Security Halt!

James Hills on Innovation, Veteran Entrepreneurship, and Building Tac Valve | Security Halt! Podcast Ep. 446

• Deny Caballero • Season 8 • Episode 446

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In Episode 446 of the Security Halt! Podcast, Deny Caballero sits down with former Green Beret, inventor, and entrepreneur James Hills to discuss the mindset required to innovate, launch products, and build a business after military service.

James shares his journey from Special Forces to creating Tac Valve, discussing everything from product development and patenting to manufacturing, fundraising, networking, and overcoming setbacks. Throughout the conversation, he explains how military leadership, adaptability, and problem-solving became the foundation for his entrepreneurial success.

Whether you're a veteran with a business idea or an entrepreneur looking for practical advice on bringing products to market, this episode delivers actionable lessons from someone who's lived the journey.

 

Listen now. Follow the show. Share this with the veteran or entrepreneur who needs to hear it.
 
Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Background

03:05 The Journey to Service and Selection

05:59 Experiences in the Military and Innovation

08:54 The Birth of Inventions and Challenges

11:56 Transitioning from Military to Business

15:12 Pitching Ideas and Seeking Investors

18:02 Building Connections and Networking

21:09 The Importance of Brotherhood and Support

24:00 Lessons Learned and Moving Forward

31:44 The Journey Begins: Finding a Manufacturer

34:05 Building a Team: The Power of Connections

39:44 Innovating Water Solutions: The Tac Valve Story

43:10 Embracing the Entrepreneurial Struggle

46:21 Lessons for Veteran Entrepreneurs

51:08 Launching Tac Valve: Overcoming Challenges

56:10 The Road Ahead: Future Plans for Tac Valve
 
 

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Why Pitching Feels Like Combat

SPEAKER_01

Doing a pitch to individuals for money is not easy. What was it like going through I would say that's equally as scary as walking onto you know onto a bird at night headed to an unknown objective to execute a mission.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, well, especially like during transition too, because it's that uncertainty, you know. And and I I do like I I want to be successful. I got great parents, but I grew up lower middle class, you know, and us, you know, being green berets, you know, working out of embassies and everything, we become accustomed to a different lifestyle, right? Or a different just thinking about, you know, how I can, you know, make myself better, always moving forward, right? Never lingering in the past.

SPEAKER_01

That's the biggest drive in all of us. Every veteran, when they get out, the number one thing they want to do is be able to provide for themselves and their family. And there's no greater motivator than those little ones that wake you up in the middle of the morning, you know, wake up at night, or wake up in the morning and greet you. They're excited to see you, to come running to you when they need help or anything like James Hills. Welcome to Security Hot Podcast, brother. How's it going? Uh, doing good, man. How are you? Doing well, man. It's um I want uh thank the universe and and thank Softweek for an amazing introduction. And um, you know, I've seen the product, I've seen TacVow, but I never knew the person and or at least had a chance to meet. And uh, you kind of just kind of we walked into each other, and next thing I know, we're having this great conversation. It's like Green Beret's out there creating amazing things. And that's one thing about this show that I love to do is show the veteran audience that our next chapter can be incredible. We just have to be willing to dare again. We just have to be willing to dream a little bit and pull that thread. And I think uh your story is a testament too of something that I've seen within my own journey is you have this ability to create something while you're still in. Uh I want to give it all away. It's your story. Yeah. And uh today, man, I I want to dive into it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, for sure. Well, I'm uh dude, I'm super pumped to be here. So, you know, and I've gotten I've gotten to tell it to like a lot of individuals, but be able to talk to you about it and put it on this is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_02

So thank you for the opportunity.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely, brother. Absolutely.

Joining The Army And Going SF

SPEAKER_01

So tell us, man, where did this uh where did the inspiration to serve come from?

SPEAKER_02

Well, uh, so you know, high school, um, graduation, don't know what you want to do when you get older. Um, I was actually enrolled to go to a tech school, and uh there was a war going on. Um, and I got real with myself, and I was like, I wasn't meant to go to college. So joined right after high school. Um started off as a Black Hawk crew chief. Um so uh first duty station Germany, uh got to go to Iraq and Afghanistan out there, which was awesome. Um spent about uh probably about six years over there. Um and then uh I was like, you know what, I wasn't meant to be in the air, so I was like, I need to go to selection.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, dude, it it's um it blows my mind when uh we hear these stories, and and you know, everybody has a calling, dude. Everybody has a calling, everybody feels it. I know for our generation, it's usually guys, you know, if they're prior service, they did a couple root, you know, a couple of trips and with the conventional side, and uh nothing wrong with that, nothing, no shade to our our brothers and sisters who stayed the path. But for a lot of us, it was like we identified some things we didn't like, we identified some things where it's like, all right, if I don't go, then I'm going to A, I'm gonna hate myself for it, and B, like I'm just gonna be this disgruntled guy that never took an opportunity when it was right in front of him. And I don't want to get old. I don't I don't want to look back on life and be like, I missed out on this.

SPEAKER_02

I I also think it's a little bit of like, you know, you uh get to grow out some facial hair in your hair every once in a while, you know.

SPEAKER_01

So oh yes, dude. Uh fun fact, I'm never cutting my hair. It's uh me neither, dude.

SPEAKER_02

That's why I got the mane going. It's fucking sweet, man.

SPEAKER_01

Like our forefathers and the men of the 80s and 70s led the way and paved it for us so that we could grow it back out. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02

So uh yeah, so yeah, went to selection, uh, went to through a uh September course in 2010, uh, was fortunate enough to make it through and then started the Q course. I went back, PCS'd everything, started airborne school. Um, then I started the Q course uh July of 2011. So, and then uh graduated from the Q course uh December of 2012 and showed up in uh 10th group um January of 2013.

SPEAKER_01

Man, we were so we were in uh the Q for a little bit. Uh we overlapped a little bit. I left uh did we? Cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's that's crazy. Yeah, I reported in uh uh I think 2012 that summer. Yeah. Yeah, it was uh it was fun. Awesome times.

SPEAKER_02

It was also awesome to go through selection in September, you know.

SPEAKER_01

It's not exactly cool at that time. Dude, Sears School in winter time was not fun. Yeah. That's the one thing I remembered. Um Naked Etch a sketch was um brutal.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I did I did Search School I think in March.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so uh that was fun too. That's actually one of the better courses I think I've ever been through because just how much you learn about yourself going through that course.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, dude, 100%, man. I I have this, you know, it's we we understand it's a one course nobody gives out information in like G2 on because they know like how important it is and how like impactful it is. Like to this day, like I think that holds true. Like we talk about random things and it doesn't you don't understand when we say like to the audience out there, unless you've been there, you don't know what it what it means when I say Nick it's a sketch. You just don't. You don't understand it, you don't get it. Um those who have gone through it though, they understand. Oh yeah. But it's incredibly impactful, man. And uh uh Nick Rowe, man, like now on on the back side of the career, being able to like read and study the history. Like I read I read his book prior to go going into SEER, and but now now working with organizations where the history is you know part part of the content and I like to put out there part of the the stuff to re to educate and show the the rest of our our audience and and and followers that like dude like we tend to focus only on the regiment that we served in. But the regiment before us, the guys that came before us, the guys that were in Afghanistan, not Afghanistan, but in uh in Vietnam and the cold era Cold War era Green Berets. Like, dude, like there are some legends.

SPEAKER_02

I'm always jealous of them, dude, because those guys are my heroes, you know, and I'm sure most guys, you know, that you know, earn their Green Beret, like that's you know, who they were they're looking out for, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Did you find yourself um reading some of the books of like our saw Mac V saw guys before you enlisted?

SPEAKER_02

Uh no, I think the only books I've read about SF before uh was uh like the get selected books.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, you know with the with the picture of the dude with the massive mustache in the front cover. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But yeah, most I mean, most of the books I read were like Daniel Boone and like those kind of guys. Because that's actually that those are those are like my heroes, like Daniel Boone specifically, especially you know, making that pass through the Cumberland Gap twice. Yeah, you know, so yeah, real American heroes, dude.

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um but yeah, so uh yeah, went 10th group. Um I was in uh Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion there. Um did a rotation in Afghanistan, uh got back from that, uh went to Africa to Mauritania, um, and then uh went to an NTC rotation to prepare for Ukraine, but a lot happened in between that um Africa and um Ukraine deployment. Um, you know, I went through a divorce. Um you know, I had I got, you know, um and that just being, you know, with you know, child support and almoney, um, you know, I was giving half my E6 paycheck away. Um, and I think that's kind of like what drove me to like think outside the box on, you know, how can I make some more money, which kind of drove innovation behind a couple things that I've invented now.

SPEAKER_01

Dude, that's uh let's dive into that a little bit. Like innovation is is part of being an infantryman, a green beret. It's certainly within all of us, like if you grew up playing with Legos, like innovation is part of your life, more so than you think. Um, and some people are just a little bit more gifted with it. Like, how did you start? How did that what was the, you know, you you mentioned the divorce being a catalyst for like that need to like, hey, I gotta bring in revenue. What what was it like in that moment? And what was the first thing you started diving

The First Invention Training Needed

SPEAKER_01

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SPEAKER_02

Well, the first thing I started diving into is where am I gonna live? Um, you know. So uh, but fortunately enough, like um I had a man that I made friends with that uh he had a big house and he recently got divorced. And um he's like, hey, why don't you just come rent a room from me? So uh that was pretty cool. Um, but then it was just like, okay, um, you know, I I just uh you know seen a gap in what you know we were using versus what we were getting issued and started looking um you know how I could solve that problem. And the and that's the thing, like we all have that innovation within us. I think it's uh the thing is is like how do you get that into production, you know, in sales. So um, but if you want to go into that, so the first thing that um you know I thought about was the fact that you know Surefire made uh um suppressors and flash hiders for our rifles, but they never made a blank firing adapter, which we needed from training. And after about the fifth time of taking off your surefire hider to go back to a birdcage, I was like, okay, when's somebody gonna solve this?

SPEAKER_01

Bro, uh we got to pause right there because uh I give time for the audience of to think on this. I I was still a Bravo when that came through, and that was the biggest pain in my ass. We we tried everything. We were going to every side vendor, figuring it all out, trying to figure out a way to come across that because everybody, if you're people tend to think that if you know our special operations, like, oh, they don't use blanks, they go straight, they go straight into shoe house, live fire. I'm like, no, dude. We're still doing the same shit with blanks, we're still doing the crawl walk run methodology because it works. Blanks is part of the training. And overnight, we didn't have the capability. They've rolled, they've rolled over that shit, and it looked sexy, it was great, but like what a huge gap in uh execution for surefire. That is just such a and it I have to I wish I could get answers and talk to somebody in their in their marketing, in the development, and in their R and R like in the research team to be like, dude, what what happened? Like, how do we drop the ball? Because that was a huge thing. I mean, I remember unzipping those tan cases and being like, fuck yeah, we're excited. And I'll and here's here's a uh a great point too. We've we got the scars, right? They came with a blank fire adapter. Like that's a thing where it's like two giant companies and a great case study for shitting the bed on the final execution and just saying we don't have an answer for you. Figure it out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So well, that's what we're here for, right? Yeah, so which worked out for you. Oh, yeah, for sure. Uh so yeah, I'll show it to you real quick. So this is a rifle with a blank adapter on it. Um, but yeah, so uh pretty much like I, you know, I seen it and I was like, okay, how do I do this, right? I don't I don't know how to do um cat or solid works. Um who do I need to talk to to get this out there? So the first first place I looked up was a a patent attorney. Um that's what made sense, you know, to me. And fortunately enough in Colorado Springs, there was an office there. Um so I went in there and talked to Scott, my buddy, um, and said, hey, I got this idea for you know a blank frying adapter for a rifle. Here's what I think it should kind of look like. Here's the measurements it needs to be. Who do I need to talk to about this? And so Scott introduced me to a guy named Tucker uh that was at UCCS in the engineering lab. And so he actually helped me on uh, you know, doing the AutoCAD for it, the SolidWorks, and then turning one out with a CNC lathe, and me and him going up to Woodland Park and testing it out. So, and then and then after that, that came with Tucker introducing me to a manufacturer to start turning these out on a CNC machine. So um, so I made so I got the first ones done. Uh so I filed for a provisional patent. Um, I got the first ones done uh January of 2015. Um and this and this was thought of like during this NTC rotation we did, which that leads into Tac valve too. But uh uh got them turned out and I made 66 of them for my company. Um that was my first batch of them. And I actually like our our supply guy was all about buying them from me, but our company commander was like, I don't know if it's ethical for the military to be selling to the military. And so Jag came in and they're like, ah, it's a gray area, which I found some stuff out about that later. Um, but um, yeah, so they they didn't buy them, and I'll tell you what, I honestly I should have just gave them to the company just to get them out there. So that was one that was one mistake on on my part is but I was worried about all the money I had invested in this, you know. So um, but yeah, so had that, and then um on that same NTC rotation that we were in, I also noticed um, you know, when we were doing our C-burn events that um in our kit that we were given from Spear, you know, you got pouches for wide mouth bottles. Um, but if you're using one of those, you know, 63 millimeter wide mouth bottles, there's no way to put your gas mask cap on it, so you couldn't drink out of it. And so I thought of an adapter lid um first for uh wide mouth bottles, uh, but at the time I thought that the blank firing adapter was more needed than uh uh a way to drink out of your bottle, yeah, you know? Yeah um so and I only had so much money, right? Like I was eaten ramen noodles for a long time.

SPEAKER_01

Um that's the part nobody talks about when you're trying to do this on your own. There's gonna be a lot of things.

SPEAKER_02

Patents aren't cheap. Not cheap. So anytime you talk to an attorney is not cheap.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. That's the other thing. I I I uh didn't understand too. It's not like you walk in, you pay one time, and it's like you have the the attorney's entire, you know, access to them 24-7. Uh it's it's uh hourly and sometimes it it can be a lot.

SPEAKER_02

Uh oh yeah. Absolutely. But I mean they gotta make theirs too, right? So um, but yeah, uh so start with that and then just um, you know, stayed

Patents, Money Stress, And Hard Calls

SPEAKER_02

in 3rd battalion until 2017. Then I went to 1st Battalion over at Panzer Concern, uh Rest in Peace, because they're now in Bomb Holder.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, they just they just moved, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So that's crazy. It's a lot of history. Um yeah. Uh so yeah, I had a spent um four years over there. Um had a great time. Uh got to have my family over there. I got remarried within that time period too, to my wife, Erica. Um, and uh got to bring all my family over there and kids loved it, uh, had a great time and then left there and uh PCS to El Paso, Texas, uh working out the uh soft tech. That is quite the change. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, there was so there was actually a reason behind that because thinking like forecasting as much as I could is um talking with the battalion sergeant major, he's like, well, I'm just gonna send you back to 10th group to a team. And to me, I'm like, well, I don't want to be deployed until the day I get out, you know. And so knowing I only had two and a half years left before I hit that 20, I was like, what's what's on that swick levy? Yeah. So it's smart. Yeah. Um, and and I mean, I and I'm glad. And also, like El Paso, I wanted to, I knew I didn't want to live in El Paso forever. I mean, I do I love that city, uh, but I wanted to live somewhere more Midwest. So I knew by PCSing there it would force me to live where I really want to live at.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Dude, that's um that's uh some big brain moves. Uh in a lot of us uh think I know for a fact back in the day, you couldn't pay me to go to El Paso like that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's a desert island.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. But you don't, you know, you were there with some good people though. I think we uh we have we have some cross pollination with some good dudes that were there around the same time.

SPEAKER_02

Oh yeah, well, I mean I think that was like seventh group's home.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_02

So and then they threw a couple tenth group dudes in there, a couple fifth group dudes. Yeah. Um, and then they then expanded. It was the Rsoft TC, and then expanded to the soft tech when they uh moved up to Wismer. And they had a, you know, I think it's closed down now, um, what I heard, but they had like 30 dudes that were there. So before it was like eight of us.

SPEAKER_01

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SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I don't I don't necessarily so the blank firing adapter, just because I, you know, I was in the military, you know, the first thing I heard was I can't sell them in the military being in the military. So I had no way of like marketing them. I didn't have a website, I wasn't advertising them. However, just by word of mouth, I did make some sales while I was in, which was cool, right, to get some extra money. Um, but I think most importantly about going to El Paso is it just I I was fortunate enough that I met some um pretty uh prominent people there in El Paso and they brought me into their circle and it just taught me a lot about business is I think, you know, and and that that was given to me. That that like that was a blessing that I got to meet those people and um it's it's that path that you know that I think I'm on, you know. Um so yeah, and they're uh successful. I got to hang out with them for two and a half years. Um, and then um yeah, we get uh Where I was starting when I was starting to get out of the army. So Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

There's the one thing that it's equal. Everybody's going to go through a transition process. And for everybody, you're going to it's going to be challenging. I'm not saying it's going to be a struggle for everybody, but I will say it is going to be a challenging thing. You're going to be forced to reconcile with the or come to the understanding that you're no longer going to be that cool guy. You're no longer going to have the ability to look down and be like, this, this is who I am. This is what I do. You got to find the identity. But in your case, you had you had something you were already working on. Do you feel that made it easier to actually take off the uniform and say, you know what? I'm an inventor. I'm a businessman. I have something to look forward to.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I I think so. But at the same time, there there was definitely that uncertainty. I applied for a bunch of GS jobs. Um never got anything back on those. Um and uh and it was it was actually like my wife that kind of

Transition Identity And Investor Fear

SPEAKER_02

pushed me on, you know, hey, you should do something with that. And that's why I started thinking up a plan on how uh learning from the blank firing adapter and um how I could have made that better. Um I built a pitch deck and started going down the road of pitching it to investors.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, dude. That's uh that's hard. That doing a pitch to individuals for money is not easy. What was it like going through like that's I would say that's equally as scary as walking onto you know onto a bird at night headed to an unknown objective to execute a mission.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, well, especially like during transition too, because it's that uncertainty, yeah, you know. And and I I do like I I want to be successful. Um, you know, I got I got great parents, but I grew up lower middle class, you know, and us, you know, being Green Berets, you know, working out of embassies and everything, we come accustomed to a different lifestyle, right? Or a different, you know, and uh just thinking about, you know, how I can, you know, make myself better, right? Always, always moving forward, right? Never lingering in the past and like what that was gonna take and you know, maybe see if you know you can actually make the American dream happen.

SPEAKER_01

Dude, absolutely. That is the biggest, that's the biggest drive in all of us. Every veteran, when they get out, the number one thing they want to do is be able to provide for themselves and their family. And there's no greater motivator than those little ones that wake you up in the middle of the morning, you know, wake you up at night or wake you up in the morning and greet you that are excited to see you, that come running to you when they need help or anything like I already had a drive. A lot of us had a drive to to achieve something, to be better than the previous generation. But the moment you bring a kid into this world, then then the real pressure comes. Then it's then it's a consistent thing. Like, how did you manage that feeling of like, okay, I I have to I have to execute, I have to get there, with understanding that it's not a it's not a sprint. Oftentimes this this is a marathon.

SPEAKER_02

It is, it's every day. Um so of course, like I didn't know, but it's not like that was gonna keep me from trying. So um, and here's how I did it. Um, so I went on LinkedIn. If you guys don't have LinkedIn, get LinkedIn, start building your connections. Um, and I went on there and I just started searching for investor or angel investor and started connecting with as many of those people as I could on there. So um like starting starting that journey, and I didn't know anything about a pitch deck or uh K Gar or uh you know, even how to do I was a Charlie man, so like I didn't, you know, we don't do that's for alphas. We don't do PowerPoints, right? So um, but yeah, so I uh started going out there, you know. I had this little had this little blurb blurb that I sent to everybody, you know, pretty much, hey, I'm uh you know, transitioning special forces soldier, I've already invented one item, I have a patent on this item, I have the idea for this other invention. Would you sign this NDA, right? So we can talk about this. And uh I would say out of the probably a hundred that I sent that to on LinkedIn, I probably got about 75 replies with their emails to send an NDA to. And then uh out of those 75 that I send an NDA to, I probably got about 40 of those NDA signs and actually started pitching it to investors. Wow. That's not bad. That's not bad. That's not bad. That's not bad. However, there is a lot learned from that. You know, there was out of out of all those people, there was only about three serious parties. Um, the rest of them were um I think just uh wanted to hear it, right? There were other entrepreneurs that, you know, wanted to hear it. Um so uh but it I mean it was all good. I mean, it's all lessons learned, and you know, I got and a lot came out of that um with uh meeting some people that I still talk to today.

SPEAKER_01

So we have to be willing to see everything in an up uh everything as an opportunity, even closed doors or even miss you know in interviews or or discussions that don't lead to anything. Try to get something out of it. That's one thing I realized. Um get having virtual cups of coffee with people has been vital to my development and the growth of my business. Like, and and I always say it, I'm a dog shit entrepreneur, but I'm proud of it. I'm building everything on my own. I'm I'm building it as I don't have an MBA, and and I I don't think everybody has to. I I think I chased education that was interesting and vital to me and other aspects of it. Certainly helps me in a nonprofit space, being able to talk and being able to be a peer-to-peer resource. But the the vital insights and the the knowledge I've gained about business practices has come from individuals like yourself, former teammates that are now successful businessmen doing insane numbers that just you know, looking back, like I it it it's hilarious to me that somebody that was on my team that was, you know, the senior echo is now making the most money out of all my friends, my friends group, and it's fucking awesome.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, and I love it. And like the um, you know, I mean, well, just military people, you know, and and SF guys or Rangers, like smartest people I've ever met in my entire life, you know. So um, but yeah, so in there, in I had a little in the middle of that going down the uh pitching it to potential investors, um, I met a man by the name of Jonathan Lowe that uh works in that investment industry for some really big corporations, and um he's a army reservist, and he's seen what I had, and uh he pulled me off to the side and was like, hey, let me help you out with this and get you back out there because my first PowerPoint um was garbage. Um so uh I owe a lot Jonathan for doing that. Um but yeah, and then I I got to the end of it. Um and uh I um remembered that when I uh was doing a long-distance shooting course up in um Hat Creek in Idaho, um, after that course was done, uh a friend of mine, uh John Gonzalez, Gonzo, took me down to um to Cryptic to go meet um Josh Cleghorn. And so um I ended up I called up Josh and showed him what I had, and he's like, this is awesome. Um I'm getting ready to go on a business trip right now. I'll contact you when I get back. So um, yeah, so I, you know, I was waiting for that, for him to get back with me. Um, and in that time, uh it took it took about a month and a half for him to call me back, so I was kind of losing a little bit of hope on that. And I actually got to the point where I was going to those successful Green Berets that I know and was asking them for like, you know, 10 grand for 7% of the company. And the guys that I talked to were like, hell yeah, dude, we'll do this. And so um, but it's kind of funny because as soon as I started that, Josh called me back and he's like, dude, this is awesome. I'm gonna set up a meeting with our CFO and uh we'll get back with you. And uh, but the cool thing was is I was able to call up those teammates and um, you know, say, hey guys, I'm sorry, I asked you for that. I really don't need it. Um, I have a potential investor, and um, they weren't mad about it. They're like, hell yeah, dude, go get it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's that's what I love about like real friendships and and and people that have a good heart. They're not gonna hold you. Like, I've I've met people where it's like, wait a second, like this doesn't feel right. It feels like you're gonna have some sort of like grievance if something pops up and I have an opportunity. Like, we gotta be able to look at look at situations and say, man, this is a better avenue. This is a better, this is a better deal for you, and I'm happy for you. Rather than like, well, shit, you you said you were gonna do it with me. It's like, dude, like, yeah, I I get it, but look what I have right here. Look at what's right here for me. Like, my success, you should be happy for it.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And and then same and same for them. If there's anything that I can do for them, you know, like why not, right? I want to be, you know, and that's encouraging others, you know. That's and especially when you get into this entrepreneurial world, that's what it's all about, you know. Every time I hear of somebody like, you know, making a big sale or something that's a small business, I'm like, hell yeah, dude, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01

Dude, I'm I'm telling you, the brotherhood is alive and well, and the team room is greater on the outside. Every time, every chance I have an opportunity to highlight and uh bring another veteran on board and something. If I can pay, that's been the the greatest gift. Being like I I work non-stop, but that means that I make I make money now that I can I can allocate into supporting other veterans. I'm gonna hire a Green Beret. If I can hire a Green Beret to do video content for an event that I'm not gonna be at, like, hell yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna put some money in their pocket.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and that's a part of the uncertainty because and and it and it is the reality too. Like, you know, nobody cares. You know, nobody cares. Until you start putting yourself out there, you're gonna find those people that care. And you know, half half the people that I work with now are all civilians, and they also want to see, you know, me be successful and have helped me along this journey. So it's it's been a really, really cool experience. Um, so uh, but going back to that time, um after I after Josh gave me the call back and said we're gonna set up a meeting with uh our CFO

LinkedIn Outreach And Rebuilding The Pitch

SPEAKER_02

David Fallon. Um I went out and I found an American manufacturer. Uh funny story behind that is I went into every outdoor store and looked on the bottom of every single water bottle to see where it was made at. And I found one that was made in the USA, and it had a UPC on it with an email, and I sent an email to them, and uh they called me up like two days later and asked me what I had, and you know. Uh so that is awesome. So uh, but yeah, and it's funny because uh like I said, I've been blessed with this, but the uh the company that I emailed, the guy that um called me up to talk about it, uh invented cereal box toys back in the 60s for Kellogg's. What? So like he's like legendary like in the plastics manufacturing world. Yeah. And uh it's kind of funny because he told me he's like, son, I've been in this business for 50 years, and I've heard every different way somebody's gonna create a water bottle. So give me your like, you know, let me hear it. And uh, and so yeah, I pitched them, pitched them Tac Valve, and uh like that next week they uh started working on it for me.

SPEAKER_01

So nice, nice. So I take it he was actually intrigued.

SPEAKER_02

For sure, for sure. Well, and I don't I don't think that they've ever necessarily had a customer like us either, you know, because they're a major manufacturer, so a lot of very popular brands out there. So um, but yeah, um, and that's what I'm saying. That's the those are the the people that care, you know, and the and the and and Leon and Vern, those guys are like family to me now, you know. So um, but yeah, I had ended up um uh ETS uh last day in the army was June 30th. Um we didn't know where we were gonna live at. We knew we didn't want to live in El Paso, so we went to uh northern Arkansas. Um and really it's because I wanted trees, grass, and water and be somewhere in the Midwest. And uh we were looking at places in northern Arkansas, staying in Airbnb, and that's when I got my meeting with um Josh and David was there. So that's when I gave my pitch, and they're like, let's do this. And so that's when I that's when I was I got I got super happy. Like I knew something was gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, dude, you're bringing heavy hitters on the team. They see the vision, they see the product. Like, I think when it comes to innovation and you know inventions, just like at Soft Week, man, everybody's looking at drone tech, everybody's looking at the new laser, the new nods mount, the new heads-up display. Like, we've been talking about heads-up displays since the friggin' 70s, man. The friggin' 70s, and they've they now like what I'm looking at, like they finally got it to a small scale-down version after decades of of innovation. I asked the guy, I'm like, how how shockproof is it? And like the dude did the the essential nerd push of the glasses up. It's like, well, actually, it's not very shockproof. And I'm like, dude, let me tell you, if the first time you give that to a free fall team, the first time that dude gets done with this pre-jump, he's taking that thing, if they do pre-jump, because we know you're lazy, he's gonna take someone off and drop it, and that thing is gonna be shattered in a million pieces. But we if we fail to look at the things that everyday soldiers need, a good thing for water and that I'm like that right there before I started.

SPEAKER_02

Um, like I set goals for this, and and the biggest one was keep it simple, stupid, you know. Like we've always heard that throughout the military, and like that that was it, right? Because everybody uses a water bottle.

SPEAKER_01

Yep.

SPEAKER_02

Yep. And so don't overcomplicate it, keep it simple, right? It's all true, man.

SPEAKER_01

It's absolutely the truth. Because I will tell you, man, like we've the innovation that we've seen is it's the camel back. But let me tell you, how many bladders have you popped? For sure. You get on the objective, you do the old rucksack flop, or or you do something and you press against the wall, and the next thing you know, you just have this cool sensation of like, oh shit. Either I'm either I'm bleeding out or I just pop my fucking camel bladder.

SPEAKER_02

The only thing that they're good for is freezing them to using SIFSIC. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, dude. And and I I I tell you, when I when you look at the product, when you look at Tac Valve, it's exactly what you would want. Um because if you've ever been to jump school, if you've ever been to any of these places where you're constantly looking to fill up your water bottle, you're looking for something that uh it's a it's not gonna hold on to the stank and the the the grime and grossness that you get recycled. Like, dude, I I will tell you, I never for after I got out of S UT, I never ever ever used an army-issued canteen ever again. The most you cannot clean him out. You can't clean him out with it. It's disgusting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, then um, in that time, my manufacturer they introduced me to another company called Smart Plastic Technologies that um makes an um an additive um that's master batched and permanent embedded to make it antimicrobial with antifungal properties. And with using that, I was able to get a utility patent as the first hard-sided bottle that's antimicrobial and anti with antifungal properties.

SPEAKER_01

What, dude? So that's just like I was saying, dude, like it is the like it anybody that's ever been through rigorous training in the military, uh, and you left your your your camel back and your canteen's filled with water. What happens when you leave it out in the sun? You bring it back in, you throw it in your team room, you forget about it. It's filled with gunk. It's filled with mold. It's disgusting. The slime mold. Like it, it is it is something that we've had to like just kind of admit and be like, whatever, dude, I'll put the cleaning tablets in it, and then I'll I'll put it'll taste like shit. Hopefully I don't get sick, and then you end up inevitably getting sick.

SPEAKER_02

For sure. Yeah, and and and like the hoses and and you know, bladders are the worst for that.

SPEAKER_01

Dude, yeah, I don't need 75 different gadgets to clean out my water source, dude. I don't. And and we've had it like I I've like I don't buy them anymore. That's one of the problems of like wanting to be out in the go do you know events and be active, and and you have to you pretty much get to the to the point where you're just gonna accept the fact you're gonna buy a new camelback every time you go do an event, every time you go do a race, because the cleaning and the upkeep, you can't dry them out. You have to buy 17 different, like I said, some so many different things to actually maintain the one product. Whereas with what you created, it's literally you take the cap off, you rinse it out, and you let it dry, and you don't have to worry about weird slime mold growing in it. Yes.

SPEAKER_02

No, I I mean that that I just like like I said, the journey is like the it's fun. Yeah. So um, but yeah, so a little bit in there too, during that same time, um, also contacted from from that network of being in the military, that's so important. Um, I contacted Kin Tova, who is a retired USock commander, and asked him, uh, gave showed him my pitch and everything, and I asked him if he would give me an introduction to Avon Protection, who makes the M50 and M53 gas mask. Yeah. So um, of course, like, because he's awesome, he's like, hell yeah, I'll do that. So uh yeah, we I went to AUSA. Um, I didn't have any hard product, I only had 3D prototypes. Um, and got to meet Casey Galligan, who you know. Yeah, my Casey. Um so and uh went and talked to Avon about it, and that kind of like started my started my journey of working this within um you know getting uh you know PO Soldier and Marforce Ciscom and all that.

SPEAKER_01

So did yeah, which PO Soldier system is like it's uh if you're not following on social media, correct yourself, like do your something sure.

SPEAKER_02

It's just one of those that that journey will come later on in the story, though. So I'm not I'm not quite there yet. I'm still pretty pretty new right now. Um but so yeah, but I mean going back, I'd like to like Josh and David, like when we formed that team, dude, we formed a brotherhood. That was my that was the new team, you know, on the outside. And like, I mean, Josh, dude, he he like founded cryptic. You know what I mean? Like super successful, man. Former 160th Little Bird pilot. Um David, you know, he's uh reservist, uh command sergeant major. Um just and he's a uh he's guys uh masters and accounting and just like the smartest numbers, dude. I've ever met before. Just amazing. It's a dream team, man. Oh man, I love them. Yeah.

Building Tac Valve With USA Manufacturing

SPEAKER_01

Do you feel that you're finally at that stage where you're not waking up with the uh the tension headaches, the uh the pressure points that that need to be massaged out, the flaring issues.

SPEAKER_02

Man, I I think if you're well, you know, dude, if you're an entrepreneur, man, I don't think you'll ever get over that. You know, you're you're gonna have that, you know, especially when you gotta deal with customer service. And there's not like I enjoy it, don't get me wrong, like, but I mean it's all those little stressors or when somebody, you know, has uh, you know, a complaint or social media, right? If somebody, you know, says something that's you know, that yeah, you know, yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's a lot of work and it's non-stop. I think for sure. The uh the one thing too, and I want to highlight it for anybody out there that's it's in the same boat. You're you're a founder, you're a creator, you're an entrepreneur. Like learn to suffer well. Um sometimes you're gonna be overworked and and you're gonna have the what feels like the weight of the world coming down on you. But in in all honesty, it's a gift, it's a blessing. Like you're you're you're dreaming, you're living your dreams, you're living the thing that you wanted, so don't take it out on people around you. That's no stress is no excuse for um making everybody around you miserable. Find joy and happiness in the suffering. Yeah, like it's true, man. Like it's you at some point you prayed for this. At some point you prayed I do. I pray every day for this. Yeah. So every day. Be grateful for it, man. Be grateful for the opportunity. Like, like, man, like I I I've never had to produce more, I've never had to to do more for my clients for work. And it's like, yeah, I'm staying up late, I'm fulfilling things, but like, hey, focus on the good. Focus on the good. Um, because I will tell you, man, it is a blessing. And and under and being able to see and meet individuals such as yourself to have a glimpse to what your pu what your future could look like very soon. So, and and there's a lot of people listening to this right now that whatever you're doing, man, keep grinding, keep moving forward. Like you're gonna be able to figure it out. And one of the biggest things that I want people to take away from this is reach out to people, connect, communicate. Like if you're in your own little incubation chamber, you're wrong. You're wrong. Go out and meet people, talk, engage. Um, there's there's no excuse for it. Now, more than ever, we're connected, man. Like for sure. We have so many resources.

SPEAKER_02

And that's like coming out of the military, you're just automatically gonna have that feeling because it's the unknown, right? You're going into the unknown. You know, I was in for 20 years and eight months and didn't know, still don't know what I want to do when I get older. Like, and um, you know, but but that's what I've learned is if you're if you're driven and you ask, there are people that care and people are gonna help you.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, for sure. It's so true, man. It's so true. I I wanted for the longest time, like I'm sure you had the same idea. Once you, once you start looking down that, you know, down that pipeline of of transition and getting out of the military, I wanted to believe that like it was impossible to follow my dreams, it was impossible. I had to find something that was the norm. I had to like, and I I owe so much to the Honor Foundation. Um, and and to myself, I've got to give myself credit for finally being able to say, like, hey, you know what? Maybe sales is a great avenue for for James, and maybe defense tech is gonna be great for for Steven over here, but I'm gonna have to figure this shit out on my own because I know that none of this is going to fulfill me. And it takes a lot of guts to go out there and say, hey, I'm gonna gamble on myself. I'm I'm going to find ways to make income, but ultimately I'm going to bet on myself and pull that thread. And um, you know, at this stage where you're at right now, like if you could go back in time and give James some insight into what he's about to go go into, or any veteran entrepreneur out there, what are some things you would tell them that kind of help them understand that they're going to be all right?

SPEAKER_02

Man, I I would just, you know, um, well, number one is just realizing that uh we're here for a good time, not a long time, and just stay driven, right? So um you're always earning the next thing, you know, nothing's given. Um, and just uh keep keep that mindset. Um, and then uh and that was it. Because, you know, that that was most the anxiety, right? When I was getting out was just the fact of like, oh, this isn't gonna happen. I'm just gonna have to get a job. Yeah, you know. Um, which I have a job, but different kind of job. So um but uh yeah, that was the biggest thing. Because that that's like that was a very, very, very stressful time. Um, just thought that whole transitional process. Like I said, I was I was very, very blessed.

Launch Day Wins And Tariff Delays

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, very blessed. So true. Um but yeah, uh, so yeah, after I got after um I went to that AUSA, um my tooling was getting made. Um and uh I got my first production run off the line uh January of 25. So um yeah, so uh and then after that uh Josh and David and I we uh traveled to Cadillac, Michigan to go meet with uh Avon. Um so I was pretty cool. Got to go to their headquarters there, um, talked to them again, uh, showed them the actual mod can that we have. Um and uh and then just started building more connections. Um I'll back up a little bit. December of 24, I'm still I'm still pedaling BFAs. Like it's more of a, it's uh, you know, I still sell them. Um it's more of a hobby now, but I still get them out there. Um, but during that time, um Alex, our um marketing and branding director, um, you know, purchased like 10 BFAs from me. And so I was like, you know, anybody that purchased more than one, I want kind of wanted to know who they were or, you know, what they're using them for. And um, you know, he told me he's in uh First Alpha Co. which is a group of guys that do training down in Dallas, Texas. Um and uh so started talking to him and found out that he worked in the advertising um area and uh for a really big company out of Dallas and uh started talking about Tac Valve and asking, you know, if he wanted to be on our team. So um that was that was a super cool time too, because Alex is awesome. So and he and I seen it too because he also when I when I when he got him from me, I looked at his Instagram and he had like 25,000 followers, and so I knew he was good at social media automatically, right? So um, so uh yeah, I started and uh started working with uh Alex at that same time. Um went to Avon, um, so MedOx December, Avon January, um, and with Alex, he brought a bunch of people uh from his network, like Canap Provision, Spirit of Systems, OPT Tactical, um, you know, people to give us those introductions. And uh, and then we ended up um doing a soft launch with our uh first um 800 mod cans in July July 17th of 2025. And uh we did that through Can of Provisions with Zach, and we sold out of all of our inventory in four hours. Wow. So um yeah, so that was that was pretty cool. That's that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um so uh but crazy thing is, is politics would have it at that time, new president tariffs going on. And so I wasn't because we're 100% sourced in the USA too, I wasn't able to acquire material um until D material to make new mod cans until December of or November of 25 to have production uh for our hard launch that we did December 15th. Damn. That's kicking a dick. It is, it is. That was that was a very difficult time because I was supposed to have them in September. And then uh yeah, it just got crazy. Um, but I mean that gave me time, um, you know, because I always had my samples with me. Um, we we built um a lot of distributors during that time. Um, I was also able through another friend of mine, uh Jimmy Cannon. Um uh he introduced me. He got out of the army. Um, he introduced me to one of his tactile games athletes that he works with named Philip. Um and Jimmy called me up and asked me if we would like to sponsor Philip for the uh Tacto Games November of 25. So uh Alex and I went down there. Um it was awesome. Um Tactical Games is very cool. Everybody should check it out. Um, and they're also great people. Um, and um yeah, so and then we got to build up a big social media bank in that time. Um, for there's there's a lot of good things that happened, you know, as much as it sucked, there was a lot of good that came out of that. Um, but yeah, and then we did our um there are our hard launch um December 15th of 25 and it'd been selling ever since.

Suffering Well And Staying Connected

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, dude.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. It's uh it's beautiful to hear stories that like put a real put a real lens what it's like. It's not I'm for the longest time I I always looked at other organizations, other individuals, and be like, man, it must have been perfect and smooth sailing. And there that couldn't be further from the truth. Every single entrepreneur, every veteran business owner that I brought on the show has been so gracious and kind to share the truth, the pain points, the the sleepless nights, the the moments of trepidation, the moments of like I of desperate like praying and saying, fuck, do I need to get nine to five in order to make this dream come true? And then and then little by little, a little bit of progress, a little bit of movement, a little, a little push from an introduction. Like those are the real stories that like we deserve to have out there. And and it's been amazing to have people like yourself come on and and be able to say, yeah, man, it was it was touch and go for a while. It was scary, and that's the truth, man. Like it's um my great friend Tim Maleski always says it, man. Like you're you're working on the overnight success story that's gonna take you 10 years to build, that that people are gonna be like, oh my god, dude, I heard about these guys, they're amazing. And it's like, yeah, you heard about us like a couple weeks ago, but we've been out here grinding since 2024, 2023. And that's the beauty of it, because when you take that filter away, when you kill the myth, you show other people that it's possible. And oftentimes it's just being willing to put the work in and grind and go and keep going, and waking up each and every day, looking at the small, the small wins and the small success. And sometimes the win is like, hey, I didn't quit. And that's just something that we learned early on in selection, looking at each other and saying, hey, we'll quit tomorrow. And like every day, like I may not, I may not have the team that I want yet, but I still, because I suffer from uh, you know, the the the American dream, I every day I wake up and say, hey man, like we'll quit tomorrow. We'll deal with today's do outs and the crazy requirements from clients, and we'll quit tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, that that and that's it. It's it's one day at a time. Yeah. You know? And um, yeah, and actually it's uh, you know, you you you know that, but um, throughout this journey I've been on, um, another uh fine American that I met that's done very good for himself, uh, his name's Sam. Um he uh when I was out in Philadelphia a couple months ago, I went out with him and I was talking to him about everything and his journey. You know, he's been um he's now a major manufacturer for F-35 parts and F-16 parts. He owns like three manufacturing facilities in the Philadelphia area. Um be around. We started talking on LinkedIn. It works. Yeah. You know, like and um yeah, so uh when I was out there for a DLA event, um he was in the area and I met with them and we were just talking, and you know, I was talking about that entrepreneurial journey, and that's you know, one thing they said to me is you know, it's one day at a time, you know. It's true, man. So it's true. We can get to that later. I'll tell you about that story too. So that's pretty cool beside. Um but yeah, so we so yeah, we've been we've been selling every s ever since, and um, yeah, there's uh man. Um but at the same time, you know, it's been um, you know, the soft weeks, the um, you know, maneuver expos that you have to go to and you know, put yourself out there and you know, to really drive this and you know, um, you know, just re reaching out, using, um, especially if it's something that you know could possibly be beneficial for the military, you know, going on that PEO soldier um, you know, and and applying for it, right? And having them look at it, and then you start talking to PEO Soldier, and you know, um, and yeah, it it I mean it if it's a if if it's good, if it's valid, it's gonna work.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's true, man. And um, you know, we're definitely gonna have to do a part two.

Where To Buy And Support The Mission

SPEAKER_01

There's more to this story I want to share. But where can folks go to learn more about Tac Valve and everything that you're doing?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so uh um tacvalve.com, um and then uh Instagram at TacValve. Um so and then uh yeah. That's it. But I'm sure we'll we'll mention that again. And I gotta give a when we do part two, I gotta give a couple of shout-outs to some people that's really helped me out there as well.

SPEAKER_01

So well guys, you're gonna have to tune in for part two, which we're gonna record after I get back from Normandy. But uh do me a favor, pause the episode. It's uh you know the spiel. We're at we're at the end. I try to keep it about an hour. I was supposed to go for a little longer, but we've got to go to Adoration. We gotta go talk and uh enjoy a little bit of time, me and the wife just no, just hanging out for a little bit. But uh do me a favor, head on over to those links, click them, support James, go buy attack valve or two, send me one. I'll I'll be grateful for sure. Uh send one to your friend, to your uh friends and friends, or if you're an officer and you're in charge of a company, maybe buy a whole bunch for the boys because uh those canteens suck. It's about time we get a new one. It's been the worst thing in inventory.

SPEAKER_02

1962 was the last iteration of canteens in three Zen Day. So that was the last time the so the wheel is now turning.

SPEAKER_01

Nice. Yeah, I remember one of the grossest frigging things, and I know you guys have probably experienced this, is having somebody that used your canteen as a dip bottle, and then they turned it back to CIF. That's what happened to me when I signed up to the 82nd and I drew my gear. I went back to my uh my barracks room, opened them up, laid it out, and I opened it up and I smelt the wonderful uh smell and aroma of uh ancient dip spit that's been baked into my canteen. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I actually had a Marine tell me that the other day. He's like, I used all my canteens for spitters. It's like cool.

SPEAKER_01

There you go. Yeah. James, thank you so much for making the time to be here, brother. I can't I can't thank you enough for doing this. Uh, it's truly a pleasure, and and I cannot wait to hang out in person again because, dude, for sure. It was great meeting you at Soft Week. And everybody tuning in. Thank you guys for what you're doing. Thank you for supporting the show. It means a lot to me. One more pitch, please do me a favor. Special Forces Foundation is still doing a big drive for donations. Head on over to the link in the episode description. Click the link, donate. $4, $2, even $1 goes a long way in the nonprofit game. So please support the nonprofit that supports our nation's Green Berets and their families. Because let me tell you, in the summertime, we get a lot of requests, and it's uh individuals like yourself listening that make the difference. So thank you guys for supporting your show. Thank you for supporting the mission. And most importantly, thank you for tuning in. We'll see you all next time. Until then, take care.

Head Shot

Deny Caballero

Host