Digital Social Hour - 22-Year-Old CEO Revolutionizes Bar Service | Ethan Karian DSH #1268

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

🚀 Meet Ethan, the 22-year-old CEO revolutionizing bar service with his groundbreaking app, Sips Skip! 🍹 In this episode of Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly, we dive into Ethan's journey from LSU marketing graduate to tech innovator. Discover how SipSkip makes getting drinks at packed bars faster and how bartenders, venues, and customers all win with this game-changing app. 💡 Ethan shares his entrepreneurial journey, the inspiration behind SipSkip, lessons from self-development books like *Think and Grow Rich*, and his bold move to Austin to fuel connections and growth. From hustling as a "dock boy" to dominating the tech space, Ethan's story is packed with valuable insights and inspiration for ambitious go-getters like you. 🏆 🔥 Don't miss out on this conversation full of hustle, innovation, and life-changing advice. Watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets. 📺 Hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more eye-opening stories on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! 🚀 Join the conversation today! CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:28 - What is SipSkip 01:11 - Starting a Business at 22 02:20 - The Power of Self Development Books 05:01 - Today’s Sponsor 06:31 - Making Money with Instagram Meme Pages 07:58 - Monetizing Fortnite Maps 09:43 - Your First Jobs 12:39 - Identifying Your Strengths 13:16 - Lifetime Leagues 14:28 - Moving to Austin 16:53 - Creating an Environment for Success 19:11 - Aspiring to Be a Billionaire 20:39 - Mardi Gras Experiences 22:08 - First Time on a Private Jet 23:45 - Finding Your Disruptor 26:05 - SipSkip 27:59 - Golf Insights 30:18 - Hooping Culture 31:40 - Your Basketball Career Journey 34:54 - GOAT of Basketball Discussion 36:33 - Starting a Tech Company 37:44 - How OSTRYX Stands Out in App Development 38:37 - Finding OSTRYX Online APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] GUEST: Ethan Karian https://www.instagram.com/ethankarian/ https://ostryx.com/ https://www.instagram.com/sipskip/ SPONSORS: KINSTA:  https://kinsta.com/dsh LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ #wealthsecrets #financialeducation #businessideas #mobileappinnovation #business

Big change. Yeah big change and it's like it's great in summer and spring break, but like outside of that It's just like a slow. Yeah, and and you're not gonna go out and make those connections and that was the biggest deal for us Like we we don't want to keep ourselves in the bubble to where we can't grow So moving out to Austin we've made Alright guys, we got Ethan here, CEO of Sipskip. Thanks for coming on today, man. Thank you for having me. Yeah, can you explain what Sipskip is for people that don't know? Yeah, so we're a first of its kind mobile application. We allow users to get drinks faster at busy bars. Basically, walk up to the bar, you buy a Sipskip, hold it up, and

that signals the bartender to come right to you first. We're actually having bartenders sign up through the app, connecting themselves to their bar, and they earn per skip that they're redeeming, just like a door dash driver would. Yeah, so it's a win-win because the bartender is making more money somehow, right? Yeah, it's actually a win-win for everybody. So there's a SIP skip fee, which goes directly to the bar, and then there's a bartender service fee which helps the bartender gets compensated for their efforts. So and then it helps the user as well so all three parties win. Damn and you are a young business owner how old are you? 22.

Holy crap so you had this idea super young. Yes so I actually went to LSU for four years just graduated last May and those bars are super busy, super packed and I've spent a couple years just waiting there and one night I was at the bar, a couple of my boys had a pool table reserved and I was at the bar with a couple of my friends who were just standing there for like 20 minutes and I was like looking around and I was just like there's so much money going through here, like there's got to be a way to stand in front of it. And the first idea that kind of it and and the first idea that kind of came into me the next morning was like you know the game like

heads up yeah where you do that I was like what if there was something that was like that alluring that draws you in to where you could hold it up to our bartender can see it and that was kind of like the first concept behind the sips get passed that makes sense what you major in LSU marketing okay yes was it useful it was it actually. It was. I mean, I wouldn't say that you learn like entrepreneurship in school. You got to kind of self-teach that, but I've definitely taken some like from my professional sellings class and some like digital marketing as well. Definitely helps. Yeah. And I know you've read a lot of self-development

books, right? Oh, for sure. So you were doing that on the side Yeah, so actually my first book that was handed to me in it was in ninth grade by my father Think and grow rich if you don't have that book, you should go get that book classic Yeah, I mean that that really just changes your perspective on life I mean, there's so many things in there that just shifted my mind, especially as a 14 year old he was like you have to read this four times in your life. And I actually just started it for my fourth time like two weeks ago. And, and it just, it's just to refresh the mind and it's just bringing back so many things from when I was younger that I needed to touch up on.

It's just really good stuff. Yeah. That one's a classic. How to win friends is a classic. How to win friends. Yes, sir. Yeah. There's some bangers, man.

Especially at that age. Like if you know that at that age, you just standing out from people your age. Yeah and it was actually, it was kind of like a shock. So like I'm like 14, then like 15 I started like getting into doing Instagram accounts, growing though like little niche accounts. Like started getting out of the whole video game aspect of it and like my mind was like okay how do we how do we get into the world of entrepreneurship? And then I was 16 and I was like, let me try drop shipping.

Let's try some. That's a classic route. Yeah, let's try some good, because this is back in 2017. That's how I started too. Exactly, exactly, everyone. So that's how I got into making websites and stuff like that.

And that was kind of my first preneur, I would say. I learned a lot from job shooting really I'll say that it was like I would never do it now, but like I learned a lot at the time 100% you learn you learn like how to find a winning product how to build a website I mean, you're not coding it, but you're you're doing it in a way to where you're putting the pieces together Yeah, you're optimizing it. You learn the back end of all that stuff. Yeah, how to market too. Oh, yeah Oh, yeah, Instagram ads Facebook ads And I kind of like thinking grow rich teaches you I kind of learned I was like if I fail fail fail while I'm in school

I can I can front load and kind of find something that's gonna be successful early and that's right. That's what I'm doing Yeah, that's why I think it's smart to start businesses when you're young Yeah early and that's right. That's what I'm doing. Yeah that's why I think it's smart to start businesses when you're young. Yeah and it's there's also some some downsides which I mean if you can take them you can take them but it's just like you're growing up around people that are like haven't read those books and they're just like they're just normal kids you know and like in your head you're like oh like I have this vision and like they're just like oh let's play video games and I'm'm like, it's just, it's like a battle, but you know, you gotta find balance.

Did you go through that phase, video games? Oh yeah, yeah. Well, I used to love, I was playing 2K. First time I read Thing and Grow Rich, my dad gave it to me. He was like, you have to read it on paper. I remember me and my friend. Hey guys, shout out to today's sponsor, Kinsta.

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Just visit Kinsta.com slash DSH to get started. That's K-I-N A.com slash D S H. And we would sit on the got next spot and I'd take my headphones off and I'd like read a couple of pages and then put it down, go into the game, go to the next game. And that's kind of how like I got started.

And then the year after that, I couldn't even really think about getting video games. Yeah, I play a little Fortnite, but I took five years off. I had to, yeah, man. Gotta get it. Gotta grind, you know? Yeah. Four nights. Yeah. Four night is lit. My, uh, my best friend, one of my best friends in my roommate now, he owns the biggest fortnight page. It's called fort fortnight. I think I've seen that. Yeah.

You probably follow it to be honest. Um, and like it's so funny cause he's in like these fortnight group chats with all these little accounts and they think he's like this big corporation, but it's just one dude He just posts like eight posts a day. He just on his phone. He it's funny. He likes to say he's like he wakes up at like 12 gets out of bed at like 230 and like all his work's done for the day He just works from his phone. That's impressive. But yeah, so like that's how we got into niche That's how like we started our niche Instagram accounts together. Yeah. And his first one just hit. You'd be surprised how much these pages make. My boy owns

Banger Buddy, have you seen that one? Um yes yeah. With the Red Solo Cup? Yeah yeah. Yeah so I think he makes, I don't know if he even wants me to be sharing this, but he makes good money man. Yeah. Seven figures a year. Oh yeah yeah I know. They're they're bringing in, they're bringing in cash. Yeah. It's just like it's the eyeball business you know. I want my product they're they're bringing in they're bringing in cash. Yeah, it's just like it's the eyeball business, you know. I want my product in front of these eyeballs in this market. You have it. And then especially with Fortnite maps now, he's killing it.

Yeah, dude, I heard some of those map traders are crushing. He had this he had this one kid reach out to him. This kid's like 19 years old. Yeah. And he posted a bunch of his maps. He made 32 million last year. What? At 19, selling Fortnite maps off of his map. Oh, 32 million last year. What? At 19. Selling Fortnite maps. Off of his map. Oh my God. I want to get that kid on the podcast. Yeah. 32 mil. That is nuts. I can connect you guys. But yeah. Yeah. I mean, you create the right map, you get in front of the right eyes and.

How does it work? So you make the map and then do you get paid based off how many people play it? I have not got into that. I really don't know that's all his forte. He doesn't even make the maps. He just... Damn yeah because I know we just dropped mine today. You have Fortnite? Yeah. Oh that's sick. It's a prop hunt. Do you know what a prop hunt is? It's hide and seek. So you pretend to be any object and we got the digital source our chairs the mics in it the TV screens with our logo. Oh I did see that. I did see that on your story. Yeah so that's sick. Yeah. But yeah I can connect you to my boy and dude that we go he can he can promote yeah I love crazy stories like that you could you can make money

in the craziest ways these days oh yeah oh yeah and the tech game man yeah I mean dude I had a girl come on here selling her bath water no yeah you can make money in all sorts of ways especially Especially girls, they can make money. Really easy. They make money easier. Yeah, it's a little easier for them. And they'll probably hate us saying that, but it's facts. If you're attractive.

Yeah, I mean, if you're a hot girl and you got a little bit of ambition and you want to get on social media, you can really do something. Yeah, it's easier. You can really make something. If you're an attractive guy, that won't get you much. There's a lot more you got really do something. Yeah, it's easier. You can really make it. If you're gonna try to guide, that won't get you like much. There's a lot more you gotta do. Yeah. Being a guy, yeah.

And it's a grind, it really is. You gotta fail for a very long time. I like it though, I love grinding. No, oh yeah, me too. Like people always say like, when you relax, working is relaxing for me. Oh, same. It's like a meditation.

It's wake up, rolling over, checking the phone. My app guys texting me about what's next. Yeah. And it's I've kind of fallen in love with the process. I've been doing it since a young age. But like when you have your mind set on a vision and you're just a full train of steam headed there, it's just there's nothing that can stop you.

Have you had a job before working for someone else? Yeah. Yeah. So my my parents, they were entrepreneurs and I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. But when I was young, my mom, she made it, she made it, she was a stickler. She was like, I want you to work all like the jobs that like normal like kid would work. So like my first job was, you know, like those escape rooms. Yeah, I love those. So like, I was like, I worked at the escape room actually, it's actually, you have to be really smart. Because you have to know every single game.

You have to know where every single piece of the game goes to reset it. Wow. And then you actually have to sit behind the computer and like as a game master, so like let's say someone's in step five of the game, you have to know what step six is. So if they ask for a hint, you have to give them the room. Right. Yeah, you got to be watching them the full hour oh yeah yeah so there's a whole bunch of stuff you have to like bring them in the room explain it I worked one of my most fun jobs it was a it was a tough job but uh worked as a

dock boy and I'm arena mm-hmm that's rough man why is that one that's rough I mean rich people hundred foot boats. They have trash out the Wazoo, are you got to clean it up? Oh, it's like dude. They're just like 13 trash bags. They just throw it out. You got to throw it on your golf cart Damn, you got to fill up these but filling up the boats is nice But like I mean I'm talking fire hoses of gas I mean three pumps this boat takes 30 minutes to fill and then some of these guys are great great. They'll tip you nice. But we had this one, we have a fishing tournament every year. I'm from Destin, Florida. And in San Destin, we have this fishing tournament

every year. And this boat won, they won 1.2 million for winning this tournament. The next morning they come in the slip, me and my friend, friend we fill their boat takes like 45 minutes in the pouring rain and They push off and they're like hey no tip No tip and this is like and as we work on tips, you know, so you don't get an hourly Oh, we barely but like like minimum wage But like these are like it's a type of business where like you feel so you fill someone with like ice chests with a bucket And then we'll stop a hundred in your hand. Yeah, these are big money. It's like a caddy kind of. Yeah, these are big money boats. But then they win one point nine mil and they just push off and they're like, oh yeah.

And one more thing, make your slips bigger for next year. And we're like, oh, you guys are crazy. Damn. Yeah. And then I've worked as a bar back to behind a bar and done a little bartending as well. So like, so like I, I, I'm happy I worked those jobs because like, like now, like when I go out to like restaurants and stuff like that, like I know like, like I have to tip those guys. Cause I've been those guys. Yeah. You could appreciate it, right? Yeah. And then you can, you can also see the people that have never worked those jobs. Oh, you could tell. And then it's just

like, it's, it's kind of like almost embarrassing to, to like like when they say some stuff and you're just like, uh, like, like, bro, you're embarrassing. Like these guys are just trying to work hard, man. It's not even in their control. Yeah. Yeah. Complain about the food and take it out on them. Exactly.

It's the shot like little at that, or if they mess up an order, I mean, um, but yeah, no. So like working those jobs. Um, and then especially sports being young, I played baseball, basketball, football growing up year round. Just all that just instilled like that. Yeah. That grind. Like, what were you the best at? Basketball. Oh, yeah. I I played basketball since I was four. I was four years old. My first love.

And the the league, the first league you can get in was a five year old league. But my mom, like, brought me to the coach. He's like, he's super passionate. And like, I tried out. He's like, he's like, all right, we'll sneak him in Because like yeah, no basketball is my first love we're gonna have to play bro. Oh, yeah, we got a hoop for sure Yeah I haven't hooked in a while, but I'm ready. Next time you're out here. I'm in the league out here lifetime leagues

Oh, do they have lifetime in Austin? Oh, yeah. Oh, are you a member? Oh, so we were a member And I'll actually shout them out right now but we switched to another gym called The Collective. The Collective is a great concept. It's like a gym and a social club. Interesting. So like you really can't go to the gym without making a connection. So it's like gym, they also have like a chill space like a really big chill space where you can just go they have a kitchen Where you can bring your lunch they have whole rooms to set up your computer work And they also have meeting pods so if you need to take a meeting you close the pod quiet

They got obviously saunas ice baths. They have hot yoga rooms where the rooms like Hotter Wow and it's it's it's a really cool concept dude. That sounds awesome. Yeah, and ever since we joined there, I mean, obviously the people are so, so awesome. So, so nice. And then every time we work out, like my friend with the Fortnite account, he comes home and he's like, dude, I just met this guy that lost 300k in crypto today. And he's like happy, like he's like, all the markets going down. Like, dude, like these are the people we need to be meeting Yeah, and me and him we actually we moved out to Austin on a whim and

So I graduated college and he did three years. He did a little bit faster the same age and We booked a trip out to Austin. We tore a bunch of houses and We actually met other guys with an app and we're like, okay, this is our sign. So we signed a lease on a house and that was the only time we'd ever been to Austin. And we said, screw it, we're moving out here. Holy crap. City of Yonge entrepreneurs, we can't,

I mean, we both were born and raised in Destin, Florida. It's a little beach town. Big change. Yeah, big change. And it's like, it's great in summer and spring break, but like outside of that, it's just like a normal time. Slow, yeah. And you're not it's just like a normal time. Slow, yeah.

And you're not going to go out and make those connections. And that was the biggest deal for us. Like we, we don't want to keep ourselves in a bubble to where we can't grow. So moving out to Austin, we've made so many connections. I bet. Like, um, what's the guy's name? Banger, uh, the guy who interviews people. Oh, James Duell, the school of hard knocks.

School of hard knocks. Yeah, he's coming on the show next week. Okay. In Austin. Yeah, that's sick. Yeah. So he like we were at the bar the other night and my boy ran into him and they were just chatting it up.

That dude's built an empire, man. Exactly. And these are the people you're meeting. I was at the bar one night and I was just walked up to this girl because I thought she was cute. Yeah. Started flirting with her and she ended up she does marketing for this other app in Austin which is huge and she runs all our socials and I was like oh my this is a business conversation now so now she's our socials girl. No way. Stuff like that like you're not you're not getting that in Destin. Nah.

In little towns so like being in those big cities I would say wow you're not you're not getting that in Destin nah like in little town so like Being in those big cities. I would say if you're a young entrepreneur Move to a big city if you have to do it on a whim if you have to do it by yourself Mmm, you have friends easier. Yeah, but uh, but yeah, I mean don't don't keep yourself in a bubble That's how I was in Jersey, man. Really? Yeah from Jersey I had to man. I was the only one doing entrepreneurship in my town, my whole town. No one else was doing entrepreneurship.

And you felt like, and you're like, I can't stay here because they're just- No growth. I was making 50K a year for three years straight, no growth. And then as soon as I moved to LA and Vegas, boom. Yeah, and I know you're here all the time, but you're some of the five people you spend the most time with.

So like you're spending time with people that are eating Cheetos and playing Xbox, and you're trying to become the five people you spend the most time with so like you're spending time with people that are eating Cheetos and playing Xbox and you're trying to become the next podcast you know yeah it's it's gonna be an inverse effect. 100%. So yeah we kind of created this environment we call it the house of killers so it's it's me my friend Matthew and one of my pledge brothers from my fraternity Peter we live in this house and it's like we have one more room left in the house we actually we actually had to kick a guy out because he wasn't killing it oh yeah meet

the revenue requirements it revenue was it was an issue but it was more of the mindset and it's like when you have one bad apple and everybody's on the same path to greatness and somebody's just kind of chilling. 100%. Yeah. It's kind of a cancer that needs to be cut out. So we created an environment to where like, like if someone's kind of chilling for a little bit, we're like, what are you doing? Like let's figure it out.

Accountability. Accountability. Yeah. And it creates that, it says it in Think and Grow Rich when you have more than one mind that are focused on a fixed goal, there's a third mind that becomes formed. It's called a mastermind. Again, if you don't have that book or you've never read it, go read that book.

I suggest everybody go get that book. And all the books you see that are out right now, like the 48 Laws of Power and stuff like that, Atomic Habits, it's pretty much just a chapter chapter of thinking grow rich that someone took and made a book about. Like the 48 laws of power are literally listed in thinking grow rich. I didn't know that well. And someone just said, well, these are great. Let's make a book. Like, like it's, it's the sauce.

It's the sauce. Yeah. Napoleon Hill spent 20 years interviewing 500 of the world's richest men made a book. That's nuts. Yeah. To do it back then was way harder than it is now. Like now I could do it on the podcast, but back then. Yeah, he had to go on my train. Even now actually, I was researching billionaires

that go on podcasts. There's only like 10 that actually go on podcasts. Isn't that crazy? Wow. Cause I was trying to rack up some billionaires on the pod. And they just, they don't want to do it. They're low key man. A lot of them don't even have social media.

I think they do try to stay low-key it's just like I mean when you're on a level like that it's just there's no point I don't want to stay out of this yeah the lam light you know cuz start getting calls oh yeah yeah I'm into all those experiences but yeah I mean I mean you had a certain when you hit a certain, when you hit a certain number, they, I want to bring in, it's just like, yeah, there's a lot of stuff. Yeah, there's levels to the game. Levels to the game.

Exactly. Exactly. Is becoming a billionaire one of your goals? For sure. You want it? Yes. Yes, I do. You're gonna have to sacrifice a lot if you want to get there.

And I'm ready to do it. Really? Yeah. I just, so my business, Sage, we just kind of met recently through a mutual friend. And I've never seen eye to eye with a person like we see. He wants to build cities. Wow.

And he was just like, you have this look in your eye that I have in my eye. And it's just like, whatever you put your mind to, you're going to do it. And we have that same thing. So now we just kind of put our heads together. We have that mastermind like I was talking about earlier. And when you have two people or more than two people that have a goal to do something, it's... and they're like ferocious, it's unstoppable. You can't stop them. That's impressive, man. You got a good head on your

shoulders for your age. Thank you, man. Like I wish I had that at your age. Thank you. 22. Yeah, I was getting... right coming out of my party phase around that age. Yeah, yeah. Okay, I'm not gonna, yeah I went to LSU for four years so. Yeah. So definitely know how to party. You had some fun there. Definitely know how to party.

And you were in the front. Yeah, I was in the fraternity. They're one of the best party schools right? LSU? The best. Allegedly. Yeah, it's the best bro. I mean it's it's a

different type of partying that it's it's it's like a it's like a degenerate fun but like no like nobody cares about class or anything everyone's just like let's have fun damn yeah and so like this is my first Mardi Gras I'm not at like it like all my like people I know from back there they're all know what right I've never been to one of those. I heard it's cool I'm gonna money. No Did you got you got to make one? Yeah, what goes down and something like that, dude? It's just the only way I can explain it is just like

it's just It's like three or four days of just Straight-up drinking every day you got floats coming through and if you're if you go with your fraternity the way that kind of works is like they set up like each fraternity from there's a bunch of different schools that go just set up tents so it's like tailgates wow and it's just like all day every day um and they all bring their own we all bring alcohol so it's like if you're a girl you never have to worry about paying for a drink yeah and if you if you're a guy, it's like with your fraternity, it's in the social budget. So everyone's drinking. And it's just beads and fun.

And then after the parade, it's bourbon and it's just like, do it again. But it's, it's a marathon. It's something like I did it for three years and I'm like, okay, with not doing it for a very long time. I feel that you got out of your system. Oh yeah, oh yeah and like I have some friends that like they missed it last year and they're going back and they're like yeah this will be my last one you know but um but dude Mardi Gras you definitely gotta make one of those. Yeah that's a bucket list thing for sure. Yeah. I want to try

the food mainly. You've never been to NOLA? No. Oh yeah. I almost went for Super Bowl but I was filming too much. Yeah. I didn't make it. Well, yeah. It's going to be on the ground. We were out there for Super Bowl. One of our investors, his name is Matty Beckerman.

He has an app called IR Code and he was doing Super Bowl Ad Week. Great software, super cool concept. And he brought us out there and he was like, yo, want you to come to all these events and stuff. Oh blah fly out with me on the PJ and And you guys can just chill with me and come do the Super Bowl stuff So we basically got a free trip to the server. It was great. Those tickets weren't cheap man. No Not at all. And I mean, obviously the game was was not it. But it was it was a really cool experience. Like, dude, we were rolling craps with Jon Hamm from Mad Men.

That's like everybody was in town. That's sick. Yeah, it was it was my first time on a PGA. Changed my life. Yeah. I never wanted to go commercial again. I mean, it's so expensive, but it's expensive. Yeah. Once you get a taste of it. You're like dude Yeah, dude. This this guy's funny. He plays he has this thing. He times up he plays free bird in the air What's not like like the song free bird? Oh like they're like free Yeah, yeah

Like so he plays it in there times it up and then like gets it to where when the plane stops at the gate the song Stop what so we landed in Nola., it's like a six minute song. We're in the air, starts the song, and he got it so timed up that the pilot could perfectly stop at the gate and the last drum hit. No way. We all went crazy. Like it was just nuts.

He's like, I swear I've only done that one other time. That's nuts. But yeah, no, super cool guy. You might wanna have him on. Yeah, you got a good network, man. Yeah, and part of that is my new business partner, Sage. He's connected to the world. But yeah, so I'm really just trying

to foster my connections, use Sipskip. My main passion in life since I was little is I wanted to find a disruptor to disrupt an industry, change it forever, like Uber, who takes taxis anymore? So I've been wanted to find a disruptor to disrupt an industry, change it forever, like Uber, who takes taxis anymore? So I've been trying to find my disruptor for a very long time. And I had a couple different preneurs. I started another company, it was called Hot Mess,

it was a fitness company. My main passion is fitness. I love teaching fitness to all of my friends and family. And I fully believe in that, like a healthy body is healthy mind and it's more mental than it really is physical if you do it for long enough yeah but with that being said it's just it's just if you stick to a regimen and you regimen, if I can do a fitness plan, what can I do weekly, daily or monthly? And that can ripple across my life. So it's like, it's really just putting

in the repetition. So it's like, I put in the repetition in the gym, what else can I do? And that ripples across business because it's all repetition when it comes to business. If you, like I had a business for two years, it was a fitness business and it was doing it was doing alright. Did some numbers. But I mean, fitness clothes is saturated market. Oh, yeah. I started in apparel.

I would never go back. Never go back. Never. You either did. Tech is the tech is the way to go. Yeah. Higher higher. And then I remember Sipskate popped in my mind and it was like a moment and called my

mom the next morning and I was like, Oh, like, I just got this idea. Like I have to do it. Like if I don't do this, somebody's going to do it. It's going to disrupt the world and, and I'm going to miss out and I'm going to regret it for the rest of my life. And I, she was like, oh, like maybe let's wait, like let's do hot mess, like blah, blah, blah. And I was like, a week went by and I was like, nah, screw it.

I literally just said, screw it. I didn't trash everything, still have it, but I just kind of paused it, dove head on into this because I just could not get this idea off my mind. And the best decision I ever made. A lot of it. Best decision. How many locations are you guys in so far?

So we just launched at the beginning of the year. We brought on two test locations in September 1st when we went live to work out the kinks for a couple months. We just launched at the beginning of the year, so we have five locations right now. And we really want to start this in like the bar industry, the nightclub industry, but where we really want to see Sipskip is stadiums, concert venues. Imagine it's first down and you don't want to miss the game for too long, but that drink line is 20 people long. You're going to pay the $10 to skip the line and then you're going to pay to get your drink

as well. And all that is is creating an extra revenue source for the venue, completely free of cost. Yeah. It costs them nothing to implement. It's a win-win. It's a win-win for everybody. This first year, we're bringing on venues just to kind of test it out. We want to test it in environments we want to see it in. And then moving into 2026, we're going to start charging venues. Yeah. I love the name too. Yeah, it flows well. Sipskip. Yeah, it's the alliteration. Yeah.

The TikTok, the DoorDash. Yeah. And then also the Red Cup is, when I came up with the Red Cup is, we're trying to make that like the iconic, like the, whenever you see the Red Cup, like I want Sipskip to be the name, but like, I want you to see the Red Cup and be like, oh. It's iconic. Yeah. Yeah. I miss a beer pong sometimes. Yeah.

No, and we're trying to, we actually did another launch last week and, uh, people were like, where can I buy these hats? Like, where can I buy these shirts? Like, and then we were just like, Oh, we need to put this online. So we're, we're getting a merch store up here. Might as well. Here in pretty soon. You could do made print print on order, right?

Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, and it's all high quality merch as you can. Well this is more for our stores. Is that embroidered? Oh yeah. Damn. That's clean. I got these for our sales guys. I'll probably start selling these soon but I'm keeping these in the vault. So we'll probably just like put the hoodies and shirts in there. Yeah. And I got you a shirt. Let's go. They're pretty sweet golf hats. I love them man. You playing golf? No I'm gonna play this year because I'm getting invited to put the hoodies and shirts. Yeah. And I got you a shirt. Let's go. They're pretty sweet golf hats. I love it, man. You playing golf?

No, I'm going to play this year because I'm getting invited to so many good golf events and stuff. You got it. And I'm missing out on money, to be honest. Exactly. Exactly. There's so much big money in golf. Too.

The richest people play golf. Yeah. And it's such a good business day, too. Let's say you go out there with some business connection guy and he's like, Hey, let's go play some golf, but we can also talk about this project. We can start, you know, it's like, it's a good way for you guys to have fun while kind of shooting the shit. Yeah. Cause it's a casual sport. You're not like puffing and puffing. No, not at all. And I'm, I'm kind of new to golf as well. I'm terrible at golf. But I love going out there,

drinking some brews with the boys, and hitting some golf balls, especially if it's a nice sunny day. Yeah, it's one of those sports that takes years to get good at, right? Oh yeah, oh yeah. My roommate, he's pretty, his dad was a ex-pro golfer,

and so he's- He's nasty. He's nasty. He's been playing golf since he was 10. What is he, I don't even know what to call it like. Was he shoot? What is he is that what it is? What does he shoot? So he's I think I think he's like in the 70s. Holy crap. The best he's ever shot was a 69 right dude. Yeah that's insane. He's a dog. He's a dog. Because you're probably like 100 right? 100 plus man. I think

the best I've shot in my life was like like 105. yeah, and that's and that's like and that's like if you've If you've like played golf a couple times like you're if you've never played golf, we probably shoot a 150. Yeah Probably yeah, but yeah, no, it's like yeah, dude. I remember I I've probably played golf like 40 times in my life. Geez. Yeah, not enough. Not enough. I want to get good at golf and bowling. And bowling, yeah. You ever bowl?

I have a friend actually, he lives in Colorado. He's in a bowling league. For what? And he loves it. I mean, it's like a flex low key. Every Monday night, he's like, yeah, dude, like, it's a whole tournament. Like, dude, my team just won the championship. We all go drink and get pitchers and play and just been just bowl like but no bowling bowling's fun to be good

at bowling is a flex yeah like if you get bowl like 152 honor like that's insane yeah dude and like doing the spins and stuff yeah that's nuts I struggle to find people that can hoop man oh yeah yeah an entrepreneur space there's not many hoopers yeah I mean I mean, there are more desk guys, you know, but I... You're nice enough? Were you going to play in college? So yeah, that's actually... So I was doing dropshipping and then I made it a point to myself senior year. I was like, you know what?

I'm going to throw... Like, I'm going to go full into basketball, just to give it a shot, see what offers I can get. And that summer going into senior year, put myself on a plan. I was shooting like 500 shots a day. Damn. I'm shooting from 30 plus. Like, damn, you're Steph Curry on here.

Yeah, I made it to the point, like when I was shooting on the gun, like I wouldn't shoot from the three point line. I'd shoot from like the NBA. Holy crap. So that in high school, though, like when you, when you can shoot that deep, it really, it draws out the defense. So you just like sling those passes or like if they're too short, boom, you're busting it in your face.

But so like I made it a point to myself to grind that, grind that for a year. I got a couple of D2s, a couple of independents. And then like business has always been my main focus. And I was like, yeah, I want to have fun. But I'm so happy I did because I always like, always love basketball. I know my whole life I want to have fun. But I'm so happy I did because I always love basketball. I know my whole life I want to be great at basketball. So that whole year, and I've always been pretty good, that whole year set a fundamental for me.

So now throughout the rest of my life I'll always be pretty decent. That's cool, yeah. Because the muscle memory. When you're shooting 500 a day, you don't forget that. Yeah, no, not at all. Yeah, I can't wait to see you play it on. Yeah, it'll be it'll be fun. Were you yamming on people too, dude Yeah, I had a point side. Yeah, I mean I'm a little white boy, but I had a I went on this dunk program It actually looks like which one it was called ever no, it's called Boingvert. I haven't heard it was like

But uh did it 16 weeks and I actually was able to dunk Wow Like I like it was crazy. Like I was I was pretty much just like able to like do this on the rim Yeah, and dude 16 weeks. Yeah, holy crap. How tall are you? I'm six foot. Yeah, that's impressive And I and I mean I got to a point where I where I've hit two windmills in my life. Damn. I've hit two windmills. It's a windmill at six. Yeah, it was a perfect storm, obviously.

It had to be the adrenaline rush. But yeah, I did that and I sat there and was like, whoa. Whoa, what just happened? Yo, Mac McClung. Oh my gosh. That dude's a beast. He's not that tall, too. No, no.

He's I think below six foot. What? That's insane, man. He's like, he's not that tall too. No, no, he's, I think he's like below six foot. What? That's insane, man. He's got like bounce jumping over cars and stuff. I can't believe he's not in the league. Wait, what is he doing? He's in the G league, but like no team will give him a full spot. It sucks.

It's tough being an NBA player, only 450 spots. Yeah, dude. I mean, that's the difference between like the NFL and like the NBA. There's so many differences. NFL has thousands of spots, right? So many spots you got five starters on the court. Yeah, and then you got Three bench guys that get minutes and then the rest of the bench is not no minutes. Yeah So like that's probably the toughest sport to go pro I have to be the best in the world and it's like and the thing about like I guess you could say this with baseball

as well, but like basketball such an art form to where like, like when Kyrie Irving is, is like, like sizing someone up and like plotting those moves, if his hand goes this way, I go this way. That's an art form. It's, it's like, it's not like I'm just tucking the ball and hitting you, you know, like it's, it's, it's more skill. It's not like I'm just tucking the ball and hitting you, you know, like it's, it's, there's more skill. I'd say it's like a, it's almost like you gotta be like a ballerina. Yeah. There's always that debate, like which sports more athletic, basketball,

or football, I think it's basketball. I think it is basketball. I think, I think, I think you have to be like more of like gritty and like, er, and be able to hit someone like in football, athletic wise, but like, like you have to do those like agility movements to where like your calves and your ankles are so strong yeah you can you can like dance on your feet yeah I used to roll my ankle all the time I had to strengthen them up our coach our coach senior year he made us all get ankle ankle braces yeah I used to wear those

but I hate wearing them I hate wearing them I feel like it slows me down a little bit down messes me up and I feel like it slows me down a little bit It messes me up and I'm like I was always the kid who Prided himself on being the fastest like yeah, I played baseball from when I was 9 to 16 I never got thrown out. Damn you were that fast never got thrown out. Holy crap Yeah So I was like the guy like if I got on base the pitcher's throwing balls because I'm messing with them Like toying with them like that was my favorite thing to do

But yeah, so like be like having those ankle braces. I was like Mess me up here. Yeah, feel like you lose the stuff. No. Yeah for sure. Who's the goat of basketball? Oh, that's tough man, but I mean I go Jordan. I go with Jordan bro. I thought you're gonna say LeBron for a sec. No I can't say LeBron. He's I mean stats wise he's great but like I mean the 3p man. Yeah. You think if LeBron gets a few more he could catch him? That's a crazy debate I just think I just think it's different times. Yeah. I just think it's different times. I mean if if LeBron has time to hit a three-peat, I think that would solve the issue.

But I don't think- I don't think he'll play it through more years. I don't think he will. He might get one this year though. They're looking good this year. Yeah, dude, Luka. Yeah, they're the fourth seed right now. That was a crazy trade.

I saw that and my friend was like, "'Yo, Luka just got traded' and I was like, "'Ha ha.' And then he's like, "'No look.' And I was like, "'Oh my God.'" Yeah, I couldn't believe that one too. I was like, "'Oh my gosh like, no look. And I was like, yeah, I couldn't believe that one. Oh my gosh.

How did Mark let that happen? Like, he's not part of it anymore. He's got a little bit. Yeah. But I think he didn't even know about it. Really? Yeah. I think he found out when everyone else did because he wouldn't have let it happen.

Oh, wow. Yeah. Shout out to Mark, though. Wow. That's someone I look up to. Yeah. Oh, he's my favorite shark. 100%.

Oh, yeah. I used to watch every episode and I only cared about what he Wow. That's someone I look up to. Yeah. Oh. He's my favorite shark. 100%. Oh yeah. I used to watch every episode and I only cared about what he said to be honest. Really? I mean like other ones were okay but whenever he spoke, everyone looked. It's facts.

You know what I mean? You can tell when the presence shifts in a room with somebody when they speak. Yeah. You can tell like who's really like the power in the room. I mean he was. Yeah. He was the billionaire in the room. I agree with that., like whenever he speaks

Everyone's listening. Yep, and yeah, he's a dog man. Yeah, shout out to him Well, dude, we'll ball next time you're out here any anything you want to close off with here? Um Yeah, so actually doing sips give allowed me to have make a lot of connections in the technology space and I to make a lot of connections in the technology space. And I actually started a tech company called Ostrichs with a couple of my coders. And we have a team of 15 senior level coders. And we make apps, websites, and we do all the maintenance, the SEO for all that as well. One thing that happened to me, so I was making an app for Hot Ness and I made it through

an app for hotness and I made it through an app company and I had never been in the app space before and I I got a quote and I was like, okay, it's cool like I can make this app for this much Took way too long took like a year and a half and then I get a letter in the mail Like when I have my beta saying or like an email saying hey, we went out of business. Here's your code. Never gone the app store like like 32 K down the drain. Damn. And so I got scammed by an app company. And so when I went on Bradley's podcast, a lot of people reached out to me with their app ideas and saying, hey, like, is this a good quote? Hey, can you make this app? Blah, blah, blah.

And one thing I found across all of these people is that they were getting scammed by the big app companies is because these big app companies have a lot of overhead to cover. They have office spaces, they have big teams, they're working on 70 projects at a time. If they want to do one meeting, they got to bring 10 different people into the meeting. So they're basically making an app the cheapest way possible, pumping and dumping. And we at Ostrichs, the reason why me and these guys started it is because I basically,

it brought me back two and a half years to it being me. And I was like, I want to help these people. So we at Ostrichs, we're cleaning up the app industry. And if you have an app idea and you want to bring it to fruition, go to ostrichs.com or you can just reach out to me on Instagram and you can talk to us and we'll give you the real quote.

Perfect. And we'll give you the real time. We'll link down below, that sounds useful, man. And we'll link your social, SIPSKIPS socials as well. Thanks, Doug. Perfect, thanks for coming on, man. Thanks for watching. Thank you, Adam.

See you guys next time. Peace.