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THE FRONTIER LINE
Hosts Wayne Aston and David Murray explore the critical global pillars of infrastructure development and energy production, from traditional methods to future-forward advancements. The Frontier Line covers the latest industry news, energy innovations, and sustainability trends that are shaping the future. Through expert interviews with industry leaders in renewable energy, utility-scale battery storage, and waste-to-energy technologies, the podcast provides insights into the evolving landscape of energy efficiency and sustainable infrastructure. By focusing on the intersection of innovation and the politics of energy, The Frontier Line highlights transformative ideas and technologies poised to deliver cost-efficient, resilient, and sustainable solutions for global industries.
THE FRONTIER LINE
Invictus Sovereign
What lies at the heart of resilience and legacy? Inspired by the immortal words of "Invictus," we embark on an exploration of Invictus Sovereign, a company that integrates investment, land development, and operations across diverse fields such as AI, real estate, and energy. This isn't just about financial success; it's about building a lasting legacy for future generations. Join us as we delve into the essence of this groundbreaking venture, sharing personal insights into the core values that set Invictus Sovereign apart—resilience, integrity, and timeless dedication to excellence.
Ever faced a failure that felt like the end, only to find it was the beginning of something greater? Our conversation takes a personal turn as we discuss the significant losses and business failures that shaped our entrepreneurial journey. We reveal the lessons learned from these challenging experiences, emphasizing the importance of understanding one's "why" in both business and life. Gratitude becomes a powerful theme, as we highlight the energy it attracts and the importance of aligning with partners who share a commitment to integrity and purpose. These insights offer a roadmap not just to entrepreneurship, but to a fulfilling life, encouraging future generations to find their own unique paths.
What happens when egos are left at the door and vulnerability becomes a strength? The magic of authentic collaboration unfolds within a close-knit team environment, where openness leads to stronger bonds and more effective problem-solving. We explore the dynamics of such collaboration and how it resonates beyond the business world, influencing personal relationships and partnerships with some of the world's largest companies. By embracing these principles, Invictus Sovereign continues to foster an environment that prioritizes mission-driven work and collective success. Tune in to discover how this authentic energy contributes to ongoing success and meaningful impact, both within our team and in our wider collaborations.
Welcome back, everyone Welcome.
Speaker 2:Dave, how are you? I'm well, I'm very well. I know our last episode. We jumped heavy into American spec and kind of talked a lot about that part of who we are. Well, let's get back to who we are fundamentally.
Speaker 2:This right here, this, right here. Invictus Sovereign, invictus Sovereign. This is where I get to tee you up. This is your brainchild that a few of us so luckily get to participate in. Why the name? What is it for you? What do you want to accomplish? Why this? What's your goal? What's your vision? Who are we? I love it.
Speaker 1:I've been so excited to get to this episode and talk about Invictus Sovereign and to wait as long as we have to get to it. It's really, really helped me with the pent up energy. So thank you for teeing it up, dave. You know, I think I've mentioned having had the opportunity to start up dozens of businesses and most of them didn't do anything. Some of them didn't do anything. Some of them had scattered success. A couple of them lasted over a decade. One of them reached valuation over $100 million. It over a decade. One of them reached valuation over a hundred million.
Speaker 1:It's very addictive to feel the success, to taste that proverbial steak and understand what that feels like, and then want to do it again and again, and again. And Invictus Sovereign, to me, is the mothership of all things. It represents the legacy company built of the most perspicacious group of guys that I love, that I consider family, who have deep understandings of the things we're doing in many fields AI, real estate, oil and gas, banking, investment, crypto funds, all of data centers, energy all of these things we're talking about. We've collected people.
Speaker 2:We're an island of mutts.
Speaker 1:An island of mutts. That's one way to put it. We've done a lot of stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:But so let's talk about the name for a second. Invictus stands. Invictus means unconquered or unconquerable. That was important that I use that, because it harkens to one of my favorite poems called Invictus. It has a deep-rooted meaning for me in the whole concept of man's pursuit of success being bludgeoned and bloodied and beat up on the path and the resilience it takes for an entrepreneur to survive not only survive but thrive. So Invictus was kind of the core concept around this that I built, and then I wanted it to be a timeless brand, right? I mean, you think of some of these big names like Berkshire, hathaway, like what does that even mean? Like where did that come from? Manchester United, like big, globally recognized names. They don't necessarily have meaning to some other. They're not pointing to something else. It's not Invictus Capital, it's not, you know it's.
Speaker 1:I wanted this to be. I didn't want to create some prosaic name that people just gloss over when they hear it. I wanted it to be something really elegant and something that you have to think about Sovereign. We understand what sovereign means. We have sovereign nations. They are independent, they are self-preserved, self-made, and putting the two words together felt like that elegant solution and I can remember where I was. I was driving in my car on the way home from Arizona one day when I came up with this name and it hit me. It like hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm like, oh my God, that's, that's it. That's that's what it is. It's Invictus Sovereign.
Speaker 2:I don't know that I had actually heard that story. I didn't know you were driving back from Arizona when you popped in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was just rattling through all these names and I had just been on the phone with Len Carson, you know, one of the attorneys and partners and just talking through some ideas and just driving and and you know, thinking to myself and it just it just came. Um, what Invictus Sovereign has become is inspiring to me because it is something much bigger than me. Um, it is by an investment firm. It's unique because the original intent was to set up this investment firm and then build these private offerings, these private funds that the company would manage, that could specifically capitalize these different business ventures we've all been talking about on the episodes. And so that's the original intent. And as things have evolved, invictus Sovereign has become much more than that, as we've brought on specialists in all these fields. It has become an integrated investment firm, land developer and operator of many things holding interest in the things that we build. So we're not a.
Speaker 1:There's big distinctions. There's big opportunity for distinction in what it is that we do and by design, how we program this company. There are lots of land developers out there that we refer to as feed developers. You would hire that developer to build your gas station or your project, your hotel or whatever. They would charge their fee for services to develop it and then they would be done with services. That's not what we do. Everything we develop, we're building with the intent to own and operate. So that sets us apart. There's also, I'd say, the vast majority of private equity or VC funds who are just focused on the capitalization of a certain thing and they're very focused on the exit, whether that's an IPO or some other type of exit at some fairly short-term, 5 to 15-year horizon out there. That's the intent Get in, capitalize, make a solid return, exit. That's also not the way we're programmed raising capital as an investment firm to be in the long game, to play the long game of build, create a solid return, realize a strong multiple and operate as legacy and leave it to our heirs, the younger generation coming up within the company. So it's a much bigger integrated vision and it's required us to expand out beyond ourselves significantly and bring on heavy focus on a team.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is not me working out of a garage. This is not four buddies working out of some office in downtown Salt Lake. This is a group of people in multiple countries. At this point we have investment directors on salary in other countries.
Speaker 1:We've gone to the most sophisticated law firms we could find on earth. We could find on earth. Our primary representation consists of Kilpatrick Townsend, which is a major law firm based in New York City international presence. They've been instrumental in helping us structure our private offerings, all of which are Reg D 506 offerings. We have retained Curtin McConkie here in Salt Lake. They're arguably the largest firm in Utah but also very reputable in structuring syndication and subscription and that type of thing.
Speaker 1:So those firms are similar, just slightly different nuances on how they represent us. We've brought on Traverse Thorpe Alberga in the Cayman Islands, which is also a massive international legal firm, who's been tasked with Caymanizing our offerings so that we can effectively entertain foreign investment. We have a significant number of constituents in other countries who would love to be able to deploy capital into US projects, particularly in energy and infrastructure development or expansion or modernization, but need to have very specialized mechanisms to do so. Mark Alynasunger, right, darrell Bock, and so I'm just scraping the surface and we can dive into more about the team and the details, but very high level. That is the essence of Invictus Sovereign and I know you have some really really.
Speaker 2:I do.
Speaker 2:But I want to ask one more thing, okay, because I know the part of the answer, and that is values are very important to us. In fact, actually, probably the most important thing is that we start with what we value and make decisions based upon that, because then it becomes a lot easier to say here are, here are our core values and how we operate, what, when you, you know, even before you pick the name, um, I, I could say you operate under a certain set of values and I know I've been the recipient of being part of this value structure. How do you I mean, how, how has that come to light to you for you too? Because and this goes to like, if you're, you know, you're listening, you know how you structure it. I mean, I come back to exactly we're going to build the thing we're do thing, but what do we know? Who are you and what are you doing and what is your why? Because I think you get you know, we, you know we talk about that a lot Like we've got to get that straight, and I think I think we've gotten it straight and that's helped us really make some quick decisions.
Speaker 2:Thursday.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. The why is everything. Why? The why makes or breaks successful business, and for any entrepreneur who's weathered any storm of any startup knows that the why separates the men from the boys. And I've had the great opportunity to build something of significance and lose it all more than once to the now, to the point where if you haven't gone through something like that, I almost can't do business with you because you don't have enough perspective how to handle loss and chaos and come through that more resilient, stronger, refined. Um, so when?
Speaker 1:So when I'm talking to younger providers, younger potential partners, I'm tempering my conversations, I'm approaching cautiously because if you don't understand loss, there's this whole. I feel like it becomes such part of my identity, it's part of this tattoo on my arm. I've got a tattoo on the inside of my arm of a city burning to the ground and me standing in front of it because I know I can rebuild that city after it burns to the ground. That's not a superpower. Many people have Many people, I think, when faced with a total loss and guys, I'm not talking about business failure without casualty, I'm talking divorce, suicide, total family disruption, living in the car. I'm talking about things that most people will never experience when I talk about the magnitude of loss, all the things that I've had the opportunities to survive and rebuild through. Now I've taken my lumps, do I have scars? I have serious trauma, I have serious PTSD and I have some really interesting I don't even know how to label them, I won't label myself negatively, but but some very interesting views around who I am, how capable I am, views of others the naysayers, the haters, the litigants who have come at me over the years and it all has brought me to this place, right here of gratitude for being exactly in this place at this time and being who I am. I wouldn't trade being me for anyone or any experience, as tough as it's been, as tough as it continues to be. I love where I'm at, I love what it's taken and I'm very proud of what it's taken for me to get here, and I think it's because of that.
Speaker 1:I think we're not really talking about defining values, although I can place some clear values like integrity is one of my top top things. If you say you're going to do something, please do exactly that thing. I'll do my best to do that as well. If I can't, I'll communicate with you. But let's communicate, let's maintain integrity. If we can't have integrity, if we can't have integrity, we can't do business.
Speaker 1:Recognize and working with people that that are aligned in this integrity.
Speaker 1:For just an example of the values this is foundational business if we're not aligned there, understanding that being our word is the that's, that's the power that gives us the ability to create and execute anything, then we're really wasting time talking with folks that are not aligned with us.
Speaker 1:And so over the years, my circle's gotten really tight. I've found out who has wanted me to really succeed and who has not. That's been really helpful and eye-opening for me. It's helped me be very clear and very certain about who I want to surround myself with, who I want to be involved with on a daily basis, and I have so much gratitude for you, thank you and the other guys at the core part of this team, because I feel like the energy of what I'm communicating and the energy of how I walk about the earth on a daily basis is what attracts similar energy. I think value creators and big thinkers and people who are rooted in integrity, who can execute, are attracted to the energy. So I'm not out there ever chasing anyone or anything. I'm um, I'm about building this vision and the creation.
Speaker 2:I'm about attracting a certain, a very specific reciprocal of the energy I'm putting out I think that's how you show up in the world and it has attracted a lot of us. Um, I think you said a couple things about entrepreneurship. We're all crazy, pretty much right. I mean, it is, and I wasn't always. I probably had the bug I did more of a traditional in my first career. It wasn't until I kind of jumped into the space and went okay, this is an exciting thing. It's hard.
Speaker 2:I have the utmost admiration for people who go through it and the people who go through it both the people who succeed, the people who fail, the people who try just going out and doing it and doing it on your own I just go, wow, that's I'm still. I'm still impressed by people who pull this off. This is not an easy thing to do. And so, coming back to your story about you said you're, you were grateful, you're grateful for the shit, and that is a guy, that's a. I think it's an incredibly healthy perspective, because when you can get to a point in life and saying I'm going to get a lot of stuff in life and I'm grateful for the, I'm grateful because I'm learning something, I'm getting something with this. Yeah, this is, this is hard, but I'm alive, I'm doing it, I'm learning something, I'm getting something. Yeah, this is hard, but I'm alive, I'm doing it, I'm moving forward, I'm whatever it might be, and that's a hell of a perspective, I think. Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 2:That is not an easy one, perspective that's an acquired taste. That's an acquired taste.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a hard-developed asset. That's not something you just wake up and you get out of college and you're like I'm going to do that, like that. It's something that you don't want to wish on anyone. And it's interesting having children. I have five children and I would love for them to be entrepreneurs, and I can see some of them making those choices and others not making those choices, and as a parent, you want them to have the best opportunities and then sometimes you're like man, if they had to go through what I had to go through, I don't know if I would want that for them. I don't know if they could survive it. I don't know if I could survive it again. If I had to do through, I don't know if I would want that for them. I don't know if they could survive it. I don't know if I could survive it again if I had to do it again. You know what I mean, and so it's a challenge, but it's the only path for many of us to harden ourselves in many ways, to recognize what we're capable of. So you don't walk into that. Choosing that, I'm grateful. I don't have a crystal ball. You know, I think about it often. If I had gone through 2008 with a crystal ball, realizing the process of rebuilding that would take almost a decade, I don't know if I would have had the stomach for it. I think that the naive optimism that I held all that time kept me alive and there were more than one instance where I thought maybe I'll just check out, maybe I'd be better, maybe it would be better for my family if I checked out. Thank God I didn't ever go that full path path down that path. I have friends who did. It's hit home for me whenever that's happened.
Speaker 1:Life is fragile. Life is not guaranteed. That's another interesting principle I think that Inv. Invictus Sovereign so elegantly, so perfectly embodies is that we are not living for guarantees. You know all of the things that Invictus Sovereign is focused on developing. Or financing does not come with guarantees it will be successful. Or financing does not come with guarantees it will be successful. But we're living for this chance to build something that's truly magnificent, and it's only living inside of the chance that we get to exercise faith and we get to expand to meet the demand. I recognize that the person sitting here with you today is probably not the man capable of running this thing 10 years from now. I recognize there's an amount of expansion.
Speaker 1:I'll expand to become that man 10 years from now. I'll have expanded so much I'll be able to meet that demand. Today I'm expanding to be able to meet the demand of today, right, but it's incumbent on me to continue to evolve, to continue to expand, to continue to refine this team, to continue to scale the team out, you know, and where we have any deficiencies, it's bring that guy, bring that Jedi in so that we can round out the collective talent. And if you go to the website, go to InvictusSovereigncom, check out the team. I implore you to go do that, because that's the most valuable part of this whole enterprise is, the people on this team are an astounding collection of people and they make me look good Everyone on.
Speaker 1:This team makes me look a lot smarter. I don't have to be quite as smart, because we have the guys that can answer those certain questions. We've got the engineers, we've got the bankers, we've got the lawyers, we've got the administrators. We've got a comprehensive offering to address all the aspects of of successful business as we scale up.
Speaker 2:When I don't know, say well on that. So you know, how do you? I know we sort of have a process what, what do you? What do you recognize in somebody when you say, hey, that's that, that's somebody that's going to fit in with a fit in with us, or is going to work with us, or is going to fit into our culture, even if they are a specialist right, what, what, what does it for you when you think about that, like as I mean, I? I mean, I think I probably have my own little kind of checkbox. I think we're probably similar, but what has been your mantra the last where you are right now in your life, what do you consider?
Speaker 1:I love that question. Integrity is at the top of that list, but I think even as important or more important is selflessness. And I'll just speak for myself, because I embody selflessness, because I want what I want for myself, I want for you. I want it almost more for you than I want it for myself. It's an emotional thing for me and I can vouch for that. Because that's such a deep, deep thing for me, I'm not going to get emotional's such a deep, deep thing for me, I'm not going to get emotional. I'm trying not to get emotional. But this is okay. This is very important.
Speaker 1:This has not always been the case for me. This has been through the evolutions of losing everything and being focused on the wrong why, or the wrong business plan or the wrong people. It's come from the refining of being hurt by the people I care about the most. You know we talk about being hurt, we talk about trauma, no-transcript and so what that's changed in me is this attitude of selflessness being that I don't have to own and control everything. I can give this up freely. I can bring on partners that I know exude the same amount of selflessness, who would go the extra mile for the team to build the team because there's a mission. It's not about them, it's something bigger. It's not about them, it's something bigger. It's something so much bigger. And so every single guy on this team has shown me over years that they are committed to a mission that's bigger than themselves, and in that commitment we've developed bonds and we've developed commitments to each other that I feel are sacrosanct, like I would never infringe on those critical bonds of trust that go beyond integrity.
Speaker 1:It's this. What I'm conveying is the selflessness of it. It's inimitable. It's so good I dare you to go build a better team. You won't be able to do it. It cannot be duplicated.
Speaker 1:That's what's so beautiful about it is it's not replicable? Because of the people, because of that energy that each of us bring to the table. We know we've got each other's backs. We know if we fail, we fail together. We know if we fail, we rise together. We know when we rise, we rise together. We know we're in this for the good, the bad and the ugly, and that's been hard lessons over the years, in being in bed, so to speak, with certain folks who love to take that credit when it's great and the second shit goes sideways. They don't want to take any accountability.
Speaker 1:No, accountability, it's all on me now. Well, wayne, if you did this or you didn't do that, so the blame game ensues, right. So you have integrity, you have selflessness, you have accountability. Accountability brings with it this mentality of extreme ownership and I'll just mention, you know, jocko Willink's book with Leif Babin called Extreme Ownership. It's one of the Bibles for me in how to operate a business. I'm not going to blame anyone on the team for a failure. What I will do when we have failures and we've had many. Just in the few short years since we started the business, we've had many failures and I make it a priority to trace back the steps that happened or did not happen to what I could do or could have done, to make sure that I'm owning the accountability for whatever that result is, particularly when it goes wrong. And I feel that, from all the guys on the team too, that we're constantly feeling that that accountability is strong.
Speaker 2:It's remarkable, and my different experiences is the thing that I've come back to, this thing that drew me into, beyond the friendships that we already had, that already existed and were in place, it is the idea that we can do something that's beyond us, that we know. Not one of us can get there alone, and it's going to take a team and it's going to take the absence or and you know it can be hard of taking ego and saying sit over there, you know I'm. It's not about that, I, I don't want, I don't care about the accolades, I don't care about that, I don't care about. What I want to do is I want to get it down the road because I think, you know, going back to our, what we're, what we're engaged in, is, could be and will be profound. We have a chance to profoundly impact and so, coming back to how we operate, we have to commit to the idea that this is well beyond us. This isn't about one of us being, oh hey, I'm going to show up on the cover of this magazine, or maybe we have this, we can do this, be this, and then, oh, we've got to check this box. No, no, it's about let's go do something, let's make good decisions, let's take a risk to fail. Let's take the risks, let's go after the big, let's go be big and go for the biggest thing we can do, because it's what we should do. And in doing that, if we do it as a team and if we operate like we have which is from when I joined the team I felt incredibly welcomed in and supported almost immediately, like I was actually surprised. I was like wow, I'm actually important.
Speaker 2:And sometimes in a lot of businesses it's sort of like oh, you have your role, you do this, and there's a lot of jockeying, right, I would argue there is very little of that, it's just it is. It is. You've. You've mentioned family and you know we can talk about it. Everybody's had different work experiences and I know there are people out there You've had those experiences where you feel like family in a job. We're there too.
Speaker 2:I think we're very at the point where we also need to be able to have the hard conversations. We need to be able to talk openly about all this stuff. That is the only way these things can grow, because this is very big and we're talking about lots of big numbers and lots of big projects and lots of big things. We would be crazy if we get. You know, we can't get caught in little stuff. We can't get caught in little stuff. I have to be able to go do what I do, knowing that everybody else is doing what they're doing to make this work and that they rely on me. And I come back to it's responsibility. I don't have a job, I have responsibility. Those are two distinct things. A lot of people operate under the mentality of I have a job.
Speaker 2:If you reframed it and said I have responsibility, it changes it and if it says, okay, well, yeah, but I don't really have responsibility, well, okay, then are you doing the right thing? Right? Are you being responsible to yourself and to whatever maybe it's client, maybe it's thing or, in this case, partners? Are you being responsible to them saying I have a responsibility to show up and do the things I said I was going to do? They, too, have a responsibility to also hold my feet in fire, because we know I'm not 100% all the time, far from it.
Speaker 2:We're humans fire because we know not you know, I'm not 100 all the time, far from it. Yeah, and humans, yeah, and, and we and we're pulled in different directions for all families and things and all kinds of stuff, but it takes that. It takes, you know, for me I've had a great opportunity to, to be engaged in things that were bigger than me in my life, in my work life and in my personal life, and that, um, sense of bigger than self is an incredible motivator and I I can't I don't know if you can force anybody to have like and just say you need to bring, you need to, you need to think beyond yourself. I think, if you've experienced it, um and there's so many ways people experience it we experience it being on a team, on a winning team. Maybe it's baseball, maybe it's basketball, maybe it's some sport team, maybe it's something where you're part of that. Maybe you've been part of a job, maybe you've been part of a school organization, something where you've been part of something that's bigger than yourself. It could be a church.
Speaker 1:Military.
Speaker 2:Military. Well, and for me, you know we can knock fraternities, but for me and they deserve probably some knocking, but my experience with it was I. It was always about something bigger than me, and the people I have in my life now are a direct result of that. I bought in, I drank the blood. I feel like, okay, yeah, this is a mission based upon these things. Yeah, some could be skeptical oh, that's just silly. I didn't take it as silly, I was like no, no, this means something. It meant something to the people who founded this over 100 years ago and said we are committed to these principles and I feel like, with what we have going right now, you've set the stage for a principle-based approach to how we do work, how we build stuff, and so principles and starting with our name, it's not just a name. It means a lot to us and I don't I don't care if it means anything, anything to anybody outside of us. Right, it means something to us.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It stands for something for us and you know, that's what we get to do a little bit, to share a little bit of how we've, how this has evolved for us, and it, it, it, invictus Sovereign, is based on some very significant principles and I, I think those are enigmatic to, to doing things in a way. That means something for me. I know it means for, and then we're all aligned. So I mean all of these things have kind of coalesced, all of these ideas from integrity or honor or you know, um, uh, you know, maybe the lack of ego or some of these things, we, we, just how we show up, all those things are are part of who we're becoming and who we are. And it's been great. I mean, we can wax a little poetic, but it is an emotional thing. I see this and I think you see this I hope this is my last big endeavor. I hope that we can do, if we can, what we, what we're setting out to do. We will affect change Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:I feel that deeply, I'm with you, I mean there's there, there've been a lot of brilliant people who have, who've kind of added to where we are today. You know, to the people who took out and going down this pathway on this, on this material and trying to figure out how to solve this, their hearts, from what I know, are very much in it. They have their own personal story as to why. And it's well beyond oh yeah, it's well beyond building a business.
Speaker 1:It's weird not about money, folks. No, no, it's not about money?
Speaker 2:No, it's not about money. It's about let's build this thing, you know, I never thought that.
Speaker 2:You know, I have had an opportunity in my days to make a difference in other people's lives, completely anonymous, and it matters. I didn't think that I would be sitting on an opportunity to actually perhaps contribute to maybe making a cleaner world, maybe making a more sustainable world in a way that actually works for people, that gets out of the politics of what we all get dragged into so often and actually create something that's solving so many problems and actually providing real value and creating jobs. And doing these things and actually contributing to a meaningful way, to, to, to create a business while cleaning up parts of our environment, making our, you know, making where we live cleaner and better, and we're on that cusp cleaner and better and we're on that cusp. I didn't think I'd have a chance to contribute to maybe helping rid the planet possibly of our landfill problem, which I'm going to go with all the recent science saying there's a lot of cancer caused by it that is probably going to be traced back to landfills.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, wow, if we, if we can play some small part, because we got to go do all the business things, we got to go set this up, we got to make all that work and that's really hard to do. It's all hard to do, but if we do it, it's not about the money, it's about we've just left the legacy. So that's where I am with where we are is that Invictus Sovereign? For me is it's about creating. We're about creating value well beyond ourselves and we're going to take our talents and our expertise, putting them together, hopefully in the best way possible, and our expertise putting them together, hopefully in the best way possible, and trying to affect this and get this done and move this ball down the damn road. And so that's where we are. That's our why, that's my why.
Speaker 1:I really appreciate you being willing to go into the fray with me, both in the business and on the show, and bring some emotion and authenticity to the table. Dave, I you know I love you very much as a brother and it's inspiring to me. When we're both sitting here, we're feeling emotional because I can feel your energy and you can feel mine and it's, it's real. Um, we're not putting on this dog and pony show. This is real, and you know you bring up this other concept when we're talking about principles. You know one thing that's really important here is authentic respect, deep respect for one another, and when that really gets applied, egos get left at the door.
Speaker 1:What it means is we walk into an environment daily. When that really gets applied, egos get left at the door. What it means is we walk into an environment daily where we can call bullshit on each other. If the answers are not satisfactory and the solutions are not adequate, we can say bullshit. We can argue about it.
Speaker 1:This is not a group of yes men just cowering to some let's save the planet. This is a let's really no, create something that works and, because of that openness and that environment, to be critical of each other, knowing that we can slug it out, and then we're going to walk out the door and we're going to hug it out. There's certainty, I have certainty that I can have a strong debate with you, a strong disagreement with you, and by the end of it we're going to be able to hug it out, because we have a deep respect for one another as a human being and as partners and brothers, and that's something that's common with everyone on this team. You can't buy that, you can't fake that, and we've all been exposed to the megalomaniacs with the ego that they can't check at the door and it can ruin businesses and it has ruined, it's ruined a lot of business.
Speaker 1:I have personally been in business with the, the folks who have the attitude that if they can't be the captain of the ship, they'd rather burn the ship down and sink it. Toxic, toxic people, yeah, um. Which is what has deepened these principles inside my heart and why I operate the way I do, because I value the contrast of that. If I hadn't been in those terrible situations with those individuals, then I wouldn't value so much what we're cultivating here with this energy, so much what we're cultivating here with this energy, this authentic, respectful, integrous environment that we've built and that we all care about so deeply. We do anything to protect it, and so that's that's exciting it is.
Speaker 2:I, you know. You reminded me of something I, uh, you know, with Greg. I was, Greg and I were in a mastermind group, greg and our, our partners, uh, for a long time. And I think, uh, you know, I didn't Napoleon Hill and I didn't really at the time I didn't know much about him, the concept, but we brought six guys together and we met once a month and I think we won about about 15 years and what ended up happening out of that lesson I learned where we're already there that's why I have that experience is that we were able to get to a point where it didn't matter what somebody had to say, I had love and respect for them, um, and I was going to give them an honest feedback and they didn't go oh, why are you doing?
Speaker 2:You know? Why are you being so hard, wasn't that? It was no, I care about you enough, I'm concerned about you enough to give you this feedback, like because I want you to take it and do with it what you will. But that's why I'm giving it to you, not because I think you're less than, or you've messed up or no. It's because that's what you need. And similarly, it's like look, I need to understand how this. And sometimes you, no, it's because that's what you need. And similarly, it's like look, I need to understand how this. And sometimes, you know, sometimes it's simple, sometimes it's really these are really complex issues. Sometimes it was, you know, we had one, one, one case where you know we all said, well, why don't you do this thing? And he's like I hadn't even thought of it and and it was like, and he was like I love you guys, because we could just be. We realized none of us had all the answers and it was showing up saying, hey, I need help understanding this. Can I get the group of everybody to jump on a call real quick, because I've run into this obstacle and I don't know if I'm thinking about it the right way. So here's the stuff, the here's the stuff, what do you think? And then to get you know in at the time, five different perspectives about that, what I know about us. So that was my kind of my, I guess, acclamation to that process and it's a really healthy process.
Speaker 2:I mean, I know there are all kinds of different masterminds from different ways, but when you get to a Close-knit group of people where lots of barriers come down. There's no chest puffing, there's no like oh, it's just people who you genuinely respect. You don't have to agree with them. That's the beautiful thing. In fact, some of my closest friends, those people in my life, we probably disagree about a lot of things. That doesn't matter and that could maybe be a lesson on political discourses, that we get so angry with people.
Speaker 2:Right before I came here to Knicks, I was watching I'm seeing a thing on Facebook. A friend you know was over the debate and they were arguing and you know it was kind of visceral and back and forth. And then another guy who I know the two of them have been friends for a long, long time jumps on and they disagree and then they say, hey, so when are you camping? Can I come meet you camping? And you realize really quickly it's like see, this is what good disagreement looks like is that people can still go. And you know this healthy disagreement, people can go beyond this and say, oh, I'm still going to show up, I'm still going to do the thing with you, whatever. And I just I think in the business place we get, you know, it happens a lot where disagreements lead to little teams and clicks and walls going up and we all fight.
Speaker 2:We're not perfect. And it comes back to that ego and how you show up and talking to people and realizing, like, look, this is a good person, how do we get down the road? And that's where I come back to family. You know, I guess we all have experience. You love them, right, and talking to people and realizing, like, look, this is a good person, how do we get down the road? And that's where I come back to family, I guess. Well, I've experienced you love them, right, they're still family, and so you've got to find a way. I think you have to find, I think you should find a way to figure out how you coexist or how you work and you find those common ground, you find those ways to win. I think it's a much healthier way to show up in the world, I agree, and we just kind of how we're going about things and I think it's made for healthier decisions, because we've had debates already. We've had debates on lots of stuff.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely, when you can create an environment devoid of ego and arrogance. You don't have guys sitting around a table projecting what you hope to see in me. You don't have guys sitting around a table projecting what you hope to see in me. I'm not hoping for you to believe something about me that isn't true. So there's a stripping down of all that projection in favor of an authentic baseline. This is who I really am. This is what I'm really capable of. Hey, guess what? I'm not sure how to solve this. I could really capable of. Hey, guess what? I'm not sure how to solve this. I could really use your help.
Speaker 1:That's where having the group support each other in becoming the highest possible version of ourselves is crucial, and we'll go so much faster and further than a bunch of guys sitting around the table projecting with their egos, what they want each other to see in them, trying to hide the trouble in their marriage, trying to hide their drug and alcohol addictions, trying to hide all the things that go on behind the scenes that they feel ashamed about.
Speaker 1:I can come to the table and I can talk about all of those things behind the scenes in my life, because I trust this team.
Speaker 1:I have love and appreciation and respect and I know it's all reciprocated to me and so I can be authentically me and I can ask for help or assistance and I can admit when I'm wrong, and all of those things compounded make a team so strong because it's authentic. We don't have to worry about Greg or Len and what's going on behind the scenes, because we already know. We already know authentically who each of these players are to the core and we can depend on that, who each of these players are to the core and we can depend on that. So with that, I think I mean, have we covered? We can probably never fully cover it. We could probably go on about our team and about this company forever, and I look forward to all of the conversations that we continue to have with municipalities, with investors, with service providers and joint venture providers. We are working with some of the biggest companies on earth, yes, and they're feeling that energy, I think so they're recognizing this energy.
Speaker 2:I can't. I mean, I think, given where we are, I can't think of it being anything else, because they see I mean their experience of us when we're together is palpable. I mean they see people who are very committed and very well committed, driven, visionary, open to hearing and saying okay, how do we do this better? This is what we're doing. Here's kind of the goal, we're trying to get there. How do we do this? When we is what we did, here's kind of the goal we're trying to get there. How do we do this?
Speaker 2:When we show up into those meetings, we're talking to somebody. We're not coming in and at least so far, we're not coming in and saying, okay, we know better. We're saying, okay, we want to do this thing. Help us. Help us fill in what we don't know Are, fill in what we don't know. Are we going about this the right way? Well, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Well, that's where that's, that's where, immediately, we're, we're working with them and we're letting them do what they do best. You know and I think that's been also part of it is let, let, let find people and let them do what they do best. We'll give them that autonomy, sovereignty, sovereignty to do what they do best, absolutely, and you know, both externally and internally, and support them and figure out how to do it and not going like, hey, I know no, how do I help you help yourself, how do I take out or remove obstacles from what it is you're doing? That's how I can best support some of these and that's how we're supporting them. That's how we're going in conversations and it's been well. We're excited because we're getting some very good reception.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not difficult to enroll folks in a cause, in a major cause, that's authentic, with authentic people, and where they recognize there's a place at the table for them and it's results-driven. It's not about fluff. We don't care about hours. What we care about is the results executing, so it's fun.
Speaker 2:Well, and I'll say this, we haven't really talked about it, but on the investment side, as we go down the road, I mean I'm excited. I know you are too. We're kind of in this lane right now where we're really looking at stuff that's fitting into our parks. But as we get to expand a little bit, we get to look at companies who exhibit what, you know, our experience, are the right kinds of values and help support their founders. You know, continue on, Because at the end of the day, we've been there, you know it's capital at the right time to get them right. But it's about the people and people's really important. So I'm excited to like engage in some of that, to really go out and help companies. We, you know, and help people, we think are fantastic.
Speaker 1:People continue on their mission to do whatever it is their business is, or whatever they're doing I appreciate you bringing that up before we end, dave their businesses or whatever they're doing. I appreciate you bringing that up before we end, dave, and I'll submit my final thought, which is specifically to that point. One of the funds that we're developing which is a Reg D 506C means that it can have an online presence, means we can make mention of it on the show, is the Invictus Sovereign Environmental Impact R&D Fund 1. Is the Invictus Sovereign Environmental Impact R&D Fund 1. That particular offering is designed to not only support the businesses that we already own portfolio membership interest in, but could also provide seed capital or growth capital to any of these innovators you're mentioning and there's many. They're coming to us almost daily.
Speaker 1:Hey, looking for a million here, looking for five million here. We want to be able to be a financing strength to some of these providers as they go through R&D in the seed stage or pre-revenue stages, because we recognize that to the extent that we can help them develop new things, it sharpens up our offering of what our parks can do and what our facilities can do. So it's a very support-each-other ecosystem from a raising capital and providing capital sort of space, and that's a neat position to be in too, to be a provider, a value provider, to others wanting to start up who are aligned in the sustainability effort with us. So with that, that's my final thought, dave, thank you. Thank you. Today, this is my favorite episode, looking forward to many more. Hopefully you're enjoying it and you'll join us for the next episode. Thanks.
