Hangover Joe's – January 31- 2018 Message! Address to #Shareholders #Believers
We shape our tools and, thereafter, our tools shape us.
-Marshall McLuhan -
It's hard to fathom that in barely over 7 years, the blockchain and cryptocurrencies have gone from their first transaction to full public awareness through most of the developed world and beyond. Awareness doesn’t mean understanding or even agreement, but the speed these technologies have established themselves with is spectacular, if not unprecedented.
In fact, that speed is one of the factors that makes it important that we get busy on a transition to the blockchain for our Company. We have begun the settlement process into our new entity and have started work on the new marketing programs and technical implementation of what we want to do. So far, we are on schedule. We appreciate everyone's patience while we complete this process, some days will look difficult, some days are difficult, but we try to keep everyone up to date on social media where possible. We acknowledge, as articulated in Seth Godin's book "The Dip" that in the history of any new venture, there may be points that may look like progress is at a standstill. At times that may be true for us; we continue to believe in ourselves the company and the brand also in the end and can achieve mastery in the future, but at times the question is not as clear as we'd like!
Still, the rate of speed means that it's probably a good idea to take a minute to talk a little more about the blockchain and cryptocurrencies in a way that translates to our user's experiences. The novelty is exciting, but also scary for some.
We have indicated that we didn’t plan to use our own cryptocurrency, but in this fast-moving part of the world we have seen a couple of huge changes in the last few weeks in this area. The legal challenge in this area has gotten more difficult and also easier at the same time – so we haven't changed plans but we aren't ignoring this area either. But there are two misconceptions that we think should be cleared up.
First, sometimes people act as if they haven't seen a cryptocurrency before, but in a sense, they have seen numerous alternative currencies over the years without realizing it. Whether its game pieces in a national program (I personally was CFO in a national scratch-off program in the phone card business with two major corporations as partners), airline miles, scrip, stock itself or even less well- known programs like points instead of ownership in the timeshare area, we at Joe's have seen all types of alternative currencies in our careers. We view cryptocurrencies as a sort of further evolution of these alternatives with new appropriate legal safeguards. Like any other potential product, we look for certain things, if they look like an opportunity for us, we proceed. That is not true for cryptocurrencies yet for us, but it may yet turn out to be an opportunity in the future. blockchain, however, is an opportunity for us.
Second, people have misconceptions about what the blockchain actually is. I prefer the language that the blockchain is the internet 2.0, a massive, single public database. Right now, the internet is a very good tool, but a couple of very large companies such as Facebook have taken an extremely strong hold on it. Facebook, for example, is a middleman of the internet, so to speak, it has a huge database on 2 billion people, making it attractive to advertisers (including Hangover Joe's). It sells advertising, maintains the database and makes healthy profits. It’s a centralized hub of activity, yes, which is good in terms of cost, but some middlemen have risks from attackers, because the payoff for a successful attack is so big. blockchain is a new approach. Instead of a special-purpose database limited to a portion of the planet, vulnerable to attack, blockchain, by being decentralized and open-source, does not have the huge payoff for a successful attack. It is not rigidly controlled by gatekeepers such as Middleman, it can accommodate all internet users easily, allowing them easier transition away from centralized control that often you cant see. It can contain all data, not the limited amount the current gatekeepers allow us to see. Sure, it has privacy mechanisms, when needed it, but the broad database is there for all to take advantage of as needed.
People wonder if such an approach is capable of working, and of course it is. A similar concept is GPS. You may go through different websites (middlemen) to get there, but the GPS itself is a model for how the blockchain will work when fully implemented, except it goes well beyond location into every type of data imaginable. There is no one maneuvering you on the GPS to do certain things, yes it has advertising but at heart it just gives you directions. No one has accused GPS of having too much bias, which the current internet does have a public outcry over, rightly or wrongly.
But there are a lot of things besides advertising that Hangover Joes will benefit from by switching over to the blockchain. As we said in an earlier post, all of our financing from day one has had a huge middleman cost that will be greatly reduced once we transition over to the blockchain. Having access to a broader database is going to help us better target our future efforts. We can offer services to those needing help with this new world that benefit them and are profitable for us. Each day we see new opportunities being made available by the blockchain, to build from our user base. As we said at the opening, the tools are starting to shape us.
In addition to the blockchain activity, We are also moving very well overseas with our distributor in South Korea, they are building the brand in many different market segments and will be moving out into Japan and other points in Asia. We are also moving forward on other regions of the world in Australia and Europe. The Beef Jerky program does have massive potential and we are in discussions and working on agreements to move our jerky into larger mass market distribution. All of this takes time, but our products are that good. We have started a Hangover Joe's radio show and this is another way to take the brand into other media and expand the reach of the brand. We are working on new development for the website and to start a large campaign of selling to individuals throughout the country. There is a new clothing line in development and we will have 300 items of clothing and this will all be incorporated into the new website as we move forward in 2018! These are very exciting times for the company and everyday we are focus on growing the brand. We are also working hard again this year at Mardi Gras down in New Orleans doing street promotions. We are continuing to add new dealerships, and that will continue to be a focus of our growth. The brand is a functional life style product, but in many ways it's also a lifestyle brand and we are developing this via social media and will continue to do what is needed to build this company both online and in the streets and on other sides of the planet.
While we don’t see what is happening as a panacea and we are not suggesting big companies like Facebook are going to go out of business, we see the new world ahead as promising but also challenging, and appreciate your participation and help in the journey ahead.
Thanks for your continued support -
Matthew Veal - CEO Hangover Joe's
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