Episode 449 Bill Thompson Passion and Purpose in Hunting with Spartan Forge Transcript

This transcript is from episode 449 with guest Bill Thompson.

Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Drive On. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio. And today, my guest is Bill Thompson. Bill is an Army veteran and the CEO and founder of Spartan Forge, a platform that combines advanced mapping technology with hunting to enhance the hunting experience and also Bill, serves as a therapeutic outlet for fellow veterans.

So today we’re going to be talking about his love for the outdoors, how it led to the development of Spartan Forge, how it works, and how he sees it benefiting, uh, veterans, uh, you know, overall. So before we get into that though, uh, welcome to the show, Bill, really glad to have you here.

Bill Thompson: Thank you for having me.

I appreciate it.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. So, uh, let’s, uh, talk a little bit about, uh, kind of your background, kind of where your passion for, for hunting came from and, and maybe how your military experience and, and those two kind of combined to lead to the, the, uh, founding of Spartan Forge.

Bill Thompson: Yeah, sure. So, um, I mean, I, I [00:01:00] hunted kind of culturally from a child, from childhood age, 12 or 13.

And I was raised in the Midwest, in North Dakota. Um, and then, uh, I kind of veered away from it when I was in the military for maybe the first six or so years. And then, uh, my brother-in-law just took me bow hunting. I think it was right after a deployment one time I think I got back from the deployment and like maybe November and he took me out in December.

And um, just the immediate attraction, I guess was just kind of the intimacy that bow hunting. Brings, which is, you know, getting up really close on an animal and really understanding them and have a, I always call it kind of a heightened sense of awareness or a heightened sense of things whenever you’re kind of in the moment of truth.

Um, and so I, the first time I loose an arrow, um, had a deer. I was, you know, instantly addicted to it. Um, and, [00:02:00] and as I kind of grew as a man and in the military, um, I started to find that there were very few places in life. Where, um, I kind of got that sense of meaning, um, a sense of award and accomplishment where everything kind of came together, but really where, especially both as an intelligence officer, I did a lot of work towards the middle and latter part of my career where I was a lone operator.

Um, or, you know, I was in a country with maybe two or three other guys, um, and kind of putting everything together. Combining the intelligence picture for a commander and then watching, you know, an operation go where bad guys are taken off the battlefield. Um, the real analogy, the only real analogy in life that I found that to be other than that place really was hunting where it’s kind of the same thing or solving a targeting problem.

Scott DeLuzio: Right.

Bill Thompson: And [00:03:00] so, um, as I grew as a hunter, like it became more about, Breaking it down, you know, outsmarting, you know, older deer, not just bucks, but does as well. Um, and just taking more and more difficult game. Um, and for me, at least, um, there’s this moment that happens right before you, um, loose an arrow, um, which is very similar to the feeling that I would get right before a military operation kicked off.

Um, and it’s like a buzz. Um, and, uh, You know, where you feel like you’re in the right place at the right time and everything’s kind of coming together and all the hard work and the diligence and the discipline pays off in something that’s a culminating event. Um, and you know, I never really thought about starting a hunting company until the latter part of my career.

Um, I was super stressed out about getting out of the military cause I didn’t know what else I was going to do. That was going to kind of give me a meaning like, [00:04:00] you know, job, not, you know, making money or, um, Or leisure pursuits, but for me, I really find meaning and, uh, you know, first being a father, but then second being, and a husband, but then second being a soldier and the meaning that I derived from that.

So Spartan, you know, when I started to get the ideas about Spartan Forge, it actually kind of let the, um, it only let the, it let the steam off because I felt like I had something now that I could pursue that was going to allow me to still do things that were meaningful to me. Whereas, I don’t know where I would be, um, had I not gone that route.

Scott DeLuzio: Right. You know, it’s interesting. So, I’ve gone bow hunting, uh, a few times, and the very first time, uh, that I went bow hunting, I had a deer, I mean, Stupid close. Like I, there’s no, no reason to miss this, but my very first time, and sort of [00:05:00] to what you’re talking about, that, that feeling, that rush, that buzz that you get, um, I got so excited.

I was like, I drew back. I was ready, ready to, to, um, to release that arrow. And I was so interested in where it was going to end up. I did one of these where I, I kind of like looked up and. My whole aim was just right down, I shot the arrow right in the ground just before, uh, it got to the, to the, uh, target, and It was such a stupid move, like, afterwards, I was looking at myself like, this was stupid, I shouldn’t have shot, I should have, you know, waited and, you know, kind of calmed myself down, the deer wasn’t going anywhere, um, you know, but then as soon as the arrow hit the ground, it for sure took off, but, um, you know, it was one of those things where it was just that rush, that excitement, I was, I was just, So anxious to see where, where is this going to end up?

And did I hit my target? Of course not. I, I hit the ground in front of it and that was stupid. But, [00:06:00] um, you know, it’s, it is a, uh, relaxing thing to me, I think, you know, getting out there just in, in nature and, and you know, Being around, you know, the trees and the forest and that, you know, other, other animals that might be around and, and, and everything.

It’s, it’s enjoyable to be outside like that. And so I can see the attraction and as you were describing it, you know, uh, there is. similarities between military operations and hunting. Um, you know, you’re maybe hunting down a, uh, a target in, in the military and you, you have a lot of prep work to do in order to do that.

And it’s, you know, similarly, you have that kind of work that you need to do for hunting as well. And so you can kind of take that along with you, those experiences along with you in, in the hunting environment and, uh, be able to, uh, you know, effectively hunt. Whatever it is that you’re you’re hunting at that point, right?

Bill Thompson: Yeah. Yeah, [00:07:00] there’s a ton of meritocracy in both situations where Very rarely do you get lucky in either domain? And you know, the military has got a good way of sussing people out That don’t meet muster or aren’t, you know, staying in shape or keeping their weapons clean or keeping trained on their equipment Because they’re lazy or whatever.

The reason is the government Uh, well, the military and the, and hunting kind of do the same thing, um, whereas if you aren’t, like, of course you can cheat and like, you know, cut corners and do all that stuff, but even the final analysis, it won’t pay off for you there either. Um, and, uh, hunting kind of does that same thing, but then also, um, I’ve never been really good at abstracting.

I’ve gotten better at it as I’ve gotten older. But especially when I was a younger man in my late 20s, early 30s, I was never really good at abstracting off of victory, like understanding that, you know, meaningful tasks ultimately will pay [00:08:00] off in the final analysis. Um, I’ve gotten certainly better at that as I got older, but it also kind of allowed me to bypass that because I knew what was necessary to achieve victory in either domain.

And the question was, was I either going to do the right thing or not? Um, and I found, you know, what was really nice about the military, um, is that they make it simple. Um, you know, shine your, well, when I joined it was shine your boots, but keep your uniform clean and pressed, when you’re in garrison, uh, stay in shape, uh, go do some boards or some extracurricular activities if you really want to shine above the rest, which really isn’t all that much.

Um, show up on time, have your information, follow orders. Like, that’s the first six years, and um, I know that’s difficult for some people, but for me it was like, I have a rubric for success, that if I follow, it’s super simple, and uh, I just need to do what I’m told, and then, hunting is similar, like, once you have the [00:09:00] knowledge and you, you know, there’s enough, the corpus of knowledge in hunting is out there, where if you follow 60 percent of it to a T, you’ll be successful, um, and so, you know, that for me, uh, I’m a high, I would say I’m, I’m a conscientious person now, but I wasn’t when I was younger.

And it kind of helped me develop that conscientiousness by seeing the victory or by seeing that this process was easy. Um, not easy. It’s simple. Um, it’s not easy, that’s different. But it’s simple. It’s a simple process. It’s not something where you need to navigate a ton, a ton of torrential waters. It’s just stay in shape.

Pass height and weight, show up on time, do as you’re told, um, have a good attitude, and then you can do one or two things to really set yourself apart, and by then you’re like, you’re an excellent soldier. So.

Scott DeLuzio: Sure.

Bill Thompson: That to me was, uh, was really assuring, um, and, and allowed me to, [00:10:00] uh, kind of build on my character in ways that I probably organically would have failed otherwise.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, and I, I think with just about anything, if there’s some sort of system or procedure in place. It makes it easier because you don’t have to come up with things on the fly, like if you’re experiencing a situation for the very first time, um, you know, if I, if I put you in a cockpit of an airplane, and you’re now 30, 000 feet in the air, and it’s like, okay, we’ll land the plane, well, if you’ve never done that before, you’re going to be freaking out.

You’re not going to have any, any clue what to do, but people who have trained, they, they’ve, you know, They learned all the procedures, you know, if something goes wrong, what do I do? And they’ve practiced these things, they’ve trained and everything. And so there are processes and procedures for all these different things.

And it makes it way easier to do. I’m not saying it’s easy to do any, you know, fly an airplane or, you know, any, any of those types of things. But it’s, it’s way easier than if you were just trying to figure it out on [00:11:00] your own. on the fly, you know. Um, you know, so with anything, um, you know, hunting, the military, uh, you know, anything that you, you do with those, those procedures in place, it, it just makes it easier because now it’s, you’re not figuring things out as you go.

You’re, you’re just following the process and, and to your point, um, you know, do, maybe do one or two things that make you stand out and all of a sudden. Not only are you the guy who is following the processes, the procedures and everything, but you’re also kind of going above and beyond. And now you’re standing out as a stellar soldier, right?

Yeah. And that’s, that’s kind of the, the name of the game, I think. Right.

Bill Thompson: Yeah, for sure. And I mean, it paid off and, um, You know, it allowed me to do things in my career that I would have never thought possible or that I thought were, you know, only in fairy tales, and, um, and it, you know, obviously led to me starting Spartan Forge, so, um, you know, [00:12:00] just, just try to, I guess, I do, I, I, I, on every problem, it’s kind of like a scientific method, but it really gets applied do the variable analysis, account for what you can, um, For what you can account for, plan for, and have a backup, and then move out, um, and that’s, you know, it’s really a simple way to look at life.

Scott DeLuzio: Right. Exactly. Um, now Spartan Forge, uh, tell us a little bit about it. Uh, I know, I know the, the app, uh, you know, is involved, tell us about what the app, the hunting app, and, uh, you know, maybe some of the technology behind it. What, what can people, uh, expect with, with that, uh, and, and how do they, um, use that in, in the hunting environment?

Bill Thompson: Yeah, so it’s kind of that same thing as, um, I would say, you know, people that would kind of point out who our competition is. We are more concerned with just kind of one part [00:13:00] of the planning cycle, um, which is mapping and, and, and kind of geospatial awareness, maybe weather, and a couple of other things.

We’ve kind of taken a more all encompassing look at it and done that same variable analysis that I talked about before and said, how many things can we account for to save people time, to optimize success, and to do that in a fashion that won’t break the bank. So, you know, Spartan Forge, um, As I left my military career, I was working in AI, um, computer network operations, human intelligence operations, that type of stuff.

And as you kind of alluded to before, it’s a targeting problem that soldiers are trying to solve and battlefield commanders are trying to solve. Um, and it’s the same thing that a hunter is trying to solve as a targeting problem. So what are the factors that are involved with precision locating any type of game?

So identifying what those, um, variables were and then digitally accounting through them for them through a mobile application. So, we have, you know, all kinds of [00:14:00] planning stuff in there. I would have to speak for 20 minutes to cover it all. But, you know, um, historical weather, high resolution mapping, LIDAR mapping, historical mapping, um, we have an AI that you can interact with to ask general hunting questions or advanced hunting questions.

Um, we have, uh, an Intel section that will tell you what type of forbs and food that you can expect white tailed deer to eat in certain areas. What the hunter population looks like, the donut to buck ratios, kind of esoteric stuff, but we have a feature in there called Blue Force Tracker where you can add your buddy’s emails and you can see where their pins that they drop, photos, notes, location, that type of stuff.

And so, kind of, there’s a military flavor to it, obviously, except for what I did since I was 17. But, uh, it’s more meant to be an all [00:15:00] encompassing application that is kind of, you know, soup to nuts when it comes to what a hunter needs, and then presenting high quality data, data that’s better quality than what’s out there, um, and trying to grow it, you know, organically without doing venture capital, which, you know, is a task all of in its own, but the goal here is to provide autonomy for individuals and their pursuits, um, that’s the highest goal, and, uh, um.

You know, what versus, you know, any company in any domain in any space, it’s not clear what their corporate culture is or what they believe, um, and what I’m trying to issue is something that’s in stark contrast to that.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, and you mentioned, you know, trying to tie in the military with that and just some of the names that you used in the, uh, um, you know, the description of this.

I can tell there’s some military influences going on with this app. Um, so in [00:16:00] using this, uh, so a hunter goes out and they’re obviously looking for certain types of game, but this seems like kind of a game changer where It’s using, you know, historical data to say, okay, where, um, you know, what was the weather like in this, this particular area?

What are the, the animals, uh, eating in, in this particular area? And, and where can you, you know, maybe help, help you, guide you to where they might be? Um, you know, maybe, like you said, if, if you have buddies who, you know, dropped a, dropped a, You know, a note somewhere saying, hey, you know, they’ve been coming through this area that that might help be helpful.

Uh, you know, so it’s a whole lot easier than, uh, going out the way maybe you would have before all this technology and you kind of have to figure out where they’re going. I mean, yeah, you can, there’s ways that you can. Look at the land and try in the [00:17:00] topography and look at the the food and other things that are around and try to figure out where they’re the animals are or where they’re heading to that type of thing.

But that that’s not easy. And this technology seems like it’s going to going to make it a whole lot easier for folks to go out and find the game that they’re actually looking for. Right?

Bill Thompson: Yeah, so I mean, it’s a culture and it’s a pastime. And, you know, over the past 20 years. We’ve seen availability of time, um, with stuff like the economy and the value of the dollar and the pressures of consumerism and, you know, all of these things where people have less and less time to do the things that they want to do and they’re spending more and more time doing the basics and just trying to keep the boat afloat.

So, if we can create a hunting application that, you know, helps educate people, helps them put meat in the freezer. But can also help them, you know, if they have different goals or pursuits, like a trophy animal or whatever, like we support all of that. I would say the [00:18:00] baseline of us is people who are hunting for meat for, uh, for game.

And, um, and kind of, like I said, centralizing all of those things so you can spend as much time at home doing the digital scouting piece and the learning piece. Um, and then when you have the time to go out and do physical scouting or practice or whatever, that it’s a more informed heuristic instead of just Picking out things randomly online.

So, um, that, that, that was kind of the ethic for us in developing this.

Scott DeLuzio: Right. And, and to your point, I think it’s still important to learn the tracking and, and all of that type of stuff. But, uh, we, to, we do live in this, you know, uh, on demand society where we, we want to go out and do something. We want to do it now.

We don’t, we don’t want to spend days tracking an animal to, you know, Uh, maybe get a chance to, you know, take that animal and, um, kind of want to go out and, you [00:19:00] know, maybe it’s, take a couple hours in the morning and go, go try to hunt something and, and if it, if it works out, great. If it doesn’t, then, you know, that’s, that’s too bad.

But, um, you know, you’re right. We do, we have busy lives and the availability of time for stuff like hunting, um, you know, even though it may be something that somebody really wants to do, um, it, you know, It’s limited. Um, and I think just going back to uh, kind of what, something I said in the, the intro, um, was that, you know, getting outside and hunting and doing things in nature is sort of therapeutic to some people.

Um, and, um, They may really enjoy, uh, getting out there and being in nature. Uh, if they’re a hunter, great. They, they can get out there and spend their time in nature. Um, you know, but realistically, they probably have a job, and they have a family, and they have, you know, other obligations. So they can’t spend their entire day out in the, in the, [00:20:00] uh, in nature, you know, hunting.

Um, but there’s other people, too, who I, you know, As I’m talking, I can imagine they might find some interest in an app like this, um, to help them find, uh, certain animals. Maybe they’re a photographer or, or something like that, where they, they take nature, uh, photos and things like that, where hey, I, I want to go take a picture of a deer, uh, or, you know, turkey or something that’s, that’s kind of my thing and I, I want to go do that, but I also don’t want to spend, you know, eight hours walking around the woods trying to find this animal either.

So, you know, something like this could, could be extremely beneficial because they can get out there, they can find, you know, especially time of day that might help. You know, a photographer with a certain kind of lighting and that type of thing. Um, you know, so all of those things are things that people might do.

They might find some therapeutic benefit to it. Um, and, and I think it’s, it’s awesome that there’s an app like this that exists because [00:21:00] it allows people to, like you said, get out there, uh, do it and, and be, get it over with, almost, and, and get back on with their lives, right?

Bill Thompson: Yeah, yeah, and I mean there are a lot of different people that use it too.

I get, you know, stories from either policemen, firefighters, we’ve been having emergency personnel in North Carolina during the cleanup efforts and recovery efforts who use it for like our LIDAR layer, um, and, uh, you know, photographers I know who use it, um, as you talked about before, um, you know, there’s land parcel data inside of there that we offer for free, um, so there’s a lot of useful kind of transfer state cases, where it doesn’t need to just be for hunting.

Um, and you know, the outdoors is therapeutic, or at least it is for me. Like, I think anybody who gets outside and just gets the sun on their face for an hour a day even, um, ultimately feel better. In fact, I think there are studies that support that.

Scott DeLuzio: Sure.

Bill Thompson: [00:22:00] Um, so even if someone doesn’t know in the immediacy that this is something that could be a therapeutic for them, I would engage them to try it and to just, you know, get out there and do it.

The app is built in such a way that if you just want to use it for navigating while you’re hiking or you’re outdoors or you’re offline, it’s cheaper than most of your other hiking apps that are out there. Um, or if you just want to use it for navigating in the dark when you’re hunting, you can do that.

But then if you really want to get crazy on data and learning and all of the extra features that we have, you can do that as well. And it’s all at a price point that’s, that’s, you know, we, we, until three years ago, two years ago, we only had three guys on our whole staff. We did everything. Um, and now we’re, you know, full time, probably somewhere around 10 or so.

Um, and all of us are wearing multiple hats, um, which is a good thing because it gives everyone kind of a thorough understanding of the, of the app and the network and the, and the goals.

Scott DeLuzio: Yep.

Bill Thompson: Um, and it’s great from a leadership [00:23:00] perspective, um, for me. But then it also allows us to, we’re a little slower maybe when it comes to land parcel data or the research that’s involved in that, which we kind of farm out, but it does allow us to keep the, you know, the price of the app down at about half of what most people charge for similar and less functionality.

Scott DeLuzio: Well, and you mentioned certain features on the app as well, the LIDAR in particular. Could you explain maybe a little bit what that is and what, you know, how that benefits the hunters or anyone who’s using the app?

Bill Thompson: Yeah, sure. So, LIDAR is, um, if you, I’m sure everyone here has heard the term RADAR. RADAR is an acronym for Radio Detection Ranging.

Um, Radio Detection Ranging sends Electromagnetic pulses out into the Earth’s atmosphere, the pulses refract or reflect off of an object, and then [00:24:00] the velocity, um, and the timing of the pulse is measured, and then you get from that, um, and other parts of the pulse are measured, but for simplicity’s sake, um, you get a, you know, a distance and a bearing, so a cop would use this for, um, uh, gauging your speed in the car, um, when you’re driving down the highway.

That would be, uh, radar practical use. LiDAR is the same type of technology only it’s using the light spectrum instead of some of the EMP spectrum that gets used otherwise. It uses light to map the Earth’s surface and what it does is it penetrates houses and trees. So you are just seeing a representation of the Earth’s surface in a way that like a 1 to 50, 000 topo map or a standard aerial map wouldn’t present to you.

For instance, if there are old logging paths on the ground or a cleared ground or improved ground or. Um, uh, uh, areas where there’s rocks and other types of things under the canopy that might be affecting deer movement or whether or not they choose to bed [00:25:00] in an area. Another thing deer do is when there has been a logging operation three, four, five years later, the ground grows back up, but the areas where there was logging generally doesn’t grow up.

It only grows with like small grasses and that types of things. Deer will reclaim those travel routes. and use them. So when you have intersections of these travel routes, then you have kind of an what I would use an ambush point. Um, that might take you, you know, if you’re walking 15, 000 acres, that might take you a week to find some of that stuff.

Whereas when you’re using a lot, utilizing something like LiDAR imagery, and then some of the chips and the other things that we overlay over top of it, you’re able to figure out pretty quickly, um, how an animal, or if you’re a human and you’re trying to get into an area that’s difficult to access. Um, and there’s an old bush road or something that’s not denoted on a standard map, um, or in the case of North Carolina, where the roads were washed out and people are trying to find different routes to houses, um, people were telling me stories where they are [00:26:00] able to use the LiDAR layer to find an old, you know, logging path or, um, uh, a non denoted hiking trail.

Um, to get to somebody’s house in a way that was much easier than, you know, bushwhacking or whatever else was the, uh, the alternative. So LiDAR is handy for that. Um, and then you can throw things over at like slope, angle, or, or standard contours. Um, uh, logging operation data, landowner data. And it just gives you a more comprehensive view, um, as I alluded to before, um, in that variable analysis hierarchy that we talked about.

Scott DeLuzio: Well, right, and you mentioned a lot of variables there that, that come into play when, when hunting, or even, uh, you know, like you were saying in the, the operations in North Carolina with, you know, the hurricane and everything, there’s a lot of variables, um, especially when roads are washed away, when, uh, you know, other, other things just got, Destroyed and may not exist [00:27:00] anymore.

You may have a, you know, a physical paper map of an area. Well, that map is different after a hurricane comes through, you know, like what you’re actually seeing on the ground. And so if you have something that’s a little more up to date, you know, in, in sort of real time, uh, you can, you can see what’s going on around you and, and, um, You know, pay attention to the changes of, of that and find the best way to get to wherever it is that you’re going.

And so, um, you know, that, that is certainly useful. Um, and I know there’s, there’s a lot of veteran groups who are out there trying to help out folks. And so, um, you know, I’d, I’d encourage them to, you know, check out Spartan Forge, whether or not they’re hunters. Um, you know, if this is going to be something that’s beneficial to you, check it out.

Um, because it may, uh, may help keep you safe as you’re out there. Um, you know, helping out other people, you know, last thing we want to do is obviously we’ve had people, you know, injured and, and, uh, you know, homes were, were destroyed and all that kind of stuff. The last thing we want to do is have more, uh, people get, get harmed because [00:28:00] they’re, they’re in an unsafe environment, uh, you know, inadvertently, you know, because they think maybe something is safe, but, uh, you know, it might not be.

And so this might help, uh, with all of that. So, um, that’s a free version of

Bill Thompson: the app too, for people to pick up. So if they want to just check out and see what we’re doing, they won’t get all the features that I talked about, like the large language models or the LIDAR data, but there’s certainly enough there for you to understand the lay of the land, trails and that type of stuff, denoted trails and those types of things.

And the other thing that was very useful for those people in about half of the U. S., our imagery is updated every six months, so the data that they were using, the aerial imagery data that they were using during the hurricane relief stuff was about a week old. Um, which is, you know, it was far newer than anything else that was on the market, even when you compare it one to one for like a Google or a Microsoft Bing, um, it was far newer.

So, uh, that was a feather in our hat for us, because we really got to help out in a meaningful way.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, and [00:29:00] that certainly is meaningful, especially when you’re talking about these big tech giants that, you know, have outdated maps and things that, like, gosh, you’d think that they, you know, would focus some attention on those areas so that those areas can be helped out a little bit more with their technology, but you know yours you know obviously is more up to date and you know is a heck of a lot more useful to those people on the ground to be able to do whatever it is that they’re doing, get supplies to where they need to go and help the people out where, wherever they are.

You know, so, from a, you know, mental health standpoint we talked about a little bit the, uh, the benefits of just being outside, right? Whether or not you’re out there to hunt just getting outside, like you said, for an hour a day It could be extremely beneficial, just get some sun on your face and, uh, you know, just enjoy the outdoors.

Um. Some people, [00:30:00] maybe, maybe they don’t know, uh, you know, where to go or, or anything like that, and I, I would think an app like this would certainly be beneficial, especially if you’re not familiar with the environment that you’re, you’re in, if you’re going to go for a hike in the woods or something like that, um, you know, really easy to get turned around and, and get lost, but if you have something with you that, that’s going to keep you on track and, um, you know, help you get back to wherever it is that you need to go, um, that’s going to certainly be useful as well, so.

Bill Thompson: Yeah, and there’s a large language model there too, so if someone’s always thought about hunting and they’ve never been able to, you know, put it together, didn’t have like a mentor or a local bow shop or someone that they want to deal with, all of that information is in there. It talks you through everything from like, Hey, I’ve got 500 bucks to go bow hunting this year, what does my setup need to look like, or what should be in my pack, or.

What do I need for dressing a deer out? What do I need for, you know, where are local processors? All of this type of stuff, um, is hugely important, um, and we source all of that data and we train that model ourselves, um, so it’s highly [00:31:00] accurate, um, and it’s, can get very esoteric on, like, I used it last year for, um, using, doing a brain tan on a deer hide, um, which is something I had never done myself, so I, I used our large language model and then learned how to do a brain tan on a deer hide, which is, like, a very soft, uh, Um, uh, that you can, you know, use every part of the animal and, um, and do something cool.

So there’s lots there to learn. I mean, I think the large language model alone is worth the price of the app, so.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, it sounds like it because some of those things, like if you’ve never done it before, And you don’t have that, that person in your life that can walk you through it. That’s certainly useful.

Um, and, um, you know, of course it’d be great to have that person who can show you, you know, right, right then and there, but, um, you know, we don’t always have that, but maybe, maybe, You know, I have this real urge or desire to go hunting. And this is, I feel like [00:32:00] that’s calling me and I want to go do it. Maybe I don’t know how to do it, or I don’t know how to dress a deer or whatever.

Right. Um, okay. Well, what’s the next best thing is having that in your pocket essentially. Right. And then I can walk you through all of that. And then, uh, I think, uh, a benefit of that is, uh, maybe if you have friends. Or other people that you know in your life who might want to go hunting. They just don’t know how, once in you’ve kind of figured it out and you’ve learned how, you can now take them and you can be that person and you could teach them.

And I, I think that that’s, that’s a great thing. And, and so this kind of helps keep people motivated, you know, get out there, go, go do that thing if, if that’s what’s calling you, um, and, and bring other people along. Because it, you know, doing things, um, Together, I think, can be beneficial as well, right?

Bill Thompson: Yes, for sure,

Scott DeLuzio: for [00:33:00] sure.

So, going forward, uh, Spartan Forge, um, are there any, you know, upcoming features or things like that that you want to share? Or any, maybe even any, like, success stories from other folks who, um, you know, maybe are new to hunting or haven’t been successful in the past? Uh, that That you might be able to share that that will help kind of encourage folks to maybe go check it out and say yeah You know, this is the right kind of thing for me.

Bill Thompson: Yeah. I mean, there’s a ton. Um, I run the social media personally make sure that I’m talking to the customers and You know, I would say the first thing or the thing I’m most proud of this year is the North Carolina Hurricane Relief stuff We donated something like 200 accounts for people on the ground to use You Whether it’s using our Blue Force Tracker, which is like a pin share, photo note share to coordinate water drop [00:34:00] points, or let people on the team know where the roads are washed out and share that in kind of a seamless fashion, and then using the LiDAR layer, like I described before, um, and the recent imagery, uh, that is something, uh, when you can create a product and you’re truly helping people Um, in a meaningful way, uh, it is a high value for me.

So I would say that was one of the biggest ones from this year. Um, you know, hunting season in most parts of the U. S. are just starting, or it’s just getting serious, I would say. It’s kind of like we’re entering playoffs right now for, you know, most of the hunting, the whitetail hunting world, at least. Um, so people are just starting to use it a bunch, but, you know, anytime I get a message from a father and son who use the application and.

And experience, or a mother daughter, but I hear more from the father and sons who experience success, um, and create memories, and we hold a small part in that, um, that to me again is a, [00:35:00] uh, it just makes me feel good, and it just, um, you know, when you’re doing something for the right reasons, and then those reasons manifest into a success for someone else, a stranger that you don’t know,

Scott DeLuzio: and

Bill Thompson: you get to be 3 percent of that victory for them, and then And you can do that for tens of thousands of people.

Um, you know, that is a product I enjoy making and getting behind, um, for a variety of reasons. So those would kind of be the big ones. And then from a product standpoint, uh, it’ll be out by the time this app really, or this, um, podcast releases. But, um, we’ve got some SolarFlex stuff that helps you understand, you know, animals, especially in the extreme cold, are always looking for where the sun is hitting the ground for the most of the day.

Depending on its, uh, its orientation in the sky. So we have this, what we call solar flex layer. Then we’re also dropping, um, historical imagery for all of the U. S., um, and some more state and, and, and, and wildlife layers, that type of stuff, [00:36:00] improvements on our pins, um, that type of thing. Uh, we launched the Cyber Scout earlier this year, which has been a boon for us.

So, um, really it’s just focusing on making more useful products and kind I would say our competition really focuses on commodity data and like more layers, more layers, more layers, like always with that map centric function, which is fine. Like, you need some of that stuff, but I tend to think that some of the other stuff that we’re making, especially for the passionate hunter or the passionate outdoorsman or outdoorswoman, I think there’s more value in what we’re doing.

So, um, of course, I say that as the CEO, but, um, yeah. So there’s some eyes there, but, uh, um, yeah, that, that’s kind of what we have cooking, and by the time this podcast is out, all that stuff will be out, and then, um, you know, lots of interesting, um, integrations and partnerships that we’re going into in the off season, and, um, we’re going to continue building.

Scott DeLuzio: That’s great. [00:37:00] And having an app like this, uh, in your, in your pocket, um, you know, even, even for the folks who were affected by the hurricane, uh, if you had this in your pocket, because I know communications were disrupted and, and, uh, you know, all that kind of stuff were, were, was kind of a problem, uh, if you had that You know right as as the everything was hitting might help you find your way to safety as well So it’s you know, even like you said, there’s a free version that might be sufficient for that that type of purpose You know encourage people just go go check it out And I’m sure it’s available, you know anywhere just go go to the you know Whatever your app stores

Bill Thompson: or you can go to the app stores or we have a website Spartanforge.

ai Um, and then they can communicate with me through Instagram or if they have questions or recommendations or just want to share experiences. I answer all of that stuff personally. I spend almost three hours a morning doing it. So [00:38:00] it’s very important to me, um, as the product and also like my more important role in the company is product owner over CEO, I would say, and that is making sure that we are building things that people want and like.

Scott DeLuzio: Right. Yeah, and just taking this back to your military, uh, time and then the transition, you know, the, the question that pretty much everyone has as they’re getting out is, what am I going to do after this? You know, what, what’s next? Um, but you found something that, uh, combines not only something that you’re, you’re passionate about, but also uses a bit of your military background to, uh, kind of inform some of the, the tracking and, and, uh, other useful data that you, you would like to have seen, uh, you know, maybe in the military, um, and use that in, in the hunting context, or, or, you know, general outdoors, uh, context, and it, uh, They’ve kind of married those two things together, and I think it’s just a, to me, a [00:39:00] great story because it shows for other folks, if you’re not sure what it is that you want to do, maybe you’re looking at jobs that are out there, and it’s like none of those really seem all that interesting, well, what is it that you’re interested in?

And try to build something yourself. And that’s, seems like that’s what you’ve done, and you’ve been rather successful doing so. And so, To me, that, that’s very inspiring, uh, hearing your story and, uh, hopefully for some folks out there who don’t know what’s next, uh, that might be an inspiration for them as well and, uh, you know, help them pull the trigger to, you know, start something on their own, create something, invent something.

I think that’s, that’s great.

Bill Thompson: Yeah, I think it’s important that, um, for vets that are considering post military, um, employment. Um, for me, certainly, I had a ton of anxiety not knowing what I was going to do or where I was going to go. Um, and that, you know, when these days, when the military [00:40:00] days were over, that, that would be the end of, you know, um, what, what would you say, that would be the end of my doing meaningful work.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. The purpose, purposeful work.

Bill Thompson: Yeah. Where you see the output of your effort directly.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Bill Thompson: Um, and, uh, that really stressed me out. It freaked me out. So. So, you know, I would, I would, I would encourage people, you know, first save your money while you’re in the military. Have an exit plan. If it doesn’t involve a pursuit of what you hold in the highest regard, then get busy thinking about what that thing is, um, and then educating yourself, um, through traditional and non traditional means to identify what that is.

And then when you can identify that and find either, I mean, there’s two courses of action once you’ve identified it. One is. You either find employment where they’re doing that work and then you can go and pursue it meaningfully on your own. Or secondly, and more excitingly, is if it doesn’t exist, [00:41:00] then that’s your opportunity to make that thing.

Um, and if you are doing that, um, the energy, you’ll find the energy, like I’ve been doing 16, 17 hour days, um, for the better part of four years. Um, and my day starts and stops with this stuff. Um, you know, I find time for my family, obviously, and that’s very important to me. Um, but when I’m not doing that, I’m thinking about the app.

I’m thinking about hunting. I’m thinking about the hunters using the app. Um, and, uh, so creating that market space where it might not exist is your opportunity to use your, the leadership and the skills that you may have garnered while you were in the military, and then pursue something meaningful, which will give you that energy where you might not otherwise be able to find it.

And that to me. The meaning and the purpose that you derive from that is much better than any paycheck, um, or, you know, new [00:42:00] truck that you might be able to buy from this big contracting job that you don’t like. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that. Um, but there’s also people that just want to work and do their 9 to 5 and be done, and I’m fine with that too.

Like, I’m not judging those people. Um, uh, but if you, if you are worried about those things and you have that type of mind, um, You know, kind of sit down and look at yourself dispassionately and find out what really motivates you and what would really allow you to push when all of reality is telling you not to.

Um, I find that as I get closer to my goals and as I get closer to the things that I know are the highest good in my life, that the universe pushes up back on me the hardest during those times. And then when you have that breakthrough. Um, and you’re on the other side of it. Um, you can do an AAR, do an after action review and, and find out either how you fell short or how [00:43:00] you made it harder on yourself than you had to, um, and then, you know, refit and, and go back out and do it again.

And, uh, that cycle to me, I, you know, there’s the old adage where, um, it’s not the destination, it’s the trip or the journey, um, that makes the journey meaningful and tolerable, no matter how hard it gets. Um, and that would be my advice. I

Scott DeLuzio: love it. I think that that’s all wonderful advice, I think, you know, for the folks out there, to your point.

Nothing wrong with if you want to go work your 9 to 5 and come home and, and that’s how you want to do that. That’s great. But, um, you know, if you You can have a passion for something and you can build something the way you did. Um, now it doesn’t have to be hunting related, it could be whatever your passion is, right?

That’s, that’s I think the key here. Um, you know, whatever that passion is, you can find something, find it, uh, a hole in the market, find a need, go and create that thing [00:44:00] that fills that need, uh, whether it’s a service or a product or, or whatever it may be. Go, go and do that type of thing. Um, and for someone like you, if you can find something that you love doing, you’ll never work a day in your life.

You know, even though you’re putting in these long hours every day, it’s not, it’s not, you don’t dread Mondays, I’m guessing, right? No, I,

Bill Thompson: no, I, the weekend stresses me out.

Scott DeLuzio: Right, exactly. Because my

Bill Thompson: capacity goes down and I become a singleton.

Scott DeLuzio: Right. And

Bill Thompson: now I’m doing things where I’m either waiting for Monday to get answers or whatever.

And I don’t expect my employees or people that work with me to work the weekends, that’s not what I’m saying. All I’m saying is I deal with lower capacity, you know, I work Saturdays and Sunday mornings before I go to church, um, and I’m, uh, thinking about it all the time and it’s not like I’m a drone and I’m still doing stuff with my family and thinking about, you know, my obligations as a father and as a husband, but, um, [00:45:00] uh, you know, if I can provide for them while doing this, then I think that sets an example that gives people meaning, um, whether it be my family or my friends or people that are just listening to this podcast.

Um, and I think that makes for more of a more complete person because I think one thing we can all agree on is when you’re doing a job just for the paycheck and you hate the job and you hate the people and you hate your boss, um, you can end up setting an awful example for your son or daughter that might be watching that.

Um, of course they understand that you’re working and laboring for them, but they’ll always also understand that maybe you didn’t take that chance that you should have and life only has so many days. And everybody’s got a number. Um, and you know, I would just encourage people, even if they’re still working, to pursue what’s they’re passionate about, and it will bring a richness and a fullness to their life, um, that, uh, I think everyone needs.

Scott DeLuzio: 100 percent agree. Um, and I think [00:46:00] with that, I think that’s a maybe a good place to, to wrap up here. But, um, I will have for the listeners, I will have links to where you can find the app, the website, all that stuff in the show notes. So you can grab, uh, or download a, uh, you know, uh, the app for yourself. Um, check it out.

If it seems like that’s the thing for you, wonderful, um, you know, hopefully we get more, more folks using the app and, uh, you know, especially, uh, the, the folks who like to be outdoors and, and do things outdoors, it, it, I, I can definitely see how that’s beneficial, so, um, thank you, Bill, again, for taking the time to come on the show, I really do appreciate it, and, uh, sharing your background, your, your experiences, uh, and how you, you know, I think that, to me, the key takeaway is how you, uh, took your, something that you were passionate about and, and turned it into something, um, meaningful, uh, after, after the military.

So, uh, that, I think that, that’s wonderful and I think [00:47:00] it definitely will serve as a source of inspiration for many people. So thank you again for taking the time to come on and sharing your story.

Bill Thompson: Well, I appreciate that and thank you for having me. I hope to come on again.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks.

Bill Thompson: Thank you.