Adam Degraide:
Coming up today on David vs Goliath. You got to send me a hat, man.
Michael Stein:
Oh, you’re going to get a hat.
Adam Degraide:
There’s no such thing as a toe dipper in California’s ocean. If you run in, you stay in for hours.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to today’s episode of David vs Goliath, a podcast dedicated to helping small businesses leverage technology to not only help them compete against their large competitors, but win. Your host is currently the CEO of Anthem Business Software, a free time Inc. 500 recipient and a serial entrepreneur with a passion to help small businesses everywhere find, serve and keep more customers profitably. Please join me in welcoming your host, Adam Degraide.
Adam Degraide:
Hello David vs Goliath listeners and watchers. How are you doing today? I’m your host, Adam Degraide, and today we have Michael Stein, the CEO and founder of Abadak Inc. And his claim to fame is that it started with zero revenue, brought it up to a 100 million in revenue. Can’t wait to talk to him about that.
Today’s episode is brought to you by automatemysocial.com, where you can automate up to 100% of your business’ social media. The creation of the post, the delivery of the post, the strategy of the post, managing everything, soup to nuts, the software does it. It’s unbelievable. Save tens of thousands of dollars a year at automatemysocial.com.
Visit us online at davidvsgoliathpodcast.com. There you can apply to be on the podcast and also subscribe to receive our newsletter.
Well, let’s get right to it today with Michael Stein. Michael, welcome to the David vs Goliath podcast.
Michael Stein:
I love that. I love the concept. It’s like a long shot leader, the thing… But I was thinking about it. I love your title better.
Adam Degraide:
I was surprised, truth be told, when I came up with the idea that it hadn’t been taken. And I started, as I said, there’s got to be a David vs Goliath podcast out there and I’m making it about business, but it really works in just about any scenario of life. You could do it in anything, personal achievement, you can do it about anything you wanted to, but for me, I wanted to do it about business, but who knows what the future holds? I’m actually thinking about doing one, what was it called again? The subseries, which is going to be called How They Once were Giants. So basically, the stories of large companies that have failed over time and what happened with them as well too, which is interesting.
But anyway, let’s not talk about me. The watchers and listeners are like, what is going on? They’ve never seen this before in the beginning of an episode, but I want to start by reading to the watchers and listeners exactly what your summary is. Entrepreneur, actor, writer, director, producer, standup comedian, personal development expert, and the host of the Long Shot Leaders, not to mention the founder and CEO of Abadak Inc. Michael Stein. That is quite a litany of amazing things that you do. What do you not do well?
Michael Stein:
It sounds better when you say it. I do a lot of things not well. As you know, because you do this kind of podcast, that’s the beauty of it. I cut my teeth by failing a lot, I should say that.
Adam Degraide:
Yeah, we all have. There’s no doubt about it. I was actually reading, because I love the way your bio sheet was very, very helpful for me. As you know, you do podcasts all the time and sometimes you go in blind, you don’t know what you’re talking about. But I thought it was interesting that you started your career at 19, and you were one of LA’s top promoters of nightclubs, and what years were that? Not to age you, but what years was that, Michael?
Michael Stein:
Well, I did stand-up when I was 19 in 1986, and I brought a lot of people there. I was broke and I started a business when I was 18, a day after high school and I failed, so then I said, “Okay, I want to be an entrepreneur and actor and filmmaker”. So then I did stand-up when I was 19. And then [inaudible 00:04:07] all these people, I said, not going to make any money doing stand-up comedy clubs, but dance clubs in Los Angeles were huge. So six months later I said, “I’m going to be a nightclub promoter”. I was planning it for six months and I launched my club, Off the Wall, in 1987, I was 20 years old and six months after that I became number one in my age bracket for a nightclub promoter in Los Angeles. And that opened up an amazing amount of doors for me and he sent out trajectory of my career.
Adam Degraide:
That’s awesome. I bet you any money my wife went to your nightclubs, guaranteed, because that is exactly around the age she was… What did you say, you said it was ’96 again, was it? Or ’86?
Michael Stein:
1987. And my age bracket, I had a lot of the high school kids and college kids.
Adam Degraide:
So it was probably 10 years… Were you still doing it 10 years later or no?
Michael Stein:
I was. I did it for about 10 years and…
Adam Degraide:
That’s amazing.
Michael Stein:
The one thing I did annually, every year, that she might know of, if she grew up in the LA area. I did a annual Thanksgiving event called Turkey Soup.
Adam Degraide:
Turkey Soup.
Michael Stein:
And if you showed up with a canned food for the homeless, you got in for half price. So that was a 1000 people plus every year, the night before Thanksgiving.
Adam Degraide:
I’m so terrible at those. I have such great intentions on those soup drives and those toy drives. If I wasn’t for my wife, Michael, I would never be bringing any of that stuff. Now we have a foundation that is very generous and gives, but when our church is doing food drives and toy drives, I’m like, “Oh, I got to do that”. And then I show up the next Sunday, “Don’t forget, next week.” I’m like, “Son of a gun, I keep forgetting.” I’m terrible at that soup stuff. But anyway, I digress. Are you currently running Abadak Inc. right now?
Michael Stein:
Yeah, that’s just the name of the incorporation. Basically in 2000, I wanted to do something on the internet. I was broke and in debt, just filed BK before that because I did a short film that did really well, but it didn’t make all its money back. And I got close to a movie deal. I said, “Screw Hollywood, I’m going to start a business.” And I started tarpsplus.com, selling…
Adam Degraide:
Yeah, I saw that. I saw that. It’s pretty cool. So it’s tarpsplus.com. It’s got outdoor tarps and canopies and all these really, really cool things. I thought that was neat. And one of the things I think is fascinating for the watchers and listeners, Michael, is that you were basically bankrupt, you were in a ton of debt personally, obviously, because obviously things that had not worked out in the past. And you were able to dig yourself out of that grave, so to speak, and get it to a 100 million in revenue. Or is it a 100 million revenue total so far?
Michael Stein:
Total so far. Well over a 100 million total so far.
Adam Degraide:
That’s good.
Michael Stein:
I wish it was annual.
Adam Degraide:
I was just going to say, if that was an annual occurring run rate, you and I might be doing this interview in your private jet instead.
Michael Stein:
And the logo on this hat will hopefully be, at the end of this year, hopefully it will be that.
Adam Degraide:
Be it… You never know. Are you raising funds right now to get out to market?
Michael Stein:
Luckily, I’m liquid and I don’t need funds to market it. We’re funding it all ourselves and going to do a Kickstarter campaign. It’s called Bolotor. It’s a brand that I’m starting. It’s another website under the Abadak Incorporation. We have a group of branded patented products that are outdoor related. I can tell you what it is now. It’s basically a backpack that’s a soft cooler, that opens up to a tarp, that’s also a hammock that has a drain to it. It’s like a Swiss…
Adam Degraide:
I love it.
Michael Stein:
And it’s a variation of different products and other branded patented products that adjoin that, and hopefully it’ll be the next Yeti and that’s what is going to launch in this summer.
Adam Degraide:
Yeah, that’s a great brand by the way. When I was a young pup in my first ad agency that I ran and I owned, I worked with a company called Rack Packs. And it was basically this guy had patented a system, had it developed in China, of course, where it was a book rack for kids with their backpack. And so it was a backpack that had a book rack in it so it was easier for the kids to carry and they were cool styles and we did all the TV spots. I don’t even know if it exists any more today, but we helped him with his TV, his radio, his internet presence back then. This is like ’97. This is early days of the internet and it was ton of fun. Ton of fun.
Well listen, we got to take our first break from our first sponsor, and then when we come back we’ll be with Michael. He’s amazing. I want to talk about what’s behind your head. Obviously that has a lot of meaning to you. And your a handsome host, Adam Degraide, stay tuned will be right back.
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Adam Degraide:
And we’re back with Adam, we’re back with Michael. Another amazing episode of the David vs Goliath podcast. I can tell, Michael’s getting fired up, as I’m sure you are as well too. You learn so much here at David vs Goliath. And we talk so much about business, but I also like talking about personal things too, Michael. So the collage of images behind you have to have a meaning to it, or is it just something you saw and you said, “Hey, I want to look sophisticated and smarter than I actually am, so I’m going to throw these things behind me.”
Michael Stein:
I call this Nouns. This is people, places and things. So basically, the top row are people that are meaningful to me that I knew personally, they’re like mom, dad, and grandmother and [inaudible 00:11:46]… But then there’s Don Rickles, who I kind of loosely met, and then Einstein and Ali and Sammy Davis and MLK. But then the places below that, places are that club that I told you about, Off the Wall, there’s a picture of that. The marquee there, my daughters, a standup mic, The Whiskey, I got escorted off-stage there one time, long story. And just Casa De Cadillac in Encino, California. And then the things, my first album was the Sugar Hill Gang, the drive-in that’s placed… that’s the Van Nuys Drive-in theater. But anyways, that’s what that is. This thing is called Nouns and I just thought it’d be fun to do a collage of that.
Adam Degraide:
First of all, I absolutely love it, man. I think for my first album by the way, was Women and Children First by Van Halen, and I played that thing to death, and so much so, that I would get ruined in the cassette player and then I’d end up having to splice it, Scotch tape it. I’m aging myself now for the younger watchers and listeners of David vs Goliath.
Michael Stein:
I just must say, Adam, behind him. See, I have to have Adam on my show because I’m loving this guy. He’s got drums, he’s got guitars behind him, he’s got albums, he’s got stuff. I’m interested to know about him, but I realize it’s about me today for you and your show. But I’m looking behind you and I was like, dude…
Adam Degraide:
You’re always welcome to invite me, I’d love to be on your podcast. I have a lot of hobbies and one of my hobbies is I’m in a rock band called Adam Music Project, which, by the way, might have a track being spun on a major rock satellite radio station. I’m not at liberty to discuss right now, but it might happen. We’ve been working on it for a while and that’s pretty exciting. And I made an album called Apex Rising Part One, made an album called Apex Rising Part Two, that’s coming out in February 17th. As a matter of fact, just for fun, here is a little snippet of that. Let’s listen to Wrecking Ball, 45 Seconds of Adam Music Project. Stay tuned.
And that was Wrecking Ball, about the character Maggie from the video game, Apex Legends. And then I also do a piano album, which is the exact opposite. So I have a Hard Rock album and then I have Adam Degraide, The Calm, and I jokingly told people I’m making a second one, which is going to be called Adam Degrade, Calmer, which is not going to be called that, but I just jokingly tell them that. And then I told my cousin and I said, “The third one is Adam Degraide, The Coma”. And it’ll just put you in a coma. Just going to be one string note with a beep, beep music.
So my instrumental album is called Adam Degrade, The Calm. It’s piano and a string quartet. And then my hard rock act, which incorporates already 25 different artists with me, is called Adam Music Project. So check it out. Got about 33,000 monthly listeners on Spotify right now. Let’s say about 50 to 60,000 monthly listeners in all the platforms. Not bad for an older guy, who was making some music and having some fun. But back to your business, you have not done this alone. You must have had help. Tell the folks a little bit about the people who have helped you throughout your life.
Michael Stein:
Well, in business, everybody helps. I mean, I would say that nobody’s going to help you like yourself in the beginning. Who helped me? Well, my dad indirectly helped me. My dad, he was in the tool business in the late ’60s. He had a business partner. And he left his business partner to sell calculators. He became known as the Calculator Kid. He did this big mail order campaign, made millions of dollars…
Adam Degraide:
Texas Instruments?
Michael Stein:
What’s that?
Adam Degraide:
Was it Texas Instruments, or was it…
Michael Stein:
No, it was [inaudible 00:16:17] international, up in Canada. And big campaign, millions of dollars, crazy lifestyle, parties, everything, so he just squandered it, and then he lost all his money. But then he went back to the tool business. His old partner started a company in 1975, called Harbor Freight. I was growing up seeing all this, the rich dad, poor dad situation. So indirectly I would say, my dad was always telling me, “Sell tools. It’s a big business. Look at what Alan Schmidt’s doing, from Harbor Freight.” So when I graduated high school, that business I told you that failed? The day after I graduated high school, I started a tool business. Made two sales, first two hours and I failed. But then years later after I went through the gauntlet of trying to be an actor and a filmmaker and all this and different life and story, I said, I got to make money again because I want to make my first movie and the only way I’m going to do it is I’m going to pay for it.
So I started that internet and I looked at what am I going to sell? Why tarps? Because I was looking through catalogs of tools, and my dad was always pushing for me saying, “Sell this tool, sell that.” And I looked through it and I saw tarps and he gave me four phone numbers, because he just got done living out of a van at this point because he got out of jail for check fraud. But my dad was my hero because I saw him… And that’s maybe why I do a podcast called Long Shot Leaders because I saw him go hills and valleys. And he fought his way back to middle ground. Not like his riches, that Calculator Kid days, but he was my guiding light as far as putting in the DNA of being an entrepreneur. I didn’t know any other life. You were a hustler. You’re an entrepreneur. So my dad is number one, showing me the right things and the wrong things to do.
And then, before I got into that, when I was in the nightclub business, I never saw true wealth. I met a guy named Peter Guber. I went out with his daughter, and he was the most powerful man in Hollywood. And I didn’t know that at the time when I started dating his daughter. And when I started promoting nightclubs, that’s what really opened up the door. And meeting him, that really helped because that got me involved in personal development. So those are two people like rich dad, poor dad scenario.
Adam Degraide:
You see, we all have them. See my point is that, for the watchers and listeners, whether it’s Michael or myself, we all have people that have indirectly or directly have helped us be successful where we are. Have been there to pick us up when we fall down, and we need people. There’s no doubt about it. In your organization right now, how many people do you have in total?
Michael Stein:
I have six here in the States and I have about six virtual assistants.
Adam Degraide:
All right, that’s great. And so what’s the future beside… what’s the name of that brand again? Say it one more time so we can know.
Michael Stein:
Bolotor. Bolotor is… We’re going to be, it’s the same building, we’re going to be distributing right out of here in Georgetown, Texas. Have a 20,000 square foot facility on 10 acres, and we’re poised to grow. So basically, we’re launching this in summer of 2023.
Adam Degraide:
I love the logo, by the way. I love the logo.
Michael Stein:
Thank you.
Adam Degraide:
Did you design it or did you have somebody do it? Was it 99logos.com or something like that?
Michael Stein:
It was 99 Designs and that’s the name right there, Bolotor, and the O in the center, is that symbol.
Adam Degraide:
Oh, I love it. You got to send me a hat, man.
Michael Stein:
Oh, you’re going to get a hat. You’re going to get… We’re going to be become friends, Adam, I love your energy. We’re going to be sending all kinds of shit.
Adam Degraide:
I spend the summers in California.
Michael Stein:
Nice.
Adam Degraide:
So I live in Florida all year round. And then I spend June, July, August and half of September in California. I don’t want to spend too long there. I don’t want them to actually know I’m there. Matter of fact, I don’t spend any time in California, as far as you know, but I definitely…
Michael Stein:
Because you don’t want to get taxed.
Adam Degraide:
My wife’s a SoCal girl. And we’ve been married now for almost 11 years. Two beautiful kids. We’ve got a seven-year-old and a four-year-old. I also have an ex-wife and a 27-year-old and a 25-year-old. And I’ve got two grandsons that are three and almost a year, and they play with my two current kids. So Michael, I’ll fit right in with you.
Michael Stein:
You look so young to have that.
Adam Degraide:
I’m 51. Don’t tell anyone.
Michael Stein:
Hey look, you’re doing well, man. There’s no bags.
Adam Degraide:
It’s all the caffeine. And then my greatest secret is Zevia. No, I’m just kidding.
Michael Stein:
I drink that same too.
Adam Degraide:
This stuff is great, dude. Natural. I mean, they’re not a paid sponsor here on David vs Goliath. As a matter of fact, holy mackerel, I’m actually long here. I got to go to another break from another sponsor that is not Zevia and not Bolotero, or whatever the name is, or Anthem Software. Stay tuned, we’ll be right back
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Adam Degraide:
And we’re with Michael and Adam. Probably the most fun episode you people have tuned in for a long time. People just hanging out, talking about what we drink and enjoy in life. Mentors in life, people that impact our life, things that change our life. Everything that we have experienced in our lives shapes who we are. And that also includes our businesses as well. So now, have you watched any of the David vs Goliath episodes and are you a subscriber?
Michael Stein:
I haven’t. And I have to…
Adam Degraide:
Can you believe that? You know how many times I ask people that and they say they’re not a subscriber. I’m like, I’m having you on the podcast. Subscribe, man. You’re going to love it.
Michael Stein:
Fortunately for you, you get people on your podcasts that are kind of busy. But you know what sells you, you know what sells the podcast, is you. You sell the podcast because automatically just talking to this guy for the first 30 seconds, I want to hang out with this guy. Well, I’m talking to a mic. It’s still working. I have to use the computer audio right now.
Adam Degraide:
But it looks good, Michael. If people think that you’re using the audio from your microphone. We had a little bit of a technical snafu they call it. So one of the things I love to talk about, and obviously I want to have you back on and we can dig into business more, we’ve talked, had a lot. I’m trying to shorten the episodes, my episodes were getting way too long, so I’m trying to keep him under 30 minutes.
When it comes to courage, David, the shepherd boy, slammed that Goliath, ripped his head off and held it up. And did you know that he had five smooth stones? He wore no armor. He went down to the river, picked up five smooth stones. You have your 10 rules from business, which we’ll cover next podcast. I’ve got five. People and plans. So you have plans and goals, people, tools, the process, and then courage. And courage is what slayed Goliath, because he didn’t need armor, he didn’t need weapons. He know he had a relationship with God and he said, “You know what, I’m going to go take off this Philistine”. And he sliced their head up.
One of the most violent stories in the Bible, people think, you always see the kid stories. They never show the ending, with the blood and guts everywhere. It was a pretty violent battle. But he had courage. And I think every entrepreneur has courage of some kind, and they get it from somewhere. So I’d like to ask you this final question. For you, how did you get the courage to pull up your bootstraps, so to speak, and in debt, start a business?
Michael Stein:
For me, it’s a little unfair. It was in the DNA, there’s no choice. I had a lot of problems as a kid, as ADHD, stutter, health issues, stuttering issue, just a lot of issues. So standup comedy, it was in my DNA, so really putting yourself out there was something.
And then seeing what my dad did shoehorned in, so I was able to see, I was the youngest in a large family and there was a lot of crazy accidents, existential accidents for people. So that gave me the courage, it’s like, look, my dad never finished the eighth grade and he became a multimillionaire. My high school tutor told me that I should… I told her I want to be an entrepreneur, standup comedian and an actor. She goes, “You know, should work with your hands because not everybody’s meant to do what they want to do”. And I was like, “Screw you. My dad barely finished the eighth grade and he became a multimillionaire and he lost it, but I’m going to not lose it”. So that gave the courage.
Adam Degraide:
I’m glad that you said that because my nickname in high school was, I’m Mr. 2.0.
Michael Stein:
Really?
Adam Degraide:
People don’t realize this. I barely graduated from high school. My very first greatest sale I ever made was to my geometry teacher, who I had for three years. She was going to flunk me and I sold her to pass me. And I can’t tell people. Go look online to find out who it was and get her in trouble. But I basically went to her and said, “Hey, I hear that you’re teaching summer school this year, and I’m three points away from passing, so I guess we’ve got a choice here in the next two days. You can do the right thing, or I’ll see you in the summer”. Two weeks later, coming to get his diploma, Adam Degraide. Never went to college.
I mean, I shouldn’t say that. I did go to college a little bit, but I did not finish my exam for the associates in Theology. I was going to be a pastor at one point in my life. And it was a lot of fun. I did online corresponding courses, but I never took the final exam, because I’m not a student, that’s not who I am. But, knock on wood, God gave me the gift of gab. God gave me a creative mind that helps build software that helps businesses, and the rest is history.
What advice do you have for people that are in the exact same spot you were in that maybe didn’t have that dad as a mentor?
Michael Stein:
Understand scope. Ask yourself critical thinking questions, like Toyota has the five why’s. So why is this? Why is that? And why is that? Why is that? Well, then take the who, why, when and how. Ask yourself five times. Assess your situation and understand scope first.
Once you do that, I would formally then Excel spreadsheet your plan, just start to jot it down. And then Tony Robbins thing is take immediate action. Whether just take any kind of immediate action to get your physiology backed up into it. And then also, study personal development. Understand yourself before you start, you want to say, well wait, what does it have to do with business? It has everything to do with business, it has to do with your relationships. As you know, getting the right relationship and the wrong one can save a lot of time. And that has to do with HR, has to do with your business, has to do with everything.
So those are the pillars. Understand scope. Ask yourself critical questions with the who, what, why, where, when and how. And then also get involved in person development and then spreadsheet out your plan and then backdate out goals. We can go on further of that, but that’s like the first steps.
Adam Degraide:
I love it. I love it. And I’ve always said, Michael, hesitancy is the death of an entrepreneur. Action is the lifeblood of an entrepreneur. You do not hesitate. You go for it. There’s no such thing as a toe dipper in California’s ocean, because if you try to dip your toe in the ocean, you’re not going in. But if you are run in, you stay in for hours. And that is absolutely the message today on David vs Goliath. Have you had a good time being here?
Michael Stein:
Oh me, I love this guy. Adam, how do you… Degraide?
Adam Degraide:
Degraide, yeah.
Michael Stein:
Degraide.
Adam Degraide:
I always tell the ladies, Michael, they haven’t lived until they’ve been degraded.
Michael Stein:
I love it. You know, your energy’s amazing. I’m still talking to the mic like it works. I don’t understand this. It makes no sense. Have a lot of conditioning. All right.
Adam Degraide:
Anyway, Michael, it’s been awesome having you. How can people find you?
Michael Stein:
They can go to longshotleaders.com, which is the best way to find me. It’ll tell my story. It’ll tell us more about… If you’ve got a long shot story, like David and Goliath, if you have overcome large obstacles to find success in any way, shape, or form, just not monetarily, but metaphysically. Or we got today’s episode that we got on our show is we got a comedian, he was the finalist on America’s Got Talent, and he’s got a defect with his arms. He calls himself The Cripple Threat.
Adam Degraide:
I know exactly who you’re talking about. Michael, thank you so much for joining us. Guys, another ridiculously awesome episode of David vs Goliath is in the can. With your host, Adam Degraide and Michael Stein. Thank you so much, Michael for joining us. Everyone, thank you for watching and listening. Be sure to share it, like it, tweet it. Whatever you got to do, get it out there. Thank you so much for watching, most importantly, and everyone, have an awesome day. We’ll see you next week.
