Emerge Dynamics Podcast

In this episode of Emerge Dynamics, we’re wrapping up our discussion about Web 3.0. You can be sure that Web 3.0 is going to be impacting business owners everywhere in a very real way, especially when it comes to creating contracts, decentralization of technology, and other digital expansions.

What is a smart contact? A smart contract sets specific parameters to account for things that might happen, and they can even anticipate the next action that needs to be taken. One example would be the popular application DocuSign. Because they are a trusted party, the experience works very well, and the evolution of this technology is expected to continue to grow.

This brings into question the process of validation. Is it better to have this validation be centralized, or decentralized? Without question, creating contracts using new technology in a decentralized way is easier to use—especially with the rising “gig economy” where many individuals are choosing contract work over traditional employment opportunities.

Moving forward, it’s important to consider how this technology could be further used to tokenize other industries, from real estate properties to buying portions of companies. This would improve the liquidity of businesses. However, documenting these transactions digitally may lead to roadblocks, especially during the initial phases.

So, why should you care about this new technology? Because in all likelihood, it will be impacting your business very soon. Anticipating disruption in the marketplace will help you get and stay ahead of the game, especially for intermediaries. Web 3.0 is on its way, and it will change business transactions in many ways.

Let’s talk about technology. Specifically, blockchain technology and how it is going to impact business owners. This new technology, including Web 3.0 and cryptocurrency, will change the way you interact with clients and other businesses.

When the web was first introduced as Web 1.0, it brought a lot of excitement to business owners because it provided a new means of transacting business. Additionally, it opened up a world of digital marketing opportunities. Another update came with Web 2.0—and along came Amazon, Netflix, and other businesses that completely disrupted the digital space.

In Web 3.0, we expect to see the same level of transactions or more without an intermediary. It will be a decentralized online world. The change is expected to be exponential, and this version will also embrace blockchain technology. If you’re not familiar with how blockchain technology works, it’s essentially a distributed ledger. An entire copy of every transaction distributed across thousands of computers across the world.

Cryptocurrency is a currency that uses cryptography and is built upon a blockchain. Not all blockchain applications are cryptocurrency, but the blockchain is fundamental to cryptocurrency itself. The implications of this technology span across industries, including real estate, medical, government records, and more.

One benefit of the blockchain is that it’s been designed for validation, so it’s not a system that’s easy to alter or manipulate. From a privacy perspective, keeping important records on the blockchain is a better option. You can disclose specifically what you want to the people you choose. On the flipside, there are risks too. There is so much more to cover on this topic, and more information will be coming through this podcast soon.

Today we’re concluding a three-part conversation focusing on money. If you missed parts one and two, you’ll want to go back to previous episodes for a deeper understanding of money mechanics. This topic is so important to be familiar with if you run a business.

For a long time, societies have run on a central banking system, and there is a lot of money being printed all over the world. Our current financial system, and the flaws within it, has left some desire to try and find a better way. More and more, people are looking for a more stable option that ensures consistency.

While it seems the days where a gold smith would give you a note for your gold are far away, our system hasn’t changed that much. Physical money has taken its place, but it still reflects a similar principle as a note symbolizing money. Now, people are starting to seek out options that are quite different from what we’re used to: cryptocurrency.

Recently, cryptocurrency successfully grabbed the public’s attention—even though it’s been around for some time. This technology allows a confident exchange of currency without a central authority. However, there are still some aspects that need to be worked out. This new technology is volatile, and not everyone understands it yet.

When new alternatives come into play, they need to be managed properly if the intention is to reduce the current problems we have in our system, and not create new or worse ones.

Enter Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is not just another cryptocurrency. It offers superior salability and protection from manipulation and confiscation that humanity has never seen before.

And more on our thoughts on Bitcoin as money here:
https://www.emergedynamics.com/post/yes-bitcoin-is-money

This episode of picks up from the last one where we began a discussion about money and Web 3.0. Alternatives to traditional money have been increasing in popularity, and if business owners want to stand out from their competitors, it’s important to know why and how they work.

Gold was the top choice to use as money until people started realizing the pitfalls of using it: it’s heavy and it’s unsafe to carry it around. This led goldsmiths to offer a safe place to store gold as a business. Soon, people went from exchanging gold to exchanging the notes they had for their gold.

Soon, these goldsmiths started issuing out more notes than they had in stored gold. This was the beginning of fractional reserve banking. As our economy has become more sophisticated, it became clear we needed centralized places to store gold. These became central banks. Over time, the government became more involved in controlling these banks.

This led to governmental temptation to inflate the money supply. In today’s world, any central authority can print and inflate currency. Why does all this and the mechanics of money matter to a business owner? Because the money supply of the world has greatly increased, and we’re starting to see the effects.

So how can this situation be made better? This is a problem that entrepreneurs of today have been working to solve. In fact, there is an entire industry dedicated to forging a better way. The change is coming, so we need to get better versed in what this will look like today.

In this series of episodes of Emerge Dynamics we’re diving into a new, highly relevant topic: Web 3.0. The next level of the internet and how it influences transactions is going to have a large impact on business owners everywhere. Within this evolution, you’ll hear other possibly new terms such as blockchain, decentralized finance, smart contracts, and more.

With all these forthcoming changes, it’s important to know where you need to focus so you can emerge from your peers.

We start this series with a couple of episodes about what money is and what some of its shortcomings might be in today’s world. We’ll then bring this to a conclusion by explaining why a business owner of manager needs to understand this.

In a well-functioning society, you don’t typically need to understand how money works on a deep level. However, with this evolution, it’s important to know the state of money in the world and how it’s changing to support your business.

In earlier times, humans got what they needed via direct exchange: bread for cheese, clothes for shoes, one good for another. While it seems simpler on the surface, there were a lot of problems with this system. We then shifted to indirect exchange by using another medium—money—to acquire goods.

In order to be most effective, money has to be salable across space and time. Money is intended to serve three functions: be a medium of exchange, retain store value (not rot or die), and be a unit of account. Our conversation today focuses on the store of value function and how today’s money starts to lose this ability as more and more of it is created.

After thousands of years, humans shifted to using silver and gold as units of money. And then gold and silver were used for thousands of years and for very good reasons. Gold is almost indestructible, difficult to create, and it’s very rare, making it the top choice to use for exchange at this time. Part two of this series will pick up and take the discussion to where we stand with money today.

Here is the link to The Bitcoin Standard which is the book we reference as we walk through the history of money: https://academy.saifedean.com/product/tbs-hardcover/

One of the most impactful aspects of business is customer service. It’s a topic with depth, and therefore may be unpacked further in later episodes. In today’s episode, David leads with a story he recently shared with his kids that relates to this topic.

If you go to YouTube and search “United Breaks Guitars,” you’ll come across a music video about a musician who checks his guitar with his other luggage on a United flight. Once he arrives at his destination, he realizes his guitar is broken. But this isn’t just a music video—it’s the musician recounting what happened to him in real life. Of course, he brought this to the attention of United.

Unfortunately for the company, they declined to fix it. Instead, the musician decided to write a song and create a video about his experience. He put it up on YouTube, and it went viral. It was picked up by big publications, and eventually the story also ended up in mainstream media.

It has been viewed over 21 million times. If you watch it, that number will grow a bit more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

This highlights the fact that as a customer service representative, the most important thing you can do is step into the shoes of the customer on behalf of the company. Situations like this come up and can’t be treated with a cookie-cutter approach. Every unique issue should be resolved as such.

As a business owner, it’s important to instill a sense of autonomy in your representatives and empower them to make the right decisions when you’re not there. When it comes to customer service, the best approach you can take is to acknowledge when a wrong has been done and make it your mission to put it right.

In this Thanksgiving episode of Emerge Dynamics, we’re talking about what we’ve covered so far in this podcast, what we’ll be covering in the near future, and what we’re thankful for. Although the podcast is fairly new, it has welcomed some amazing guests so far. There’s also been a lot of talk about business drivers, valuation, and negotiations.

Moving forward, we can’t wait to circle back and talk more about measures of inflation as well as developing opportunities to combat inflation. We’ll also soon be diving into web 3.0, because it’s something that’s connected to us more and more in our everyday lives.

There is so much new technology being unveiled, but with it comes the need to identify and restrict bad actors. Technology is amoral—it’s all about how it’s applied. Further to this, we need to identify how this technology can be used to make businesses and the world even better.

The best way to use the information from this podcast is to package it in a way such that mainstream business owners can digest it. It must be both meaningful and impactful. Moving forward, this podcast will continue to help you gain knowledge that gives you a compelling edge over your peers.

As we wrap up before the Thanksgiving holiday, there’s a lot to be thankful for: this podcast, its audience, and all the opportunities in life that led us to collaborate on it together. And lastly, but most importantly, we feel a thankfulness for all of our blessings and people in our lives.

Partners worldwide is an organization that has a mission of fighting poverty with business. If we believe we are doing something good for the community with our business then it would be a natural extension of that thought that business can also do good for those living in poverty.

Eric recently attended Partners Worldwide’s annual summit. There were Several hundred in the audience as well as many more attending virtually.

While this might seem like a different topic than we usually discuss it ties in deeply to so many of the other topics we’ve discussed in this podcast.

We can confuse the purpose of business by using the analogy of the human body described by Whole Foods Founder John Mackey. Blood is critical to the survival of the human body. But it would be crazy to think the only function of the body is to make blood. Just like in a business – it needs profit to go on, but it would be crazy to say that is its only purpose.

While there is a time when donations makes sense, but strengthening local businesses leads to long-term effective sustainable development.

Partners Worldwide’s model is partnership. Their role is to facilitate partnerships whether that be donations, giving time, or lending.  Listen to learn more.

In this episode, David and Eric will be discussing if now is a good time to start thinking about buying that competitor you’ve been thinking about. This episode builds upon our previous series on valuation and the current economic situation.

 Today we are seeing more mainstream articles about how we are either already in a recession or getting ready to go into a recession. To speak the language of our previous episodes on valuation, there is higher risk to future cash flows which will drive valuations down.

 From a buyer’s perspective, inputs such as rising interest rates and higher expected return on equity affect their perceptions of value. If there is an investor who wants to have the same risk adjusted rate of return that they had in the past – they will pay saliently less today than they might have some months ago or a year ago. Depending on if you’re a buyer or seller – this starts to inform your growth and exit timing strategies.

If a recession does happen in 2023 organic growth could be more difficult. You might be able to grow anyway and one way to growth through a recession is acquisition. Listen as we dive in.

In this episode we’re joined by the charismatic and creative Austin Sherman, who co-founded a kombucha business from scratch. Like any business owner, he’s seen his share of ups and downs, but they led to an exit to a large multinational company. Austin shares his entire journey building and exiting from Big Easy Bucha.

As a child, Austin was very shy. Over time, he was put into situations that forced him to become comfortable around strangers. His charisma is actually more of a learned behavior, but none the less, he’s been able to use it to his advantage. At one point, after several failed business ventures, Austin started making kombucha at home. This is how Big Easy Bucha started.

Their beginnings were humble, but the dreams and vision were big. When he sold his first bottle, he couldn’t believe someone paid for it. Then it became his first case, then a pallet, then a truckload. Celebrating every small win and cherishing each moment pushed him through to build a successful business in a very competitive market.

Eventually, he was able to get into a buyer meeting at Publix and grew into an additional 1200 stores in a matter of 90 days. He got to a point where he knew he needed additional capital for the equipment and materials required for growth. This excitement led to great conversations with potential investors. The secret to successfully landing these investors was focusing on the value of his business rather than the money.

After the company sold, Austin continued there for six months and then was let go. He’s wired to build things and take risks, so working within a company of a thousand people or more doesn’t fit his speed. Now he has two startups in the works—a tequila company and another business in the chemical industry.