure it includes those things,

464
00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:21.039
but it also includes HR and budget reviews and you know,

465
00:26:21.240 --> 00:26:24.799
and all kinds of very very technical business stuff that

466
00:26:24.839 --> 00:26:27.480
I don't. I just simply don't have the education for

467
00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:30.480
I did a really good job of putting the rights.

468
00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:38.160
No I don't. And now the piece that's exciting about

469
00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:41.559
all of this, like Ikatterson has me sitting on the

470
00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:45.759
board the founder role that they've defined for me, Like

471
00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:48.359
you know, I kind of get to have my cake

472
00:26:48.359 --> 00:26:49.880
and eat it too. I kind of get you know,

473
00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:52.960
I'm the one that's still driving the vision for what

474
00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:56.480
lab Golf is, how we you know, exist in the world,

475
00:26:56.640 --> 00:27:00.599
what benefits we provide to golfers, what the brand tone is.

476
00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:02.720
I still get to do all that stuff.

477
00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:09.200
What I don't have to do is, you know, have

478
00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:14.480
any input on what consulting company should get the million

479
00:27:14.519 --> 00:27:16.920
and a half dollar contract to take us through an

480
00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:20.160
ERP implementation. You know, like you know, I don't have

481
00:27:20.279 --> 00:27:24.000
to handle any of that, so and r J and

482
00:27:24.039 --> 00:27:26.359
I are very close and very aligned on what it

483
00:27:26.440 --> 00:27:29.200
is that we're trying to accomplish. And then there's you know,

484
00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:36.680
running the company day to day is a massive lift,

485
00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:41.920
and we're trying to you know, grow LAB beyond what

486
00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:42.839
it is now.

487
00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:45.839
And so I get to go off and do that,

488
00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:47.359
you know, I get to go off and what does

489
00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:49.160
that mean? You know, we're looking at.

490
00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:51.759
Other companies, smaller companies out there that you know, we're

491
00:27:51.799 --> 00:27:56.240
little little baby labs that need, you know, help, And yeah,

492
00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:58.079
there's so many great technologies out there.

493
00:27:58.119 --> 00:27:59.720
I mean, that's what I learned in the industry. And

494
00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:03.519
I think one of the things that helped me see

495
00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:04.519
the reality of what.

496
00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:06.880
The industry is and what it could potentially be is

497
00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:08.640
the fact that I'm not an inventor. I didn't invent

498
00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:10.640
the potter, I didn't invent the technology. I have no

499
00:28:11.160 --> 00:28:13.559
you know, attachment to it, and so I'm still a

500
00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:15.920
consumer and I and now that I've been through what

501
00:28:15.960 --> 00:28:19.279
I've been through with LAB, what I see is tons

502
00:28:19.319 --> 00:28:23.160
of brilliant folks out there with incredible ideas that simply

503
00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:25.960
haven't caught the lucky breaks that LAB caught, you know,

504
00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:29.720
and and haven't been able to put themselves in the

505
00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:33.799
position to catch those breaks or to you know, find

506
00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:36.160
the right partnerships and find the right personnel and all

507
00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:39.240
that stuff. So I get to I get to go

508
00:28:39.319 --> 00:28:42.119
do that. I get to go continue to be an entrepreneur.

509
00:28:42.599 --> 00:28:45.920
And being an entrepreneur is a very very very different mindset,

510
00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:48.920
different skill set, different day to day life than being

511
00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:52.160
a CEO, particularly a CEO of two hundred million dollar company.

512
00:28:52.200 --> 00:28:55.240
I mean it's it's a lot of nuts and bolts. Yes,

513
00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:59.279
ultimately the buck stops, you know, with the CEO and

514
00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:04.119
any number of organizational structures. But we're still LAB and

515
00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:07.680
we still do things a little differently. I have the

516
00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:13.880
utmost confidence in r J. Crazy experience, his wives, he's

517
00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:17.480
he's technically skilled beyond belief.

518
00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:21.920
And so r J is Robert, who you're referring to,

519
00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:24.640
is your co CEO now and he's taking over as CEO.

520
00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:30.319
Correct, Okay, yep, yeah, And he's a great dude, and

521
00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:35.000
and with LAB right now for over two years, he's

522
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.160
he's he was brought on as a consultant to help

523
00:29:39.240 --> 00:29:40.880
us kind of figure out what we needed to do

524
00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:44.839
to go to market, to have a transaction and then

525
00:29:45.720 --> 00:29:48.920
you know, we just had such a blast working together. Ultimately,

526
00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:51.759
he was hired as president I think a little over

527
00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:55.960
a year ago, and yeah, man, I.

528
00:29:55.880 --> 00:30:00.400
Mean he's he came on at exactly the right time.

529
00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:04.000
Early on, it was important that I didn't have to

530
00:30:04.039 --> 00:30:06.640
answer to anyone, that I didn't have to debate anything

531
00:30:06.680 --> 00:30:10.440
with anyone. And then as the stakes grow, like a

532
00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:12.359
lot of these decisions you need to work through, and

533
00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:14.119
he and I have a very very good yun and

534
00:30:14.200 --> 00:30:19.480
yang thing going on, you know, coming at each other

535
00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:22.880
with not even opposing views and were mostly aligned on

536
00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:25.119
any number of things. But there's a lot of nuanced

537
00:30:25.240 --> 00:30:28.160
decisions that you know take place every day that.

538
00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:35.240
Need some brighter folks than me, you.

539
00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:38.400
Know, ultimately at least presenting us with the data and

540
00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:40.880
the information needed to, you know, to make make the

541
00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:42.400
right decisions.

542
00:30:42.440 --> 00:30:44.880
And did he come from the golf.

543
00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:47.000
Industry or he did and he was in like my

544
00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:51.720
first conversation with him was I mean, I was basically

545
00:30:51.799 --> 00:30:54.000
trying to talk him out of coming to work for

546
00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:58.319
us because I had this deep aversion to industry folks,

547
00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:01.000
and not only see an industry guy like I mean

548
00:31:01.279 --> 00:31:03.559
lived in Carlsbad for thirty years. He worked for Taylor

549
00:31:03.799 --> 00:31:07.440
three different times. He worked for Callaway, he worked Forever Compromise,

550
00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:08.559
he worked for Adams.

551
00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:12.079
I mean he had his own marketing agency. I mean

552
00:31:12.119 --> 00:31:13.160
he's been in it.

553
00:31:13.640 --> 00:31:18.400
And it wasn't until we were established enough with our

554
00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:22.559
own ethos and our own way of operating that I

555
00:31:22.640 --> 00:31:25.519
was comfortable bringing somebody like that into the fold without

556
00:31:25.559 --> 00:31:29.000
concern over them sort of diluting it into a you know,

557
00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:34.359
one of the major OEMs. And then he came, and

558
00:31:34.920 --> 00:31:40.720
what was special about r J was like I was

559
00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:43.599
always worried about bringing industry people in because it's like, okay, no, no, no,

560
00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:45.640
you guys can't have a Colors. This is not what's done.

561
00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:47.920
The inventory costs are too high, and da da da.

562
00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:51.119
And what happened when.

563
00:31:50.920 --> 00:31:52.599
He came to visit the factory for the first time

564
00:31:52.680 --> 00:31:56.359
was the exact opposite, which is like, thank you. I've

565
00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:00.279
just been wondering for years why people don't do this stuff,

566
00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:03.160
you know, within these you know, massive companies that you

567
00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:05.599
guys are doing right now. And so he has the

568
00:32:05.640 --> 00:32:08.240
experience and the knowledge to know what it is that

569
00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:11.920
we're competing against. And the open mindedness and you know,

570
00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:16.079
passion around doing things differently that that makes this partnership perfect.

571
00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:21.960
And now are you a major OEM?

572
00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:22.640
Yeah, I guess so.

573
00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:26.759
Yeah, sure doesn't feel that way. Yeah, I mean we

574
00:32:26.920 --> 00:32:30.039
were talking about that. Yeah, I mean we were talking

575
00:32:30.039 --> 00:32:37.799
about that in the marketing meeting, where like we were

576
00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:41.119
never particularly deliberate about a lot of the messaging around

577
00:32:41.200 --> 00:32:42.079
being an underdog.

578
00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:43.640
The world sort of did that for us.

579
00:32:45.279 --> 00:32:49.680
And yeah, and we've noticed now that particularly with the

580
00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:51.880
fact that that that the transaction was announced the way

581
00:32:51.880 --> 00:32:57.279
that it was, like, yeah, the kind of industry tone

582
00:32:57.319 --> 00:33:03.000
shifted on LAB real quick, you know, and expected and

583
00:33:03.039 --> 00:33:05.880
I get it. I mean like it was such a cool,

584
00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:10.039
you know, rags to riches story, and everybody who ever

585
00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:12.279
owned a Lab hutter, or shared a Lab story or

586
00:33:12.279 --> 00:33:15.960
did anything with Lab felt some ownership of LAB. And

587
00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:18.960
I think when people heard that it was sold to

588
00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:24.279
private equity, rightfully, so we're very upset because you know,

589
00:33:24.680 --> 00:33:26.559
you don't hear about the good things that happened with

590
00:33:26.599 --> 00:33:28.960
private equity, and we certainly all have heard any number

591
00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:32.119
of stories of private equity coming in and destroying wonderful businesses,

592
00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:35.240
and so people were upset and we.

593
00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:38.720
Totally get it, and we actually kind of got excited.

594
00:33:39.640 --> 00:33:39.799
Like.

595
00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:45.000
We seem to do better when we've got something to prove,

596
00:33:46.039 --> 00:33:50.640
and now we have a new mission to prove that

597
00:33:50.680 --> 00:33:54.000
we made the right decision. And the right decision doesn't

598
00:33:54.039 --> 00:33:55.519
just mean the right decision for us, it means the

599
00:33:55.559 --> 00:33:58.240
right decision for the consumer, Like this is ultimately going

600
00:33:58.279 --> 00:34:03.119
to produce better product fully at better prices, and you know,

601
00:34:03.160 --> 00:34:06.920
and just an all around better experience that goes beyond

602
00:34:06.920 --> 00:34:10.679
what anybody's experienced before simply by buying a putter. So

603
00:34:11.000 --> 00:34:14.119
we like, you know, the challenge of needing to sort

604
00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:16.400
of re earn everybody's trust, and so far, I think

605
00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:18.719
we're doing a pretty good job. I think people were.

606
00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:20.920
I mean it's funny, like you read the comments online.

607
00:34:20.960 --> 00:34:24.800
I mean, geez, I mean there's the lab Rats page.

608
00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:27.880
I think you're on the Facebook page. You know that's

609
00:34:27.920 --> 00:34:32.400
the fan group, And I mean I got really overwhelmed,

610
00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:35.199
Like a week after the announcement was made.

611
00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:37.119
You know, we screw up.

612
00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:40.239
And when we screw up, because we're so engaged with everybody,

613
00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:42.559
it always seems like a much bigger deal. Like when

614
00:34:42.840 --> 00:34:45.199
somebody gets a crooked grip, they put it on the

615
00:34:45.239 --> 00:34:48.239
lab rats page with fifty thousand fans, and you know,

616
00:34:48.239 --> 00:34:52.039
they lose their minds. But it used to be, you know,

617
00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:54.679
six months ago, we'd put a crooked grip out and

618
00:34:54.679 --> 00:34:56.079
somebody to take a picture of it and say what

619
00:34:56.159 --> 00:34:58.360
gives And everybody'd be like, man, take it easy. They're

620
00:34:58.360 --> 00:34:59.360
a small company from Oregon.

621
00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:01.239
Leave alone. It's just one grip. Don't worry about it,

622
00:35:01.239 --> 00:35:03.599
you know, and people would like have our backs. A

623
00:35:03.639 --> 00:35:04.199
week after the.

624
00:35:04.159 --> 00:35:06.199
Announcement comes up, somebody put a picture up of a

625
00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:07.159
crooked grip up there is.

626
00:35:07.159 --> 00:35:09.639
Like, see already cutting corners. You know.

627
00:35:12.599 --> 00:35:15.599
Yeah, we've had to you know, just sort of stay

628
00:35:15.639 --> 00:35:17.920
patient and take that, take that as it comes, and

629
00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:20.599
take it for what it is. And we're just going

630
00:35:20.639 --> 00:35:22.719
to continue to do what we always do, which is

631
00:35:22.840 --> 00:35:26.480
like not to be defensive and just to have compassion

632
00:35:26.519 --> 00:35:29.199
for our customers. And like, I totally get it. I

633
00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:34.280
totally get piples concerns about lab and what its future holds.

634
00:35:34.280 --> 00:35:37.079
And I have the luxury of knowing it's going to

635
00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:37.599
be okay.

636
00:35:38.480 --> 00:35:41.599
We just need to stay patient and wait for the folks,

637
00:35:41.960 --> 00:35:44.400
you know, with the consumers and our customers and our

638
00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:46.800
fans and stuff to realize like this was such a

639
00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:50.480
wind for everybody.

640
00:35:54.199 --> 00:35:56.920
I there's a new putter I need to talk about,

641
00:35:57.000 --> 00:35:59.360
but I'm not there yet because you mentioned a few

642
00:35:59.400 --> 00:36:02.719
minutes ago there's lots of great companies out there who

643
00:36:02.760 --> 00:36:06.519
were doing amazing things that aren't getting noticed. But there,

644
00:36:06.599 --> 00:36:11.039
you know, we had a lucky break. What was Lab's

645
00:36:11.239 --> 00:36:12.039
lucky break?

646
00:36:12.400 --> 00:36:14.840
We had a million? We had a million, Yeah, exactly,

647
00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:20.039
that's that's that's the book. I think that one of

648
00:36:20.039 --> 00:36:21.920
the reasons that we.

649
00:36:23.400 --> 00:36:27.519
Had more lucky breaks than the average company is again

650
00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:32.239
because I wasn't the founder or the inventor, you know, Like.

651
00:36:34.119 --> 00:36:35.800
I mean, I think that's part of it. I don't know, man.

652
00:36:35.880 --> 00:36:40.920
I I've talked to so many small manufacturers on this show,

653
00:36:41.400 --> 00:36:43.239
you know, because that's the ones I want to support,

654
00:36:43.280 --> 00:36:45.519
to these guys like you when we first met in

655
00:36:45.559 --> 00:36:51.320
twenty nineteen, and it seems to be the lucky break,

656
00:36:51.360 --> 00:36:53.239
if I can put air quotes on that. The lucky

657
00:36:53.280 --> 00:36:56.280
break is getting it seen on tour and then having

658
00:36:56.519 --> 00:36:59.159
somebody on tour have success with it.

659
00:37:00.639 --> 00:37:03.360
Yes and no. I mean, like I think I've shared.

660
00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:06.559
Adam Scott and you know from way back.

661
00:37:07.400 --> 00:37:09.400
But I mean I think I remember, I think I

662
00:37:09.440 --> 00:37:11.679
told this story to you on one of the shows.

663
00:37:11.760 --> 00:37:14.559
Like so we just started to get a little bit

664
00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:18.320
of momentum in twenty nineteen when Adams started to use it.

665
00:37:19.679 --> 00:37:21.119
He was leading the Masters through.

666
00:37:22.639 --> 00:37:25.400
Two days in twenty nineteen and then the camera like

667
00:37:25.519 --> 00:37:27.880
zooms in on him missing an eighteen inch putt on

668
00:37:28.519 --> 00:37:31.760
you know, on sixteen on Saturday, and the phone stopped bringing.

669
00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:34.400
And it was at that time that we realized, like,

670
00:37:35.719 --> 00:37:38.360
we can't rely on the tour. And I think that

671
00:37:38.639 --> 00:37:41.599
I think that that's that wasn't a break, that was

672
00:37:41.639 --> 00:37:45.280
a that was a smart, strategic just shift that we made.

673
00:37:45.480 --> 00:37:48.920
Literally that Monday, we got on a marketing calls with Zach.

674
00:37:49.760 --> 00:37:53.960
He had Zach on your show from Rooted Solutions. You

675
00:37:53.960 --> 00:37:55.800
should anyway.

676
00:37:57.880 --> 00:38:02.519
Zach was, you know, our marketing partner, and we realized

677
00:38:02.679 --> 00:38:04.559
at that moment that we can't rely on the tour

678
00:38:04.719 --> 00:38:07.719
and that we needed to make you know, we needed

679
00:38:07.719 --> 00:38:09.679
to make this about the people actually buying the putters

680
00:38:09.679 --> 00:38:13.280
and not these you know, these these Greek gods that

681
00:38:13.639 --> 00:38:16.519
can do whatever they want with any club in their hand,

682
00:38:16.639 --> 00:38:19.000
you know, like we needed to make it about you

683
00:38:19.079 --> 00:38:21.840
and me, and so we shifted our you know, our

684
00:38:21.840 --> 00:38:25.519
marketing focus and our messaging to be about the consumer.

685
00:38:25.559 --> 00:38:27.840
And I think that that's where a lot of these

686
00:38:27.880 --> 00:38:31.039
companies missed the mark. I think a lot of these

687
00:38:31.039 --> 00:38:34.360
companies have great technology that they're certain is going to,

688
00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:37.840
you know, improve the tour players game, and they just

689
00:38:37.880 --> 00:38:39.239
sit out there and wait.

690
00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:41.320
And wait and wait and wait and wait and wait

691
00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:45.119
and wait, and it just it's so rare that it happens.

692
00:38:45.239 --> 00:38:49.000
It's so rare that you can get a relevant touring professional,

693
00:38:49.559 --> 00:38:54.000
you know, to really give a look to legitimately new technology.

694
00:38:54.400 --> 00:38:56.159
And one of you know, one of our competitors, I mean,

695
00:38:56.159 --> 00:39:00.679
one of the one of the other companies in a you.

696
00:39:00.599 --> 00:39:03.800
Know, ZT Space or whatever the hell they're calling it.

697
00:39:03.880 --> 00:39:08.719
You know, we're well beyond us when we started, and they.

698
00:39:08.719 --> 00:39:11.559
Send it being zero tech, zero torque, right.

699
00:39:12.519 --> 00:39:16.000
And they which it isn't actually zero torque, but I

700
00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:17.840
guess the industry decided that's what it's called.

701
00:39:17.880 --> 00:39:18.079
Now.

702
00:39:21.079 --> 00:39:22.960
They send a dude out there every week, you know,

703
00:39:23.199 --> 00:39:24.719
every single week, just sitting on the side of the

704
00:39:24.760 --> 00:39:26.440
putt and green with a bag full of putters, just

705
00:39:26.480 --> 00:39:29.000
hoping that you know, a top ten player comes along

706
00:39:29.039 --> 00:39:31.199
and decides to grab it, and they did no marketing,

707
00:39:31.239 --> 00:39:33.960
and they didn't improve the product, and they didn't you know,

708
00:39:35.079 --> 00:39:37.039
engage with their consumers at all.

709
00:39:37.719 --> 00:39:40.840
And there they are, you know, and.

710
00:39:40.800 --> 00:39:45.880
So I think I think they Yeah, the huge element

711
00:39:45.960 --> 00:39:48.360
of it was, as we talked about the start, was

712
00:39:48.440 --> 00:39:51.559
the social media element that you're correct, you're all, you're

713
00:39:52.679 --> 00:39:57.960
you're approachable, you're sincere, you don't put on any airs

714
00:39:58.000 --> 00:40:00.360
about being the best out there. You just are what

715
00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:05.320
you are, and it's connected on so many levels. Congratulations,

716
00:40:05.519 --> 00:40:10.360
thank you, I'm very I'm very proud of you for this. Uh,

717
00:40:09.800 --> 00:40:13.719
It's amazing how well it has worked for you, and

718
00:40:13.800 --> 00:40:17.559
how consistent you've been, even through this transition that you've

719
00:40:17.559 --> 00:40:20.880
made and all the stress on it, You're still there

720
00:40:21.239 --> 00:40:25.679
regularly on so many different shows, so many different videos,

721
00:40:25.679 --> 00:40:29.800
so many different podcasts, and you know, and.

722
00:40:29.280 --> 00:40:31.719
I love doing it and I don't get why other

723
00:40:31.760 --> 00:40:35.719
people don't, you know, like I to me. And I

724
00:40:35.800 --> 00:40:38.599
think this probably came from both the music and the

725
00:40:38.599 --> 00:40:40.800
political background. Honestly, is where I spent most of my

726
00:40:40.880 --> 00:40:44.199
time online, you know, learning to communicate with folks and

727
00:40:44.199 --> 00:40:49.239
and how to you know, use social media to accomplish

728
00:40:49.239 --> 00:40:58.639
a goal. Versus to vent and uh and uh, yeah, man,

729
00:40:58.679 --> 00:41:02.320
I mean it was the only vehicle or avenue that

730
00:41:02.400 --> 00:41:04.559
I even knew to utilize.

731
00:41:04.599 --> 00:41:07.360
I never gave any thought to anything else. And so

732
00:41:11.119 --> 00:41:13.840
and I think that that's and I think that's.

733
00:41:13.360 --> 00:41:15.840
Part of one of the things that worked out really

734
00:41:15.880 --> 00:41:19.639
well for us, where like I genuinely enjoy it, Like

735
00:41:19.760 --> 00:41:24.079
I wake up every morning, I enjoy looking through Facebook

736
00:41:24.079 --> 00:41:27.800
and Instagram and looking at other people's products and listening,

737
00:41:27.840 --> 00:41:29.480
you know, reading comment.

738
00:41:29.320 --> 00:41:32.320
Threads and all of this stuff. I legitimately enjoy it.

739
00:41:32.360 --> 00:41:36.199
I find it fun and it's not an act of discipline.

740
00:41:36.239 --> 00:41:39.000
I don't need to work at doing it. And then yeah,

741
00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:40.000
it happened to work.

742
00:41:39.800 --> 00:41:40.239
Out that.

743
00:41:41.719 --> 00:41:44.800
You know, Yes, being transparent and open and you know,

744
00:41:44.880 --> 00:41:48.840
vulnerable with your with your customers is good.

745
00:41:49.199 --> 00:41:51.559
That's what we want. That's what especially now, you know,

746
00:41:51.639 --> 00:41:52.719
like there's too much.

747
00:41:52.880 --> 00:41:56.920
Like the way that marketing that the marketing machines in

748
00:41:56.960 --> 00:41:59.599
all kinds of industries have worked in the past is

749
00:41:59.599 --> 00:42:01.960
shifting so dramatically right before our eyes.

750
00:42:02.360 --> 00:42:04.559
And the fact is, like one of the things.

751
00:42:04.280 --> 00:42:09.440
That the biggest shifts is that the consumers more educated

752
00:42:09.480 --> 00:42:12.159
than they've ever been because you don't need to take

753
00:42:12.199 --> 00:42:14.719
the manufacturer's word for it anymore. And it used to

754
00:42:14.719 --> 00:42:16.559
be that the only place you get information about the

755
00:42:16.599 --> 00:42:19.440
new driver was you needing to trust the fact that

756
00:42:19.480 --> 00:42:22.599
the ad that says you get ten more yards is real. Well,

757
00:42:22.599 --> 00:42:24.400
now you can see the ad that says you get

758
00:42:24.400 --> 00:42:27.239
ten more yards, and you go onto YouTube and find

759
00:42:27.280 --> 00:42:30.000
fifteen different people that have actually tested it on a robot,

760
00:42:30.039 --> 00:42:31.519
tested it in their hands and find out if it

761
00:42:31.559 --> 00:42:33.079
is actually, you know, ten more yards.

762
00:42:33.159 --> 00:42:34.920
So there's no point in doing that anymore.

763
00:42:34.920 --> 00:42:40.360
And so it's entirely just about you know, doing you,

764
00:42:40.360 --> 00:42:44.519
you know, and letting letting the consumer into the process,

765
00:42:44.719 --> 00:42:47.039
you know, enjoying having them be a part of it,

766
00:42:47.039 --> 00:42:49.639
which is, you know, a staple of how we operate

767
00:42:49.800 --> 00:42:51.760
is just making sure that the feedback that we get

768
00:42:51.760 --> 00:42:54.519
from our customers that we're reading every day is actually

769
00:42:54.679 --> 00:42:58.920
you know, put into the process and put into the

770
00:42:58.960 --> 00:43:01.519
decisions that we make. And I think that a lot

771
00:43:01.519 --> 00:43:03.719
of the other companies out there, small or large, I

772
00:43:03.800 --> 00:43:08.039
think they'd get a little insulated, you know, in their

773
00:43:08.079 --> 00:43:11.119
own little worlds of you know, like if you're a

774
00:43:11.119 --> 00:43:13.400
little company, you need to be you need to be

775
00:43:13.480 --> 00:43:16.960
obsessed with your product, and positive that it's the best

776
00:43:16.960 --> 00:43:19.280
thing in the world and that nobody will ever, you know,

777
00:43:19.360 --> 00:43:20.960
come up with anything better. And then if you're the

778
00:43:20.960 --> 00:43:23.119
bigger companies, you need to stay in your lane and

779
00:43:23.519 --> 00:43:27.000
keep doing what you're doing. And it doesn't seem to

780
00:43:27.039 --> 00:43:30.639
be a lot of interest or opportunity even if there was.

781
00:43:30.639 --> 00:43:35.559
Interest in in in engaging with and engaging with customers.

782
00:43:36.239 --> 00:43:38.800
And I think that's where that's why we've been able

783
00:43:38.800 --> 00:43:39.519
to get where we are.

784
00:43:40.360 --> 00:43:43.559
Well. I think that as far as the online social

785
00:43:43.599 --> 00:43:46.440
media element to it, you and Bryce and are right

786
00:43:46.519 --> 00:43:53.760
up there as far as taking advantage of Yeah, and

787
00:43:54.360 --> 00:43:57.119
people are like Bryce, in no way, I'm like, dude,

788
00:43:58.079 --> 00:44:02.599
hate the ideology, not the people. Okay, let's just we

789
00:44:02.639 --> 00:44:04.599
don't have to go there. Just because he had that

790
00:44:04.679 --> 00:44:07.360
guy on one of his shows, and I think Break

791
00:44:07.400 --> 00:44:13.079
fifty is brilliant, but it's a whole different conversation. So Yeah,

792
00:44:13.119 --> 00:44:17.440
I just think that you've found the magic. You rub

793
00:44:17.519 --> 00:44:20.039
the bottle and the genie came out at the exact

794
00:44:20.119 --> 00:44:23.880
right time in the right way, and it's mind blowing.

795
00:44:24.280 --> 00:44:28.199
But yeah, you and you asked like some of those

796
00:44:28.239 --> 00:44:31.000
lucky breaks like yes, so we had this social media

797
00:44:31.199 --> 00:44:34.760
edge but like, I don't know that lab becomes lab

798
00:44:34.800 --> 00:44:37.440
if COVID didn't happen, Like if we didn't have a

799
00:44:37.519 --> 00:44:43.719
moment where the entire planet got online twenty four hours

800
00:44:43.719 --> 00:44:47.880
a day, you know, like where you know there there

801
00:44:47.920 --> 00:44:49.960
was a handful of moments like that that would certainly

802
00:44:49.960 --> 00:44:53.519
be the most significant that enabled our stick of being

803
00:44:53.559 --> 00:44:55.840
online and connecting with customers.

804
00:44:56.079 --> 00:44:59.039
And the science proved it, and you know where a

805
00:44:59.039 --> 00:45:00.920
lot of people like, we've we got this brand new thing.

806
00:45:01.000 --> 00:45:02.760
We've got a great new tea. It's like, yeah, but

807
00:45:02.760 --> 00:45:05.360
then there's no science behind it, right, you had the science.

808
00:45:05.440 --> 00:45:08.800
What Bill did with the science improved it, and the

809
00:45:08.840 --> 00:45:12.519
revealer was like, Okay, it's a graphic example of what

810
00:45:12.559 --> 00:45:15.639
it is that you're doing. Made a huge difference. Now,

811
00:45:16.239 --> 00:45:19.559
when we first met and I got my first LAB putter,

812
00:45:19.639 --> 00:45:23.480
what I was so excited about And again I told

813
00:45:23.519 --> 00:45:25.400
this too many times. I started playing golf in my

814
00:45:25.440 --> 00:45:29.320
mid thirties, Okay, and from the first time I started

815
00:45:29.320 --> 00:45:31.840
playing golf, to me, a putter with a center shaft

816
00:45:31.920 --> 00:45:35.599
made more sense than a heel shafted putter. And so

817
00:45:35.800 --> 00:45:37.599
I've been putting and then it was like, oh, look,

818
00:45:37.679 --> 00:45:40.639
Lab golf and they got the science and center shafted.

819
00:45:40.800 --> 00:45:44.960
I'm in heaven here. And so now that I'm totally

820
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:48.960
hooked on the center shafted stuff and been doing it

821
00:45:49.000 --> 00:45:52.239
for years, you guys come out with a heel shafted

822
00:45:52.280 --> 00:45:57.599
putter to satisfy the desire of the old school putting world,

823
00:45:58.280 --> 00:46:04.599
I'm sure. And it has everything that any old school

824
00:46:04.760 --> 00:46:07.519
or regular golfer is gonna want. It's got the looks

825
00:46:07.559 --> 00:46:11.239
of a normal tipe putter, the D shape, and it's

826
00:46:11.239 --> 00:46:14.320
got a heel shafted but your science is still there.

827
00:46:14.960 --> 00:46:18.239
And so now I'm trying the heel shaft and I've

828
00:46:18.239 --> 00:46:20.360
played a couple of rounds with it, and it's a

829
00:46:20.440 --> 00:46:21.719
real adjustment for me.

830
00:46:24.039 --> 00:46:27.119
Really, Oh for sure.

831
00:46:27.159 --> 00:46:30.360
Yeah, I mean I I think that you know, you

832
00:46:30.440 --> 00:46:35.360
and I probably and I certainly wasn't this way pre Lab,

833
00:46:35.440 --> 00:46:38.599
but you know, eight years into using LAB putters exclusively,

834
00:46:38.760 --> 00:46:40.719
like I hit the ball.

835
00:46:40.559 --> 00:46:42.679
At the bottom of the shaft. That's how you want,

836
00:46:42.840 --> 00:46:44.599
just how I.

837
00:46:45.360 --> 00:46:47.880
Exactly and this shaft, you know, is you know, at

838
00:46:47.920 --> 00:46:50.559
an angle, and as long as I just playing this

839
00:46:50.679 --> 00:46:53.239
shaft and have the bottom of the shaft cut through

840
00:46:53.320 --> 00:46:55.480
right right through the middle of the ball, I'm gonna

841
00:46:55.519 --> 00:46:58.880
make some putts. So yeah, it has been an adjustment.

842
00:47:01.960 --> 00:47:05.519
If I'm honest, I'm not totally sold. I Liam Liam

843
00:47:05.559 --> 00:47:12.440
made me one h earlier, about a month and a

844
00:47:12.440 --> 00:47:17.159
half ago that I really like and and I'm you know,

845
00:47:17.239 --> 00:47:19.480
given at the old college try. And I'm starting to

846
00:47:19.519 --> 00:47:20.960
remember and this is where you and I would depart,

847
00:47:21.000 --> 00:47:23.800
because it sounds like you've used center shafted putters since always.

848
00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:26.119
I remember you're talking about. I have fifty putters in

849
00:47:26.159 --> 00:47:28.639
my basement and every every round I would play with

850
00:47:28.639 --> 00:47:29.280
the different putter.

851
00:47:31.559 --> 00:47:33.280
And in fact, I used to use.

852
00:47:34.679 --> 00:47:38.079
Super heel shafted putters, you know odysty number nine shapes

853
00:47:38.119 --> 00:47:40.840
and in NAPA shape or eightiot or two shape, stuff

854
00:47:40.840 --> 00:47:43.760
like that, super toe down heel shafted putters. And so

855
00:47:44.199 --> 00:47:46.840
I'm starting to like remember what I liked about lining

856
00:47:46.840 --> 00:47:47.400
them up and.

857
00:47:48.920 --> 00:47:55.360
All of that. But we don't make putters for me,

858
00:47:55.800 --> 00:47:56.000
you know.

859
00:47:56.039 --> 00:47:59.800
We make putters for for for for everyday golfers. And

860
00:47:59.840 --> 00:48:03.000
like the fact is, and I totally get why, because

861
00:48:03.119 --> 00:48:05.400
I did have the experience that was different than you,

862
00:48:05.440 --> 00:48:08.079
where center shafted putters made no sense to me early on,

863
00:48:09.320 --> 00:48:11.960
Like I always, I couldn't stand them. They set up

864
00:48:11.960 --> 00:48:13.760
shut and super messed up to me.

865
00:48:13.840 --> 00:48:14.159
And so.

866
00:48:15.679 --> 00:48:21.760
I'm just so happy to see people who were, you know,

867
00:48:23.440 --> 00:48:25.159
clear as day that they would never be able to

868
00:48:25.239 --> 00:48:29.760
use a center shafted putter having that lab experience, you know,

869
00:48:29.840 --> 00:48:33.519
having that holy crap, I just let it go and

870
00:48:33.559 --> 00:48:36.400
it just squares itself up and where I need to be.

871
00:48:36.559 --> 00:48:39.519
And so you know, that's what's so happy making about it.

872
00:48:39.960 --> 00:48:45.960
I the one regret I have about it, and nobody

873
00:48:46.039 --> 00:48:46.880
to blame but myself.

874
00:48:46.920 --> 00:48:48.639
I had my team even trying to talk me out

875
00:48:48.639 --> 00:48:48.800
of it.

876
00:48:48.880 --> 00:48:54.000
But the stock release that we did, we did with

877
00:48:54.039 --> 00:48:56.480
the press gript two degrees beforeward shaft lean and then

878
00:48:56.519 --> 00:48:59.239
a two degree press gript on it.

879
00:48:59.360 --> 00:49:02.559
I didn't really appreciate that without the shaft going in

880
00:49:02.599 --> 00:49:05.920
the middle and without a.

881
00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:12.280
Knowledge that you need to sort of that you you

882
00:49:12.320 --> 00:49:14.119
need to lean the shaft forward to get it to

883
00:49:14.199 --> 00:49:17.559
set up. A lot of these first time lab people

884
00:49:17.559 --> 00:49:22.440
are lab potentials, are going and grabbing you know, the

885
00:49:22.440 --> 00:49:25.079
os hs with two degrees of lean a two degree

886
00:49:26.320 --> 00:49:28.559
press grip on it, and it's setting up really shut

887
00:49:28.599 --> 00:49:31.800
to a lot of people. And it's just because most

888
00:49:31.840 --> 00:49:33.800
people set up putter down in their brains trying to

889
00:49:33.840 --> 00:49:36.039
make the shaft vertical. If you make the shaft vertical

890
00:49:36.079 --> 00:49:37.480
with two degrees of shaft lean, the face is going

891
00:49:37.519 --> 00:49:40.679
to shut. And so the zero degree lean, which one

892
00:49:40.719 --> 00:49:42.639
did you get zero lean or with a press grip

893
00:49:42.719 --> 00:49:42.960
on it?

894
00:49:43.000 --> 00:49:45.920
Well? I had a two degree lean on it. And

895
00:49:46.000 --> 00:49:50.039
my nephew, Calvin Green, who works for you, We're not related,

896
00:49:50.480 --> 00:49:54.880
but he said, you know, because of where it sits

897
00:49:54.960 --> 00:49:57.119
on the face and the butty, you might not want

898
00:49:57.159 --> 00:49:59.880
to do, okay, So I won't do the lean, and

899
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:03.039
and then it kind of limited my grips too, because

900
00:50:03.119 --> 00:50:06.039
I love the press two grip that I had on

901
00:50:06.079 --> 00:50:10.400
my d F three and my my OS one, but

902
00:50:10.480 --> 00:50:15.239
I couldn't get that, and so I was but it

903
00:50:15.360 --> 00:50:17.639
had that the grip that it had had a ridge

904
00:50:17.679 --> 00:50:19.880
down the center that really hit a finger wrong. And

905
00:50:19.880 --> 00:50:23.719
that's what I've never liked about the the DF two

906
00:50:23.719 --> 00:50:28.639
point one was the grip had this ridge down the

907
00:50:28.679 --> 00:50:31.880
back edge that hit my finger wrong, one of my

908
00:50:31.920 --> 00:50:35.280
fingers wrong. And so he said, well, just so Calvin's like,

909
00:50:35.519 --> 00:50:36.760
just go get a grip that you want.

910
00:50:37.760 --> 00:50:38.960
That's the nice part about zero.

911
00:50:39.000 --> 00:50:40.800
And that was beautiful and I sent it to him,

912
00:50:40.800 --> 00:50:42.440
and it was three days later it was back to me.

913
00:50:42.519 --> 00:50:46.360
I ended up getting a wind grip thick, but it

914
00:50:46.400 --> 00:50:49.320
didn't have that ridge back in the back of it.

915
00:50:52.360 --> 00:50:55.920
Yes, the same yeah, that it.

916
00:50:55.840 --> 00:50:57.760
Came to a point and just hit my finger wrong.

917
00:50:57.840 --> 00:51:00.960
Gave me a yeah. I don't know, I was just whining.

918
00:51:02.239 --> 00:51:04.360
Yeah, But I mean it's it's a great putter. It's

919
00:51:04.400 --> 00:51:07.039
going to keep getting better, and it's.

920
00:51:06.840 --> 00:51:10.280
Going to satisfy a lot of people who've probably been reluctant.

921
00:51:10.519 --> 00:51:10.880
For sure.

922
00:51:10.920 --> 00:51:13.960
I think that's a huge thing. So are there more

923
00:51:14.960 --> 00:51:16.800
Potter designs to be had?

924
00:51:17.079 --> 00:51:19.119
I mean, no, that's it. That's it.

925
00:51:19.599 --> 00:51:22.760
You're done, Okay, No one's ever going to buy the company.

926
00:51:24.639 --> 00:51:25.880
We've always got stuff in the works.

927
00:51:25.920 --> 00:51:28.199
And of course, you know, that's one of the most

928
00:51:28.239 --> 00:51:32.280
wonderful things about you know, the our new owners here

929
00:51:32.400 --> 00:51:34.199
is like I mean, our R and D team is

930
00:51:34.199 --> 00:51:37.239
twice as big as it was three months ago. Our

931
00:51:37.239 --> 00:51:39.840
technology and the machinery available to us in order to

932
00:51:40.239 --> 00:51:41.320
you know, develop.

933
00:51:40.960 --> 00:51:41.639
Product is.

934
00:51:43.199 --> 00:51:45.519
Is twice as twice as much as it was, you know,

935
00:51:45.559 --> 00:51:48.960
a few months ago. And so now we.

936
00:51:48.920 --> 00:51:54.079
Have he's got enough land it, you have enough landed

937
00:51:54.159 --> 00:51:58.000
it Criswell to expand operation and build out.

938
00:51:58.400 --> 00:52:01.320
Yeah. Yeah, that's great. It's really, really, really great.

939
00:52:01.400 --> 00:52:06.039
And yeah, I'm so excited about the product side of things.

940
00:52:06.079 --> 00:52:08.840
And you know, I've actually kind of the last eighteen months,

941
00:52:09.920 --> 00:52:12.119
I haven't been nearly as involved as I would have

942
00:52:12.239 --> 00:52:14.000
liked to have been, just because my world was.

943
00:52:15.280 --> 00:52:16.519
About getting that deal done.

944
00:52:17.639 --> 00:52:20.320
And now that it's done, I get to get back

945
00:52:20.320 --> 00:52:21.880
into the R and D room with the guys, with

946
00:52:22.039 --> 00:52:24.519
the engineers who actually know what they're doing.

947
00:52:24.559 --> 00:52:29.440
And uh, it's just awesome.

948
00:52:29.559 --> 00:52:31.960
I mean, and and and the timing too was amazing too,

949
00:52:31.960 --> 00:52:34.239
because we finished the R and D space. You know,

950
00:52:34.280 --> 00:52:39.760
when you were there, it was still a pool, right, Yeah,

951
00:52:39.840 --> 00:52:45.719
there was a pool and a jacuzzie and that atrium.

952
00:52:44.400 --> 00:52:47.719
Yeah right, barbership in the barbershop.

953
00:52:47.159 --> 00:52:48.400
And that was on the other side of the building.

954
00:52:48.440 --> 00:52:50.519
But yes, the problem shop is now the break room

955
00:52:50.960 --> 00:52:56.880
and the pool and the spy area is now, you know,

956
00:52:57.079 --> 00:53:00.480
totally state of the art R and D space and

957
00:53:00.559 --> 00:53:02.719
to really being able to we're going to be pushing

958
00:53:02.760 --> 00:53:06.840
some stuff forward that the next the next twenty four

959
00:53:06.880 --> 00:53:11.000
months of product coming out of Lab will be profound.

960
00:53:11.079 --> 00:53:14.960
And we'll have our eye on it again, Sam, to

961
00:53:15.079 --> 00:53:18.000
you and your brother and your dad. I'm so happy

962
00:53:18.000 --> 00:53:21.679
for you, guys, and I'm so happy for the company

963
00:53:21.679 --> 00:53:25.199
and everybody that works there because I've witnessed it firsthand

964
00:53:25.199 --> 00:53:28.039
that it is about the people and the culture. You've

965
00:53:28.039 --> 00:53:30.880
done an amazing job over there, and I'm just so

966
00:53:31.039 --> 00:53:34.400
incredibly proud to be a witness to it from this close.

967
00:53:34.800 --> 00:53:37.159
Thank you so much, Fred, and we could not have

968
00:53:37.239 --> 00:53:39.920
done it without you and the other Fred Greens of

969
00:53:39.960 --> 00:53:41.840
the world that have enough of an interest in this

970
00:53:42.320 --> 00:53:45.480
stupid ass game to take time out of their day

971
00:53:45.800 --> 00:53:49.400
to record stuff and tell our story. And I appreciate

972
00:53:49.400 --> 00:53:50.440
you how