Security Halt!
Welcome to Security Halt! Podcast, the show dedicated to Veterans, Active Duty Service Members, and First Responders. Hosted by retired Green Beret Deny Caballero, this podcast dives deep into the stories of resilience, triumph, and the unique challenges faced by those who serve.
Through powerful interviews and candid discussions, Security Halt! Podcast highlights vital resources, celebrates success stories, and offers actionable tools to navigate mental health, career transitions, and personal growth.
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Security Halt!
Timothy Gick on Veteran Entrepreneurship, Hyperion and Reinventing Youth Fitness Through Play | Security Halt! Ep. 468
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How do you get kids to become more physically active without making exercise feel like another chore?
In Episode 468 of the Security Halt! Podcast, Deny Caballero sits down with veteran entrepreneur Timothy Gick to discuss his transition from military service to entrepreneurship and the creation of Hyperion, a game designed to combine physical fitness, play, competition, and purpose for kids.
Timothy shares how his military experience influenced his approach to leadership, resilience, innovation, and problem-solving, and why he believes physical fitness during childhood can have an impact that lasts a lifetime. The conversation explores youth fitness, multi-dimensional gaming, purpose-driven play, veteran entrepreneurship, and the process of turning an idea into a real product.
Timothy also discusses the future of the Mission Match ecosystem, plans for Hyperion's growth and retail expansion, and how veteran entrepreneurship programs like Warrior Rising have helped support his next mission after military service.
Listen now. Follow the show. Share this with the veteran or entrepreneur who needs to hear it.
Chapters:
00:00 Meet Tim & the Mission Behind Hyperion
02:16 Why Childhood Physical Fitness Matters
04:46 The Challenge of Getting Kids Moving
05:43 Tim’s Military Background & Inspiration
08:39 From Military Service to Entrepreneurship
12:32 Failure, Business Lessons & Starting Again
16:47 Creating Multi-Dimensional Gaming
20:02 Hyperion & the Power of Purpose-Driven Play
25:25 Bringing Hyperion to Market
27:54 Mission Match, Retail & What Comes Next
38:00 Fitness, Gaming & the Future of Innovation
41:15 Advice for Veterans Becoming Entrepreneurs
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Produced by Security Halt Media
You Owe Yourself Another Try
SPEAKER_02Everybody wants to see you succeed. Even if you feel like the world is stacked again, every odds are stacked against you and everybody's against you. That's not the reality. People want to see you win. And you owe it to yourself to try again. If I would have quit at the very beginning, I don't know where I'd be. I'd be working for somebody else and fulfilling somebody else's dream. I don't know, man. Like I feel like after serving our nation, I think the pathway to success for a lot of veterans, a lot of service members out there is being a business owner, man. Like you've proven to yourself you can do hard things. And more often than not, you've found yourself like, you know, go back to the very beginning of your career. You show up and you're just an auxiliary. You're an extra. That's a common position for a lot of officers, young service members, where it's like, hey man, like where the billets are filled. We gotta just figure something out for you. It's like, all right, we'll figure it out.
SPEAKER_00That Security Halt Media is looking for clients that need video editing. Have them reach out to info at securityhaltmedia.com.
Why Kids Need Real Movement
SPEAKER_02Tim, welcome to Security Halt Podcast. How's it going, brother? Excellent. Thanks for having me. Absolutely, man. I love having veteran entrepreneurs on the show and uh shameless plug for Warrior Rising, the number one veteran entrepreneurship business program.
SPEAKER_01There it is. Yeah, man. I it it was funny because I I wore it earlier and then I realized that it's not washed, but I was like, I'm gonna put it on anyways, because we're virtual, so it's all good. But I'll have to watch the smell does not come through the internet. Smell does not come through there. But uh no, I like this shirt. I'll I'll wear it under my camis, uh, because you know, the the OD green. So yeah.
SPEAKER_02Dude, yeah, it's good to have you, man. You've got a unique mission, man. And uh it's something that I'm kind of tied into. One of the other um nonprofits I support, it's all about uh literacy and helping our kids. And the other side of the house is physical fitness. We grew up in a completely different generation. Uh, we still had Arnold Schwarzenegger as the uh secretary of physical fitness. Muscle Beach.
SPEAKER_01I've been out there, it's uh it's awesome.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like that was part of our American culture, and then um I don't know, man. At one, something changed. Something changed drastically, and physical fitness was seen as this thing that wasn't needed to be pushed. And before you know it, childhood obesity rates started spiking, early age diabetes started spiking, and of course, that's completely tied into cognitive function and learning, and what you're bringing to the market is absolutely interesting. So, today, my man, I want to dive into your journey and your story and dive into the mission behind mission match.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I'm I'm excited for it. Uh, a lot to share. Um, we just released um Hyperion, which I'll talk about uh a little bit later. But no, I you know, I I couldn't agree more because you know, um I uh growing up, uh I always like P class was my favorite class. Um, and you know, it's not just about physical fitness, there's uh the social aspect, obviously, like getting out there, you know, getting scraped up, um, just you know, interacting with other kids. Um, and then, you know, uh the the president's presidential national fitness award. Um, I remember uh it took me three years to get the blue patch, right? Like I would always get the red national patch, you know? Yeah, yeah. And I and I was always frustrated. I was like, oh, you know, like I wouldn't qualify for the president's award. And I just had to try harder and like actually practice and actually, you know, build myself up. And then it was in sixth grade, right before junior high, and then I pivoted to sports and everything. I was actually able to do that. And um, and there's something to be said about hard work, there's something to be said about you know, um, physical fitness kind of as uh something that um carries on through your lifetime. It's not just about like you know, childhood, okay, yeah, I'm I'm striving for this test, but it's about instilling principles that that resonate throughout the course of your whole life. It's just like I ran this morning and I feel great. If I didn't run this morning, I would have uh, you know, a mediocre day. Like I would get through it, but you wouldn't be able to get after as much. You wouldn't feel like the energy and all that.
SPEAKER_02So dude, absolutely, man. It's a part of life, and it's a lot easier to continue incorporating it when it starts and it's part of your foundation. Like it's when I look at my friends that have always maintained physical fitness, regardless of their service, and I look at their families where they it started very early on with their kids, and it's something that is a passion across the family. Like I see other aspects of their lives that are you know other you know, other families are struggling with. Like it's completely connected. It the connection between mind and body and spirit is a hundred percent there. And when you're able to give that gift to your kids early on, um it pays dividends. It's something that a lot of us have seen and witnessed, but it's still by and large, it's still a difficult sell. Comfort is an easy drug to sell in America right now.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Yes, I mean that's exactly it. I mean, you we're asking them to do something that is uncomfortable. It's like we just did our uh prototype launch of Hyperion uh just two weeks ago now, exactly two weeks ago today, at Marine Corps Base Quantico, um, the youth center there. We've done a few events there at the youth center, uh, and this one was for physical fitness. And so we had two groups of kids. We had first and second graders, and then third, fourth, fifth. And, you know, the first and second graders, it was more about, you know, um, some of these exercises they'd never even done before. And that was okay. And that's why I told them I'm like, it's okay if you've never done this before. It's okay if, you know, you're struggling to do these things. It's about like just getting out there and at least trying, you know. And um, and then once you try, you build up, build upon it, um, and then you're able to do, you know, perform the exercise from a functionality standpoint. Um, and then even if it's just like one rep or whatever, um, and then you're able to kind of grow from there. So, um, but yeah, it it is uncomfortable, and and we're asking to do something on that that isn't maybe uh natural, uh, at least initially. Yeah.
Testing Hyperion With Young Kids
SPEAKER_02You know, before we dive uh too deep into this, let's let's uh take it all the way back. Let's dive in and explore your journey a little bit, you know, um behind the veteran entrepreneur. There is a history of service, man. So take us through your journey. How did you find yourself in serving?
SPEAKER_01Uh good question. So um
Tim’s Military Path And Pivots
SPEAKER_01uh a lot of my family members served. Uh my dad was in the Navy um uh during the Vietnam era. Um both of my uncles on my mom's side were Air Force and Marines. Uh, my grandfather was Army. Um, and then I know I have more like kind of great grandparents, kind of family members, uh, but uh I don't know like the entire history. But really, I would say my uncle um that was the Marine uh like was like the most inspiration. His story was incredible. You know, he uh he was in Vietnam, he was a Marine Corps fighter pilot, um flew with General Bolton, the former director of NASA when they were lieutenants. Um half of their squadron was shot down. Um he has some real stories, you know. And um, you know, he was the one who kind of gave me a little push. He's like, I think you can do this. Because initially I I enlisted actually with my next door neighbor. We went in and enlisted together. And uh, and I graduated from Texas Tech and I I had, you know, a degree, and he's like, Well, you should go in as an officer. Um, and I was like, Well, no, I want to enlist. And he he was like really kind of pushing me. He's like, No, I think you'd make a good officer. So I ended up pivoting and went to OCS. But um, you know, uh just his inspiration, his stories, and everything else um have kind of like mapped out a lot of my career. You know, I've been in um going on 19 years, um, both active duty time and reservist, um, you know, three deployments to Afghanistan, other like O'Conus deployments as a foreign advisor and so forth. Um, and you know, it has been a journey. I'm just finishing up now at the Defense Innovation Unit and kind of um gonna take a knee and really pivot to you know what we're doing with the game and and and all that. So it is really exciting. Um, it's nice to be able to kind of like, you know, try the entrepreneur thing, because this is like my sixth, sixth company, right? Um and and then, you know, when you have some failures, it's nice to go back and put the uniform on and continue to serve and explore you know, new ways to support uh the government and and what we're doing. So um that that has been that's one of the unique things, you know, if you've never thought about um you know joining the military, like they they do support um these type of things. Like um, you know, you can be active duty your whole career. Like uh, you know, I've I ran into a few guys I went through OCS with just a few weeks ago at National Night Out when I was there. Um, and they're you know about to retire. Um and they've just done their whole career. I've had a lot of kind of pivots. Um, and so it has been an interesting ride, and and it's it's nice to be able to apply both your kind of government and commercial parallel pathways. Um and so yeah, it's been it's been an interesting ride.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Pivoting, man, that's something that um you know it doesn't get talked about a lot. We have this idea that life has to be very linear, you have to continue your path, you have to serve, and you should be 100% dedicated. And well, yes, you have to put the the nation to mission first. Nothing says that you can't explore and you can't dream and you can't tinker with ideas. I think sometimes I was guilty of it, I didn't put any thought or any any sort of priority into exploring concepts that were outside of being a green beret. I just, if it was, it was directly in line with the job, I wanted to explore it. Of course, I wanted to collect cool guns and hey, I can justify it. It's gonna make me better on a team. But the other concepts, things that can help you advance and and actually like enrich your life and prepare you for that exit, were you know absolutely not something I invested any time in. Like, where do you think that came from? And and did you have somebody modeled that for you that said, like, hey, you know, like tinker out, tinker around with these ideas, try to do something while you're stirring.
First Business Breakthrough Overseas
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so um when I when I just got to the fleet, I was brand new second lieutenant and I checked into my unit. Um, I was with uh first LER Light Armored Reconnaissance uh on the West Coast of Camp Pendleton, and I came in and I was like the two bravo basically, and they didn't really have a lot of work. They just come out uh after uh uh you know OAF deployment, and so there was this opportunity to go to uh Mongolia um as a foreign advisor, and they just sent me over there um almost straight away. Um, and at the end of that, I met my future business partner uh actually in a bar. I'll I'll never forget. I were in Ulum Batar Emperor like a big typical marine things. Yeah, I see this guy holding a bottle of vodka, like coming over, and he's like, Do you want a shot at vodka? And uh, okay. Uh and we start talking. He had bought a horse and he was riding the horse around the country, literally. One of the most interesting guys I ever met. And uh, you know, and one of the smartest guys, like he had he literally, I know two people in my life that have photographic memories. Now they won't admit to it, but I know he has one. Him and another guy I went to school with. And um, we kept in touch, and he's like, hey Tim, you know, we should start a company together. And then fast forward, I guess it was six years later, I started my very first company with him. Um, and that's what kind of like got me down the entrepreneur pathway. He he he made me believe, you know, like I had the entrepreneur spirit, but it's one thing to like talk about, you know, the ideas and other things to actually execute it, right? So um he helped me kind of, you know, a little kick in the butt, and we started consulting, and um uh, you know, he ended up. Funny enough, we uh we started the company. Um, he actually met uh some girl in Germany and then flew to Germany and then quit the company. He's like, I'm done. He was already independently wealthy, and so um then it was just me and we were living in Washington, DC. And so at the time I had just come back from the Republic of Georgia, um, the country of Georgia, and um knew about some opportunities over there. And so I ended up booking a one-white ticket to Tbilisi and um winning a like a pretty large contract supporting the US government out there in Eastern Europe and and Georgia and Germany, and uh and and ended up uh that company was acquired by like a mid-tier uh prime contractor. And I lived, I lived, you know, in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, all over the place, right? Like um, and it was a it was a it was an interesting time. It was an interesting time to live over there, to be honest with you. Like um, I do miss it, you know. It was very much Wild West uh at that time period. So um, so that was my entrepreneurial journey. Like I had a little bit of beginner's luck uh in the sense of, yeah, like we were successful with that business. It was acquired. Um still keep in touch with the company to this day that acquired me. And um, and then uh a very much kind of maybe rocky road uh after that with the other businesses.
SPEAKER_02So, you know, to be honest with you, um well it's important, it's it's important to to to highlight that that it's it's a journey, right? We we think that every entrepreneur and every business owner has this like perfect path to success and there's no hiccups, and you you launch it and it's gonna do great. And the reality is it's oftentimes waves, it's just you're riding peaks and valleys, dude. It's uh but you know, there is some there there are lessons to be learned more and more often than not in the failures, in the things that go wrong, and you innovate and you are able to bring version 2.0 to the market a little bit better, uh, with a little more sound backing. And and that's important to understand. Like it failure should never keep you from trying. It should never be the thing that you look back on, oh, that sucks. I didn't do well. Get back up, get back up on the horse, try it again. Like you have to. It's it's I I hate to say it, hate to be the optimistic, but it's part of the American dream, man. Like everybody wants the underdog to win. Everybody wants to see you succeed. Even if you feel like the world's stacked, every the odds are stacked against you and everybody's against you. That's not the reality. People want to see you win. And you owe it to yourself to try again. Um, if if I would have quit, if I would have quit at the very beginning, um, you know, I don't know where I'd be. I'd be working for somebody else and fulfilling somebody else's dream. And that's, I don't know, man. Like, I feel like after serving our nation, I think the pathway to success for a lot of veterans, a lot of service members out there is being a business owner, man. Like you've proven to yourself you can do hard things, and more often than not, like you've found yourself like, you know, go back to the very beginning of your career. You show up and you're just an auxiliary. You're an extra. Yeah, for any, and that's a that's a common position for a lot of officers or young service members where it's like, hey man, like we're the billets are filled. Um we gotta just figure something out for you. It's like, all right, we'll figure it out. Keep that same mentality and keep going, man. Like, that's the uh I I think too many people get um get deep in the depression, deep in the sadness when things go wrong. And I don't know whether that's like why the American dream is is uh fleeting right now. We we're just you gotta be more positive, man. You gotta be willing to try again.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, if uh if I didn't have those failures and everything else, like I wouldn't be where I'm at today, a hundred percent. I know that. Like those failures help me to now that I understand like what you're good at as well. Like I I would have never thought in a million years, like, okay, that I made this game um and then I I was actually good at it, you know. Um, like I'm pretty good at some things, right? Like I was always good in math. My my my uh my you know my father got a master's in mathematics. I've always been like pretty pretty exceptional at mathematics. Um, but like like yes, you can apply math, like I can do some spreadsheets and this and that, like okay, great, but um, but like what does that actually translate to like for like real success? No, like this is something incredibly interesting, and I and I and I never would have thought like making like games and then like figuring out that I'm actually good at it. I didn't know I was good at it until the United States Playing Card Company president um got a hold of my game and contacted me. Um, and you probably know them as bicycle playing cards, right? Yeah. Um, from the 18 1885. Um and when I got it on the phone with him, he's like, You're on to something here. And he realized what I was doing, multi-dimensional gaming, um, because it had never been done. Kind of like I I like to use the analogy uh of CrossFit, you know, in 2000, um, functional fitness really didn't exist um and or like not to like the brand recognition of CrossFit. Um, and then when CrossFit came on the scene, they created a new category of like you know, gyms essentially. And so we are very much kind of doing the same thing, multi-dimensional gaming uh category. It's brand new, um, which I can talk about later. But yeah, you know, uh once you now have identified that um as far as like your passions and your skills and what you're good at, you can accelerate with that, but you can only accelerate at the speed of your experience, right? And so since I've had all these failures in the past for the other, you know, the first company was a success, and then the next like four and a half companies, I just, you know, had a tough ride, but I was able to learn a lot from that. So yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, I
Toys For Tots Sparks Mission Match
SPEAKER_02I we have to ask now, like, how does a marine officer find himself building and putting together a game for kids? It seems like two worlds that uh should never collide.
SPEAKER_01I know, I I agree. Well, um, it started with Toys for Tots, actually. So this is uh our holiday edition, but you know, Toys for Tots, right? So it's been around uh going on almost 80 years. Um uh Walt Disney actually uh designed the logo. And um so in 2022, I was stationed out in San Francisco in the Bay Area. Um, and part of the Marine Corps mission is supporting part of the inspector instructor, the INI um units uh, you know, uh throughout the United States. Um they have regions that where they cover like the Toys for Toss mission. So we are kind of like the workforce and intermediary force to, you know, sort the toys, fill orders, and do all that, right? Collect toys from businesses and what have you. And so it was like, you know, you're busy, that that's not your full-time job. You have everything else that's going on. You know, at the time I was like kind of like the I was exo opso, like the number two in that unit. So I had my hands full. You know, we had a lot of Okonus work, so we were very busy, but we'd always make time, okay. You know, send a message on Teams, okay. Everyone go out to the work, you know, warehouse and sort 10 orders and come back, you know, just to just to get stuff done. And so I think I handled like 30,000 toys that first year, like we did right about 30,000 toys. And, you know, when you're you're a child, you you handle toys, you play with toys, but I haven't played with toys in so long. So it was cool to see, you know, like all those like new Lego sets and all this other stuff. But the reality is like, yes, there's really cool Lego sets and there's some other really, really cool toys. Then I noticed um two things. One, every single toy was manufactured outside the United States, literally every one. And this is before the big maiden USA push, which I fully back. But at the time, I'm like, why can't we make like one game here? Just like one? You feel like I was just like kind of perplexed. Like, can we not make a singular game that's cool in the United States? Like, can we not pull that off? Um, and so I was like a bit disturbed on that. And then the second thing that I think is more important than that is like games that have meaning, the games that have purpose, games that aren't just some Chinese knockoff toy, like a game that like provides that pathway to purpose. And that's what you know, kind of our tagline, you know, is connecting Generation Alpha, you know, to purpose. And that's what we're doing through all of our games. Um, and so I really wanted to do that. Um, and so that's where when it just, you know, the the idea came. But I didn't actually take any action on it for uh two years. Like I did nothing. I just like thought about it and told my wife about it. And I think my wife started getting like uh you know frustrated. She's like, Well, why are you just talking about this? Why don't you actually do something about it, you know? And so it wasn't, it was because of her, you know. She gave me the kick in the butt that I needed. Um, because it it was such a crazy idea. You know, it's just like I'm gonna make a card game for kids, or I'm gonna make, you know, just like be involved in this like market segment that I have like zero experience in. Um, it was it was a change. Um, but I will say, like, all the associated skills. Skills and resources and everything you need to create a game, I do believe I've done like on the periphery. So it's just a matter of like gathering those things together and packaging it. Um, you know, being an intelligence officer um, you know, uh requires you to do a lot of research and, you know, you know, multiple sources, you don't want single source of information, you know, that could result in a bad decision, that kind of stuff. So it's like, you know, I did a ton of market research. And I also think those two years of just just thinking about it um also helped. Um so like that's really kind of the genesis of it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, it's it's important to understand that uh these things, you know, the greatest opportunities sometimes come to us and it feels like it's foreign, that it it's not right for us in the reality, is it's like, dude, you can do anything you put your mind to. You can do anything and be willing to explore every opportunity. The thing I love about this, and we touched on a little bit earlier, it's the physical fitness and the way it's it's bringing it to this generation. Uh the younger generation of kids don't they don't have PE or the exposure to physical fitness like we did at an early age. Everything else I see it in my daughter's uh my daughter's toys and everything that I see when I um nothing out there is you know, kids aren't out in the streets riding bikes, they're on e-scooters. That's that's the other thing. Like we need something that allows kids to uh engage their imagination, have fun, and enjoy movement, to be out there doing what we used to do, which is running around like fucking crazy kids out in the streets having fun, engaging. Um when you look at your life, look at you know, taking
Bringing Back Active Neighborhood Childhoods
SPEAKER_02this game and looking at the way you grew up, do you see some parallels in the way that your family encouraged you to be out there to be active?
SPEAKER_01Well, 100%. I mean, so in our neighborhood, I was just talking to my next door neighbor, I've known him 30 plus years. We on our street, and the neighbors did not appreciate this, but this was my idea. We played a lot of roller hockey. So we actually spray painted, like permanent spray paint, roll it roller hockey, and you can see it from Google uh maps actually, Google Earth. Like if you look at our street, yes. Um and so our our it was so funny, our street was called Lo Chalmers, and so we were gonna be the Lo Chalmers Lightning, and we tried to spray paint a lightning bolt, but it looked like two pizza slices, like it literally looked like two pizza slices, and uh and so like the neighbors definitely did a dictate of the Lo Chalmers pizza slice versus Lil Chalmers lightning, but whatever. Um, but we played out there like every day, you know, just out there. We'd all get together. Um, even our parents, I remember my dad going out there, my net my neighbor's parents, like they play with us, you know, and um and it you know, or basketball, you know, we'd go over and play basketball, but we were always out, you know, and then just come back for dinner kind of deal. Like make sure you're back by you know sunset for dinner kind of deal. So yeah. But you don't see that. Yeah, you don't see it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And you brought up another good point that um the parents were involved. Like that's one thing that that that's also part of the equation. Um, how often are kids out there riding bikes, going for a jog, playing horsing around with their parents? The reality is your kids are gonna mirror what you're doing. So if you're on the couch clicking through Netflix and you're like, ah, get outside, go play outside. But put the remote down. Put the soda down, get outside with your kids. It's it's it's absent. That messaging is absent. It's not out there. We used to have public service announcements that encouraged physical fitness to get people out there and move. You don't see that anymore. It's all been replaced by Ozempic ads, it's all been replaced by Wigovi and all these other peptides to lose weight uh through not eating. So there's it's a crazy world we're living in.
Pentagon Reception And Pathfinder Games
SPEAKER_02What has the reception been like for this game?
SPEAKER_01I mean, uh very good. I don't know like how's to describe it at the highest levels. You know, even actually, our the one of the first customers we had was the Pentagon. So uh the director of the Pentagon uh yeah, loved uh loved the game. Um Miss Hexess, the Secretary of War's wife, uh, loves the game. Her kids love the game. Um we actually did an event. I brought this out. This is uh an event we did, uh, the Pathfinder Games at Bring Your Child Work A just a few months ago. Um, and this is at the Pentagon, right? So um we set up um stations where we had all the five uh DOW services. We have military one source and the civilian service, and then we had ours as the last stop, the mission match one. And if the kids completed the passport, which um each one of the um you know organizations, we tasked them. I told them, you know, create a mini mission, I call them, that's on brand, that's representative of your organization. And the purpose of that is to spark interest. You know, it's like perhaps you know, a child were will resonate with this organization based upon the mini mission that you direct them to do. Obviously, the Marine Corps, pretty straightforward. You're gonna do some pull-ups, like you know, and pull-ups.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01So, like, you know, that's standard, but the other organizations got really, really creative, which is great. Not saying pull-ups aren't creative, but that's but that's the Marine Corps brand, and everyone knows that, right? So the kids were able to do that, and if they completed them all, um they got the America 250 um, you know, collector's pack, which I I have here somewhere. Um, I know I have it. Oh, there it is. Yeah. So I created this uh, you know, America 250 collectors card uh package uh they'd receive um if if they if they completed the Pathfinder games. And yeah, it was it was awesome. I think we had 12,000 people out there, 5,000 families. Um it was like kind of Disney World. We had a line, probably like hour, hour, hour and a half, roughly, people were waiting to come through to complete the final mini mission. Um the United States Playing Card Company uh president um was there as well um on a card throwing station and yeah, it was it was it was phenomenal.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, it's incredible. Yeah, I I have to wonder though, there's um you know physical media seems to be dis disappearing. Um looking at video games, for example, everything's downloadable. Um have you had a push or from investors or somebody that was like, hey, how can you figure out a way to make this a virtual game? Like, is that something you've run into a lot?
SPEAKER_01You know, yeah.
Multidimensional Gaming And The Future Portal
SPEAKER_01I mean, I've had many people ask me about that. Um, and the reality is like all of our products, you know, we just we just rolled out uh Mission Match Adventures and Service, right? So this is a book and it has the same CTAs, right? So um, and I'll talk about that here in a minute. Um short answer is no. Like, I mean, we've toyed around with it, but I I I really want to focus on, and maybe this, yeah, this is the appropriate time to talk about it. So what we've created um is multidimensional gaming, and and what is that? It's it's like a it's like a you know uh three parts, right? So you start in the physical world um through all of our products, um, and basically you play those products, and then those products all have a CTA, a call to action to our uh your future portal. And that your future portal broadly aligns with organizations, opportunities, and information, right? So a child can, you know, um join the Girl Scouts or join young Marines or Cadets, right? Uh a child could get mini missions from other organizations they can do. Um they can, you know, volunteer and then they get scholarships. Um, so it's a it's creating that pathway of life for them to set them up for success for them to find because Generation Alpha is making decisions uh much earlier than you and I did about their future and their careers because of emerging technology, because of information. Like, you know, they they had information, they had access to information um, you know, much earlier than you and I did, and like a plethora of information. Now, of course, that can be there could be a lot of noise there. There could, you know, now with AI it can be like, you know, fake or whatever. But um, so we want to kind of curate that in a way that you know we're aligning with organizations that um uh very much kind of nests with our mission vision values, with where you know we believe like is good, like physical fitness, right? So muscle monkey started it all, right? Um right, and Muscle Monkey uh was part of uh the original game, right? So uh uh mission match, right? Uh so this is like the original game. And uh that actually wasn't even my idea, to be honest with you. So my roommate in college, I went to Texas Tech, and my roommate in college, as soon as I came up with the idea to make this game, he's kind of like, you know, uh and you know, I'll just say he's kind of like the 40-year-old virgin, right? Like he has, you know, he has more toys like in packaging in his room than I've ever seen anybody have, like literally four to ceiling. So I was like, hey Joe, um, I need you to help me, you know, I have this crazy idea, and I believe like you are the right person to help me develop this. Like you know the toy marketplace, especially today, better than I do, you know. Like I knew the toy marketplace in the 1990s. So um come join me. So he's the one who actually brought this idea, and he's an Air Force officer, was actually teaching JRTC at the time in El Paso, Texas, and was really the right person to come on the team and help me roll out the product. So I had this idea, um, and he helped me kind of refine it. And then he brought up this idea to incorporate physical fitness. It actually wasn't even my idea at all. And uh, we went back and forth on it a little bit because I wasn't like understanding how we would do that into this game with the mechanics, and so it wasn't like just immediate, like, yes, let's do that. Like, I very much want to analyze it and think about the mechanics and the replayability and everything else. And but he sold sold me on it, and I'm telling you, like, that was probably one of the most well-received aspects of the game. Um, and so um we kind of took that, and that was the inspiration for Hyperion. Um, is uh so this is Mission Match Hyperion. Um, and so it's basically, you know, all the cards have right, the you know, the physical fitness uh uh elements to them, right, with all the different characters. And and this one, you know, like the cards themselves um all align with the Presidential National Fitness Award and the metrics as well. So like, you know, you have a pathway metric. If you hit this one, then it's national metric and hit this one, it's the presidential level. And all of them is analyzed like according to the numbers. Of course, um the exercises themselves, there's only what, like a very limited number of exercises that are actually being tested, but then you have like the ancillary exercises as well. Um, so we wanted to basically create a game from a holistic approach that you know, oftentimes, you know, PE teachers, that's not their full-time job. They're the history teacher or they're the science teacher, and then they're just gonna be the PE teacher because they get, you know, to support kids and they get an extra $10,000 a year or whatever, but they're not trained in physical education. They really don't know, okay, okay, here let's roll out the the bin of balls and let the kids run around. Okay, yeah, that's good, but then like maybe we can do more. And so we're really enabling them, it's almost like a workout in a box where we have like all these different kinds of workout sessions that align with the cards. So they can take this, okay. Here's this exercise, these are all the color cards, and they can just like do it and it's like turnkey for them. Um, so that's that's really where we're going with this product specifically.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I love that. I I love that the metrics are involved. Um it gives kids that that ability to look exactly where they're going and charter way path, like have a pathway to success and have something they can brag about and be proud of. Um when you look towards a future, how do we continue to incentivize this as the kids grow up? Like this seems like the entry/slash gateway drug and the physical fitness. Have you guys started developing something that can grow with these kids and you can bring the market for those the next years?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely.
Walmart Pitch And Bicycle Card Partnership
SPEAKER_01So it's it's funny you say that because when we did our prototype event with Hyperion, which Hyperion, I I, you know, I love uh the idea. So Hyperion, this right here is Hyperion. Hyperion is the tallest tree in the world. It's uh Northern uh California in the Redwoods, and that's the exact that's exactly how the tree looks. It's so interesting. Like with but um besides that, you know, it's the essence of growth. So Hyperion, you know, you need to grow just like the tallest tree in the world. Like you start as a small tree and you kind of work your way up. So we kind of uncovered after that event that we do need an iterative, like we need to have like a Hyperion light and then a Hyperion and like to get them to excel because and and grow with physical fitness. So um we are now making like adjustments, uh, some larger adjustments to the game to kind of like address that and to scale it, just like you're talking about.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely, man. Well, what's uh what's next for you guys? Um, you got uh a pretty big uh uh you know segment coming up, and uh, you know, what's the next milestone for you guys?
SPEAKER_01Well, we have some uh pretty large announcements, to be honest with you. So we have all of um you know the the mission match ecosystem, um, which has been really well received. We I pitched for Walmart uh for the golden ticket, it's called. Um, and so um, you know, we are going in October for the final pitch um to be launched next year in fall 2027, so a store-wide uh release of mission match. Yeah, so it'll be the first retail game. Yeah, it'll be the first retail game um of its kind um to go into Walmart. They're very, very excited. Uh the Walmart team is about the product, and we're kind of doing some final adjustments uh with that. Um I can't divulge too much right now. I want to, but it's not uh official yet. But um, so that's what's going on there. Um and we're also um working with the United States Playing Card Company um to be basically an official distributor of all their intellectual property. So um if if organizations like you know the Marine Corps or the FBI or whoever wants a customized bicycle deck times FBI, we will create that for them. Um pretty huge. Yeah. Um so uh yeah, uh like uh quite a few things I but I you know we uh we're uh it's it's it's it's it's an exciting time, you know. Like I don't know what else to say. Like I literally went for a run this morning and I I'm like coming up with a new game idea literally every day. I swear, like um uh the this morning was like I'm gonna create the combat action ribbon, the car deck, you know, like that would be a cool idea. Like I swear I just come up with new game ideas like on a daily basis, not necessarily a good thing because like then you have 75 ideas and you can you poorly execute, so you have to prioritize, but it is fun, you know. Like uh so you know the the the mission the adventures in service book was an idea I had for like two years, and now it's finally been realized. Like this is you remember Stargate, like this is the Stargate portal, and right? So, like you you got that, and it's like you know, reporting for duty, and you know, gunny gus is going through Stargate, and you kind of find your your future self, right? Um, so that's uh that's a product we just uh are releasing here um as well.
SPEAKER_02Dude, damn, that is exciting, man. And you know, that's a great thing about physical fitness. We haven't even touched on it. It when you get older as you progress in age, like that is your time to innovate and think. Like I that's when I get them the best ideas is early morning in my workout, um before the day starts, before you get bombarded by the emails, the phone calls, the clients. That's your time to think and strategize and have that wonderment, that ability to be creative is right there in the physical fitness process. Like you didn't tap into it when you were in the military for a lot of us, because you're, you know, you're you're busy trying to keep pace, but when you're working out and you're thinking and you're by yourself, that's when a lot of the great ideas come, man. So if you're out there and you're struggling, take some time in the morning and and devote it just for you to work out. Get back
Warrior Rising Advice And Final Support Ask
SPEAKER_02into it, man. Tim, before I let you go, I want to ask you about Warrior Rising and and if you could tell those veterans out there or the service members that are listening, uh, what advice would you give them as to why you chose to go through the Warrior Rising program?
SPEAKER_01I mean, for me, it was a no-brainer as soon as I heard about it. Like it, it, it really is an incredible uh organization that um that kind of meets you where you're at, right? So, like if you're uh you know brand new, you've never been an entrepreneur, you're one year start your first company, they can meet you there, right? So they'll give you, they'll you'll go through Warrior University, um, and you get all you know, like the training classes and everything else. Um, and then they'll have you know one-on-ones every month where you can ask any question whatsoever. They have a whole very deep bench of uh subject matter experts that are you know multiple founders, you know, going through you can ask any question whatsoever, and you're gonna get it answered. Um and then you have your cohorts and like your peers help you out as well. Uh, and when you go through that, you know, they have pitch competitions. We we ended up, you know, every year, I think it's something like over 7,000 people apply and go through. Um, it's a huge, huge number. It's a couple hundred every week um that go through. And it really does like uh provide you that edge um to kind of accelerate your business. And when you go through, if you do get through the pitch competition, like we ended up going to kind of their summit uh annual uh uh uh business shower, they call it in Salt Lake City. That's like the big one. Um, and we were fortunate enough to get selected and you pitch in front of like 3,000 people, it's crazy, you know, like you're at the Lexus Center. Um, it's uh it's a bit nerve-wracking, you know, to to stand in front of those people and and deliver your pitch. Um, and you know, uh obviously like there's money, which is great, but it's more about the network, in my opinion. It's more about the support and the enduring support. It's not just okay, um, you completed it and then you know, goodbye. No, like they continue to support, I continue to talk to them, I continue to talk to my peers from that cohort from the Salt Lake City cohort, we continue to help each other out. And I think that's like one of the best things is like we all want to see each other succeed. Um, and so it it is a community and it is a family, like when you get into it. So if you are thinking about starting a business, um, like you should absolutely like go through these, right? Um, and then you know, not only the education, but it's the associated support as well.
SPEAKER_02Dude, absolutely. Tim, thank you so much for being here and for letting our veterans and service members know the importance of reaching out and connecting and and being willing to go into programs like War University through Warrior Rising. It's incredible to see where you guys are at. And uh, I am excited to see you guys on the Walmart shelves shortly, man. This is incredible. Um, and it just goes to show you, man, like if Tim can go out there and do it, if he can follow his dreams and crush it, so can you. All you gotta do is get out there and be willing to try, man. That's all you gotta do. Get out there, get some solid advice, link up with Reggie and Sam from Warrior University, and uh keep living, keep thriving, and and don't quit, man. That's all you gotta do. Hey, it worked out through your military career, so just apply the same principles on the outside. Tim, thank you for being here, brother, and to everybody listening. Please do me one small favor, go to the episode description. You know, just feel the episode's almost over. Click those links, support my man, support Mission Match, get yourself a copy. If you don't have kids, get it for a family member that does, and uh help this business grow, man, because when we support our veterans, we're supporting our great American economy. And it's made in the U.S. So come on. It's a no brainer, folks. Damn, thanks for being here, brother, and we'll see y'all next time. Until then, take care.
