Shownotes
On this episode of State of the Second, host John sits down with Ryan from Atrius Development Group, the company behind the FRS (force reset selector). Ryan grew up around guns. His dad was ex-LAPD, he and his co-founder Malcolm served in the military, and he got into the industry around 19 or 20 at a startup near where he grew up, where he started by packing boxes and went on to help launch almost 700 accessories. He describes the accessory market as a place where you can be "an ally to everybody and enemy to nobody," and he frames Atrius as an extension of a manufacturer's product development team that fills gaps so brands can focus on building reliable weapon systems.
Ryan walks through how the accessory market has driven real cultural shifts. SB Tactical's brace gave birth to the AR15 pistol, suppressor brands weren't even allowed at SHOT Show in the early 2000s, and he believes the force reset category is the next shift. He explains that the FRS is a drop-in, reverse-compatible semi-automatic solution that follows the letter of the law, and that Atrius wants it to reach common use across the biggest addressable market. He and Malcolm expected to get targeted but thought it would take two years. Instead it happened in about six months. He credits the community, the dealer network, and shouts out Tim Hoffman and Hoffman Tactical for carrying them through. He also points to the product's business impact. Dealers have called to say his product is selling so well they don't have to lay off their teams, and he calls it one of the few categories not feeling the "Trump slump."
The conversation moves into advocacy and the meaning of the Second Amendment. Ryan argues weapons are an apolitical issue because everyone should have the right to firearms, and he says the system is weaponized against gun culture through debanking, fintech companies that won't support firearms businesses, and marketing agencies that won't work with gun brands. He frames the Second Amendment plainly. It's about overthrowing a tyrannical government, not just hunting or self-defense, and reminds listeners it's "the Bill of Rights, not the Bill of Needs." He talks about normalizing gear and capability instead of gatekeeping it, having fun in the commercial space, and the new diversity of gun owners, including legal immigrants discovering the right to defend themselves. Looking at 2026, Ryan wants the FRS in the mainstream, an FRS ecosystem, and inline SKU support so a dealer's shelf has weapon systems with an FRS already installed. He closes by pointing people to Atrius on Instagram, and the show wraps with details on GOALS 2026, GOA's 50th anniversary celebration in Des Moines, Iowa, August 1st and 2nd.
Questions this episode answers
What is the FRS (force reset selector) from Atrius Development Group and how does it work?
The FRS is Atrius Development Group's drop-in, reverse-compatible semi-automatic solution that Ryan says follows the letter of the law. Atrius wants it to reach common use across the largest addressable market.
How has the accessory market driven cultural shifts in the firearms industry?
Ryan points to accessories that reshaped the market: SB Tactical's brace gave rise to the AR15 pistol, and suppressor brands went from being barred at SHOT Show in the early 2000s to mainstream. He sees the force reset category as the next shift.
Why does Atrius believe the force reset category is the next big shift after braces and suppressors?
Ryan frames the FRS as a compliant, drop-in semi-automatic solution following braces and suppressors as the next category to reach common use. He and co-founder Malcolm expected to get targeted in two years, but it happened in about six months.
How is the FRS helping local dealers and mom-and-pop shops survive a slow market?
Ryan says dealers have called to tell him the product is selling so well they don't have to lay off their teams. He calls force reset one of the few categories not feeling the slowdown he refers to as the Trump slump.
What does Ryan believe the real purpose of the Second Amendment is?
Ryan argues the Second Amendment is strictly about the ability to overthrow a tyrannical government, not just hunting or self-defense. He reminds listeners it is the Bill of Rights, not the Bill of Needs.
How is the system weaponized against gun businesses through debanking and marketing?
Ryan says gun culture is targeted through debanking, fintech companies that won't support firearms businesses, and marketing agencies that refuse to work with gun brands. He views the right to firearms as an apolitical issue.
What does Ryan see happening with the FRS category in 2026?
For 2026 Ryan wants the FRS in the mainstream, a full FRS ecosystem, and inline SKU support so a dealer's shelf can carry complete weapon systems with an FRS already installed.
Why does Ryan believe collaboration between firearms brands has replaced rivalry?
Ryan describes the accessory space as a place to be an ally to everybody and an enemy to nobody, and says brands increasingly have to work together for everyone to win. He frames Atrius as an extension of a manufacturer's product development team.
Chapters
- 00:00 — Meet Ryan and Atrius Development Group
- 01:36 — Growing up a gun nerd and his why
- 03:05 — Ryan's top five guns of all time
- 04:49 — The old guard, collaboration, and the cultural shift
- 08:13 — How the accessory market grew from compliance
- 09:47 — SB Tactical, the AR15 pistol, and what comes next
- 11:13 — The FRS adoption that happened in six months
- 15:58 — California's accessory ban and supporting dealers
- 18:48 — The Trump slump and saving mom-and-pop shops
- 21:55 — Government overreach and the drive toward advocacy
- 27:43 — The real purpose of the Second Amendment
- 31:31 — SHOT Show, the community, and normalizing the gear
- 38:28 — Soapbox: absolutists on the Second Amendment
- 40:09 — 2026, the FRS ecosystem, and inline SKU support
- 45:55 — Dave at Matador Arms and playing for keeps
- 53:39 — Where to find Atrius and GOALS 2026 wrap-up
About the guest
Ryan is a co-founder of Atrius Development Group, which he started with his best friend Malcolm. He has been in the firearms industry since he was around 19 or 20 years old. He and Malcolm both served in the military, and his father was ex-LAPD. Before founding Atrius, he spent almost his entire career at one company, starting by packing boxes, where he helped launch close to 700 accessories in support of high-volume platforms. Atrius makes the FRS (force reset selector), a drop-in, reverse-compatible semi-automatic solution. He previously released a P80 frame with Dave of Matador Arms.
Key quotes
"The Second amendment is strictly about overthrowing a tyrannical government. That's the whole sole purpose." — Ryan
"it's the Bill of Rights, not the Bill of Needs." — Ryan
"I believe weapons is an apolitical stance because everyone should have the right to firearms." — Ryan
"we have dealers call us, tell us, like, hey, Ryan, I just want you to know, like, your product is doing so well, I don't have to lay off my team" — Ryan
"I think people are starting to realize, like, you kind of have to, like, work together in order for everyone to win." — Ryan
"I think everyone has an obligation to understand where it comes from, you know, because it's not just about hunting." — Ryan
"the brick and mortar is the lifeblood of this industry." — John
Transcripts
Welcome to the state of the second podcast.
Speaker A:My name is John and today we're drawn by Ryan Spotify from Atrius Development Group.
Speaker A:Ryan, how are you?
Speaker A:Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker B:What's up brother?
Speaker B:Hey, thanks for having me, man.
Speaker B:This is awesome.
Speaker A:Thanks for being on.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Our first gun podcast, you know.
Speaker B:Yeah, a little bit about me.
Speaker B:I'm one of the founders with my best friend Malcolm for H Development Group.
Speaker B:And I've been in the industry probably since I was like, you know, 19, 20 years old.
Speaker B:So I've been very versed in this industry as a whole.
Speaker B:I was at a previous company where we launched almost 700 accessories when it came to, you know, in support of some of like, you know, kind of the biggest volume platforms in the market.
Speaker B:And we're really passionate about, you know, kind of pushing the envelope of the proliferation of our rights and emerging categories.
Speaker B:So we were always on the hunt for basically the newest gun tech that we can kind of bring to market in the commercial space.
Speaker B:And a development group was kind of like our why behind the frs, the force reset selector which people not aware it's a drop in reverse compatible semi automatic solution which gives you the option of your safe semi and then gives you your third enhanced semiautomatic solution.
Speaker A:So, so what drove you to become get into the industry?
Speaker A:What drives you?
Speaker A:What is your passion and why are you continually doing this?
Speaker A:To innovate and do cool things.
Speaker B:Guns are like a pillar of my childhood.
Speaker B:So I've always been a gun nerd.
Speaker B:Me and Malcolm served in the military.
Speaker B:My dad was ex lapd and so I grew up shooting and I've always had a deep, deep love for firearms.
Speaker B:When I was a kid it was, it was mainly out of strictly love.
Speaker B:And then obviously as time went on and I got older, you quickly realize how ingrained weapons is into our culture, right?
Speaker B:So whether that's our cultural identity as Americans, whether it's politics or whatever, I've been blessed where at the time there was a startup by my, where I lived and where I grew up and I got in at the ground floor and I've been blessed to be with one company basically for my entire career up until I started my own.
Speaker B:And so with that I got to do everything and it all started from packing boxes, you know.
Speaker B:But my why is, you know, I mentioned earlier when we were talking like I love this industry, it's provided everything for me.
Speaker B:You know, I was able to, you know, support a family and got me off the streets.
Speaker B:So like I have a big Passion for what I do.
Speaker B:And if, if I have the, the opportunity to move the gun culture in the right direction, trust me when I say like me and the team are going to do exactly that.
Speaker A:So you're a gun nerd.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I have to ask because we ask this for every person who says they're a gun nerd.
Speaker A:What are your top five?
Speaker B:Top five guns?
Speaker A:Oh yeah.
Speaker A:Of all time.
Speaker B:All right, so one is the G3, an authentic HKG3 or the 91.
Speaker B:That's a.
Speaker B:It's mainly due to my childhood fun fact.
Speaker B:My dad was in the Hollywood shooting and so he watched them use the HK 91 or the G3.
Speaker B:So he was like I need to go out and get that.
Speaker B:You know, so that's one of my favorite guns the fall, that MP5.
Speaker B:Kind of a huge HK guy.
Speaker B:And then your foul.
Speaker B:I like the P90.
Speaker B:Got to throw AR on there just because.
Speaker B:Come on.
Speaker B:You know.
Speaker B:And then probably for your handgun, just a standard Smith and Wesson.38 snub nose.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Two of those guns are like from my childhood.
Speaker B:So yeah.
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Speaker A:So you grew up loving guns, your passions there you say you want to better the industry.
Speaker A:What do you see that's going wrong in the industry?
Speaker A:What can we fix?
Speaker A:How do we push forward that only as an industry to develop new products and be innovative, but also to push forward second amendment rights.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think there's actually a few pretty loaded question.
Speaker B:But one of the best examples I use for people is like, you know, when I, when I was working in the industry and I would try to be collaborative and work with other brands and stuff, especially from an accessory perspective when you're not in the regulated market, the accessory market's great because you're kind of an ally to everybody and enemy to nobody.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like so I can work with all the manufacturers out there.
Speaker B:And I was always a really good position to be in, and I really enjoyed it.
Speaker B:But when I was younger, when I would reach out to these companies, and this is mainly when, like, the old guard was in power, you know, And I think that we're going through, like, a kind of like a cultural shift in the industry, which I'll get into.
Speaker B:But, you know, you'd reach out to these companies and it's like, hey, man, I want to make an accessory for your magazine or your weapon or whatever it was, like, over a decade ago.
Speaker B:They'd be like, well, you can't do that because we'll come after you and see you, right?
Speaker B:And it's like, dude, I'm just trying to make it like you aren't doing it, so why can't we do it for you, right?
Speaker B:Like, all it's going to do is basically provide more value to your weapon system, to your magazine or whatever it is that we're working on.
Speaker B:But then that shifted, right?
Speaker B:And I'm not going to say the brand per se in this example, but it went from over a decade ago.
Speaker B:They would.
Speaker B:They didn't like that, right?
Speaker B:Whereas now I would actually collaborate with a launch at them at scale, you know, so it's kind of like the old guard is kind of like phasing out.
Speaker B:And I think especially for the political climate and how, you know, discriminate, like, you know, we're discriminated against, you know, in business, in this vertical, I would say, or at least that's been my experience.
Speaker B:And I think people are starting to realize, like, you kind of have to, like, work together in order for everyone to win.
Speaker B:And now with my own company, I've really been emphasizing kind of that messaging, you know, because it's not, you know, the gun culture.
Speaker B:It's bigger than just like, your.
Speaker B:Your product and your brand, right?
Speaker B:It's, you know, it affects everyone, you know, and so no matter how small the part is or how big it is, it all kind of plays into the fabric of the gun culture as a whole.
Speaker B:And I knew that when I was young.
Speaker B:I knew we were, like, always pulling on the thread of something, you know, even if it was just something small.
Speaker B:I just didn't really realize how big it was really, until I started, you know, kind of atrious, to be honest, you know?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, the.
Speaker A:The funny part is when I started in the industry, I. I felt the same kind of thing.
Speaker A:And as time has gone on and the.
Speaker A:The collaborative between companies, the funny part is when I talk to people outside the industry, they're like, oh, so and so.
Speaker A:Must hate so and so.
Speaker A:Because no, we're all friends.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, we're all friends.
Speaker A:And that's what we do.
Speaker A:And the driving, I want to see ask you is because I came from the accessory world as well, it was hard at first, and then things started coming up and we were doing a lot of cool stuff.
Speaker A:What do you think drove the shift from that into the accessory market?
Speaker A:And especially now with your.
Speaker A:With the frss, what is driving that shift into also that as an accessory for all these firearms?
Speaker B:Yeah, well, I think the accessory market really came into play because in the beginning, it was actually due out of compliance, at least in my anecdotal experience.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So for an example, you know, you take a few restricted states I could use.
Speaker B:I could pick on California, which is easy to do.
Speaker B:A lot of the big manufacturers actually signed off the state because they didn't want to deal with the compliance aspect.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:What most people don't know is California, Texas and Florida are the biggest three gun states in the union.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So even though California is messed up in a lot of ways, in more ways than one, there's a huge gun population there.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And so we designed a lot of the compliance solutions to inject as many ars as we possibly could for a lot of these manufacturers.
Speaker B:So we would bridge the gap.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So compliance is definitely one aspect, and then two, when it comes to the big manufacturers, you got to think how much resources and how many teams are involved into building a weapon system.
Speaker B:The last thing they want to deal with is worry about a brace or worry about something.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because they already have so much to worry about to make sure they bring a reliable weapon system to market that you could depend on.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And so I found this kind of cool position in the market where, you know, I encourage every weapon manufacturer is like, make the best weapon system in relation to your category, and then I can augment that.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, we basically just serve as an extension to your product development team, and we just fill in on the gaps on whatever the development process needs.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And I would say for me, the biggest accessory that ever came to market was SB Tactical.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And so for all intensive purposes, it did what basically legalized SBI for the average man.
Speaker B:And so there was like a really big cultural shift with that.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because I gave birth to the AR15 pistol, you know, which is really cool to see.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And that was kind of my goal, you know, like, I wanted to create the next SB Tactical.
Speaker B:I just didn't know what that meant because I was just so young at the time.
Speaker B:But I saw what that accessory did for the culture and the market as a whole.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because, I mean, look at it today, right.
Speaker B:What do you see?
Speaker B:We see every manufacturer have Some sort of AR15 pistol like weapon line.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B: uppressor brands in the early: Speaker B:You know, this is long before you and I's time, you know, you and I around the same age.
Speaker B:But so you can see the cultural shift is happening.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like there's nothing but suppressors.
Speaker B:We have, you know, amazing suppressor brands out there putting out good work.
Speaker B:We have AR15 pistols and then, you know, we believe the kind of the force reset, you know, category is kind of like that next kind of shift,.
Speaker A:You know, with the, the frs and, and how they've been developed over the last, I mean, blew up over the last six months, really, you know, where do you see, you're seeing all these platforms get new frss.
Speaker A:Where do you see this going is this is it.
Speaker A:We're going to build this into such a big thing that they can't fight us against us anymore on this.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So our singular focus is to really just make an impact.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And there's a lot of blessings that come with that, but there's also a lot of consequences.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So it's a pretty big task.
Speaker B:We want to recreate basically, like I said, an SB scenario where we want to make this common use, so we're hitting the biggest addressable market as a whole, and we were able to get it adopted very, very quickly.
Speaker B:The only thing that Malcolm and I miscalculated, I would say, is probably the timeline at which it happened.
Speaker B:You know, I knew we were going to get targeted.
Speaker B:I knew all these things were going to happen.
Speaker B:I just thought it was going to happen over the course of like two years.
Speaker B:You know, we're able to basically make it happen in like six months.
Speaker B:You know, where I see it sticking in the long term.
Speaker B:I know people judge us on the surface, thinking it's like a flash in the plant pan and all this stuff, but, you know, the industry needs to do a good job at like, supporting good brands out there that are really fighting for your rights, you know, and like kind of putting where your mouth is, you know what I'm saying?
Speaker B:So we want to kind of be what's missing.
Speaker B:And really want to get this to stay for the long term.
Speaker B:That's the goal.
Speaker B:You know, that's why we encourage other manufacturers to kind of jump in the category, because as long as other people are, you know, covering other platforms, that may fall out of our scope right now.
Speaker B:It's a net win for everybody, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:And it's really, from what I can see, the only category, at least this last year, that isn't really experiencing the Trump slump, you know, so well enough that, like, you know, there's second and third effects of what we've done, right?
Speaker B:Like, we have dealers call us, tell us, like, hey, Ryan, I just want you to know, like, your product is doing so well, I don't have to lay off my team, right?
Speaker B:Like, think about how impactful that is for, like, your average, you know, your mom and pop shop down the street, you know what I'm saying?
Speaker B:So that matters, bro.
Speaker B:And so no matter where you're at in the industry, whether you're an influencer, you work out of manufacturing, your product development, it's like everyone's like, kind of collective effort all matters in the grand scheme of things, you know, it's just.
Speaker B:I knew that I just now experience it because everything is so sensitive to us right now, you know, which is a good thing because, like, we have a ground, you know, really grounded in the vertical, especially how things are moving, you know, but the more accessible that these accessories are in the float, it's a compliance solution.
Speaker B:We follow the letter of the law, you know, and there's a lot of people that may not like it, but I don't care, you know, like, we have our stance, and we're gonna stand behind that, especially as long as we have kind of support of the people in order to, like, basically keep the fight up, you know, but we kind of understand the game that we're in.
Speaker B:And I think, unfortunately for Malcolm and I, I think our lives are gonna definitely have changed forever, you know, with everything going on.
Speaker B:But it's a good opportunity, man.
Speaker B:Really is.
Speaker A:No, I can agree more.
Speaker A:Now we see how the accessory market has affected firearms being in production from the factory.
Speaker A:We've seen it with comps, which are blowing up.
Speaker A:Yeah, we've seen it with SB braces.
Speaker A:Do you foresee anything changing on the frt side from them?
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean, I think.
Speaker B:I mean, look what happened to the braces, right?
Speaker B:Like, you know, they went through the whole motion.
Speaker B:They legalized it, all the stuff, and then one day they just turned them off.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But this is the game we play, right?
Speaker B:Like there's always changes going on in the market.
Speaker B:The question is, is like how fast and how hard can we capitalize on something, you know, and that's really what it is.
Speaker B:You know, like at the end of the day me and my buddy just thought we were working on something cool.
Speaker B:We didn't know that we were gonna, you know, kind of rally the whole vertical around us to, you know, really kind of hopefully finish a fight that started, you know, shout out to Tim Hoffman and Hoffman Tactical, you know, because the community is really what kind of carried us through some crazy obstacles, bro.
Speaker B:You know, like, and I'll say this time and time again, like me and Malcolm are smart, maybe hard working.
Speaker B:We have things that like are going for us.
Speaker B:But without God, brother, like none of this would have happened.
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Speaker A:I also want to touch on something that I know it doesn't affect your product directly, but you did mention California as one of the largest markets and just recently we saw California just ban accessories and we've seen them companies who I've talked to in bigger brands and I won't name their name, large online presence.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:Going this was a huge portion.
Speaker A:Some of them said anywhere between 11 to 20% of their sales for the year were going through California.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:How do we get to those, those folks in California and combat this nonsense just because it's becoming too difficult with the restrictions that are there, with the compliance that are there to get even the simplest things as barrels, parts, accessories into those states.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:First and foremost you have to support the dealer.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So any problem sets that persist in their world, we got to be able to support like kind of the supply chain to get there.
Speaker B:And now there's going to be obstacles in order to do that.
Speaker B:Whether it's, you know, the legal aspect.
Speaker B:You know, it's funny because I kind of built a good network, you know, just in my career within the state of California and obviously due to the politics, it's driving people away.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And people are fleeing, you know, the gun business and rightly so.
Speaker B:But the guys that actually ended up just like bunkering down, are capitalizing because now there's only so many dealers.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So they're soaking up that market share.
Speaker B:But at the end of the day, bro, like the politics in states like that, which is a really good case study to kind of see what's to come, because that's our goal, dude.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like they literally, you know, regardless of what political side you're on, whether you're left or right is irrelevant.
Speaker B:I believe weapons is an apolitical stance because everyone should have the right to firearms.
Speaker B:But outside of that, the system is weaponized against like the gun culture.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And it's hard to explain that to people because, like, it's hard to have any type of common ground with other entrepreneurs, like in other industries because you don't have to deal with the stuff we have to deal with.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Whether you're getting debanked, fintech companies don't support you.
Speaker B:Even marketing agencies like, oh, you do guns, we don't want to mess with you.
Speaker B:And that's like downstream of what happens in states like California.
Speaker B:But all starts obviously at the legislation level to make sure at least there's organizations out there that are trying to, you know, kind of support the business aspect to it, you know, because if this keeps going, all it's doing is basically reinforcing the culture even stronger.
Speaker B:So there's, there's pros and cons, but it's also reinforcing states that, you know, because you're taking good jobs and good business and now you're placing it in just a more gun friendly state, you know, but it's difficult, it's difficult for a lot of guys out there, you know, and it sucks.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I love how you, you're also talking about the, the Trump slump.
Speaker A:And we through, through goa, we have our Caliber club, which we helped some of these FFL dealers during COVID by getting home high margin products like T shirts and things like that.
Speaker A:Things that could sell.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:Your product is now helping people out with the, this impact that we're seeing with.
Speaker A:I mean, everybody knows once the rights aren't threatened, people don't buy guns.
Speaker A:I'm sorry, I'm just gonna break the fourth wall for some of these people who don't understand that.
Speaker A:But you guys are putting into a category where it's up and hell, how does that feel for you to know that these, you're saving some of these mom and pops and these dealers that are being just forced out because they just can't sell.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's amazing, bro.
Speaker B:You Know, like to be able to have the opportunity to kind of help spearhead that.
Speaker B:You know, I don't want to like, take all credit by any means, but there's definitely a collective of people that are doing really good work in reinforcing the culture in the industry at the business level.
Speaker B:And it's really, really cool to see.
Speaker B:I never thought I would, you know, see my kind of product and thousands of dealers kind of, you know, all over the country, right.
Speaker B:And knowing that they're able to like, keep food on the table, their team in a market like this, like, you can't put a price on that, bro.
Speaker B:You know, and that's what I mean.
Speaker B:There's second and third effects about what we all do together because it goes far beyond just the value provide like immediately to your company.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, so we need to like, mutually support each other in that aspect, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:And my goal in the future, I would like to get more on the advocacy front to help open up additional markets, you know, so people can also benefit as well, you know.
Speaker B:But yeah, it's been, it's been really cool to see.
Speaker A:No, and I love, I love hearing that because a lot of people don't understand without, I mean, with the rise of online shopping and everything like that.
Speaker A:People don't understand that the brick and mortar is the lifeblood of this industry.
Speaker A:Without those guys, we don't have a lot of the things we can have as an industry.
Speaker A:It'll just, especially with the margins we're dealing with.
Speaker A:We're just going to be wiped out.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:Always support your local dealer, guys.
Speaker A:I love that, I love that you said that.
Speaker A:Because a lot of people don't understand that anymore.
Speaker B:No, dude, you got to create something where, you know, people have this mindset where it's like, it's a give and take.
Speaker B:And I don't come from that world.
Speaker B:I believe there's a win win scenario basically in any situation you're in, you know, maybe hard to find it, right.
Speaker B:But it's there.
Speaker B:That win win snare is out there for everyone.
Speaker B:And so that's kind of how we built the business model kind of backwards, you know, to make sure that it's a, it's a net win for everybody.
Speaker B:You know, it doesn't matter how, you know how high or how low it is in that scale of the industry, but it's been working.
Speaker B:It's been working very, very well too.
Speaker A:So you mentioned that you want to get more into advocacy and things like that.
Speaker A:What is driving that advocacy side of you.
Speaker B:I mean, probably the last 13 years of my life I also had just poor experience with just government overreach in general in my individual life.
Speaker B:And so that's where it comes from.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And that's why I was talking about like the paradigm between left and right is almost void in my book because regardless of people's opinions, everyone collectively could look at our culture in America and be like, you know, things just aren't really adding up these days, you know, And Covid was a really good example.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like it drove people that weren't gun people towards guns.
Speaker B:Why?
Speaker B:Because when they call 911 it's going to take 45 minutes to come to your house.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:With all these riots and all this stuff going on.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So yeah, unfortunately I think there is a side of this industry historically where fear is a driving.
Speaker B:You know, it's a, it was a fear based market.
Speaker B:But we gotta like flip that up side on its head, you know, like it's, that can't be the reason why whether it's threat from an administration or threat from this, you know, like kind of got like flipping on its head and literally like for how cheesy it sounds, like like love is the business model.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:You create a win, win for scenario where everyone gets to win, they get to participate in their rights.
Speaker B:You know, like that's, that's kind of like the game we have to play in order like for us to win.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I was talking with somebody earlier and we were trying to define when the, the, the really big anti gun rhetoric has been pushed.
Speaker A:And we've come down to basically pinpointing it to the assault weapons ban and everything like that.
Speaker A:But now with the rise of new gun ownership, you know, how do we get those new gun owners who are on the fringe to now join the grassroots effort and fight for the rights where they really just didn't understand and it was just out of fear at first.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think it comes down to the fact that like Americans just don't like being told what to do.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And so, and this is again, this is both sides of the spectrum.
Speaker B:I think everyone is now coming to the conclusion because like the gun culture is like now more diverse now more than ever, you know, especially since as of late.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, and it's one of the things where I actually see diversity truly work in the sense that like, you know, it's no longer, you know, one demographic.
Speaker B:That's the type of people, we have all types, we're all Americans.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And sometimes that's like, unfathomable people to understand, especially as we get legal immigrants that come here with their green card.
Speaker B:Like, do you understand how taboo it is, dude?
Speaker B:Like, like, we are in an incredible country, right?
Speaker B:You have a guy that leaves from wherever he is to come here and becomes a citizen.
Speaker B:And it's like, oh, hey, by the way, man, like, here's a land of opportunity and you're allowed to defend yourself with weapons.
Speaker B:And they're like, what?
Speaker B:Are you for real?
Speaker B:It's like, yeah, dog, go pick up your AR15 in your Glock, homie.
Speaker B:Stay strapped.
Speaker A:No, it's so true.
Speaker A:It's funny how working.
Speaker A:I worked behind the gun counter for a while, and when we would get people who had either just become citizens or were here and doing the legal visa thing with buying guns, I always ask them, what drove you to do this?
Speaker A:And they were like, yeah, we didn't have this.
Speaker A:This is something new to me.
Speaker A:I want to have fun.
Speaker A:I want to do this.
Speaker A:And I also saw it working at ranges where people would come in, oh, I want to shoot for the first time and have fun.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:And that's the cool thing about being a firearms owner or being somebody who's in the guns is not only this fun aspect, but you're also taking the personal responsibility of defending yourself in your hands.
Speaker A:And I think that's a new concept to a lot of the people who've come from overseas.
Speaker A:Because they never had that opportunity.
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:And on top of that, you can even go a little bit deeper where, like, you know, anecdotally to my experience, I've been blessed to do a lot of the international business.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So, like, the modern world views America as the gun store of the planet.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So anytime there's a, you know, a police agency or a military unit getting spun up, they're going to come to America.
Speaker B:Because we are kind of the tip of the spear when it comes to, you know, everything, training, gear, etc.
Speaker B:I envy the people that live a world where they feel like they don't need a weapon.
Speaker B:I envy you.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, I wish I come from that world.
Speaker B:Unfortunately, I have been in these territories and these countries where trust me when I say people wish that they had access to this type of, like, basically have access to these types of rights, man, you know?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because it's very real.
Speaker B:Because the rest of the world, you have the haves and have nots and there's no in between.
Speaker B:Whereas everyone here, there's an in between and there's a good in Between.
Speaker A:No, it's absolutely true.
Speaker A:I mean, you, what's the best way to say armed society is a polite society?
Speaker B:It is, dude.
Speaker A:And it is.
Speaker A:We're seeing it now.
Speaker A:We're.
Speaker B:But the, the politics and like the media, they do a really good job on shifting that perspective, you know, like they, they warlock people's minds.
Speaker B:And, you know, what is good is now bad, and what is bad is now good.
Speaker B:You know, it's the same thing around the gun culture.
Speaker B:And, but it's pretty indicative where, like, once you kind of track what they're doing, it's like, okay, clearly, you know, the backstop to everything is, is the, is weapons, man.
Speaker B:You know, like, and I know we talk about like, you know, hunting and self defense and all this stuff, but like, that's, it's really not even about that.
Speaker B:The Second amendment is strictly about overthrowing a tyrannical government.
Speaker B:That's the whole sole purpose.
Speaker B:And if we lose sight of that, there's dire consequences that come with that, you know, dire.
Speaker B:And obviously people probably think I'm crazy when I say that, but, like, that's the whole reason why I was here to begin with.
Speaker B:So why don't we just lean into like, what it was designed for and be bold about it, you know?
Speaker B:Like, I think everyone has an obligation to understand where it comes from, you know, because it's not just about hunting.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:And that's, that's always the thing that makes me mad, is when you talk to somebody and they're like, I, I'm a gun owner and I support the second amendment.
Speaker A:But yeah, once you hit that.
Speaker A:But it's like, no, you guys got to understand, these guys thought it was so important, they made it number two.
Speaker A:Number one, you could say whatever you want.
Speaker A:Number two, hey, you got the right to back it up.
Speaker B:There's no buts here.
Speaker B:No, it's true, man.
Speaker B:And I, I mentioned this before, but the cool thing is, is like, there's, you know, there's, there's fresh blood coming in and there's a new shift in the gun culture.
Speaker B:We definitely see it.
Speaker B:You know, we talked about it earlier.
Speaker B:It's like the renaissance of guns.
Speaker B:And it's definitely true.
Speaker B:But in the beginning, like, I always had a use case for everything that we brought to market, right?
Speaker B:But when it came to the frs, it was kind of hard because I didn't really have a use case.
Speaker B:So then I was just like, well, you know, at the end of the day, like, people can go have fun, they can experience a new enhanced you know, shooting capability that they never experienced before.
Speaker B:But I also need to, I don't need to tell you a why, right?
Speaker B:Like, it's the Bill of Rights, not the Bill of Needs.
Speaker B:Like, I don't need to tell you what I decided to defend my family, defend my community, what I have in my gun locker.
Speaker B:I don't need to tell you why I need it.
Speaker B:I could just want.
Speaker B:It could just want to have fun with my friends, you know, I think.
Speaker A:That's the biggest thing that gets me is like, people will ask, you know, why the why?
Speaker A:There's always the why do you have this?
Speaker A:Or why do you want this, bro?
Speaker A:That's cool, bro.
Speaker A:It's fun.
Speaker B:Sometimes it's just sick, bro.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, that's the thing.
Speaker A:It can be.
Speaker A:And that was always so.
Speaker A:I've told this on the podcast before, but because you're new, I get to have fun telling this again.
Speaker A:So I worked at Faxon and a bright eyed bushy tailed me getting things done.
Speaker B:Were you still a redhead?
Speaker A:Oh yeah, still a redhead.
Speaker A:We're having a meeting and they're like, we need a new product.
Speaker A:I'm like, we're making aftermarket high point barrels.
Speaker A:And they're like, dude, that's stupid.
Speaker A:I'm like, no, it's not.
Speaker A:Think about it.
Speaker A:It'll cost more than a gun.
Speaker A:It's a great marketing scheme.
Speaker A:And they're like, who's going to buy people?
Speaker A:They're like, how many people?
Speaker A:A lot of them.
Speaker A:They're like, that's not real numbers.
Speaker A:I'm like, bro, just, let's make 50 and just try it out and do aftermarket high point slides.
Speaker A:And they're like, who's buying this?
Speaker A:I'm like, people.
Speaker B:People out there.
Speaker B:There's people.
Speaker B:There's so many high points in the market, bro.
Speaker A:Bro.
Speaker A:High point frs.
Speaker A:Just saying, put it out there.
Speaker A:Shout out to see.
Speaker A:That's what I love about there's, there's people in this industry and I don't think you're one of them that take themselves too serious.
Speaker B:No, not at all.
Speaker A:They've got a stick up their butt and have it.
Speaker B:Sorry, I don't think I said that.
Speaker A:So am I.
Speaker A:But there's people with stickers, sticks up their butt and they're like, oh, we got to be like this.
Speaker A:We got to have this case wise.
Speaker A:And it's got to be tactical and it's got to be cool.
Speaker A:And we're, we're so and so.
Speaker A:And this is what we do for generations.
Speaker A:And then there's high point who is the.
Speaker A:Who had takes nothing seriously and has so much fun.
Speaker A:And I think that's.
Speaker A:You're in the same boat.
Speaker A:You're like, this is fun.
Speaker B:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker B:It is fun.
Speaker B:Like, you know, especially because shot show was the first Main street.
Speaker B:Actually.
Speaker B:It was our first event as a company under my own banner.
Speaker B:And so we went in unsure on how we were going to be perceived, right?
Speaker B:Just because there was a lot of, like, going on in that six month buildup heading into the show.
Speaker B:But, bro, the amount of love and support that we had, like, you know, we were in the basement, I didn't think anyone would find us.
Speaker B:Like, our booth was just stacked.
Speaker B:Even at the range day we had a line out the door.
Speaker B:You know, we got this technical.
Speaker B:I don't know if you saw, but we got like this Jap truck with a mounted gun on it and it was just, it was so awesome, right?
Speaker B:And like, just seeing everyone, like so stoked on everything was like, amazing to see.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:Granted, there's a lot of stress, a lot of pressure on Malcolm and I, but, like, I will burden anything in order to, like, keep this growing, you know, and that's what it kind of turned into, right?
Speaker B:Like, you know, it's basically like a freedom operation at scale, you know, is like what it kind of turned into.
Speaker B:And so it's.
Speaker B:It's really cool to see, man.
Speaker B:And it's all about having fun too.
Speaker B:You know, you got to have fun along the way.
Speaker B:And not necessarily the, you know, destination is definitely the journey, but I think the industry did, like, definitely in the past.
Speaker B:They did a good job on like, I don't want to say gatekeeping, but it's like, hey, if you weren't a MARSOC Raider or a Navy SEAL or a Green Beret, it's like you can't have access.
Speaker B:Not, not like explicitly saying that, but like, you know, you have nods and plate carries.
Speaker B:It's like, no, do normalize this stuff.
Speaker B:Normalize this capability, normalize the gear, normalize the equipment.
Speaker B:Open it up for everybody and have fun with your friends, dude.
Speaker B:You know, don't take things too seriously.
Speaker B:I think PSR does a really good job at that, you know, and he just brings a really good comedic relief to kind of the gun culture and kind of breaks the walls down where it's not so serious, right?
Speaker B:There's times to be serious, especially if it's in a use case where you have to support, you know, units at that caliber.
Speaker B:There's definitely a need for that.
Speaker B:But in the commercial space, it's kind of cool breaking those walls down and creating like a more positive environment because that's what it's about, man, you know?
Speaker A:No, I, I totally agree.
Speaker A:And I, I think the big thing is I'm gonna ask you this question, is you had this priest.
Speaker A:Did you have a preconceived notion that there was going to be a, an old guard or people at certain events that are just going to be like, who needs an frt?
Speaker A:Why do I need an frs?
Speaker A:Why do I need this?
Speaker A:Why do I need that?
Speaker A:And now you've done the event and it seems like, oh, this is cool.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:Mainly the community, like, the community came out in full force, bro.
Speaker B:Like, you gotta understand, like, me and Malcolm didn't have much money.
Speaker B:We put our lives into this, you know, and this was the response.
Speaker B:And so we even had the community, like rally around us where they were like, test, like, we, we didn't have all the money in the world to T and E this on every single thing out there.
Speaker B:The community was doing it for us.
Speaker B:So we were just getting inundated with data sets and people trying to help us, you know, and like, anytime we had an issue, we even had people like, reach out, like, hey, I work at this company, we can help you with this.
Speaker B:You know, it was just really cool.
Speaker B:And especially at shot show, we got to see it like in real time.
Speaker B:It wasn't just like emails and DMs, you know, that was like the thing.
Speaker B:It was like sometimes you live in the digital world, especially when you're in your own trench, kind of like paving out something relatively new and then you show up and it's manifested in reality and like, you know, it hits a little bit different, you know, and then you can kind of really see kind of maybe the gravity of the situation as well.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So we did a really remarkable job on like getting this into Second Step Distribution, getting it into premier online retailers, you know, building out a dealer network.
Speaker B:It was kind of cool to kind of see everything kind of kind of come full circle that week for us, you know, and it was a huge win for, for just like a team, you know, from the start.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, there was a lot of hard work, bro, a lot of long days, and the entrepreneurial journey through this whole experience is unique in its own right.
Speaker B:But we navigated all the obstacles that were put in front of us.
Speaker B:And, you know, I credit the community and the people that kind of rally behind us in order to do that, you know, so being able to help kind of push the envelope of, you know, product development to really bring, you know, kind of cool products to market that get people excited.
Speaker B:Like, it's doable, it's possible it falls even outside of kind of like the force reset category.
Speaker B:And it's whole.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:There's a lot of opportunity out there.
Speaker B:I think people just need to remember that.
Speaker A:All right, I'm going to ask you this question.
Speaker A:You can tell me if you want to answer it or not.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So we've seen companies that have pushed the envelope with.
Speaker A:And we know we have the legal precedent right now.
Speaker B:Correct.
Speaker A:But we have, we've seen the brace stuff, we've seen the attacks on our friend Dave.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:What is.
Speaker A:Do you have a fear in the back of your head on, do they come after us?
Speaker A:And if people do, if they do, you know, how do you protect your customers as well?
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean, we did drop a press release where we're in full support of kind of our dealer network to get started.
Speaker B:But there are bad actors out there in this vertical.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, and I think the lines are pretty clear where a lot of people talk in this industry.
Speaker B:You know, I think it's different when you actually perform.
Speaker B:You know, performance is the gold standard.
Speaker B:So I could come on a podcast and people can talk all they want, but it's like just view the actions of companies and what they do and how they behave in a vertical and then you can decide on like what you want to side with.
Speaker B:You know, I'm not here to win anyone over.
Speaker B:I'm just here to do what I believe is right at the end of the day and I will continue to do so.
Speaker B:Fortunately, when people do do kind of poor actions out there, it's really just reinforcing kind of our success.
Speaker C:You know, if you're like me, you are probably slightly addicted to your phone and that means it is incredibly important who you choose as your cell phone provider.
Speaker A:And now it's time to switch your cell phone service over to Patriot Mobile, a freedom loving brand that supports the second amendment and goa's mission.
Speaker C:I am of Patriot Mobile as well as a big fan because Patriot Mobile not only gives great nationwide coverage from the top three carriers, but they also support the second amendment.
Speaker A:Patriot Mobile is super easy to switch to.
Speaker A:It only takes a couple minutes.
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Speaker C:This is why we are proud to be offering one month free service plus 15 off of every line with Patriot Mobile.
Speaker C:When you use code GOA again that's.
Speaker A:Patreon mobile.com goa and use code goa at checkout to get one month free and save 15% off on each additional line.
Speaker A:We are at the closing part of this.
Speaker A:So we have our last segment which is our from the soapbox segment.
Speaker A:That's where we get real spicy.
Speaker B:So how spicy we talking?
Speaker A:As spicy as you want to get, my friend.
Speaker A:Spicier the better.
Speaker A:This is, this is a whole segment that we do just to get hot and spicy.
Speaker A:So do you have a spicy take for us?
Speaker B:We say spicy take like in regards to.
Speaker A:So we the, we loop this around like anything policy driven anything your biggest frustrations, grips with the atf, politicians, etc, like as spicy as you want to be because we do a full clip of this at a week.
Speaker B:All right, well my, my hot take is that Malcolm and I are two absolutionists and the whole purpose around the second amendment right is for when the government with you, you're allowed to back.
Speaker B:That's essentially what it's about.
Speaker A:I don't disagree.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:I'm with you that.
Speaker A:I'm 100% with you on that.
Speaker B:It's basically it, you know.
Speaker B:And yeah, man, I think it's an exciting time especially in modern culture in our country right now.
Speaker B:And I think, I think the, I think the gun industry as a whole is going to be really effective in the coming years in our country.
Speaker B:You know, whether that's moving the culture, pushing the people in the right direction when it comes to the proliferation of our rights.
Speaker B:And I'm just excited, honestly.
Speaker B: It's going to be a good fun: Speaker B:It's already getting pretty spicy, brother, you know?
Speaker A:No, I know.
Speaker A:I mean you're absolutely right.
Speaker A:Everything you said is absolutely right.
Speaker A: As we look at: Speaker A:And how do you see this category growing over the year?
Speaker B:Yeah, I think just getting it more into the mainstream.
Speaker B:I'm even helping adjacent products around us.
Speaker B:And that's what's great about being a selector and not a trigger is that we're a false multiplier for everybody.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So like what I mean by that is all the triggers that we're compatible with, right?
Speaker B:A lot of them are selling out quick, right.
Speaker B:Heavier buffers are selling out, you know, and what's great about us is that like we don't need to modify anything or tweak anything.
Speaker B:It's truly drop in or reverse compatible.
Speaker B:And people really, really like that.
Speaker B:And so everything around us, including ourselves, is kind of just increasing the tide so high, right.
Speaker B:You know, high tides raise all ships kind of mentality and really just making this a prevalent category that is moving.
Speaker B:And I want to see in more, you know, product lines and support of more weapon systems, more distributors, more dealers across the country because we follow the letter of the law, you know, and that's what we kind of want to see happen.
Speaker B:And we're doing a really good job of making that happen.
Speaker B:But the end goal is common use camera.
Speaker B:Got it.
Speaker B:Like that's the end goal.
Speaker B:You know, we basically just assault the vertical as hard as we can together.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And so I encourage anyone out there that is a supporter of what we do and what has our products.
Speaker B:I encourage you to showcase to any homie that has a gun, your community, your ranges, right?
Speaker B:Like that's how we kind of like beat the system a little bit.
Speaker B:We're shadow banned, but we, we're doing a pretty good job on the grassroots support, you know.
Speaker B:And so just word of mouth, believe it or not, it's actually been the, the biggest force multiplier for us.
Speaker A:So I love it.
Speaker A:What do you think?
Speaker A:So we've seen, I've seen what MMP.
Speaker A:This year we saw the TX22.
Speaker A:I've heard inklings of a P90.
Speaker A:So what do you think is going to be the top ones that are.
Speaker A:You got that?
Speaker A:Everyone's going to go after this year.
Speaker B:There's a lot of brands out there doing a lot of cool things, you know, for us.
Speaker B:I look at it from a perspective of, you know, what is the biggest addressable market, right.
Speaker B:Like if I magically had 300,000 units in a pile in front of us, it's like, where can we dump that?
Speaker B:You know.
Speaker B:So right now I'm hyper focused on one weapon system.
Speaker B:We plan on having a FRS kind of ecosystem and then that will be able to fund other projects.
Speaker B:But a lot of, a lot of good companies are out there doing really cool stuff and they're hitting, they're hitting platforms that there are a ton in the market.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So again, that's just an added value add for the market as a whole, you know.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, I don't know if that answered your question.
Speaker A:No, you're good.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's a great answer.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:My question to you is then,.
Speaker B:As.
Speaker A:The popularity and rise of FRSS has continued to go, how do you think the industry will respond?
Speaker B:Well, we've actually been seeing it, right.
Speaker B:So the industry's responding by tailoring solutions.
Speaker B:So in the beginning, there's a lot of cultural resistance in a lot of ways, but now that we kind of did a really good job winning the culture over and the vertical over, now people are tailoring new products to us right where they want to make sure that they're compatible with the selector.
Speaker B:Right now it comes down whether it's a trigger or whether it's some of these BCG houses and stuff like that.
Speaker B:And then in the long term, it's going to happen soon, by the way, guys, so just keep your eye out on it.
Speaker B:But we will have a series of manufacturers that will run this in an inline SKU support, which is really going to be the biggest needle that pushes the right direction.
Speaker B:So imagine you go to your dealer and there's just a weapon system, you know, with an FRS in it.
Speaker B:You know, that's.
Speaker B:That's what we're going to.
Speaker B:You guys will see it come very soon.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So dope.
Speaker B:It's going to be sick, dude.
Speaker B:It's going to be super sick.
Speaker A:I'm.
Speaker A:I'm so pumped for you guys because this is something that, you know, I've been wanting and I want to see this grow and I want to see how, like you said, get it into common use.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:And get the fight going.
Speaker A:Because this is just the first step in many.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And if we, as long as we all just kind of just have a solid, you know, establish just a solid front together, you know, we can make it happen.
Speaker B:The thing is, though, is like the reason why it's like hard is that anyone can kind of jump in the category and like, you'll be successful.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, a machine shop could go and make a couple thousand users sell it, whatever.
Speaker B:It's not going to work at that level, though.
Speaker B:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker B:Like, everything on the surface, the hype, the success, all that, bro, that's.
Speaker B:That's a byproduct of what the goal is, you know, you have to literally carpet bomb the entire vertical in order for this to happen right at scale, you know.
Speaker B:So, like our team is all in 24, seven of every day.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, like, this is different for us, dude.
Speaker B:Like, the way.
Speaker B:The way Malcolm and I look at it, bro, we literally, like gambled our lives, you know, so, like, we wake up every day in a do or die environment, especially with everything that's kind of going on around us, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:It's like, it's different for us, but it has to be done at that level and there has to be that level of seriousness in order to attack it because that's where we're going to end up at.
Speaker B:And honestly, if we do a well enough job, it could happen this year.
Speaker B:And then now we actually have a case, guys, you know, and like this is a hill that we're gonna die on.
Speaker B:No, I love that I can say this though.
Speaker B:Like, it's funny though, because like, you know, God bless Dave.
Speaker B:And I have a lot of people around me and I've been around the industry long enough where I've seen companies do good things and I've seen them do poor things, right?
Speaker B:So it was a blessing in my youth to kind of be around and watch some of these bigger pieces kind of get moved around.
Speaker B:So I like to think I know what not to do.
Speaker B:But you know, some people are concerned like about me from a position of love, you know, but like what's worst case that's gonna happen?
Speaker B:You know, like you're gonna take my small house and my paid off Tacoma.
Speaker B:Like I'll just restart my life, dude.
Speaker B:I don't care.
Speaker B:You know, like you gotta play for keeps in this game.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:For what people don't know, Dave, who we're referring to, is David's matador arms.
Speaker A:And you can look into his backstory and everything like that, but just talking to him and seeing what he went through, I mean he, he was non apologetic.
Speaker A:He would do it 10 times out of 10 again.
Speaker A:And I think that's what, what I really appreciate about you is you still, you have the same passion as he did.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, I looked up to Dave, honestly, my whole, my whole career, bro.
Speaker B:I did my, I did the, I did one of my projects with him.
Speaker B:I did, you know, we released a P80 frame together.
Speaker B:And again, I was in the same position that I'm in today, right?
Speaker B:There was a lot of premier online retailers that didn't want to onboard it, right?
Speaker B:But if they onboarded with me, it was a net positive for him, right?
Speaker B:So it's like we were, I was always like at the table to kind of push the needle a little bit.
Speaker B:This is just atrious is just doing that at scale.
Speaker B:I never had that opportunity before, right?
Speaker B:That's what's different.
Speaker B:But I've had multiple reps, multiple reps over and over and over and over.
Speaker B:And so that's, I feel like that was just kind of just like my pipeline of training and preparation, you know, for us to do it as as big as we possibly can with this, you know, so.
Speaker A:Well, that's the, the thing that I'm.
Speaker A:I'm loving right now.
Speaker A:And, and this is what I learned.
Speaker A:So I was in sales for a long time, and then I went over to the marketing side because that's what I'm more passionate about.
Speaker A:And I'm loving how it went from everybody hating each other to now we, we have band together as an industry and been like, bro, rising or tides rise all ships.
Speaker A:We gotta get together, we gotta collaborate, we gotta do this.
Speaker A:We know that we're getting shadow banned.
Speaker A:Let's collaborate and do this.
Speaker A:I mean, look at.
Speaker B:It's also a demographic thing too, though, right?
Speaker B:Like, you know, we're all in our 30s now and we were raised in this industry and we kind of see how, like, things were poorly done.
Speaker B:And so now all of us get to like, kind of correct that wrong.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:And so now, especially now more than ever, it's like the politics have Balkanized the battle lines for us, dude.
Speaker B:It's no longer like smoke and mirrors.
Speaker B:We know exactly, like, who the adversaries are.
Speaker B:And sometimes they're in our own vertical, bro.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:You know, and that's what's cool to see.
Speaker B:So I just keep reminding myself, like, if we're getting this type of resistance, it just means that we're on the right path, bro.
Speaker B:That's what it really means.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:You know, 100%.
Speaker A:It's just seeing.
Speaker A:I mean, look at 10 years ago.
Speaker A:Let's just look at 10 years ago.
Speaker A:Would you see a company put like, here's an example, because it was in shot.
Speaker A:Show top of mind.
Speaker A:Would you see Radiant and Canik team up 10 years ago?
Speaker A:Would you see anybody team up together 10 years ago?
Speaker A:Would you see, you know, working people working together to come up with products that are intermingled and skews that are intermingled.
Speaker A:We wouldn't see that now.
Speaker A:And now we're seeing the.
Speaker A:The drive of the accessory market drive the industry into actually doing innovative, cool stuff, which we've never seen before.
Speaker A:The biggest complaint.
Speaker A:I'm going to go on a rant so you could interrupt me when you want.
Speaker B:Run it, brother.
Speaker A:My biggest problem is, for years, all we've said as an industry, we want innovation.
Speaker A:We want innovation.
Speaker A:What is innovation?
Speaker A:What is teaming up?
Speaker A:What is this?
Speaker A:And the accessory market would adjust to some of the stuff, and then the industry would be like, yeah, maybe we'll get there eventually.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Not to call out it, because I'm loving what I'M seeing right now.
Speaker A:But, but the collaborative stuff and the, the innovation stuff, like, now I'm actually seeing and happy to see things come out where.
Speaker A:And I think we were on a good track up until about 20, 19, 20, 20, and then it was.
Speaker A:You could sell whatever the heck you wanted.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And now it's like, okay, well, things aren't selling as hot like they were, so now we got to actually do something for sure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And, you know, because I was kind of one of the guys in the shotgun seat during that time, it really just came down to this.
Speaker B:It's like you had camps of people that were really good at one thing and they weren't good at another.
Speaker B:So it's like, why don't we just, you know, kind of be.
Speaker B:Enable each other, just maximize our strengths.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And then that's a great partnership, you know, and that's where the accessory market, like, really, really filled in and filled in on those gaps for a lot of those, you know, I call them blue chip manufacturers.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:A lot of the, A lot of the big whales out there, you know, and it was a net win for them because, you know, they don't have to assign a project manager and a whole team to develop one thing when you.
Speaker B:Something that's readily accessible, that fits the need immediately, or you can make something completely unique to them and tailor the solution to them.
Speaker B:So it's really cool to kind of see the collaboration efforts and again, that creates that win win scenario that I was talking about, you know, and so I'd always try to find that, like, throughout my whole entire career during that process.
Speaker B:And it's great to see other brands doing the same thing and taking the same mindset and applying it to their business model.
Speaker B:And at the end of the day, dude, you're bringing something to market that the end user wants.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Doesn't get any more bigger of a win than that.
Speaker A:Well, I agree to that.
Speaker A:My gripe that I always have is the firearm space, until recently was like, oh, our consumers don't know what they want.
Speaker A:We tell them what they want.
Speaker A:And now we're like the app because the aftermarket space listen to the consumers.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:I mean, lightning cuts on slides, optics, ready porting comps, frs, all this stuff.
Speaker B:Like, the only downside, which you're right, like, it takes.
Speaker B:That's what's.
Speaker B:That's why it's kind of nice being like a smaller, nimble brand.
Speaker B:So it's like you're still big enough where you could still, you know, you can throw a good punch if you need to, but like, you're still fast enough where it doesn't take, you know, six months to make a left turn on like a decision.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So typically the manufacturers at that level, just because they mainly have so much going on and a lot of red tape, bureaucracy, all these things, it takes a longer to them to adapt to the market is what I've seen.
Speaker B:You know, granted, there's some brands out there that could help speed that process up.
Speaker B:There's some good talent out there whether if you have the skill set to speed that talent, you know, speed that process up.
Speaker B:It's easier said than done.
Speaker B:But yeah, I agree with you though, for sure.
Speaker A:I could go on a rant for an hour because I feel like everybody calls each other.
Speaker A: ever guns, the next year it's: Speaker A:The next year after that, I'm like, come on.
Speaker A:Yeah, come on, guys, let's be a little bit different.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:Try something.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:All right, I'm getting the wrap up sign.
Speaker A:So before we go, first off, I want to thank you for being on the show.
Speaker A:Uh, as a thank you, we have our gift for our guest sponsored by Palmetto State Armory.
Speaker A:So you'll be receiving something after the show from.
Speaker C:Whoa.
Speaker A:So thank you.
Speaker A:Psa.
Speaker B:Psa, thank you.
Speaker B:We gotta talk soon.
Speaker A:Go ahead and shout out where people can find you, how they can get a hold of you, all that fun stuff.
Speaker B:Our Instagram handle is atrious dev.
Speaker B:Yeah, you guys can shoot us a follow, spread the word and kind of just get in the weeds on our content, what we're about.
Speaker B:Yeah, guys, we appreciate you.
Speaker B:Appreciate you having me on, man.
Speaker B:Truly.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:All right, guys, well, that's a wrap.
Speaker A:Make sure to, like, share and subscribe.
Speaker A:Leave a five star review on all podcasting hosts.
Speaker A: Get your tickets for goals: Speaker A:And we'll catch you on the next episode.
Speaker B:Stay blessed.
