DEA - banned for life

Question #13
Have you ever been drunk or high at a webmaster event? Thoughts on intoxication at these functions.

Yes, drunk. I don’t use drugs, unless you count alcohol. I have been hammered a time or two, but I try to keep my wits about me. I’m there for business. My opinion about intoxication is simple: If you can handle the parties and still get up the next day and handle your business, great. I won’t miss a meeting, ever, because I am hung over. I respect the time of others and if I have a schedule, I try to keep it, unless I have a conflict that arises and requires me to change. I think too many people go to shows to just get ripped. I mean, the inside of a club or hotel room is the same, no matter where you are. So getting torn the fuck up night after night, show after show in your room or at the clubs makes no sense to me, but hey, that’s just me…

Question #14
What kind of car(s) do you drive/own?

BMW’s / Escalade’s

Question #15
How many homes do you have? pics

three

Question #16
Being on what some people consider the top of the ladder in this business, who do you look up to in online adult? Down on?

I look up to Tony Morgan as a true leader and a great friend. Ron Cadwell too, on both scores. Lars is the Man; Roger V comes up with the best new sites, concepts and promotions, imo. Mike Price is a branding guru and understands the way to do it effectively. Johnny V is an oracle of great advice. My former partners, Clay and Joel forgot more about processing than most will ever learn. Rand, what a great communicator. And then there are the “Quiet Ones” that are truly pulling the strings, making deals, staying low and focused and making money and futures for many. Last, but not least (and I could not get all the people I admire in here…) is Karups. They were never my clients, just friends. These guys actually update content, call their members, care about every single aspect of their business. They are the best run program out there, imo. As for those I look down on, well I’d like to say I don’t look down on others, but I do. The answer would have to be those that fraud programs, systems or the industry. The parasites that give us all a bad name. Those that exploit children and others. They are scumbags.

Question #17
What was your worst sexual experience? Best?

I don’t know what the worst was, I guess my first. It was with a nursing student, in full white uniform (sounds good, right?) but in the back seat of a 69’ Ford Fairlane – yes it was after 1969….) I am heavier now, but I was always big so it was cramped. The uniform she had on was hot, it was my first time, so that was exciting and scary but that car was so little and it was about 10 degrees outside and I got a cramp in my leg, and well… Hold on, I need to get my therapist on the line. The best? I think it is yet to come….

Question #18
Talk about your work in healthcare? What do you think of HMOs?

I worked with Doctors and hospitals financing their accounts receivables from Insurance Companies in the USA. I then began pre-funding or factoring their receivables. My company processed the very first electronically submitted heath care form in the USA for payment from the US Government to a physician. That was the first electronic transaction I processed, in 1990. It took 34 minutes to transmit 32 fields of data. Then we thought it was fast… I learned that an aspirin in a US Hospital costs $0.04 and sells for $7.50 if an insurance company is paying the bill. The whole thing is rigged. The entire health care system here is whack. HMO’s are the worst. People that work in hospitals can’t afford to be ill and treated in that same hospital. Drugs work wonders, but those that need them can’t afford them. Something is very wrong…. I am all for a more efficient system that does not allow for those that are less fortunate to slip between the cracks; the US system is not one that will last or one that should.

Question #19
What was your very first, second and third job as a kid?

First: I cleaned parking lots from 5AM to 9AM at an apartment complex. Second: I cleaned and repaired and repainted apartments at that same apartment complex. Third: I was a leasing agent at that same apartment complex. I guess you could say I like to grow with an organization, or at least that is how it has always been for me.

Question #20
What is the best medical health insurance in America today?

The kind you pay all cash for all services without having to gain insurance company’s approvals. There is not a lot to discuss in detail. It works simply… you go to a Doctor and tell him you are not submitting anything to insurance; you want the best testing, treatment and medications available, price is no object and BAM! The healing begins. After you spend $150,000 you feel better, until something else goes wrong.

Question #21
Why do people refer to you as a 'hands-on executive"?

I guess because I am involved at many levels in the businesses that I operate. When I was a club owner, most of the customers thought I was the doorman, or a bouncer. I dressed like everyone else and worked like everyone else. I try to lead by example, which I hope is always positive. I really enjoy “operating” a business, and to do that you have to know what everyone does in every department. So I think that makes one “hands on” just by that management style.

Question #22
How many people work for you now?

About 20.


Question #23
Discuss visa mastercard and amex and working with them in the adult arena.

A big subject. But one that can be summed up in a few words: You don’t work “with” them; they allow you to have a voice, if they so choose. These are wildly successful, powerful and far reaching companies that do not “need” our business. The issue was never one where I was able to strong arm any of them to help us out or the industry. Rather, it is a give and take and exchange of ideas that made the difference. To me, putting a “face” on the industry, that was not content and not a sponsor program was important. I essentially cold called Visa about a month after I joined Paycom. It was not a friendly meeting to start, but it ended up very well, and I actually made a friend or two that day. We developed a relationship and they have helped us out, as an industry. The rules are the rules and they are tough, but they could have been worse. Ask Ron C, he knows what I’m talking about. Guys like Ron and those of us at Paycom back then did a lot to instill a confidence that the wild west days were over and that this industry was a business that had meaningful volumes and more importantly, provided goods and services that THEIR cardholders wanted. It worked out well, I think.

Question #24
What do you think distinguishes you from other people working with credit cards online.

Well, now that I am a simple merchant selling pre paid ePassporte cards, I guess my role is much different. Regardless, there is not a lot of difference now, imo in any of us working with cards online. Most people would agree that a few years ago the difference would be what we would allow versus what other companies would allow in terms of posting data, cross sales, pre checks, etc. I think we cleaned up some things that needed to be cleaned up back then and set the pace and tone for the future. Now people seem to fall into line as we all want to be here for the long run.

Question #25
Most life altering experience as a teenager? How did it shape your life?

My Father’s heart attack, definitely. When you are 15 and your Dad says, before being wheeled into a quadruple bypass, “Son, here is my pistol. If that Doctor comes out and tells your Mama that I died in there, shoot the son of a bitch in the head, drop the pistol and walk out of the hospital.” He was serious, but also on morphine. That event, the surgery, not the required shooting, changed my future; I grew up, fast.

Question #26
Have you ever run any adult sites on your own with content on them? own part of any?

No.

Question #27
Do you hire staff for looks or brains?

Brains. But they are not mutually exclusive concepts. Many bright women are attractive. Take a look at most of the staff of most of the people at the shows. There are not too many dogs in that group, imo.

Question #28
What's with the entourage of girls at shows?

I am insecure and I need constant attention from women. Seriously man, WTF?! What constitutes an “entourage”? I had my 2 marketing staff and my Assistant with me at the show in Florida; they all happen to be extremely attractive professional women in business. Their conduct and abilities could never be questioned. We hired one model to pass out ePassIt Footballs. I do tend to hang around folks that tend to have female companionship, so maybe that is “entourage by association”?

Question #29
Why wasn't Clay at the epassport dinner?

I think he was in the poker tournament.

Question #30
How much does your hotel room suite usually cost at most shows you attend?

I get my suite comped in Vegas by the casino. In Florida it was around $600 a night. Sometimes I have much more expensive suites if the show is in Europe, or wherever. I do all of my meetings in my suite, usually, so that is both a luxury and a necessity, imo.

Question #31
What's your favorite color? What color is your bedroom, bathroom sink?

Saphire Blue. Brushed Stainless where I am now.

Question #32
Do you have any plans on retiring or leaving online adult in the near future?

No. I like the people, the opportunities, the out of the box thinking and the creativity of this industry. I am happy doing what I do.