Ben Owen

Every brand sold the same stuff. I was playing with branding to see which one I can get to go viral.

Yeah, 100%. And the progression happened—sorry, I was so stuck on telling you about the drugs and alcohol, I forgot that part— At Retek, that was the name of the TV parts company. And it was doing really well, but I don't give a shit about TVs. I love firearms. I was trying to figure out how to spin this into firearms or muscle cars or something that I'm passionate about.

Yeah, 100%. And the progression happened—sorry, I was so stuck on telling you about the drugs and alcohol, I forgot that part— At Retek, that was the name of the TV parts company. And it was doing really well, but I don't give a shit about TVs. I love firearms. I was trying to figure out how to spin this into firearms or muscle cars or something that I'm passionate about.

Yeah, 100%. And the progression happened—sorry, I was so stuck on telling you about the drugs and alcohol, I forgot that part— At Retek, that was the name of the TV parts company. And it was doing really well, but I don't give a shit about TVs. I love firearms. I was trying to figure out how to spin this into firearms or muscle cars or something that I'm passionate about.

And so I discovered drop shipping. How many companies were you running? Like five at any given time. But they were all running out of the same thing. And the way I look at it, so even though they're different entities, the business model is very similar for all of them.

And so I discovered drop shipping. How many companies were you running? Like five at any given time. But they were all running out of the same thing. And the way I look at it, so even though they're different entities, the business model is very similar for all of them.

And so I discovered drop shipping. How many companies were you running? Like five at any given time. But they were all running out of the same thing. And the way I look at it, so even though they're different entities, the business model is very similar for all of them.

Now, tactical and TV parts are different, because the TV parts, you're having to buy truckloads of broken televisions, literal 53-foot truckloads. A lot of labor goes into testing and stripping. But then after that, it's just pulling parts off of shelves, sticking them in boxes, shipping them to the right person. That second half is identical for the gun parts.

Now, tactical and TV parts are different, because the TV parts, you're having to buy truckloads of broken televisions, literal 53-foot truckloads. A lot of labor goes into testing and stripping. But then after that, it's just pulling parts off of shelves, sticking them in boxes, shipping them to the right person. That second half is identical for the gun parts.

Now, tactical and TV parts are different, because the TV parts, you're having to buy truckloads of broken televisions, literal 53-foot truckloads. A lot of labor goes into testing and stripping. But then after that, it's just pulling parts off of shelves, sticking them in boxes, shipping them to the right person. That second half is identical for the gun parts.

Pull a part off a shelf, stick it in a box, make sure it gets the right person. So I'm able to use the same labor as far as the fulfillment side goes. And we'd learned about drop shipping in the TV parts because you can drop ship electronics. That's where you're selling something you don't even have.

Pull a part off a shelf, stick it in a box, make sure it gets the right person. So I'm able to use the same labor as far as the fulfillment side goes. And we'd learned about drop shipping in the TV parts because you can drop ship electronics. That's where you're selling something you don't even have.

Pull a part off a shelf, stick it in a box, make sure it gets the right person. So I'm able to use the same labor as far as the fulfillment side goes. And we'd learned about drop shipping in the TV parts because you can drop ship electronics. That's where you're selling something you don't even have.

You're buying it wholesale from a third-party warehouse who then ships it directly to your customer. It's super convenient. You take the margin, right? And so we'd gotten into that some on the electronic side of things. And then that was what we built, Black Rifle, Brushfire, Triple T, all of those brands around was the drop shipping model.

You're buying it wholesale from a third-party warehouse who then ships it directly to your customer. It's super convenient. You take the margin, right? And so we'd gotten into that some on the electronic side of things. And then that was what we built, Black Rifle, Brushfire, Triple T, all of those brands around was the drop shipping model.

You're buying it wholesale from a third-party warehouse who then ships it directly to your customer. It's super convenient. You take the margin, right? And so we'd gotten into that some on the electronic side of things. And then that was what we built, Black Rifle, Brushfire, Triple T, all of those brands around was the drop shipping model.

And it was really, I was just wanting to see on the branding side, like, and it was weird. All the products are the same. All the staff is the same. But there were, like, diehard customers of Triple T that would get into arguments on social media with customers from BlackRock. Like, it was hilarious. Like, it's all me. Like, what are you doing?

And it was really, I was just wanting to see on the branding side, like, and it was weird. All the products are the same. All the staff is the same. But there were, like, diehard customers of Triple T that would get into arguments on social media with customers from BlackRock. Like, it was hilarious. Like, it's all me. Like, what are you doing?

And it was really, I was just wanting to see on the branding side, like, and it was weird. All the products are the same. All the staff is the same. But there were, like, diehard customers of Triple T that would get into arguments on social media with customers from BlackRock. Like, it was hilarious. Like, it's all me. Like, what are you doing?

Anyway, and it was weird because, like, I'd make prices higher on one and then lower on the other and watch it. I don't know. It was fun. It was like a game to me. But it went really well for a long time until, like, mid-2012. The drink was getting out of hand. And I was like, I'm going to pay cash out of pocket to go to this bougie place in Georgia where Burt Reynolds got sober.