The Exchanges

Q That's pretty healthy. That's pretty healthy. And what are you, what's the number one way, way that you're kind of pulling people out of the Vegas strip experience to your location?

A Uh, it's a three-legged stool, perhaps four. Uh, I'll tell you all four, but three really drive it. Um, direct to consumer over internet is a really big part of what we do. Uh, I, I like to think that we're quite good at digital marketing, and so that's a big area of investment for us. We're located on a major, uh, interstate corridor that sits between, uh, uh, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, so depending on the time of the year, 30 or 40% of the total visitors drive in, and so we have tremendous drive-by access. That's, uh, perhaps about a quarter of what we do. Another approximate quarter of what we do are large groups. So these could be everything from Rolls Royce doing a manufacturer, uh, new model rollout, uh, to, you know, pharmaceutical industry. They'll bring out a thousand people, uh, use the facilities. They're beautiful facilities and do a beautiful event. And then the remaining quarter is really chopped up, right? It's everything from social and email marketing, casino hosts and, uh, nightclubs and, you know, billboards and town, things like that.

AI assessment note: “direct to consumer over internet is a really big part of what we do.”

Q So maybe you feel like you sold that one early, but it looks like you, Potentially did that again with media century. So, 2005, you sell for twenty million. Now we've got data breaches that are ruining, you know, show and TV and movie launches. Uh, did you sell that one too early?

A No, I think, uh, at the time, uh, what made that business so attractive is, uh, there were many large organizations, primarily movie studios and record labels that had massive amounts of intellectual property in a digital format, and they were seeing the onslaught from all these peer-to-peer applications like Napster and Gazaa and Shazam, those sorts of things that were really chipping away at the fundamentals of the business. And while at the time there were a lot of people that were thinking really hard about how to build clever peer-to-peer applications, we took the different approach. We said, how can we help people that own intellectual property protect it? And this was before the advent of, of, uh, iTunes and Spotify and those sorts of things. So there was a lot of motivation, interest in protecting the legacy distribution networks like CDs and DVDs and all that. But you can sort of see the handwriting on the wall, right? So once it got to the point where everything became digital and the distribution, uh, over the internet became prevalent and Spotify and iTunes and those sorts of things came out, their appetite in, in, in suppressing a piracy would begin to drop. Uh, so we really kind of, uh, uh, straddled that, that narrow window where people still had a lot of physical, uh, distribution, but it was transitioning to, to digital, and we wanted to help them protect that.…

AI assessment note: “No, I think, uh, at the time... So we did sell that at a good time.”

Q Wow. Okay. That's interesting. And how do you deal with like obvious things like liabilities, right? If you put me in one of those cars, uh, I mean, I mean, I, I've crashed, I don't know how many go-karts I would definitely crash because I love pushing the limits, right? So how do you make sure guys like me don't do that?

A Sure. That's a, that's an excellent question. First, I'm going to take your name and number down and put you on our blacklist. No, in all seriousness, uh, we, we really designed it from scratch for that application. So it's not that we took a formula one course, uh, that's, that's, uh, very difficult except for a, a highly skilled professional, but it's a place where you and I as novices can go and have a great time. So that means lots and lots of runoff, lots of safe areas to make sure that, that if something goes sideways, you're in good shape. Second, um, Every experience is set up so that you would be driving with, with a coach sitting in the right hand seat. That coach is equipped with an extra break. So if perhaps you get in over your skis a little bit, he can help bring, bring things back safely. But again, it's really just designed from scratch for people like you and I, who perhaps don't have their training. They need to do it safely.

AI assessment note: “That coach is equipped with an extra break.”

Q Really? Ok, how do you exercise that interest in crypto?

A Well, at the moment, really, it's fairly passive. Um, I would like to see where things, uh, unfold over the next year or so. I'm, I'm a bit nervous when I read, uh, things by folks such as, uh, Warren Buffett. He's got some very cautionary things to say, or Jamie Dimon, some others that I think are really bright folks, and I think it's, uh, a little naive to assume that, um, the rules have changed. I learned that during, uh, both, uh, sort of, uh, the dot-com crash of 99 and 2000, and then the economic meltdown in 2008, uh, and come to the conclusion that nothing changes. Right. So, uh, you can delude yourself and think that the rules don't apply or that nothing, uh, um, uh, is different, but, but, um, it, we often find that, uh, uh, what is new is it was once old. Uh, so I'm, I'm nervous about assuming that all of our monetary systems will go away and become digital tomorrow. I'm not sure that's the case, but it's still a very interesting space to me.

AI assessment note: “Well, at the moment, really, it's fairly passive.”

Q So when you launched the thing, how much money was spent just on buying the inventory of cars? I'm curious.

A Uh, well, they're about three million dollars worth of cars. Um, I think your broader question is, uh, if you ever decide to do the same thing, what you're going to want to do is you're going to want to find a really big piece of property in some big city. You're going to want to get a really bright numbers guy, right? He's going to make an Excel spreadsheet. He's going to say, you're going to need this much to do this, this much to do that. Whatever number you come up with, that number's wrong, right? I haven't seen your model, but it's wrong. You're going to need some more money than that. It turns out that it's a, it's a very, uh, expensive undertaking. Uh, we moved about a half a million cubic yards of dirt. Uh, construction, of course, is very long. Uh, it was a crash course, no pun intended in, um, you know, politics and zoning and EPA and you name it. Uh, but, um, about three million dollars worth of cars.

AI assessment note: “well, they're about three million dollars worth of cars.”

Q Aaron, you strike me as a guy that is an intellectual. I mean, I see the books behind you. I see, I think that CNBC going on or something. Speed racing sounds like a great fun thing, but I imagine your brain is always itching, thinking about some next big opportunity. What are some things you're thinking about right now?

A Well, look, I'll answer out of both sides of my mouth. I'm a real fan of a focus, right? I think, I think, uh, as humans, we're wired to do one thing at a time and do that one thing well. So I, I try where possible to, to, to make sure that I've kept my plate clear of as many distractions as possible. Uh, you owe it to your investors, you owe it to your team, you owe it to yourself to make sure that you've, you've put in the time and put in the effort to make sure that something succeeds. Um, but you're right, right? I'm an entrepreneur and, uh, I am always looking for something, uh, stimulating and new and fresh and interesting. Um, And the track is still very much a passion of mine. Cryptocurrency is an area that I think is, uh, is interesting. It'll either be a fantastic change to human civilization, or it'll be a complete sick joke on all this, I can't tell you which, uh, but that one interests me. Uh, but the track takes up a lot of my time today.

AI assessment note: “Cryptocurrency is an area that I think is, uh, is interesting.”