Drinking Hard
Drinking Hard started small and build an empire with speed and dedication unlike anyone else I've known in this game. He didn't take over an existing market place nor did he reinvent the wheel. He developed a marketplace for TGPs to sell their galleries for numerous, excellent sites that didn't exist before. He deals in millions of dollars these days and enjoys the benefits of his hard work. That's just one of his MANY successful business ventures. I consider Drinking Hard one of my best friends in this industry. He's grown an enormous amount in the last 3-4 years both in business and in his personal life. It has been a real pleasure to watch him shine and move forward. To his credit and consequently reflected in the success of his business, he has the ability to realize when he does make a mistake and learn from it quicker and better than almost anyone I know. He definetly is one of the real superstars in online adult today and one of the power players that works behind the scenes in this game. Get to know him, it's worth your time.
Pictures complements of Fubar - check it out for a photo archive all all webmaster events!
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Ambush Interview GFY thread on DrinkingHard
Question #1
What do you say to people that accuse of copying Cybercat?
Haha, actually I don't get too many people accusing me of that, however Cybercat and us frequently get mixed up. People always ask me if I could get them a spot on the hun or a banner spot on Sleazydream hehe! We just politely remind the person inquiring that we don't sell advertising for those sites but if they give Mark or Parney a call from Cybercat they would be glad to help you. Lets be honest here, we didn't re-invent the wheel by any means. Cybercat had been dominating the market for pre-paid advertising in adult for quite sometime. My old partner Cameron was handling the updating and sales of advertising on Madthumbs and Teeniefiles and he thought it would be awesome if we could open up a small advertising brokerage sort of like Cybercat. When we started the origional line up (if memory serves me right) was Madthumbs, Teeniefiles, Jizzhut, Mature-Post/Call-Kelly, Shemp and Video-Post. Very quickly we realized we had a real winner on our hands and that people were dying to get their hands on traffic We quickly expanded at an exponential rate over the next year and a half and we now sell advertising on over 30 sites. Cybercat doesn't handle and doesn't want to handle 30 sites, hence their business model works for them and our business model works for us. They have been doing it for a long time and certainly know what they are doing.
Question #2
Have you ever had an employee steal corporate secrets from you?
Yes unfortunately we did have the misfortune of this... We were looking for someone to hire to handle submitting galleries for us and also updating some of our sites. We went to GFY to look for the proper candidate and found a local individual (I think you all know who I am talking about, if not do a search on GFY) who met the criteria. From the getgo I should have really gone with my gut on this one as it didn't seem right from the beginning. He was asking for things like a big salary, big benefits, trip to shows and time everyday to read GFY (yes I am serious LOL!). Keep in mind this is a SUBMITTING JOB he was being hired for ;) We hired this individual and trained him how to submit and showed him many of our "trade secrets". We trusted this individual and he turned out to be a complete fuckup. "Slapity" aka Devin, had to oversee this employee and watch him like a hawk as he was always MSNing his friends while he was supposed to be submitting and he constantly was reading GFY. Devin is one of the easiest going guys in the world but he is very fickle about getting work done on time and done correctly. This employee fucked up tons of gallery submissions and cost us quite a few partner accounts (as I found out later). I finally decided that it was not working out after 6 weeks or so and decided to let him go. I could not have Devin babysit him any longer and further waste Devin's time. So we let him go with severance (something he certainly wasn't entitled to and didn't deserve) and moved on. Well a couple of months later Cameron let me know that someone had been submitting with my partner account to Madthumbs and they were not my galleries. Turned out it was the old employee we let go... We confronted him off the boards and gave him a chance to make things right. He decided he did not want to make things right so i took his ass to the boards and destroyed any credibility he had left. That is pretty much the whole story... I now only hire individuals that are referrals from current employees and we have not had to let anyone go since (knock on wood!). ;)
Question #3
Without Adult.com's PPC program - where would you be today?
Top secret information or just doesn't have the guts to answer.
Question #4
Why the fuck didn't you go back to school?
Hahahahahaha a little birdy told me not to ;) This is actually a funny story that involves my best friend in the industry Sleazydream. I was doing gallery submitting and was doing pretty well but more or less hit a plateau when I was making about $4,000-5,000 a month... I remember talking to Scott and telling him I was really happy working for myself and such but I was thinking I might go back to school in the fall (it was May when I spoke to him). He said to me basically this... "You would be a fucking RETARD if you went back to school now, you are right in the middle of the goldrush and you have to make the money while it's on the table. Give it until the end of the summer and if you're not making $10,000 a month by then, give up and go back to school. But if you are making $10,000 or more a month by then you have to stick with it." And sure enough the next month June I made $6k, then the next month 8k then the next month 11k and up and up. If Scott did not give me that speech at that exact time I probably would have gone back to school and now be working now at Red Lobster trying to pay off my school loans So if I haven't said it enough before, thank you Scott!!! My life hasn't been the same since that speech, I owe everything to a dirty old pervert from Gimlee
Question #5
Did your addiction to porn have anything to do with why you got fired from the Bridgestreet apartment rental company?
Haha yeah I got fired for chronic masturbation in the workplace ;) Back in 2001 I was working for a great corporate apartment rental company out of Toronto called Bridgestreet. Bridgestreet offered fully furnished apartments for rent for business travellers that needed a condo/apartment for 1 month to 1 year stays. It was a great service as if you were the business traveller all you would need to bring with you is clothing and some food and you were set, everything else was provided. I was working in their marketing department, which I really enjoyed. Unfortunately just after September 11, 2001 our business took a real hit and people were not travelling at all. Hence we had a massive dropoff in business and the company had to do some huge restructuring. About 40% of our company was laid off and unfortunately marketing was not one of the things left in the restruturing process. My boss and I both got laid off and there I was back at square 1... I decided that day that I would no longer let other people decide my destiny and if I were going to fail it would be on my own terms. I hammered down and started working on my adult humor sites and started submitting galleries like CRAZY! As of November that same year I was making about $2-3k a month off Topbucks site Girlsgetcrazy.com and felt that it was no longer necessary to think about getting another job. For about 6 months after that I thought every month, "holy shit, last month was great but what the hell am I going to do if I go tits up this month??!!" Well every month continually got better and the rest is history.
Question #6
How hard do you actually drink every day and at conventions?
LOL! Well at the last couple of conventions I have had some "isolated drinkinghard incidents". I like to cut loose like everyone else and have a good time! Usually when I travel for shows I come down with Magnus and he can sometimes be a bad influence on me... or is it vice versa ;) Just to set the record straight, I am not an alcoholic (well not yet anyways). I really only drink on the weekends when I have friends over and i very rarely will ever have anything to drink otherwise. You can even ask Sarah that and she will back me up I love to travel to places I have never been to and check out all the sites and sounds. Sometimes hey I admit it, I over do it (I am sure Ace from Naughty America will chime in now and post an embarassing picture LOL!) but I try to always make sure that I am respective of other people's privacy and keep good people around me to keep me out of trouble (Thanks Rob!). If you can't have fun and indulge every once in a while, what the hells the point? ;)
Question #7
How many hookers/strippers did you fuck at your stag?
Fuck which Stag? I had my impromptu porn stag the other day in Montreal which was quite the sight ;) My "real" stag is apparently going to happen a couple of weeks before my wedding... My best man just told me that today, I'm hoping for Tijuana but we will see what happens ;)
Question #8
Why do you live in Orangeville? Why did you have to leave Vancouver?
I live in Orangeville because I like to keep it REAAAAAAAAAAL!!! LOL! I grew up in Orangeville (which is 45 minutes north of Toronto) all my life. I moved to Toronto to go to college and spent a few years living down in Etobicoke and Port Credit/Mississauga when I got out of school and was working for the banks. I had a bad breakup that really made me re-evaluate my life and I decided that I wanted a change in scenary. I had always wanted to live out on the west coast and thought it might be a great time to check it out. So I packed up all my shit, threw it in my Mom's basement and went out to Vancouver with only some clothes, my skis and my xbox (well I brought a girl with me too but I got rid of her pretty fast LOL!). But that is another story ;) I had an absolute BLAST living in Vancouver! I lived on Robson street right in the middle of the action for about 6 months then I decided to go waterfront and found an awesome 1 bedroom apartment in English Bay overlooking the ocean. I made some lifelong friends in Vancouver such as Craig (Makingcoin), Lee (Rip Rastor), Steve (Magnus), Brent from Sexinc, Seabass and many more... Everyday I think of Vancouver and miss the hell out of it. We had some awesome times and even though it was really hard to leave I knew leaving was still the best thing for me to do. I had a couple of employees working for me back in Ontario and I was in love Awwwwwwwwwww! :)
Question #9
What do you plan to say to one of your old advertising teachers when you meet him again?
Ahhh fuck, this old Proctor and Gamble advertising guru was my professor for my advertising class at Humber College. This old stodgy bastard was an absolute prick and thought he was the be all and end all of advertising. The truth of the matter was that this old fuck could'nt handle it in the new world of advertising P&G was going and was put out to pasture. Anyways this guy had a real hate on for me and believe it or not I was super interested in this course and really wanted to excel in it. He asked us all to do a project and he didn't give us much guidance on what to do. Well I turned in the assisgnment (which I thought was done quite well) he looked at me and told me it was a piece of shit and not what he wanted at all. I argued back and forth with him that I had worked hard on this and he never specified exactly what direction he wanted the assignment to go. Long story short the old bastard failed me in my advertising class and had to redo the course. The last things he said to me was that I was worthless in advertising and would never succeed with my attitude and I should suck it up. Man would I ever love to run into that guy today :)
Question #10
What the fuck is submit pass?
Submitpasses.com is a new advertising company that GTS and Nichespots have partnered on. We basically handle the sales for Paid partner accounts on very large TGP and MGP sites such as Video-Post, XNXX, Pinkworld, Elephant List and many more. TGP/MGP site owners have found more and more cheaters over the years and have decided to only accept submissions from qualified paid partners. These partners are not fly by night spyware install guys, these are professional submitters that know their galleries will convert and are willing to pay a small price to have the ability to submit to a quality site. The benefit of the paid partner account system is this to the interested buyer, you will not have to contend with 1000 people that have partner accounts on a site. There will be caps on every site and your chances of getting listed will be much greater if there are only 100 paid partners versus 1000 free partners. As long as you have clean, fast loading, quality galleries that are not too saturated in regards to content, you will be listed I honestly believe most old school submitters have seen this coming for quite sometime and quite a lot of them are very interested in weeding out alot of the part time submitters out there. I think this system will deliver the traffic to the guys that are serious and the people that aren't serious will move on to something else. I have built my business off of submitting galleries and to this day I still do well in it. There is still plenty of money to be made in the gallery business you just have to work hard, not be afraid to try a few different things and be prepared that not everything will work out 100% of the time. But the most important thing is not to give up and give 110% no matter what.
Question #11
Would you ever want to go back to banking as an occupation?
Never in a million fucking years LOL! After 4 years of working for banks such as CIBC and Bank Of Montreal I had my fill and it's not my cup of tea ;)
Question #12
Who makes more money (net) now - you or your father? What does he do?
Hahaha good question... My father is a doctor (General Practitioner) and runs a clinic in Southern Alabama. He moved down there 7 years ago with nothing and has done EXTREMELY well for himself. His clinic is now thriving (even after the awful hurricanes the destroyed the area he lives in and flooded his office). My father is a workaholic and an amazing person to talk to. Some of the best advice I have ever received has been from my Dad and even though we are in very different industries some of his advice has been DEAD ON. To be completely honest I have no idea what my father makes, but he certainly does seem to be doing well for himself. Hopefully he will leave me lots in the will ;)
Question #13
How much property do you own? Pics.
http://www.manoamiga.net/Media/Quil...e.Cardboard.jpg Hehehehehehe! :) At last count we owned 8 properties. We mainly invest in cash positive rental properties such as residential triplexes, fourplexes,fiveplexes and larger... When I started making some good money I read a great book that I highly recommend called "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". After I read this book I became addicted to buying property and finding great deals on real estate. Over the course of a year and a half I have purchased 8 properties and sold 1. I wanted to build up enough in passive income from the properties so if my adult revenues ever went tits up I would not have to worry too much. Obviously if my adult revenues went up in smoke I would not be able to live the exact lifestyle I do now but I would be able to suffice without having to bust my ass too hard ;) Last year we decided to start our own property management firm called Hurson Property whereas we manage our own properties plus offer our services to other property owners. We have a full time property manager named Janis that does an amazing job for us and it really helps having a "barrier" between us and our renters. Nothing drives me more crazy when we get a call from a tennant at home at 3:00am crying that the toilet is broken or something stupid like that ;) Hence the reason we have the property manager and it helps us to make more objective decisions when it comes to evictions, late payments and other issues like that. Feel free to ask me any property questions you may have and I will try my best to answer them.
Question #14
What kind of cars do you own? Pics
Currently I have the following 2006 Infiniti M45 Sport (Absolutely LOVE it!) 2003 BMW X5 4.4i (Fiance's car) 2000 Audi S4 Twin Turbo AWD 2004 Honda VTX-1300c
Question #15
What are the best conventions to attend if one wants to just fuck hot hookers and lots of them cheap?
I think you should ask my ex-partner that question not me LOL! ;)
Question #16
How many people have you taken sloppy seconds from that work in the industry?
Oh shit! How drunk was I in Montreal? I don't remember this?? Was it Rob from GTS? He's a really dirty man so I hope it wasn't him?
Question #17
How many times have you beed treated for a STD? Did it ever clear up? Did it hurt?
I've been tested in the past for STD's (I personally think every single person who is sexually active should do this regularly) but I haven't felt the need to be tested recently since i have been in a monagamous relationship for the past 1 1/2 years (I hope those dates are correct or I will be shot tomorrow morning LOL!!!) I have never had an STD and hopefully will never get one.
Question #18
Who is/are your role model(s) in this business?
Well not to buff Sleazy's ass but Sleazy is my mentor in the business and has been one of the best friends I could have ever asked for. He introduced me to more influential and important people that I could have ever dreamed of. Other people I highly look up to in this business are: Steve from Lightspeed for his great business sense and the way he treats people. Rick Latona for his undying determined attitude to make a buck from anything he can ;) Legendary Lars is one of the most unique and innovative people I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Pierre from Worldsex for his incredible network and balls of steel when it comes to buying sites and negotiating (Plus he's a cheap bastard like me! ;) ) Andreas and Mark from Naughty America for building a trend setting incredible sponsor program Platinum Dave and Dan for 2 local guys that when I met them were nothing and then built an empire and are now one of the top programs in the game. Who the fuck hasn't heard about Platinum Bucks?? KRL for his absolutely fantastic marketing ideas and never say die attitude. Pipecrew still amazes me everyday as he's lowkey but is one of the "key" guys in one of the largest affiliate programs ever. My ex-partner Cameron for his amazing ideas and negotiation power. ;) Brad Gosse and his wife Claire have been extremely influential in my business the last year or so and have grown into very close friends. They have taught me a ton of invaluable lessons and are always there when I need them Last but not least I would say one of the most influential role models in my business would be my fiance Sarah. She has taken a company that was so badly in disaray with organization and accounting into the 21st century. The truth of the matter is that Sarah pretty much runs GTS and all the other operations we have going, I just take all the glory hehehe! Anyways love you baby, we would'nt be where we are today without you.
Question #19
Where did you get your business vision from?
I think I got a lot of my business sense from my Dad. He was an inventor but his day job was a doctor ;) He was an amazing out of the box thinker... But the biggest problem my dad ever had was the fact that he loved to build up a product but never could market it properly. He loved to invent new things but never had the passion to follow through... It would be kind of like in football where you take the ball to the 2 yard line then you just give up... The touchdown was there, you just had to take the ball a little further... I think at an early age I wanted to market my dad's inventions, hence the reason I got into marketing. My dad and I have never teamed together on an idea but I think we would be a good team if we did. He invents the stuff and I market it.
Question #20
Is there anyone you would like to see dead at this moment in time?
Well anyone that owes money to GTS ;) J/K!!! I honestly have a hard time staying mad at people, I think I got that trait from my Dad. I say live and learn... If someone burns you "shame on them" if they burn you twice "shame on YOU". I think life is too short to have grudges and use up your energy thinking of ways to get back at people. Better to move on, learn from your mistakes and live well... That is the best revenge I hear.
Question #21
Does Humber college have any entrance requirements at all?
Holy fuck I guess not, I got in!!! LOL! To be completely honest I was an absolutely fucking terrible student. When I was in College I missed more classes than I showed up to and I was a solid C- student... I blame most of that on living in the school residence LOL! I am sure Girth Vader will chime in hear and back me up on that one! It's tough when you have 2000 people all living in a residence and 24 hours a day there is a party going on. It's very hard to study when there is a half naked toga kegger going on next door ;) My diploma was a 2 year course and I will concede and say that YES it took me 3 years to finish it. LOL! But I am glad I finished it as many of my peers did not finish and simply gave up. I am one of those people that hate to give up and hate to not do something after I promise to do it. I have the diploma in my home office and I smile everytime I see it.
Question #22
What exactly is 'simply highspeed'? How does it work?
Well my tech guy Rob asked me to copy and paste this message to you in case you asked this very question. I hope it's not too "geeky" of an answer LOL! ; Simply Highspeed is a WISP that caters to our local and rural community. The vast majority of Canadians are technologically advanced and our population is geographically spread out. Population density maps reveal that we often locate ourselves in pockets of suitable land. As a result of these two factors, there is a large demand for highspeed internet access, but it is difficult for many residential and business entities to have internet access beyond dialup speeds. Remember that traditional cable and DSL service providers require that you are within an (approximate) 2km radius of a Central Office. Simply Highspeed significantly extends that radius and allows for infinite expansion without the confines or cost of traditional wired deployment. The goal of Simply Highspeed is to use new and emerging technologies to form a comprehensive, fast, reliable network that will complete the “last mile” problem that plagues over 75% of Canadians. Many areas in the U.S. already have access to WISP’s. While we are taking on a slightly different strategy then these major carriers, our goals are the same. We believe that no one should be left behind while the Internet continually reinvents itself.
Question #23
What should someone look for in buying a rental property?
Well the first thing I would say is buy "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" seriously it's a must read when you get into buying real estate. We go and look at a TON of properties, I actually think it's alot of fun checking out places and seeing what is out there. Sarah and I usually go see a few every week even if we're not buying and cash poor. There is nothing wrong with shopping and our agent is very cool with us... Finding a good agent is a must, and being on the same page as your agent is also a must. If you find some idiot who doesn't know what you are looking for will simply waste your time. Tell the agent what you are looking for and to call you whenever anything like that comes up. Also check the MLS listings daily, I do this just to keep up beat and most agents don't do this or have the time. Keep your eyes open always for a deal and don't be afraid to go up and talk to someone about a property even if it's not for sale. Just because there is no sign out front doesn't mean it's not for sale ;) Here is a funny story that I think you will appreciate. I bought a 4 plex building and the building next door is a 5plex. The 5plex had some fucking dirtbag tennants in there that were always causing problems. Well one day my tennants told me they loved their place but we're thinking of moving out because the people next door in the 5plex were always causing problems (screaming, partying, cops showing up at all hours). They asked if I could call over and talk to the owner of the building and ask them to settle them down. So being the nice guy I am I called over, well the owner of the building didn't live in the building and we had to do some investigating. I went to the town and looked up the owner of the building (yes they do give you this information). I called the owner and he was a lovely old italian man who lived in Toronto. He had no idea most of the problems were going on and thanked me for my patience and promised he would take care of getting rid of the trouble tennants. I said thank you and asked hime to give me a call if he ever wanted to sell the building... I hung up the phone hoping one day, maybe a few years down the line I would get a call from him saying he was interested in selling... Well 5 weeks later I got that call ;) Not only did he sell me the 5plex at a great deal he also helped me with financing and I didn't have to come up with as much down as I would usually need to get into this kind of property. So I now have a 4plex and a 5plex right beside each other smack dab in the downtown core and the town is very positive about doing some development right in my area! BONUS! The best thing to have in the real estate game is patience, because even when you think "fuck I lossed that house to someone else or there will never be another deal like that" there always will be another unbelievable deal coming down the tube a week later.. Life is funny like that.
Question #24
How many full-time employees do you have now on the payroll? What exactly do they do?
We have 12 on the payroll at present and have 2 more partners that work out of the Montreal office that operate Nichespots and Submitpasses. The 12 local employees work on a variety of different businesses GTS, Nichespots, Submitpasses, Hurson Property Management, Simply Highspeed and my gallery submitting business. We are always working on something new and we are never bored I can tell you that ;)
Question #25
Did you ever think you would be where you are today and get to this positition as quickly?
Everyday I think about how the hell I got here and I just shake my head LOL! I am honestly one of the luckiest bastards I know and have the privilege of working with some pretty awesome people. People really do make or break your business... I have some incredibly hardworking people working with us like Ray and Johnny from Nichespots/Submitpasses and their hard work reflects in the success we see in those projects. Also our site owners are fantastic! We have some incredibly patient site owners that are really committed to delivering our customers what they paid for. I try my best to always keep them happy and buy them lots of lapdances, beers and bbq steak packages Being a traffic broker can be a very thin line to walk somedays. You are constantly trying to keep both sides happy and profitable... But I would'nt change our position for the world.
Question #26
Does it give you a hardon to call yourself 'president' of GTS?
Honestly I am really not a "titles" kind of guy... When I worked for the banks everyone had these semi-important titles and I really thought it was retarded. I honestly am not comfortable with the big title and would be just as happy being called the "janitor or jizz mopper". I'd be happy if everyone just called me DH or Mark and left all the big titles alone.
Question #27
How many women/men have you had sex with in your life? Numbers. Do you remember all their names?
Sleazy you do know that my fiance reads this board don't you? LOL! ;) The only name I care to remember is Sarah... NEXT QUESTION!!!!!
Question #28
What is the most memorable/life changing experience in your life?
I would probably say the most life changing experience in my life was probably a couple of years ago on a drive in my brand new sportscar through the mountains going up to Whistler to go snowboarding. I had always dreamed someday that I would own an amazing sportscar and be able to drive up to Whistler anytime I want and go skiing/snowboarding and have an incredible place by the ocean. Well this was a goal I had setout to be finished later in my life, I never expected to have so much success so quickly and reach my goal so fast. (I hope I don't sound egotistical by saying that). I said to myself on that drive, wow this is awesome!!!! Soooooo what the fuck do I do now?? I basically at that point in my life had finished exactly what I had wanted to do and had no idea or solid goals for my future. I guess that is when I started thinking well what the hell do you want to do with the rest of your life... Very shortly after that I moved back to Orangeville, bought a house with my fiance and started GTS and started buying property. I now have more goals to reach and plan on getting there asap.
Question #29
What the 5 most extravagant things you've bought for yourself?
Hmmmm good question... I would say my new house My Breitling Watch (currently getting fixed because I got too drunk in Montreal LOL! My condo in Pt Vallarta (View of the beach) My new car and my new pug puppy Reggie
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Question #30
If GTS ended today - what would you do for income?
Fuck probably bug Sleazy for a job ;) I would probably continue working hard on the new wireless project we have going, plus continue to try and acquire more and more property.
Question #31
What do you do for fun?
Wooooo last question LOL! Man, I love ambush interview but I have spent most of my night posting responses to questions. Next time we do this via telephone LOL! ;) I love to travel, snowboard, party with my friends, meet new people, ride my motorcycle and have fun with my family. I'm a pretty easy going guy and always find fun in whatever I am doing. Sleazy thanks a million for interviewing me, I sincerely appreciate the opportunity and love ambush interview. I'm out for the night guys, hope you don't get too bored reading my interview. Thanks so much DH
