Barry Shore:

I can’t think of anybody that I want to share with you that inspires noble deeds more than the amazing, wonderful, fabulous Sheldon Liber. Sheldon, please say hello to 351,822 people around the world.

Sheldon Liber:

Good morning, everybody. And thank you Barry for having me on. Thank you for all your positive energy.

Barry Shore:

You’re entirely welcome. By the way three things about Sheldon. You noticed that he is my doppelganger, opposite. Number two, he wears a shirt and has pens or pencils in his pocket without even a pocket protector. Yes, because he’s an architect. 

Sheldon Liber:

I’m brave. 

Barry Shore:

And brave. He believes in no leaking pans. He didn’t create those today but we’ll talk about what he did do and he’s doing. And he’s also one of the more interesting people that I’m honored to call friend. I’ve known him, thank God for years. I won’t tell you all the wonderful things about Sheldon because it will take too long. But suffice to say two data points that are really important. Number one, is that he is happily married to one of the most remarkable women that walks the planet today. And they’re going into the 44th year. So bravo to you wonderful Sheldon and Kelsey. And number two, is that Sheldon has been an avid investor, or interested investor since the age of 17. And as you see, he is far past the age of 17 these days. It’s more important that he’s been an investor. He’s a successful investor. And that’s really what we’re going to talk about not so much how much money he’s made and what he does. But what he does in what he calls chasing value, I call attracting value, and channeling that energy into the medical space. So, let’s just jump right in Sheldon because we have hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world who marvel at what happens in the United States of America because we still are the leading edge in my humble opinion at this moment. So, let’s just talk about what it is that you wanted me to mention that how you are involved with companies or particular company that’s making medical history every day. Please wax eloquent.

Sheldon Liber:

Well, let me just start by saying that we have been investing for a long time, I was investing on my own for a long time, and was discovered by an editor at Business Week that I had some acumen for the subject. And I wrote a lot of articles for her, and for daily finance on a blog site for AOL. And that led to lots of people asking me for advice, which led to me starting a hedge fund. And that hedge fund now has led to private equity investments. So, when we talk about changing history every day or making history every day it’s because we are investing in the latest technology in medical devices. How did I get started on that? I got started on it by investing in a company called Intuitive Surgical 20 years ago, which is the largest robotic medical device company in the world. And Intuitive has done very well economically, and it’s grown into a very large company. I’m going to guess and say somewhere around $70 billion company. And the success of that investment along with the other things that happened in my life made me look at other technologies that were coming out in the same sector in medical devices. And we have a preference for medical devices over other things. That’s one of our focuses, although we do invest in other things. So, that led to looking for companies that were public companies in the stock exchange, and we had numerous exits where we were in and out of investments in that sector. Maser Robotics involves spinal surgery, and that was bought by Medtronic. Macco was used for knee surgery that was bought by Stryker. More recently, a couple of years ago we invested in a company called Corindus Vascular. And that was bought out by Siemens Healthineers. And so we continued down that path. And along that journey I made friends with a gentleman named Harel Gadot, who is the chairman of multiple companies involved in the medical device sector. And we have been investing along with him, and done some other things too. But I think one of the most important companies that we’re working with right now that has FDA clearance and is being commercialized is XACT Robotics.

Barry Shore:

So, before you go on to the details of XACT Robotics I want to unpack a few things that you’ve mentioned. Because it is of note to your background and to where we’re going to be going in this discussion. I want to begin with what you said, it was so interesting. I’m going to use the letters AOL. Now, you said it of course and I say said it. And you and I both know what it is. But I’m going to tell you something, Sheldon, there are many people, hundreds of thousands of people listening to us right now who heard the letters AOL, and they’re scratching their heads. So, I’m going to tell you, everybody out there who’s under the age of, let’s say, 30, and we have hundreds of thousands of people. AOL stands for America Online. And if you don’t know it, Google it. It’s a funny thing to say because at the time America Online existed there was no Google, which is hard for most people that are listening to understand. So, the reason I mentioned is because what Sheldon did, and it has nothing to do with AOL but what Sheldon did is he started writing about something that he knew about, knows about, and is interested in. Am I correct on that, Sheldon? That’s what you did?

Sheldon Liber:

I think that’s true. We didn’t mention it but I’m a licensed California Architect, and I’ve been practicing for 30 years. We haven’t done anything recently because we switched more of our energy to finance but I still remain a licensed architect.

Barry Shore:

I want to mention the point here is that everybody today, everybody listening, watching, everybody can begin to write about that which you know, are interested in or want to become knowledgeable in. And when you do it consistently, and you strive to be informative not seeking out, hey, look at me, by giving over information the world opened up. See, Sheldon didn’t start out saying, I’m going to write blogs and you know what’s going to happen X, Y and Z. He began writing and then the world became attracted to him. I’m emphasizing this to everybody listening. Because the reason people listen, Sheldon is not because Barry Shore is a great guy, which I am, or because you’re so interesting, which you are. But it’s because they care the most about themselves. People are interested in themselves. So, you’re interested in you, if you want to be the best you possible begin writing or making videos if you want to do it that way. But become involved in something that you can inform others about for their benefit. So, Sheldon began writing and you heard his progression, people started contacting him. And the genius of it is that he was able to continue along the path and use his remarkable skill sets to be able to be involved not only to make money for himself, and those people who work with him but to help build processes. Now you’ve heard him mention the word devices a number of times, medical devices. So, what I’d like to do now with your permission, Sheldon, is let’s go deep into robotics, and surgery. If that’s what you’d like to speak about. Or just robotics and medicine. But I am fascinated because obviously, I have a lot to do with the medical field because of my situation. But I think on some level everybody listening is cheering on the idea of robotics. And at the same time it’s foreign. Am I correct when I say that?

Sheldon Liber:

I think that it depends what the particular person’s needs are. In some areas robots are dominant. For example, for prostate surgery, the Da Vinci robot probably has 60 or 70% of that activity.

Barry Shore:

I didn’t know that. 

Sheldon Liber:

So, that’s a lot. And they’ve been around 20 years. Other things that we’re working on now, they’re still in the process of doing clinical trials, of improving the device. And the purpose of these devices is it goes along several trains of thought. First of all, you have it a varying level of talent when you go to a doctor. You don’t know the level of talent, you try to get second opinions, and you try to find the best guy available. But the best guy available may not be in your town.

Barry Shore:

The best guy might not be a guy. I’m making a point to this.

Sheldon Liber:

That’s true. And but in any event, what we talked about is democratizing the medical field. So if you for example, were to get a biopsy with our XACT Robot, which is the primary function currently that is being introduced into hospitals and it’s in some hospitals already. Every procedure is going to be based on the talent of the robot and the robots skill set is very high, and improving every day. So, what it does is it means that it’s a tool basically for the doctor. To oversimplify it’s better to have a screwdriver than to try and turn a screw with your fingers. So, this device allows a doctor to oversee the procedure but not do the procedure. The procedure is actually done by the robot. It’s the first autonomous robot, it’s called the ACE. 

Barry Shore:

It’s called the ACE?

Sheldon Liber:

Yes. So, stands for accuracy, consistency and effectiveness or efficiency. So, the robot sort of democratizes things because everybody’s talents are now equal. And the doctor still has this better tool that they can do procedures with are primarily biopsies. We say we’re making history every day in this regard, because there is no other autonomous robot. This is the first one. The Da Vinci that I mentioned, which is a dominant robot for certain procedures, that’s hands on by the doctor. 

Barry Shore:

Let’s pause for a moment, please. Because you’re using terms that you understand, intuitively. The audience, I want to make sure that we’re speaking the same language. People know what autonomous is on a dictionary level up [inaudible: 0:21:35]. So, let’s give it some more context.

Sheldon Liber:

So, if you use a screwdriver you’re holding it in your hand. But in the case of the ACE by XACT, the doctor instructs the robot but he doesn’t touch the robot, and he doesn’t participate directly in the procedure. The robot is about the size of a laptop.

Barry Shore:

[Crosstalk: 22:03] point, we’re not talking about a six and a half foot metal monster that’s going in and lumbering into the operating room.

Sheldon Liber:

No. It’s very small, it can be used in any room in the hospital. It has a little cart. But basically, the robot itself is about the size of a laptop. You can look it up online at xactrobotics.com. But basically, it straps onto the person, the doctor identifies the target of the biopsy on a CT scan, and then directs the robot to start. And the robot inserts a needle towards the target, and takes out the material in one attempt.

Barry Shore:

So, this is wonderful. So, we’re not talking about surgical cutting, we’re talking about in the case of biopsy, inserting a syringe, a needle to extract.

Sheldon Liber:

Right. So, at this time the ACE can do things that a doctor can do with a needle. So, the next step after biopsies is ablations to actually use a little bit larger needle and remove the indication. And there’s another aspect of this. Some medicines would be better applied in a direct location than generally.

Barry Shore:

Give an example please.

Sheldon Liber:

Well, let’s just say you have pain in your shoulder, and it’s severe. So you need to get an injection of some medicine, it could even be a medicine that is not prevalent today. But it requires a regimen of let’s say, coming back every week for three weeks, and you want to put it in the exact same spot. The ACE can do that.

Barry Shore:

And by the way, I’m going to make this comment. As effectively or more efficiently and effectively than a human being.

Sheldon Liber:

I think that that’s the point, especially when you’re talking about coming back in three different weeks.

Barry Shore:

That’s what I’m saying, the success of procedures in a specialized area are more attuned with an ACE or some capable robotic process, rather than a human because of the nature of the human being.

Sheldon Liber:

I also want to be careful to let people know that I don’t have a medical background and I don’t want to go too far into medicine. I want to stick with the device itself. But I will hit a gray area where the people will understand. When you’re subjected to chemotherapy you’re basically poisoning the body. The cancer may not be everywhere but the chemotherapy is everywhere because of the way you take the medicine. So, if you were able to direct the medicine to a particular place then you’re addressing, specifically that problem area, and not everything. So, the specifics and the finite directionality of the robot, and the fact that it’s autonomous is a very big thing. And we’ve had suggestions from doctors. Doctors come to us with new ideas. So, one doctor suggested that it could be used for radioisotope seeding. So, doctors make a map of where they want to put the radio isotopes for radiation therapy. And this is something I was told, I didn’t hear it firsthand. But I was told by one of my associates, the doctor said that it’s difficult to get the map to map everything out, and then place the radioisotopes exactly where you planned it because the body is soft tissue and things move around. But the ACE is very focused. And the ACE can do it very consistently. And we’re not doing that yet. I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but when I say we’re making history every day it’s because we’re moving on to more and more procedures being done in the area of biopsies to then we’ll be moving on to ablations. And in the future we will be directly implanting medicine. And it goes on and on. And the other feature of this robot is that it can be used remotely. 

Barry Shore:

Pause there because we’re going to talk about that on the other side of the break. I want to go a little bit deeper on something, you mentioned the word democratization of the process, which, let’s be blunt, the whole point of the internet is to create for want of a better term, a global village. And democratization of data of information, and transformation. Because that’s what you’re doing. You’re using information and data to transform. It’s not just layering data, it is accumulating data, and therefore hopefully interpreting this point by other human beings to increase the efficiency the level of skill. By that definition anybody trained, of course, in almost any part of the world, could be using this robotic device, or these robotic devices. In other words, and I’m just picking out of my mind a particular country, whether it’s Ghana, or Southern India, or Rwanda, or in Kansas City. It doesn’t matter. 

Sheldon Liber:

And one of the important things to remember is not as many cities, and many rural areas don’t have adequate medical coverage, they don’t have specialty doctors. And so, they have to drive an hour or two hours to the city to find help. But there is a shortage of doctors also, and this may help with that. And the other thing I was leading into is the robot can be used remotely. So, this robot can be shipped overnight somewhere, and a doctor in New York or Los Angeles could assist with a procedure anywhere in the world. Now, that still requires some training and direction. But you can get help remotely with the use of this robot. Now, the doctor in more localized area is viewing the procedure that the robot is doing, does not have to be in the room. So, he can be in an adjacent room or in his office, and just watch over his monitor what the robot is doing, and he can stop or started as well. But one other thing I want to add is, when you’re doing certain procedures the doctor, and the medical team might be exposed to some level of radiation. And by doing it remotely you also diminish the exposure to that radiation. Now, for most people, it’s just like getting dentistry X rays. Having X rays every other year is not that big a deal. But if you’re the medical team, and you’re doing this all day long, biopsies, the idea of being out of the room is a very promising thing. 

Barry Shore:

I want to address that when we come back. By the way, now that you brought up dentistry I want to talk about that because if you’re talking about the ability to insert a needle then it can apply to many different situations. And I’m thinking about all of the medical people around the world, male and female, that are more and more capable of doing things. But let’s do this. We have sponsors who love our show, and people who love our sponsors, and they’re very important to us. We’ll be right back after this with Sheldon and learning about not just the future but the now and he’s going to bring us into the future so we’ll be right back with these brief messages. Don’t go away. 

Barry Shore:

Good day beautiful, bountiful beloved immortal beings and good looking people. Maybe you’re good looking because always looking for and finding the good. We have good in abundance. Our cup runneth over with good. And it’s a person named Sheldon Liber who is giving us a glimpse not just of the here and now but of the future. And the future as we know because we live in a very fast paced world comes faster than you ever expected. Most of the people listening are under the age of 35. Within the next 10 years, maybe maximum 20, you’ll be experiencing things that Sheldon, and I would only dream about when we were growing up as kids. And they’ll be part and parcel of your world, everything from driverless cars to robots in medicine. So, we were just talking about these remarkable devices, which again, I didn’t realize are much smaller than you would think. We used to say smaller than a breadbox but nobody knows what a breadbox is any more, Sheldon. I don’t think anybody has a breadbox in their home. But you gave the right dimensions. You think of a laptop. And laptops may be getting smaller and smaller. But just think of a laptop, that’s the robotic device that he’s talking about, which can now be used to insert needles, do biopsies and such, maybe eventually will very soon be able to do openings, what we call surgeries and such like that. But one of the points he was making is the ability to do things remotely. So, let’s talk about this highly skilled woman doctor in Indonesia who is, let’s say, working on somebody, she’s in Jakarta, and somebody is in Bali, and the devices in Bali. And now what is she doing? She’s able to direct the robotic device to do what?

Sheldon Liber:

Well, first of all, you’d have to have a team approach. Currently you need to have a CAT scan so that you can locate the target. We are working on other modalities at XACT to work with fluoroscopy, ultrasound, eventually MRIs, which are a little trickier because of the non-ferrous metals that you have to use to produce the device. But all of these things are possible and are planned for the future. But in the immediate time a procedure now still requires the device to get to the remote location. And so, it’s a very good thing that it’s lightweight and easy to ship. You can overnight it just about anywhere in the world. And since it weighs about the same as a laptop, I mean, people send textbooks all over, it weighs less than a college textbook. The second thing is, though, having to have the ability to do a CAT scan, or to direct the robot in a particular way. So, it’s still a collaborative. You do need medical people on both sides. And you do need to be able to get a CAT scan currently, or some ability to direct the robot, as I said, currently with a CAT scan but you need to identify the target. But yes, a local team of technicians can strap on the robot. The needles that we have currently approved, I believe are 17, 18 and 19 gauge needles, and we are increasing the different abilities of the robot. Again, that’s why I say making history every day. Because we didn’t have 19 gauge approved right away but they are now. So, we’re able to do more and more procedures. The other thing that is interesting is that all of our procedures so far to my knowledge have been once in and once out. So, that means the robot is very efficient in hitting the target. And that is not always the case, sometimes it takes more than one attempt.

Barry Shore:

You mean more than one attempt when a human is doing the procedure.

Sheldon Liber:

Yes, and that’s why this is a tool for a doctor. That’s all it is. It’s improving the doctors’ possibilities. So, he has a better tool in his hands. And anyway, so I don’t want to get too much into the remote nature except to say that it can be two teams in different far apart locations. It certainly in localized use limits the amount of exposure to radiation to some degree. And the doctor could also be watching multiple procedures at one time from his office if he has three different technical teams working on the process. So, we have had situations where the doctor supervises but actually the technical team straps on the robot and sets everything up.

Barry Shore:

So she’s monitoring, let’s say there’s a team, and the lead doctor is monitoring. So by the way, team is a wonderful acronym. And it really has a force in this particular case because team stands for together everyone achieves miracles. That’s what you’re doing.

Sheldon Liber:

I appreciate your positive energy. It is another aspect of what we’re doing. With all of our investments we’re looking for things that have a large order of magnitude of improvement over whatever is being done, and that we can visualize the end game of where we improve the quality of life for people. But XACT is just one of the things we’re working on. And as it improves, that’s one reason we say we’re making history every day. If you allow me I’ll show another technology that we’re working with.

Barry Shore:

I want to. I just want to make people aware because this is so spectacular. I mean again, your personality lends itself to the ability to speak about this in a very calm, efficient manner. For me, I am loving it. You’re bringing together the dreams of humanity to be able to serve as people throughout the world, as you say, in a democratic process. So, that eventually, and not too distant future there will be such thing as we won’t have underserved communities. There’ll be serviced communities in just different levels. But the ability to have this robot on a regular basis, in other words, replicated so that they’re readily available at any location without having to ship it. Right now you have to ship it. But that’s like going back into 20 years ago when FedEx first started. It’s like wow, we can ship something overnight. Well, yes. But isn’t it better that if we have one so you don’t have to have these magnificent large pieces of equipment, they can be small, capable and flexible. But yes, please, Sheldon, bring us into a path, let’s speak about another modality or something you’re working on.

Sheldon Liber:

Something else that we’re working on in the area of cancer is a company called CAPS Medical.

Barry Shore:

Again, just want to make everybody aware, everything you want to know that Sheldon’s talking about will be at the website, barryshore.com, you just have to go there, don’t have to write anything down. All the information will be there because you want to know and learn more.

Sheldon Liber:

So, CAPS Medical is a company that it has created a device that can do minimally invasive surgery for the destruction of solid tumors, cancer tumors. And that’s something that’s not being done today. The basis of the device is that it produces something called cold plasma. And I’ll explain a little bit about that. But the cold plasma, what it is, I mean, basically, the heat that you see from the Sun is a kind of plasma. It’s related to gas but it’s not a gas in the explicit sense. And something that people have seen like in gift shops you might see a glass ball that if you touch the sides it looks like lightning inside. That’s actually a plasma and not a gas. And so, the reason that the scientists and doctors have looked at this is, for a decade or so you can look online you’ll see studies where they found that cold plasma has an impact on the immune system and seem to have a positive effect on destroying cancer cells. So, CAPS is the first company to develop a device that can produce this plasma on a constant basis. And by producing this at a constant basis at very close to body temperature you can do minimally invasive surgery because you’re not destroying any tissue. So, there are other devices but for example, they use plasma to cauterize a wound. But something at you 400 degrees is not something you can do minimally invasive surgery with. But something that’s at body temperature can. So, this is very early stage, I don’t want people to think they can go get this done tomorrow. We are just starting some safety profiles with humans. But we have already animal studies that have been very successful. And so, we’re in the early stages here but the idea is that in a few years you will be able to destroy solid tumors in the body with minimally invasive surgery by making a small incision and inserting our probe and simply blasting the tumor with the cold plasma. And then as it’s destroyed the body just removes the residue as it would other [crosstalk: 0:44:22].

Barry Shore:

It becomes like waste material and the body removes it.

Sheldon Liber:

Right. And so, that is a very, very promising technology. It’s current in the sense that we have already developed the device and it’s going into clinical trials. But again, I say making history every day because you couldn’t do it yesterday. And what we do tomorrow will be different than what we do today. So again, as we move forward we are making history. And so for myself, I’m very excited about all these things because we’re working on a dozen such things, and they’re all a little bit different. But the thing that they have in common is that they’re unique. And that they’re providing the medical and healthcare system with new tools to do a better job, and to do it more effectively, and to do with less trauma for the patient. Getting back to the ACE, one of the things that we skipped over that I forgot to mention is, if a doctor sees a spot on a CAT scan, and he says to you, well, there’s something here I don’t know exactly but it’s too small to do a biopsy, come back in a couple of months, we’ll take a look at it again, see what develop. Imagine the trauma for you, your family, two months but it might be just a little dot, and he’s not even sure it is anything. So, he wants you to come back. But the idea of you having to think about it for two months….

Barry Shore:

That blocks in your mind, and it’s growing.

Sheldon Liber:

That makes sleep a lot more restless. Because the ACE is so precise you can do the biopsy earlier. Which means that there’s less psychological damage to the family and to the individual. And you just find out things sooner. And that precision allows for that because it’s very precise. And so, I wanted to say that. But CASP doing similar things in a different venue. Because now you already know you have cancer. So, it could actually be that the hospital takes our XACT device, does a biopsy, finds out you have cancer, and then uses the CAPS device later to destroy it. 

Barry Shore:

And as you pointed out, it’s so important. I’ve just lost recently, a very dear friend, young man. Chemotherapy is almost an oxymoron. It’s chemo in the body. It is literally attacking the body. We call it a therapy because that’s basically what you have. It’s as if you’re taking a mallet and trying to open up the proverbial walnut. It’s not the best way to do it.

Sheldon Liber:

Well, I think one of the things that we want to do, and we’re seeing medicine move in this direction is, to be more precise in our response to an indication. 

Barry Shore:

That’s a great line. I want you to repeat that.

Sheldon Liber:

To be more precise in responding to an indication. I say an indication because just because something showed up that’s unknown, we don’t know that it’s a negative thing. It could be nothing. And if I was a doctor I would use the term there’s an indication here of something we need to see what it is. I wouldn’t want to be an alarmist. And I think that the devices that we’re working on that are more precise allow for a more precise response instead of all-out war. So, it’s almost a more applicable use of the word surgical. Because even in battle, they talk about a surgical strike as oppose to a blitzkrieg of everything. What I want to make a point of here is that even when you take an aspirin, or a Tylenol, you have a pain in your shoulder, or you have pains in your hands from arthritis, and you’re taking something that you’re going to swallow and it’s going everywhere. It’s not directed at your hands where you have pain, or your shoulder, where you have pain. So, it’s generally responding to your nervous system and dealing with pain at a particular place at the same time it’s everywhere else. You don’t have a problem in your feet but it’s a general application. We’re saying that as medicine advances things are going to become more specific.

Barry Shore:

I want to jump in, you prompted me in something. This is almost, I’m going to go on limb here, a blending of for want of a better term, eastern and western knowledge. Why do I say that? Because in the Eastern world that’s using the meridians and such like that if you ever been to people who practice these kinds of modalities, they are looking for specific items. In other words, as you said your hands, they’re going to work on your hand but they’re also going to work with their meridian that goes to that and not the whole rest of the body. They try to be as precise as possible using what is available, which is their own hands, their cumulative knowledge, their teacher, etc., etc. Western medicine is very oriented towards using instruments. As you’re saying, it’s now moving more towards surgically precise or precision instruments rather than the blunt. So, as you said the Tylenol, the aspirin, that’s a blunt instrument, it deadens the nervous system. Therefore, it’ll get rid of your pain in your shoulder but do you want to go to that. So to me, what you’re saying is that there’s a blending here of modalities that the West is recognizing what the East has. The East needs what the West is producing. And I think that we’re looking at medicine, the ability to help people live more healthfully, and a longer life not just a longer life but a more healthfully longer life will be advanced tremendously by geometric proportions over the next several decades.

Sheldon Liber:

I think this is a field that’s going to continue to advance. I’ve talked to a lot of young people who are looking at a future where their job might become obsolete. This is very common in people that end up having two or three professions in their lifetime. I think that young people that have a background in let’s say, biology, or pre-med, and then add on experience in electrical or mechanical engineering, or even programs that are specific to biomedical engineering, I don’t see how that’s going to go away in generations.

Barry Shore:

I think what you just said is, on the contrary. In other words, biomedical engineering, it’s a very broad field, of course, but the genius of it is get involved.

Sheldon Liber:

Yeah. I think that that’s an area that’s just going to be expanding. And I think it’s also an area that’s going to be very interesting. And so for myself, personally, I like to work on interesting things. I get bored easily. And there’s not too many things I’m working on right now that are boring. I mean, we all have to deal with the bureaucracy of activities in life. But I mean, in general, the specific things we choose to do we hope that they’ll be interesting. 

Barry Shore:

I was going to ask you, how do you sleep at night, Sheldon? Not because you’re bothered by stuff. But it’s so interesting and exciting what you’re working on. And you’re just telling us about a few things. So, I don’t know how you sleep at night. You get up in the morning, you say, I want to do, I want to grow. You’re literally working for the betterment of humanity. 

Sheldon Liber:

Well, I appreciate that sentiment. I don’t want to appear universally altruistic, I do have to keep my mind occupied, and I get bored very easily. And so, all of these things are infinitely intriguing to me. And we keep searching out new ways where we can overlap our interests with helping humanity. And there are many opportunities to invest where we don’t get involved. I don’t think that we can either be of strategic help, or I don’t see the order of magnitude improvement in the quality of life. The things that we’re looking at are things where there’ll be a noticeable order of magnitude improvement, not an incremental improvement, or not something that everybody’s doing. And I’ll be frank about one of the examples, we’ve probably turned down 20 deals in the cannabis arena. All kinds of things from developing buildings that can grow to networks to distribute to different kinds of things. I think that’s an overfunded area. I think it’s an area that doesn’t need our attention. I don’t think the improvement to humanity is exponential by any means. And so, when people have asked me would I have an interest in this area, I said, my attitude is, if somebody develops a medical therapy with cannabis as the basis for that therapy that might be very interesting and something that we could get involved in. But something that I can grow in my closet that you want to grow in a warehouse, and you want us to help fund the warehouse…

Barry Shore:

And isn’t’ built on a different thing. [Crosstalk: 0:54:33-35]. The genius of the American system, actually it’s not a system but the genius of America is to unleash the abilities of humans to probe as you said, and to prove with their probing, we call it FBC. When I was going up and doing my first investing we were looking at things at FBC, faster, better, cheaper. What can you do that is faster, that is better exponentially and cheaper in the sense that you make things more accessible because they become democratized because the price continues to plummet, such as chips and things like that. I don’t mean potato chips. Chips and such. I’m sorry to even say these words but our hour is just about up, Sheldon. So, we’re going to be closing out but I’m going to ask you three questions. And when you answer these three questions then we’ll have to close out [inaudible: 0:55:32]. But the first question is Sheldon, will you come back again? 

Sheldon Liber:

Sure. 

Barry Shore:

Wow, that was great. Number two question is, you have eighty seconds only to answer this. 80 seconds. What is your most fervent desire? 80 seconds.

Sheldon Liber:

Probably to keep my wife happy. That’s it. Doesn’t take 80 seconds. Just make sure my wife is happy, and that we are productive each day of our life.

Barry Shore:

Excellent. And I trust that you are succeeding in your most fervent desire.

Sheldon Liber:

So far, but I think you have to ask her. But I think that we’re doing okay.

Barry Shore:

Okay. That caused a unique smile on your face. I’m glad to hear that. And the third question is, are you ready? I’m going to give you with your permission a hug in front of 357,822 people around the world. So, let me tell you what hug stands for heartfelt, unlimited giving because that’s who you really are. Are you ready, Sheldon?

Sheldon Liber:

I’m ready as can be.

Barry Shore:

1-2-3…..roar. 

Sheldon Liber:

Well thank you very much. 

Barry Shore:

And you, YOU listening, you tuned in consciously and conscientiously to The Joy of living with your humble host, Barry Shore, everything you want to know about our amazing guest today. And you do agree he’s amazing, he puts the zing back and amazing. You can find it at the website barryshore.com. Because in this show, we talk about the three fundamentals of life, which enable you to become happier, healthier, and wealthier. And who doesn’t want that. The three fundamentals of course, are number one, life. Your life has purpose, you live a purpose-driven life. Like Sheldon, you can go mad. In this case, mad is a great acronym that stands for make a difference. What he’s doing. And the third is to unlock the power and the secrets of everyday words and term such as smile, seeing miracles in life every day, [inaudible: 0:57:40]. Sheldon, he is seeing miracles in life, making medical history with miraculous ways. Every single day as my eight year old says, seeing miracles in everyday life. And when you do that, what do you do? You create the kind of world we all want to live in. Create stands for causing, rethinking, enabling all to excel. Enabling all to Excel using these amazing devices and making life better for everybody. And then use four letter words. Live in the world with a positive purpose of power from pleasant. Four letter words like love, hope, grow, free, give, praise, play, swim, and tell people the FU word. FU capital N capital N. If people ask you what did you learn today? Say, Barry Shore wants to teach the world to FU. But remember to add capital N, capital N. They say, what was that all about? And you can tell about this amazing show and share with five people, just five. And then we’ll have over a million and a half people listening in to what’s happening in the world right now, and you can begin to see the future. And then as I ask you, use the two most powerful words in the English language three times a day, consciously and conscientiously. You’ll make yourself better, your family, your friends, and the entire world. These two words are thank you, thank you. Thank you to harmonize and network kindness. So, our blessing from Sheldon and Barry is go forth. Live exuberantly, spread the seeds of joy, happiness, peace and love. Go mad. Go make a difference.

Sheldon Liber:

Thank you very much.

Outro  

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Joy of Living Podcast. Now that’s another step towards your healthier, happier and wealthier life. Never hesitate to do good in the world, no matter what the situation. Join us for another upbeat discussion next time at barryshore.com. And be sure to leave a rating and subscribe to the show to get more conversations like this. And remember to share it with your family and friends too. See you on the next episode.