Manoj Bhargava, founder of 5-hour ENERGY and owner of Bridge Media Networks, sat down with TheStreet's J.D. Durkin at the New York Stock Exchange to discuss what's next for media.
Durkin asked how Bhargava built his empire, why he's investing in media right now, which opportunities he sees on the horizon, and how his investment in The Arena Group (AREN) -) fits into his larger goals of tackling climate change and poverty.
Full Video Transcript Below:
J.D. DURKIN: All right. Joining me now, one on one from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, officially for the first time as a member of the family, Manoj Bhargava, congratulations and thank you for joining us. Thank you. So, of course, as people see there from the brand you're proudly representing, you are the founder of 5-hour ENERGY, a wildly successful story. Also the owner of Bridge Media Networks. Tell us about the empire you've already built and some of the keys to your success.
MANOJ BHARGAVA: Well, it's not really an empire as such, but we have a lot of things. I have 11 startups and three businesses that make money. And then I just added two more. So we're just getting started.
J.D. DURKIN: Can you talk to us about some of those other businesses, some of the ventures that people might not yet be familiar with, that you are very proud of?
MANOJ BHARGAVA: Well, we tend not to announce stuff before it's really ready. However, we have gotten a lot of the products to a level where it's ready to go, but not necessarily – we're publicizing. For example, our biggest project is we've actually got an inventions – we have an invention shop, right? The purpose of that is to look at the biggest problems in the world and see if we can solve them, right. In our perception, the biggest problem was water. And so we actually are a decade ahead of everyone in the world in terms of fixing the world's water problem.
Then we have interesting things. We're just about finished with the FDA for something that has, in some cases, reversed Alzheimer's without any side effects, unlike the current stuff. Then we have a dye that when surgeons do surgery, they can see from underneath, not just from on top. So we look at projects that have significant meaning to human beings and do it. We don't do cool stuff. We don't do entertaining stuff. Of course, now we're in TV, but the biggest stuff we are doing is that will affect humanity.
I already have enough money. I don't really care anymore. I don't have any – my hobbies don't require much money at all. And I'm not 10 years old, so I don't need toys.
J.D. DURKIN: That's fair. Manoj, for people who have followed your career publicly for some years, they may wonder why a foray into media seems like the logical next step for you. How did you decide in the last few years to do it? And if you could talk to us a bit more about this deal, specifically with The Arena Group as well?
MANOJ BHARGAVA: Sure. Basically, I make stuff, I sell stuff. So media becomes part of it. In other words, the guy in the middle is media, for me to reach the customers that we sell to. And so media has gotten nuts. In other words, media at this point doesn't care about the advertisers. They go, get in line, get that 30-second ad bid for it and get out. That's the response of media today, right? Nobody's working with their customer and they're so enamored of the technology, delivery systems, the fear and everything else. Oh, is it streaming?
Is it that well, wait, wait a minute. What about the audience? What about the people who are paying you to advertise? Everybody's ignoring all of that. So because the media got a little nuts, you know, we have a -- we have a t-shirt in the office that says, "Never mind, we'll do it ourselves."
J.D. DURKIN: Never mind. We'll do it ourselves.
MANOJ BHARGAVA: Right. So that. All right, fine. If we're just going to do our own advertising. So we'll buy the media. Instead of buying spots, we'll be getting into the media side of it. So, of course, you know, we have a little scale. So we've got, let's see what's available, what's really good. There are a bunch of other things that play into it.
For example, everybody wants to aim at 18 to 34, right? That's the age group. It's very fashionable to go after 18 to 34. From my point of view. I'm sorry. Did you think 18 to 34 people have any money? Why would you advertise to people that have no money? Sure. So we're aiming at sort of 40-plus. Now, if you're selling toothpaste, it's across the board, whether it's young or old.
Right. But there are a lot of products that only 40-plus people can afford. So we're going to go where nobody else is, which is 40-plus. And because the 18 to 34 is so fashionable, you know, the ad agencies say, well, no, that's what you got to get, you know, because in 20 years, if you don't get them now, you won't have them.
And then they turn around to go, yeah, but what's our quarterly earnings? Which is it, 20 years from now or the next quarter? So they're a little confused. So we're going to bring a whole new sort of a 1950s vibe to this thing where, you know, where there used to be the Colgate Palmolive hour. You know, it's called soap operas. You know why they're called soap operas?
J.D. DURKIN: I don't, no.
MANOJ BHARGAVA: Because it was sponsored in the beginning by soap.
J.D. DURKIN: Soap advertisements. Okay.
MANOJ BHARGAVA: Soap took the whole show, you know, like Dial Soap took the whole show. And so the name became soap operas. Right. And that old idea that the advertiser was working directly with the producers and saying what we need to do versus there's six guys in the middle.
And what do those six guys bring to the table? Nothing. Just getting in the way. So we're looking to say, okay, look, we're going to change it. Right? And I love this stuff because if all of these guys are messing up, this makes my job really like, oh, this is sweet. So easy.
J.D. DURKIN: Cool.
MANOJ BHARGAVA: So that's kind of what we're doing.
J.D. DURKIN: I wonder what some of the biggest opportunities are as you see them in the media space overall. You're obviously very well dialed in and focused to maybe, what, maybe a lot of the big players in the media space not only are doing Manoj, but maybe what they're not quite doing. Right. And I wonder where you see untapped potential?
MANOJ BHARGAVA: Well, the biggest thing is they're focused on delivery technology. You know, is it streaming? Is it this? Is it that? Which is okay, you know, it's this big of it. There's content, which is huge. And then there's the audience and there's the customers who are paying you, but they've forgotten about those. So the opportunities are endless. So we'll work with people.
Let's say automotive. Of course, we're in Detroit, so automotive. Now, who are their customers? Are they actually selling to those customers or are they advertising to people who are never going to buy that truck? Right. And then how do they portray that? Oh, it's just a 30-second ad, really. You're going to buy a car for a 30-second ad? Yeah.
So there's so much there that has been left in the 1950s and 60s. Now there's a tendency to think we're much smarter than people from the 1950s and 60s. It's actually not true. We're not smarter than people. 2000 years ago. They did great stuff then and a lot of it got dumped because it's old and we have to do something new.
New is not necessarily better. Right. And so they threw kind of the baby out with the bathwater. These are really some really great stuff that they did. So we're kind of looking at that. And what did they do? That was great. Right. And then copy that. All the mistakes were already made. Huge brands were built on, like, for example, I know the big one right now, the movie "Barbie."
Right. Which is the company Mattel. Mattel was built by sponsoring the Disney show. And I'm sure at that time somebody said, you're just going to concentrate on one show. What about all the other people? And they didn't. They said, no, we're just going to do the Disney show. And they built this giant company off that one show. So are you learning anything more instead of being enamored with technology?
I mean, technology has a space in it, but don't throw everything else out because, and of course, you've got all these fancy people that know everything and predicting the future and all the thing. You know, we're not about predicting. I look at it this way. If you're going to predict what's going to be the weather two years from now on a Wednesday, knock yourself out.
I'm not doing that. The only type of prediction I do is sort of if there's a fire and you put wet leaves in it, there's going to be smoke. I can predict that one. Other than that, it's complete nonsense. Right. I don't buy into because they're big shots that they know anything more than anyone else.
They kind of go with the industry, whatever the entire industry says. Everybody agrees.
J.D. DURKIN: I like that. And I appreciate the context. I've got one more question for you, if you don't mind. I've watched a good number of your previous media interviews. You've talked about the importance of walking the walk. And I know you're someone who's very proud of the fact when you said before, Manoj, "I just like to work." What more would you want someone watching this interview to know about you?
MANOJ BHARGAVA: Well, I wish they wouldn't know about me at all. You know, people say, oh, what's your legacy? And I say, I'll be dead. What do I care what my legacy is? You know, so it's not really about me. It's about the work. So I like working, and I wish I could just do that and not give you this interview.
J.D. DURKIN: Fair enough. Hope you don't hold that against us. That we wanted to talk with you regardless.
MANOJ BHARGAVA: No, no. I'm just kidding.
J.D. DURKIN: Of course. Well, thank you for taking the time. Congratulations. And thank you for being here.
MANOJ BHARGAVA: Thank you.
