Podcasts about 10m

ClearCOGS is creating a new category in restaurant technology by bringing predictive analytics to an industry that operates almost entirely on retrospective data. With $3.8 million raised, the company analyzes 100 million data points daily per restaurant to forecast demand and optimize prep decisions. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, we sat down with Matt Wampler, CEO and Co-Founder of ClearCOGS, to explore how his experience turning around failing Jimmy John's franchises led him to build forecasting software that's fundamentally changing how restaurants operate—and how he's defining a category that doesn't yet exist. Topics Discussed: Matt's transition from 21-year-old Jimmy John's franchisee working 110-hour weeks to identifying systematic inefficiencies in food prep decisions across five locations Why restaurants remain stuck in reactive mode while sports betting and fantasy football have sophisticated predictive analytics ClearCOGS's data infrastructure processing 100 million variables daily—from 15-minute POS intervals and weather patterns to dew point and local events The product discovery process where Matt's co-founder kept asking "why" until every feature request collapsed into one core problem: uncertainty about tomorrow's demand Category creation through the Restaurant AI podcast despite no clear attribution model Building in public on LinkedIn as an enterprise lead generation channel that landed major brands within six weeks The ICP evolution from enterprise fast-casual chains (15-1,000 locations) to a freemium Toast integration targeting independents GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Let outsiders interrogate your domain expertise: Matt wanted to build dashboards restaurant operators requested. His technical co-founder repeatedly asked "why do you want that dashboard?" then "why do you need to see that?" Every answer eventually reached the same root cause: operators didn't know who would walk in tomorrow, making food prep, ordering, and staffing decisions inefficient. This pattern held across dozens of restaurant brands. The yin-yang of insider knowledge plus relentless outside questioning revealed the actual problem worth solving versus building a feature graveyard of requested tools. Reframe category education through familiar high-stakes analogies: "Predictive analytics" meant nothing to restaurant operators. Matt's breakthrough was pointing out the cognitive dissonance in their lives: they studied dozens of variables and probabilistic forecasts for fantasy football lineups but ran six-figure businesses on Excel sheets and gut instinct. This wasn't explaining predictive analytics—it was exposing the absurdity of having better forecasting tools for fantasy sports than for their livelihood, making the gap visceral and the solution obvious. Convert forecast errors into customer intelligence touchpoints: When ClearCOGS's predictions missed, the team initially spent weeks reoptimizing algorithms. The pivot: immediately call the customer, acknowledge the miss, and say "we're on it." Customers didn't expect perfection from a system replacing Excel and guesswork—they valued having someone actually watching their operation. In a software landscape where vendors disappear post-sale, proactive error acknowledgment became relationship acceleration. Every miss became an opportunity to demonstrate attentiveness that competitors couldn't match. Segment messaging by incentive structure, not org chart: ClearCOGS discovered the messaging split wasn't finance versus operations—it was franchisors versus franchisees. Franchisors earning royalties on top-line revenue needed consistency and scalability messaging. Franchisees and on-ground operators living on bottom-line profitability needed waste reduction and margin improvement messaging. The same product solving the same problem required different value propositions based on how buyers were compensated, not what department they sat in. Test public vulnerability as enterprise sales acceleration: Matt had zero social media presence before ClearCOGS. He started posting about struggles and failures on LinkedIn. Within six weeks, a major restaurant brand reached out for partnership discussions. Later, he posted their first website draft asking for brutal feedback—50 people responded with detailed reviews, video walkthroughs, and unsolicited legal advice. When he launched the Restaurant AI podcast with unclear ROI, he treated it as category education infrastructure. In oversaturated B2B markets, authentic struggle documentation cuts through polished competitor noise and creates asymmetric enterprise access that paid channels can't replicate. //  Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role.  Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

Als ondernemer krijg je constant te maken met afleidingen: je gevoel, social media, mensen die vragen stellen over projecten waar je niet mee bezig bent. Het resultaat? Verlies van focus en geen vooruitgang. In deze aflevering: [00:00] Waarom Paul's vrouw vroeg "Hoe voel je je?" en waarom zijn antwoord "Doet er niet toe" was [02:30] De 2 momenten wanneer gevoel WÉL belangrijk is [05:15] Waarom gevoel 9 van de 10 keer ruis is die executie blokkeert [08:45] Het kroeg-voorbeeld: wanneer een vuist op tafel wél werkt (en wanneer niet) [12:20] Hoe andere mensen je focus saboteren met "onschuldige" vragen [15:40] De sprint-methode: hoe Paul focus bewaart tussen verschillende projecten [18:30] Praktische oefening: jouw wekelijkse focus bepalen Wie moet dit luisteren? Tech founders & ondernemers, SaaS ondernemers en consultancy eigenaren (€120k-€2M omzet) die vastlopen ondanks goede strategie. Als je merkt dat je gefocuste executie mist en constant afgeleid wordt. Over Paul Veth: Identity Architect & Scale-up Coach uit Breda. Helpt founders doorbreken van €120k-€2M naar €10M door mentale bottlenecks weg te halen met The Veth Scale System™. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ LINKS & RESOURCES: https://shift.paulveth.com/ https://paulveth.com/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ KEYWORDS: business coach, scale-up coaching, founder coaching, ondernemer vastlopen, focus voor ondernemers, executie, business coach Breda, scale-up Nederland, tech founders, doorgroeien als ondernemer

That plateau you've hit? It's not because your business is broken — it's because you're stuck in your comfort zone.If you're still relying on the same playbook, making every decision, carrying the business on your back, this episode will help you break the habits holding you back. Learn five strategies to help you break past the $1–10M plateau and start thinking like leaders who scale to $100M!What you'll learn:The danger of doing it all yourself (01:45)Strategy #1: be the architect (02:45)Strategy #2: create clarity (03:49)Strategy #3: build a culture of leaders (05:47)Strategy #4: rely on data (07:32)Strategy #5: redefine risk (08:19)Download our FREE Client Centric Leader eBook for a deeper playbook on building loyalty no competitor can steal: https://meplusultra.com/ebooks/ Apply for the Me Plus Ultra Mastermind to connect with elite entrepreneurs who solve real problems together: https://MePlusUltra.comSubscribe so you don't miss any episodes:Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3SN2fHnSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74bfJL9J2fjevQEvi17ekUYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MePlusUltraNetwork/Connect with Me Plus Ultra:https://www.instagram.com/me_plus_ultra/https://www.facebook.com/MePlusUltra/https://www.facebook.com/groups/1011061052968028/https://x.com/Me_Plus_Ultra/Connect with Scott Joseph:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ScottJosephhttps://x.com/ScottTJoseph1https://www.instagram.com/scotttjoseph/https://www.facebook.com/ScottTJoseph/This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com

Defense technology has shifted from a social liability in Silicon Valley to commanding 35-40% of venture capital allocation—up from a historical 10%. This isn't just trend-following; it reflects fundamental market dynamics as SaaS becomes hypercompetitive and AI lowers barriers to entry, pushing capital toward deep tech where moats still exist. Blacklake, a defense holdco based in Austin, helps emerging defense companies navigate government procurement and expand into Europe, Asia-Pacific, and allied markets. In this episode, Jeff Crusey, EVP of Technology & Acquisition at Blacklake, reveals the emerging defense tech playbook, explains why lobbying ROI dwarfs traditional GTM spending, and details what actually matters when hardware meets government procurement. Topics Discussed: Why VC capital is rotating from SaaS to deep tech and defense The defense tech go-to-market playbook versus enterprise SaaS mechanics SBIR grant programs as non-dilutive capital for hardware development Lobbying and appropriations as core revenue drivers, not nice-to-haves Field deployment and operator feedback as the only viable iteration strategy Investor evaluation criteria for hardware-intensive defense businesses Emerging threat vectors in Arctic defense and orbital domain awareness GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Launch lobbying concurrent with SBIR Phase 1 applications: Companies initiating lobbying and appropriations work at the moment they apply for SBIR grants hit revenue milestones materially faster than those treating government affairs as a later-stage function. This means seed-stage companies maintain Capitol Hill presence—a pattern that didn't exist five years ago. The talent profile matters: government affairs hires need proven relationships within specific congressional committees and appropriations staff. Initial engagements typically involve external lobbying advisors with established networks, transitioning in-house at Series A when contract pipeline justifies dedicated headcount. This is consistently the highest-ROI channel in defense GTM. Optimize for deployment speed over system perfection: Modern conflict operates as continuous technological adaptation where capabilities become obsolete within weeks, not years. Companies achieving persistent field presence with operators—not laboratory perfection—win iterative cycles. The tactical approach: deploy minimum viable hardware to operational environments, capture real-world performance data and failure modes, then rapidly incorporate feedback into next iterations. This contradicts traditional defense procurement assumptions about "exquisite systems" and requires founders to resist over-engineering before battlefield validation. Solve the prototype funding problem through non-dilutive capital: Defense investors require working prototypes before capital deployment due to hardware risk profiles—fundamentally different from software's low marginal cost of iteration. This creates a chicken-and-egg problem: prototypes require capital, but capital requires prototypes. The solution path combines bootstrapping to early proof-of-concept, then leveraging SBIR Phase 1 grants (tens of thousands) to reach demonstrable prototype stage. Phase 2 awards (single-digit millions) fund production validation. Strategic founders pursue direct-to-Phase-2 pathways when possible, compressing the timeline from concept to validated demand signal. Strip technical complexity from investor communications: Defense founders with deep domain expertise consistently over-index on technical sophistication during fundraising conversations, losing investor attention before reaching commercial traction narratives. VCs evaluate market timing, defensibility, and path to scale—not engineering elegance. The correction: communicate technology at middle-school comprehension levels. This isn't condescension; it's recognizing that capital allocators optimize for portfolio construction, not technical peer review. Founders often feel they're "dumbing down" their innovations, but clarity on problem-solution fit and market size matters infinitely more than technical specifications during early fundraising stages. Treat SBIR phases as progressive demand validation, not just funding: The phased SBIR structure functions as government-backed demand signaling: Phase 1 validates concept feasibility, Phase 2 confirms development viability, Phase 3 demonstrates production readiness for potential program of record status. Investors decode these phases as risk reduction milestones. Phase 1 awards indicate government interest; Phase 2 awards (especially direct-to-Phase-2 or enhanced Phase 2) signal validated customer pull; Phase 3 contracts position companies for program of record awards worth hundreds of millions annually. Beyond capital, SBIR progression provides founder-market fit evidence and customer commitment that traditional LOIs cannot match in defense contexts. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

In this episode, we unpack the $4M-$10M funding gap that's stranded hundreds of Indian startups, why Anand raised $45M during COVID when everyone else froze, and the brutal truth about unicorn valuations in India's tech ecosystem. Anand Prasanna is the Managing Partner of Iron Pillar, a $400M+ venture growth fund that's cracked the code on taking Indian companies from $10M to $100M in revenue and shepherding them to IPO. With exits like Bluestone's NSE listing and Vyome's historic Nasdaq debut, Iron Pillar proves that the "India for the World" thesis isn't just talk, it's delivering real returns. From his days at McKinsey and Sequoia to running Morgan Creek's Asia office in Shanghai, Anand brings a rare global lens to Indian venture capital. He shared his contrarian playbook, investment discipline, and why he's passing on the AI hype cycle in this candid, no-holds-barred conversation with host Akshay Datt. Whether you're a founder navigating Series B, an LP evaluating fund managers, or an operator curious about what metrics actually matter at scale, this episode breaks down growth-stage VC like never before. You'll learn the 444 process for picking winners, why CAC payback matters more than growth rate, the dual exit strategy for Indian startups, and Anand's brutally honest takes on Zepto, Cred, Physics Wallah, and why 30% of India's unicorns are overvalued.#VentureCapital #GrowthStageVC #IndiaStartups #SeriesBFunding #StartupFunding #IndianUnicorns #VCInvesting #StartupIPO #BluestoneIPO #FounderThesisPod #StartupMetrics #CACPayback #UnitEconomics #InvestmentStrategy #PrivateEquity #IndiaVC #StartupEcosystem #FundingGap #ScalingStartups #IndiaForTheWorld #GlobalExpansion #VCReturns #LPCapital #StartupValuationDisclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." — Winston ChurchillWelcome to our annual holiday gift guide!These are the items that have made the biggest impact on my life throughout the year, and I know they'll do the same for you or for someone else if you're giving them as a gift.What made the biggest difference in your life this year? Leave a comment to let us know.Onward,JamesPS —⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ We just passed 10M+ views on YouTube! ⁠Join 23K+ other subscribers on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Congress sends Epstein bill to Trump's desk. Nikki Minaj thanks President Trump for taking action in Nigeria as Christian’s are facing genocide. CAIR is supportive of terrorism. Scott Bessent regarding dividend checks. Left lathering over Indiana GOP "rift" Newfields to replace parking lot with $10M flower and vegetable garden. Republican Paula Copenhaver Launches Primary Campaign against Spencer Deery who is opposed to redistricting. Empty Van Winkle Bourbon Bottle $100. January 24th, 2026 SAVE THE DATE Indianapolis Zoo to remove pair of rides to make way for new exhibit space. The ridiculous things some get angry about on social media. Elected Democrats just released a video encouraging members of the military to commit treason and DEFY orders from Trump and Hegseth. The data doesn't support that the economy is all that great. House won't censure Stacey Plaskett who texted Jeffrey Epstein during Trump hearing in 2019. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newfields to replace parking lot with $10M flower and vegetable garden. Republican Paula Copenhaver Launches Primary Campaign against Spencer Deery who is opposed to redistricting. Empty Van Winkle Bourbon Bottle $100. January 24th, 2026 SAVE THE DATESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Resilience, Hustle, and Luxury: Talking NYC Real Estate with Lisa Simonsen | UrbanDigs Today, Noah and John sit down with Lisa Simonsen of Brown Harris Stevens, one of the tip top real estate professionals in the country (seriously... top 0.5%!), to get her take on the current New York City real estate market. Lisa shares why October saw a surprising surge in activity, how the Upper East Side is making a strong comeback, and what it really takes to thrive in this business. From market cycles to mindset, Lisa breaks down the habits, grit, and strategies that set top producers apart. Her insights into luxury clientele, building a resilient business, and staying motivated in tough markets are gold. Pure gold! ==================================== ✅ Stay Connected With Us:

Gripping news from North Platte: a historic hotel has just sold for $10M, igniting market speculation! Discover the implications of this transaction.See full article: https://www.unitedstatesrealestateinvestor.com/north-platte-hotel-sells-for-10-million/—Ready to kill the rat race?Listen, if you're sick of watching other people get rich while you keep grinding for scraps, this is your wake-up call.Right now, everyday people, not Wall Street, not billionaires, not trust-fund babies, are buying property, collecting rent, and stacking cash while you're stuck refreshing your bank app.You can keep working for money, or you can make money work for you.This free ⁠"Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing in 2025" will show you exactly how to start, even if you're broke, busy, or scared to death of losing a dime.It's short. It's simple. It's real.Go grab your copy right now before you talk yourself out of it. Start learning how real Americans are building wealth while everyone else keeps punching the clock.Download now: https://www.unitedstatesrealestateinvestor.com/freeguide/—Helping you learn how to achieve financial freedom through real estate investing. https://www.unitedstatesrealestateinvestor.com/

In this episode, we welcome our Scale Stories TikTok Shop mentors to share how 30-second vids hit 10M views, the 3-bucket scaling framework, pricing/bundles, and live-selling tactics that turn views into sales fast!

Most service business owners make the same hiring mistake: they either clone themselves or swing too far in the opposite direction. Dave MacDonald, founder of The MacDonald Group, has cracked the code on bringing in leadership that elevates your business without losing what makes it profitable. In this episode, Dave shares his battle-tested approach to hiring leaders who bring proven systems from larger operations—without the disconnect that kills profitability. If you've ever wondered how to scale past $10M, $20M, or beyond without chaos, this conversation is your roadmap. The "Descending Ladder" Hiring Strategy That Changes Everything Dave's counterintuitive approach: hire leaders from companies roughly double your size. Not too small (they won't bring new systems), not too large (they'll lose touch with the hands-on work that drives profit). The sweet spot: If you're running a $20M service business, target leaders from $40M firms. They've seen the systems that work at scale, but they're still close enough to remember the grind. The danger zone: Hiring someone from a $100M operation for your $20M business. They'll design systems for problems you don't have yet—and profitability vanishes while they build their empire. "Throw Them in the Pool" - The Onboarding System That Reveals Everything Forget the standard two-week onboarding playbook. Dave's approach tests what really matters: can they swim when unexpected challenges hit? Phase 1 - The Pool Phase 2 - The Brick Phase 3 - Juggling The Three I's: Building a Culture That Repels the Wrong People Dave's non-negotiable cultural framework filters out mismatches before they become expensive problems: Integrity - Takes a full year to truly assess. You can't shortcut this one. Intensity - Either they match your pace or they don't. Create an environment where low intensity feels awkward. Intentionality - Can be taught, but natural focus is gold. Look for people who think three steps ahead. Systems That Actually Improve (Instead of Just Existing) The Annual Rewrite: Every Standard Operating Procedure gets completely rewritten yearly. Yes, completely. This forces evolution and prevents "we've always done it this way" from killing your growth. The Weekly Rhythm Feedback loops that matter The People-First AI Strategy for Service Businesses Dave's refreshingly practical take on AI: "Old-world values with today's most robust technology." What they're actually using AI for: Writing and presentation creation Back-office automation (invoicing, payroll) Initial candidate screening What they're NOT doing: Chasing bleeding-edge tools that aren't proven Replacing the human connection in recruiting Top-down AI mandates Why This Matters for Your Service Business If you're stuck between $5M and $20M, you're probably missing one thing: leaders who've already solved the problems you're facing. The systems you need exist—you just need someone who's lived them. Dave's approach removes the guesswork. Hire people who've already built what you're trying to build. Test them hard and fast. Build a culture so strong that mediocrity feels uncomfortable. Most importantly: don't let your systems gather dust. Annual rewrites might sound exhausting, but it's the difference between a business that scales and one that plateaus. Want to transform your hiring and onboarding systems? These aren't just recruitment tactics—they're the foundation for scalable growth. The question isn't whether you can afford to implement these systems. It's whether you can afford not to.

Pepper is creating content for clients like Shopify, Adobe and Instacart. We're talking hundreds of thousands of posts & videos. And this is content that leads to sales. In this interview, founder Anirudh Singla tell us how they do it by using AI and humans. Anirudh Singla is the founder and CEO of Pepper, a global content marketing platform that blends AI and human creativity to produce content at scale. What began as his side hustle on Upwork has grown into a company serving Fortune 500s —recently crossing $10M in annual recurring revenue. Pepper now operates across writing, design, video, and localization, helping brands drive measurable growth through AI-powered content systems. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Join Justin Forman in Lagos, Nigeria for an inspiring conversation with Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, founder and Managing Partner of Arura Capital. Adesuwa shares her journey from J.P. Morgan to building the first female-led private equity fund in Nigeria focused on female-founded, female-led, and female-focused businesses across Africa.Key Topics:Why Africa has the highest rate of female entrepreneurship globally (4x more than Europe) yet women receive only 2% of capitalHow Arura Capital's $20M Fund One delivered top-quartile returns above global benchmarks while creating 205,000 jobs and $150M in value chain revenueThe $150 billion capital gap facing African SMEs and the arbitrage opportunity in overlooked foundersDigital transformation as Africa's leapfrog strategy - from embedded finance to B2B commerce platforms serving 150,000 retailersWhy now is the best time to invest in Nigeria despite (and because of) recent policy reformsPowerful Quotes:"To live life where it's only about you is a very, very boring life, I think. You really wanna be able to showcase legacy. You really want to be able to showcase how has it impacted that woman who would have never had access to capital if we didn't show up.""Female founders actually generate more revenue than their male counterpart. For every dollar invested in a startup, a female founder returns 2.5 times more revenue than her male counterpart.""If you're an investor that's allocating capital, you can no longer afford to ignore or avoid the African continent, because this is really where the growth in the next 30 to 50 years is gonna come from."About Adesuwa: Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes is the founder and Managing Partner of Arura Capital, a pioneering private equity fund investing in female-founded, female-led, and female-focused businesses across Africa. After a successful career at J.P. Morgan, she launched Arura in July 2019 to address the massive funding gap facing female entrepreneurs on the continent. Her Fund One raised $20M and has delivered top-quartile returns while creating measurable social impact across Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d'Ivoire. Adesuwa was the first woman in Nigeria to raise over $10M for a private equity fund and is passionate about using capital redemptively to transform lives across Africa's value chains. 

Want a quick estimate of how much your business is worth? With our free valuation calculator, answer a few questions about your business, and you'll get an immediate estimate of the value of your business. You might be surprised by how much you can get for it: https://flippa.com/exit -- In this episode of The Exit Podcast, host Steve sits down with Lee Smith, an acquisition entrepreneur at Verdani Capital with 12 years of M&A experience. Lee shares hard-won lessons from acquiring 20+ businesses and reveals what buyers really look for when evaluating companies for acquisition. KEY TOPICS COVERED: The #1 Red Flag Buyers See (And How to Fix It) Lee reveals why owner-dependency kills deals and how to build transferability into your business 2-3 years before exit Inside the Valuation Process Real multiples for blue-collar businesses (2-4x true profit, not EBITDA) and why adjusted earnings can backfire Deal Structure That Works How Lee structures acquisitions to align incentives: buying 60-80% stakes with future upside potential that often doubles the founder's payday The Biggest Deal Mistakes From buying distressed companies to discovering hidden equity agreements 30 minutes before closing—lessons learned the hard way The £1 Business Acquisition Strategy How Lee has purchased 20 businesses for just one pound, including a remarkable turnaround that saved a founder from £500K in debt When Concentration Risk Isn't a Deal-Breaker Strategic approaches to handling clients that represent 60-70% of revenue, including key customer clauses in SPAs Building Trust in M&A Deals Why "two ears, one mouth" matters more than spreadsheets when structuring successful acquisitions The EOS Framework for Integration Using simple systems to manage acquired businesses without disrupting teams or culture -- Lee Smith is a values-driven entrepreneur and dealmaker with more than 25 years of experience and a respected track record in UK M&A. After completing his first acquisitions in 2014, he went on to buy and turn around nine underperforming companies before founding Verdani Capital, where he continues to acquire and scale larger UK businesses. To date, Lee has completed 26 acquisitions across sectors such as Manufacturing, Professional Services, Construction, HVAC, and IT Services, supported by training from leading M&A mentors in the UK and US. His current portfolio generates over £2M in annual profit with a clear path toward £10M, strengthened by three strategic exits in 2024. Grounded in spirituality and conscious leadership, Lee combines substance, strategy, and long-term thinking in every partnership. Website - https://www.leeasmith.co.uk/ -- The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You'll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

Wultra provides post-quantum authentication for banks, fintechs, and governments—protecting digital identities from emerging quantum computing threats. In this episode, Peter Dvorak shares how he broke into the notoriously closed banking ecosystem by leveraging his early experience in mobile banking development. From navigating multi-stakeholder enterprise sales to positioning quantum-safe cryptography when the threat timeline remains uncertain (consensus: 2035, but could accelerate), Peter reveals the specific strategies required to sell mission-critical security infrastructure to regulated financial institutions. Topics Discussed How post-quantum cryptography runs on classical computers while protecting against quantum threats Why European banking regulation drives global authentication standards The multi-stakeholder sales process: quantum threat teams, CISOs, CTOs, and digital product owners Conference strategy and analyst relationships (Gartner, KuppingerCole) for category positioning Banking budget cycles and why June/July approaches fail Breaking the "who else is using this?" barrier with banking-specific proof points Positioning as the only post-quantum cryptography provider for digital identity in banking GTM Lessons For B2B Founders Layer future-proofing onto immediate ROI: Post-quantum cryptography doesn't require quantum computers to function—it runs on classical infrastructure while providing superior security. Peter sells banks on moving from SMS OTP to mobile app authentication (tangible, immediate benefit) while positioning quantum resistance as migration insurance: "You won't have to rip-and-replace in three years." For emerging tech, anchor value in today's operational wins, not future scenarios. Give struggling departments concrete wins: Large banks have quantum threat teams tasked with replacing every piece of software by 2030-2035. Peter gives them measurable progress: "We move you from 5% to 10% completion on authentication and digital identity." These teams need defensible projects to justify their existence. Identify which internal groups are fighting for relevance and deliver projects they can report upward. Banking references are binary gatekeepers: Every bank asks "who else is using this?" Non-banking customers (telcos, gaming, lottery) don't count—banking regulation and systems are fundamentally different. The first banking customer is the hardest barrier. Once cleared, subsequent conversations become tractable. Budget aggressively to land that first bank, even at unfavorable terms. Respect the annual budget cycle: Banks allocate resources 12 months ahead. Approaching in Q2/Q3 means budgets are locked—even free POCs fail because internal resources are committed. Peter's pipeline strategy: build relationships and maintain visibility throughout the year, then activate when budget windows open. Don't confuse market education with active pipeline. Map and sequence multi-stakeholder buys: Authentication purchases require alignment across quantum threat teams (if they exist), cybersecurity/compliance, CTO/CIO (infrastructure acceptance), and digital product owners (UX concerns affecting their KPIs). Start at director level—board executives are too removed from technical details. Research each bank's org structure before engaging, then tailor sequencing. EU regulatory leadership creates expansion vectors: European regulations like PSD2 and strong authentication requirements get replicated in Southeast Asia, MENA, and other regions. Peter benefits from solving EU compliance first, then riding regulatory diffusion. The US remains fragmented with smaller regional banks still using username/password. Founders should analyze which geographies lead regulatory adoption in their category. Maintain composure through 18+ month cycles: Peter's regret: losing his temper during negotiations cost him time. Banking doesn't buy impulsively—sales require patience through lengthy security reviews, compliance checks, and committee approvals. Incremental progress and rational positioning matter more than aggressive closing. Emotional control is operational discipline. // Sponsors:  Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role.  Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

Continuum is solving the multi-party return problem in B2B supply chain—a transaction involving distributors, manufacturers, and end users that previously took 30-45 days and now completes in 30-45 seconds. In this episode of Category Visionaries, we sat down with Alex Witcpalek, CEO and Founder of Continuum, to unpack how he's building what he calls "reverse EDI" in a market of 1.5 million distribution and manufacturing companies across North America. After 13 years selling technology into this space, Alex is now growing 8x year-over-year by turning customers into the primary acquisition channel through network effects. Topics Discussed: Why multi-party returns require replicating order management, warehouse management, and procurement systems simultaneously The tactical sequencing of building network businesses: solving for independent value, achieving critical mass, then activating network effects How Continuum navigates deep ERP integrations (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Epicor) plus bespoke business logic across multiple supply chain tiers Facebook retargeting, BDR outbound, events, and customer referrals as the four channels driving growth in a non-PLG market Why business model differentiation is the only remaining moat when technical barriers collapse Building domain expertise distribution systems using AI-powered LMS fed by sales call recordings GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Choose problems where you can capture 100% of addressable market, not fractional share: Alex deliberately avoided competing in CRM, sales order automation, or accounts payable—categories where even dominant players cap at 25-30% market penetration. Instead, he targeted multi-party reverse logistics, a greenfield problem no one else was solving. This strategic choice eliminates competitive displacement risk and allows every prospect conversation to focus on change management rather than competitive differentiation. Founders should map their TAM against competitive saturation: markets where you can own the entire category create fundamentally different growth trajectories than fighting for fragments. Sequence network businesses: independent value → critical mass → network activation: Alex was told by investors 18 months in that network effects "weren't going to work." His insight: "When you don't have a network, you don't sell the network. It's just in your plans and how you're building." Continuum sold P&L impact, manual labor reduction, and customer experience improvements to early adopters while building network infrastructure invisibly. Only after achieving density in specific verticals (HVAC, electrical, plumbing) did they surface the network value proposition. This sequencing prevents the cold-start problem—founders building marketplace or network businesses must design standalone value that makes the first 100 customers successful independent of network density. Exploit high pain thresholds in legacy industries as competitive barriers: Supply chain companies accept 30-45 day return cycles, manual warranty claims on paper, and playing "guess who" by phone to find inventory across distributor branches. Alex notes they have "extremely high pain threshold" from living with broken systems for decades. While this creates longer education cycles, it also means competitors won't enter (too hard) and once you prove ROI, switching costs become prohibitive. Founders should reframe customer inertia: industries tolerating obvious inefficiencies offer category creation opportunities with built-in moats, not just sales friction. Business model architecture is the only defensible moat—technical differentiation is dead: Alex is building his own e-signature platform (Continue Sign) and AI LMS using vibe coding to prove technical moats no longer exist. Continuum's defensibility comes entirely from network lock-in: displacing them requires disconnecting manufacturers like Carrier, Daikin, and Bosch plus their entire distributor ecosystems simultaneously. He references EDI (1960s technology still dominant today) as proof that network effects create permanent advantages. Founders must architect switching costs, network density, or proprietary data advantages into their business model—technology alone provides zero protection in the AI era. Match channel strategy to actual ICP behavior, not SaaS conventions: Continuum's top lead source is customer-driven network growth—distributors recruiting manufacturers and vice versa. Facebook retargeting works because their 50+ year-old supply chain buyers "are trying to comment on their grandkids' pictures," not scrolling LinkedIn. BDR outbound still delivers high win rates in an industry where business happens on handshakes, making events critical. This channel mix would fail for PLG products but works perfectly for enterprise cycles with $40K ACVs and 90-day sales processes. Founders should ethnographically research where their specific buyers actually spend attention rather than defaulting to LinkedIn, content marketing, or PLG based on what works in adjacent categories. Use 90-day enterprise cycles and multi-stakeholder complexity as qualification, not friction: Continuum runs enterprise sales motions for $40K deals because multi-party returns touch 16 constituents across sales, customer service, fleet, supply chain, warehouse, purchasing, and finance. Rather than trying to simplify buying, Alex uses this complexity as a filter—companies willing to coordinate VP of Supply Chain, COO, and CFO alignment are serious buyers. He layers three value propositions (P&L impact, labor reduction, customer experience) knowing different stakeholders weight them differently. Founders selling into complex environments should embrace multi-threading as a qualification mechanism that improves win rates and reduces churn, not overhead to eliminate. //  Sponsors:  Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire  Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM  

For episode 628 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Jonathan Morgan, Lead Crypto Analyst for Stocktwits. Jonathan breaks down insights on crypto market trends and how community-driven sentiment shapes trading behavior across Stocktwits' 10M+ retail investing network. ⏳ Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction(0:55) Who is Jonathan Morgan?(2:22) Stocktwits at Blockchain Futurist(3:50) Launch of Cryptotwits(5:26) Community on Stocktwits(6:20) Crypto market in 2025(10:11) Stocktwits roadmap for 2026(11:02) Stocktwits website & socials 

✅ If you're looking to scale companies and hit growth targets without burning out or losing control, this episode with Kurt Uhlir is packed with powerful frameworks and real-world experience.In just 23 minutes, you'll hear how Kurt Uhlir, CMO at Easy Home Search and an expert in growing companies past $250M, answers the very questions you're searching for:How do I build systems that scale beyond $10M in revenue?What's holding my startup back from scaling up?Is taking venture capital really worth it—or will it destroy my business?How do I lead teams without being a micromanager or burning out?Kurt has been behind over 60 funding rounds and multiple IPOs. He's not just giving theory—he's been in the trenches, scaling SaaS, tech, and real estate platforms. He shares how he transitioned from founder to scaler, and why most founders should do the same if they want long-term success.

Anthony Lye joined Quid 14 months ago to lead a complete business model transformation. With three decades in Silicon Valley including executive roles at Palantir, NetApp, Oracle, and Siebel Systems, Anthony has operated through every major technology disruption. At Quid, he's dismantling the traditional SaaS playbook—eliminating seat-based pricing, collapsing the software/services separation, and refocusing the entire company on delivering measurable business outcomes rather than analytics tools. In this conversation, Anthony explains why most SaaS companies will fail in the AI era, how Palantir's forward-deployed engineering model creates defensible value, and the specific mental models founders need to reimagine their businesses before disruption makes the decision for them. Topics Discussed How Silicon Valley's technology oligopolies turn over every five years  Why AI shifts technology from features to benefits for the first time  Quid's transformation from social listening SaaS to outcome-based insights delivery  The separation of software and services as a structural flaw in SaaS economics  How forward-deployed engineers at Palantir and Quid collapse the services layer  Why SaaS failed knowledge workers while email remained dominant Discontinuity theory and how oligopolies resist then capitulate to disruption  The "fired tomorrow, compete with yourself" thought experiment for strategy clarity  How to build executive teams as custodians rather than functional heads GTM Lessons For B2B Founders Collapse software and services into outcome delivery: Quid eliminated seat-based pricing and module sales, shifting from IT budget to labor budget by selling insights, trends, and actionable information directly. This repositioned the product from a tool requiring sophisticated data scientists to a team augmentation service protecting brand health and driving commerce decisions. The business model change fundamentally altered buyer, buying process, and deal economics. When your product requires customization or professional services to deliver value, you've identified a structural opportunity to collapse both layers. Deploy the "fired and competing" thought exercise: Anthony's mentor advised imagining your board fires you tomorrow and you immediately compete against your own company. List the three things you'd do on day one to win. Then ask why you're not doing those things now. This exercise cuts through organizational inertia and reveals the obvious strategic moves you're avoiding. The discomfort in your answers indicates where you need to act. Match decision velocity to execution needs, not comfort: Tom Brett at Menlo Ventures told Anthony to increase from 3-4 decisions weekly to 50. The forcing function prevents overthinking and eliminates "second guessing paralysis." Organizations need clarity and direction more than perfect decisions. Write down every decision, communicate it clearly, and publicly reverse course when wrong. This builds a culture where being decisive and correctable beats being slow and theoretically optimal. Recognize when your hypothesis expires: Quid's social listening thesis was correct initially, but markets evolved while the company didn't. The problem remained valid (understanding brand health, shopping trends, product innovation signals), but the SaaS tool-based solution became untenable as data complexity demanded sophisticated users, shrinking addressable market. Founders must distinguish between persistent customer problems and expired solution approaches. Your original hypothesis has an expiration date. Identify the ox that gets gored: Every deal requires customers to stop spending elsewhere. You must be 10x faster or one-tenth the cost to overcome status quo bias. Explicitly identify which vendor or budget line you're displacing, then validate your value proposition can actually displace it. Most startups fail this calculus and wonder why proof-of-concept success doesn't translate to procurement approval. Start with blank canvas, fail backwards to SaaS: When reimagining for AI, don't bolt features onto existing architecture. Begin with first principles about what customers actually want to accomplish, design that solution using current capabilities, then fall back to SaaS components only where necessary. Anthony warns that additive approaches preserve structural constraints that prevent you from capturing the full opportunity. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

Runway is building FP&A software that solves what Siqi Chen calls "the impossible problem"—matching Excel's speed and flexibility for thinking while functioning as an enterprise finance platform. In this episode of The Front Lines, wew sat down with Siqi to unpack Runway's mischief marketing playbook, why they enriched hot sauce pre-orders for lead gen, and how they're implementing AI as a coworker rather than a copilot. Topics Discussed: The unit economics behind the Burn Rate hot sauce campaign: $40K spend, 5K pre-orders, millions of views  How Siqi justifies creative marketing spend as CEO and CFO: downside scenarios must break even, upside gets uncapped returns  Naval's prescient 2020 advice: don't call it CFO AI because "everything's going to be AI anyway"  Why finance buyers completely flipped on AI in 24 months—from indifferent to requiring it  The three emotional triggers that drive FP&A tool adoption: frustration, resentment, anxiety  Runway's approach to competing with Excel by changing abstraction layers, not features  Building AI as a coworker (Ari) that lives in Slack, email, and comments—not a sidebar  Why proof-of-human marketing compounds in value as AI slop becomes the baseline GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Model creative campaigns like venture bets with downside protection: Siqi's framework: $40K for 200 hot sauces wrapped with $100 bills equals 1.5 deals to break even at mid-five-figure ACVs. But the real play was generating 5,000 pre-orders, enriching the top 200, and converting ICP matches at "well above 1%" into pipeline. The math ensures you don't lose money in downside scenarios while creative execution delivers uncapped upside. For B2B founders: calculate your break-even deal count, then structure campaigns where lead gen mechanics provide a safety net under the brand play. Hire for proof of work, not creative credentials: When Cal (Taika co-founder) cold-emailed Siqi with designed mockups of Burn Rate hot sauce and Runway jerseys, that was the interview. Siqi was already a Taika customer who remembered the 415 phone number branding on the can. His advice: "There's no better resume than someone saying 'hey, I submitted a pull request' or 'here's some designs.'" For creative roles especially, evaluate the artifacts directly rather than filtering through credentials or pitches about what they could do. Sell to emotion-driven active searchers, not satisfied users: Runway identified three specific emotions that trigger FP&A software searches: frustration (manually pulling from 20+ data sources monthly, copy-pasting QuickBooks exports), resentment (department heads treating finance requests as "the stupid form" and ignoring deadlines), and anxiety (one error in 10 million Google Sheets cells breaks the entire model). These aren't rational pain points—they're emotional breaking points that drive active solution-seeking. Don't build go-to-market around convincing satisfied Excel users. Instead, optimize for discovery when these specific emotions converge. Treat abstraction changes as category creation opportunities: Siqi explains Airtable's success came from changing Excel's abstraction from cell to row, enabling databases and applications. Runway's insight: business planning requires abstraction changes that Excel can't provide—specifically treating the model as a "game engine" or "simulation of a business" rather than a spreadsheet. The category emerged from that technical insight, not from marketing positioning. For technical founders: identify where your abstraction layer change creates fundamentally new capabilities, then let category definition follow from customer language around those capabilities. Time creative marketing to buyer perception shifts: Two years ago, Runway demoed AI features to leads who "didn't care at all." Today, buyers "don't care what the AI feature is, they just care that it's AI"—a complete flip. Meanwhile, Runway's competitors use .ai domains while Runway uses .com, creating unexpected differentiation. The lesson: buyer perception of emerging technologies follows unpredictable curves. Creative marketing that feels early can land perfectly if timed to perception inflection points. Track not just technology maturity but buyer discourse and demand signals to time creative bets. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

Wisdom AI sells to enterprise data teams, empowering them to deploy AI data analysts that automate analytics functions traditionally handled by human analysts. As a former Rubrik co-founder and Google search ranking engineer, Soham identified the analytics problem firsthand while scaling Rubrik from intuition-driven to data-driven operations. In this episode of Category Visionaries, Soham shares how four Rubrik alumni are building a category-defining solution in the data analytics space, the tactical insights from targeting mid-market accounts to optimize deal velocity and onboarding experience, and how AI buying committees shifted from experimental budgets in 2024 to gatekeepers requiring departmental champions in 2025. Topics Discussed: Leveraging mid-market focus to compress sales cycles while refining onboarding as core product differentiation The transition from gut-based decisions to data-driven operations and why analytics remains unsolved Taming LLMs for precision and explainability requirements in enterprise analytics contexts Strategic navigation of the data ecosystem following the FiveTran-DBT merger and positioning against Snowflake, Databricks, and cloud providers Overlaying product-led trial motions on enterprise sales to maintain momentum during extended procurement cycles AI committee evolution from 2024's experimental phase to 2025's security-focused consolidation mandate Pursuing 10x productivity gains versus incremental improvement in established analytics markets GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Use mid-market to build onboarding velocity as moat: Rubrik deliberately targeted mid-market accounts despite being an enterprise product that closed eight-figure deals. This served two strategic purposes: compressed sales cycles enabled faster learning loops, and the necessity of quick onboarding forced the team to build exceptional admin experiences that became their primary differentiation. For B2B founders, mid-market isn't just easier logos—it's a forcing function for product refinement that creates competitive advantages when moving upmarket. Find problems through operational scar tissue, not market research: Wisdom AI originated when Soham tried moonlighting as engineering's data analyst during Rubrik's scaling phase and discovered he couldn't do it effectively. This wasn't a customer interview insight—it was firsthand recognition that even sophisticated technical leaders with dedicated focus couldn't wrangle data for operational decisions. The problem proved ubiquitous across every business leader optimizing top line, bottom line, and operations. B2B founders building for enterprises should prioritize pain points they've personally hit in operational contexts where existing solutions demonstrably failed them. Engineer time-to-value in minutes for PLG overlay on enterprise sales: Wisdom AI's experiential quality—users get excited when they try it, not when they see slides—creates PLG opportunity despite enterprise positioning. The critical difference: sales-led motions tolerate weeks to first value and build confidence through process, but self-serve requires hook-to-value in minutes with zero support. Soham's insight is using PLG not for credit card swipes but to maintain champion enthusiasm during lengthy procurement processes. B2B founders should architect trial experiences that deliver standalone value pre-data connection, creating internal advocates who sustain momentum through AI committee reviews. Treat ecosystem navigation as first-class GTM workstream: Wisdom AI's success depends on partnership execution with Snowflake, Databricks, and cloud providers—all potential competitors with their own AI initiatives. The FiveTran-DBT merger created immediate dynamic shifts requiring repositioning. Rather than viewing partnerships as business development, Soham frames ecosystem navigation as core GTM infrastructure requiring dedicated strategy and repeatable playbooks. B2B founders in platform-adjacent spaces should staff for partnership complexity early, recognizing that integration points and co-selling motions often determine market access more than direct sales capacity. Architect for AI committee gatekeepers with departmental executive sponsorship: The market fundamentally shifted from mid-2024's "experimental AI budgets, try everything" to 2025's centralized AI committees focused on security, tool consolidation, and preventing organizational wild west scenarios. Soham's tactical response: secure champions owning specific important departments who can navigate approval hierarchies while trial experiences maintain grassroots excitement. The implication for B2B AI founders—assumption of longer cycles, security scrutiny as table stakes, and explicit strategies for climbing from individual enthusiast to organizational deployment become non-negotiable enterprise sales requirements. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

Drama & Dollars dives into the explosive headlines surrounding Cardi B & Offset's rumored $10M divorce, the unexpected involvement of Stefon Diggs, and the resurfacing feud between Chris Brown and Kevin McCall. From courtroom denials to podcast confessions, this episode unpacks the money, the mess, and the music industry drama that's got everyone talking.

Tony Fernandes turned a failing airline into a billion-dollar business and built AirAsia into one of the most recognized brands in Asia. In this interview, Tony explains how he bought AirAsia for just 30 cents and $10M of debt, scaled it into the fourth largest airline in Asia, and created a culture that transformed 24,000 employees into a unified team. From building a brand with global impact to navigating failures, scaling fast against competitors, and leading digital transformation, Tony's story is packed with actionable lessons for founders ready to think bigger and move faster. What you'll learn from this interview: • How Tony bought AirAsia for just 30 cents and $10M in debt • Why scaling fast is critical when competitors can copy your model • How to build a culture that drives loyalty, performance, and innovation • The role of branding, PR, and personal brand in scaling globally • Why self-funding and profitability are underrated growth strategies • How to know when to reinvent, when to focus, and when to quit • Lessons from failures, resilience, and daring to dream bigger By the end of this interview, you'll walk away with proven insights from one of Asia's most iconic entrepreneurs—so you can scale your business, build an unstoppable culture, and create a brand that lasts. SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend with the code FOUNDR50. Just head to https://your.omnisend.com/foundr to get started. HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application → Already have a store? Apply here → https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/nathanchan LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/ CONNECT WITH TONY FERNANDES Website → https://www.airasia.com/ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/tonyfernandes/ LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyfernandesairasia FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES YouTube → https://bit.ly/2uyvzdt Website → https://www.foundr.com Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/foundr/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/foundr Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/foundr LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundr/ Podcast → https://www.foundr.com/podcast

Unlocking Sustainable Growth for Service-Based Businesses: Insights from Michael WalshIn this episode, host Josh Elledge interviews Michael Walsh, President and Founder of Walsh Business Growth Institute. Michael shares insights from over 30 years of helping service-based businesses scale successfully while keeping their people, purpose, and processes aligned. The discussion explores the stages where businesses typically plateau, the impact of AI and generational shifts, and how leaders can empower their teams to drive sustainable growth.Building People-First Growth SystemsMichael explains that most service-based companies hit growth ceilings around $2M, $5M, $10M, and $20M in revenue — not because of lack of opportunity, but because their structures can't keep up. As businesses scale, leaders often tighten control, adding more rules and oversight. Instead, sustainable growth requires empowerment — giving talented teams autonomy, clarity, and purpose.He emphasizes that today's workforce, especially Millennials and Gen Z, values trust, flexibility, and inclusion. Leaders must evolve from top-down management to coaching, mentorship, and development. Post-pandemic realities and rapid AI adoption have further transformed how businesses operate, making adaptability and people-first systems non-negotiable.Drawing from his new book, Freedom by Design, Michael outlines four behavioral pillars of successful growth: understanding individual strengths, building complementary teams, fostering supportive environments, and maintaining flexible structures. His approach helps leaders break through plateaus and rediscover the joy of business ownership by creating alignment between people, purpose, and performance.About Michael WalshMichael Walsh is the President and Founder of Walsh Business Growth Institute and author of Freedom by Design: The Established Business Owner's Guide to Grow, Make an Impact, and Find the Joy Again. With three decades of experience advising service-based organizations, Michael helps leaders navigate growth plateaus, empower their teams, and build businesses that thrive without burning out.About Walsh Business Growth InstituteThe Walsh Business Growth Institute helps established service-based companies overcome growth barriers through strengths-based strategy, leadership development, and structural optimization. Their customized programs empower business owners to scale intentionally, improve team performance, and create long-term operational freedom. Learn more at walshbusinessgrowth.com.Links Mentioned in This EpisodeWalsh Business Growth Institute WebsiteMichael Walsh LinkedIn ProfileKey Episode HighlightsThe four common growth plateaus service-based businesses faceWhy structure, not opportunity, limits growthHow generational shifts and AI are reshaping leadership and teamworkThe power of people-first systems and strengths-based leadershipPractical strategies for building sustainable, empowering business structuresConclusionMichael Walsh reminds leaders that growth is not about working harder — it's about working smarter, with empowered people and adaptive systems. By understanding what truly drives your team, embracing flexibility, and leading with purpose, service-based business owners can scale sustainably while rediscovering fulfillment and joy in...

MishiPay has scaled from processing $10 million to over $250 million in annual transactions by abandoning product purity for market pragmatism. What started as a mobile-first scan-and-go solution evolved into a comprehensive checkout platform spanning self-checkout kiosks, RFID systems, mobile POS, and traditional cash registers—now deployed across 2,000+ stores in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. In this episode of Category Visionaries, we sat down with Mustafa Khanwala, CEO and Founder of MishiPay, to dissect why the "inferior" product often wins in retail tech, how trust-building mechanics differ fundamentally across geographies, and what it actually takes to maintain startup agility at enterprise scale. Topics Discussed: The seven-year journey from consumer mobile app to B2B checkout infrastructure Why MishiPay nearly failed by over-indexing on superior UX instead of adoption curves The 2022 pivot that unlocked triple-digit revenue growth with flat headcount How checkout solution requirements vary by customer visit frequency (weekly grocery vs. annual travel retail) Trust-building in enterprise sales: face-to-face requirements in Middle Eastern markets vs. video-first Western sales cycles Delivering two-week go-live timelines and 10-minute UI changes while maintaining 99.9999% uptime AI integration strategy: internal efficiency first, then customer-facing analytics and autonomous POS management GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Adoption friction kills better products: Mustafa spent years refusing to build self-checkout because scan-and-go was objectively superior UX. The company nearly died defending this position. "Should we have started on some of our other products in 2019 instead of 2022? Probably." The lesson isn't about building inferior products—it's about understanding that customers evaluate "better" through implementation risk, training overhead, and behavior change required. B2B founders must map the gap between current state and ideal state, then build the bridge products that de-risk each transition step, even if those bridges feel like compromises. Customer frequency determines viable solution complexity: Scan-and-go requires significant user education investment that only generates ROI with weekly-plus usage. In travel retail where 70-80% of customers visit 1-2x annually, that education cost never pays back. MishiPay now matches solution types to visit patterns: scan-and-go for high-frequency grocery, staff-assisted mobile POS for low-frequency travel retail, RFID self-checkout for mid-frequency fashion. B2B founders should calculate the learning curve payback period against actual usage frequency—if users won't encounter your product enough times to justify the learning investment, you need a different entry point regardless of how good the end-state experience is. Enterprise stability with startup agility is a wedge, not a platitude: Every vendor claims this. MishiPay operationalizes it through specific SLAs: two-week store go-lives, 10-minute button changes, two-day promotion additions, two-week payment method integration—all while maintaining 99.9999% uptime that enterprise POS demands. This isn't about "moving fast," it's about architecture decisions that enable rapid customization without stability trade-offs (mobile-first, cloud-native, API-driven). B2B founders should define their agility claims in measurable timelines and uptime guarantees, not adjectives. If you can't operationalize "flexibility" into specific hours or days for changes, it's not a differentiator. Geographic trust-building fundamentally differs in mechanism, not degree: Western enterprise sales: product merit → pilot → relationship building → expansion. Middle Eastern enterprise sales: relationship building → pilot opportunity → product merit demonstration → deal. The difference isn't relationship importance (both require it), but sequencing. Mustafa noted Middle Eastern business culture evolved from pearl diving where "their whole job was to be able to look at someone in the eyes and decide if that person was going to scam them." Face-to-face happens pre-deal in Middle East, post-deal in the West. B2B founders expanding globally must rebuild their sales motion sequencing by geography, not just translate materials or add local reps. Staff productivity scales by solving the manager's problem, not the user's pain: MishiPay's roadmap progression reveals a pattern: first solve for store staff (checkout experience), then assistant managers (store operations), then store managers (performance analytics), then HQ (multi-store optimization). Each layer up requires data aggregation from the layer below. The AI analytics launch targets store-level decisions (pricing, promotions, inventory) using transaction data from POS—this expands buyer persona from IT/Operations to Finance/Merchandising. B2B founders should map their product expansion as a vertical climb through the org chart, where each new buyer persona requires accumulated data from the previous user tier.   // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role.  Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM  

Lori Adams-Brown, a Strategic Transformation Executive, Board Director, Global Speaker and Podcast Host challenges audiences to get clear on your personal values, to speak up when there is a values misalignment, and to reject self-limiting beliefs that hold leaders back in an era of capitulation from Silicon Valley to Washington DC. Who we are as leaders matters, and getting clear on your personal values, working on self-awareness and letting our values be our filter in decisions matters a great deal in leadership today. Lori speaks about why now is the time to speak up. Whether you serve on a board, in a C-suite, in a university, or an NGO, this is the time to share your perspective. The worlds needs your voice, your perspective, and better decisions are made around decision-making tables when you speak up. Lori Adams-Brown is a strategic transformation executive, board director, and sought-after speaker who helps CEOs prevent the $10M blind spots that erode trust, lose top talent, and kill billion-dollar opportunities. For over 20 years, she's advised Fortune 100 C-suites and global leaders on organizational effectiveness that mitigates business risk and accelerates growth. She's architected AI-enabled leadership programs across seven global cities that elevated manager effectiveness 48%, contributed to $1B+ revenue, and transformed cultures where humans flourish and businesses scale. Lori has directed $16M budgets, built programs in 11 countries in five languages, and coordinated UN disaster relief serving 2,000+ stakeholders. She serves on the boards of the Center for Creative Leadership and How Women Lead, and hosts the top 3% podcast A World of Difference. She holds an M.A. in Intercultural Studies, speaks six languages, and has lived on three continents. Connect with us: https://www.aworldofdifferencepodcast.com Linkedin YouTube Substack FaceBook Instagram Threads Patreon (for exclusive episodes just for Difference Makers) Bluesky TikTok Subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who might need to hear it. Your support helps the community grow and keeps these important conversations going. If you need professional help, such as therapy: https://www.betterhelp.com/difference If you are looking for your next opportunity, sign up for Lori's Masterclass on Master the Career Pivot: https://www.loriadamsbrown.com/careerpivot Difference Makers who are podcast listeners get 10% offf with the code: DIFFERENT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people guess marketing tricks—but Andri Sadlik knows the shortcuts, the pitfalls, and the moves nobody talks about. In this episode, Jaryd Krause sits down with Andri Sadlik, a pro at scaling SaaS, AI, and e-commerce businesses. Andri launched his first business and exited successfully. After that, he scaled multiple Amazon FBA brands from $100K a year up to $1M, and finally over $10M. No gimmicks, no luck—just carefully built systems, a strategy that makes sense, and teams that execute like clockwork. He’s also the co-founder of ProductPinion, a SaaS company he’s planning to exit, and has been featured in top media outlets for his expertise in scaling businesses. In this conversation, you’ll hear how he:

In this solo episode, Jesse Teron, COO and Head Coach at Painter Growth, dives into one of the most emotional topics for painting business owners: money.Why do certain numbers, like $100K, $1M, or $10M—carry so much emotional weight? And how can shifting your mindset about money completely change your life and your business?Jesse breaks down the mental stories we attach to dollar amounts, how to reach “Baseline 1” (the income level where both your business and personal needs are covered), and the practical financial habits every painting entrepreneur should master.You'll learn:Why money is just a tool, and how that perspective frees you.How to calculate your true financial baseline.The margins and systems that keep your business sustainable.This episode blends mindset, math, and real-world experience to help you build a healthier, wealthier relationship with money.

Keye helps private equity investors accelerate deal evaluation through AI-powered quantitative analysis. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, I sat down with Rohan Parikh, Co-Founder and CEO of Keye, to explore how his team bridges the gap between AI capabilities and the 100% accuracy requirements of financial due diligence—enabling PE firms to say no to deals earlier and focus resources on the right opportunities. Topics Discussed: Why ChatGPT-style search and summarization tools fail in PE workflows—summaries don't drive investment decisions The technical challenge of achieving 100% deterministic accuracy while maintaining AI contextualization capabilities How market timing created unexpected GTM momentum: PE operating partners watching portfolio companies transform with AI became receptive to internal tooling Persona-specific cold email strategies that demonstrate workflow understanding rather than biographical personalization Design partner economics in conservative industries: accepting

Assembled is the AI customer support platform powering hundreds of modern enterprises including Stripe, Robinhood, Salesforce, and Ashley Furniture. The company's largest customer operates a 20,000-person contact center. With products spanning AI chat and voice agents that resolve 70-80% of tickets to sophisticated workforce management and forecasting systems, Assembled's core thesis challenges the industry narrative: the best support teams orchestrate humans and AI in perfect balance rather than replacing one with the other. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, we sat down with Ryan Wang, CEO and Co-Founder of Assembled, to explore the company's journey from eight months to first customer to becoming the infrastructure behind customer experiences at scale. Topics Discussed: The reality gap between AI support demos and production deployment Why sophisticated buyers now demand quality benchmarks and latency metrics over feature lists The hidden complexity in contact center work: KYC compliance, fraud review, and multi-system workflows How the Klarna "fire everyone" approach failed and what it reveals about the market Patrick and John Collison's all-company support rotations at Stripe The product-market fit question that ended six months of wrong direction Enterprise destiny baked into early product decisions Converting LinkedIn discomfort into a systematic storytelling engine Path dependence from workforce management to AI automation products Why customer support problems rhyme with operations challenges across industries GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Quality-first positioning wins when buyers move past demo amazement: Ryan observed a critical market shift. Sophisticated buyers now run rigorous bake-offs with training data variability and ask for latency metrics, quality benchmarks, and production performance data. The last three AI deals Assembled closed required detailed competitive evaluations. When messaging emphasizes cost reduction over quality improvement, you lose credibility with buyers who understand that turning off support entirely would be free—they're investing in lifetime value and loyalty creation. Position around the buyer's actual objective hierarchy: quality first, efficiency as validation. The product-market fit question that encodes your entire GTM strategy: Ryan's co-founder asked prospects "What is software that you must have or you hate your options?" This single question revealed multiple strategic insights simultaneously: you're targeting painkillers in established categories, pursuing replacement sales against weak incumbents, and entering markets with demonstrated willingness to pay. For Assembled, this naturally surfaced workforce management—a must-have category with Windows 95-era tools serving 20,000-person teams. The question's elegance is how it filters for product-market fit and GTM approach in one conversation. Access the best through respect signals, not connections: When hiring his first engineering executive at 15 people, Ryan got an introduction to a former VP of Engineering at Facebook, then explicitly signaled time respect: requested only 15 minutes, clarified he wasn't recruiting, offered availability "Saturday 8pm or anytime," and had specific questions prepared. The call happened at an odd Saturday time. The insight wasn't just learning about "Dual Lands" leadership (a Magic: The Gathering reference)—it was understanding how exceptional minds construct mental models. You can reach these people through investor networks or multi-hop introductions, but earning their time requires demonstrating you'll use it surgically. Recognize when you're not "the company" to avoid strategic errors: A top recruiting firm told Ryan "you're not Stripe, so you can't sell people like you're Stripe." At any moment, one Silicon Valley company occupies a unique position—Stripe then, OpenAI now—where normal rules don't apply. That company can eliminate product managers, remove all titles, or make unconventional demands. Understanding you're not in that position prevents catastrophic hiring missteps. Ryan had to recalibrate from Stripe-era patterns where his recruiter became Anthropic's president and his onboarding buddy became OpenAI's president. Your positioning must match your actual market gravity, not your aspirational tier. Systematize founder storytelling to compound credibility: Ryan solved founder marketing discomfort by reframing from self-promotion to being an intermediary—sharing customer stories from Armenia, banking conferences, and global contact centers rather than broadcasting opinions. The system: Friday morning sessions with prompts ("interesting things from this week," "near-death moments," "challenges from 1-10M to 10-20M ARR," "why London now?"), team filters for compelling angles, three drafts weekly, then editing. The Science of Storytelling principles apply: narratives demonstrating lived experience build more credibility than thought leadership. This creates a flywheel where audience members surface their own stories in comments and DMs, feeding future content. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role.  Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

The bigger your business grows, the more discomfort you'll have to handle. In this episode, I break down what it truly means to be a courageous CEO and why your emotional capacity determines the size of your results. I talk about how to lead through uncertainty without losing momentum. I also share Gary Vee's take on what separates a $700K business from a $10M one and how courage, not confidence, is the bridge between the two. Get ready to expand your capacity for discomfort, master your mindset, and lead with resilience through every season of growth.   HIGHLIGHTS What Gary Vee says separates $700K and $10M business owners. How your thinking influences every result you create. How to stay in motion when client complaints, team changes, or ad fatigue hit. Coaching story on how mindset shifts changed outcomes during COVID. Why your emotional capacity determines your income capacity.   RESOURCES + LINKS Try Ask Heather AI for 30 Days HERE Apply for The Med Spa Advantage HERE   FOLLOW Heather: @heatherterveen Website: heatherterveen.com

Voltiris has developed spectroscopy-based solar panels that filter light for greenhouse crops while generating renewable energy. Unlike traditional opaque panels that cause 60-80% yield reduction in high-tech greenhouses, Voltiris's technology harvests only the light wavelengths unused by photosynthesis. In this episode, we sat down with Nicolas Weber, Co-Founder and CEO of Voltiris, to explore how a former BCG consultant and a PhD spectroscopist are navigating multi-season validation cycles with family-owned greenhouse operations across Northern Europe. Topics Discussed: Why spectroscopy expertise unlocked a solution to greenhouse energy challenges The technical reality: traditional solar creates 60-80% yield loss in high-tech greenhouses Earning credibility with second and third-generation greenhouse operators Time as constrained resource: multi-season validation in agriculture markets System-level thinking required to manage complex greenhouse operations Offline GTM in conservative B2B agriculture: fairs, referrals, and crop advisors Platform strategy: expanding from solar to complete greenhouse energy management GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Time constraints differ fundamentally in hardware: Voltiris faces season-dependent validation cycles where "you can throw as much cash as you want on a tomato, it's going to take one year to demonstrate that it works." Most growers demand 2-3 full growing seasons before adoption. Hardware founders must structure runway, investor expectations, and partnership terms around immovable biological or physical timelines—not software-style iteration speeds. Product-market fit exists before product in infrastructure plays: Voltiris confirmed demand preemptively. Nicolas explains: "If the technological promise holds, there is demand...the growers, they already told us from the beginning we're waiting for solution like this to come." When selling infrastructure that solves existential problems (energy transition, electrification mandates), validate market pull before achieving technical proof. This inverts typical startup sequencing but derisks decades of R&D investment. Treat early customers as co-creation partners, not transactions: Voltiris positions initial deployments as "joint creation" rather than sales. Nicolas's pitch: "This is the future vision. Are you ready to build it with us and do you want to jump into that shit with us?" In markets with 25-30 year product lifecycles and 3-year company track records, transactional selling fails. Structure partnerships with shared risk, transparent data access, and collaborative problem-solving. Master domain expertise at operator level, not executive level: Voltiris's technical co-founders became greenhouse operations experts, not just energy technology experts. Nicolas credits this: "My two co founders are now among the best experts you have in terms of how to run a greenhouse." In complex B2B environments (agriculture, manufacturing, logistics), founders must understand day-to-day operations—not just C-suite pain points—to build credible solutions. Use direct feedback environments to compress learning cycles: Dutch growers provided unfiltered assessment within minutes. Nicolas values this: "If what you're building is not good, you would know directly within five, 10 minutes...they would say, not worth my time, please, the door is here." Seek brutally honest customer segments that accelerate validation, even if acquisition is harder. Fast negative feedback prevents wasted development cycles on wrong assumptions. //   Sponsors:  Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role.  Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM  

The Bad Speakers are back with another raw, funny, and unfiltered conversation on everything happening in the culture!

Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠Join The Normandy For Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here: ⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠Analytic Dreamz unpacks Sin Bandera's timeless “Que Lloro” on Notorious Mass Effect. The Mexican-Argentine duo—Leonel García (b. 1975) and Noel Schajris (b. 1974)—formed in 2000, bonding over piano-guitar harmonies and emotive pop-ballads. Their 2001 debut won Latin Grammys; 2003's De Viaje (#1 Billboard Top Latin Albums 16 weeks, multi-platinum) birthed “Que Lloro,” a vulnerability-drenched breakup anthem written by García and produced by Áureo Baqueiro. Peaking #10 Hot Latin Songs with 11.2M weekly impressions (2004), it now boasts 200M+ Spotify streams, 150M+ YouTube views—plus 50M from the 2007 Reik duet. Streaming surged 40% post-2016 reunion, hitting 10M+ annual equivalents; 60% from Spotify/YouTube, 25% Apple Music LatAm. Karaoke catalogs add 20% ancillary sales; 100K+ fan covers generate 5M indirect views. Telenovela syncs lifted 2003 Mexico physicals 30%. Streams spike 25% in February (Valentine's) and November (LatAm breakup season). Fueled by 2025's 25th anniversary tour, “Que Lloro” remains Latin pop's therapeutic heartbreak staple and Sin Bandera's enduring entry point. Analytic Dreamz details stats, cultural longevity, and long-tail dominance. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/analytic-dreamz-notorious-mass-effect/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

How to Build a Sustainable, Scalable Business: Insights from Young Han, Fractional COO/CFOIn this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, host Josh Elledge interviews Young Han, multi-entrepreneur, founder of Always Han and Thesis, and host of The Girl Dad Show. Young shares his experience as a fractional COO/CFO, helping companies between $10M and $100M in revenue make data-driven, sustainable growth decisions. The discussion dives into how founders can scale methodically, balance emotion with logic, and build systems that create long-term stability instead of short-term excitement.Building a Sustainable Business ModelYoung explains that scaling a business requires more than ambition—it requires structure, clarity, and discipline. As a fractional COO/CFO, he brings high-level strategy and operational focus to businesses that are ready to grow but not yet large enough for a full executive team. He emphasizes separating emotion from decision-making and using quantifiable data to guide growth, helping founders see where they can take calculated risks versus emotional leaps.A key part of his process is understanding the founder's actual goals—whether it's income, freedom, or eventual sale—and aligning operational and financial strategies around those priorities. Young believes in the power of methodical, “boring” business-building: creating repeatable systems, managing risk intelligently, and using debt strategically rather than emotionally. His philosophy proves that success doesn't require chaos or constant reinvention—it comes from consistency, structure, and clear decision frameworks.Young also encourages founders to embrace what he calls “Built Boring,” a mindset focused on long-term results over flashy short-term wins. By grounding strategy in data and disciplined execution, leaders can create scalable businesses that endure—ones that don't rely solely on the founder's daily grind to survive.About Young HanYoung Han is a fractional COO/CFO, serial entrepreneur, and founder of Always Han, where he helps companies scale through structured financial and operational strategy. With a portfolio of over 20 growing businesses, Young specializes in guiding founders through the complexities of sustainable growth, decision frameworks, and strategic risk management. He is also the host of The Girl Dad Show, where he shares his insights on leadership, parenting, and entrepreneurship.About Always HanAlways Han is a business strategy and leadership development firm founded by Young Han, focused on helping entrepreneurs and business owners scale sustainably through data-driven decision-making, operational clarity, and financial discipline. By offering fractional COO/CFO services, personalized coaching, and educational resources, Always Han empowers founders to separate emotion from strategy and build businesses that endure. Through frameworks, tools, and real-world insights, Always Han helps leaders grow logically, lead confidently, and achieve sustainable success.Links Mentioned in This EpisodeAlways Han WebsiteYoung Han LinkedIn ProfileKey Episode HighlightsFractional executives bring strategic expertise without full-time cost.Founders must separate emotion from data when making big decisions.Sustainable scaling means building “boring,” repeatable systems.Understand your risk tolerance—debt can be a powerful growth tool if used wisely.Success is built through structure, consistency,...

AlabamaSen. Tuberville calls gender transition surgeries for minors EVILHomeschooling organizations thank ALGOP chairman for defending their parental rightsALDOT says there is direct conflict in plans for Bessemer data center and plans for BeltlineFederal Prosecutor Lloyd Peeples to run for District 48 seat in Alabama HouseAL Dept. of Veterans' Affairs looking to create veteran cemetery in North ALAL Dept. of Archives and History opens gallery to honor military veteransNationalSCOTUS rules in favor of Trump policy for only 2 genders on US passportsFederal judge tells Trump admin to pay ALL SNAP benefits in NovemberDOJ to issue subpoenas against John Brennan and enpanel a grand juryThree Chinese nationals charged with smuggling biological materials into USVA jury awards $10M to teacher shot by 6 year old student in 2023Air flight cancellations begin today due to government shutdownAngry Muslims declare their right to force Islam on Americans after mayoral election in NYC

Read more  Virginia Democrats plan to capitalize on 2025 'tsunami' Bill Lupoletti, WRIR co-founder, remembered as ‘passionate connector' Chesterfield County names interim supervisor to replace Jim Holland Former Newport News teacher shot by her 6-year-old student wins a $10M jury verdict Our award-winning work is made possible with your donations. Visit vpm.org/donate to support local journalism. 

11/06 It's all Mamdani all the time today......Heard On The Show:Detroit Lakes wife convicted for orchestrating the murder of her missonary husband in AngolaMSP one of 40 airports that will have flights cut by the FAA due to shutdownA former teacher shot by student, 6, wins $10M jury verdict against ex-assistant principalSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Register for FREE Infosec Webcasts, Anti-casts & Summits – https://poweredbybhis.com00:00 - PreShow Banter™ — Musical Views of the Universe04:05 - – BHIS - Talkin' Bout [infosec] News 2025-11-0304:39 - Story # 1: Ransomware profits drop as victims stop paying hackers06:22 - Chart since 201916:06 - Story # 2: More than a million people every week show suicidal intent when chatting with ChatGPT, OpenAI estimates33:02 - Story # 3: 10M people watched a YouTuber shim a lock; the lock company sued him. Bad idea.41:18 - Story # 4: ‘Dangerous' YouTube videos struck down for bypassing Windows 11 account setup [Update: Restored]47:13 - Story # 5: Chicago firm that resolves ransomware attacks had rogue workers carrying out their own hacks, FBI says51:08 - Story # 6: Microsoft: DNS outage impacts Azure and Microsoft 365 services54:33 - Story # 7: EY Data Leak – Massive 4TB SQL Server Backup Exposed Publicly on Microsoft Azure55:22 - Stordy # 8: Black Hat Europe 2025 Arsenal: 8 AI Security Tools Transforming Cybersecurity

Elyse Myers, (writer/creator) stopped by to talk to JVN all about her new book That's A Great Question, I'd Love To Tell You, living with ADHD, and navigating parenthood after being diagnosed with Autism as an adult. From masking and people-pleasing to boundaries and self-acceptance, Elyse shares the before/after of getting language following her diagnosis. Plus! We also dig into how she writes and why the Midwest is low-key the best.   Elyse Myers is a writer and comedian who achieved mainstream recognition as a digital content creator. Deemed "The Internet's Best Friend," Myers continues to serve her audience of more than 10M+ with relatable stories, twisted Q&A's over coffee, and acts as an advocate for countless topics such as ADHD, imposter syndrome, body image and more by allowing herself to be seen, unfiltered in a genuine and hilarious way. Full Getting Better Video Episodes now available on YouTube.  Follow Elyse Myers on Instagram @elyse_myers and Tiktok @elysemyers Follow Getting Better on Instagram @gettingbetterwithjvn  Follow Jonathan on Instagram @jvn Check out the JVN Patreon for exclusive BTS content, extra interviews, and much much more - check it out here: www.patreon.com/jvn  Senior Producer, Chris McClure Producer, Editor & Engineer is Nathanael McClure Production support: Chad Hall Our theme music is also composed by Nathanael McClure. Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“I don't need to change the world overnight. I'm going to change the world over the next 50 years." — Jensen HuangNvidia CEO Jensen Huang built a trillion-dollar company on a simple philosophy: win today so you can play again tomorrow. In this minisode, we unpack his viral insight about why executing flawlessly on simple plans beats chasing perfection, and how this approach transforms both your business and your daily life.Onward,JamesPS —⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ We just passed 10M+ views on YouTube! Join 23K+ other subscribers on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this episode of the Second in Command Podcast, guest host Sivana Brewer sits down with Daniel Quinonez, Chief Operating Officer of the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association (PHCC) — one of the oldest trade associations in the United States, founded nearly 140 years ago.Daniel shares how this long-standing organization is transforming to meet the modern era while honoring its heritage. From training apprentices who go on to run multimillion-dollar companies, to integrating AI and new tech tools into the trades, the PHCC is proving that innovation and tradition can coexist.He also opens up about leadership lessons from his own journey, from mopping floors at his father's bar to leading a national $30M organization, and how his personal mantra, “Be nice,” has shaped his management style, his culture, and his success.If you lead a legacy business, manage a growing team, or want to understand how blue-collar industries are embracing technology, this episode offers both inspiration and strategy.Timestamped Highlights[00:01:00] – The PHCC's 140-year history and why plumbing is a pillar of public health.[00:02:40] – How the industry came together to standardize clean water systems in the 1920s.[00:03:44] – What PHCC offers its members today: education, licensing, and community.[00:05:08] – From one truck to $10M: stories of self-made contractors in the trades.[00:06:14] – Why nearly every successful owner started as a hands-on apprentice.[00:08:00] – How AI is transforming the trades and why it's an ally, not a threat.[00:09:34] – Changing perceptions: convincing parents that the trades are a smart career path.[00:10:39] – The rise of entrepreneurship and financial freedom in plumbing and HVAC.[00:11:42] – Daniel's own career path from government and lobbying to COO.[00:13:57] – Becoming the first COO in PHCC's 140-year history.[00:15:25] – Helping a century-old organization modernize its operations and systems.[00:17:03] – Growing membership and education as PHCC's two strategic pillars.[00:18:55] – The PHCC Online Academy: 15,000 students and counting.[00:21:00] – The challenge of evolving legacy culture and systems in long-standing institutions.[00:22:30] – Why more contractors are creating COO roles for succession planning.[00:25:17] – Family businesses, private equity, and the changing face of ownership.[00:27:56] – Daniel's leadership mantra: “Be nice.”[00:33:38] – Balancing kindness with accountability and setting measurable goals.[00:35:00] – Building buy-in and bringing staff along during organizational change.[00:39:00] – Teaching business finance and leadership to new COOs in the trades.[00:43:36] – Daniel's excitement for PHCC Connect 2024 and the next generation of apprentices.Resources & MentionsPHCC – Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors AssociationPHCC Academy – Online education and apprenticeship trainingQuality Service Contractors (PHCC Program) – Business coaching for contractorsFederated Insurance – PHCC partner for business succession planningSkillsUSA & WorldSkills Competitions – Annual events supporting young tradespeopleAbout the GuestDaniel Quinonez is...

ElevenLabs CEO and co‑founder Mati Staniszewski joins Jennifer Li to explain how the team ships research‑grade AI at lightning speed—from text‑to‑speech and fully licensed AI music to real‑time voice agents—and why voice is the next interface for human‑computer interaction. He shares the small, autonomous team model, global hiring approach, and how the Voice Marketplace has paid creators over $10M while evolving into an enterprise platform. Resources:Follow Mati on X: https://x.com/matistanisFollow Jennifer on X: https://x.com/JenniferHli Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16zFind a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16zListen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYXListen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenbergPlease note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.  Stay Updated:Find a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Podcast on SpotifyListen to the a16z Podcast on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How do you show up in the world, whether it's online, at work, or in your community? Whether you've thought about it or not, that's all part of your personal brand. In this episode of Psychologists Off The Clock, Michael is joined by Goldie Chan, a personal branding expert, to unpack her book, Personal Branding for Introverts, and what personal branding really is and how it's different from just having a reputation. They talk about how to choose the right platforms, why consistency matters when you're sharing content, and how to stay authentic while still protecting your privacy. Goldie also shares smart, down-to-earth advice on setting boundaries, creating meaningful content, and building genuine connections, especially for introverts and small business owners. If you've ever wondered how to shape your public persona without feeling fake or overwhelmed, this episode is full of practical, encouraging insights.Listen and Learn: What a personal brand is and how it reflects how people outside your inner circle perceive youThe key difference between reputation (what others say about you) and personal branding (what you intentionally communicate about yourself)The many components that make up a personal brand, both online and offlineThe key differences between “rented” and “owned” online spaces, including their pros, cons, and how the balance between them has evolved in today's digital landscapePractical, ethical, and authentic strategies for creating and posting social media content, including how to choose the right platform, define their audience, and maintain a sustainable posting cadenceTesting and adapting to new platforms, understanding where their target community actually is, and aligning their content style with both personal preference and audience expectationsWhy going viral doesn't necessarily build a lasting or engaged community, and why focusing on meaningful conversations and evergreen content is more valuable than chasing viralityHow to balance authenticity and privacy when building a personal brandExpressing genuine personality and emotion online in a sustainable way that maintains connection without compromising personal well-being or energyResources: Personal Branding for Introverts: https://bookshop.org/a/30734/9781541705463 Goldie's Website https://www.goldiechan.comWarm Robots: https://www.warmrobots.com Connect with Goldie on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/goldie Debbie's Substack article: Am I a Brand? (Part 1) https://drdebbiesorensen.substack.com/p/am-i-a-brand Ambivalence about marketing my business (as a therapist, writer, and small business owner)About Goldie ChanGoldie Chan is a creative, keynote speaker, author and cancer survivor. She was named the "Oprah of LinkedIn" by Huffington Post and her creative video channel won LinkedIn Top Voice for Social Media. Goldie founded Warm Robots in 2018, an award-winning social media strategy and creative agency based in Los Angeles with global clients. Previously, she wrote an internationally-recognized column for Forbes, which received nearly 10M views, and was named Journalist Of the Year in 2024. Goldie writes for Archie Comics and has been featured as a fresh voice in The New York Times, CNN, Fast Company, and many other outlets. Her first book, Personal Branding for Introverts, published with Basic Ventures in 2025. Goldie is based in sunny Los Angeles.Related Episodes399. Likable Badass with Alison Fragale357. Is Your Work Worth It? How to Think About Meaningful Work with Jennifer Tosti-Kharas and Christopher Wong Michaelson307. Navigating Social Media As a Parent with Cara Goodwin250. Anxiety and Perfectionism with Clarissa OngSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From AI-powered code generation boosting productivity to adversaries using the same tools to hunt zero-days, the panel exposes the coming wave of AI-fueled cyberattacks—and why most companies aren't ready for it. Cotton blocks Trump-backed effort to make daylight saving time permanent The End of Cybersecurity Amazon says it didn't cut 14,000 people because of money. It cut them because of 'culture' Here's How the AI Crash Happens US government is getting closer to banning TP-Link routers Neato cloud shutdown sees robocleaners robbed of their smarts FCC will vote to scrap telecom cybersecurity requirements Trump FCC Votes To Make It Easier For Your Broadband ISP To Rip You Off Swedish Death Cleaning But for Your Ditital Life The F5 Hack is a Big Deal OpenAI Releases Agentic Security Researcher 'Do not trust your eyes': AI generates surge in expense fraud Proton Data Breach Observatory aims to alert you in near real-time Using a Security Key on X? Re-Enroll Now or Your Account Will Be Locked YouTube denies AI was involved with odd removals of tech tutorials 10M people watched a YouTuber shim a lock; the lock company sued him. Bad idea. Samsung's $2000 smart fridges are getting ads - gHacks Tech News ESPN, ABC, and other Disney channels go dark on YouTube TV Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Jill Duffy, Alex Stamos, and Stacey Higginbotham Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: ziprecruiter.com/twit zscaler.com/security miro.com canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT Melissa.com/twit

From AI-powered code generation boosting productivity to adversaries using the same tools to hunt zero-days, the panel exposes the coming wave of AI-fueled cyberattacks—and why most companies aren't ready for it. Cotton blocks Trump-backed effort to make daylight saving time permanent The End of Cybersecurity Amazon says it didn't cut 14,000 people because of money. It cut them because of 'culture' Here's How the AI Crash Happens US government is getting closer to banning TP-Link routers Neato cloud shutdown sees robocleaners robbed of their smarts FCC will vote to scrap telecom cybersecurity requirements Trump FCC Votes To Make It Easier For Your Broadband ISP To Rip You Off Swedish Death Cleaning But for Your Ditital Life The F5 Hack is a Big Deal OpenAI Releases Agentic Security Researcher 'Do not trust your eyes': AI generates surge in expense fraud Proton Data Breach Observatory aims to alert you in near real-time Using a Security Key on X? Re-Enroll Now or Your Account Will Be Locked YouTube denies AI was involved with odd removals of tech tutorials 10M people watched a YouTuber shim a lock; the lock company sued him. Bad idea. Samsung's $2000 smart fridges are getting ads - gHacks Tech News ESPN, ABC, and other Disney channels go dark on YouTube TV Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Jill Duffy, Alex Stamos, and Stacey Higginbotham Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: ziprecruiter.com/twit zscaler.com/security miro.com canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT Melissa.com/twit

Multiple award-winning funnel strategist Bud Heaton opens up about building a thriving business while honoring his family's vision. This is how purpose fuels profit.Key Takeaways:– Family alignment as a business strategy– Building over $10M in funnel sales– Quiet wins are real winsFollow and review the show if this resonated.Drop a comment on how you're aligning your business with your life.IG: @organicwordnerd

From AI-powered code generation boosting productivity to adversaries using the same tools to hunt zero-days, the panel exposes the coming wave of AI-fueled cyberattacks—and why most companies aren't ready for it. Cotton blocks Trump-backed effort to make daylight saving time permanent The End of Cybersecurity Amazon says it didn't cut 14,000 people because of money. It cut them because of 'culture' Here's How the AI Crash Happens US government is getting closer to banning TP-Link routers Neato cloud shutdown sees robocleaners robbed of their smarts FCC will vote to scrap telecom cybersecurity requirements Trump FCC Votes To Make It Easier For Your Broadband ISP To Rip You Off Swedish Death Cleaning But for Your Ditital Life The F5 Hack is a Big Deal OpenAI Releases Agentic Security Researcher 'Do not trust your eyes': AI generates surge in expense fraud Proton Data Breach Observatory aims to alert you in near real-time Using a Security Key on X? Re-Enroll Now or Your Account Will Be Locked YouTube denies AI was involved with odd removals of tech tutorials 10M people watched a YouTuber shim a lock; the lock company sued him. Bad idea. Samsung's $2000 smart fridges are getting ads - gHacks Tech News ESPN, ABC, and other Disney channels go dark on YouTube TV Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Jill Duffy, Alex Stamos, and Stacey Higginbotham Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: ziprecruiter.com/twit zscaler.com/security miro.com canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT Melissa.com/twit