1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.220 Johny Fernandez: Yesterday, Sean great sweater. 2 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:03.380 Sean Murray: This a sweater. 3 00:00:03.380 --> 00:00:03.450 Sean Murray: Is this a sweater? 4 00:00:03.450 --> 00:00:03.930 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. 5 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:05.880 Johny Fernandez: A hoodie. 6 00:00:06.030 --> 00:00:07.650 Sean Murray: Okay, yeah it's like a sweatshirt. I wouldn't 7 00:00:07.650 --> 00:00:08.370 call it a sweater. 8 00:00:08.370 --> 00:00:11.760 Johny Fernandez: Sweatshirt hoodie. I like the logo. 9 00:00:11.850 --> 00:00:13.380 Sean Murray: I like I like your T shirt. 10 00:00:13.710 --> 00:00:18.240 Johny Fernandez: Thanks it's a great T shirt. That's a hoodie. 11 00:00:18.330 --> 00:00:20.820 Sean Murray: I like how you call it a sweater. Okay. All right. 12 00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:22.020 Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it. 13 00:00:22.050 --> 00:00:24.870 Johny Fernandez: No, I like so that when people see you, they 14 00:00:24.870 --> 00:00:27.060 have no question about where you work. 15 00:00:27.090 --> 00:00:29.220 Sean Murray: What makes this sweater a sweater now right now 16 00:00:29.220 --> 00:00:31.950 I'm confused. Why did you lead in with sweater? Was that? Was 17 00:00:31.950 --> 00:00:34.050 that an accident? Or did you would you actually call this a 18 00:00:34.050 --> 00:00:34.530 sweater? 19 00:00:35.040 --> 00:00:38.100 Johny Fernandez: Um, could you call it a sweater? Or you could 20 00:00:38.100 --> 00:00:40.410 I would call it a hoodie. It's a hoodie. 21 00:00:40.440 --> 00:00:41.820 Sean Murray: What about sweatshirt is that not a word 22 00:00:41.820 --> 00:00:42.240 anymore? 23 00:00:42.270 --> 00:00:44.550 Johny Fernandez: It is. But what do you weigh differently between 24 00:00:44.550 --> 00:00:45.630 a sweater and a sweatshirt? 25 00:00:46.470 --> 00:00:47.910 Sean Murray: I thought that there was a pretty stark 26 00:00:47.910 --> 00:00:50.670 difference. But maybe I'm wrong. Or what? I would never call this 27 00:00:50.670 --> 00:00:54.780 a sweater. A sweater I'm thinking is like, like hand 28 00:00:54.780 --> 00:00:55.860 woven. Like. 29 00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:58.410 Johny Fernandez: I think it's a material that it's me. That's a 30 00:00:58.410 --> 00:01:00.690 big difference, isn't it? I don't know. 31 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:02.610 Sean Murray: I don't know. This is just a weird way to start the 32 00:01:02.610 --> 00:01:07.410 show. It is a weird way to style. This is a sweater. 33 00:01:07.410 --> 00:01:08.760 Johny Fernandez: We're gonna call I'm gonna call it a hoodie. 34 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:12.350 Sean Murray: Okay. That's it. That's the show. 35 00:01:12.350 --> 00:01:13.070 Johny Fernandez: That's the show everyone. 36 00:01:13.070 --> 00:01:13.300 Johny Fernandez: Oh man, you crack me up. Well, welcome you 37 00:01:13.300 --> 00:01:13.730 Sean Murray: Thanks for tuning in. 38 00:01:19.810 --> 00:01:22.150 guys. I'm glad you can join us and have a good laugh with us. 39 00:01:23.110 --> 00:01:27.970 So let's talk about Nationwide and Funding Circle. Okay, a 40 00:01:27.970 --> 00:01:31.330 recent announcement that was made, that they announced the 41 00:01:31.330 --> 00:01:34.600 partnership with Nationwide Insurance. Obviously, when you 42 00:01:34.600 --> 00:01:38.620 think nationwide, I think of the jingle Nationwide is on here. So 43 00:01:38.890 --> 00:01:43.540 that's good, John. Thank you. So in that move, it's designed to 44 00:01:43.540 --> 00:01:46.540 improve access to capital from business that use for businesses 45 00:01:46.540 --> 00:01:50.140 that use nationwide as their insurance provider. So Shawn, 46 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:53.110 something I was reading is that this is a trend in small 47 00:01:53.110 --> 00:01:57.370 business in the small business financing industry, that pretty 48 00:01:57.370 --> 00:02:00.970 much people are partnering up business partnering up to create 49 00:02:00.970 --> 00:02:04.030 access to resources surrounding small business financing 50 00:02:04.030 --> 00:02:08.560 merchants, etc. So when you hear the partnership, and you see 51 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:13.150 that this is a trend that's starting to happen, do you think 52 00:02:13.150 --> 00:02:18.550 that this is something that is ultimately beneficial? I mean, 53 00:02:18.550 --> 00:02:22.120 it seems like it seems like on paper, it seems great. But let's 54 00:02:22.120 --> 00:02:25.570 talk about like it actually playing out. Yeah. What are your 55 00:02:25.570 --> 00:02:29.410 thoughts on that? I mean, do you think that, you know, people can 56 00:02:29.410 --> 00:02:32.200 kind of do like a one stop shop and do multiple things at once? 57 00:02:32.230 --> 00:02:33.100 Yeah. Which is working. 58 00:02:33.130 --> 00:02:36.010 Sean Murray: So let's talk about what the partnership is. First, 59 00:02:36.370 --> 00:02:39.700 I think that we see a lot of headlines pretty regularly about 60 00:02:39.700 --> 00:02:42.160 this company is doing this with another one. Yeah. It's a whole 61 00:02:42.160 --> 00:02:43.960 big thing. And they do a big announcement. And it's 62 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:47.080 everyone's great, and everyone's valuation is gonna go up, you 63 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:51.490 know, a billion dollars as a result. So we're typically quite 64 00:02:51.490 --> 00:02:54.430 interested to find out what are the mechanics of the actual 65 00:02:54.430 --> 00:02:58.090 relationship? And we did have Adam Zaki, who was a reporter 66 00:02:58.090 --> 00:03:02.410 here, reach out, and we found out more about how it's all 67 00:03:02.410 --> 00:03:04.510 going to work. And it's essentially it's a referral 68 00:03:04.510 --> 00:03:08.440 relationship. So that when you're using nationwide, there 69 00:03:08.440 --> 00:03:13.870 is an option to go and apply for funding through funding circle. 70 00:03:13.900 --> 00:03:16.810 Yeah. It's essentially like a, like a, like a box or like a 71 00:03:16.810 --> 00:03:19.600 check box. Yeah. When you're going through the process, and 72 00:03:19.600 --> 00:03:22.750 then vice versa, vice versa, for funding circle, when I guess 73 00:03:22.750 --> 00:03:26.710 when you're applying for funding through funding circle, the 74 00:03:26.770 --> 00:03:30.430 option does come up, hey, do you want to also get some insurance, 75 00:03:30.700 --> 00:03:34.840 and that will refer you to nationwide. So we talked on here 76 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:39.910 before about, like DoorDash and square and it QuickBooks and 77 00:03:39.910 --> 00:03:42.580 there being like a funding button and talking about sort of 78 00:03:42.580 --> 00:03:47.530 the native integration of financing into the product. This 79 00:03:47.530 --> 00:03:52.300 particular arrangement is more of a referral, saying, Hey, if 80 00:03:52.300 --> 00:03:54.790 you're, if you're interested in being customer of this, you may 81 00:03:54.790 --> 00:03:57.970 also be interested in being a customer of this other thing. 82 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:02.890 Yeah. Whose goals and culture and you know, objectives align 83 00:04:02.890 --> 00:04:05.440 with ours? Yeah. But it's not like it's not like a complete 84 00:04:05.470 --> 00:04:08.740 integration of the of the two. So that's, that's what we've 85 00:04:08.740 --> 00:04:12.370 learned about it. Yeah. But I still think it's, it's, you 86 00:04:12.370 --> 00:04:15.310 know, it's significant. Yeah. And now you have an online 87 00:04:15.310 --> 00:04:20.230 lender, looking to partner with a very large insurance company. 88 00:04:20.260 --> 00:04:22.510 Yeah. Which we haven't really heard too much about. 89 00:04:22.590 --> 00:04:26.160 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. So let me ask you this when something like 90 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:29.040 this happens, and the partnership, you know, they 91 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:33.420 collaborate, the application process, I think from and you 92 00:04:33.420 --> 00:04:35.430 can correct me if I'm wrong, but the application process, they 93 00:04:35.430 --> 00:04:37.710 have to submit a completely different application and we 94 00:04:37.710 --> 00:04:39.210 want to go be funded, correct? 95 00:04:39.210 --> 00:04:41.210 Sean Murray: Yeah. That's that's our understanding of it. It's 96 00:04:41.210 --> 00:04:43.850 not just like, you press something. And then a lot of 97 00:04:43.850 --> 00:04:47.120 Yeah, yeah, I think it really does seem like it's more of 98 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:50.480 maybe a referral referral relationship. Like, if you're 99 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:53.480 going through the process on one company, there is the option to 100 00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:57.320 go to the next formula presented. I think sometimes we 101 00:04:57.320 --> 00:05:00.710 wonder whether or not somebody is like legitimate You know, can 102 00:05:00.710 --> 00:05:03.890 you trust them? Yeah. But I think if you trusted one enough, 103 00:05:03.950 --> 00:05:06.740 and you were presented with the opportunity to apply for another 104 00:05:06.770 --> 00:05:09.350 from the company you already trust. Yeah. You know, while 105 00:05:09.350 --> 00:05:12.230 you're already in the process of already signing up for things, 106 00:05:12.410 --> 00:05:15.290 it's a powerful endorsement, right? It needs to want to say, 107 00:05:15.320 --> 00:05:18.980 hey, funding circle also offers a service. And you're saying, 108 00:05:18.980 --> 00:05:21.980 well, nationwide. Yeah. Seems to be on board with it. Yeah, 109 00:05:22.010 --> 00:05:23.540 that's that's a pretty good endorsement. 110 00:05:23.540 --> 00:05:25.100 Johny Fernandez: That is the endorsement, for sure. 111 00:05:26.180 --> 00:05:28.400 Sean Murray: Yeah, they're Yeah, they're on your side, funding 112 00:05:28.400 --> 00:05:33.710 circle is on your side. Copyrighted I thought of it 113 00:05:33.710 --> 00:05:34.040 first. 114 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:38.510 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. No, but it's, it's also and I think, 115 00:05:38.510 --> 00:05:40.970 like you said, I think it's the pattern that we've been seeing 116 00:05:40.970 --> 00:05:44.180 of different companies teaming up, and pretty much, you know, 117 00:05:44.540 --> 00:05:47.300 being a one stop shop, like, hey, if you're a business, you 118 00:05:47.300 --> 00:05:50.060 need funding, you need insurance, we can offer you 119 00:05:50.060 --> 00:05:53.570 those tools for you to kind of move forward. To be quite frank 120 00:05:53.570 --> 00:05:57.080 with you, I think it is genius. Because there's certain times 121 00:05:57.080 --> 00:06:02.240 when you're looking for funding for your business, that there's 122 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:06.350 just so much different avenues and legs to it, then, if you can 123 00:06:06.350 --> 00:06:10.190 just do it all at one place. It makes it easier for the person 124 00:06:10.190 --> 00:06:13.910 that's looking for funding. So I personally think it's a great 125 00:06:13.910 --> 00:06:18.350 idea. But I think, you know, we'll, you know, we'll see if 126 00:06:18.980 --> 00:06:21.680 we'll see how it plays out, we'll see. And if other 127 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:24.920 companies continue to start making this, you know, as a 128 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:26.660 trend, as a trend, so. 129 00:06:26.690 --> 00:06:28.340 Sean Murray: We were talking about whether or not someone had 130 00:06:28.340 --> 00:06:32.570 already approached Uber Eats. Yeah. It just this just, it just 131 00:06:32.570 --> 00:06:36.500 feeds into it, in terms of what are the large players doing to 132 00:06:36.500 --> 00:06:40.640 generate more business? Are they just making more cold calls? Are 133 00:06:40.640 --> 00:06:44.270 they just sending out more pieces of mail? Yeah. No, 134 00:06:44.270 --> 00:06:47.120 they're going into these type of arrangements, forming these 135 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:50.090 large partnerships, where they hope to generate a significant 136 00:06:50.090 --> 00:06:54.230 amount of business at what would seem like no additional cost. 137 00:06:54.260 --> 00:06:57.230 Other than that, they're also cross referring. Yeah. So I 138 00:06:57.230 --> 00:06:59.180 think that's pretty smart. Other people should be thinking about 139 00:06:59.180 --> 00:06:59.660 that as well. 140 00:06:59.660 --> 00:07:02.030 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. And I think I think what really stuck 141 00:07:02.030 --> 00:07:06.080 out to me stood out to me about this conversation. Last time we 142 00:07:06.080 --> 00:07:11.690 had it is that for the DoorDash partnership, these guys were 143 00:07:11.900 --> 00:07:15.080 technically not even in like the industry, they're from Silicon 144 00:07:15.080 --> 00:07:19.850 Valley, right? And, you know, all it takes is being creative. 145 00:07:20.150 --> 00:07:23.060 You know, and if you're someone that's in the in the industry, 146 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:26.060 and you're looking, you know, to like expand or you feel stuck, 147 00:07:26.060 --> 00:07:28.730 or whatever, literally, it's is approaching these companies and 148 00:07:28.730 --> 00:07:32.330 saying like, hey, let's partner up, get the ball rolling, and be 149 00:07:32.330 --> 00:07:37.550 creative, and look at big picture items, and not just be 150 00:07:37.550 --> 00:07:40.400 so worried about like the next transaction that's going on, 151 00:07:40.430 --> 00:07:43.910 right. So think big picture, because obviously, you know, 152 00:07:44.840 --> 00:07:47.390 there's plenty of insurance companies and doing something 153 00:07:47.390 --> 00:07:50.750 similar to this. Or like, doing something similar to like, 154 00:07:50.750 --> 00:07:53.390 DoorDash, UberEATS. Like, there's so many options out 155 00:07:53.390 --> 00:07:53.720 there. 156 00:07:53.900 --> 00:07:56.210 Sean Murray: There's a lot of insurance companies, think about 157 00:07:56.210 --> 00:07:58.070 it, you could go and try to partner up with a different 158 00:07:58.070 --> 00:07:58.880 insurance company. 159 00:07:58.910 --> 00:07:59.150 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. 160 00:07:59.150 --> 00:07:59.400 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. It's, it's all about getting creative 161 00:07:59.400 --> 00:07:59.780 Sean Murray: Oh, that's right. 162 00:08:02.330 --> 00:08:06.890 nowadays. And I think that's something I'm realizing to, you 163 00:08:06.890 --> 00:08:11.480 know, being an independent contractor, and then talking a 164 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:14.690 lot of guys over at Broker Fair, is that they just simply, you 165 00:08:14.690 --> 00:08:16.490 know, a lot of people get stuck. And they're like, Oh, my God, 166 00:08:16.490 --> 00:08:19.130 like, So and so makes it look so easy. I remember that was a one 167 00:08:19.130 --> 00:08:21.530 common I heard over and over again, at Broker Fair from the 168 00:08:21.530 --> 00:08:26.180 newer guys, is that how does X, Y and Z person make this 169 00:08:26.180 --> 00:08:28.790 industry look so easy? I told her, I was like, number one, 170 00:08:28.790 --> 00:08:31.850 these guys have been doing it for years. And secondly, is that 171 00:08:31.850 --> 00:08:34.700 they've gotten creative. Like, you know, what worked for them 172 00:08:34.700 --> 00:08:36.770 may not work for you, but you kind of just had to think 173 00:08:36.770 --> 00:08:40.100 outside the box. And I realized that a lot of a lot of people 174 00:08:40.100 --> 00:08:42.440 that I've met that are newer in the industry, they kind of 175 00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:47.120 think, for the next transaction, they're like chasing that next 176 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:50.810 transaction, like, okay, we're gonna get like, $30,000. If we 177 00:08:50.810 --> 00:08:54.080 close this deal. But then, once that deal is done, if that deal 178 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:56.660 falls through, they don't have any other ideas. You don't have 179 00:08:56.660 --> 00:09:01.010 any other thoughts, any other things in in their list of 180 00:09:01.010 --> 00:09:02.330 things to go after. 181 00:09:02.360 --> 00:09:04.760 Sean Murray: Yeah. So. Yeah, it's a good point. I think the 182 00:09:04.760 --> 00:09:07.220 end game for anyone who's looking to scale thinking long 183 00:09:07.220 --> 00:09:11.750 term, is how do you avoid having to be the person working 20 184 00:09:11.750 --> 00:09:13.550 hours a day, forever? 185 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:14.780 Johny Fernandez: Yeah, that's true. 186 00:09:14.990 --> 00:09:17.720 Sean Murray: What what do you have to put in place to avoid 187 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:21.920 having to work at the same level that you currently are? And it's 188 00:09:21.920 --> 00:09:24.440 okay, if you continue to work long hours, but if you're just 189 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:27.920 doing if you're on the front line of the grind 20 hours a day 190 00:09:27.950 --> 00:09:32.630 for 20 years. Right, then you can never retire. Yeah. I guess, 191 00:09:32.630 --> 00:09:34.280 because you're gonna have to, you're gonna have to keep doing 192 00:09:34.280 --> 00:09:37.730 the same thing. You want to get to the point where you're, you 193 00:09:37.730 --> 00:09:40.880 don't have to work as much, right? Yeah. Or you're focusing 194 00:09:40.880 --> 00:09:43.610 on the things that are going to just scale the company where if 195 00:09:43.640 --> 00:09:45.920 you went out and you made a partnership with an insurance 196 00:09:45.920 --> 00:09:48.890 company. Yeah. With something, right. And that's where that's 197 00:09:48.890 --> 00:09:50.840 where your time is, is being applied. 198 00:09:50.910 --> 00:09:54.240 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. And I think the whole concept of you 199 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:56.790 know, everyone wants I think, and it's sure like we all want 200 00:09:56.790 --> 00:09:59.070 to get rich, we don't want to have a bunch of money we all you 201 00:09:59.070 --> 00:10:02.610 know, want to have nice things, but the people that actually 202 00:10:02.610 --> 00:10:05.940 make that happen, they just think differently. And then the 203 00:10:05.940 --> 00:10:09.030 people that don't think outside of the box, they're gonna work 204 00:10:09.030 --> 00:10:12.150 forever and working forever. sucks. Yeah, well, obviously 205 00:10:12.150 --> 00:10:12.450 Sean Murray: You can say we won't bleep that out. We are 206 00:10:12.450 --> 00:10:12.870 that sucks. Yeah. 207 00:10:14.970 --> 00:10:15.930 live so. 208 00:10:17.670 --> 00:10:19.140 Johny Fernandez: It sounds it's like if you're working that 209 00:10:19.140 --> 00:10:21.840 hard, like, you know, and I think we've talked about it 210 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:24.390 before the person that gets creative. And does these type of 211 00:10:24.390 --> 00:10:29.640 partnerships. They, they're the ones that get ahead. You know, 212 00:10:29.640 --> 00:10:35.790 so, yeah. So think outside the box, get creative. So that's my 213 00:10:35.790 --> 00:10:38.520 piece. That's, that's my piece of advice for like, yeah. 214 00:10:38.520 --> 00:10:39.150 Sean Murray: Great advice. 215 00:10:39.150 --> 00:10:42.960 Johny Fernandez: Great advice. Great advice. Okay, so this is 216 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:45.390 another story that we're going to bring up. We've talked about 217 00:10:45.390 --> 00:10:47.760 it before, and it's definitely been a source of a lot of 218 00:10:47.820 --> 00:10:51.180 interest on deBanked. It's regarding MJ capital. Can you 219 00:10:51.180 --> 00:10:52.110 remember MJ Capital? 220 00:10:52.140 --> 00:10:53.040 Sean Murray: I do I do. Yeah. 221 00:10:53.040 --> 00:10:55.670 Johny Fernandez: It was definitely a story that many 222 00:10:55.670 --> 00:10:58.550 people clicked on. It was a Ponzi scheme to kind of recap, 223 00:10:58.790 --> 00:11:03.830 allegedly. An alleged scheme alleged Ponzi scheme down based 224 00:11:03.830 --> 00:11:07.190 in South Florida. Yeah. So we found out this week that the 225 00:11:07.190 --> 00:11:10.940 second interim report reported by MJ Capital's receiver, 226 00:11:11.270 --> 00:11:15.770 offered some discouraging use for investors. Essentially, 227 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:20.810 everything you know, just long story short, it just wasn't 228 00:11:20.900 --> 00:11:24.140 there. The money wasn't there, nothing was nothing was 229 00:11:24.290 --> 00:11:29.990 legitimate, to kind of recap a little bit from our notes. So 230 00:11:29.990 --> 00:11:32.390 there was no comprehensive investor list located in the 231 00:11:32.390 --> 00:11:36.230 books and records for the receivership defendants. So. 232 00:11:36.290 --> 00:11:37.400 Sean Murray: That's a pretty big problem. 233 00:11:37.410 --> 00:11:41.820 Johny Fernandez: That is a huge problem. So we'll, we'll get you 234 00:11:41.820 --> 00:11:43.680 guys some numbers give us some insight. 235 00:11:43.680 --> 00:11:45.100 Sean Murray: They didn't have a whole list of all the they 236 00:11:45.100 --> 00:11:47.530 didn't have investors, you would think that would be number one, 237 00:11:47.560 --> 00:11:50.620 that would be priority number, who invested in the company, who 238 00:11:50.620 --> 00:11:54.220 invested in the company. They know, it's more than 5500. Like 239 00:11:54.220 --> 00:11:57.160 there's no comprehensive list. They don't know for sure. 240 00:11:57.880 --> 00:12:02.380 Johny Fernandez: So the it's like you said it's 5500 people, 241 00:12:02.410 --> 00:12:05.110 investors total who invested more than $200 million, 242 00:12:05.950 --> 00:12:09.250 altogether $200 million, the receiver says that it has 243 00:12:10.270 --> 00:12:13.450 received already received estimated loss claims about of 244 00:12:13.510 --> 00:12:18.640 about $150 million. So the challenge with a large figure in 245 00:12:18.640 --> 00:12:25.000 that business, is that the they don't have anything recorded. 246 00:12:25.090 --> 00:12:27.970 And like they don't know where it like there's no paper trail, 247 00:12:27.970 --> 00:12:30.850 essentially, there's nothing to kind of keep things, you know, 248 00:12:30.850 --> 00:12:33.760 intact with the books like they don't, it's not there, 249 00:12:34.150 --> 00:12:34.930 essentially. 250 00:12:38.110 --> 00:12:41.020 Sean Murray: Yeah, yeah, here, here's here's the here's the 251 00:12:41.020 --> 00:12:44.920 interesting thing about MJ Capital versus some other 252 00:12:44.920 --> 00:12:47.980 companies that had found themselves in the same position 253 00:12:47.980 --> 00:12:50.440 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, they're not the 254 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:54.370 first company to get sued by the SEC. But what we've seen in 255 00:12:54.370 --> 00:12:58.450 previous cases with the SEC, is that when a receiver was brought 256 00:12:58.450 --> 00:13:02.140 in, the investors could expect to get a significant amount of 257 00:13:02.140 --> 00:13:06.490 money back, because the portfolio was going to be wound 258 00:13:06.490 --> 00:13:10.180 down. And as those receivables are collected, that money goes 259 00:13:10.180 --> 00:13:13.330 into the receivership and a large portion of it will be paid 260 00:13:13.330 --> 00:13:16.360 back out to their investors. So it helped that previous 261 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:17.980 companies who had found themselves in similar 262 00:13:17.980 --> 00:13:22.060 circumstances actually had very large portfolios, that could be 263 00:13:22.060 --> 00:13:24.520 wound down, and those receivables can be used to pay 264 00:13:24.520 --> 00:13:31.630 back investors with MJ capital. In true a legit Ponzi scheme, 265 00:13:31.630 --> 00:13:35.800 passion, there does not appear to be a portfolio based upon 266 00:13:35.800 --> 00:13:40.600 what the receiver has found. Yeah, so far, so no means say, 267 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:43.240 okay, great. When the portfolio gets wound down, everyone's 268 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:45.550 gonna get paid out there. Like there is no portfolio, there's 269 00:13:45.550 --> 00:13:49.030 nothing to wind down. So they're really working with, but what it 270 00:13:49.030 --> 00:13:52.780 seems like I'm just going off of receivers report that they're 271 00:13:52.810 --> 00:13:57.460 going off of cash on hand. They're trying to collect and 272 00:13:57.460 --> 00:14:04.030 recover funds paid to promoters and those who, who allegedly are 273 00:14:04.030 --> 00:14:08.200 part of, you know, the the orchestrating of the scheme, and 274 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:11.200 so they have to go and find money and seize it and take it 275 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:14.710 back. There looks to be no portfolio to go after. 276 00:14:14.760 --> 00:14:16.470 Johny Fernandez: Yeah, so there's no portfolio. And the 277 00:14:16.470 --> 00:14:19.050 other thing is that the little business that they do have on 278 00:14:19.050 --> 00:14:22.710 the books, all that it's been, it's false. None of its true. 279 00:14:22.710 --> 00:14:25.390 Sean Murray: Yeah. Yeah, they did. They bound some contracts 280 00:14:25.420 --> 00:14:27.460 like, oh, it looks it looks, it looks like they did do some 281 00:14:27.460 --> 00:14:30.730 deals. They did do some, you know, funding the ossified that, 282 00:14:30.760 --> 00:14:33.730 but they were fake contract. Yeah. And not that they were 283 00:14:33.730 --> 00:14:37.330 like, forged to the extent where, you know, the deals went 284 00:14:37.330 --> 00:14:39.670 through with the customer never signed them. Apparently, they, 285 00:14:39.940 --> 00:14:43.780 the customer didn't get funds, they would never sign it. I 286 00:14:43.780 --> 00:14:46.330 don't want to speculate but it looks like they were created to 287 00:14:46.330 --> 00:14:50.230 kind of give the appearance that there was business, but they it 288 00:14:50.230 --> 00:14:52.420 looks like they weren't able to find anyone who actually was 289 00:14:52.420 --> 00:14:54.970 funded. So they did mention I think this might have been the 290 00:14:54.970 --> 00:14:58.210 first time that the receiver mentioned that they found they 291 00:14:58.210 --> 00:15:02.020 did find some funding contracts. but they were fake. Yeah, that's 292 00:15:02.020 --> 00:15:02.650 not a good sign. 293 00:15:02.650 --> 00:15:04.300 Johny Fernandez: That's not a good sign at all. And we know 294 00:15:04.300 --> 00:15:09.970 that the person behind all this she will, she will be facing 295 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:13.210 well, back will be back in court at the end of the month. 296 00:15:13.540 --> 00:15:15.550 Sean Murray: End of the month. It's she yeah, it's it's a 297 00:15:15.550 --> 00:15:18.790 mediation process. From what I've seen. I've been, you know, 298 00:15:18.820 --> 00:15:21.850 following the docket, and it looks like it's some sort of 299 00:15:21.880 --> 00:15:28.660 mediation. She has not, to my knowledge conceded, really 300 00:15:28.660 --> 00:15:32.620 anything in terms of culpability here. It looks like she is 301 00:15:32.620 --> 00:15:38.710 proceeding on the basis that she is innocent in all of this. But 302 00:15:38.710 --> 00:15:42.970 I would say that, I think there was a lot of people that 303 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:47.020 believed that there was no wrongdoing, so to speak, that 304 00:15:47.020 --> 00:15:50.680 the government kind of jumped in too soon. And we're busting up a 305 00:15:50.680 --> 00:15:53.590 company that was legitimate, when they should have been 306 00:15:53.620 --> 00:15:56.560 leaving it alone. But now when is when you throw in fake 307 00:15:56.560 --> 00:16:00.130 contracts? Yeah. And that there's no portfolio to wind 308 00:16:00.130 --> 00:16:03.400 down. Yeah, that's a very big red flag because other companies 309 00:16:03.400 --> 00:16:08.050 have gotten in trouble with the SEC. And they had actually had a 310 00:16:08.050 --> 00:16:12.250 portfolio to wind down this one, we're not seeing that that's not 311 00:16:12.250 --> 00:16:17.050 good. I'd say MJ capital funding, is looking like a 312 00:16:17.050 --> 00:16:20.170 discouraging road ahead. For those that didn't invest, if 313 00:16:20.170 --> 00:16:22.810 you're ever able to find out exactly who those people are. 314 00:16:22.870 --> 00:16:27.160 Johny Fernandez: Exactly. And it's, I think, what caught my 315 00:16:27.160 --> 00:16:29.350 attention is that in the beginning, like you said, you 316 00:16:29.350 --> 00:16:31.990 know, we saw online petitions are like, you know, like, she's 317 00:16:31.990 --> 00:16:35.740 gonna say, like, you know, this, like, they're good people. This 318 00:16:35.740 --> 00:16:39.520 is a legitimate company. And everyone, you know, they really 319 00:16:39.520 --> 00:16:43.810 wanted to believe that there was no wrongdoing at all. And I 320 00:16:43.810 --> 00:16:46.510 think what was also interesting is that the way they set up 321 00:16:46.510 --> 00:16:49.570 their business, you know, what the online profiles they had, 322 00:16:49.570 --> 00:16:51.940 like, they were giving back to the community, they were 323 00:16:52.180 --> 00:16:58.570 partnering up and trying to make sure that they had all their 324 00:16:58.570 --> 00:17:03.220 bases covered, and really just, you know, make sure that 325 00:17:03.250 --> 00:17:06.220 everything seemed, you know, that they were a community 326 00:17:06.220 --> 00:17:09.100 player and a community advocate. And, and it's hard, and it's 327 00:17:09.100 --> 00:17:11.560 disheartening, because I've talked to some people that, you 328 00:17:11.560 --> 00:17:15.850 know, were a part of the, you know, that gave money, you know, 329 00:17:15.850 --> 00:17:18.070 because a lot of people gave their life savings and whatnot, 330 00:17:18.070 --> 00:17:21.340 and everyone thought it was real. They thought that like 331 00:17:21.340 --> 00:17:24.490 their money, we were gonna get their money back and, and all 332 00:17:24.490 --> 00:17:25.090 that. So. 333 00:17:25.120 --> 00:17:28.810 Sean Murray: Yeah, one takeaway I should stress in our reporting 334 00:17:28.840 --> 00:17:32.530 of this is that this should not reflect on the industry in which 335 00:17:32.530 --> 00:17:36.220 they purported to be a part of. Yeah, as best we can tell so 336 00:17:36.220 --> 00:17:40.180 far, they were not actually part of the industry itself. Yeah. 337 00:17:40.210 --> 00:17:45.640 That they purported to be Yeah, in order to run this particular 338 00:17:45.670 --> 00:17:49.090 business, whatever it was, which doesn't look good. Yeah. This 339 00:17:49.090 --> 00:17:51.850 should not reflect on other players who are actually in the 340 00:17:51.850 --> 00:17:55.240 business. Yeah. Because they weren't in the business. Yeah, 341 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:58.030 they if they weren't actually, you know, funding deals and all 342 00:17:58.030 --> 00:18:00.550 that other stuff. Like I said, from the beginning, I had never 343 00:18:00.550 --> 00:18:03.280 heard of them. When I heard the amount at first, I think they 344 00:18:03.280 --> 00:18:06.580 said like, between the 70 and $120 million raised from 345 00:18:06.580 --> 00:18:10.300 investors. I'm like, How can that be? That's humongous. How 346 00:18:10.300 --> 00:18:12.520 have I never heard of them. And now it's up to $200 million. 347 00:18:12.850 --> 00:18:15.310 They think they raised? I'm like, that's, that's a massive 348 00:18:15.310 --> 00:18:18.100 player. Yeah, I've never heard of them. Not that I had to know 349 00:18:18.100 --> 00:18:21.550 everybody. But I just I just find a it would be it's so weird 350 00:18:21.550 --> 00:18:23.890 that they had never once come across my radar. 351 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:25.720 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. And the fact that, you know, their 352 00:18:25.720 --> 00:18:28.330 timeline of when they were open, and they had that much money 353 00:18:28.330 --> 00:18:28.720 coming in. 354 00:18:28.750 --> 00:18:29.410 Sean Murray: So quickly. 355 00:18:29.410 --> 00:18:31.030 Johny Fernandez: So quickly. Yeah. And that's something that 356 00:18:31.030 --> 00:18:33.490 we talked about, too. It's like, Wait, this company has only been 357 00:18:33.490 --> 00:18:35.980 in business for X amount of time, and they've raised this 358 00:18:35.980 --> 00:18:39.700 much money, you know, that we would at least probably have 359 00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:42.490 heard of them, like you said, or they would have been in contact 360 00:18:42.520 --> 00:18:45.490 or like hey, let's go to Broker Fair. Yeah, you know, post on a 361 00:18:45.490 --> 00:18:46.840 daily like something but. 362 00:18:46.840 --> 00:18:49.000 Sean Murray: Something yeah, I don't know it was very, very 363 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:52.660 weird how they were able to raise so much money while 364 00:18:52.660 --> 00:18:55.990 purporting parenting or allegedly purporting to be part 365 00:18:55.990 --> 00:19:00.070 of this business. Yeah. But do not appear to actually have been 366 00:19:00.100 --> 00:19:00.490 in it. 367 00:19:00.520 --> 00:19:02.440 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. So I think this that's an important 368 00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:04.930 thing to a reminder that, you know, they weren't a part of 369 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:07.630 this industry, the and this should not reflect. 370 00:19:07.870 --> 00:19:09.520 Sean Murray: Shouldn't reflect it shouldn't reflect just like, 371 00:19:09.520 --> 00:19:11.530 you know, what, in a way that we keep talking about it because 372 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:13.930 it's significant and I think people are drawing conclusions 373 00:19:13.930 --> 00:19:16.480 about you know, them being a player in this industry. They 374 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:18.760 weren't they weren't a player in this industry. I had no idea who 375 00:19:18.760 --> 00:19:21.070 they were. Yeah. It doesn't look like they were even funding in 376 00:19:21.070 --> 00:19:26.320 any any deals. It's sad. I hope that others do more due 377 00:19:26.320 --> 00:19:29.110 diligence in the future. You mentioned that some people put 378 00:19:29.110 --> 00:19:33.010 their life savings in there, they were put the receiver also 379 00:19:33.010 --> 00:19:36.280 said that that very exact same thing that people lost their 380 00:19:36.280 --> 00:19:41.680 life savings. You have to ask yourself out there. If you are 381 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:45.340 an individual and your your promises very attractive return, 382 00:19:45.520 --> 00:19:49.510 you have to ask why you Why are you being offered this 383 00:19:49.510 --> 00:19:53.320 opportunity? Because if it's so attractive, yeah, it's gonna 384 00:19:53.320 --> 00:19:56.890 make let's say double digit returns or whatever. Yeah. Why 385 00:19:56.950 --> 00:20:00.610 isn't somebody like Goldman Sachs taking the little thing 386 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:03.250 you think Goldman Sachs is doing like? Well, it's a sure thing. 387 00:20:03.550 --> 00:20:08.530 Gosh, we'd make double digit returns. Yeah. You know, $100 388 00:20:08.530 --> 00:20:11.080 million $200 million. Yeah. We can make double digit returns on 389 00:20:11.080 --> 00:20:13.990 that than that. We don't know. We don't have the money. You 390 00:20:13.990 --> 00:20:15.790 know, maybe just go around the neighborhood knock on some 391 00:20:15.790 --> 00:20:18.790 doors, get the money from those people. Yeah. Give them the huge 392 00:20:18.790 --> 00:20:21.040 returns. Yeah. That kind of thing is not for us. We hate 393 00:20:21.040 --> 00:20:23.980 that you have to ask with seriously. Like, why. This 394 00:20:23.980 --> 00:20:29.200 should go through your head, why me? Why have I been offered this 395 00:20:29.320 --> 00:20:32.860 investment opportunity of a lifetime? Or, you know, my 396 00:20:32.860 --> 00:20:34.960 financial future is going to be set. I'm going to make double 397 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:37.900 digit returns, this person came to me and they told me it's 100% 398 00:20:37.900 --> 00:20:43.570 legit. Okay, just so you know, that type of return that goes to 399 00:20:43.570 --> 00:20:46.600 Wall Street first, they don't go to knock on some random person's 400 00:20:46.600 --> 00:20:49.450 door in all offer the investment opportunity of a lifetime isn't 401 00:20:49.450 --> 00:20:52.240 saying, I'm being real. Yeah. Someone's offering it to you. 402 00:20:52.270 --> 00:20:54.400 Yeah, I. Red flag. 403 00:20:54.430 --> 00:20:56.350 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. Well, because I think that a lot of 404 00:20:56.350 --> 00:20:59.830 times, you know, people think okay, I want to get rich quick. 405 00:21:00.250 --> 00:21:03.070 How am I gonna get rich quick, you see an opportunity like this 406 00:21:03.070 --> 00:21:05.890 come up, because I've met a lot of these people like this. And 407 00:21:05.890 --> 00:21:08.530 they jump on it and because it's like, Alright, we're gonna we 408 00:21:08.530 --> 00:21:11.260 don't want to do the hard work. We don't want to go work on Wall 409 00:21:11.260 --> 00:21:14.920 Street. We're gonna get we're gonna get rich quick, and get 410 00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:15.160 our money. 411 00:21:15.190 --> 00:21:17.230 Sean Murray: If the get rich quick scheme is giving your 412 00:21:17.230 --> 00:21:19.510 money to someone else. The get rich quick scheme is for the 413 00:21:19.510 --> 00:21:20.140 other person. 414 00:21:20.410 --> 00:21:21.400 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. Yeah. 415 00:21:21.460 --> 00:21:22.060 Sean Murray: Not for you. 416 00:21:22.090 --> 00:21:23.680 Johny Fernandez: Well, I think it's, I think it's hilarious 417 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:25.390 because a lot of people are like, no, like, I'm gonna get 418 00:21:25.390 --> 00:21:26.740 rich quick. And they, they. 419 00:21:26.780 --> 00:21:29.210 Sean Murray: As you give your money to them, you have to think 420 00:21:29.210 --> 00:21:31.520 about the mechanics of that. Yeah. I'm gonna get rich quick 421 00:21:31.520 --> 00:21:33.050 by giving my money to someone else. 422 00:21:33.380 --> 00:21:36.680 Johny Fernandez: So if someone if someone let's just let's just 423 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:39.440 roleplay so if someone was approaching me about an 424 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:43.640 opportunity, like MJ Funding, what what should my response be 425 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:44.570 to that person? 426 00:21:45.290 --> 00:21:47.930 Sean Murray: Okay, if it's if it's, if it's a sure thing. 427 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:50.810 Yeah. And it's so legit. Yeah. Why are they not? Why are you 428 00:21:50.810 --> 00:21:56.030 raising money from me and not from Goldman Sachs? Okay. I 429 00:21:56.030 --> 00:21:59.240 would want to know the answer. Yeah. Why me? Who am I? Yeah. Do 430 00:21:59.240 --> 00:22:00.620 you think I'm Mr. Moneybags? 431 00:22:00.650 --> 00:22:03.710 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. And let me ask you this, because this 432 00:22:03.710 --> 00:22:06.920 blows my mind, the fact that a lot of these guys, like I could 433 00:22:06.920 --> 00:22:10.370 understand, Okay, I'm gonna put like 1000 bucks, like to try 434 00:22:10.370 --> 00:22:12.440 things out first, like if I was ever to. 435 00:22:12.650 --> 00:22:13.490 Sean Murray: That's how they get you. 436 00:22:13.760 --> 00:22:15.050 Johny Fernandez: But all these guys don't. 437 00:22:15.060 --> 00:22:17.315 Sean Murray: That's how they well, some of them probably did 438 00:22:17.363 --> 00:22:20.339 it in increments. They try 1000. They try it and they're like, 439 00:22:20.387 --> 00:22:23.123 oh, it worked. They got that first payment, but the Ponzi 440 00:22:23.171 --> 00:22:26.050 scheme, that payment is coming from other people. That's the 441 00:22:26.098 --> 00:22:28.930 whole thing, right? People assume that if I give you $1,000 442 00:22:28.978 --> 00:22:31.810 and you make a payment for the next three months, it's been 443 00:22:31.858 --> 00:22:34.737 proven legitimate. I mean, I paid in my investment. I got my 444 00:22:34.785 --> 00:22:37.809 payments as promised. It wasn't it wasn't the whole thing back, 445 00:22:37.857 --> 00:22:40.881 everything is now legit. That's the actual that's the you know, 446 00:22:40.929 --> 00:22:43.905 the evilness behind the Ponzi scheme. They didn't, they didn't 447 00:22:43.953 --> 00:22:46.592 take your money and invest it and grow and give you the 448 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:49.616 return. They then took somebody else to give you the money and 449 00:22:49.664 --> 00:22:52.064 they give you that person's money. But you've been 450 00:22:52.112 --> 00:22:55.087 convinced. Okay. That's why a Ponzi scheme is so evil, because 451 00:22:55.135 --> 00:22:57.967 it does trick you you did get a return and now you're going 452 00:22:58.015 --> 00:23:00.895 around and you're vouching for it. It's legit because it got 453 00:23:00.943 --> 00:23:03.727 the payments that payments is someone else's stolen money. 454 00:23:03.774 --> 00:23:06.798 Yeah. So money's gonna come back the receivers gonna come knock 455 00:23:06.846 --> 00:23:09.438 on your door, you get like I will I got this much back 456 00:23:09.486 --> 00:23:12.414 receivers and say you got back too much. You're gonna have to 457 00:23:12.462 --> 00:23:13.470 give that money back. 458 00:23:13.470 --> 00:23:16.000 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. So at what point do you like if you're 459 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:19.330 someone like, like a lot of these guys that in these 460 00:23:19.330 --> 00:23:23.590 investors that actually, were a part of this whole alleged Ponzi 461 00:23:23.590 --> 00:23:26.080 scheme? How do you know it's a Ponzi scheme? At what point do 462 00:23:26.080 --> 00:23:28.600 you start realizing what red flags people look out for and be 463 00:23:28.600 --> 00:23:31.840 like, oh, wait a minute. Like, maybe this is like, something's 464 00:23:32.680 --> 00:23:34.780 off.Because if you do two, three months, you're like, okay, like, 465 00:23:34.780 --> 00:23:38.020 this is real. So at what point is do you like, I guess like 466 00:23:38.020 --> 00:23:39.760 what has to happen mentally? 467 00:23:39.760 --> 00:23:43.110 Sean Murray: Any any type of return that exceeds, that 468 00:23:43.110 --> 00:23:46.290 exceeds, you know, single digits should be an automatic, anytime 469 00:23:46.890 --> 00:23:49.290 a proposed return is double digits. Red flag. 470 00:23:49.860 --> 00:23:50.370 Johny Fernandez: That's good. 471 00:23:50.670 --> 00:23:51.180 Sean Murray: Red flag. 472 00:23:51.210 --> 00:23:51.420 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. 473 00:23:51.450 --> 00:23:53.040 Sean Murray: Why isn't Wall Street taking it all? Why are 474 00:23:53.040 --> 00:23:55.140 you coming to me once in a lifetime opportunity, I'm gonna 475 00:23:55.140 --> 00:23:56.430 get rich. Why? 476 00:23:56.580 --> 00:23:58.110 Johny Fernandez: Yeah, that's good. That's good. 477 00:23:58.110 --> 00:24:01.600 Sean Murray: Wall Street wants everything good for itself. I 478 00:24:01.600 --> 00:24:03.880 can't stress it enough. Yeah. This happened in peer to peer 479 00:24:03.880 --> 00:24:05.650 lending. Why don't we have peer to peer lending anymore? Because 480 00:24:05.650 --> 00:24:07.810 Wall Street wanted it all. Yeah. At first they went out to the 481 00:24:07.810 --> 00:24:12.070 peers. You can contribute. Yeah. You can make eight nine 10%. But 482 00:24:12.070 --> 00:24:14.650 guess what? That one was legitimate. That was a real 483 00:24:14.650 --> 00:24:17.740 return. So what did Wall Street do the I don't want get these 484 00:24:17.740 --> 00:24:20.110 people out of the way. Yeah. I want all of it for myself. Yeah. 485 00:24:20.140 --> 00:24:22.570 Peer to peer lending was over Wall Street came in. Why? Why 486 00:24:22.570 --> 00:24:24.280 didn't they do that here? Because it's not real. 487 00:24:24.280 --> 00:24:26.279 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. It's good to know. That's good to know. 488 00:24:26.332 --> 00:24:29.702 You know what, and the reason I asked is because when you know i 489 00:24:29.755 --> 00:24:33.073 We've both kind of been diving into the store little by little, 490 00:24:33.126 --> 00:24:36.443 as the months have gone on, and I've reached out to some people 491 00:24:36.496 --> 00:24:39.761 that were that put their money in. And you know, a lot of them 492 00:24:39.814 --> 00:24:43.290 are crushed. They're like, I want my money back. I want something. 493 00:24:43.290 --> 00:24:45.030 Sean Murray: There's no portfolio to wind down. That's 494 00:24:45.060 --> 00:24:47.460 the sad thing. Other Other companies have been sued by the 495 00:24:47.460 --> 00:24:51.030 SEC. Investors lost money, but they actually had a portfolio. 496 00:24:51.060 --> 00:24:54.120 They were like partial Ponzis or they violated the securities 497 00:24:54.120 --> 00:24:56.430 laws in some other fashion. Yeah. There was some other 498 00:24:56.430 --> 00:25:00.660 violation. Yeah, but in a pure Ponzi scheme, you would not have 499 00:25:00.660 --> 00:25:05.040 a portfolio and it so far this looks to be the case based upon 500 00:25:05.040 --> 00:25:08.700 the receivers report that there is nothing to wind down. Yeah. 501 00:25:09.060 --> 00:25:09.840 Not a good thing. 502 00:25:09.870 --> 00:25:12.060 Johny Fernandez: Not a good thing at all. But you know, what 503 00:25:12.060 --> 00:25:12.900 is a good thing? 504 00:25:13.770 --> 00:25:14.700 Sean Murray: What's a good thing? 505 00:25:15.060 --> 00:25:15.990 Johny Fernandez: Hearing you speak. 506 00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:17.220 Sean Murray: Okay. 507 00:25:17.250 --> 00:25:18.990 Johny Fernandez: Okay. And you're interested in hearing 508 00:25:18.990 --> 00:25:23.790 Sean speak. NFT NYC this is going to be coming in the 509 00:25:23.790 --> 00:25:25.860 summer, and you will be speaking there. 510 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:26.490 Sean Murray: That's true. 511 00:25:26.610 --> 00:25:28.710 Johny Fernandez: Okay. So I just want to give people a breakdown 512 00:25:28.740 --> 00:25:35.280 last year 2020, they had 1000 speakers, and 54 of them were 513 00:25:35.280 --> 00:25:40.380 approved. 64? 54% of them were sorry, so half of them. 514 00:25:41.010 --> 00:25:42.450 Sean Murray: That many applicants were talking about? 515 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:44.190 Johny Fernandez: That many applicants, and half of them 516 00:25:44.190 --> 00:25:47.940 were approved this year. They've had 600 applications, and 517 00:25:47.940 --> 00:25:50.310 they've already approved half of them to speak. 518 00:25:50.510 --> 00:25:52.970 Sean Murray: Yeah, so it's not a huge honor. Considering I'm one 519 00:25:52.970 --> 00:25:55.280 out of every every two applicants have been approved. 520 00:25:55.640 --> 00:25:59.930 But I will be speaking at NFT NYC in June. Okay. Thank you for 521 00:25:59.930 --> 00:26:01.370 telling everyone the exact stats. 522 00:26:01.370 --> 00:26:04.100 Johny Fernandez: Yeah, well, I think you know, but that this is 523 00:26:04.100 --> 00:26:07.190 that we're just, you know, in this month, like, you know, 524 00:26:07.220 --> 00:26:10.220 January or February so people are still gonna continue to 525 00:26:10.220 --> 00:26:10.790 apply. 526 00:26:11.660 --> 00:26:15.320 Sean Murray: Right. And but there's already 366 approved 527 00:26:15.320 --> 00:26:18.380 speakers of which I have one. All right. So even though I'm a 528 00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:21.590 speaker, and I'm thankful that they did select me, I did have 529 00:26:21.590 --> 00:26:24.800 to apply and I didn't have to do a whole proposal and you know, 530 00:26:24.800 --> 00:26:27.590 prove my credentials and go to the review and all that stuff. 531 00:26:27.620 --> 00:26:31.850 They accepted me. Yeah. But as of now, I am only one of 366 532 00:26:32.030 --> 00:26:32.930 approved speakers. 533 00:26:32.930 --> 00:26:34.910 Johny Fernandez: But there's probably gonna be more and will 534 00:26:34.940 --> 00:26:35.360 it apply. 535 00:26:35.360 --> 00:26:37.490 Sean Murray: Oh, yeah. So I'll be I'll be I'll be diminished 536 00:26:37.490 --> 00:26:38.090 even even. 537 00:26:39.830 --> 00:26:41.270 Johny Fernandez: No, it's. 538 00:26:41.360 --> 00:26:44.690 Sean Murray: A huge honor. I am one of 40,000 speakers. 539 00:26:46.220 --> 00:26:48.980 Johny Fernandez: No, but let me ask you this. We went to NFT NYC 540 00:26:49.010 --> 00:26:53.360 last year, you know, and it was an awesome environment. What 541 00:26:53.360 --> 00:26:55.550 really caught my attention is I met people and they were 542 00:26:55.550 --> 00:26:58.070 breaking things down to me that I had never heard of, and now 543 00:26:58.220 --> 00:27:00.920 they're like, Hey, this is gonna be a big deal. And it came to 544 00:27:00.920 --> 00:27:04.970 fruition, it was gonna be a big deal. Yeah. There I met, I will 545 00:27:04.970 --> 00:27:07.760 never forget this girl that she used NFT's to pay off two 546 00:27:07.760 --> 00:27:11.480 mortgages. Yeah, house mortgages, which I was like, Oh, 547 00:27:11.480 --> 00:27:13.850 that's very impressive. But then there's other people that got 548 00:27:13.850 --> 00:27:16.580 very creative with it. And I was able to hear some of the 549 00:27:16.580 --> 00:27:20.180 speakers when we went. A lot of them had great, you know, 550 00:27:20.180 --> 00:27:24.470 insight, great topics of conversations. So obviously, 551 00:27:24.470 --> 00:27:28.400 we're so early on, do you have an idea of what your topic will 552 00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:30.290 be? Are you still putting that together? 553 00:27:30.360 --> 00:27:32.580 Sean Murray: Well, I had to, I had to submit like a proposal. 554 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:35.430 Okay. And I don't want to obviously do my whole my whole 555 00:27:35.430 --> 00:27:39.270 speech now and ruin it. ruin the surprise for everyone. Since I 556 00:27:39.270 --> 00:27:42.390 know, you know, 10s of millions of people will be tuning in to 557 00:27:42.390 --> 00:27:47.130 watch me, but I am going to be speaking about NFT's and how 558 00:27:47.130 --> 00:27:49.440 they relate to the lending, how they relate to the lending 559 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:52.350 industry, and how they can be applied to the lending industry. 560 00:27:52.530 --> 00:27:55.440 You just mentioned that you met some people who paid off like 561 00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:59.220 two student loans from equities. You know, I think if I'm not 562 00:27:59.220 --> 00:28:00.870 mistaken, you're probably talking about people who sold 563 00:28:00.870 --> 00:28:03.930 what, like J artwork JPEGs. So that, yeah, that basically what 564 00:28:03.930 --> 00:28:06.930 it is. Yeah. And I think that everyone has gotten so caught up 565 00:28:06.930 --> 00:28:13.620 in NFTS being art. Yeah. An NFT can be anything. It's it's 566 00:28:13.620 --> 00:28:17.250 basically just a, it's a unique, it's a unique identifier of 567 00:28:17.250 --> 00:28:21.030 something that's recorded on the blockchain, that everyone can 568 00:28:21.030 --> 00:28:24.990 verify. It's a non fungible token, the whole art aspect of 569 00:28:24.990 --> 00:28:27.750 it and JPEG aspect of it is just one thing that people are using 570 00:28:27.750 --> 00:28:32.430 it for, to claim, essentially, ownership or originality of 571 00:28:32.460 --> 00:28:37.650 artwork, right. But there are other applications, I think, and 572 00:28:37.650 --> 00:28:39.300 I don't want to speak too much about what I'm going to be 573 00:28:39.300 --> 00:28:41.910 talking about. But there's a lot of issues just in the lending 574 00:28:41.910 --> 00:28:45.630 industry as to kind of what came first or what happened and what 575 00:28:45.630 --> 00:28:52.050 order. Yeah. That the blockchain could help fix. Yeah. Because 576 00:28:52.230 --> 00:28:56.160 right now, you could say, well, my database tells me when an 577 00:28:56.160 --> 00:28:59.070 application came in, I know when it came in, I knew who sent it 578 00:28:59.070 --> 00:29:02.610 in. I know who funded it, right? That's fine and good. But 579 00:29:03.600 --> 00:29:08.010 Company B doesn't have access to company A's records. Right? So I 580 00:29:08.010 --> 00:29:11.490 think we see oftentimes that I'm gonna give one hypothetical 581 00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:16.110 example brokers send the deal to funder A funder B funder C, 582 00:29:16.500 --> 00:29:23.340 right? Funder A and funder B say no, funder C funds it, right? 583 00:29:23.910 --> 00:29:27.990 And then a day later funder D comes in and funds it too. Now 584 00:29:27.990 --> 00:29:32.730 funder C says the broker is the one who did that. Yeah. He had 585 00:29:32.730 --> 00:29:36.120 the deal funded somewhere else. I know it's you I'm not working 586 00:29:36.120 --> 00:29:38.040 with you. You breached a contract, they say no, it wasn't 587 00:29:38.040 --> 00:29:41.700 me. I'm not the one who sent it. And now everyone's relying on 588 00:29:41.730 --> 00:29:44.520 now everyone's just pointing fingers and everyone has to like 589 00:29:44.520 --> 00:29:47.580 prove who did what, right. And it's because we all have our own 590 00:29:47.580 --> 00:29:50.850 records. But there's no there's no there's no ledger that we can 591 00:29:50.850 --> 00:29:55.710 rely on. And you can bring this public blockchain can be put in 592 00:29:55.710 --> 00:29:59.670 the middle where you can keep certain data separate. But all 593 00:29:59.670 --> 00:30:03.660 party could go in and use it to make a determination as to what 594 00:30:03.660 --> 00:30:08.130 happened and what order or where something came from. Yeah. And 595 00:30:08.340 --> 00:30:11.910 that's what we should be thinking about. When it comes to 596 00:30:11.940 --> 00:30:15.120 when it comes to like NFT's. It's not like how can we insert 597 00:30:15.120 --> 00:30:18.840 picture and artwork into the market? It's how can the 598 00:30:18.840 --> 00:30:23.370 blockchain itself solve a problem? I think this term I've 599 00:30:23.370 --> 00:30:26.520 heard thrown around at conferences, by venture 600 00:30:26.520 --> 00:30:30.240 capitalists who hate a lot of Bitcoin or crypto ideas that are 601 00:30:30.300 --> 00:30:33.810 pitched to them. They call them but with companies, Yeah. Where 602 00:30:33.870 --> 00:30:35.700 they say we have a lot of companies come here, and they 603 00:30:35.700 --> 00:30:38.190 think they're geniuses. And they explained something that already 604 00:30:38.190 --> 00:30:42.270 exist. Yeah. And then they're like, and then they're like, oh, 605 00:30:42.300 --> 00:30:45.930 but with crypto. Yeah. Right. Yeah. It's like you didn't solve 606 00:30:45.930 --> 00:30:49.110 any problem. Yeah. You just introduced the same thing. And 607 00:30:49.110 --> 00:30:51.120 then you're saying, oh, but with crypto. Crypto. Oh, but with 608 00:30:51.120 --> 00:30:55.170 Bitcoin? I think that there are actual solutions that a 609 00:30:55.170 --> 00:30:58.890 blockchain could provide to an industry. Yeah. Tthat others 610 00:30:58.920 --> 00:31:03.630 cannot. Yeah. So it's not like looking for a not looking for a, 611 00:31:04.290 --> 00:31:06.270 you know, not having a solution. And they're like, oh, let's have 612 00:31:06.270 --> 00:31:09.390 it, let's find a problem. There are already problems. Yeah. That 613 00:31:09.390 --> 00:31:12.570 can't be solved. Because you can only have you can only rely on 614 00:31:12.570 --> 00:31:15.060 your own company's technology. And you can only track your own 615 00:31:15.060 --> 00:31:17.310 stuff. But when you need to track what happened out there 616 00:31:17.310 --> 00:31:20.520 around you, it's who you're going to trust? Are you gonna 617 00:31:20.520 --> 00:31:22.590 share data with all your competitors? You know, like, 618 00:31:22.860 --> 00:31:25.530 that's where like, the blockchain can come in to create 619 00:31:25.530 --> 00:31:28.770 a more efficient market, and even help even help customers 620 00:31:28.770 --> 00:31:30.780 figure out like, what happened with their application? Yeah. 621 00:31:30.810 --> 00:31:32.910 They send your application two people their credit card got run 622 00:31:32.910 --> 00:31:36.150 eight times. They accuse both of them of doing it, they both deny 623 00:31:36.150 --> 00:31:40.830 it. Yeah. Which one was it? 624 00:31:40.830 --> 00:31:41.160 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. 625 00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:41.250 Johny Fernandez: It was someone, but you know, you know, what 626 00:31:41.250 --> 00:31:41.580 Sean Murray: Who did it? 627 00:31:43.850 --> 00:31:47.180 else I think is interesting, I think this is, you know, NFT's 628 00:31:47.240 --> 00:31:49.460 are something fairly new. And it's something that people need 629 00:31:49.460 --> 00:31:53.180 to get used to. And honestly, really understand how it works, 630 00:31:53.300 --> 00:31:56.360 what it does, etc. And I think it's always interesting, because 631 00:31:56.360 --> 00:31:59.300 there's a gap in the industry regarding, you know, the younger 632 00:31:59.300 --> 00:32:01.670 folks coming in, and then there's a disconnect with a lot 633 00:32:01.670 --> 00:32:05.180 of the people, the older folks that want to do things, the way 634 00:32:05.180 --> 00:32:08.450 that they've done it for, you know, 1520 years, and just 635 00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:12.320 building that gap, that that gap that's there. I mean, I think we 636 00:32:12.320 --> 00:32:15.920 can all admit that there is a gap by using things, you know, 637 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:19.910 like NFT's, you know, Bitcoin, whatever you want to use it, but 638 00:32:19.910 --> 00:32:23.540 there's this new technology, there's new technology, and the, 639 00:32:23.810 --> 00:32:27.110 the gap needs to be filled. And I think, like you said, there's 640 00:32:27.110 --> 00:32:30.470 problems that are constantly going on in this industry, that 641 00:32:31.130 --> 00:32:34.310 people have come up with some solutions, and it works and 642 00:32:34.310 --> 00:32:36.860 doesn't work. But at the end of the day, there's a gap and 643 00:32:37.910 --> 00:32:41.090 everyone needs to kind of meet halfway through to accept, you 644 00:32:41.090 --> 00:32:44.030 know, and adjust regarding the new technology that's coming in, 645 00:32:44.300 --> 00:32:48.320 and be accepting acceptance of each other. Yeah. And adjust. 646 00:32:48.350 --> 00:32:52.820 And I feel like I believe that, you know, we will definitely get 647 00:32:52.820 --> 00:32:56.840 further ahead in the industry, when things like this, you know, 648 00:32:56.840 --> 00:33:01.340 when we adapt to things like NFT's and see how it can work 649 00:33:01.340 --> 00:33:07.040 for our our industry, versus, you know, rejecting it. So yeah, 650 00:33:07.610 --> 00:33:10.310 I think it's exciting. Honestly, I'm excited to see you in 651 00:33:10.310 --> 00:33:10.790 action. 652 00:33:11.480 --> 00:33:14.180 Sean Murray: Yeah, well, right now, I am one out of 366 653 00:33:14.210 --> 00:33:16.220 approved speakers for NFT NYC. 654 00:33:16.520 --> 00:33:18.170 Johny Fernandez: You know what, but you could you could have not 655 00:33:18.170 --> 00:33:18.680 been approved. 656 00:33:18.740 --> 00:33:20.390 Sean Murray: That's true. I couldn't have not been approved. 657 00:33:20.390 --> 00:33:21.530 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. So you were approved. 658 00:33:21.530 --> 00:33:22.520 Sean Murray: And I will be speaking. 659 00:33:22.550 --> 00:33:23.030 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. 660 00:33:23.150 --> 00:33:27.260 Sean Murray: And I think it will be, I will bring something new 661 00:33:27.260 --> 00:33:29.630 and different to the, to the conversation. 662 00:33:29.660 --> 00:33:31.310 Johny Fernandez: Well and I think that's something that we 663 00:33:31.310 --> 00:33:33.950 noticed last time is that yeah, there was a lot of people, etc. 664 00:33:33.950 --> 00:33:37.340 But when you have an interesting topic, and when you have 665 00:33:37.340 --> 00:33:39.650 something like that's gonna bring a solution, I think that's 666 00:33:39.650 --> 00:33:42.830 what brings people to listen to you specifically, am I just 667 00:33:42.830 --> 00:33:45.950 telling you this because you're right next to me, you're my 668 00:33:45.950 --> 00:33:50.330 boss. But I think genuinely, like you said, you're merging 669 00:33:50.330 --> 00:33:53.630 the two like the industry and NFT's together. And I think 670 00:33:53.630 --> 00:33:58.100 that's something that people need to hear, because I've been 671 00:33:58.130 --> 00:34:00.860 I've been a victim of this and other people have too is that we 672 00:34:00.860 --> 00:34:05.900 don't adjust with the world and how quickly changing technology, 673 00:34:05.900 --> 00:34:09.470 all that stuff. And if you don't you get left behind because this 674 00:34:09.470 --> 00:34:12.950 is people are using this to, you know, bring solutions to their 675 00:34:12.950 --> 00:34:17.180 industry. So I remember one of the guys that I spoke with, he 676 00:34:17.810 --> 00:34:21.890 was using NFT's for medicine, and he was bridging that gap 677 00:34:21.890 --> 00:34:25.310 together. And then someone else was doing mortgages and NFT's. 678 00:34:25.490 --> 00:34:30.110 So there's solutions out there for every industry. So it's 679 00:34:30.110 --> 00:34:36.050 exciting. I'm excited. So, okay, can I get an NFT of you before 680 00:34:36.050 --> 00:34:36.950 you become famous? 681 00:34:37.340 --> 00:34:39.170 Sean Murray: I'm sorry, there was an NFT. 682 00:34:39.170 --> 00:34:39.340 Sean Murray: It already got won in a raffle. That wasn't even my 683 00:34:39.340 --> 00:34:39.830 Johny Fernandez: I know there was. 684 00:34:42.750 --> 00:34:45.840 intent. But yeah, there is another one but I'm using it as 685 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:48.810 my profile picture on Twitter, because now your profile picture 686 00:34:48.810 --> 00:34:53.340 on Twitter, it can be empty. They created a new feature that 687 00:34:53.340 --> 00:34:56.520 you your profile picture on Twitter can be an actual NFT and 688 00:34:56.520 --> 00:35:00.360 I wanted it to be myself. I still wanted to have my own 689 00:35:00.360 --> 00:35:03.090 picture, I didn't want to have like a cartoon character, which 690 00:35:03.090 --> 00:35:06.090 other people are doing. I'm trying to be serious and like, 691 00:35:06.120 --> 00:35:11.370 you know, run a business here. So I made my then current 692 00:35:11.370 --> 00:35:14.820 profile picture an NFT. And so I have the exact same picture. But 693 00:35:14.820 --> 00:35:18.240 now when you click it, it tells you, it's like token number 29. 694 00:35:18.480 --> 00:35:20.430 On the deBanked, smart contract on Ethereum. 695 00:35:20.430 --> 00:35:23.930 Johny Fernandez: There you go. Oh, but something about the 696 00:35:23.930 --> 00:35:27.170 event, too, it's from the 20th to the 23rd. And the way they 697 00:35:27.170 --> 00:35:29.930 broke it down last year was that, you know, there's 698 00:35:29.930 --> 00:35:33.980 different venues for everything. So, you know, some, some 699 00:35:33.980 --> 00:35:36.740 speakers will be in this venue, and then you gotta go, you know, 700 00:35:36.740 --> 00:35:39.860 it's like 36th, and seventh, and it'll be there. So it's, it's 701 00:35:39.860 --> 00:35:44.270 awesome it. And it's the environment itself there. It's 702 00:35:44.270 --> 00:35:47.960 just cool, because you can, you know, learn about how to adapt 703 00:35:48.050 --> 00:35:50.900 NFT's into your industry, but then also, you can see what 704 00:35:50.900 --> 00:35:53.150 other people are doing. And they have like an exhibition booth 705 00:35:53.150 --> 00:35:57.170 where you can check things out and see the different things 706 00:35:57.170 --> 00:36:00.080 that are gone. And, you know, I saw like DJs, and music, and 707 00:36:00.080 --> 00:36:02.330 then there's artwork, and then there's like, people doing 708 00:36:02.330 --> 00:36:05.870 medicine, and there's people doing just a wide range of 709 00:36:05.870 --> 00:36:07.760 things that honestly, I was like, wow, this is cool, because 710 00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:10.910 I've never heard I've never really understood it until you 711 00:36:10.910 --> 00:36:13.340 started working with it. I'm like, there's a whole world 712 00:36:13.760 --> 00:36:18.260 that, you know, they dedicate themselves to like this. 713 00:36:18.320 --> 00:36:20.600 Sean Murray: Yeah. But for me when I go there, it's like, 714 00:36:20.600 --> 00:36:22.610 forget the art. I don't care about that. Yeah. I think it's 715 00:36:22.610 --> 00:36:26.150 just about applying. What can what can be used to help the 716 00:36:26.150 --> 00:36:27.170 industry that we're already in? 717 00:36:27.260 --> 00:36:29.810 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. And I think I think a lot of people 718 00:36:29.810 --> 00:36:32.750 will definitely be excited to hear that and just learn about 719 00:36:32.750 --> 00:36:36.110 that, because we have to adapt at the end of the day, you know. 720 00:36:36.890 --> 00:36:42.830 So yeah, I like it. So the other big thing in March deBanked, 721 00:36:42.830 --> 00:36:46.100 connect Miami, if you haven't signed up, please sign up. And 722 00:36:46.100 --> 00:36:48.770 also follow us on our social media platforms for more 723 00:36:48.770 --> 00:36:53.810 information regarding deBanked Connect Miami, and then also for 724 00:36:53.840 --> 00:36:56.270 the end, you should follow us at deBanked Connect. 725 00:36:56.270 --> 00:36:58.790 Sean Murray: We have several social media channels. There's 726 00:36:58.790 --> 00:37:02.990 the deBanked one, there's the Broker Fair one, and then we 727 00:37:02.990 --> 00:37:06.530 also have the deBanked Connect one. So follow the deBanked 728 00:37:06.530 --> 00:37:10.280 Connect on social media to get the deBanked Connect in specific 729 00:37:10.310 --> 00:37:11.300 information. 730 00:37:12.140 --> 00:37:15.020 Johny Fernandez: I'm not going to I'm really excited for that. 731 00:37:15.050 --> 00:37:17.810 And then also, if you haven't signed up the day before, there 732 00:37:17.810 --> 00:37:19.010 will be a golf outing. 733 00:37:19.100 --> 00:37:20.600 Sean Murray: There will be a golf outing, the day before, you 734 00:37:20.600 --> 00:37:24.020 do have to register on your own at the at the Miami Shores 735 00:37:24.020 --> 00:37:27.980 Country Club. It's March 23. It starts in the morning, we do 736 00:37:27.980 --> 00:37:31.790 have a group code that you can use to get a discount. We will 737 00:37:31.790 --> 00:37:34.280 have a number of foursomes starting that morning. It's not 738 00:37:34.280 --> 00:37:36.260 part of your ticket for the show. Those two things are 739 00:37:36.260 --> 00:37:39.950 completely separate. So the event itself is on March 24. 740 00:37:40.110 --> 00:37:42.690 Johny Fernandez: Yeah, so other than that, don't forget to sign 741 00:37:42.690 --> 00:37:44.700 up. We're gonna be there. It's gonna be a great time. 742 00:37:44.700 --> 00:37:47.010 Everyone's talking about it. Everyone's excited to be down in 743 00:37:47.010 --> 00:37:52.080 Miami. So again, JW Marriott Marquis. And obviously for any 744 00:37:52.080 --> 00:37:53.910 other stories that we've covered here, you can check us out on 745 00:37:53.940 --> 00:37:58.260 debanked.com. I think that's it for today. Yeah. All right, you 746 00:37:58.260 --> 00:38:00.690 guys. So from all of us here in Brooklyn. I'm Johny Fernandez. 747 00:38:00.740 --> 00:38:01.460 Sean Murray: I'm Sean Murray. 748 00:38:01.460 --> 00:38:02.570 Johny Fernandez: And we'll see you guys next time.