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No person needs to know everything about everything,

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but you should have a certain level of knowledge

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on a plethora of different aspects.

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And if you're gonna follow your dreams

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and go into entrepreneurship,

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then understanding your books is vital.

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Any young entrepreneur, if you hear somebody

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is a venture capitalist, run away.

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Don't do business with venture capitalists

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because they're, please explain why.

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People, welcome to the Sunside Kingdom Show,

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the place where we highlight individuals

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hailing from the Dutch Caribbean islands

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that have accomplished amazing things in their time.

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We want to highlight these individuals

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to showcase them to our communities

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and our diaspora around the world

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so that they can be inspired to achieve

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the best things possible for themselves.

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Today we have with us a very special guest

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coming all the way from the Turquoise Aqua

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diving specialist island of Bonaire

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in the Dutch Caribbean, Mr. Alvin Obersie.

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Alvin is a true leader in entrepreneurship

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with years of business, almost 40 years of business.

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He's been in business for two months longer

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than I've been alive.

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And has remarkable achievements

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and a deep commitment to his community

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and has always been one step ahead in the game.

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Today, we're going to discover what mindset it takes

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to be able to have such an illustrious career.

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Woo!

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Welcome to the Sunside Kingdom Show.

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Part of this episode is sponsored by

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the Openbaar Lichaam Bonaire.

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Alvin, welcome.

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Thank you very much, John.

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Thank you for the invitation.

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I really appreciate it and it's an honor.

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Thank you very much for being here.

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It's an honor for me as well.

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Okay.

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And it's truly amazing how these type of connections

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and things sort of happen organically

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and then you actually realize there's more in common

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than you actually even knew.

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Correct.

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So maybe we'll unpack some of that as we go today.

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Maybe let's unpack that a bit

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because I think it's something that today,

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it's not always fully known and understood

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the importance of mentors.

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Yeah.

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How important were these three individuals in your life

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from a mentorship perspective?

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With my father, I saw a role model.

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He would do things in business that nobody would do.

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Yeah.

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He was an interminable.

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He would take risks.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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And then, with you, Gerard, I saw him also,

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he was actually, you could say at a certain moment,

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owner of Bonaire.

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Okay.

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He owned everything.

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Yeah.

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Okay, gas station, hotel.

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He owned so many businesses.

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Yeah.

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And he's a risk taker.

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A risk taker all the way.

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And he also had businesses outside of Bonaire in the petrol.

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And he did great businesses from outside.

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And I used to talk a lot with him, brainstorming with him.

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And he loved me like a son

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because he saw a lot of potential in me.

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Yeah.

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And he was one of my biggest customer of Bonaire as well.

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You know?

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Yeah.

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And so we had a lot of things we were talking.

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And so I spoke, he would guide me,

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don't do this, do that.

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My father was also, Ruy Viana would teach me how to.

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So it's kind of like you spent a lot of time sponging,

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a lot of time absorbing all of this knowledge.

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Because when you were having those conversations,

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this is before the time that you set up

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shop in St. Martin and Curacao and other places.

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I was still an agent of Xerox.

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Okay.

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And then you'll know how I become a distributor.

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When Ruy Viana, no, when I was asking

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to become a distributor, you know, separate from Curacao.

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They say, no, no, Curacao's here.

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We can't have you as distributor and so forth

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because of the distance.

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I said, yeah, but you guys are killing me with price

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and I need to make my margin.

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So how am I going to, if I don't get to become

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a distributor, I would do another brand.

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And which I hate because I'm a person that's very loyal.

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Loyal.

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You know, I have to ask you a question in between.

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Sure.

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Usually it is the type of question that I ask off camera,

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but what is your birthday?

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23rd of April.

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Okay.

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1963.

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Okay.

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So Taurus.

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Yeah.

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All right.

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Taurus and Arius, they're a boat.

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Business, business, business.

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Business, business.

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Yeah, business, business.

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Yeah.

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And my, so I said, I can't do it this way.

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And he came back after a month to me and says,

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Alvin, you know we're selling Xerox, Antiana, St. Martin.

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Maybe it's something you would look into it.

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I said, if it makes me a distributor in Bonaire, I would.

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He said, we can look into it.

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We can look into it.

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So I said, no, actually he called me and he called me one day.

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He says, can you come to Curaçao?

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Because I can't talk this on the phone with you.

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I said, sure, of course.

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I knew the planes, what time they were in.

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So I said, pick me up at the airport.

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This and that time and we'll go to the restaurant.

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And we went to one of my best brother,

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brother Robbie from Robbie's Lottery.

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Oh, from Robbie's Lottery, yeah.

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Yeah, you know in the restaurant in Bogies,

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you know in Curaçao.

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So we went to have the meeting there,

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you know, the lunch meeting.

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I remember Rui coming with his daughter

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that was all over him.

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Before we brought her to her home and then, you know,

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brought me, went to that.

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And he asked me, he says, Alvin,

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I know a way how you can become, you know,

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if you're interested in St. Martin.

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Yeah.

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I said, okay, I can become distributor.

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He says, yeah, of course we can work out a way

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that you can become distributor of Bonaire.

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I said, okay, if that is the case.

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Let's talk.

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Let's talk, let's look into it.

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He says, are you interested?

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I said, I've never been to St. Martin,

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but I believe Rui Viana blind.

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Yeah.

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I said, why are you selling?

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He says, no, because Xerox wants to turn all these agencies

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and, you know, affiliate into distributors.

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And he said, I don't know,

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distributors and so I said, okay, why didn't you buy?

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No, I don't have $2.8 million.

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So it's a lot of money.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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Would you have buy if you had the money?

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Yes, I would definitely, but I don't have it.

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I don't have the ways,

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but I know you have where you can get it.

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I said, okay, I don't have the money either.

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Yeah.

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But I can put a deposit, you know.

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Yeah, yeah.

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You know, like that.

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So I said, is the price negotiable?

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He says, yes.

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Then I said, it's a handshake, I'll buy it.

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All right.

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Yeah.

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But the price is negotiable.

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Yeah.

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I ended up buying Xerox at that time, 1.6 million.

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Oh wow.

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Yeah.

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So that went from 2. how much?

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Yeah, because they had a lot of toners,

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a lot of supplies that were going to become obsolete.

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They were going to become obsolete.

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Yeah, so then you got to kind of write those off.

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So I told them, no, you guys send them back.

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I'm not gonna, so instead of sending them back,

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they said, you know something, keep it for free.

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And on top of it, I...

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So then that got increased from the value rate,

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the overall valuation of the company.

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Valuation, and then I bought it actually 23rd of April.

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On your birthday.

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On my birthday.

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That's usually I buy something on my birthday.

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So 23rd of April, 1995.

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Okay.

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Yes.

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Okay.

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Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

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23rd of April, 1995.

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And then the Lord sent you a curve wall in September.

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And then I signed the 31st of August,

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they had me over the company.

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Oh my God.

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They had me over the company.

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And then the 4th of September, Louise.

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The worst category five.

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I just got goosebumps.

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Yes.

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I just got goosebumps.

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But you know something?

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Ships could not come in at least two to three months

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with Louise.

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And I had $1 million of supplies and things

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inside my inventory.

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Yeah.

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That is what kept me alive.

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I sold all of it.

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And could have paid.

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Because you essentially just got the keys to the castle.

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Yes.

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With all of this inventory, everything.

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And then no inventory of that specifically

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could have entered the island for a couple months.

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Correct.

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Oh my God.

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So what?

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So you understand?

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You understand, right?

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I understand 100%.

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Okay.

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It's like, you don't know where your blessing

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is going to come from.

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And even in devastation, there may be a silver lining

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and a blessing in that.

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And I tell you, my wife and I, we were sleeping on the bed

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listening to this guy on CNN saying,

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oh, what's going to be left from this island?

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Yeah.

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So we were like, holy shit.

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I have a loan of $1.1 million.

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And I still have to pay it off.

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Yeah.

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And this guy is saying this.

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But guess what?

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The savings I made and the price difference

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as agent and distributor.

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Because wait a minute, all, wait, wait.

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Now it just clicked, clicked.

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Because essentially you made these savings

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of the stuff that was about to be obsolete.

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But now this stuff that was about to be obsolete,

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you get to sell it all off because there was nothing else

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that could be delivered to the island

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in that short space of time.

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So that would be all used up.

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Wow.

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And not only that, but the savings that I made

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on the price difference when I used to be an agent

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to a distributor.

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Because in Bonaire I got to be a distributor also.

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Yeah.

273
00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:07,800
Okay, so the savings, to see how big the difference was,

274
00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:13,000
the savings alone could have paid off the debt

275
00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:16,920
from my mortgage.

276
00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:17,760
Yeah, yeah.

277
00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:18,600
Let me put it that way.

278
00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:19,440
Yeah.

279
00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:20,280
That I had to, you know.

280
00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:24,840
But thanks God it happened a different way.

281
00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:27,440
It was actually the years thereafter

282
00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:32,200
that we found problems with the hurricanes,

283
00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:34,880
with more hurricanes, like eight hurricanes more

284
00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:36,280
that came afterwards.

285
00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:38,000
That was devastating to the island.

286
00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:39,600
Really, really devastating, yeah.

287
00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:44,160
Yeah, because when we're looking at this portfolio, right,

288
00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:49,160
how many businesses are there currently in your portfolio?

289
00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:54,200
Well, I have, you know, some I don't, active, non-active,

290
00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:56,760
because I also managed the ones that my father left.

291
00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:57,600
Okay.

292
00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,440
You know, I also am the managing director.

293
00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:04,680
We're owners, my brothers, sisters, and also.

294
00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:09,680
But the ones that I created, I have a group of company

295
00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:12,360
called Obersi Group of Companies.

296
00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:16,760
And this is what we, oh, there's more things.

297
00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:21,760
Because I also opened, because when Talbot and I,

298
00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,720
Talbot and I, we made an agreement

299
00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:29,200
that when Talbot was going to set up his own system,

300
00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:32,280
own infrastructure, we would go 50-50.

301
00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:33,200
That was the deal.

302
00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:34,240
Yeah.

303
00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:37,440
And at a certain moment, we saw in the newspaper

304
00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:41,360
that Talbot was going to, as many moons afterwards,

305
00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:46,360
that heiter was still alive, and he was furious about it.

306
00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:48,880
And he wanted me to go to court.

307
00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,960
He would back me up 100%, you know, for the 50%,

308
00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:57,240
which was, but I let it go, and I started a new company.

309
00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,560
Because that deal was a handshake deal

310
00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:01,080
that didn't got signed.

311
00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:01,920
Yeah.

312
00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:02,760
So that's one of the-

313
00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:03,840
No, but all the politicians knew.

314
00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:04,680
Everybody knew.

315
00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:05,520
Yeah.

316
00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:06,360
Everybody.

317
00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:08,520
But what I'm trying to get to is,

318
00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:13,320
when you made the joke just now about you sign first

319
00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:14,840
and then you shake the hand,

320
00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:19,320
is knowing that these things can occur

321
00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:21,440
when people don't actually keep their word.

322
00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:25,000
And then that's where Talbot and I,

323
00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,680
we separated completely from each other.

324
00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:33,680
And I, then I, yeah, we separated,

325
00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:37,720
and I started right next to them,

326
00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:42,720
together with Yuzuruun and with Hali, cellular one.

327
00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:44,440
Cellular one.

328
00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:45,720
I remember cellular one.

329
00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:47,800
Yeah, came from Surmar.

330
00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:48,640
Yeah.

331
00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,160
And we started in Bonaire.

332
00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:56,160
Unfortunately, it was all venture capitalist.

333
00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:00,080
So you get to learn who is venture capitalist.

334
00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:00,920
Yeah.

335
00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:03,000
So any young entrepreneur,

336
00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,640
if you hear somebody is a venture capitalist, run away.

337
00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:11,040
Don't do business with venture capitalist.

338
00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:12,080
Because they're in-

339
00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:13,680
Please explain why.

340
00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:16,920
Why, because they let you set up the company properly,

341
00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:19,000
everything, then they find ways,

342
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,480
try to find ways to steal the company from you.

343
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:27,320
So they leave, they essentially invest a certain amount.

344
00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:29,680
They help guide you in setting it up.

345
00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:32,520
Then they make sure that you have to prove yourself now.

346
00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:34,640
Run, do all the work.

347
00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:36,840
But you're doing everything perfectly.

348
00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:40,120
Then they create, hey, can you ask for more funds?

349
00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:44,760
So and ask the other partners to bring in.

350
00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:46,280
I said, no, why?

351
00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:48,240
Our deal was you guys bring the funds.

352
00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:49,080
Yeah.

353
00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:49,920
That's how it is.

354
00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,320
How can I tell my fellow Bonaireans and Kurosulayans,

355
00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,440
you guys, no, that's not our deal.

356
00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:58,360
So the same thing they were doing with me,

357
00:15:58,360 --> 00:15:59,200
they were also-

358
00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:00,040
Were-

359
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:01,200
United States.

360
00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:02,720
Yeah, that's why I wanted to see.

361
00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:03,560
United States.

362
00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:06,600
And so we started the court case against them.

363
00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:08,160
We won the court case.

364
00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:09,000
They had to pay us.

365
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,720
And then we moved out.

366
00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:12,560
Yeah.

367
00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,240
Because there's a difference between venture capitalists

368
00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:18,920
and angel investors, right?

369
00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:21,400
That's totally different, yeah.

370
00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:22,600
Could you break that down?

371
00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:25,040
I don't know angel investors much good,

372
00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:28,240
but from what I understand, those are investors

373
00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:32,120
that would carry on with you, guide you also and so forth.

374
00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:32,960
But in this case-

375
00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:35,440
So what exactly do the venture capitalists do then?

376
00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,880
Venture capitalists, at the same time,

377
00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:40,840
I can tell you my experience,

378
00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:44,000
at the same time, they were trying to steal

379
00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,120
our shares in Bonaire.

380
00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,320
At the same time, they were trying to steal the shares also

381
00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,760
from my friends in Kurosulay,

382
00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:55,880
no, in St. Martin, Rudich-Roman,

383
00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:58,360
and St. Justasia, Henke Rivers,

384
00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:01,640
and also in Dominica and in Jamaica.

385
00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:04,840
Dominica, not Dominican Republic.

386
00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:07,400
No, Dominica, Dominica, yeah.

387
00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:10,440
And I can't tell you what happened,

388
00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:13,440
but things happened that they lost everything.

389
00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:16,920
Who lost everything, the venture capitalists?

390
00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,760
Yeah, because you cannot come

391
00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:25,680
and steal from the people of the islands.

392
00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,280
Well, some people try, yeah.

393
00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:30,240
You come and steal,

394
00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:34,960
and when you try to steal with people that has license,

395
00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,280
those are people that knows a lot of people.

396
00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:42,520
And it's not just like that you get it,

397
00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,720
because you put money on the table

398
00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,400
to do what you say you're gonna do,

399
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:52,080
and you act always correctly.

400
00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:55,640
And when people like this mess up,

401
00:17:55,640 --> 00:18:00,640
the ministers know who is who.

402
00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,560
So they are, if you come from outside

403
00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:08,160
and you try to steal a local,

404
00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:12,280
things will happen, you know?

405
00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:13,800
Okay. Like that.

406
00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:14,960
So that's what happened.

407
00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:16,080
Yeah.

408
00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,680
And it's not me, but it's just the law of how it is.

409
00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,000
It's not like in America, for instance,

410
00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,680
oh, I dare you, we respect you.

411
00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:26,440
Oh, you're bigger than that, huh?

412
00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:27,280
No.

413
00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:28,520
And the Caribbean?

414
00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:29,360
Yeah.

415
00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:30,360
Oh, okay.

416
00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:32,040
So you try to steal one of ours.

417
00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:33,080
Okay, we'll see.

418
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:33,920
Yeah, yeah.

419
00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:34,880
You know, like that.

420
00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:36,880
That's actually what took place.

421
00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:37,720
Okay.

422
00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:40,800
So that's why I say stay away from venture capitalists.

423
00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:41,640
Yeah.

424
00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,640
But let's rewind in the time.

425
00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,360
Let's go back to a young Alvin,

426
00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:52,040
and what were young Alvin's experiences like?

427
00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:57,040
Well, young Alvin was a guy that was always smiling,

428
00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:02,360
helpful to his friends, good friends,

429
00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:04,920
people like Eric Meyer, Ayo Bukhout,

430
00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,720
many, Nantje, Fernando,

431
00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:13,600
and many, many other friends.

432
00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,560
You know, Long Chuy Gonzalez,

433
00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:18,680
you have Yanni Gonzalez,

434
00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,680
all of them were close friends of ours.

435
00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:24,360
And we grew up in Playa Paribas,

436
00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:26,160
what we call Playa Paribas,

437
00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,200
which is close to the airport.

438
00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:32,000
So our playground was actually what you,

439
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,960
no, sorry, I must say that first,

440
00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,960
the first place we lived was actually Sabana.

441
00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:39,800
Sabana, okay.

442
00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:41,680
Yeah, Sabana, there is where I had,

443
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,960
we call him Cho Cho, George Mercera,

444
00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:46,960
actually we call him Cho Cho.

445
00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:50,120
And many of the friends that I still have up to today.

446
00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:54,080
All my friends from back then that I used to be,

447
00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:55,920
we're still friends, the one that are alive,

448
00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:57,360
we're still friends up to today.

449
00:19:57,360 --> 00:19:58,200
Oh wow.

450
00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:00,160
You know, so we still have a great friendship.

451
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,040
I'll quote the young Drake,

452
00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:03,960
no new friends, no new friends.

453
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:08,960
Yeah, have good friends, really good friends.

454
00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:10,080
Yeah, that's important.

455
00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:11,280
Yeah, very good friends.

456
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:14,960
And we used to, you know,

457
00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,600
our playground was behind the house,

458
00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,960
where actually there was the whole,

459
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:25,200
there's a road going from now, from the airport,

460
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:30,120
that goes in front of Marriott and all of that.

461
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:32,000
That road didn't exist.

462
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,320
That was actually where we used to,

463
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,040
when it rained, it become flooded.

464
00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:38,880
And we used to make these boats,

465
00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,560
and I would go and show my friends.

466
00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:45,360
Because that road or that piece of land there

467
00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:49,200
is sort of right in between this huge salt pond.

468
00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:51,520
It's like, it's like, it's not a salt pond.

469
00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:55,680
It's more like, no, it's not really a salt pond,

470
00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:58,080
even though it's more salty than,

471
00:20:58,080 --> 00:20:59,680
you know, the soil is very salty.

472
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:00,520
Yeah.

473
00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:04,400
And, but there was no roads back then.

474
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,760
So was it always filled with water, that area?

475
00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:09,600
No, only when it rains.

476
00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:10,440
Oh, okay.

477
00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:11,480
Only when it rains.

478
00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:15,200
And it could be very dry also, so only when it rains.

479
00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:18,600
And back then there was no, from the valk,

480
00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:21,920
there was no Marriott, there's no,

481
00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,240
so the airport was more, you know,

482
00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:29,240
the little airport that existed close to the beach.

483
00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:31,920
Okay, and so there was no road going there.

484
00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:35,600
There was only one road going straight to the airport

485
00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:37,640
in front of Hussar Habershuis,

486
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,560
and continue driving all the way to the airport.

487
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:41,720
Oh wow.

488
00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:42,560
That was it.

489
00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,680
And I remember a good friend of mine, Happy,

490
00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:47,000
we call him Piscicci.

491
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,520
What does Piscicci mean?

492
00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:52,560
Piscicci is like, yeah, Piscicci is a type of fish,

493
00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:53,400
you know?

494
00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:56,320
Yeah, Piscac fish, yeah.

495
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,040
Very close friend, very close friend.

496
00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:00,640
Good friend up to today, very good friend.

497
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:05,320
And he's the one that actually put the windsurfing

498
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,440
up to a level in Bonaire.

499
00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:08,280
Yeah, yeah.

500
00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:09,600
I mean, there was first this,

501
00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:14,360
but Piscicci is the one that brought all the, you know,

502
00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:16,160
how do you call it,

503
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:22,880
events of windsurfing to Bonaire.

504
00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:24,720
Yeah, because there's quite a few events

505
00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:26,560
of windsurfing on Bonaire, right?

506
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:31,000
Piscicci is the one that also took all these young guys,

507
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,840
like Tati France, Don Quijote France, all of these guys,

508
00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:35,520
Choco France, all of them,

509
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:40,520
took them all to expose them out in the United States

510
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:43,840
and other places that they are today,

511
00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:45,000
world champions.

512
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,520
Bonaireans are the world champions, you know,

513
00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:49,400
in many categories.

514
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,000
They're the ones that also created, you know,

515
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:53,960
the freestyling and all of that, you know,

516
00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:56,440
with moves, it's incredible, you know?

517
00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:59,000
But that's all been, have been over there.

518
00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:03,440
So Piscicci used to stop the cars.

519
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,240
Back then, you can count how many cars in the past,

520
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:10,600
and I would be on my horse, and I would be racing against.

521
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:12,040
Racing against cars.

522
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:17,040
So is this a nine-year-old Alvin or 11-year-old Alvin?

523
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:19,200
Yeah, I would say that was a 10-year-old Alvin.

524
00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:20,040
A 10-year-old Alvin.

525
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,120
Yeah, 10-year-old Alvin, yeah, 10, 11-year-old Alvin.

526
00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:25,360
Yeah, and then you have Chacho used to come,

527
00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:27,880
we used to go look for donkeys, and you know,

528
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,640
there was always something happening at our house, you know,

529
00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:32,920
always something happening,

530
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,720
because one of the good thing is that my father,

531
00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:40,600
he bought all sorts of things for us, you know, billiards,

532
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:44,360
he did everything for us, but he told us,

533
00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:47,840
share it with your friends.

534
00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,280
So most of the friends come to our house.

535
00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:53,160
Yeah, so your house was kind of like the Beard House,

536
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,120
the place that...

537
00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:57,080
And from time to time, you know,

538
00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:01,240
we would take my mother's car or my father's car to wash.

539
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:02,080
To wash.

540
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:05,360
But we have to take it from the front to go in the back,

541
00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:08,880
and then we had to, you know, driving first,

542
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:12,600
all around in dirt, get it dirty, then to wash it.

543
00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:15,000
You know, those type of things.

544
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,480
So the front to the back took a bit of a detour,

545
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:21,200
but you still ended up at the front at some point.

546
00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:24,320
Oh yeah, it ended up afterwards at the front,

547
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:26,560
and nicely washed.

548
00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:28,280
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

549
00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,360
So that was us growing up.

550
00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:35,560
And one of the good things that happened to me was

551
00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:38,600
with my sensei, C.S. Sonicolas,

552
00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:43,600
he teach us karate, and that teach us discipline,

553
00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:48,280
and that helped us quite a bit with our discipline

554
00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:49,120
in many ways.

555
00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:50,640
And we also had boats.

556
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:55,640
So how, what was the eventual ranking in karate?

557
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,320
There was no, actually, there was no belts,

558
00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:00,160
because...

559
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:01,000
Okay.

560
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,840
But we learned from everything to say,

561
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,280
to a level of black belt.

562
00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,200
But we never had, you know...

563
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:14,200
The ceremonies, never structured in that way,

564
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,600
but all of the core lessons, the discipline, et cetera,

565
00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:20,360
it was instilled.

566
00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:25,360
Then came Peter Silberi, and he put the regulations

567
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,280
like it should have been, but then I'm already in the States.

568
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:30,120
Yeah, yeah.

569
00:25:30,120 --> 00:25:31,960
So studying.

570
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:36,600
So then we actually making that jump.

571
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:41,360
But before we get into the States and studying,

572
00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:46,040
well, tell me maybe a bit about your dad and his journey.

573
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:51,040
How did he come to be able to provide all of that

574
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:52,440
for his kids?

575
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:57,440
Well, he was, he's born from a father

576
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,040
that was entrepreneur.

577
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:04,440
He came from Lebanon, and a mother that came from Bonaire,

578
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:06,480
French.

579
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,640
So there's really a line of entrepreneurship.

580
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,120
And not only my father, my mother's side also,

581
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:14,240
they were entrepreneurs.

582
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:15,080
Oh, wow.

583
00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:16,080
Yeah, they were entrepreneurs.

584
00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:17,760
So then you didn't have a choice.

585
00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,000
No, it was in your blood.

586
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:21,360
It was in your blood.

587
00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:23,320
Yeah, it was in your blood, yeah.

588
00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:27,120
Because not my mother, but my grandmother, my grandfather,

589
00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:31,400
my great-grandmother, all of them, they all had businesses.

590
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:32,240
Yeah.

591
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:36,240
So, and from there, so it's in your blood.

592
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:37,080
Yeah.

593
00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:42,080
And so my father was a diver, very well-known diver.

594
00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:46,880
When Skin Dive magazine used to come,

595
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:50,320
he would be the one that shows them around and all of that.

596
00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:55,320
And they would do a lot of crazy things, crazy dives.

597
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,800
As Don Stewart always says, Wancho was crazy,

598
00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:03,760
but I'm also very crazy.

599
00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:06,840
So they know, they did crazy things.

600
00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:07,680
Yeah, yeah.

601
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,240
But they survived all these crazy things.

602
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,720
And you mentioned Don Stewart earlier as well.

603
00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,280
And the name does sound familiar, but who is Don Stewart?

604
00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:20,560
Oh, Don Stewart is the icon, actually,

605
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:24,040
of diving for tourism of Bonaire.

606
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:24,880
Yeah.

607
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:26,840
He's really the icon of diving.

608
00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:30,920
My father was more the diver that would do it for work,

609
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:33,760
in the sense of go and dive in Saurabong,

610
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:35,400
you see this hole.

611
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,480
And that hole used to be, actually,

612
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:41,800
there was going to be an 18-story high hotel there.

613
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:43,760
But there was a hole that they couldn't,

614
00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:47,560
the leg had to come right at that hole.

615
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:51,000
And so they needed to actually close that hole.

616
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:55,040
And my father worked for one year filling up that hole

617
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:59,040
with cement and all types of things, risking his life.

618
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:01,880
He made tons of money, very good money.

619
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:07,680
But it never closed because the company went bankrupt

620
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:08,880
after the owner died.

621
00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:12,040
So in an accident.

622
00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:17,080
But my father then opened furniture business.

623
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,680
So since small, we used to be in the business

624
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,000
because it was my turn, for instance,

625
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:27,920
to go to business, even though I was 11, 12 years old.

626
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:32,080
It was my turn to go and open or be there

627
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:36,280
together with the other employees or things like that.

628
00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:37,880
And I didn't have a driver's license,

629
00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:40,120
but I would take my boat.

630
00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:45,520
The building of my father was close to the ocean,

631
00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:47,080
but I was in Playa Paribas.

632
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,760
So I had to go from Playa Paribas over to Playa Paribas.

633
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:52,440
So you would take the boat from home

634
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,000
and then get over there because you couldn't drive?

635
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:56,800
Yes, get there.

636
00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:58,000
Resourceful.

637
00:28:58,000 --> 00:28:59,200
Yes.

638
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:00,520
At what, 11, 12?

639
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:01,360
11, 12, yeah.

640
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:02,400
Okay, wow.

641
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:04,600
Yeah, around that age, yeah.

642
00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:09,000
And then at the same time, I used to go to school.

643
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:10,200
I went to Ambachs-Holl.

644
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:12,120
I loved the technicals.

645
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:13,480
I loved technicals.

646
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:18,480
And we lived so close to the school,

647
00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:22,640
but he had to take my horse from time to time to school.

648
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:24,320
Everybody would come with a bicycle,

649
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:25,520
I would come with my horse.

650
00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:27,360
You know?

651
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:28,400
It was so funny.

652
00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:32,400
So a 12-year-old is going to work.

653
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:36,600
That's already a bit unique-ish.

654
00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:38,080
But then going to work on a boat,

655
00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:40,240
definitely unique, going to school on a horse.

656
00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:45,240
So I see the trend of utilizing unique ways of doing things.

657
00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:47,880
Yes, yes.

658
00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:51,800
I was always a little bit unique.

659
00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:52,640
Yeah, yeah.

660
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:54,640
And actually, if I make the fast forward jump

661
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,200
into the future, then the big red building in St. Martin

662
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,920
is also a unique color and it stands out.

663
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:02,680
Yes, that's the marketing.

664
00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:03,840
I'm seeing the trend.

665
00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:06,240
Yeah, that's the marketing.

666
00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:09,880
How do you get recognized in all the buildings

667
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,440
and all the red building?

668
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:14,520
You can't miss it.

669
00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:16,480
You can't miss it, no, you can't.

670
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,320
Yeah, a red building on a backdrop

671
00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,840
of a green, beautiful hill.

672
00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:25,520
The red also contrasts the green very well.

673
00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:26,360
Exactly.

674
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:28,320
As a designer, I should know about colors.

675
00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:30,000
Yes, yes.

676
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,440
So it definitely stands out.

677
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:33,280
Yeah, yeah.

678
00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:35,240
Yes, yes, yes, yes.

679
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:37,280
And so...

680
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:38,920
So tell me a bit more about school

681
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:41,560
and what was that journey like?

682
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:45,480
After I finished my Ambers Hall,

683
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:50,040
I went to, my father sent me to Florida,

684
00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:51,760
to Monverde Academy.

685
00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:55,200
Together with my brother, we went to Monverde Academy

686
00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,520
and we finished.

687
00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,480
From there, we went to Valencia Community College.

688
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:04,840
My brother went for air conditioning.

689
00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:06,560
My father was in air conditioning.

690
00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:07,400
Okay.

691
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:08,400
That's how he got to Bonaire also.

692
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,920
He used to be actually the only person

693
00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:14,000
that used to repair air conditioning on Bonaire

694
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:15,200
when he used to go.

695
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,880
And he was the only brother or only sibling

696
00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,960
that said, I wanna go to Bonaire,

697
00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:23,840
where my grandmother, where my mother was.

698
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:27,040
So that's how he got to Bonaire.

699
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:28,960
And he was very unique.

700
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:30,560
That's how your dad got to Bonaire.

701
00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:32,800
Yes, my dad got to Bonaire.

702
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:34,680
And his father is Lebanese.

703
00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:39,680
So he also, you know, business runs in his blood.

704
00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:40,680
Yeah.

705
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:44,120
You know, and his mother is from Bonaire.

706
00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:48,160
French, Indian.

707
00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:49,000
Yeah.

708
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:50,040
Okay, not India from India.

709
00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:52,280
Yeah, from the Americas.

710
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:53,120
And then-

711
00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:54,600
So is it Arawak Line or Carib Line?

712
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:55,440
Arawak.

713
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:56,480
Okay, Arawak, yeah.

714
00:31:56,480 --> 00:32:00,480
Yeah, and so he moved to Bonaire.

715
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:05,240
Him and his cousin, they built a boat out of plywood.

716
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:06,080
Oh, wow.

717
00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:09,320
Put 25 horsepower behind it.

718
00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:11,920
And they just took off to Bonaire.

719
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:12,760
From where?

720
00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:13,840
From Curaçao.

721
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:14,680
Oh, wow.

722
00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:15,520
Yeah.

723
00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:17,080
They arrived.

724
00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:21,240
They arrived, the boat, you know, the keel of the boat

725
00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,440
in the front was breaking.

726
00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,040
So what they did was put the head up

727
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:29,440
and then they arrived over to the plaza.

728
00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:31,240
Crazy.

729
00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:32,640
Risk taker.

730
00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:34,360
Very risk taker, yeah, yeah.

731
00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:36,400
I think I got a lot of things from my father.

732
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:37,240
Yeah, yeah.

733
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:38,680
You know, because he was also entrepreneur.

734
00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:41,040
He used to have ships, you know,

735
00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:42,800
and things like that also.

736
00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:44,520
And cargo ships and things like that.

737
00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:47,760
And he used to, you know, bring a lot of things to Colombia

738
00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:51,440
and from Colombia to the Caribbean and so forth.

739
00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:56,440
So it was, so he was most of the time out of house also.

740
00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,920
Yeah, so you have several siblings, right?

741
00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:00,760
Yes, I have.

742
00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:02,000
So you mentioned your brother.

743
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:07,000
I have, we used to be four brothers, one sister.

744
00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:10,520
Then my oldest brother passed away.

745
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:11,360
Oh, sorry to hear that.

746
00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:13,520
He died at his age 16.

747
00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:18,520
He died while he was actually went for black coral.

748
00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:22,160
And what is black coral?

749
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:23,920
Black coral, it's a black coral

750
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:27,560
that you do and you can make nice jewelry with it.

751
00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:28,600
Oh, okay.

752
00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:31,480
Yeah, so he went for that and it was too deep.

753
00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:33,400
And his reserve tank did not work.

754
00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:36,520
And so his lungs collapsed.

755
00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:37,920
Collapsed.

756
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:42,240
And Don Stewart was the one that first boat

757
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:44,520
to arrive there to try to save him.

758
00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:45,360
Oh, wow.

759
00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:47,040
But there was no way to save him.

760
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:47,880
Yeah.

761
00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:49,080
And he passed away.

762
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,800
There was a sad moment in our life.

763
00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:52,960
I can imagine.

764
00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:54,120
Very sad.

765
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:58,120
And then thereafter my father formed partnership

766
00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:03,720
with Sylvia Abraham.

767
00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:08,720
And so I have my stepbrother.

768
00:34:08,720 --> 00:34:12,360
Stepbrother, so I have two stepbrothers

769
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:14,320
and one stepsister.

770
00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:19,320
And my stepbrother also died in the ocean

771
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:20,960
doing water skiing.

772
00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:21,800
Wow.

773
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:22,640
Yeah.

774
00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:26,640
If you went to Cattle Beach Bar most probably

775
00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:31,640
and on that pier, he was put on that pier.

776
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:36,280
And he died, he actually hit a boat

777
00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:39,520
not far away from that pier.

778
00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:40,640
Oh, wow.

779
00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:43,080
While he was slaloming, looking at his waves

780
00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:44,640
and he hit the pier.

781
00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:47,720
And those are sad moments in our life.

782
00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:53,760
But yeah, so I went to school in Monverde Academy,

783
00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,240
then to Valencia Community College.

784
00:34:57,240 --> 00:35:00,120
I went for architecture, then my father told me,

785
00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:06,520
you know there's this thing called the computer,

786
00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:07,440
it's coming up.

787
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:13,200
We're talking about here 1981, 82.

788
00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:22,680
Says there's something coming up there

789
00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:27,520
and this thing seems to be promising and so forth.

790
00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:29,920
So I went to study computer engineering.

791
00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:30,760
Oh.

792
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:31,600
In Tampa.

793
00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:32,480
Okay, nice.

794
00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:35,800
And I graduated while I was at school

795
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:40,480
and in the United States I had a lot of friends of mine.

796
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:41,560
Yeah.

797
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:43,240
You know, as students you need money.

798
00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:48,240
So I bought some Betamax and VHS

799
00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:50,560
and I gave them to my friends

800
00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:53,760
and I paid them two dollars per movie

801
00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:58,760
without, how do you call it, without promotions.

802
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,120
Promotions and one dollar with promotions in it.

803
00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:06,880
And so I had videos coming and it was illegal.

804
00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:07,720
Yeah, yeah.

805
00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:08,960
It was illegal.

806
00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:12,080
There was no cable company back then, there was nothing.

807
00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:15,800
Well, I have similar stories actually with,

808
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:19,440
well I guess in the States they have what?

809
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:20,800
Statue of limitations.

810
00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:24,040
So after a certain amount of decades,

811
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:24,880
they can't come for you anymore.

812
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:26,200
No, they can't come for me anymore.

813
00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:29,880
But I had a similar thing with CDs.

814
00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:30,720
Oh, okay, yeah.

815
00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:35,720
So in my days, in order to afford the latest album

816
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:41,520
that I wanted, I would, let's say I buy the album

817
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:46,520
and then I would record at least five, six, seven,

818
00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:48,920
eight cassette tapes and then sell it to those

819
00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:50,440
that couldn't afford the CD

820
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:52,000
but then they could get the cassette tape

821
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:54,680
and then I could flip to get the next album

822
00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:57,680
and then make some extra money on the side.

823
00:36:57,680 --> 00:36:59,600
Well, I was making real money

824
00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:03,520
because I was selling the videos to Bonaire.

825
00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,440
Oh, so they even had the supply chain set up.

826
00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:08,200
Oh yes, I had the supply chain.

827
00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:10,800
All the video takes in Bonaire, I was supplying them.

828
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:11,640
Oh, great.

829
00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:14,200
So I had it good, I had it good.

830
00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:16,360
It wasn't bad.

831
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:18,160
I still had a small time hustle

832
00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:20,800
but you already turned it into a business empire.

833
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:23,400
I did it pretty good, I did it very well.

834
00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:26,160
And then I noticed that some of my,

835
00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:29,560
because I used to send it through the mail

836
00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:32,480
with the mailman, you know, like that

837
00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:34,200
and boxes and things like that

838
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:37,000
and sometimes they would not arrive.

839
00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:42,960
Then I stopped doing it because they, you know,

840
00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:45,160
they were going to come after me

841
00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:47,000
because it became a big business.

842
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:48,280
It became too big.

843
00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:49,120
Yeah, it became.

844
00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:51,040
And we are from Miami?

845
00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:54,000
No, that was actually I was living in Orlando, in Tampa.

846
00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:54,840
Okay, okay, okay.

847
00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:56,080
But still from Florida.

848
00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:57,080
From Florida, yeah.

849
00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:59,800
And boxes shipped into the Caribbean in the 80s.

850
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:00,880
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

851
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:03,560
Exactly, exactly, yeah.

852
00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:05,520
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

853
00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:09,440
So there is where then I graduated.

854
00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:11,000
Because I do hear that, you know,

855
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:15,720
your dad really tried to instill specific lessons.

856
00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:18,440
You just mentioned your daughter

857
00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:22,080
so maybe you could talk about an example

858
00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:24,360
of specific lessons that you maybe tried

859
00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:29,280
to instill in your kids to continue part of that mindset.

860
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:31,000
But let me go first to my father.

861
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:31,840
Okay.

862
00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:35,560
Because at a certain moment when I had agency

863
00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:38,800
then I requested the agency for Radio Holland

864
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:43,160
and I needed a place in order for me.

865
00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:45,320
My father was owner of the buildings,

866
00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:48,040
you know, some buildings and I needed a place to rent.

867
00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:48,880
Yeah.

868
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:49,720
So I went to my father, I said,

869
00:38:49,720 --> 00:38:51,320
father, I want to rent from you.

870
00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:52,160
Yeah.

871
00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:55,920
And he says, well, yeah, okay, it's X amount.

872
00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:59,720
I'm just gonna mention a figure, 1000 guilders a month.

873
00:38:59,720 --> 00:39:01,280
You have to pay me two months rent,

874
00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:04,360
two months deposit.

875
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:05,760
And then you get the key.

876
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:06,600
Okay.

877
00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:09,240
And you put it on this bank account.

878
00:39:09,240 --> 00:39:10,080
Yeah.

879
00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:11,000
Okay.

880
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:12,960
Okay, I'll show you I can do it.

881
00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:17,600
I worked a little bit, I didn't have the money,

882
00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:20,920
but I went and I gave him the deposit and everything.

883
00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:25,920
And so after I was ready for me to go to,

884
00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:32,920
I think it was six or seven months later,

885
00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:37,920
I was ready for me to go to Panama and buy in electronics

886
00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:40,680
so I can resell in Bonaire.

887
00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:45,360
He then told me, oh, by the way, I have a surprise for you.

888
00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:48,280
Here is your bank account.

889
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:54,280
So he saved that money for me without knowing.

890
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:55,160
Yeah, yeah.

891
00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:57,600
What was actually interesting though,

892
00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:00,480
because then I'll ping pong to the future again,

893
00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:05,480
but I know that you own Xerox in St. Martin.

894
00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:06,640
Yes.

895
00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:07,960
Also in Bonaire.

896
00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:09,000
It started in Bonaire.

897
00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:09,840
It started in Bonaire.

898
00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:11,080
Everything started in Bonaire.

899
00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:15,640
But what's interesting about what your dad told you

900
00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:18,560
in the early 80s that look at this computer stuff

901
00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:23,560
that's coming and you quickly jumped on to the new wave

902
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:26,120
of what was coming.

903
00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:29,400
But do you also know interesting fact,

904
00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:33,280
in 1984, the first Macintosh was released.

905
00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:34,120
I know.

906
00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:39,000
And that had the very first user, the GUI,

907
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:44,000
the graphical user interface, designed by Apple.

908
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:49,400
But Picasso like stolen from Xerox.

909
00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:50,240
I know.

910
00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:53,080
Because Xerox had the very first graphical user interfaces

911
00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:56,560
that he saw and saw this funny thing with two buttons.

912
00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:57,400
What is that?

913
00:40:57,400 --> 00:40:58,240
A mouse.

914
00:40:58,240 --> 00:41:01,920
And got inspired by that to then create

915
00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:04,520
that Macintosh computer with the first

916
00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:08,800
graphical user interface, which Bill Gates actually

917
00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:13,800
designed software for and saw that this was the future

918
00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:15,880
and then went on and built Windows

919
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:17,560
behind Steve Jobs back.

920
00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:18,400
Exactly.

921
00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:19,240
Exactly.

922
00:41:19,240 --> 00:41:22,920
But there's more things that Xerox also create.

923
00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:26,000
People don't know ethernet, Xerox invention.

924
00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,800
There's so many things that Xerox was involved in.

925
00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:30,040
The only thing is they didn't know

926
00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:31,640
how to put it on the market.

927
00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:32,480
Yeah.

928
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:33,320
And so.

929
00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:34,680
Yeah, we were talking about that earlier also

930
00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:37,320
with Philips, the amount of inventions

931
00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:38,520
that happened right here.

932
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:39,360
Yeah.

933
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:43,560
In Eindhoven, but they weren't the best

934
00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:45,280
at putting it out in the market.

935
00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:48,040
So eventually they would license these things

936
00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:49,440
to other companies.

937
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:50,280
Correct.

938
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:51,120
Yeah.

939
00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:51,960
Correct, correct.

940
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:56,960
And so at a certain moment, I was madly in love

941
00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:03,920
with my ex-wife and I wanted to get back to Bonaire.

942
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:06,720
So she's from Bonaire.

943
00:42:06,720 --> 00:42:07,960
Well, she was living in Bonaire.

944
00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:09,480
She's from Curaçao living in Bonaire.

945
00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:10,320
Okay.

946
00:42:10,320 --> 00:42:11,160
Yeah.

947
00:42:11,160 --> 00:42:15,000
And was my sweetheart from young age.

948
00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:18,280
And so at a certain moment I wanted to go back

949
00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:20,800
because every little break I had,

950
00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:22,680
I wanted to be in Bonaire with her.

951
00:42:22,680 --> 00:42:23,520
You know?

952
00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:28,520
And so I graduated today, did not went to my ceremony,

953
00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:33,520
took my diploma, passed by a car sales,

954
00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:38,600
sell my car for whatever amount.

955
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:39,960
I think I got $500.

956
00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:40,800
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

957
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:43,880
And then moved on to Bonaire, going to Bonaire.

958
00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:45,600
Didn't went to my ceremony.

959
00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:50,120
And when I reached Bonaire, my father asked me,

960
00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:51,440
so what are you gonna do now?

961
00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:53,700
I said, well, I'm gonna go to the

962
00:42:53,700 --> 00:42:55,340
Bonaire

963
00:42:55,340 --> 00:42:56,880
and I'm gonna go to the Bonaire.

964
00:42:56,880 --> 00:42:58,720
What are you gonna do now?

965
00:42:58,720 --> 00:43:00,920
I said, well, I'm gonna start something.

966
00:43:00,920 --> 00:43:01,760
Yeah.

967
00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:02,840
There was no computer.

968
00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:04,280
There was mainframe.

969
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:07,560
Macintosh just started, but it was just the beginning.

970
00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:09,600
So there was mainframe and mainframe today,

971
00:43:09,600 --> 00:43:11,360
the calculator does more than that.

972
00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:13,840
A mainframe.

973
00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:16,480
So how big were those mainframes?

974
00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:17,440
Oh, a house.

975
00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:18,280
A house.

976
00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:19,720
How bigger than that, this building.

977
00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:20,560
Yeah.

978
00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:21,400
You know, could be.

979
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:23,760
And so there was none.

980
00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:25,000
Actually, when I graduated,

981
00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:27,160
I graduated with Summa Cum Laude.

982
00:43:27,160 --> 00:43:30,800
And I had Texas Instruments, IBM,

983
00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:33,800
all of them came in to look for me, to hire me.

984
00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:34,640
Yeah, yeah.

985
00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:36,640
They said, I'm gonna be doing my own hiring

986
00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:38,640
on my little island called Bonaire.

987
00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:40,280
So I went to Bonaire.

988
00:43:40,280 --> 00:43:43,200
And my father said, okay, you go to Wimco.

989
00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:45,080
My friend is waiting for you over there.

990
00:43:45,080 --> 00:43:45,920
What is Wimco?

991
00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:49,360
Wimco was actually a television, TV,

992
00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:52,960
and electronic place.

993
00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:54,880
My father used to be agent for them.

994
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:55,720
In Bonaire.

995
00:43:55,720 --> 00:43:57,360
Was very good friends with them.

996
00:43:57,360 --> 00:43:59,160
So he sent me over there.

997
00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:03,600
And I still remember, Boy, his name is Boy,

998
00:44:03,600 --> 00:44:05,640
Tuibo, he looks at me and says,

999
00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:10,640
Avin, your father told me that you're coming.

1000
00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:14,600
And he told me not to pay you

1001
00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:16,560
more than 1000 guilders a month.

1002
00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:19,800
But I think it's a little bit too low.

1003
00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:22,360
With your standard, I'm gonna give you 1500.

1004
00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:25,160
No, don't tell your dad.

1005
00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:26,000
Yes.

1006
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:28,400
But they were best friends.

1007
00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:31,600
So, and with also the owner of Wimco,

1008
00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:32,920
they were best friends.

1009
00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:35,320
So, and my father.

1010
00:44:35,320 --> 00:44:38,760
But what I'm kind of getting from this is that

1011
00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:43,760
your dad also very much consciously wanted to make sure

1012
00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:48,760
that whatever you achieve, you truly worked for it yourself.

1013
00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:54,760
To give you that.

1014
00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:55,720
Yeah.

1015
00:44:55,720 --> 00:44:58,000
So I started there.

1016
00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:03,400
And he gave me a beautiful El Camino with,

1017
00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:08,400
I had the first pickup truck that was lifted to this height.

1018
00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:09,720
Oh wow.

1019
00:45:09,720 --> 00:45:11,560
And you're talking about 1984.

1020
00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:13,040
Yeah.

1021
00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:16,720
And I had the first pickup truck with tires and all of that.

1022
00:45:16,720 --> 00:45:20,280
Young guy with 350 horsepower.

1023
00:45:22,040 --> 00:45:24,680
Every time you turn on the motor

1024
00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:26,680
and you just drive a little bit,

1025
00:45:26,680 --> 00:45:28,560
you see the gas going like this.

1026
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:33,520
So at a certain moment, you know,

1027
00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:35,680
you hardly drive, only go to work.

1028
00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:37,240
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1029
00:45:37,240 --> 00:45:41,560
And it was, I stayed one month after one month.

1030
00:45:41,560 --> 00:45:43,080
My father had a ship.

1031
00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:47,280
So roll on, he had the first roll on, roll off

1032
00:45:47,280 --> 00:45:50,520
container ship in the islands.

1033
00:45:50,520 --> 00:45:53,040
Well, actually my uncle had one before.

1034
00:45:53,040 --> 00:45:54,640
This one was with containers.

1035
00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:58,000
And he had the first container ship between the islands.

1036
00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:03,000
And so I said, okay, I put my car in it.

1037
00:46:03,720 --> 00:46:06,160
After one month, I'm done.

1038
00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:07,000
That's it.

1039
00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:07,840
I had my fun.

1040
00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:08,840
I had my fun.

1041
00:46:08,840 --> 00:46:13,120
I'm going to Bonaire and no matter what my father tell me,

1042
00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:15,360
I'm gonna open my business.

1043
00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:16,920
You know, that was me.

1044
00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:18,800
And so my father says, oh, so what are you,

1045
00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:20,800
so I'm gonna open my business.

1046
00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:24,960
And I started actually TV and radio repair inside my room

1047
00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:27,560
at his house.

1048
00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:31,240
Then at a certain moment, I,

1049
00:46:32,320 --> 00:46:35,680
Austin Olivier came to me, he says, Alvin,

1050
00:46:35,680 --> 00:46:37,800
he was the head of the custom,

1051
00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:39,120
very good friend of my father.

1052
00:46:39,120 --> 00:46:42,760
Says Alvin, you know, Motorola two way radios,

1053
00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:46,200
we have a lot of problems, you know, the police has them,

1054
00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:49,600
you know, everybody has, but nobody to repair them.

1055
00:46:49,600 --> 00:46:52,720
And we have to send them to Curaçao for Radio Holland.

1056
00:46:52,720 --> 00:46:53,880
Why don't you look into it?

1057
00:46:53,880 --> 00:46:56,840
Well, the next day I was in the father ship,

1058
00:46:56,840 --> 00:47:00,920
going to Curaçao, offering them my service

1059
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:04,080
and everything.

1060
00:47:04,080 --> 00:47:06,280
And you saw opportunity boom.

1061
00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:08,080
Of course, did it right away.

1062
00:47:08,080 --> 00:47:09,320
Without thinking, without blinking.

1063
00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:12,280
I didn't know the rules, how the rules are regulated,

1064
00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:16,680
it was so regulated that I didn't know how regulated it was.

1065
00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:21,120
So I decided I'm going to do that, you know?

1066
00:47:21,120 --> 00:47:24,160
So I'm going to, I'm gonna do that.

1067
00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:27,880
So I started with, so I,

1068
00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:33,800
I went, I remember Gerard Tolenaar was there.

1069
00:47:33,800 --> 00:47:37,200
He was the director of Radio Holland,

1070
00:47:37,200 --> 00:47:41,920
Bonair, well, Curaçao, Aruba, St. Martin.

1071
00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:45,000
And so I asked him, who's the director?

1072
00:47:45,000 --> 00:47:47,360
He says, well, Mr. Gerard Tolenaar,

1073
00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:49,600
tell him Mr. Robert is here from Bonair.

1074
00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:51,200
Yeah.

1075
00:47:51,200 --> 00:47:54,480
So I had a lot of guts, always, you know,

1076
00:47:54,480 --> 00:47:57,040
don't accept no, just continue doing.

1077
00:47:57,040 --> 00:48:01,520
And politely, you know?

1078
00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:03,880
And then I had a meeting, so he says,

1079
00:48:03,880 --> 00:48:06,600
okay, well, interesting, interesting.

1080
00:48:06,600 --> 00:48:08,160
I'll get back to you.

1081
00:48:08,160 --> 00:48:09,600
I said, okay.

1082
00:48:09,600 --> 00:48:12,440
After three weeks of waiting for him to get back to me,

1083
00:48:12,440 --> 00:48:16,160
I said, Mr. Tolenaar, you told me

1084
00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:19,560
you're gonna get back to me, but concerning the license,

1085
00:48:19,560 --> 00:48:22,400
you already agreed that we're gonna have something to do.

1086
00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:26,320
But if you, I'm fed up.

1087
00:48:26,320 --> 00:48:27,880
He says, no, no, no, no, no, no.

1088
00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:30,680
I'm gonna go for another brand, okay?

1089
00:48:30,680 --> 00:48:32,560
I'm gonna start another brand then in Bonair

1090
00:48:32,560 --> 00:48:35,640
because I want to do this business and that's it.

1091
00:48:35,640 --> 00:48:37,720
And he says, no, no, no, no, you don't understand.

1092
00:48:37,720 --> 00:48:40,040
There's a licensing process.

1093
00:48:40,040 --> 00:48:43,320
I said, ah, okay, so we're gonna send equipment for you

1094
00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:45,240
and this and that to help you with the setup

1095
00:48:45,240 --> 00:48:47,160
for the licensing process.

1096
00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:50,200
And that was a long time ago, you know?

1097
00:48:50,200 --> 00:48:54,320
But I was, so I really started with Motorola first.

1098
00:48:54,320 --> 00:48:56,520
You were eager to get started.

1099
00:48:56,520 --> 00:48:57,360
Yes.

1100
00:48:58,280 --> 00:49:00,560
You basically jumped into it head first.

1101
00:49:00,560 --> 00:49:01,400
Yes.

1102
00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:03,520
And then you learned what the actual business is

1103
00:49:03,520 --> 00:49:04,600
as you were going.

1104
00:49:04,600 --> 00:49:05,720
As I was going.

1105
00:49:05,720 --> 00:49:06,560
There was a lot of rules and regulations.

1106
00:49:06,560 --> 00:49:09,760
So it's like the analogy where you're on the train,

1107
00:49:09,760 --> 00:49:11,280
but you're building the train tracks

1108
00:49:11,280 --> 00:49:13,760
as the train is moving forward.

1109
00:49:13,760 --> 00:49:14,600
Yes, exactly.

1110
00:49:14,600 --> 00:49:15,440
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1111
00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:17,240
So that's one of these mindset things.

1112
00:49:17,240 --> 00:49:18,120
Yes, yes.

1113
00:49:18,120 --> 00:49:19,600
And then I started.

1114
00:49:19,600 --> 00:49:24,440
But what gave you that type of confidence

1115
00:49:24,440 --> 00:49:29,440
to be able to do that or even take those type of risks?

1116
00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:30,520
Let me put it this way.

1117
00:49:30,520 --> 00:49:33,120
All of us, all my brothers and sisters,

1118
00:49:33,120 --> 00:49:38,120
sister, all of us have this mindset

1119
00:49:38,400 --> 00:49:42,400
that if we believe in something, we do it.

1120
00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:45,080
And there's nothing, and I see it in my nephews also.

1121
00:49:45,080 --> 00:49:45,920
Yeah.

1122
00:49:45,920 --> 00:49:48,000
I see it in my daughter.

1123
00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:49,000
I see them.

1124
00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:49,920
I see them.

1125
00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:50,760
Yeah.

1126
00:49:50,760 --> 00:49:53,000
Exactly the mindset of an entrepreneur.

1127
00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:55,240
They don't say, they just do it.

1128
00:49:55,240 --> 00:49:56,080
Yeah.

1129
00:49:56,080 --> 00:49:57,200
You know, they look at it good

1130
00:49:57,200 --> 00:50:01,040
and you know, some of my nephews,

1131
00:50:01,040 --> 00:50:04,880
they're very, very entrepreneurial.

1132
00:50:04,880 --> 00:50:06,800
Very, very entrepreneurial.

1133
00:50:06,800 --> 00:50:09,920
So my daughters,

1134
00:50:12,440 --> 00:50:15,720
I have a 34-year-old daughter.

1135
00:50:15,720 --> 00:50:17,880
She's not entrepreneurial at all.

1136
00:50:17,880 --> 00:50:21,320
And then I have my second daughter,

1137
00:50:21,320 --> 00:50:22,160
is Tiaza.

1138
00:50:23,240 --> 00:50:27,120
Tiaza is more the type she wanted to go

1139
00:50:27,120 --> 00:50:29,040
into the medical field.

1140
00:50:29,040 --> 00:50:33,320
And she did also, she went for, she did

1141
00:50:33,320 --> 00:50:35,160
If you know the Dutch word, you could also.

1142
00:50:35,160 --> 00:50:37,160
Operation room assistant.

1143
00:50:37,160 --> 00:50:38,320
Okay, yeah.

1144
00:50:38,320 --> 00:50:40,040
So she did that.

1145
00:50:40,040 --> 00:50:43,000
And so she went into the field.

1146
00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:47,160
And all of a sudden she ended up coming to me

1147
00:50:47,160 --> 00:50:48,920
and saying, I wanna work with you.

1148
00:50:49,960 --> 00:50:52,400
That was one of the happiest day of my life.

1149
00:50:53,840 --> 00:50:55,960
When your daughter says, I wanna work with you.

1150
00:50:55,960 --> 00:50:56,800
Yeah.

1151
00:50:56,800 --> 00:50:58,040
Because there's a certain moment I said,

1152
00:50:58,040 --> 00:51:00,520
okay, who am I creating all these things for?

1153
00:51:00,520 --> 00:51:01,360
True.

1154
00:51:01,360 --> 00:51:03,640
Of course I have nephews that would, you know,

1155
00:51:03,640 --> 00:51:05,240
I have one, a few of them.

1156
00:51:05,240 --> 00:51:07,400
Because you only have doctors.

1157
00:51:07,400 --> 00:51:08,240
Yeah.

1158
00:51:08,240 --> 00:51:09,080
Okay.

1159
00:51:09,080 --> 00:51:14,080
And so then I have nephews that are like my son.

1160
00:51:14,840 --> 00:51:17,560
You know, I adopted them actually like my son.

1161
00:51:17,560 --> 00:51:19,080
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1162
00:51:19,080 --> 00:51:21,960
And so they've been with me, you know,

1163
00:51:21,960 --> 00:51:22,920
they're doing their own thing.

1164
00:51:22,920 --> 00:51:25,200
They have their own, but still they've been with me,

1165
00:51:25,200 --> 00:51:26,200
helping me and so forth.

1166
00:51:26,200 --> 00:51:27,040
Yeah.

1167
00:51:27,040 --> 00:51:31,920
And when my daughter says she was very interested,

1168
00:51:31,920 --> 00:51:35,960
she wanted to start helping, I was like, wow, this is great.

1169
00:51:35,960 --> 00:51:36,800
Yeah.

1170
00:51:36,800 --> 00:51:38,480
And so now she's helping me.

1171
00:51:38,480 --> 00:51:43,480
And she created the business of her own also on the site

1172
00:51:45,040 --> 00:51:47,160
with her partner.

1173
00:51:47,160 --> 00:51:48,000
Oh, nice.

1174
00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:53,000
And so I'm, to this moment, I'm teaching them certain things

1175
00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:57,960
if they want to learn pricing, those type of things.

1176
00:51:57,960 --> 00:51:59,600
But she's a very smart girl.

1177
00:51:59,600 --> 00:52:01,040
So what is the business?

1178
00:52:01,040 --> 00:52:06,040
Oh, she's gonna do next to our, we have the Xerox business.

1179
00:52:07,400 --> 00:52:12,400
We have it, it's, a lot of people think that the print shop

1180
00:52:13,880 --> 00:52:16,200
is the business that we have.

1181
00:52:16,200 --> 00:52:19,880
But it's a showroom that you can show your quality

1182
00:52:19,880 --> 00:52:21,840
and still make money with it.

1183
00:52:21,840 --> 00:52:25,600
But she's gonna do, for instance, like t-shirt printing

1184
00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:26,920
and all of these things.

1185
00:52:28,160 --> 00:52:30,840
Next to our things, you know, so,

1186
00:52:30,840 --> 00:52:33,000
which we used to have it already in the past.

1187
00:52:33,000 --> 00:52:33,960
Yeah.

1188
00:52:33,960 --> 00:52:37,000
So that's basically what it's gonna be.

1189
00:52:38,080 --> 00:52:41,480
Going back, so I started actually with Motorola

1190
00:52:41,480 --> 00:52:45,560
to 2A Radio as agent of Radio Holland.

1191
00:52:45,560 --> 00:52:50,560
And I made it so good, amazing.

1192
00:52:53,320 --> 00:52:58,320
Within one year, Xerox was renting from my father

1193
00:52:58,880 --> 00:53:02,000
in the, in Buret, yeah, okay.

1194
00:53:05,880 --> 00:53:09,680
And my step-uncle asked me if I was interested,

1195
00:53:09,680 --> 00:53:13,720
if I wanted to, Tom Abraham, if I was interested

1196
00:53:13,720 --> 00:53:15,720
in the business of Xerox.

1197
00:53:15,720 --> 00:53:16,560
Yeah.

1198
00:53:16,560 --> 00:53:19,880
And I said, well, put up a meeting.

1199
00:53:19,880 --> 00:53:21,640
So he put up the meeting.

1200
00:53:21,640 --> 00:53:26,640
And it was Artur Viana that came, Donnie Bacca is also

1201
00:53:26,680 --> 00:53:27,920
one of the first ones.

1202
00:53:27,920 --> 00:53:29,160
We're friends up to today.

1203
00:53:29,160 --> 00:53:32,880
These are people that are close, close friends.

1204
00:53:34,320 --> 00:53:39,320
And so we started talking about one cent, two cents,

1205
00:53:40,360 --> 00:53:41,760
and five cents.

1206
00:53:41,760 --> 00:53:46,240
I said, maybe it's something for my, I wasn't married yet.

1207
00:53:46,240 --> 00:53:50,880
Maybe something for my girlfriend or my wife to do help.

1208
00:53:52,360 --> 00:53:56,280
And so they gave me three months to operate the business.

1209
00:53:56,280 --> 00:53:57,240
The Xerox business.

1210
00:53:57,240 --> 00:53:59,120
Yeah, the Xerox business.

1211
00:53:59,120 --> 00:54:01,520
Well, within one month, I said, I'm gonna buy.

1212
00:54:03,040 --> 00:54:06,480
And they said, no, no, no, no, we're finally making money.

1213
00:54:06,480 --> 00:54:08,440
Give us, glad the three months.

1214
00:54:08,440 --> 00:54:09,280
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1215
00:54:09,280 --> 00:54:12,560
And also that's actually how it happened.

1216
00:54:12,560 --> 00:54:15,360
And I became agent to Xerox Antiana Curacao.

1217
00:54:16,360 --> 00:54:21,360
And after 10 years of doing business with Xerox Antiana

1218
00:54:21,360 --> 00:54:23,400
Curacao, which was Xerox Corporation.

1219
00:54:24,720 --> 00:54:27,560
And that's then we're on Bonaire Curacao.

1220
00:54:27,560 --> 00:54:28,400
That was in Curacao.

1221
00:54:28,400 --> 00:54:29,440
Oh, that was in Curacao.

1222
00:54:29,440 --> 00:54:30,280
Okay.

1223
00:54:31,760 --> 00:54:35,200
After agent for, because Curacao,

1224
00:54:35,200 --> 00:54:39,040
Xerox Corporation had the office in Bonaire,

1225
00:54:39,040 --> 00:54:40,800
which is owned by Xerox Corporation,

1226
00:54:40,800 --> 00:54:45,800
which is owned by, managed by Xerox Antiana in Aruba,

1227
00:54:46,400 --> 00:54:47,520
in St. Martin.

1228
00:54:47,520 --> 00:54:48,960
Yeah.

1229
00:54:48,960 --> 00:54:52,720
And so there is where they had,

1230
00:54:52,720 --> 00:54:57,000
was managed by Curacao, by Ruy Viana, good friend of mine.

1231
00:54:57,000 --> 00:54:58,920
I learned so much from that guy.

1232
00:54:58,920 --> 00:55:01,680
Became a mentor, have actually three mentors.

1233
00:55:01,680 --> 00:55:05,640
My father, Hugo Gerrard, and Ruy Viana.

1234
00:55:05,640 --> 00:55:09,040
Maybe take me through a couple of, let's say,

1235
00:55:09,040 --> 00:55:11,320
the biggest milestone achievements

1236
00:55:11,320 --> 00:55:15,400
in your business entrepreneurial career.

1237
00:55:15,400 --> 00:55:19,600
So we touched on, well, the early days

1238
00:55:19,600 --> 00:55:21,760
of the air conditioning business.

1239
00:55:23,800 --> 00:55:27,760
Then the initial radio repair business.

1240
00:55:27,760 --> 00:55:31,520
So those were all sort of the experimentation,

1241
00:55:31,520 --> 00:55:36,520
young entrepreneurial ventures, the VHS business

1242
00:55:39,440 --> 00:55:41,920
in Florida shipping to the Caribbean.

1243
00:55:41,920 --> 00:55:44,920
And my girlfriend used to, which became my wife,

1244
00:55:44,920 --> 00:55:47,280
used to be the one that brings them to the customer.

1245
00:55:47,280 --> 00:55:50,240
To the customer, distribution.

1246
00:55:50,240 --> 00:55:51,240
Distribution, yeah.

1247
00:55:52,320 --> 00:55:55,920
But then to the first, let's say,

1248
00:55:55,920 --> 00:55:58,040
legitimate businesses, businesses,

1249
00:55:58,040 --> 00:56:03,040
when you became the agent for Xerox in Bonaire.

1250
00:56:03,760 --> 00:56:06,440
No, the agent for, yeah, for Zeni,

1251
00:56:06,440 --> 00:56:11,440
for Radio Holland first, Motorola, and then in 1985.

1252
00:56:11,680 --> 00:56:13,680
Then the Xerox opportunity came.

1253
00:56:14,800 --> 00:56:18,360
And then the next step in that journey was to,

1254
00:56:18,360 --> 00:56:22,600
you really wanted to grow from agent to distributor.

1255
00:56:22,600 --> 00:56:26,600
And then the opportunity came to buy Xerox, Sint-Martin.

1256
00:56:26,600 --> 00:56:28,040
Yes.

1257
00:56:28,040 --> 00:56:30,840
And in that package was that they also made you

1258
00:56:30,840 --> 00:56:33,440
distributor in Bonaire.

1259
00:56:33,440 --> 00:56:34,800
That was the thing.

1260
00:56:34,800 --> 00:56:35,640
Yeah, yeah.

1261
00:56:35,640 --> 00:56:37,120
Otherwise I would not buy it.

1262
00:56:37,120 --> 00:56:39,360
Then we just touched on the fact that

1263
00:56:39,360 --> 00:56:42,520
it was the first time for you going to Sint-Martin,

1264
00:56:42,520 --> 00:56:46,240
getting the keys five days before, at that time,

1265
00:56:46,240 --> 00:56:49,720
the most devastating hurricane that ever passed on the island.

1266
00:56:49,720 --> 00:56:51,640
Because since then we've had another one.

1267
00:56:51,640 --> 00:56:52,840
You.

1268
00:56:52,840 --> 00:56:53,680
Tell me about it.

1269
00:56:53,680 --> 00:56:54,880
Yeah.

1270
00:56:54,880 --> 00:56:59,880
And, but I know there's a couple more highlight moments

1271
00:57:01,240 --> 00:57:02,960
in the career.

1272
00:57:02,960 --> 00:57:04,800
The highlights that I did was,

1273
00:57:06,720 --> 00:57:11,720
during the years as Motorola agent to Radio Holland,

1274
00:57:13,720 --> 00:57:18,160
we, Talbot and I, which was the local telephone company,

1275
00:57:18,160 --> 00:57:21,840
and I actually sort of like invented ways

1276
00:57:21,840 --> 00:57:25,760
to make two-way radio telephony with it.

1277
00:57:25,760 --> 00:57:27,600
Two-way radio telephony.

1278
00:57:27,600 --> 00:57:28,560
Two-way radio telephones.

1279
00:57:28,560 --> 00:57:32,760
So they actually would ring and you would dial

1280
00:57:32,760 --> 00:57:34,280
before the mobile started.

1281
00:57:34,280 --> 00:57:35,120
Yeah.

1282
00:57:35,120 --> 00:57:37,720
Or you would dial and do all of this,

1283
00:57:37,720 --> 00:57:39,560
but it was two-way radio conversation.

1284
00:57:39,560 --> 00:57:40,560
Oh wow.

1285
00:57:40,560 --> 00:57:41,680
On the phone.

1286
00:57:41,680 --> 00:57:45,800
Because did you guys also help set up any of that

1287
00:57:45,800 --> 00:57:47,040
in Sint-Martin?

1288
00:57:47,040 --> 00:57:48,920
No, in Sint-Martin, no.

1289
00:57:48,920 --> 00:57:50,920
ECC, Anki Rivers.

1290
00:57:50,920 --> 00:57:54,560
Anki Rivers together with Bart,

1291
00:57:54,560 --> 00:57:58,280
they did the first, actually the first mobile

1292
00:57:58,280 --> 00:58:00,160
in the Antilles was done.

1293
00:58:00,160 --> 00:58:01,000
In Sint-Martin.

1294
00:58:01,000 --> 00:58:01,840
In Sint-Martin.

1295
00:58:01,840 --> 00:58:02,680
Oh wow.

1296
00:58:02,680 --> 00:58:03,520
Yeah, ECC.

1297
00:58:03,520 --> 00:58:04,360
Yeah.

1298
00:58:04,360 --> 00:58:05,800
Yeah, it was Anki Rivers together with Bart.

1299
00:58:05,800 --> 00:58:08,720
I do remember hearing these stories of,

1300
00:58:08,720 --> 00:58:11,440
I forgot the exact name, but that my dad

1301
00:58:11,440 --> 00:58:16,440
and some of his compadres were very much into those radios

1302
00:58:17,200 --> 00:58:19,200
and I don't know if they had a sort of a club

1303
00:58:19,200 --> 00:58:20,720
and what exactly they used.

1304
00:58:20,720 --> 00:58:21,840
That's Ham radios, yeah.

1305
00:58:21,840 --> 00:58:22,680
The Ham radios, yeah.

1306
00:58:22,680 --> 00:58:23,520
The Ham radios, yeah.

1307
00:58:23,520 --> 00:58:25,360
That's totally different, yeah.

1308
00:58:25,360 --> 00:58:26,640
That's a totally different world.

1309
00:58:26,640 --> 00:58:27,480
Yeah, yeah.

1310
00:58:27,480 --> 00:58:28,320
It's a club.

1311
00:58:28,320 --> 00:58:29,720
It's a club.

1312
00:58:29,720 --> 00:58:33,840
But going back, I would say that was a milestone.

1313
00:58:33,840 --> 00:58:37,040
Because from two-way radio, we make telephony,

1314
00:58:37,040 --> 00:58:37,880
Telvo and I.

1315
00:58:37,880 --> 00:58:39,040
And then this was started by customers.

1316
00:58:39,040 --> 00:58:39,880
And then this was in what year?

1317
00:58:39,880 --> 00:58:40,720
Yeah.

1318
00:58:40,720 --> 00:58:41,560
What year is this?

1319
00:58:41,560 --> 00:58:46,560
You're talking about 1991, 1991 going to 1994.

1320
00:58:47,080 --> 00:58:47,920
Yeah.

1321
00:58:47,920 --> 00:58:52,920
1994, I set up the first Bonaire trunking system.

1322
00:58:58,360 --> 00:59:01,360
And that was part of, together with,

1323
00:59:01,360 --> 00:59:02,960
because you have Zainy Tel,

1324
00:59:02,960 --> 00:59:05,280
which was a radio Holland before.

1325
00:59:05,280 --> 00:59:09,320
Zainy Tel bought in and you had,

1326
00:59:09,320 --> 00:59:11,680
it was Tom Ekers was the director.

1327
00:59:11,680 --> 00:59:14,480
And we're friends up to today.

1328
00:59:14,480 --> 00:59:16,080
We call each other now and then.

1329
00:59:16,080 --> 00:59:16,920
Yeah.

1330
00:59:16,920 --> 00:59:21,920
So Zainy Tel, he, oh, one very important person

1331
00:59:22,400 --> 00:59:26,480
that was with Telvo at that time that we made good moves

1332
00:59:26,480 --> 00:59:28,440
was Berth Heiter.

1333
00:59:28,440 --> 00:59:30,640
I'm gonna tell you a little bit more about him.

1334
00:59:30,640 --> 00:59:32,200
May he rest in peace with this guy.

1335
00:59:32,200 --> 00:59:33,720
It was amazing to see him.

1336
00:59:33,720 --> 00:59:36,320
Those are people that made a lot of difference in my life.

1337
00:59:36,320 --> 00:59:37,240
Yeah.

1338
00:59:37,240 --> 00:59:42,240
And Zainy Tel set up the Curaçao trunking system

1339
00:59:42,240 --> 00:59:45,240
and asked me if I wanted to invest

1340
00:59:45,240 --> 00:59:46,760
into the Bonaire trunking system.

1341
00:59:46,760 --> 00:59:48,280
This was done, you know.

1342
00:59:48,280 --> 00:59:51,160
So I said, okay, I'm gonna do that.

1343
00:59:51,160 --> 00:59:54,280
And that's how we became actually the first

1344
00:59:54,280 --> 00:59:57,920
in the Caribbean and Latin America that ever did this.

1345
00:59:57,920 --> 00:59:58,760
Okay.

1346
00:59:58,760 --> 00:59:59,600
Yeah.

1347
00:59:59,600 --> 01:00:00,440
That's a milestone right there.

1348
01:00:00,440 --> 01:00:01,280
Yeah.

1349
01:00:01,280 --> 01:00:03,680
And then in 19,

1350
01:00:05,680 --> 01:00:06,520
in 19,

1351
01:00:06,520 --> 01:00:07,360
in 19,

1352
01:00:07,360 --> 01:00:08,200
in 19,

1353
01:00:08,200 --> 01:00:09,040
in 19,

1354
01:00:09,040 --> 01:00:09,880
in 19,

1355
01:00:09,880 --> 01:00:10,720
in 19,

1356
01:00:10,720 --> 01:00:11,560
in 19,

1357
01:00:11,560 --> 01:00:12,400
in 19,

1358
01:00:12,400 --> 01:00:13,240
in 19,

1359
01:00:13,240 --> 01:00:14,080
in 19,

1360
01:00:14,080 --> 01:00:17,960
we opened the first mobile,

1361
01:00:17,960 --> 01:00:19,240
was it 95?

1362
01:00:19,240 --> 01:00:20,080
94.

1363
01:00:21,800 --> 01:00:23,440
Sometimes you tend to.

1364
01:00:24,800 --> 01:00:25,640
Yeah, yeah.

1365
01:00:25,640 --> 01:00:26,480
Mid-90s.

1366
01:00:26,480 --> 01:00:27,320
Yes.

1367
01:00:27,320 --> 01:00:31,880
We opened the first mobile telephony in Bonaire.

1368
01:00:31,880 --> 01:00:32,720
Oh wow.

1369
01:00:32,720 --> 01:00:33,960
So that was actually,

1370
01:00:33,960 --> 01:00:37,560
my license was used, okay, as 2-way radio.

1371
01:00:37,560 --> 01:00:40,360
Because mobile at that time fell on the 2-way radio.

1372
01:00:40,360 --> 01:00:42,020
Nobody knew how to put it.

1373
01:00:42,020 --> 01:00:42,860
Brand new.

1374
01:00:42,860 --> 01:00:45,100
So it came as that's.

1375
01:00:45,100 --> 01:00:50,100
I mean the kids, anyone sub 30 can't even imagine

1376
01:00:50,100 --> 01:00:53,720
the time when there was no mobiles.

1377
01:00:53,720 --> 01:00:55,860
Much less for the 20 year olds here.

1378
01:00:55,860 --> 01:00:56,980
Yeah, yeah.

1379
01:00:56,980 --> 01:01:01,980
And so data, what you find is actually,

1380
01:01:02,000 --> 01:01:06,960
yeah, what you find was in 19, I think it was 1995.

1381
01:01:06,960 --> 01:01:11,960
We did the first mobile, it was actually Talbot,

1382
01:01:12,200 --> 01:01:14,920
who has telephony rights in Bonaire.

1383
01:01:14,920 --> 01:01:19,600
And Seytel, who had an infrastructure in Curaçao.

1384
01:01:19,600 --> 01:01:24,080
And me, who had a license to do two-way radio,

1385
01:01:24,080 --> 01:01:27,480
who mobile would fall under at that time.

1386
01:01:27,480 --> 01:01:31,040
And together we took the opportunity

1387
01:01:31,040 --> 01:01:33,840
that the queen was coming to Bonaire.

1388
01:01:33,840 --> 01:01:37,440
And Beth Hayter was the one that actually put it all together.

1389
01:01:37,440 --> 01:01:38,700
May he rest in peace.

1390
01:01:39,760 --> 01:01:42,800
Man of his word all the way.

1391
01:01:42,800 --> 01:01:47,800
And we, they wanted first to buy my company.

1392
01:01:48,800 --> 01:01:51,040
And they offered me three million guilders.

1393
01:01:51,040 --> 01:01:52,720
That was a lot of money.

1394
01:01:52,720 --> 01:01:53,560
Yeah, yeah.

1395
01:01:53,560 --> 01:01:58,560
For a young guy to reap from, that's a good money.

1396
01:01:58,700 --> 01:02:01,320
But I said no, I don't sell my last name.

1397
01:02:01,320 --> 01:02:04,560
You know, for us today, I would form it differently

1398
01:02:04,560 --> 01:02:07,640
and do it, but anyway, I did good business,

1399
01:02:07,640 --> 01:02:08,760
very good business.

1400
01:02:08,760 --> 01:02:11,400
But that was, that's actually then part

1401
01:02:11,400 --> 01:02:12,960
of the learning curve, right?

1402
01:02:12,960 --> 01:02:15,800
That as you go through business,

1403
01:02:15,800 --> 01:02:18,100
and you may have certain principles,

1404
01:02:18,100 --> 01:02:20,560
but you maybe don't understand all the nuances

1405
01:02:20,560 --> 01:02:22,160
of what is possible.

1406
01:02:22,160 --> 01:02:25,640
So where you can still keep the last name strong,

1407
01:02:25,640 --> 01:02:28,120
but still expand the business

1408
01:02:28,120 --> 01:02:30,320
in different type of partnerships.

1409
01:02:30,320 --> 01:02:32,480
But then we formed a partnership,

1410
01:02:32,480 --> 01:02:35,120
and a very solid one, with a handshake though.

1411
01:02:35,120 --> 01:02:37,800
Because I'm a man, I believe in handshakes, you know?

1412
01:02:37,800 --> 01:02:40,180
It's stronger than signing a document.

1413
01:02:40,180 --> 01:02:42,280
But then today, I sign a document,

1414
01:02:42,280 --> 01:02:44,240
and then we make a handshake.

1415
01:02:44,240 --> 01:02:46,720
You know, it's two totally different things.

1416
01:02:47,960 --> 01:02:51,100
The times have changed, and people's,

1417
01:02:53,600 --> 01:02:55,060
how to say this?

1418
01:02:55,060 --> 01:03:00,060
Yeah, honor is not as strong as it once was.

1419
01:03:02,580 --> 01:03:04,140
True, true.

1420
01:03:04,140 --> 01:03:07,140
And so what happened was,

1421
01:03:07,140 --> 01:03:10,500
so that was actually also a milestone,

1422
01:03:10,500 --> 01:03:14,260
because I was part of the first mobile infrastructure

1423
01:03:14,260 --> 01:03:15,100
in Bonaire.

1424
01:03:15,100 --> 01:03:16,340
Wow.

1425
01:03:16,340 --> 01:03:21,340
And another milestone is, when I was in St. Maarten,

1426
01:03:21,340 --> 01:03:26,340
of course, I did the, I also bought the shares

1427
01:03:30,220 --> 01:03:35,220
from Hankey Rivers for wireless telecommunication network.

1428
01:03:35,220 --> 01:03:40,220
And at a certain moment, we had to make a move from MMDS,

1429
01:03:41,260 --> 01:03:45,260
because the government wanted the frequency back.

1430
01:03:45,260 --> 01:03:49,260
And so we had to make a move from MMDS to DSMDS.

1431
01:03:49,260 --> 01:03:52,260
We had to make a move from MMDS to DVBDT.

1432
01:03:52,260 --> 01:03:56,900
And we were the first in the Caribbean and Latin America

1433
01:03:56,900 --> 01:03:58,300
that made that possible.

1434
01:03:58,300 --> 01:03:59,140
Yeah.

1435
01:03:59,140 --> 01:04:03,060
Even St. Maarten don't realize what we have done.

1436
01:04:03,060 --> 01:04:06,420
And the government of Colombia flew in

1437
01:04:06,420 --> 01:04:09,440
to look at what we had and could not believe it,

1438
01:04:09,440 --> 01:04:11,180
for they have been throughout Europe,

1439
01:04:11,180 --> 01:04:14,380
throughout everywhere looking for a new system

1440
01:04:14,380 --> 01:04:18,060
to a TV platform to create.

1441
01:04:18,060 --> 01:04:21,620
And they couldn't imagine what they have seen.

1442
01:04:21,620 --> 01:04:26,620
And they asked us to give all television station

1443
01:04:26,740 --> 01:04:30,700
and cable operators a presentation

1444
01:04:30,700 --> 01:04:33,020
in San Andres Island in Colombia.

1445
01:04:33,020 --> 01:04:33,860
Oh, wow.

1446
01:04:33,860 --> 01:04:34,700
And I gave them all.

1447
01:04:34,700 --> 01:04:35,540
In return.

1448
01:04:35,540 --> 01:04:38,100
So what did I have to do with the way

1449
01:04:38,100 --> 01:04:42,260
that you guys implemented it in the landscape

1450
01:04:42,260 --> 01:04:44,020
and infrastructure of the island?

1451
01:04:44,020 --> 01:04:47,940
Wireless pay TV and free to air TV.

1452
01:04:47,940 --> 01:04:50,700
Because where, what year was that?

1453
01:04:50,700 --> 01:04:53,700
There was in 19, no, this was in 2010,

1454
01:04:58,420 --> 01:05:03,340
2009 going to 2010.

1455
01:05:03,340 --> 01:05:05,580
Oh, that's with the cable company that's now.

1456
01:05:05,580 --> 01:05:06,980
Yes, yeah.

1457
01:05:06,980 --> 01:05:08,540
What's the name of that cable company?

1458
01:05:08,540 --> 01:05:10,300
Wireless Telecommunication Network.

1459
01:05:10,300 --> 01:05:11,140
Okay. WN.

1460
01:05:11,140 --> 01:05:12,300
WN, yeah.

1461
01:05:12,300 --> 01:05:14,780
Oh, because that one also is the one that has quite a few

1462
01:05:14,780 --> 01:05:16,260
of the Latin American TV stations.

1463
01:05:16,260 --> 01:05:19,140
Yes, the channels. TV station channels.

1464
01:05:19,140 --> 01:05:21,100
Yeah. And so forth, yeah.

1465
01:05:21,100 --> 01:05:26,100
And unfortunately, the government did not.

1466
01:05:30,300 --> 01:05:31,140
Embrace it?

1467
01:05:31,140 --> 01:05:36,340
Embrace it, and they did not pay

1468
01:05:36,340 --> 01:05:38,220
what they were supposed to pay me.

1469
01:05:38,220 --> 01:05:40,660
At the time they had to pay me.

1470
01:05:40,660 --> 01:05:45,660
And that led to me losing quite a bit of money.

1471
01:05:45,660 --> 01:05:46,500
Yeah.

1472
01:05:48,300 --> 01:05:50,100
It's still life.

1473
01:05:50,100 --> 01:05:51,780
There's still a window of opportunity,

1474
01:05:51,780 --> 01:05:55,860
but all depends on an investment I need to make,

1475
01:05:55,860 --> 01:05:58,660
which has to come through one of these days

1476
01:05:58,660 --> 01:06:02,300
that I would come through it, then I can invest.

1477
01:06:02,300 --> 01:06:03,420
Okay. Yeah.

1478
01:06:04,820 --> 01:06:09,820
So I'm gonna jump back a little again,

1479
01:06:09,820 --> 01:06:14,820
but in an introspective way.

1480
01:06:14,860 --> 01:06:18,940
So let's see, let me do some calculations here.

1481
01:06:20,660 --> 01:06:23,460
I believe it would be 1981.

1482
01:06:23,460 --> 01:06:24,300
Yes.

1483
01:06:26,060 --> 01:06:28,700
Let's say summer 1981.

1484
01:06:30,380 --> 01:06:33,140
Yeah, that's the time that your dad told you

1485
01:06:33,140 --> 01:06:35,620
look into this computer science stuff.

1486
01:06:35,620 --> 01:06:40,620
No, that was, yeah, around halfway in 1981, yeah.

1487
01:06:40,860 --> 01:06:41,700
Yeah.

1488
01:06:41,700 --> 01:06:44,100
So that's an 18 year old Alvin.

1489
01:06:44,940 --> 01:06:46,380
Yeah, that was, yeah.

1490
01:06:46,380 --> 01:06:49,500
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, correct.

1491
01:06:49,500 --> 01:06:52,580
So sitting in this chair today,

1492
01:06:52,580 --> 01:06:55,740
looking back at 18 year old Alvin,

1493
01:06:55,740 --> 01:06:58,140
what advice would you give him?

1494
01:06:59,740 --> 01:07:00,860
I would say,

1495
01:07:00,860 --> 01:07:05,860
stick a little bit longer in school,

1496
01:07:06,220 --> 01:07:11,220
go for the accounting part of business,

1497
01:07:11,540 --> 01:07:13,340
to learn a little bit more,

1498
01:07:13,340 --> 01:07:15,980
legal side of things also,

1499
01:07:15,980 --> 01:07:18,060
and then so wait one more year,

1500
01:07:18,060 --> 01:07:20,700
do courses and things like that and that,

1501
01:07:20,700 --> 01:07:22,420
and then follow your dreams.

1502
01:07:22,420 --> 01:07:23,700
And then follow your dreams.

1503
01:07:23,700 --> 01:07:26,740
Yeah, but take the courses.

1504
01:07:26,740 --> 01:07:28,860
If you haven't taken them, take the courses

1505
01:07:28,860 --> 01:07:33,860
for accounting and also for legal,

1506
01:07:35,700 --> 01:07:38,220
you know, legal.

1507
01:07:38,220 --> 01:07:40,580
That would help you a lot in life.

1508
01:07:40,580 --> 01:07:43,420
So there's a lot of bad people back there

1509
01:07:43,420 --> 01:07:45,380
that could put, you know,

1510
01:07:45,380 --> 01:07:49,100
a little line that'll screw you over.

1511
01:07:49,100 --> 01:07:51,540
Yeah, but even though I didn't experience much,

1512
01:07:51,540 --> 01:07:54,260
but I've had people that tried.

1513
01:07:54,260 --> 01:07:56,140
And thanks God I had the backbone

1514
01:07:56,140 --> 01:07:58,780
that I always check with my lawyers to see,

1515
01:07:58,780 --> 01:08:01,300
and then hey, Alvin, this move, okay.

1516
01:08:01,300 --> 01:08:02,300
You know, like that.

1517
01:08:02,300 --> 01:08:04,940
But I wouldn't change much

1518
01:08:04,940 --> 01:08:07,700
because I did what I had to do.

1519
01:08:07,700 --> 01:08:11,100
And sometimes I use thanks in other line,

1520
01:08:11,100 --> 01:08:15,060
I ate more than I can chew,

1521
01:08:15,060 --> 01:08:16,420
but then I spit it out.

1522
01:08:16,420 --> 01:08:21,420
I did it my way.

1523
01:08:21,420 --> 01:08:22,460
I'm doing it my way.

1524
01:08:23,780 --> 01:08:24,780
Doing it my way.

1525
01:08:24,780 --> 01:08:25,620
Doing it my way.

1526
01:08:25,620 --> 01:08:27,940
And sometimes you still spit, you know,

1527
01:08:27,940 --> 01:08:30,020
you still have to spit more, you know.

1528
01:08:30,020 --> 01:08:30,860
Yeah, yeah.

1529
01:08:30,860 --> 01:08:31,700
That's how it is.

1530
01:08:31,700 --> 01:08:34,860
We touched on, what I did found interesting

1531
01:08:34,860 --> 01:08:38,740
is you mentioned that you wouldn't change much.

1532
01:08:38,740 --> 01:08:42,900
So there's not much advice that you would give 18 year old

1533
01:08:42,900 --> 01:08:46,260
you that would be different than what you did

1534
01:08:46,260 --> 01:08:48,180
and the path that you walked on.

1535
01:08:48,180 --> 01:08:52,580
The key thing that you said is learn some of the accounting,

1536
01:08:52,580 --> 01:08:55,300
learn some of the legal stuff,

1537
01:08:55,300 --> 01:08:59,180
more in the essence for you to have a better understanding

1538
01:08:59,180 --> 01:09:01,580
of it at a younger age, right?

1539
01:09:01,580 --> 01:09:04,220
So that later on in life,

1540
01:09:04,220 --> 01:09:07,500
even if you're not executing those aspects yourself,

1541
01:09:07,500 --> 01:09:09,340
but at least you have the understanding

1542
01:09:09,340 --> 01:09:12,780
that when advisors are advising you on things

1543
01:09:12,780 --> 01:09:15,940
that you can still follow along very easily,

1544
01:09:16,900 --> 01:09:19,460
which I believe is core advice.

1545
01:09:19,460 --> 01:09:24,220
No person needs to know everything about everything,

1546
01:09:24,220 --> 01:09:28,380
but you should have a certain level of knowledge

1547
01:09:28,380 --> 01:09:31,300
on a plethora of different aspects.

1548
01:09:31,300 --> 01:09:34,020
And if you're gonna follow your dreams

1549
01:09:34,020 --> 01:09:35,580
and go into entrepreneurship,

1550
01:09:35,580 --> 01:09:38,980
then understanding your books is vital.

1551
01:09:38,980 --> 01:09:41,460
So understanding how the numbers work,

1552
01:09:41,460 --> 01:09:44,220
the accountancy is 100% vital.

1553
01:09:44,220 --> 01:09:48,460
Having some form of understanding on the legalities,

1554
01:09:48,460 --> 01:09:50,900
I can also imagine being super vital.

1555
01:09:50,900 --> 01:09:55,260
So management operations is something

1556
01:09:55,260 --> 01:09:56,860
that you can learn along the way,

1557
01:09:56,860 --> 01:09:59,260
but also have in some form of understanding

1558
01:09:59,260 --> 01:10:01,660
of all of these aspects.

1559
01:10:01,660 --> 01:10:03,260
There's actually a term that,

1560
01:10:06,180 --> 01:10:07,820
something I learned along the way

1561
01:10:07,820 --> 01:10:09,740
and something that I'm still busy cooking up,

1562
01:10:09,740 --> 01:10:11,540
but I call them the five pillars.

1563
01:10:12,860 --> 01:10:17,180
So one pillar is your marketing and sales,

1564
01:10:17,180 --> 01:10:18,780
one pillar of business.

1565
01:10:18,780 --> 01:10:22,180
The second, well, the next pillar

1566
01:10:22,180 --> 01:10:24,900
would be your product or services.

1567
01:10:26,820 --> 01:10:31,620
Then the next pillar would be administration and operations.

1568
01:10:31,620 --> 01:10:34,820
So that comes down to your accountancy.

1569
01:10:36,940 --> 01:10:39,060
No, it's not administration and operations,

1570
01:10:39,060 --> 01:10:42,340
it's a bit of administration and finance.

1571
01:10:42,340 --> 01:10:45,100
And then you have the operations side.

1572
01:10:45,100 --> 01:10:48,900
And last but not least, the external market,

1573
01:10:48,900 --> 01:10:52,660
because that is the part that is not in your control.

1574
01:10:52,660 --> 01:10:55,060
Those four others you can keep in your control,

1575
01:10:55,060 --> 01:10:58,100
but the fifth one happens outside of your control

1576
01:10:58,100 --> 01:11:01,780
and you have to constantly be able to adapt to it.

1577
01:11:01,780 --> 01:11:04,020
So in essence, you're saying,

1578
01:11:04,020 --> 01:11:07,980
make sure that you understand more about,

1579
01:11:07,980 --> 01:11:10,100
more aspects of these different pillars

1580
01:11:10,100 --> 01:11:12,100
and then you take your drive and your ambition

1581
01:11:12,100 --> 01:11:13,500
and go for it.

1582
01:11:13,500 --> 01:11:16,020
And I would add one more thing.

1583
01:11:16,020 --> 01:11:16,860
Tell me.

1584
01:11:16,860 --> 01:11:19,700
Take your losses when you have to take them.

1585
01:11:19,700 --> 01:11:22,940
Because a lot of times we become greedy.

1586
01:11:22,940 --> 01:11:25,100
And when the customer is telling you,

1587
01:11:25,100 --> 01:11:28,380
complaining about certain things, take your losses.

1588
01:11:28,380 --> 01:11:31,500
I've been through,

1589
01:11:33,140 --> 01:11:35,860
and I think that's what made me grow,

1590
01:11:35,860 --> 01:11:40,860
that I had to order certain parts urgently,

1591
01:11:41,300 --> 01:11:43,300
even take a plane, go to Curaçao,

1592
01:11:43,300 --> 01:11:46,580
get the part which

1593
01:11:46,580 --> 01:11:48,020
spent extra money.

1594
01:11:48,020 --> 01:11:53,020
That cost $25 and sell it for $25.

1595
01:11:54,500 --> 01:11:55,820
You understand?

1596
01:11:55,820 --> 01:11:57,900
Because you're playing ticket, all of this stuff.

1597
01:11:57,900 --> 01:11:59,820
It's basically a loss.

1598
01:11:59,820 --> 01:12:00,660
Total loss.

1599
01:12:00,660 --> 01:12:04,100
However, the customer knows what you did.

1600
01:12:05,180 --> 01:12:09,020
The customer knows what you did is extraordinary.

1601
01:12:09,020 --> 01:12:13,060
You did not charge them extra for that service.

1602
01:12:13,060 --> 01:12:16,340
And that is what, if you want to build a brand,

1603
01:12:16,340 --> 01:12:17,820
you gotta build it that way.

1604
01:12:18,900 --> 01:12:21,540
Trust being one of the strong pillars.

1605
01:12:24,660 --> 01:12:27,220
If it falls on the warranty, stick to it.

1606
01:12:27,220 --> 01:12:28,940
It's on the warranty.

1607
01:12:28,940 --> 01:12:29,900
Don't deviate.

1608
01:12:29,900 --> 01:12:31,700
Because that's what builds your name.

1609
01:12:33,060 --> 01:12:35,020
There would be a few things that I would,

1610
01:12:35,020 --> 01:12:38,220
not one thing that I would change a little bit

1611
01:12:38,220 --> 01:12:42,060
is actually try to be more at home

1612
01:12:42,060 --> 01:12:44,940
with my children when they were growing up.

1613
01:12:44,940 --> 01:12:47,660
But however, you can't do both things at the same time.

1614
01:12:49,060 --> 01:12:53,260
And that's one thing that I regret a little bit

1615
01:12:53,260 --> 01:12:55,500
that took place.

1616
01:12:55,500 --> 01:12:57,020
But other than that,

1617
01:12:57,020 --> 01:12:59,380
I wouldn't change a thing.

1618
01:12:59,380 --> 01:13:01,900
Much all the bad things that happen

1619
01:13:01,900 --> 01:13:03,580
and all the good things.

1620
01:13:03,580 --> 01:13:08,460
I always believe that good things happens for a reason

1621
01:13:08,460 --> 01:13:11,260
and bad thing also happens for a reason.

1622
01:13:11,260 --> 01:13:14,860
Whatever it is, you will know the reason.

1623
01:13:14,860 --> 01:13:18,420
Not right away when the time comes.

1624
01:13:18,420 --> 01:13:19,260
Exactly.

1625
01:13:19,260 --> 01:13:20,100
You know?

1626
01:13:20,100 --> 01:13:21,220
And that's one thing.

1627
01:13:22,340 --> 01:13:24,620
Going back to the water equipment,

1628
01:13:24,620 --> 01:13:27,260
because I became part of that company

1629
01:13:27,260 --> 01:13:29,940
and then what I did was, at a certain point,

1630
01:13:29,940 --> 01:13:31,300
I said, you know something?

1631
01:13:31,300 --> 01:13:33,780
I'm gonna take over the distributorship

1632
01:13:33,780 --> 01:13:36,340
for Caribbean and Latin America.

1633
01:13:36,340 --> 01:13:37,260
You know?

1634
01:13:37,260 --> 01:13:38,340
And I'm gonna work well,

1635
01:13:38,340 --> 01:13:40,980
except for where they are already.

1636
01:13:40,980 --> 01:13:43,820
You know, which is the French islands and all of these.

1637
01:13:43,820 --> 01:13:45,820
Because these are French family.

1638
01:13:45,820 --> 01:13:47,900
Very nice family, by the way.

1639
01:13:47,900 --> 01:13:51,460
A very man of honor and word and things like that.

1640
01:13:52,380 --> 01:13:54,300
You know, going back,

1641
01:13:54,300 --> 01:13:56,860
and St. Martin is a very interesting island

1642
01:13:56,860 --> 01:13:59,340
because you meet very interesting people.

1643
01:13:59,340 --> 01:14:03,380
I met the Kavanaugh family in St. Martin

1644
01:14:03,380 --> 01:14:05,220
through my goddaughter.

1645
01:14:05,220 --> 01:14:10,220
And I learned of this equipment

1646
01:14:11,460 --> 01:14:16,460
that Christian Kavanaugh invented, actually.

1647
01:14:17,980 --> 01:14:19,620
What equipment is that?

1648
01:14:19,620 --> 01:14:21,460
You plug it into the water.

1649
01:14:21,460 --> 01:14:26,460
You plug the equipment into the wall

1650
01:14:27,380 --> 01:14:31,740
and it creates the best water you can ever drink.

1651
01:14:31,740 --> 01:14:32,580
Okay.

1652
01:14:32,580 --> 01:14:33,420
From the air.

1653
01:14:33,420 --> 01:14:34,260
From the air.

1654
01:14:36,260 --> 01:14:38,100
When was this?

1655
01:14:38,100 --> 01:14:40,540
This is, we're now,

1656
01:14:42,460 --> 01:14:47,460
20, 21 or 2020.

1657
01:14:48,420 --> 01:14:53,420
Just prior to COVID, approximately.

1658
01:14:53,420 --> 01:14:58,420
I got to, I could not believe what I was seeing.

1659
01:14:58,460 --> 01:14:59,300
And I know-

1660
01:14:59,300 --> 01:15:00,740
How big is this device?

1661
01:15:00,740 --> 01:15:05,660
Oh, we have it 40 by 40 by 56.

1662
01:15:05,660 --> 01:15:06,980
That's feet?

1663
01:15:06,980 --> 01:15:08,020
Centimeters.

1664
01:15:08,020 --> 01:15:08,860
Centimeters, okay.

1665
01:15:08,860 --> 01:15:10,300
Yeah, you have the table model.

1666
01:15:10,300 --> 01:15:14,540
You have the 40 by 40 by 112.

1667
01:15:14,540 --> 01:15:19,540
Okay, that's, and then you have bigger models.

1668
01:15:19,740 --> 01:15:21,780
You have the 10 liter.

1669
01:15:21,780 --> 01:15:24,300
You have the 30 liter.

1670
01:15:24,300 --> 01:15:29,300
You have the 60 liter, 100 liter, 500 liter.

1671
01:15:29,300 --> 01:15:31,860
And then we can custom build

1672
01:15:31,860 --> 01:15:34,140
to your building's infrastructure.

1673
01:15:34,140 --> 01:15:34,980
Yeah.

1674
01:15:34,980 --> 01:15:35,820
You know, like that.

1675
01:15:35,820 --> 01:15:40,820
And what it does is it creates water from the air.

1676
01:15:41,300 --> 01:15:44,340
And at the same time, it purifies also

1677
01:15:44,340 --> 01:15:46,220
what is inside the building.

1678
01:15:46,220 --> 01:15:47,060
Yeah.

1679
01:15:47,060 --> 01:15:47,900
Okay.

1680
01:15:47,900 --> 01:15:50,340
Now the best would be if it's outside,

1681
01:15:51,300 --> 01:15:53,700
but it works also inside the building.

1682
01:15:53,700 --> 01:15:54,580
Okay.

1683
01:15:54,580 --> 01:15:56,260
But it can also work outside?

1684
01:15:56,260 --> 01:15:59,100
The best, because there it's where it gets more moisture,

1685
01:15:59,100 --> 01:15:59,940
more moisture from the air.

1686
01:15:59,940 --> 01:16:00,780
Yeah, more moisture from the air.

1687
01:16:00,780 --> 01:16:02,020
Yeah, yeah.

1688
01:16:02,020 --> 01:16:04,780
And so when I looked at it and I said,

1689
01:16:04,780 --> 01:16:06,860
wow, I couldn't believe this.

1690
01:16:06,860 --> 01:16:08,140
This is so amazing.

1691
01:16:08,140 --> 01:16:09,660
This is the best.

1692
01:16:09,660 --> 01:16:10,900
Wow.

1693
01:16:10,900 --> 01:16:13,900
So I asked him a few questions and this and that,

1694
01:16:13,900 --> 01:16:16,180
and then we formed a partnership.

1695
01:16:16,180 --> 01:16:18,380
And we even put the company,

1696
01:16:18,380 --> 01:16:20,060
the head office was in Bonaire.

1697
01:16:20,060 --> 01:16:20,900
Yeah.

1698
01:16:20,900 --> 01:16:22,340
So it can be a Dutch company.

1699
01:16:22,340 --> 01:16:25,340
And from there we went to,

1700
01:16:25,340 --> 01:16:29,780
we became part of the Dutch,

1701
01:16:31,780 --> 01:16:34,220
how do you call it, water mission.

1702
01:16:34,220 --> 01:16:36,100
And so we went to Mexico together.

1703
01:16:36,100 --> 01:16:40,220
We did Panama and so forth, and so forth.

1704
01:16:40,220 --> 01:16:41,060
Yeah.

1705
01:16:41,060 --> 01:16:45,540
And so that's how we went to water missions

1706
01:16:45,540 --> 01:16:47,220
from the Netherlands.

1707
01:16:47,220 --> 01:16:48,580
And we were very unique.

1708
01:16:48,580 --> 01:16:53,260
We had the boot that everybody came to see.

1709
01:16:53,260 --> 01:16:55,380
Because you had demos of the product.

1710
01:16:55,380 --> 01:16:57,740
Yes, and tested out and everything.

1711
01:16:57,740 --> 01:16:59,540
And it's amazing.

1712
01:16:59,540 --> 01:17:00,380
That would be super interesting to see.

1713
01:17:00,380 --> 01:17:04,540
It's so amazing, amazing how this equipment work.

1714
01:17:04,540 --> 01:17:08,660
I mean, the water, what it tastes is amazing.

1715
01:17:08,660 --> 01:17:09,660
You can't imagine.

1716
01:17:10,740 --> 01:17:14,420
And it never been through any pipe, except internally.

1717
01:17:15,420 --> 01:17:17,820
The father of Havana is amazing.

1718
01:17:17,820 --> 01:17:22,820
And I, you know, so at a certain moment I said,

1719
01:17:24,420 --> 01:17:26,580
I'm gonna take the distributorship.

1720
01:17:26,580 --> 01:17:28,540
And then we came to the conclusion,

1721
01:17:28,540 --> 01:17:31,460
we said, okay, the inventory that we put in Panama

1722
01:17:31,460 --> 01:17:34,860
will be from Green Innovation.

1723
01:17:34,860 --> 01:17:38,620
And then we would move forward like that.

1724
01:17:38,620 --> 01:17:43,060
So my purpose of my trip,

1725
01:17:43,060 --> 01:17:45,540
and I took Netherlands also,

1726
01:17:45,540 --> 01:17:47,540
because I'm a Dutch company.

1727
01:17:47,540 --> 01:17:52,540
And I want to push my product into the Dutch market.

1728
01:17:52,980 --> 01:17:57,260
I created a good relationship with,

1729
01:17:58,140 --> 01:18:02,340
due to the water mission as being part of the water mission

1730
01:18:02,340 --> 01:18:06,460
from the Netherlands, being part of the Netherlands.

1731
01:18:08,740 --> 01:18:10,980
I said I want the Netherlands as well,

1732
01:18:10,980 --> 01:18:14,340
because lots of times the Netherlands government

1733
01:18:14,340 --> 01:18:19,340
would give a gift to another country or whatever it is.

1734
01:18:21,020 --> 01:18:26,020
And usually it comes from the Netherlands.

1735
01:18:26,820 --> 01:18:30,460
So if I have a distributor or sub distributor here,

1736
01:18:30,460 --> 01:18:34,300
they would then carry it out

1737
01:18:34,300 --> 01:18:36,820
with the Dutch government or whatever.

1738
01:18:37,940 --> 01:18:42,820
And looking at the future, how I've seen the future,

1739
01:18:42,820 --> 01:18:46,100
is looking at all the things that,

1740
01:18:46,100 --> 01:18:48,180
while I was in the water mission,

1741
01:18:48,180 --> 01:18:52,340
the world is in critical state of water.

1742
01:18:53,380 --> 01:18:55,180
Critical state.

1743
01:18:55,180 --> 01:18:58,380
If you look at, I've been through rivers

1744
01:18:58,380 --> 01:19:03,380
where pollution comes out of rivers.

1745
01:19:03,860 --> 01:19:08,860
Pollution that fumes comes out of the river, entire river.

1746
01:19:08,860 --> 01:19:11,380
That river connects to the ocean.

1747
01:19:11,380 --> 01:19:12,220
To the ocean, yeah.

1748
01:19:12,220 --> 01:19:14,740
And don't forget, like that river,

1749
01:19:14,740 --> 01:19:17,460
there's plenty of other rivers in other countries,

1750
01:19:17,460 --> 01:19:21,260
big countries that is connected to the ocean.

1751
01:19:21,260 --> 01:19:26,260
And that is today forming, how do you call it,

1752
01:19:27,540 --> 01:19:31,540
that's why you have, the reefs have problems.

1753
01:19:31,540 --> 01:19:32,380
Yeah.

1754
01:19:32,380 --> 01:19:34,380
The algae is coming out.

1755
01:19:34,380 --> 01:19:36,740
All of these type of things,

1756
01:19:36,740 --> 01:19:39,660
it's because we have one ocean.

1757
01:19:39,660 --> 01:19:40,500
Yeah.

1758
01:19:40,500 --> 01:19:41,940
That's my belief.

1759
01:19:41,940 --> 01:19:45,020
I'm not a scientist, but we are one ocean.

1760
01:19:45,020 --> 01:19:45,860
True.

1761
01:19:45,860 --> 01:19:47,260
At a certain moment, we all connect.

1762
01:19:47,260 --> 01:19:48,100
Yeah.

1763
01:19:48,100 --> 01:19:49,460
And all these things.

1764
01:19:49,460 --> 01:19:50,300
It all flows.

1765
01:19:50,300 --> 01:19:51,140
All flows.

1766
01:19:51,140 --> 01:19:51,980
Yeah.

1767
01:19:51,980 --> 01:19:54,540
And when you look at, for instance,

1768
01:19:54,540 --> 01:19:58,540
the rivers itself that is contaminated,

1769
01:19:58,540 --> 01:20:00,340
how can you drink that water?

1770
01:20:00,340 --> 01:20:01,180
Yeah.

1771
01:20:01,180 --> 01:20:05,380
So we would have water, but we don't have water.

1772
01:20:05,380 --> 01:20:08,260
But we don't have water drinking water.

1773
01:20:08,260 --> 01:20:10,300
Because maybe a lot of people don't even know,

1774
01:20:10,300 --> 01:20:12,540
well, a lot of the bottled water

1775
01:20:12,540 --> 01:20:14,500
is coming from the natural springs,

1776
01:20:14,500 --> 01:20:17,580
and natural springs are connected to the rivers.

1777
01:20:17,580 --> 01:20:20,620
It's, this whole ecosystem is all connected.

1778
01:20:20,620 --> 01:20:25,620
Now, what Ocelet does, it replicate mother nature.

1779
01:20:26,220 --> 01:20:27,620
Yeah.

1780
01:20:27,620 --> 01:20:29,740
It replicates mother nature.

1781
01:20:29,740 --> 01:20:33,380
You know, you have first, you know, the external filters,

1782
01:20:33,380 --> 01:20:36,180
which are HIPAA filter and some of the equipment.

1783
01:20:36,180 --> 01:20:38,740
Okay, that keeps all the bacteria out.

1784
01:20:38,740 --> 01:20:41,700
And then you have the condensation.

1785
01:20:41,700 --> 01:20:46,300
Then you have another filtering with remerses or moses.

1786
01:20:46,300 --> 01:20:50,420
And then you have the UV lamp with the tank.

1787
01:20:50,420 --> 01:20:51,260
Yeah.

1788
01:20:51,260 --> 01:20:54,780
And then you have drinking, pure drinking water

1789
01:20:54,780 --> 01:20:59,780
with 7.4 pH, which is alkaline water.

1790
01:20:59,820 --> 01:21:01,300
Yeah, that's alkaline water.

1791
01:21:01,300 --> 01:21:03,020
Perfect alkaline water.

1792
01:21:03,020 --> 01:21:04,740
And it's amazing.

1793
01:21:04,740 --> 01:21:07,820
Once you drink the water from Ocelet,

1794
01:21:08,740 --> 01:21:13,740
you do not want anything else, honestly.

1795
01:21:13,900 --> 01:21:16,380
I've been, every time I travel,

1796
01:21:16,380 --> 01:21:19,540
I suffer because I don't have my water with me.

1797
01:21:19,540 --> 01:21:21,700
You don't have your water with you.

1798
01:21:21,700 --> 01:21:22,540
It's amazing.

1799
01:21:22,540 --> 01:21:24,820
So that's gonna be, that's gonna be part

1800
01:21:24,820 --> 01:21:26,660
of new business ideas.

1801
01:21:26,660 --> 01:21:28,300
New innovation, yeah.

1802
01:21:28,300 --> 01:21:29,140
No, that's coming now.

1803
01:21:29,140 --> 01:21:29,980
The traveling version.

1804
01:21:29,980 --> 01:21:31,740
No, we already have it.

1805
01:21:31,740 --> 01:21:34,020
I'm looking actually now in the Netherlands.

1806
01:21:34,020 --> 01:21:35,940
First, I have to find out what are the rules

1807
01:21:35,940 --> 01:21:37,780
and regulations of course.

1808
01:21:37,780 --> 01:21:40,420
And then for us to execute to make sure

1809
01:21:40,420 --> 01:21:43,340
that we comply with all the rules and regulations.

1810
01:21:43,340 --> 01:21:47,100
And then maybe together with a sub-distributor,

1811
01:21:47,100 --> 01:21:48,940
hopefully we'll find one.

1812
01:21:48,940 --> 01:21:53,940
And we also, looking back into it,

1813
01:21:54,140 --> 01:21:55,820
we say, hey, you know something?

1814
01:21:55,820 --> 01:21:58,780
Solar system would work perfectly with this.

1815
01:21:58,780 --> 01:22:02,740
Because I have a few ruler places in Bonaire

1816
01:22:02,740 --> 01:22:05,660
that has, don't have, it's totally off grid

1817
01:22:05,660 --> 01:22:08,140
and has our equipment with the drinking water.

1818
01:22:08,140 --> 01:22:08,980
Oh wow.

1819
01:22:08,980 --> 01:22:10,940
You know, so hey.

1820
01:22:10,940 --> 01:22:13,260
And tell you one more thing.

1821
01:22:13,260 --> 01:22:14,940
In emergency situations.

1822
01:22:14,940 --> 01:22:16,420
Yeah, not only that.

1823
01:22:16,420 --> 01:22:18,940
Yeah, like calamity and all of that, yeah.

1824
01:22:18,940 --> 01:22:23,340
And not only that, but once the lady find out

1825
01:22:23,340 --> 01:22:28,340
about this water, what it does with your skin

1826
01:22:28,340 --> 01:22:32,060
when you wash your face, my friend,

1827
01:22:33,100 --> 01:22:34,700
you can never take it.

1828
01:22:34,700 --> 01:22:37,820
You can't take away that equipment from them.

1829
01:22:37,820 --> 01:22:41,700
You know, and it's half price of the ones that knows

1830
01:22:42,700 --> 01:22:45,100
Kangen water equipments.

1831
01:22:45,100 --> 01:22:46,100
It's half price of it.

1832
01:22:46,100 --> 01:22:46,940
Yeah.

1833
01:22:46,940 --> 01:22:48,980
You know, and, but what it does,

1834
01:22:48,980 --> 01:22:50,980
it does miracle with your skin.

1835
01:22:50,980 --> 01:22:55,700
I have a friend, one of my business partners in Costa Rica.

1836
01:22:55,700 --> 01:23:00,700
He had one of the models, so he would show,

1837
01:23:01,140 --> 01:23:05,740
go to Costa Rica and show the hotel, this and that,

1838
01:23:05,740 --> 01:23:07,380
all these things.

1839
01:23:07,380 --> 01:23:10,820
At a certain moment, he wanted to take out the equipment

1840
01:23:10,820 --> 01:23:12,980
to go to an event.

1841
01:23:12,980 --> 01:23:14,660
The wife says, uh-uh.

1842
01:23:14,660 --> 01:23:18,140
The equipment is not going out of here.

1843
01:23:18,140 --> 01:23:19,780
Bring the people home.

1844
01:23:19,780 --> 01:23:20,940
Oh my God.

1845
01:23:22,780 --> 01:23:24,100
It's a true story, yeah?

1846
01:23:24,100 --> 01:23:26,380
So this is the warning for the guys

1847
01:23:26,380 --> 01:23:28,180
that want to make that investment

1848
01:23:28,180 --> 01:23:32,220
and the ladies find out the beauty implications?

1849
01:23:32,220 --> 01:23:33,060
Yes.

1850
01:23:33,060 --> 01:23:33,900
You're screwed.

1851
01:23:33,900 --> 01:23:36,740
It is so true, it's so true.

1852
01:23:36,740 --> 01:23:38,500
But then when you drink, I have, you know,

1853
01:23:38,500 --> 01:23:42,140
people that have, you know, testimony that says

1854
01:23:42,140 --> 01:23:43,900
they had problem with their skin.

1855
01:23:43,900 --> 01:23:45,980
Once they started to drink the water,

1856
01:23:45,980 --> 01:23:49,220
the skin problem went away, the skin rash and all of these things.

1857
01:23:49,220 --> 01:23:51,140
I'm very curious about this.

1858
01:23:51,140 --> 01:23:53,340
We'll have to talk more offline.

1859
01:23:53,340 --> 01:23:56,860
But looking into the crystal ball of the future, right?

1860
01:23:56,860 --> 01:23:58,860
Because earlier you mentioned that,

1861
01:24:00,860 --> 01:24:02,340
I think I quoted something like,

1862
01:24:02,340 --> 01:24:03,900
oh, I did it my way and you're like,

1863
01:24:03,900 --> 01:24:05,580
no, I'm still doing it my way.

1864
01:24:05,580 --> 01:24:06,420
Yeah.

1865
01:24:07,100 --> 01:24:12,100
So what are some of the other opportunities

1866
01:24:12,580 --> 01:24:15,220
that you see that you want to explore,

1867
01:24:15,220 --> 01:24:18,980
some of the plans that you maybe could share on camera?

1868
01:24:18,980 --> 01:24:23,980
You know, St. Maarten is a very unique island in many ways,

1869
01:24:25,220 --> 01:24:30,220
even though the mass tourism made a lot of vent into it,

1870
01:24:30,460 --> 01:24:34,180
but you still encounter very, you know,

1871
01:24:34,180 --> 01:24:35,020
Interesting people.

1872
01:24:35,020 --> 01:24:35,860
Interesting people.

1873
01:24:35,860 --> 01:24:39,860
I was with my good friend, like brother, Robbie.

1874
01:24:39,860 --> 01:24:41,820
He says, Alvin, there's this guy in the movie,

1875
01:24:41,820 --> 01:24:45,340
he used to make a lot of movies and he made this and that.

1876
01:24:45,340 --> 01:24:46,180
You want to meet him?

1877
01:24:46,180 --> 01:24:47,020
I said, yes.

1878
01:24:47,020 --> 01:24:50,900
So he called him, he happened to be on St. Maarten,

1879
01:24:50,900 --> 01:24:53,380
his name is Mars Callahan.

1880
01:24:53,380 --> 01:24:58,180
And Mars started talking to me about, you know,

1881
01:24:58,180 --> 01:25:00,020
what he's doing and this and that.

1882
01:25:01,180 --> 01:25:02,900
Then he says, you want to see?

1883
01:25:02,900 --> 01:25:06,260
Let's go to my villa.

1884
01:25:06,260 --> 01:25:07,100
Yeah.

1885
01:25:07,100 --> 01:25:11,420
And we went to Lowlands Villa, beautiful villa.

1886
01:25:11,420 --> 01:25:13,020
And who do I encounter there?

1887
01:25:13,020 --> 01:25:14,300
Cuba Gooding Jr.

1888
01:25:14,300 --> 01:25:15,700
Oh wow.

1889
01:25:15,700 --> 01:25:20,580
You know, a bunch of movie stars and also a whole team.

1890
01:25:20,580 --> 01:25:24,340
So when was this, around December, January-ish?

1891
01:25:24,340 --> 01:25:28,620
No, there was, yeah, this was, oh, let me see.

1892
01:25:29,580 --> 01:25:30,540
Time flies so fast.

1893
01:25:30,540 --> 01:25:31,700
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1894
01:25:31,700 --> 01:25:33,740
No, I'm more thinking the time of the year.

1895
01:25:33,740 --> 01:25:36,580
I think it was like two years ago, two years ago.

1896
01:25:36,580 --> 01:25:39,300
Yeah, but which season of the year?

1897
01:25:39,300 --> 01:25:41,980
This would have been in summertime.

1898
01:25:41,980 --> 01:25:44,140
In summertime, okay.

1899
01:25:44,140 --> 01:25:48,940
And so two years ago, or yeah, two years ago.

1900
01:25:48,940 --> 01:25:53,500
And so I came across him and he says,

1901
01:25:53,500 --> 01:25:57,020
and he says, yes, let's go take a look at it, you know.

1902
01:25:57,020 --> 01:25:58,660
Look at what they have.

1903
01:25:58,660 --> 01:26:01,340
And they were showing me Joe Juarez,

1904
01:26:02,700 --> 01:26:04,740
who's a co-owner as well.

1905
01:26:04,740 --> 01:26:09,100
And some other techie guys, and these guys as well,

1906
01:26:09,100 --> 01:26:10,740
beyond, you can't imagine.

1907
01:26:10,740 --> 01:26:15,260
And they showed me the product.

1908
01:26:16,780 --> 01:26:18,460
I said, holy shoot.

1909
01:26:19,700 --> 01:26:24,580
Whoa, whoa, I want to be part of this.

1910
01:26:24,580 --> 01:26:27,020
How can I be part of this?

1911
01:26:27,020 --> 01:26:29,420
You know, and they said, well,

1912
01:26:30,580 --> 01:26:33,300
we need to get into Columbia, we need to do this,

1913
01:26:33,300 --> 01:26:34,740
we need to do this.

1914
01:26:34,740 --> 01:26:38,580
I said, I'll take you to the presidency house.

1915
01:26:38,580 --> 01:26:40,980
I didn't know the president.

1916
01:26:42,860 --> 01:26:43,980
But I'll take you there.

1917
01:26:44,940 --> 01:26:45,780
I'll get it done.

1918
01:26:45,780 --> 01:26:49,860
And before you know it, one month thereafter,

1919
01:26:49,860 --> 01:26:51,900
we were in the president palace.

1920
01:26:51,900 --> 01:26:53,500
President palace in Columbia.

1921
01:26:53,500 --> 01:26:54,340
In Columbia.

1922
01:26:54,340 --> 01:26:56,500
With all the ministers and all of them.

1923
01:26:58,500 --> 01:27:01,820
As if you believe in something and you have a good product,

1924
01:27:01,820 --> 01:27:03,620
you can convince anybody.

1925
01:27:03,620 --> 01:27:05,700
And of course, I have very good friends

1926
01:27:05,700 --> 01:27:08,060
that could open the doors and things like that, you know.

1927
01:27:08,060 --> 01:27:08,900
So.

1928
01:27:08,900 --> 01:27:13,100
Yeah, is that saying that you're only five steps removed

1929
01:27:13,100 --> 01:27:13,940
from anyone in the world?

1930
01:27:13,940 --> 01:27:17,340
And I tell you one thing, when you come into the room

1931
01:27:17,340 --> 01:27:19,460
with guys like Cooper Gooding Jr.,

1932
01:27:20,700 --> 01:27:22,700
everybody wants to see you.

1933
01:27:25,340 --> 01:27:27,820
And the first thing they ask is, can I take a picture?

1934
01:27:27,820 --> 01:27:28,660
Yeah, yeah.

1935
01:27:29,780 --> 01:27:31,100
This guy's so famous.

1936
01:27:31,100 --> 01:27:31,940
Yeah.

1937
01:27:31,940 --> 01:27:34,900
You know, I made, we went to Bonaire together,

1938
01:27:34,900 --> 01:27:37,500
he stayed at my house together with the whole team.

1939
01:27:37,500 --> 01:27:41,180
And I said, I made a bet with him.

1940
01:27:41,180 --> 01:27:43,060
I said, and Bonaire, when you reach to Bonaire,

1941
01:27:43,060 --> 01:27:43,940
you don't need to worry,

1942
01:27:43,940 --> 01:27:47,340
the people won't worry who you are and this and so,

1943
01:27:47,340 --> 01:27:49,020
you don't need to worry about security,

1944
01:27:49,020 --> 01:27:51,540
you don't need to worry about this.

1945
01:27:51,540 --> 01:27:53,700
He said, Alvin, are you sure?

1946
01:27:53,700 --> 01:27:54,540
You want to bet?

1947
01:27:54,540 --> 01:27:55,940
I said, no, we don't need to bet,

1948
01:27:55,940 --> 01:27:58,820
but I'm just telling you, I'm just telling you.

1949
01:27:58,820 --> 01:28:01,740
Well, as we came from the airport,

1950
01:28:01,740 --> 01:28:05,660
we were driving in front of the Bisturz collation.

1951
01:28:05,660 --> 01:28:08,580
And they stopped, let me see this one minute.

1952
01:28:08,580 --> 01:28:12,780
And somebody recognized him from in the car.

1953
01:28:12,780 --> 01:28:13,620
Can you imagine?

1954
01:28:14,900 --> 01:28:19,380
And the guy stopped, he could not believe his eyes.

1955
01:28:19,380 --> 01:28:21,940
The other car came and bumped into him.

1956
01:28:21,940 --> 01:28:23,260
Oh my God.

1957
01:28:23,260 --> 01:28:24,100
Okay.

1958
01:28:24,100 --> 01:28:26,540
So you guys got into an accident in Bonaire.

1959
01:28:26,540 --> 01:28:28,900
Both of them got out of the car,

1960
01:28:28,900 --> 01:28:30,780
wanted to take a picture with Kuba.

1961
01:28:30,780 --> 01:28:35,780
And then Kuba with me, he says, Alvin, I'm telling you.

1962
01:28:40,500 --> 01:28:44,700
It's amazing, this guy's so humble, so nice,

1963
01:28:44,700 --> 01:28:48,660
because he has this time that he wants his, you know?

1964
01:28:48,660 --> 01:28:50,180
But I don't want to be in his shoes

1965
01:28:50,180 --> 01:28:54,700
because everywhere this man goes, it's like, wow.

1966
01:28:54,700 --> 01:28:59,700
I mean, there's no corner on earth that he could be,

1967
01:28:59,700 --> 01:29:02,060
he, you know, relaxed.

1968
01:29:02,060 --> 01:29:04,500
There's no corner on earth, you know?

1969
01:29:04,500 --> 01:29:06,620
But this guy is amazing.

1970
01:29:06,620 --> 01:29:08,300
He's such a humble man, yeah.

1971
01:29:09,740 --> 01:29:11,420
Amazing stories, man.

1972
01:29:11,420 --> 01:29:15,020
But I did not tell you what the business was.

1973
01:29:15,020 --> 01:29:20,020
It is the world's first Web 3.0 platform

1974
01:29:22,980 --> 01:29:24,540
with streaming.

1975
01:29:24,540 --> 01:29:28,780
Let's leave that as a surprise for later.

1976
01:29:28,780 --> 01:29:29,940
Okay.

1977
01:29:29,940 --> 01:29:32,620
Web 3.0, world's first?

1978
01:29:32,620 --> 01:29:33,460
Yeah.

1979
01:29:33,460 --> 01:29:34,280
Interesting.

1980
01:29:34,280 --> 01:29:35,120
Yes.

1981
01:29:35,120 --> 01:29:35,940
Interesting.

1982
01:29:35,940 --> 01:29:39,620
Created for mainly, actually it was created more

1983
01:29:39,620 --> 01:29:43,620
for the movies and people that make content providers,

1984
01:29:43,620 --> 01:29:45,260
people like you guys, you know,

1985
01:29:45,260 --> 01:29:47,260
that make movies and make things,

1986
01:29:47,260 --> 01:29:52,260
but don't have a way to distribute it and to cash out.

1987
01:29:52,620 --> 01:29:54,260
Get direct to customer.

1988
01:29:54,260 --> 01:29:55,180
Yeah.

1989
01:29:55,180 --> 01:29:56,580
And that's what it's all about.

1990
01:29:56,580 --> 01:29:59,860
But then came more things and more things and more things.

1991
01:29:59,860 --> 01:30:01,740
It's something, it's gonna be the bomb.

1992
01:30:01,740 --> 01:30:02,900
It's gonna be the bomb.

1993
01:30:02,900 --> 01:30:04,620
I can tell you, it's gonna be the bomb.

1994
01:30:04,620 --> 01:30:05,540
It's gonna be-

1995
01:30:05,540 --> 01:30:09,380
That crystal ball, well, the track record speaks for itself.

1996
01:30:09,380 --> 01:30:14,380
It will be as big or bigger than Microsoft.

1997
01:30:15,740 --> 01:30:16,580
Oh snap.

1998
01:30:16,580 --> 01:30:18,740
Or Amazon.

1999
01:30:18,740 --> 01:30:19,580
Oh snap.

2000
01:30:19,580 --> 01:30:24,580
Or any of these big corporations within five to 10 years.

2001
01:30:25,580 --> 01:30:26,420
Huge.

2002
01:30:26,420 --> 01:30:29,980
Once it launches, which is close to launching.

2003
01:30:29,980 --> 01:30:33,900
You know, so I'm happy to be part of this

2004
01:30:33,900 --> 01:30:37,380
because they appointed me, well, I'm a shareholder now,

2005
01:30:37,380 --> 01:30:39,580
and they also appointed me president

2006
01:30:39,580 --> 01:30:41,980
for Latin America and Caribbean.

2007
01:30:41,980 --> 01:30:46,540
But since, you know, we're also a Dutch island,

2008
01:30:46,540 --> 01:30:49,100
I want to bring it to the Netherlands as well.

2009
01:30:49,100 --> 01:30:51,780
You know, so that's, and then of course,

2010
01:30:51,780 --> 01:30:53,180
once it gets to the Netherlands,

2011
01:30:53,180 --> 01:30:56,940
it's gonna go viral all over, all over, all over.

2012
01:30:56,940 --> 01:30:58,220
It's gonna be worldwide.

2013
01:30:59,260 --> 01:31:02,740
And I would be very proud to see that day

2014
01:31:02,740 --> 01:31:04,020
that it's a major accomplishment.

2015
01:31:04,020 --> 01:31:05,660
Don't go with the money.

2016
01:31:05,660 --> 01:31:08,580
It goes with the accomplishment that one has done.

2017
01:31:08,580 --> 01:31:11,740
And when you believe something, you see something,

2018
01:31:11,740 --> 01:31:14,860
you grab it and you take it along.

2019
01:31:14,860 --> 01:31:18,460
And sometimes, like they say, you know,

2020
01:31:18,460 --> 01:31:22,700
you chew more than you can, but then you spit it out.

2021
01:31:22,700 --> 01:31:24,180
You take on more than you can chew,

2022
01:31:24,180 --> 01:31:26,780
but then you have to know when to spit it out.

2023
01:31:26,780 --> 01:31:27,820
Don't choke on it.

2024
01:31:27,820 --> 01:31:30,020
Don't choke on it, yeah.

2025
01:31:30,020 --> 01:31:33,740
Because sometimes, you know, then again,

2026
01:31:33,740 --> 01:31:35,540
no venture taken, nothing to gain.

2027
01:31:35,540 --> 01:31:37,540
Yeah, exactly, exactly.

2028
01:31:37,540 --> 01:31:40,380
Alvin, it's been an amazing conversation.

2029
01:31:41,780 --> 01:31:46,380
I feel like I've learned a lot during this conversation.

2030
01:31:46,380 --> 01:31:49,020
And I believe the viewers at home

2031
01:31:49,020 --> 01:31:51,340
or wherever you're connecting from

2032
01:31:51,340 --> 01:31:55,860
have also gained some interesting knowledge, insights,

2033
01:31:55,860 --> 01:32:00,220
nuggets, and they gotta keep looking out for what's next

2034
01:32:00,220 --> 01:32:04,540
because it seems like you're still doing it,

2035
01:32:04,540 --> 01:32:07,060
not quite done, still more to go,

2036
01:32:07,060 --> 01:32:10,020
and busy right now in what seems to be

2037
01:32:10,020 --> 01:32:14,220
two potential world-shifting, changing type of projects,

2038
01:32:14,220 --> 01:32:16,940
which is the Water and the Web 3.0.

2039
01:32:16,940 --> 01:32:19,260
So thank you very, very much for being here.

2040
01:32:19,260 --> 01:32:20,260
You are so welcome.

2041
01:32:20,260 --> 01:32:23,260
And having this amazing conversation with us.

2042
01:32:24,180 --> 01:32:25,500
Thank you.

2043
01:32:25,500 --> 01:32:26,340
That's how it is.

2044
01:32:26,340 --> 01:32:27,420
That's right.

2045
01:32:27,420 --> 01:32:28,740
Very important.

2046
01:32:28,740 --> 01:32:30,380
And the look in the eye.

2047
01:32:30,380 --> 01:32:31,900
Exactly.

2048
01:32:31,900 --> 01:32:33,380
Yes, and with that, guys,

2049
01:32:33,380 --> 01:32:37,740
we're out, another amazing episode of Sunside Kingdom Show.

2050
01:32:40,180 --> 01:32:43,020
Yeah, I'm speechless right now.

2051
01:32:43,020 --> 01:32:47,460
So I'm gonna just lock off, shut down,

2052
01:32:47,460 --> 01:32:50,340
and continue some offline conversations.

2053
01:32:51,260 --> 01:32:52,180
Thank you very much.

2054
01:32:52,180 --> 01:32:53,260
See you in the next one.

2055
01:32:53,260 --> 01:32:55,860
Subscribe, like, share, comment.

2056
01:32:57,060 --> 01:32:59,860
Actually, I even forgot to mention,

2057
01:32:59,860 --> 01:33:01,940
you're our first guest from Bonaire.

2058
01:33:01,940 --> 01:33:03,460
Look at that.

2059
01:33:03,460 --> 01:33:06,340
Like I say, a good friend of mine, he passed away.

2060
01:33:06,340 --> 01:33:07,940
Yeah.

2061
01:33:07,940 --> 01:33:09,860
Look at that, look at that, look at that.

2062
01:33:10,780 --> 01:33:13,100
That's Stephen Bruni, my good friend.

2063
01:33:13,100 --> 01:33:13,940
Stephen Bruni.

2064
01:33:13,940 --> 01:33:16,580
Yeah, he used to take care of my boat

2065
01:33:16,580 --> 01:33:21,580
in St. Mark, very good artist, had a voice of gold.

2066
01:33:22,620 --> 01:33:23,780
I wonder.

2067
01:33:23,780 --> 01:33:25,500
Yeah, he used to be in the Netherlands.

2068
01:33:25,500 --> 01:33:29,420
We're actually friends with Bruni,

2069
01:33:29,420 --> 01:33:32,220
so there might be some relation there as well.

2070
01:33:32,220 --> 01:33:34,540
Oh, there are, all Brunis are friends.

2071
01:33:34,540 --> 01:33:37,580
And this guy was amazing, amazing singer.

2072
01:33:37,580 --> 01:33:39,060
He used to be in a band here.

2073
01:33:39,060 --> 01:33:40,100
Okay.

2074
01:33:40,100 --> 01:33:42,300
Yeah, he used to be in the band here.

2075
01:33:42,300 --> 01:33:43,740
And he used to be a good singer,

2076
01:33:43,740 --> 01:33:46,740
he used to be a songwriter also from St. Martin.

2077
01:33:46,740 --> 01:33:49,860
This guy is, well, I miss him every day.

2078
01:33:49,860 --> 01:33:50,740
I miss him, yeah.

2079
01:33:50,740 --> 01:33:53,860
Me and both of them used to take care of my art

2080
01:33:53,860 --> 01:33:57,060
and also the one from Robbie, which is,

2081
01:33:57,060 --> 01:33:59,180
and we both miss him so badly.

2082
01:33:59,180 --> 01:34:00,020
Yeah.

2083
01:34:00,020 --> 01:34:02,420
Yeah, this guy is amazing.

2084
01:34:02,420 --> 01:34:04,260
He's like his father, you know,

2085
01:34:04,260 --> 01:34:07,940
when they are detailed people,

2086
01:34:07,940 --> 01:34:10,780
when they're does detail, they do detail.

2087
01:34:10,780 --> 01:34:12,340
Unfortunately, he passed away.

2088
01:34:12,340 --> 01:34:13,180
Yeah.

2089
01:34:13,180 --> 01:34:14,700
He's a very good friend.

2090
01:34:14,700 --> 01:34:17,060
Alvin, thanks once again.

2091
01:34:17,060 --> 01:34:18,100
You're welcome.

2092
01:34:18,100 --> 01:34:20,500
Viewers at home, thank you.

2093
01:34:20,500 --> 01:34:21,700
See you in the next one.

2094
01:34:21,700 --> 01:34:45,180
Bless.