0:00:00 - 0:00:26 I want to give an update about the foundation about upcoming books and about um how donations are coming along. So, um we kicked off, we being me and a pro bono attorney that was helping me the process of, of making the up board dot foundation official last October. And it turns out that doing this is 0:00:26 - 0:00:53 a, is a nightmare with the IRS. Um There's so many hoops to jump through and they're not, they make this really complicated. Um Recently I learned even more about this and, and most of it's bad news as far as what the costs involved are even with doing as much of this as I can myself. There are things 0:00:53 - 0:01:13 that can't be avoided. Uh Some of those are, are, are really time consuming like the the forms that are required to be filed and there's a lot of red tape there and limitations with, with ways we might want to do this. Um And others are, are financial and I think those are more substantial as of 2019 0:01:12 - 0:01:37 , you have to use specific software in order to file the required forms which are a nightmare to fill out. Um And it still will cost you 100 and 50 bucks every single year. Um, the, the way I had intended to use the foundation to buy out my time for, for writing books and making videos and such was through 0:01:36 - 0:02:07 , um, W-2 payroll. And so that involves the money required for monthly payroll, all the forms and everything for that. And then the taxes, the, the 1.8% for, uh, unemployment insurance and, uh a heck of a lot more than that for FICA and income tax. And so looking at all the numbers and the hassle for 0:02:07 - 0:02:34 this, I did a pros and cons analysis and I, I don't know that anyone actually cares about the tax deductibility of their donations. So if you do, please let me know because otherwise it seems to me like all this rigmarole probably isn't worth it since the IRS has this um this facility for personal gifts 0:02:34 - 0:02:58 which can be, don't quote me on any of this. Like do your own homework, get an attorney, just read the websites, whatever. Uh 17,000 a year can be gifted to an individual from any individual without any tax implications. So that was kind of shocking to see uh on their website. If it's a couple, you can 0:02:58 - 0:03:20 uh a couple can donate double that per year without any tax implications. Like I said, look all this up for yourself. But if that's the case, looking at the amount of donations that are coming in. Um I, I'm not sure we're gonna cross that threshold with anyone. So if you don't, let's see, please reach 0:03:20 - 0:03:44 out to me at upward dot at gmail.com if you need the tax deduction. So I think most people are not going to cross the itemized deductions threshold and therefore it doesn't matter. So you're just gonna get the standard deduction um and it won't affect you either way. And so if we go that route, what 0:03:44 - 0:04:07 it enables me to do is spend way less of my time navigating through really frustrating IRS red tape and also staying out of any unintentional gray areas because the tax code is a freaking mess. Um while getting all of the money directly to where we want it to go, which for right now is buying out my 0:04:07 - 0:04:24 time so I could do this stuff and even if there's something else we want to do in the future or whatever that might be, um it, it, we could still do it just through this and not have to worry about all of that. It's been interesting in navigating all this, you know, and, and talking with this attorney 0:04:23 - 0:04:44 , one of the options we were looking at was forming a, a legal church uh for, for the tax benefits. Um So the, the work we were gonna do either way, we were looking for the legal formation that would be the best fit and it, it turns out it was very interesting to see not to get on too much of a side 0:04:44 - 0:05:04 trail here that there are a lot of requirements the IRS puts on churches and not surprisingly, it affects what they can teach and how they teach it. It's very interesting to put two and two together with that. And then you, you say, oh, ok. So actually a lot of what's wrong with Christian churches today 0:05:03 - 0:05:22 is because the IRS mandates that they do things a certain way and it prevents them from doing things how they need to, to be effective. So, for example, the idea of church boards and uh you know, if you're a pastor and you're actually calling people to repentance, you're gonna get fired by your congregation 0:05:21 - 0:05:43 . Well, you'd say, well, why don't pastors just start their own churches? Because legally they can't, that's, that's, you know, broad brushing here. But anyway, that was super interesting to see. So I think the best way to go is just to, to reroute the link for the donations instead of the paypal for 0:05:43 - 0:06:00 this entity we created called up or Thought Foundation. I, I think I'm just gonna route it to my personal account and then have, you know, full disclosure of that on the website before we make any changes. But uh look for that for the future. So if your current, if you currently have recurring donations 0:05:59 - 0:06:17 , uh you'll, you'll have to change those over and set that up again. I apologize for that, but I think this is the best way forward looking at all the, the details. Um And again, let me know if you have some issue with that or, or you have an idea that I haven't thought of, uh, that I've mentioned here 0:06:17 - 0:06:41 , but I think that's the way we're gonna go um, on that note. So when, when I started looking at this and I, I can't remember at this point what I've said, um, I try not to bring up money and, and I don't want this to see. I, no one likes talking about it. Right. And I don't either. Um, but then I have 0:06:41 - 0:07:02 personal conversations with people and they ask me things and, and I, I find out that I haven't said something, I thought I said, so I was talking with a gentleman yesterday and, and he was surprised to find out that we talk fairly often that, that, um, my, my current source of income, uh, my full time 0:07:01 - 0:07:25 job at a company that I started while I was a professor before I got canceled and then, uh, switched it to doing that exclusively once, uh, once I was canceled and I lost that, that professor job. Um, 11 of the reasons we were looking at this foundation, um, was because there was a, a potential that 0:07:25 - 0:07:49 the company wasn't gonna make it. We at that time and we still are pre revenue we were dependent on, um, these grants that I've been awarded and also uh an investment that we had um to make ends meet and that, that was particularly difficult. There have been a lot of challenges. Some of those are just 0:07:49 - 0:08:11 the nature of the beast and starting a company and, and having a tech start up, there are a lot of hard problems you have to solve, but it was extremely more difficult than it otherwise would have been because uh the cancellation at the, at the university also, um my employees were, were harassed nonstop 0:08:10 - 0:08:34 by journalists and their, their uh peers. And so one by one, they quit uh over a very short period of time after all that broke in the press. And uh so I had to rebuild everything and that wasn't just a matter of hiring people. I, I don't want to get into all the details. It's, it's uh we live in a place 0:08:33 - 0:08:56 where it's hard to find qualified people. And these are folks that I had grown organically at extremely high cost, paying them competitive wages for six months as I taught them how to do their job. And uh I had to restart that again without any of the, the help from the crossover with the university 0:08:56 - 0:09:18 position and having access to folks at that stage of life, it was extremely difficult. And then on the, on the tech side, I ended up having to um effectively to recode the entire product myself. Um for various reasons and, and there was just challenge after challenge, there was a nightmare. Anyway, we 0:09:17 - 0:09:39 did great things and we managed to bounce back from that. But um there's always the potential that that's not gonna work out and there's the very real possibility that I would struggle to, to find a job in the industry. Uh due to the fact that I've said many things online that people have gotten fired 0:09:39 - 0:10:05 for saying less than that. So, uh I think my Google ability is an issue there, even though I've, I've always been extraordinarily professional in every job I've worked. Uh it, it today, it's, it's not enough to just be good at your job and abide by the rules of your employment agreement. So, um hence 0:10:05 - 0:10:31 the foundation and the idea with the foundation was to open the way so that uh excuse me, instead of spending some 35 hours a week in personal time, mostly time, I'm not sleeping, uh doing what I do for the, for with the books and this channel and, and those sorts of things that I'd, I'd have my entire 0:10:31 - 0:10:56 schedule open for that, which would amount to something like 70 hours a week. And so we're at the point now where, um I, I still don't know how it's going to go with the company, but various things are, are making it less likely that it's going to succeed and uh I'll know for sure and not too much more 0:10:55 - 0:11:23 time. But, um, there's an increasingly high likelihood that by October 1st and maybe, uh, maybe months before that, that sometime between now and then, uh, I will not have my full time employment and, um, then I'm facing the choice of either doing this full time and going for it or looking for a job 0:11:23 - 0:11:54 and seeing if that's a possibility. Um, financially, I don't see any possibility where donations could ever be competitive with what I could earn. Uh, at, at my professional market value. I think that, um, I think that if I felt it was likely I could get half of that, I would be very happy to do it even 0:11:53 - 0:12:20 though it's, it's a hourly, it would actually be a quarter of that because 70 hours versus 40 hours. But, um, I, I don't even think that that's a reasonable hope. Um, but, but right now the donation amounts are so low that, that, uh, so, so, ok, thank you very much for the individuals who are, who are 0:12:19 - 0:12:39 being very generous and also for all the people who are participating, even at, at a much lower level. I, I very much appreciate it. But what I'm saying is for, for, because of the other folks, um, it's insufficient to, to take the plunge at this point. So, if I had to call it today, I'd, I'd need to 0:12:39 - 0:13:04 get a job and even if I wasn't hirable in my field, my professional field. Um, I'd have to go find a job digging ditches or something because, uh, we can't even make it on welfare with the donation amounts that are coming in right now. So, um, and that's, that's with my 401k cashed in and everything 0:13:04 - 0:13:24 else. That's basically, um, you know, the best that, that could be done. So, uh, that's where we are with that. And again, many thanks to people who are helping out, especially people making recurring donations because that's really helpful to project out. Not that you're compelled or anything to keep 0:13:24 - 0:13:47 helping, but um that, that helps to, to make plans and uh make a case that this could be done. So, where are we right now? Um As of right now, I've got something like 24 books in the Hopper, meaning that on average, those books have about 250 pages of notes written. I've been at this for a while and 0:13:46 - 0:14:07 um we're turning the corner on some of these, the, the material is pretty firmed up. It just needs to be written better, which I'm not trying to minimize. It's an enormous amount of work and it's really terrible to do. It's not my favorite part. Um The ideation I've come to, to enjoy, even though that 0:14:07 - 0:14:29 it's like running, it's like sprinting for 13 hours at a clip, you know, which is usually what happens on a Saturday or Sunday very early in the morning. Um That's, that's where I'm at and what I'm doing. But anyways, it transitions to getting closer to the finish line. The, the work in, in my experience 0:14:28 - 0:14:47 , it becomes even more grueling because of, well, I don't wanna drone on and on about this, but it's a different kind of work and it's, it's, uh, really hard, but I think I'll be done one at the end of this month. That's my goal. Uh, I had hoped to get done too by the end of this month, but that's just 0:14:47 - 0:15:07 not gonna happen. And I think in another month or two after that, I'll have another one depending on how things go with my full time job. I may or may not find myself with more time over the next few months. And, um, by October 1st, I might actually be able to publish 4 to 6 books from, from now till 0:15:07 - 0:15:27 then, which is kind of crazy. But, um, there, there will be a slowdown after that no matter what, because the, the work that needs to be done for the other ones that I know for a fact, there are some portions of those that I'm gonna need more time to work through. But, um, anyway, that's, that's kind 0:15:27 - 0:15:46 of where we stand by the fall. You'll have a few books in your hands and they'll be substantial enough that for most of you, it's gonna take a couple of years to work through that. But for some of you, you're gonna bang through them, immediately apply everything in them and say what's next. And this 0:15:46 - 0:16:10 is something we need to talk about. If you're still with me, there's a huge amount of variation across people. One facet of that variation is that some of you, you know, I, I talked to one guy and I think it was a video I put out, I can't remember. And so forgive me one guy for, for forgetting these 0:16:10 - 0:16:30 details. But uh he had started a business or something and he was like two years into it and it was self funded. He was down like 100 and 50,000 of his life savings and all this and whatever I made, I think it was a video. He said, I wish I had seen this three years ago cause I'd still have all that 0:16:30 - 0:16:52 money and I'd be in a much better place and it probably for most people sounds kind of weird to hear something like this. But you know, I had a conversation with someone the other day and I'm pretty sure it saved this guy's marriage uh in a big way, like not just saved it, but it's gonna be a million 0:16:52 - 0:17:16 times better now. And the fact is that we live in a world where value is Pareto distributed and the vast majority of what we experience is pretty much worthless. But every now and again, there's something just off the charts valuable and it changes our lives. In fundamental ways. Now, um you might not 0:17:15 - 0:17:44 find the things that I write about and, and talk about to, to fit that mold and that's fine. But if you do, there's a disproportionate um responsibility to help bring it into being. Now, this is where we get circle back a little bit to what I was talking about before most charitable foundations. The 0:17:44 - 0:18:02 way they work is they're actually selling something, but they're selling something. It, legally, they're selling something that fits into the mold of what the government uh considers to be for the public good. And they're doing it in a way where they're not giving funds to shareholders. That's the, the 0:18:02 - 0:18:25 , a huge distinction between charities and um corporations. So there's no stock. So uh people get paid but there's no return to shareholders because there are no shareholders. So you, you find people and they, they'll, if they're doing religious stuff, they'll sell DVD S or books and they charge market 0:18:25 - 0:18:48 rates for those and they do that for a couple of reasons. One is that most people will not just freely give, they, they won't give a free will offering. And so when a guy stands up and, and this is my message to say, look, actually, it's much closer to the kingdom of God, for people to give things away 0:18:47 - 0:19:15 for free and then ask people to donate, what the lesser of two, these two things, what they can afford and what it's worth to them. So to replay this, like, you know, football clip and we're gonna circle the players and analyze the play in the world. And also in charities, people sell things and they 0:19:15 - 0:19:40 give you a product for pre specified price, but it's closer to God's Kingdom to give you the value knowing full well, you will never get how much that's worth because you didn't make it, you didn't pay the price to make it and just say, look, whatever you can afford up to what it's worth to you. Let's 0:19:40 - 0:20:02 go with that. But the value comes first when, when you're being sold something, if I want to sell you this pen, I have to tell you why it's valuable and you have to believe me and then you have to give me money and I'll give you the pen and let's hope that I wasn't just lying to you. But with God, while 0:20:02 - 0:20:31 we were yet sinners, he gives it to us. And then he says, now, what is that worth to you? Right? So when, when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, Melchizedek didn't come and say, hey, I'm a priest and I'm important. Therefore give me money. He blessed Abraham and then Abraham gave him money in that 0:20:30 - 0:20:52 order. It matters a lot, right? So with the books that I've given away uh probably tens of thousands of copies of for free at this point, I I don't track the PDF S nor could I if someone downloads it and shares it. Right. But I don't track the downloads even. Um, I, I, there have been thousands of books 0:20:51 - 0:21:21 moved through Amazon. Uh So no money for that. Right? But now the request is, hey, if you find this, if you find what I have done so far valuable, you now have the ability to support me so I can keep doing it. Not in hopes that what I do is valuable, but in recognition of the value you've already received 0:21:21 - 0:21:47 for free. And just like with God, because he does this the second we, you know, donate to him and you do that by giving it away to other people. By the way, he blesses us again and he blesses us with more. I really like the books I've written, believe it or not, but the ones that are coming out, leave 0:21:46 - 0:22:09 those in the dust. I, in my perspective, you might disagree and that's, that's fine. That's fair. So that's what where I'm hoping to go with this and, and that would be my choice is to do this full time. Not because it's easier because it's not easier and not because it would take less time because it 0:22:09 - 0:22:28 takes a lot more time and not because I'm going to make more money because I'm gonna make a heck of a lot less money no matter what. And, and I would love for someone to prove me wrong on that. I really would uh, I wouldn't feel bad about it at all, but I, I think I'm gonna be right on that and that's 0:22:28 - 0:22:47 ok. I'm, I'm willing to do that. I mean, if I didn't have a family of support, I absolutely would just live in a homeless shelter. I, I absolutely would do that for the rest of my life. I don't care. As long as I have a computer and the ability to type and I need an internet connection, uh, and probably 0:22:47 - 0:23:22 some headphones and some mcdoubles and they were good. So, other than that, everything else is just, uh, it's either for my family or to make what I do more efficient so I can get out more and better faster. So, um, even if all support is cut, uh, nothing is gonna stop me from doing what the Lord told 0:23:22 - 0:24:05 me to do. It'll just take a little longer. It'll be a lot harder. But, uh, it's, it's been a while now since, uh, I made the decision to be here for what I can do for others. So, so what we gonna do until I can't do it anymore. But, uh, thanks for everybody that's helping. I appreciate it.