 Welcome to the rich TV live podcast. I am your host Richard de Sousa and today we will be speaking to safe supply streaming Corp. I will be speaking to the VP of corporate development set to Cascarella and board member Ronan Levy. I want to bring your attention to the symbol on the Canadian securities exchange SPL why I must remind you that rich TV live is strictly for information and education purposes. And if you like these videos, please smash the like button, comment down below, share the video everywhere and subscribe. Hello, Seti. Great to have you and Ronan back on the show. How are you gentlemen doing today? Amazing, Rich. Thanks for having us back on. Hey, Rich. How are you doing today? Doing great, Ronan. Good to see you. Always a pleasure. Now the stock launched on Tuesday, October 3rd and had a pretty wild day. Stock opened up at 21 and a half cents, went down to 12 and then closed the day off back up around 21 cents. Can you go through opening day for us and what your thoughts were on all the volume that came in? Well, look, I think we were really pleased in how it performed on day one. I think we traded about a million and a half shares across all the exchanges, which is actually pretty good for, you know, obviously just launching and getting this story out and then starting to get people aware of what it is that we do and why we exist. Again, it just shows, you know, there was about a million and a half shares worth of buying that day. So obviously there's some interest from early stage investors that like this story that think that there's an opportunity to sort of compound their investment over time. And that's really why we exist, you know. Again, I was really happy with how it went. Yeah, I think it was a great first day to be quite honest, you know, clearly the story is reaching a lot of people and we're just getting started, which is important. And I don't think you have to be such a fortune teller to see that the story around the war on drugs has changed and policy is changing all around the world. And we're the first mover. We're the first ones out there doing this focused on investing in this ecosystem, diversifying exposure, supporting our companies. And so I think it's early days, you know, we're just starting to create awareness. But the fact that we've reached so many people already, the story is resonating, there's lots of buying happening. I think it was really well, it's been a certainly tough time for small cap stocks like we are for us to have such a great first day is really a side I think of things to come. Yeah, it was a very encouraging result, I think. Again, like, you sort of have your thoughts when you're when you're trying to craft these these companies and take them public. And really, there's a little bit of, you know, I hope people find it as compelling as we do which is why we're spending so much time on it. And then to see that on day one was, again, like it was, it was something great to see. And I think that we've got, you know, obviously a great team in place, a very good strategy. And I think over the coming months, we'll be able to execute on a number of great things that continuously create more and more value for our shareholders. In an emerging industry, everyone always asks, when is the company going to actually generate revenue? And what is the marketing strategy of getting the average retail investor to learn about the company? Can you tell us what are some of the steps safe supply is taking to address those two main concerns? Well, I think again, first and foremost, for us, it's on establishing the strategy, communicating what the strategy is and then executing against that strategy. For safe supply is an investment company. We go out and try to find early stage entrepreneurs that have a unique approach to tackling this challenge. Like the, you know, as Ronan always alludes to, and I agree with him a thousand percent, like we believe that the war on drugs is coming to an end and that there's going to be this new world that forms out of it. And with that, we think that there is an extraordinary amount of opportunity and a lot of smart people are working on very innovative things that can help that new world establish itself. Over the coming months, you know, we were already in a number of active discussions with companies that we think have a more than viable chance at creating a tremendous amount of value. And I think, you know, over the next three, four months, we're going to have more than a few announcements on some of these early stage investments as we make them. And that'll give us sort of a huge portfolio of news to talk about because not only is it what safe supply is doing, but it'll also be what all of these companies that we've invested in are doing. So that's going to create, you know, a nice tapestry, let's say, that we can help communicate to shareholders in terms of here's what we're doing, here's why we've invested in this, here's the progress that these companies are making. And I think for a lot of those companies, as this industry starts to develop, there'll be tons of opportunities for them to go public as well. And that's really where we see a lot of the value creation for our shareholders. You know, if we take equity positions in these companies, and then either through our help or through their own wherewithal, they can go public. That creates a ton of value because we're buying at, you know, fairly attractive valuations. And when they go public, if they do as good a job as hopefully we do in terms of attracting investors, then that creates, you know, value and wealth for everyone. And I think that's really where this industry is going to go over the next 12 to 24 months. You know, it's really no different than what happened in cannabis. It's no different than what happened in psychedelics. You know, you have a lot of smart people that put together compelling business plans that go out, raise some capital and try to execute against it. And in the early stages, you know, it creates a, you know, what's that saying, the rising tide raises all ships. So I think that's probably something that, yeah, raising all boats, right? I think that's something that's definitely going to happen in this space. And then it'll just be on operations. Who are the ones that are going to execute? Who are the ones that are going to operate better than others? Who are the ones that have sort of been through the initial tumult of running a company and, you know, have learned from, you know, some past mistakes and obviously some successes. And obviously focus on the things that do well and sort of downplay the things that are shy away from the things that don't. I think we've got a great team that has a tremendous amount of experience. You know, so that's really what our plan is going forward and how we want to create value. And then, you know, in terms of just generally attracting shareholders, again, like shareholders, I think come into a company because they believe what the company is doing. They believe that the management team has the wherewithal to execute. And I think if the management team has the ability to showcase that, then, you know, you start attracting investors. It's a result of, you know, the success of the company, not the other way around, right? You know, and for us, we think that this really is a global story. And, you know, that's why we're out making applications to list the shares in other exchanges around the world because we think that, you know, a story like this is going to resonate in Europe. We think it's going to resonate in the US. We think it'll resonate all over the world because this isn't an isolated problem. It's not something that just affects Canadians or Americans or the Swiss or the Australians or the Germans. It's everybody. So, you know, the market potential and opportunity to go out and actually help save lives is astronomical. And I think that if we can bring that opportunity to the masses, the masses will respond. I would just add a couple of points. I agree wholeheartedly with Sadi. You know, first of all, we're a team of innovators. We've all been innovators in different ecosystems, different businesses. And we bring that lens here, too, right? We're going to be innovative in how we structure our investments and not only invest in companies that offer promising returns, but also position some investments in ways that may be able to generate shorter-term revenues for us. You know, we really think of safe supply, not just as an investment vehicle, but as, you know, the web that we've together an ecosystem of companies that can generate synergies across all of our investment opportunities. And that means we don't just necessarily take a passive role in our investments. We take much more active involvement in ensuring the success of our partners. And that can involve procuring opportunities between them, which can create shorter-term revenues, which I think is important in what differentiates us from, like, a traditional fund model, for example. And then, yeah, just really emphasize, because we're the first mover, and this is a story that's just gaining momentum, you know, taking a cue from what we saw in the early days of Psychedelics and Field Trip 2019. We were just on the front of that curve, and we intentionally got out to be on the front of that curve. And safe supply is very much on the front of the next curve. So awareness, I don't think, is going to be a challenge for us, because we are already proving ourselves to be some of the more thoughtful voices in this emerging space, not just the industry, but the policy, the social discussions, and beyond. And so it's going to float, and as we list on new exchanges and create access to a global market, more and more people are going to have the opportunity to participate in this evolving ecosystem. Again, one of the things that excites me about safe supply is it's not just a good investment opportunity, which it is. It's also a great opportunity to have massive impact on this world, and so I think it's going to excite a lot of people. Yeah, I'm excited to see how things are going to roll out. Obviously, day one was very explosive and exciting. I had investors calling me from everywhere saying, oh my goodness, look how it's doing. How high is it going to go? So it was very exciting to see, and it's been a while since we've seen an IPO come out like that. So that's a very good sign, in my opinion, for what's to come. Now, Seti and Ronan, you've both seen two emerging sectors that come out really hot and then really cool off. We've talked about it, one being the cannabis sector and the second being psychedelics. These companies in these emerging sectors wasted a lot of money without actual returns on capital and the legal framework around the industries took a long time to create an environment for success. Knowing this, what steps are safe supply taking to make sure that you don't burn through money chasing ventures that don't create returns? And second, how are you navigating through the legal framework to make sure that you go into a venture that is going to be held back by regulation limitations? I'll take a jump on that one. Listen, we've certainly learned from the experience of cannabis. I was involved in the cannabis industry and the psychedelics industry. And two important lessons was if you were early, like we are, and you invested early like many people did, you can make potentially fantastic returns. Yes, on the backside of that, it's come down and many of those stocks are down. Not just cannabis and psychedelics, all biotech stocks, many of them are off 80 or 90%. So let's not limit that story to cannabis. Yes, there's a lot of money for cannabis and psychedelics. Yes, there's a lot of money spent, but there was plenty of opportunity to make substantial, substantial 10x, 20x, 30x returns for people who are, you know, invest in the space, believe the thesis, but also make smart investment decisions. We've also bring those lessons here, which is we've got to be prudent with capital. This is not, you know, 2015, 2016, 2017, where interest rates were virtually zero. This is a challenging market where sophistication and discipline is going to be rewarded. And so we're certainly bringing that lesson into the equation right now. And it's a core focus for us. In terms of more shorter term opportunities, you know, some of the things we're looking at are companies that can hit the ground running, you know, when we look at opportunities and fentanyl test strips and technologies to ensure safety of the drug supply. That's a real need right now. No, no legislative change, nothing happening. We're looking at first movers who are going to dominate that space. And so it's going to create short term revenues. Again, we're bringing the discipline that we've taken from those lessons and we're going to be actively involved in ensuring that our investee companies bring those lessons while there's discipline. But some of them are longer term opportunities. There's no doubt about that in terms of what we're looking at. Some of them are very short term opportunities where first movers will get an incredible advantage in what's certainly going to be a large market. You know, the way that that I tend to look at it. And this is no shot on cannabis or psychedelics. I think a lot of those companies were born out of a nice to have. It was nice to have cannabis and dispensaries. It was nice to have the ability to potentially experience psychedelics. Yes, there's opportunities that we saw with the maps data to actually treat some really serious problems. When you look at things like safe supply, it's not a nice to have. It's a need to have, right? There's more people dying now than did from COVID and it's primarily caused from a tainted drug supply. You know, we cannot just put our heads in the ground and say that this problem doesn't exist. I think we've done that for about 40 to 50 years. And now when all of this starts bubbling up to the surface, I mean, there's only so much stuff you can sweep under the rug before the rug can't take it anymore. And I think that's exactly where we are right now. So as this stuff starts to bubble up to the surface and we start to see all of these news articles coming out, you know, how many people are dying per day in the US, in Canada, in Europe, all from tainted drug supply. It starts to change your point of reference. Away from something that is, again, let's call it a more punitive approach to something that's more compassionate. We need to help solve this problem, not put people away for it. And that's, I think, the real underlying catalyst for why this industry is kicking off, why we've come out the gate, ideally as the first one, and why we think there's going to be a whole host of others that come right behind us. Because, again, unlike any of those other industries, this isn't, you know, I hope it works, or gee, that sounds like something kind of interesting. No, we need this. Governments are calling for it. They need it. I just saw an RFP from the government of Canada that's looking for a call to private enterprise to actually help them supply and provide products to help tackle these problems. Like that's the point where we're at now. Governments are looking to private industry for help. That's what we've been saying from the beginning. It's just going to add, yeah, it's just going to add like, I just saw a letter, you know, signed by about, it looks like about 40 Congress people in the US demanding that the Biden administration take action on dealing with the fentanyl and opioid crisis. You know, it's just, it's just happening, and it's not just happening at a grassroots level. It's not just happening at a business level. It is happening at those levels. It's happening at the highest levels of office as well. And we're right there at the forefront of it. Well, we're happy that Safe Supply Streaming Corp is bringing these services to the public, which is obviously something that's much needed. It's something that has touched myself. I have a lot of friends that have dealt with these issues in the past and have had really tragic endings to their lives. So I think you guys are doing great work. Thank you for joining us today. Setti Cascarella, VP of Corporate Development and board member Ronan Levy. I must remind you guys that anyone that's watching the Rich TV Live is strictly for information and education purposes. Please do your due diligence and do your research whenever you're looking into investing into these types of companies that are early stage companies. I do want to bring your attention to the symbol in Canada on the Canadian Securities Exchange. It's SPLY. And like Setti and Ronan spoke on, they are looking to get listed in America and Frankfurt, Germany. So I know there's a lot of American and German investors and investors all over the world that would like to get into this security. So those symbols when they do get listed in America and in Frankfurt, we will make sure we let you know about that right away. Other than that, gentlemen, is there anything else you'd like to talk about before we say goodbye? Look, I think, you know, obviously we're always grateful for you having us on and, you know, being able to explain, you know, what this story is, why we exist, what it is that we want to go out and try to achieve. I really do believe that over the next coming months, we're going to have some fundamental investments that will, at least in our view, create some serious underlying value for our shareholders. So, you know, for us, it's really just a function of getting to work, getting these things across the line, no different than how we got, you know, safe supply public. At times, just a lot of work and heavy lifting of getting things across the line. That's the stuff that we do. So, you know, we're in the final stages of negotiation on a couple and, you know, and probably the medium stages of a few others. So I think by the end of the year, we'll have, you know, some meaningful investments made and we'll be here to share all the details as soon as they cross the line. We're very excited to hear everything as it happens. Thank you guys for watching. If you're not winning, you're probably not watching. We bring you the winners, CEO interviews, breaking news, trending topics, and we bring it to you first. Sethi and Ronan, thank you for joining us today. Thanks, Rich. Thank you. Always a pleasure. Look forward to seeing you guys again soon. And for those of you guys that are watching at home, have a great day. We'll see you guys soon.