Katie: Welcome to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com/overtime. I'm Katie Laird -
Esther: And I'm Esther Steinfeld.
Katie: - and we're so glad that you're joining us for your little slice of entrepreneur magic, here on the Overtime Show. [Laughter]
Esther: That's right.
Katie: We have a fun show for you this week; we're talking about food, interactivity, and even in Chapter Three we have a special features talking about just how successful you can be if you are a late sleeper.
Esther: Might not be looking too good for you guys.
Katie: [Laughter]
Esther: We've actually got Sal Baldovinos on the show this week. He's talking about Interactive Strategies Conference, which is based here in Houston but is attracting, kind of, national attention at this point. It's pretty cool.
Katie: It is.
Esther: So we'll hear from him in Chapter Two but of course, as you already mentioned, let's talk about food. We like food.
Katie: We really do.
Esther: And we don't - So we are gonna talk about food. We're not food - well, you're kind of a foodie. I just - I'm an eatie.
Katie: Yeah, me too. [Laughter]
Esther: That's what I call it. Just like to eat.
Katie: I'm not pretentious. I just eat.
Esther: Yeah, exactly. We're gonna be talking more about the business of food because there's so much news about food these days. I think so many people are getting into this where their food is coming from and what they're eating and whether you're a foodie or an eatie or whatever you consider yourself - or just someone who eats to live, a lot of companies are getting out there and putting their stuff - everything out there for you to see. All of their nutritional value, and some companies are putting out food that has no nutritional value and it's interesting to see what's going on right now. So what's the first story we got?
Katie: So let's talk about that no nutritional value. Or actually, is it possible to have like negative nutritional - it is. Negative -
Esther: For food to be - of course it is, because something that, you know, basically is cancer in a can -
Katie: Yeah.
Esther: It is!
Katie: Or a wrapper or, you know, a carton. [Laughter]
Esther: Oh, I was talking about this Candwich.
Katie: Oh my gosh. Let's talk about the Candwich.
Esther: Yeah.
Katie: So, we're all into, you know, convenience foods. Sometimes you have a real busy day. Getting a piece or two of bread and slapping something in there just doesn't work. And now for your eating/long-term storage enjoyment, there's a new food product out there.
Esther: Should nuclear holocaust -
Katie: Seriously.
Esther: - come down upon us, this is the only thing that's gonna survive, the Candwich.
Katie: Exactly and cockroaches and probably Janet Jackson.
[Laughter]
Katie: None of which are related. So the Candwich! Candwich. You might be guessing - you might think that you know what it means and you might be horrified and you should be because you're right. Candwich is a sandwich in a can. Like a Coke can, like a Coke-shaped can.
Esther: And they have several flavors. They've got PB&J in grape, with grape flavor. They got PBJ with strawberry and they also have a chicken kind. Eww!
Katie: Wait, wait - is the chic- it's a barbecue chicken.
Esther: Yeah.
Katie: A barbecue chicken sandwich in a can.
Esther: Ugh.
Katie: Now, what's really interesting to me is there's a fellow, Mark Kirkland, who actually created this product and he actually said that he's been developing it for over a decade.
Esther: Wow.
Katie: So it took ten years, people. And you probably might actually buy one of his original prototypes, 'cause I'm sure it'll last just that long. [Laughter]
Esther: Ugh. How disgusting. You know, I have to say - this does remind me a little bit of the kinds of snacks that you find, like Twinkies and Little Debbie snack cakes and I'll be honest with you - I'll eat that stuff sometimes. Sometimes I gotta have a cupcake -
Katie: Yes.
Esther: - from the gas station. Once a year -
Katie: Oh, like a Hostess cupcake or something.
Esther: Once a year, a Hostess cupcake with the swirlies on top. I think they're delicious.
Katie: Ah. Yeah.
Esther: I know they're terrible for you.
Katie: Yeah.
Esther: But they're a guilty pleasure.
Katie: Exactly.
Esther: I can't have that be my main meal.
Katie: No.
Esther: That can't be my lunch. I can't pop open a can and pull out a sandwich -
Katie: Yeah.
Esther: - and be good to go for the rest of the day.
Katie: So it's 450 calories.
Esther: That's a lot!
Katie: And - it's a lot, especially for peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And actually, I was wrong. It only lasts for a year. No refrigeration needed. So you won't eat one of the prototypes unless they're playing some terrible joke on us all, which I feel like they are. I feel like the world is on "Candid Camera" right now.
Esther: I know.
Katie: With the Candwich.
Esther: It's like The Truman Show.
Katie: Exactly. Exactly. [Laughter]
Esther: What's going on. Well there's another product. We've talked about the Double Down on this show before and how - what a splash it made. I mean, many people talked about it. But now they've got a new product. It's kind of making waves.
Katie: So Kentucky Fried Chicken can take it even further than the Double Down? Like surely two slabs of chicken and cheese and bacon, like is the end of all restaurant fast food innovation, surely.
Esther: Yes. In a similar fashion that you might take a pretzel and dip it in icing as a snack -
Katie: Okay.
Esther: - called spooey. I don't know if you ever did that but eating pretzels and icing, delicious.
Katie: And it's called spooey?
Esther: That's what I hear - at camp.
Katie: Did you make that name?
Esther: No, I didn't make that up.
Katie: Oh? Oh, okay.
Esther: At camp, summer camp as a little kid. That's what we used to eat. We used to sneak in cans of icing and pretzels and eat it like a snack. It was delicious. So that's when every - or dipping your French fries in a Wendy's Frosty.
Katie: Okay, there we go. Frosty, yeah.
Esther: Maybe that makes a little more sense to you.
Katie: Okay. Yeah. You're connecting with me, now, Esther.
Esther: Okay, well, KFC is putting out a chicken sandwich on a Hawaiian sweet roll.
Katie: Huh.
Esther: Same fried chicken, bacon and cheese and that weird sauce on a Hawaiian sweet roll.
Katie: Huh.
Esther: That delicious, crusty soft bread that is delicious but do you think it's gonna be good with the chicken sandwich and the bacon and the cheese and the sauce? [Laughter]
Katie: I mean, like sweet -
Esther: I'd rather just have the bread.
Katie: - sweet and savory stuff can go together but I just don't really think of Kentucky Fried Chicken products as something that I really wanna experiment with different flavors.
Esther: [Laughter]
Katie: Like I just don't. So I, I don't know.
Esther: It's, you know, bringing your palate to life with this sandwich.
Katie: Oh my gosh. I think that's wrong - I think that's wrong. So maybe KFC is introducing this new Hawaiian flavor of awesomeness because the Double Down sales, I mean they - what they're saying is they've been immaterial. Like they've been hugely disappointing, even though they had this giant PR flood of foodies and fast foodies alike, you know, rushing to try this, like big double slab of decadence. So yeah, now they're going Hawaiian style. Like this is interesting but not any more interesting than the Candwich.
Esther: Yeah.
Katie: [Laughter]
Esther: Well, on the flip side, I think it's interesting to see that a company like Whole Foods, who holds their vendors and their products to a certain standard. Now they're kind of branching out into all products. So all that toothpaste and, you know, makeup and medicine that you buy that, you know, isn't so regulated. There's kind of that gray area of natural.
Katie: I don't think, I don't think people realize that the USDA does not really hold quote/unquote organic producers of body products to the same standards they do as food.
Esther: That's right. Well, according to the Austin American-Statesman, starting next June the grocer is going to hold products to the same USDA standards applied to food.
Katie: This makes me really happy because what you put on your body, I think is just as important as what you put in. So -
Esther: Absolutely. And some of these products do go in.
Katie: Exact- actually, yeah, like toothpaste and stuff like that.
Esther: Yeah.
Katie: For sure. And I kind of like this because it does irritate me thinking of all those smaller businesses that really are not being deceptive in their marketing. Their products are legitimately organic, not just .0002 percent organic either. Now - I mean does this mean maybe they're gonna get a little bit more of a, you know, a place in the spotlight? Is Whole Foods gonna be looking away from the larger vendors that are completely not being ethical?
Esther: I'm sure.
Katie: It's exciting to me for these small - for the little guys, you know?
Esther: Well you know the word organic has almost become a joke at this point.
Katie: It has.
Esther: Unfortunately, because organic is a healthy way of living and of eating but when you've got so many deceptive marketing practices on so many of these products, the word "natural," that means nothing.
Katie: Yeah.
Esther: I mean organic this and organic that. Made with organic - I mean, there's all these different ways of phrasing things that don't break any rules but they definitely, as the article says, betray the consumers' trust. So -
Katie: Yes.
Esther: - it'll be nice to see some ethical behavior happening at this store.
Katie: Exactly. Exactly. So Whole Foods. Good on ya. [Laughter]
Esther: Yeah. Exact opposite of what we see from the other stores.
Katie: [Laughter] Yes.
Esther: That we talked about.
Katie: Yeah.
Esther: Well, moving on to our Links of the Week. Katie, what do you got for us 'cause we love to talk about ways that small businesses can really - or even big businesses - can kind of rev that engine and get things going in a new way. Sometimes you just need some inspiration. So what do you have?
Katie: Exactly. I've got a great place for some inspiration. The website is called mixergy.com - M-I-X-E-R-G-Y.com and their tag line is "Where ambitious, upstarts mix." Mixergy exclamation mark!
Esther: Hmm, okay.
Katie: And what it is is a really interesting site that basically is this CEO, Andrew Warner, who's in his 20s. He's already founded a business with no outside funding that's reached over 30 million in annual sales and he wanted to take his experience watching these, you know, kind of kings - these leaders of amazing start-ups that helped inspire him grown his business at such a young age - and bring those stories and bring new, fresh ideas and innovations to people just like him. So mixergy.com is the place where you can read all sorts of interviews. You can read great articles that are written by CEOs of start-ups and by entrepreneurs and just discussions about really feisty - things that are happening in the entrepreneurial land. It's a great site. So all of your heroes are probably gonna be on this website in a very personal and just really inspiring way.
Esther: Very cool.
Katie: Mixergy.
Esther: Well my site of the week, my link of the week, is similar in a sense that it's kind of like a treasure trove of information. It's like a database. I mean they do a lot of other things, but I'm really impressed with Hoovers.com right now. I think they're doing incredible things with kind of chronicling -
John: My sister works there.
Esther: Oh really?
John: Yeah.
Esther: It's awesome.
Katie: I thought you were fist-pumping 'cause you thought she said Hooters.
Esther: I know.
John: No. It's fist-pumping for the Hoovers.
Katie: Hoovers.
Esther: Yeah, Hoovers is cool.
John: She's the graphic designer or something like that. Yeah.
Esther: Awesome.
Katie: Awesome.
John: Yeah.
[Laughter]
Katie: Nice little family plug there.
Esther: Yeah.
Katie: Sweet.
Esther: Nice.
Katie: That's cool.
Esther: Well Hoovers is really cool because it's very much a data company. They kind of compile all of this data about different companies. So if you're in the B to B world and you're looking for leads and you're looking to do some research on these businesses, these - not just Fortune 500 companies, but small businesses - you're really wanting to get that in with the CEO or with some of their top executives, this is where you would go to figure out - I mean, LinkedIn is cool. LinkedIn, you know, kind of can get you that first step, but Hoovers takes it many steps further and I really encourage you to go to Hoovers.com and see what a membership there has to offer you because I think, from a business standpoint, it's just full of information. I can't even begin to tell you what's there. There's tons and tons of information. So that's my link. They cover every industry, too. It's not just technology. It's not just one industry. It's awesome and you can get expert advice there. You can get - there's I don't even know. It's awesome.
Katie: That's really cool. Hoovers.com.
Esther: Yeah.
Katie: I'm bookmarking. [Laughter]
Esther: So coming up in Segment Two, as we said we've got Sal Baldovinos. He's with the Interactive Strategies Conference. He's gonna tell us more about that, what you can expect for the conference. It's coming up in a couple of months and we've got some special offers for you, too.
Katie: Oooh!
Esther: Promo codes.
Katie: That's right.
Esther: Unique code for the Overtime Show girls. So stay tuned for that in Chapter Two. You're listening to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. I'm Esther Steinfeld -
Katie: And I'm Katie Laird.
Esther: - and we'll be back with more in Chapter Two.
