Podcasts about 150k

In this episode, we're walking through how we have taken Sheer Strength from bankruptcy and rebuilt it into a $2 million/year business. This is a step-by-step look at the turnaround playbook for a struggling e-commerce brand. Want to work with me? Get on the waiting list at https://capitalism.com/bootcamp or email ryan@capitalism.com  Timestamps (0:00) Bankrupt brand comeback (1:00) Building Sheer Strength to $10M (6:00) Private equity failure and bankruptcy (12:00) The challenge (18:00) First step (24:00) Sourcing a better product (30:00) Building the team and dealing with staff departures (36:00) Negotiating with team members and restructuring compensation as (42:00) Ramping up operations (48:00) Year-one results (54:00) Creating the long-term vision (58:00) Closing

Producer Troy reveals how a ribbon purchase froze the work credit card... So we ask what did you cost the company? From a $300K order to a $150K accidtnaly deal! Join the Itty Bitty Hitty Committee HERE!Instagram: @THEHITSBREAKFASTFacebook: The Hits Breakfast with Jono, Ben & MeganSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After six years, 315 episodes, and nearly 150K downloads, it's time to say farewell to the Faith in Motion Podcast, previously the Lady Preacher Podcast. In this episode, Pastor Kelsey shares her deep gratitude for every listener, every guest, and every story shared with her about the impact the podcast has had on folks.All episodes of the podcast will remain active and you can go back to listen any time.It's not easy to say goodbye to a good thing - and who knows when the Spirit might move again and inspire us to restart something new. But for now, we'll say farewell with the widest love and deepest gratitude.Thank you.Please stay in touch:Website: moveyourfaith.orgSubstack weekly devotional: Embody FaithInstagram: @pastorkelseyb and @faithinmotion.pod

Illia and Mert break down why the Zcash situation is a known ZK circuit trade-off and not the infinite mint catastrophe the market priced in, why Project Tachyon's formal verification is the most bullish upgrade in Zcash history, and why NEAR Intents generated $150K in a single volatile day, buying back NEAR while everyone else was selling.Illia Polosukhin is Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol, and Mert is Co-Founder of Helius, a leading Solana infrastructure platform.The Rollup is where the leaders of digital assets and finance converge. Live from the financial capital of the world.Timestamps00:00 Zcash Exploit Or Not?00:41 ZK Circuit Risk Explained02:32 Why ZEC Price Dropped03:48 Zcash Sapling Pool 201905:22 No Infinite Mint Evidence06:31 Formal Verification Is Solution08:05 Project Tachyon Quantum Proof11:18 AI Vulnerability Armageddon Coming17:02 Zcash Optional Transparency Explained21:08 NEAR Intents ZEC Inflow24:35 Bear Case Worst Scenario30:01 NEAR Profits On Volatility33:43 Arthur Dumped NEAR ReactionGuest Socials:Mert Mumtaz X: https://x.com/mertHelius X: https://x.com/heliusHelius Website: https://www.helius.dev/Illia Polosukhin X: https://x.com/ilblackdragonNEAR Protocol X: https://x.com/NEARProtocolNEAR Protocol Website: https://www.near.org/Partners:Better than Banks. Transparent capital efficiency earning the highest yields in DeFi. Learn more here: https://infinifi.xyz/---APYX - Enhanced Digital Credit Yield, Onchain | On Track to Become the Largest Holder of STRC. https://apyx.fi/---Dinari - Over 230 1:1 backed tokenized stocks, ETFs & more with dividends. US-based SEC transfer agent. Available on 5+ chains & via API. https://dinari.com/---Relay is the fastest and most reliable way to swap any token on any chain. Learn more here: https://relay.link/bridge---Zama is an open source cryptography company that builds state-of-the-art Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) solutions for blockchain.Learn more here: https://www.zama.org/---Trezor is the creator of the first-ever hardware wallet. Securing crypto for 2M+ users worldwide. 100% open source. Learn more here: https://affil.trezor.io/aff_c?offer_id=133&aff_id=36664---

We calm ourselves with the thoughts of C.S. Lewis on how to lead our lives in these troubled times. Johnny Heidt with guitar news. Patrick Reusse with his weekly sports report. Heard On The Show:FBI offers $150K reward for Minneapolis man involved in Feeding Our Future fraudCase advances for man charged with murdering Loring Park shopkeeperSenate OKs $70B immigration bill after rejecting efforts to permanently ban Trump's settlement fundSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey folks, Alex here, let me catch you up! I've had a feeling that this week is going to be crazy, as it started on the weekend MiniMax M3, then with Jensen announcing new RTX Spark, NVIDIA's first PC chip packing 1 petaflop of local AI power into thin laptops.A few days later at Microsoft BUILD, Satya & Mustafa from MAI dropped 7 AI models, completely pre-trained from scratch, including a new MAI-thinking-1, MAI-code and MAI-image 2.5 that started topping the image gen charts. Then other image models started racing to the top of the Arena benchmarks, IdeoGram 4 hitting becoming SOTA open weights image-gen model, and Reve 2 beating Nano Banana just a few hours after that. And then today, NVIDIA dropped Nemotron 3 Ultra, their latest 550B open weights model, data and training and Arena published a new agentic eval leaderboard and we got a new Gemma 4 12B. I've had the great pleasure to host Chris (@llm_wizard) from Nvidia, Peter Gostev from Arena and Karan from Nous Research (who were featured prominently by Jensen!) all on the show. Def don't miss this one! Let's get into the details. ThursdAI - Join the flock of folks who know what is happening in AI before everyone else.Open Source LLMs

Connect with the Investor Mama Tribe Jessie Lang started investing in real estate by “house-hacking” over 10 years ago, and has since grown a substantial rental portfolio that she manages with the help of a small, remote team. In the last 36 months, she’s grown from 11 doors (bought the wrong way with 20% down), to 70 doors and counting. She's laser focused on the BRRRR method, which allows her to put her money to work over and over to create generational wealth. She partners with private lenders to buy real estate with none of her own money, all while providing them double digit returns on their investment! Jessie has created a free mini-course—how to buy 1-3 rentals per month on autopilot (even if you don’t own a property yet, don’t have 20% down, and think rates are too high). When she isn't managing rentals or coaching, she is traveling with her wife Laura, spoiling her 5 (yes 5!) pets, and getting her hands dirty in DIY house projects and gardening. Key Takeaways: Start with $3,000 and a spare bedroom. You don’t need a big down payment to begin. Jessie’s first property was an FHA loan with $3K down. If you already own a home, renting out a room covers your mortgage and plants the seed. Action: Look up FHA loan requirements in your area this week. Find one local real estate meetup and show up. Every contractor, lender, wholesaler, and boots-on-the-ground person Jessie relies on came from networking in person. You don’t need to know anything yet — just go. Action: Search “real estate meetup [your city]” or BiggerPockets forums to find one happening this month. Download a free property management app before you even have a tenant. TenantCloud is free and builds the habits and systems you’ll need from day one. Don’t wait until you’re overwhelmed. Action: Sign up for TenantCloud today so the infrastructure is ready when you need it. Run the BRRRR  (buy, rehab, rent, refiance, repeat) numbers on one deal — even a fake one. Practice underwriting: find a distressed listing on Zillow, estimate rehab costs, and see if it hits the 75% LTV threshold after repair value. You learn by doing the math. Action: Pick one listing this week and walk through Jessie’s formula ($100K purchase + $40K rehab + $10K holding = $150K all-in, needs to appraise at $200K). Hire your “boots on the ground” before you make an offer. If you’re investing outside your market, line up a neutral third party first — someone from a local Facebook group or BiggerPockets subforum who will be your eyes and ears for $50–100 a trip. Action: Post in the BiggerPockets forum for your target market and ask if anyone does property walkthroughs for remote investors. Additional Resources and Help Support the Show Check out the Intern Strategy Course created by Christina from Smart Influencer Learn How to Make Extra Money with a Side Hustle or Get a High Paying Salary with Time Flexibility Episode #30:The #1 Side Hustle for the On the Go Busy Mom with Mike Yanda and Bobby Hoyt Episode #52: Millionaire by 31 and How to Start An ETSY Side Hustle Business with Julie Berninger from Gold City Ventures Check out Julia’s Sidehustle course to get started today The Legacy Binder to help you organize all of your estate documents and plans in case of an emergency Show Me How To Fix My Pelvic Floor from Tighten Your Tinkler Use Coupon Code: INVESTORMAMA to save $50 off this signature program High-income earner, needing an amazing accountant? Check out the TaxGoddess Connect with Jessie Jessie’s Free Mini Course on How to Buy Your First Rental Properties LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Rentals Made Easy: Unlock the Proven Step-by-Step System to Build Wealth Through Rental Properties by Jessie Lang

This is arguably the best real estate investing loan on the market today. It funds the purchase, renovation, closing costs, and up to six months of mortgage payments, so you're not on the hook when renovating a vacant property, all for 3.5% down.  Today's guest used it to put down just $9,000 on a house and, less than a year later, had $150,000 in equity. It changed his life and enabled him to become a real estate millionaire, even in an unaffordable market.  Matt Porcaro (AKA The 203k Way) was working in construction in America's most expensive market—New York City. He could only get preapproved for a loan of a few hundred thousand dollars, which doesn't buy much in NYC. When a local investor told him about the FHA 203(k) loan, his entire world opened up, and changed his trajectory forever. Now, he has over $1,000,000 in equity and over $2,000,000 in real estate—after just starting with $9,000. Today, Matt explains the 203(k) loan from start to finish—how much money you need to put down, how to get preapproved, finding contractors, paying for the renovation, what to know before you start, and a new change that makes it even more lucrative in expensive areas of the country. Beginners: This changes the game entirely.  In This Episode We Cover The best beginner real estate investing loan that only requires 3.5% down  Why getting a 203(k) loan is much less complicated than you think it is How Matt turned $9,000 into $150,000 in equity in less than a year  The exact steps to take when getting a 203(k) loan (easier method) A new change to the 203(k) loan that makes getting approved even easier  And So Much More! Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠h⁠⁠t⁠t⁠ps://www⁠.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1286⁠. Interested in learning more about today's sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠advertise@biggerpockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Think fresh-out-of-welding-school means starting at the bottom? Landon Earlywine (19) and Jackson Settler (18) are about to change your mind. Six months after graduating from the Kentucky Welding Institute, these two are working 60-hour weeks doing TIG stainless pipe fab for data center infrastructure up in Logansport, Indiana — earning $38/hr plus $120/day per diem. In less than seven months, they've pulled in $95,000 combined, started Roth IRAs, bought reliable trucks with big down payments, and are on track to blow past $150K in their first year. Jason sits down with both of them to find out how they got here — from a high school ag teacher who flashed some money at them sophomore year, to grinding the third shift at KWI, earning their golden arm certifications, and landing a stainless schedule 10 TIG test in Indianapolis the morning after getting the call. They talk about the real curriculum at KWI beyond the booth — financial management, CCO rigging, CPR, and OSHA 30 — and what actually separates the students who land good jobs from the ones who don't. Plus: a totaled '92 Sonoma, a story about driving from Kentucky to Texas at 82 mph at 6 AM, a job box that survived a crash, and why they're not going anywhere until they hit the $100K wall at school. Topics covered: • TIG stainless pipe fab for data center infrastructure — the new pipeline boom • Working 5x12s and 6x10s fresh out of welding school • $95K in 7 months at 18 and 19 years old • The golden arm at KWI — what it takes and what it means • Financial literacy in trade school: Roth IRAs, principal payments, and smart money moves • CCO rigging, OSHA 30, CPR, and the full KWI curriculum • How a wrecked '92 Sonoma led to the job of a lifetime • Why 7 KWI classmates are all on track to hit $100K in year one • The $100K wall — and what you have to prove to get your hood on it.

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:27) - Nat joins Alpha School to launch Founder School (00:04:11) - The million-dollar business guarantee (00:04:44) - Why no program like this exists yet (00:09:09) - How AI tutors compress academics into three hours (00:13:00) - Teenagers are capable of real work (00:15:27) - The Alpha School platform and expansion model (00:25:35) - Founder School's September 2026 launch (00:29:21) - Reproducing Stanford's entrepreneurial advantages (00:38:00) - Year one curriculum: sales first (00:48:28) - Building expertise and avoiding hustle culture (00:53:42) - The institutional skin in the game (00:56:22) - Who's applying and the $150K tuition (01:01:04) - Ten-year vision: 10,000 students across ten campuses (01:08:04) - How to learn more and get involved Links:   Eric Jorgenson     LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/erjorgenson     Twitter / X — https://x.com/EricJorgenson     Website — https://www.ejorgenson.com/   Nat Eliason     LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/nateliason/     Twitter / X — https://twitter.com/nateliason     Website — https://www.nateliason.com/   Alpha School — https://alpha.school/   Founder School — https://founders.school To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship   There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant   You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important.     Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That's a fine way to start. 

A host admits taking communion at home daily, then asks what the Eucharist really is. The reactions are priceless, but the pastoral wisdom is the point.A priest goes on a massive Protestant podcast and a slice of Orthodox internet melts down. We don't. We ask the harder question: if we won't talk to people outside the Orthodox Church, how will anyone ever hear what Orthodoxy actually teaches, believes, and lives? Father Josiah Trenham's appearance on Girls Gone Bible becomes a real-time case study in evangelism, online criticism, and what it looks like to show up publicly without compromising the faith.“The Eucharist is just a symbol” sounds harmless until John 6 lands with full force. What happens when a huge audience hears the Orthodox view of Communion for the first time?Jeremy Jeremiah, Mario Andrew, and Michael of Cloud of Witnesses talk through the backlash to Father Josiah Trenham (Patristic Nectar) appearing on Girls Gone Bible and argue that Orthodox evangelism requires real conversations outside Orthodox-only spaces. We also dig into why the Eucharist is not merely symbolic, how John 6 reframes everything, and why the Divine Liturgy is where many people first feel the presence of God and can't look back.• why some Orthodox listeners object to public conversations with Protestants• the case for assuming good intent instead of hunting for scandal• how common ground can open doors without conceding doctrine• a host's “Eucharist journey” and the confusion around at-home communion• Father Josiah's John 6 teaching on the body and blood of Christ• why the symbolic-only view is rejected and what that implies pastorally• the Divine Liturgy as an encounter that convinces seekers• Paul on preparation for Communion and the fear of receiving casually• why the Protestant Reformation is not one thing and why that matters• born again language alongside baptism as water and the SpiritFrom there we follow the thread that grabbed the hosts and their audience: the Eucharist. You'll hear why “Communion is just symbolic” isn't a harmless difference in emphasis, how John 6 frames Jesus' words about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, and why the Orthodox Church insists on the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. We also react to the surprising honesty of a host describing daily at-home communion, curiosity about transubstantiation, and a search for healing, then break down the pastoral wisdom of responding with one clarifying question: “What do you mean by that?”We widen the lens to the Divine Liturgy and why so many visitors say they feel the presence of God and can't leave, plus Paul's warnings about approaching Communion without preparation. Finally, we touch the complexity of the Protestant Reformation, the wide range of Protestant sacramental beliefs, and why “born again” language is incomplete without being born of water and the Spirit through baptism. If you care about Orthodox Christianity, Eucharist theology, and real conversations across denominations, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more seekers can find the show.An Orthodox priest goes on a major Protestant show and people panic. Should Christians avoid hard conversations, or is that exactly where conversion begins?Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/JDJDQw6tdhPlease prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses Radio: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnessesFind Cloud of Witnesses Radio on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTokPlease leave a comment with your thoughts!

Send us a text and chime in!OneAZ Credit Union is proud to partner with Moonshot AZ as a title sponsor of the 2026 Rural Arizona Pitch Tour, bringing expanded opportunities, funding, and support to entrepreneurs across rural communities statewide. “We're proud to partner with Moonshot AZ to support entrepreneurs across rural Arizona,” said Mike Boden, President and CEO of OneAZ Credit Union. “This partnership allows us to invest in local innovation, expand access to opportunity, and help small businesses thrive where they're needed most.” “Entrepreneurs are the backbone of strong, resilient communities,” Boden added. “By supporting the Rural Arizona Pitch Tour, we're helping create pathways for...   For the written story, read here >> https://www.signalsaz.com/articles/oneaz-invests-150k-in-rural-entrepreneurs/ Check out the CAST11.com Website at: https://CAST11.com Follow the CAST11 Podcast Network on Facebook at: https://Facebook.com/CAST11AZFollow Cast11 Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/cast11_podcast_network

This is how you scale a contracting business without burning yourself out.Sam Wakefield and Doug C. Brown just became business partners. Sam's been training contractors on sales and systems for years. Doug took Tony Robbins' sales team from seventeen point eight percent close rates to forty-three point two percent in four months. He's worked with ClickFunnels, E-Myth, and dozens of trades companies.When they combined forces? Exponential results.In this episode, you'll see exactly how we scaled a plumbing business from forty-five thousand dollars per month to one hundred fifty thousand dollars per month in ninety days. That's three times revenue in a quarter. But here's where it gets good. When Doug looked at the numbers, he cut the plumber's expenses in half. Then we added process around everything. And within two and a half weeks into the month, this guy had his best sales day, best sales week, and was on track for his best month ever.That's revenue growth plus expense reduction plus process improvement happening at the same time.How We Scaled This Plumbing Business:Step one: revenue growth through sales training and systems. Step two: expense restructuring and profit optimization. Step three: process implementation around everything. Result: triple the revenue in ninety days, cut expenses in half, best month ever by week two point five.The Formula:Money in minus money out equals result. That result equals the owner's quality of life. If you improve both sides of that equation at the same time, you transform the owner's life.Key Teaching Points:Why most contractors build the business on their own backHow to get it off your back through process and systemsThe axiom: success happens at the speed of implementationNinety percent of your time should be spent selling when growing to your first millionBut selling at a profit, that's the differenceSam's strength: revenue growth, sales frameworks, communicationDoug's strength: expense reduction, profit margins, process, efficiencyTogether: exponential growth contractors never thought possibleThe right tool at the right time, why most people fail with softwareMost contractors buy wrong tools at the wrong time or right tools at the wrong timeSoftware doesn't fix broken business fundamentalsNo magic bullets in businessDigitized follow-ups and AI call centers are distractions if the timing is wrongWhy random tools and software waste contractor's moneySame concepts apply whether you're two hundred K or two hundred million in revenueBut your focus changes at each stageRussell Brunson was Doug's student at Tony Robbins before ClickFunnelsDoug's credentials: Tony Robbins, ClickFunnels mentor, E-Myth, trades companiesRevenue growth without profit improvement equals owner crushedProfit improvement without revenue growth equals leaving money on the tableYou need both at the same time with proper processThe synergy of growing revenue, cutting expenses, and adding systems simultaneouslyReal Results from This Episode:Virginia plumber, forty-five thousand dollars per month in sales. After ninety days with Sam's training, one hundred fifty thousand dollars per month. Then Doug restructured the expenses, cut them in half. Then we added process. Week two point five into the month, best sales day ever, best week ever, best month ever. And that's just the beginning because we're still implementing.Work with Sam & Doug:Website: https://www.closeitnow.netCoaching and training: https://www.closeitnow.net/coachingFacebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/closeitnowEmail: sam@closeitnow.netGoogle Review: https://g.page/r/CbfnnDqTCwQdEAE/reviewThe Build - Company Scaling Partnership:This is the new offering from Sam and Doug. Not just sales training. Not just profit optimization. Both. Together. You built the revenue. We help you build the business. Email sam at closeitnow.net to apply.Summer Sales Surge Series 2026:Live virtual training June through September. Monday nights seven PM Central. Fourteen ninety-seven dollars for the entire bundle. Email sam@closeitnow.net or visit salesurgebundle.comThree Ways to Work with Sam:One: On-site training. Half-day classroom plus half-day ride-alongs with your team.Two: Virtual training. Same frameworks, delivered remotely for teams or individuals.Three: The Build. Company scaling partnership with Doug C. Brown. You built the revenue. We help you build the business.Next Week: Leader of One, Leader of ManyLeave a review on Apple Podcasts or Google to help more contractors find this show.Google Review Link: https://g.page/r/CbfnnDqTCwQdEAE/review

Iaros Belkin caught up with Owen Healy at ETHCluj, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in what turned into one of the more honest conversations I've had at a crypto conference this cycle. Healy is the Founder and Director of Owen Healy Blockchain Talent, a boutique Irish recruitment firm that has placed lots of people from 25+ countries into blockchain projects since he entered the space in early 2021. He built the whole thing from a standing start during COVID, living in rural Ireland, unemployed, with nothing but a LinkedIn account and a genuine curiosity about the technology. That backstory matters. It means when Healy talks about the current market, he isn't protecting a fund position or managing a narrative. He's telling you what he actually sees from the candidate and employer side simultaneously. And right now, what he sees is sobering. On AI and job displacement The WEF Future of Jobs report projects 92 million roles displaced and 170 million created by 2030. Net positive on paper. Healy isn't buying the framing. "There are a lot of companies that historically would have been over-bloated and overstaffed, and they're conveniently using AI as an excuse to conduct layoffs," he told me. "AI is replacing jobs, but maybe not to the extent that the corporate world would like you to believe." He's equally clear that nobody is immune. "Everyone is using the benefits of AI and suffering the consequences of it at the same time." On developers Developers who were comfortable at €150K two or three years ago are now accepting €120K. Healy is direct about why: the market is an employer's market, full stop. Location matters more than it did. The US and Asia are moving; Europe is quiet. And developers are being pushed up the stack regardless. "People are being forced to effectively do more and leverage the best AI capabilities. Sometimes it's reasonable, sometimes it's not." On institutional money arriving This is the part of the conversation that surprised me most. Healy's read is that institutional entry is changing the candidate profile the industry actually wants. "We're entering an industry where hoodies are less in demand and suits are in more demand." For years, TradFi professionals were crypto-curious but couldn't stomach the risk of leaving stable, pensionable careers for a space where ten-year jobs are rare and use cases can be murky. That's changing. JP Morgan, BlackRock, and others are doing blockchain-related hiring now, and it's pulling a cohort of talent that was always interested but never had a comfortable entry point. London, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore: that's where institutional-adjacent hiring is concentrated. On EthCC feeling like a funeral It was an offhand remark that landed harder than most prepared conference soundbites. "EthCC felt like a funeral in many respects," Healy said. His reasoning is rooted in what he sees from the inside: projects that look fine externally, companies still putting on a brave face while quietly running out of runway. He mentioned Code4rena winding down as one example, a business he described as legitimate and genuinely useful to the space. "Nobody's going to invest in you or use your services if you're anticipating you'll run out of business in six months." The one piece of advice he offered for a bear market Go to events. Build the relationships now that pay off when conditions improve. He did it in 2023. He's doing it again. Practical. Unglamorous. And coming from someone who built a 100-placement recruitment business from a rural Irish village during a pandemic, probably worth listening to. Iaros Belkin is a founder of Belkin Marketing, a boutique agency serving as Strategic Advisor to Deep Tech, Web3 and AI Founders. Two decades of experience navigating high-stakes global markets and orchestrating everything a good venture team needs: from grants and key partnerships to VVIP events elevated experience. See more breaking stories here. Irish Tech News are Ireland's No. 1 Online Tech Publ...

This is a Disappearing Episode, which means it won't be here long. In this one, we share what's happened with HTYC's full-service signature coaching program over the last 11 months, the four new spots that just opened for June, and the time-limited bonus available until Thursday, May 28th. Some of what we cover: What our clients have actually done in the program in the last 11 months (including turning down offers that weren't the right fit) Why this program is built for people targeting $150K+ in their next role The four new coaching spots opening up for June, and how to claim one The bonus available until Thursday, May 28th: a Signature Strengths Intensive 1-on-1 session, access to our Signature Strengths in 90 Days program, and the full 34-theme CliftonStrengths assessment (roughly $1,250 in extras included with any package)   How to get started: Schedule a conversation with Nils or Phillip on our Client Partnerships & Solutions Team. 30–60 minutes. They'll get to know your situation and figure out together whether this is the right fit. And if you schedule this week, you still get the full $1,256 bonus: — Signature Strengths Intensive Session — Signature Strengths in 90 Days (with live class recordings) — Full 34 Theme CliftonStrengths assessment, paid for Schedule here: happentoyourcareer.com/schedule

What happens when a $150,000 proposal gets rejected… and you feel completely at peace? In this solo episode of The Superhuman Selling Podcast, Elyse Archer shares the powerful mindset shift that changed her relationship with money, rejection, and self-worth forever. This episode is about:Making money emotionally neutralWhy detachment creates magnetic energyHow to stop tying your identity to outcomesReleasing fear around “more”Emotional regulation and nervous system capacityHow high-level entrepreneurs handle rejectionExpanding your self-concept for bigger successIf you've ever made a “no” mean something about your worth, your future, or your ability to succeed — this conversation will change the way you think about money and growth. Plus, Elyse shares the exact mindset that allows her to hold bigger opportunities, higher income levels, and greater emotional stability in business and life. Subscribe for weekly episodes on sales, feminine leadership, mindset, wealth consciousness, and business growth.✨ JOIN THE EXPANSION ROOM (free weekly live sessions)Ready to go deeper? → https://www.elysearcher.com/expansion-room

$150,000 gift. One question.90 seconds."Who is this changing for?" A development director walked into a meeting with a fund-of-funds founder and a 12-page impact report. He flipped through it in ninety seconds and asked one question:"Who is this changing for, and how do you know?"She closed the report. Told one story. Showed one chart. One photo. Nine minutes.Six days later, the $150K gift came in.When she called to thank him, he said something I think about every week: "I don't need more pages. I need to feel and verify what's working."On this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser podcast, "Story and Data: What Major Donors Really Need," I break down:→ Why even your most analytical donor needs an emotional connection→ The Story Spine: a 5-beat framework for major donor narratives→ How to weave data inside the story, not bolt it on after→ Why dignity-first storytelling is the new bar in 2026Here's the question I want to leave you with. When did you last test your most-told impact story against a sophisticated donor's hardest question?Listen to the episode, then rewrite one story this week. I'd love to hear how it lands.More from Tammy ZonkerAuthor of Calling All HeroesFounder of Fundraising TransformedPresident of Modern Institute for Charitable GivingLearn more about the Excellence in Major Gift Fundraising SeminarSubscribe to Tammy Zonker's Scaling Major Gifts newsletterConnect with Tammy Zonker on LinkedInGuest: Name, Title, CompanyResources: Show notes, links, and resources mentioned in this episode.Review my show: Please review my show. After you click the link, scroll to the bottom, first tap to rate with five stars, and then tap “Write a Review.” Then, let me know what you liked most about this particular episode or how you find my podcast helpful, valuable, insightful, or inspiring in some way.Privacy Policy: See Privacy Policy at https://www.fundraisingtransformed.com/policies

Sorare just dropped the massive announcement for the Summer 2026 Global Cup! In today's livestream, we are breaking down everything you need to know about the new gameplay, the massive $150K+ cash prize pool, and how the new "Hot Streak" boards work.We're also looking at the brand new International Special Edition cards—featuring a massive +30% scoring bonus—and explaining exactly how Sorare 2027 Essence crafting is going to give managers a massive head start for next season. Is this a massive win or an expensive trap? Let's talk strategy!Support the content by joining the Laird Social Club on Patreon: https://patreon.com/andrewmlaird⚽️ Become a Sorare manager today: https://sorare.pxf.io/WyLBnZ

You're looking online and seeing properties priced at $300K, $400K, $500K, or more. As a real estate investor, that won't cut it. What if you could get a deeper discount—we're talking $150K rental properties. Don't think it's possible? Henry has been getting deals just like this in 2026, buying them, making upgrades, and walking into serious equity with way less money in.  How does he find them? Today, we're sharing the exact methods. This is how to find off-market properties priced well below your area's average, even in 2026, even with methods people have written off as dead. This is the quick guide to getting your first off-market real estate deal. Henry goes over how to spot the “situations” that lead to lower prices, the list he builds to target the best potential investment properties, the methods he uses to contact sellers (it's not just cold-calling), and the tool he recommends every beginner to use to choose their deal-finding method.  Plus, if you don't have time to search for deals, we'll share an easier method to get them sent to you.  In This Episode We Cover How to find investment properties for around $150K even in 2026  The off-market deal-finding methods beginners can use to get their first discounted property  The two things Henry needs on his off-market list before he starts contacting sellers  Got no time to look for deals? This method gets deals sent straight to your inbox  How to use AI to speed up your deal-finding method and get in the game faster  And So Much More! Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠h⁠⁠t⁠t⁠ps://www⁠.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1280. Interested in learning more about today's sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠advertise@biggerpockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Brian Luebben sits down with his girlfriend Nathalia Lopez for her very first podcast appearance on the Action Academy Podcast. Nathalia opens up about her journey from a high-powered corporate career in legal and board governance at the nation's largest municipally-owned utility company to leaving it all behind. Together, they share the raw, emotional process of Nathalia leaving corporate America, the couple's vision retreat that aligned their goals, and the financial reverse-engineering strategy that made their dream life possible, including the real estate professional tax strategy. Plus, they reveal how they manifested each other years before they met.Curious as to how we've bought multiple businesses and built millions in equity? Give this video a watch for a full breakdown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cviipnGtDWI&feature=youtu.beIf you are serious about building a life on your terms and want to surround yourself with people who are actually doing it, go to: https://actionacademy.com?el=action_academy_podcastIf you want to leave corporate America in the next 6-18 months - you should check out our Action Academy Community

If you've hit a revenue plateau and can't figure out why nothing is working, this episode is going to give you clarity fast. In this episode of The Real Truth About Business podcast, I'm breaking down exactly why service-based entrepreneurs get stuck at certain revenue levels and why the same business strategy won't work at every stage of growth. This is for entrepreneurs sitting anywhere between $40K and $150K+ who feel like they're doing all the right things but still not seeing consistent revenue growth. After 9 years of experience, I can tell you this is not random and it's not a motivation issue. It's structural. Inside this episode, I walk you through where your pricing strategy, pipeline, or sales process is likely breaking down and how to fix it so you can move past your current ceiling.What You'll Learn:Why revenue plateaus are structural, not randomHow to identify whether your pipeline, pricing, or sales is the problemWhy using the wrong strategy keeps you stuck in a revenue plateauHow to create predictable lead generation for consistent business growthWhen to adjust your pricing strategy vs. your capacityHow to evolve your business model to scale beyond your current levelEpisode Highlights:[00:00] Introduction: Why revenue plateaus happen[03:00] The mistake of using tactics instead of strategy[06:00] Pipeline breakdown in the $40K–$80K range[12:00] Pricing and capacity issues in the $80K–$150K range[18:00] Outgrowing your business model at $150K+[23:00] Why profit matters more than revenue growth[27:00] How to diagnose the real problem in your businessKey Takeaways:Revenue Plateaus Are a Structural ProblemHere's what I see constantly. Business owners hit a revenue plateau and immediately assume something is broken.After 9 years of working with service-based entrepreneurs, I can tell you that's not the case. Revenue plateaus don't happen randomly. They happen because your business has hit a structural limit.And when you try to fix a structural issue with tactics, it never works.More content, more networking, more offers. None of that fixes the root problem. It just creates more noise.Different Revenue Levels Have Different ProblemsThis is where most people get it wrong. They try to apply the same strategy at every level.If you're in the $40K–$80K range, this is usually a pipeline problem. You don't have consistent lead generation, your leads are getting lost, or people don't know how to move through your sales process.If you're in the $80K–$150K range, this is typically a pricing or capacity issue. You're maxed out on time, undercharging, or filling your schedule with low ROI work.If you're beyond $150K, this is usually a business model problem. You've outgrown how your business is structured, and it's no longer scalable for your revenue growth goals.Your Pipeline Controls Your RevenueIf your revenue feels inconsistent, your pipeline is inconsistent.Inside the Focused Visionary Framework, the Pipeline pillar is where predictable business growth starts. If you don't have a system to generate leads, track them, and move them through your sales process, your revenue will always feel like a rollercoaster.This is where most service-based entrepreneurs rely too heavily on referrals. And when those slow down, everything slows down.You Can't Outgrow a Capacity Problem Without ChangeIf you're fully booked and still not hitting your revenue goals, you have a capacity problem.There are only so many hours in a day. At some point, you either raise your pricing strategy, restructure your offers, or change how you deliver your services.This is where a lot of people get stuck. They try to do more instead of doing things differently.Scaling Requires a New Business ModelAt higher levels of revenue growth, the issue isn't getting clients. It's how your business is structured.If everything relies on you, your time, and one-to-one work, you will hit a ceiling.That's when you need to evolve your business model. Not burn it down. Not start over. But build on what's already working in a way that supports scalability and profitability.Profit Is the Real GoalThis is the part most people overlook.More revenue does not automatically mean more money in your pocket.If your expenses increase at the same rate as your revenue, you're not actually growing. You're just maintaining.Real business growth is about increasing profitability. That's what actually moves you forward.Resources MentionedSubscribe to Back Pocket Insights for FREEBook a CEO Strategy Call Learn more about The Missing Piece IntensiveLearn more about The Focused Visionary AcceleratorDownload the FREE Lead and Conversion TrackerSubscribe to the Sunday Morning Brew NewsletterAbout the Host:Michelle DeNio is a business strategist based in Sarasota, Florida, specializing in helping service-based entrepreneurs break through revenue plateaus using her Focused Visionary Framework. With over 300 podcast episodes and 9 years running her consulting business, she helps coaches, consultants, and service providers scale sustainably through strategic planning, pricing optimization, and sales process development.Connect with MichelleWebsiteThreads Instagram LinkedIn Facebook

If you or somebody you know is getting married in 2026/2027, send them this episode. We are hoping to make the dreams of a new couple come true. Make sure you are following the podcast here and Mark on instagram. And remember, donate yourself! If everybody listening today donated 3 euro, we would literally have 150K by the end of the day! Let's try and reach 5K though!Wedding Fund: https://gofund.me/92cf4120fInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mehiganmark/?hl=enLast 5 tickets of the tour!: https://www.universe.com/events/mark-mehigans-house-of-loons-tickets-3H85Z7

How to Find the Sentence That Makes Buyers Stop Scrolling Your offer is solid. Your audience is there. So why are the right people still scrolling past you? Your messaging isn't giving them a reason to stop. Donald Miller, founder of StoryBrand, walked into a $300 million oil and gas company, gave them a three-word tagline, and drove a 99% lift in their test market. In this episode, he shares his PACE framework, the five soundbites every business needs, and the three questions buyers silently ask in the first five seconds on your homepage. Your messaging fix starts here. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Revenue highs are exciting. The unexplainable dips that follow? Not so much. If your coaching, course, or membership business is at $150K or more, the problem isn't that things aren't working. It's that you can't yet see what is. And you can't repeat what you can't see. My free Live training, The Revenue Consistency Formula, fixes that. Click here to learn what's actually behind your numbers and how to bank on them. StoryBrand Messaging Intervention by StoryBrand Donald Miller on Instagram HERE ARE THE 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: 1️⃣ Build Your Messaging Around the PACE Framework — Donald Miller's PACE framework gives you five soundbites to anchor every piece of marketing you create: Problem, Answer, Change, End result, plus Empathy. When you build all five and use them consistently, you give your audience one clear story across your homepage, your emails, and every social post you publish. 2️⃣ People Only Buy What Helps Them Survive — Every product anyone has ever bought, they bought to increase their chances of survival. That's why Donald says your soundbite has to position you as a survival asset. When your messaging makes the right person feel you're moving them closer to the security and growth they're after, they stop scrolling and listen. 3️⃣ Pass the Five-Second Test on Your Homepage — When someone lands on your website, you have five seconds to answer three silent questions. What do you offer, how will it make my life better, and what do I do to buy it. Open your homepage right now, read it for five seconds, close the tab, and check if you can answer all three. That gap is often where your sales are leaking.MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram @amyporterfield SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more entrepreneurs who need these insights.

Spencer Jones, Founder of XO Medtech and MedtechVendors.com, shares how frontline nursing experiences led him to patent vascular access innovations and ultimately take devices from idea to FDA clearance and product launch. Spencer walks through learning business fundamentals through accelerators, raising early funding, and building sales and distribution networks, then explains why launching a digital-first, AI-native ecosystem has enabled faster, leaner execution than traditional medtech pathways. Spencer also discusses leadership, clear communication, and why AI adoption is essential to accelerate and de-risk early-stage medtech.  Guest links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/medtech-innovation/ | www.xomedtech.com | https://medtechvendors.com/  Charity supported: Polaris Project Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at theleadingdifference@velentium.com.  PRODUCTION CREDITS Host & Editor: Lindsey Dinneen Producer: Velentium Medical   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Episode 080 - Spencer Jones [00:00:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. [00:00:09] Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. [00:00:15] Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. [00:00:28] Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. [00:00:38] Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. [00:00:42] Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of The Leading Difference podcast. I'm your host Lindsey, and today I'm delighted to welcome to the show Spencer Jones. Spencer is the founder at XO Medtech and MedTechvendors.com. He is an RN, MedTech entrepreneur with 12 years of med device leadership. He's a two time med device CEO with 10 plus patents under his belt and has taken devices from idea to FDA clearance and product launch. Spencer has built sales and distribution networks, led product development teams, and raised over 10 million in VC and Angel Capital. Spencer founded XO MedTech in 2024 to create a digital first medtech ecosystem, deploy AI native tools for medtech operators through medtechvendors.com and cultivate the next generation of medtech innovators. All right, Spencer, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for being here. [00:01:43] Spencer Jones: Thank you for having me, Lindsey. I'm very, very excited to be here. Like it's, it's always more fun to be a guest than it is to host the pod, so absolutely thrilled to be a guest on the pod. Thank you for having me. [00:01:54] Lindsey Dinneen: Of course. Absolutely. Well, yeah, let's just, if you won't, don't mind just sharing a little bit about yourself, your background and what led you to medtech. [00:02:04] Spencer Jones: Yeah. Born and raised in Arkansas. I've lived, I traveled a ton and lived in Memphis and whatnot, but grew up in a healthcare household. Dad did anesthesia for, what was it, 36 years or something at the same place. So I thought I was gonna be a CRNA, like actually started pre-med. Took chemistry my freshman year while I was, you know, it was just, I got a C and I was like, maybe, maybe med school's not for me. But but anyways, did the nursing school thing, got out, started working, pretty quickly, knew if you've ever spent any amount of time in frontline healthcare, you just kind of get, it's like a barrage of things that suck. It's just, especially nursing, the devices you're using are commoditized. Like just the workflows are bad. You know, people, it's, healthcare is very broken. Every, it's no secret. Everybody says that. Everybody knows that. So anyways, I noticed pretty quickly that hey, like why isn't this better? Why can't this be like this? And, you know, kind of had that mindset. And before I could even go through like critical care enough to apply to a CRNA school, ended up patenting some devices in the vascular access space. Really leveraged accelerator programs and the entrepreneurial support organizations that were in my area, in my region to, I call it that get that dirt money, which is like the before the seed, you know, your pre kind of, your pre-seed /seed you know, before the pre-seed money. And, and also like the business training, right? Like I wasn't formally trained on business stuff like that. So did that. Did the venture capital hamster wheel a little bit, took a, you know, device through class two de novo clearance. Was doing ride-alongs training, sales reps, doing marketing stuff, you know, managing our ip, managing clinical you know, 300 patient RCT that we had to do in the middle of COVID, launched the product and then past couple years, I left, left that company in 2022. Products still on the market and they got, you know, clearance in, in Europe now and et cetera, et cetera. But just been working more in laparoscopic spine or laparoscopic surgery orthopedic spine and then doing some like consulting projects and, and things like that. And then yeah, XO Medtech and Medtech Vendors that's been. You know, for the past two years, like a big focus. And I know we're gonna talk more about that, but yeah. So it's just been, it's been a great journey. Medtech is one of my --I love it and hate it at the same time, but I wouldn't wanna be doing anything else, frankly. So. [00:04:17] Lindsey Dinneen: Awesome. That's a great intro. Okay. You were, I really, I enjoyed how you sort of went straight from okay, so, so "I, you know, started the career, started in the industry, and then I, I, you know, got a bunch of patents." What were the ideas for the patents? Where did those come from? If we could just go back, how did that, what was that inspiration like? [00:04:39] Spencer Jones: Yeah. So I was night shift, med-surg, big, pretty big hospital in Little Rock. It was like one of the, one of the bigger ones in Little Rock, St. Vincent's, which is like CHI, St. Vincent, et cetera. And like one of my patients --well the, the very first one was a dual lumen peripheral IV. A patient has a peripheral IV in, I need to get a blood draw. They're like, "Go stick his other arm." I'm like, "Why can't we get it out of his, you know, IV that's in his, that's in his forearm?" And, and they were like, "Well, you, you know, you don't want to contaminate, you know, the thing." And I was like, "Oh, okay. That kind of makes sense." And I was like, well, PICC lines have two lumens. So you know, I was like, why couldn't, you know, why couldn't we just have a second lumen on, you know? And I was like, do those exist? And they didn't really exist. There was kind of one that existed, but it was more of like a longer extended dwell peripheral and you know, you kind of needed ultrasound to place it. You didn't really place, you know, normal nurses on the floor weren't gonna place it. And so I kind of, that one was just sheer-- I experienced something that I was like, "Dude, you're kidding me. There's gotta be a better way to do this." You know what I mean? And you know, kind of similar approach in that one. We, you know, that was the very first one so I was like doing these drawings on note cards and then like meeting with a patent attorney and I was like, did that provisional filing and wrote the patent myself and the claims and all this stuff. And the guy thought I was like, just " Okay, yeah, I'll, I'll file the provisional for you, bro, whatever." Filed the provisional, you know, ended up like going to a different attorney 'cause that guy was kind of just not taking me seriously. And so, ended up going to a different person, filed a non-pro provisional, started raising all this money, and that original attorney reached out later, was like, "Oh, so glad, glad to see blah, blah, blah." I was like, "Yeah, yeah, whatever." But then the second one, I, which was Safe Break Vascular, had the, it's kind of similar. Patient was like, had patients pulling out their IVs, pulling out lines, you know, and it's a million things. It's, it's walkie talkie, so like Alzheimer's, dementia, memory care type stuff. You, it's TBIs, it's agitation, sundowners. It's, you're coming off medication, you're drowsy, you forget, you're hooked up. You need to go to the bathroom. You trip on it. The nurse trips on the tubing. There's like a million reasons how, you know. Where mechanical force can get applied to an IV line. And same thing, I was just like, man, like this, it, it feels holding on for dear life is like the wrong approach because skin is only so strong. You get skin tears. Adhesives, you only want them to be so, you know, so, so strong. And it just, you know, it, wrapping it up, then you can't assess the site, you can get infiltration. So it didn't feel like any of the options we had were great. That one, I started to do patent research literally on the floor at the hospital. Like that night. I was like, I, 'cause I knew enough then found someone that had patented it. Like same exact concept. It was a nurse. And design was bad. Like the design, it had springs in it and it was just like not manufacturable and not a good design, but there were like conceptually it was like spot on. And then there were some elements of it that I was like, this would be very useful to have if I was gonna like actually do this. So me and somebody I'd met, and in accelerator program, we bought the patent from 'em for 20 grand which was a steal of a deal. It was like 10K up front, 10K after 18 months. And yeah. And then we turned around and raised a, you know, million dollar seed round within like, within nine months after acquiring the patent, got into an accelerator, ZeroTo510, shout out to them. But acquired the patent in February. Got it, or March, got into ZeroTo510, April. Went there in May, closed our seed round of a million in December, so it was like a nine month, yeah, ordeal. [00:08:03] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. That's okay. That's awesome. I love the story. I love the fact that it was from boots on the ground going, "Okay, I see this problem. There's gotta be a better solution." That's super cool. So. All right, so you have these patents, you're going and you're working with accelerators. Can you tell us a little bit about what that experience was like, especially since you mentioned, you know, you didn't necessarily have the business background, so there was, there was probably a bit of a learning curve to that whole, you know, how do you get your idea from your, your note card drawing to commercialization. So I'd just love to hear about your experience. [00:08:35] Spencer Jones: Yeah. The, so I did one accelerator before ZeroTo510. It, I basically did two within about a year, a year of each other. It was like back to back to back. But the first one I did, it was industry agnostic. So it was just a lot of like mentorship and lean canvas startup methodology kind of business practice stuff like accounting 101, you know, building financial forecasts and models and like all of that stuff. So I really learned a ton about kind of just non device specific stuff there. Obviously I was learning a ton about device stuff along the way, but then once I got to ZeroTo510, that's when things kind of like really, you know-- and I had, I had won, I won that first accelerator. It was like a competition, and so I had 150K. And I was like, "Oh wow. So maybe, maybe this is gonna be a career path," 'cause I was still working full-time as a nurse and then I got into the second one. ZeroTo510 was amazing. Allan Daisley was running it. James Bell was like the co-director, I think, and it was like bootcamp. It was like, you know, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. It was like sessions and mentor hours and office hours and " Alright, we're done with that. You guys work on this for an hour and a half, we're gonna come back and talk about like the finished product and you better have it done." You know what I mean? And it was every day. I lived up at this building. It was amazing sponge mode. You know, it was one of those environments where you're just like constantly soaking it in and learning and learning and like you can feel your brain expanding like every day. You know, you wake up excited. And that one was amazing. Met a ton of people that I still work with today. You know, met my co-founder at XO Medtech. Met him at that accelerator. But yeah, it was just, that one was amazing. I was like, life changing. Came back from that and I was like, "This is what I was meant to do." I felt like I you know, found my calling. And so, yeah, shout out to the people there that you know, we're a part of that. [00:10:20] Lindsey Dinneen: Love it. Excellent. So, okay, so you found your co-founder for XO Medtech, and this is great because I wanted to dive into that. So, so you've, you've now successfully taken like several products to market and of course you have a lot of other great industry experience. What was, how was it different starting XO Medtech and Medtech Vendors than perhaps other things that you'd done in the past? [00:10:47] Spencer Jones: Yeah. You know, I'm gonna say it was way easier just to be honest. I mean, I mean, you know, I think we, we were doing a lot. We started building XO Medtech in 2022, 2023, and at that time a lot of it was like, it was really focused on the community and the training platform and the resources and kind of all the videos and things that we put in there. Which I still like to this day, will stand on it, that like there, if you're an early stage innovator and you're, you wanna like kind of internally like level yourself up, right? There's no better place than like XO Medtech and the training and inside there to do that, right? But, but yeah, it was we started doing it at a time when AI was starting to become, like Chat GBT, what was it, four was coming out or whatever. So we started it kind of before the wave and then as we were continuing to build it in like 2023 which was like the meat of us building it. It was like kind of starting to become more of a thing, but we still weren't really using it that much. But then as we really went into kind of like launch and growth mode in 2024, it was just like a huge tailwind and like being able and, and it continues to be. But like not having to raise, you know, three, four, $5 million to get a business off the ground and to get to a point where you can start selling something is just incredible. I mean, like we are, we are so agile and can move so quickly and, you know, we don't have any investors. We don't want any investors. So like our speed at which we can move is unbelievable. And coming from somewhere where it's " Oh, you wanna put out something for marketing? Route it through the quality management system and like maybe it goes out in two weeks." You know, we can go from like idea to feature in a week. You know what I mean, you know, let alone like idea to like press release, right? That's 10 minutes if we want to be, right? So really it's just, it's a lot easier and this takes nothing away. There's some incredibly rewarding parts of kind of my, like my medtech journey and stuff like that, like the day we got FDA clearance and, and X, Y, and z whatever date, you know, first sale and getting our first GPO contract. But it's, it's definitely more I would say day to day, just like the exhilarating agility, excitement type stuff that you like, don't really get with with me. And I'm not, I'm not taking anything away from, I'm still a medtech person through and through and I'm sure at some at some point I'll you know, do another device. We're developing another device at Lapovations, so, in combo spine. So my hands are still in it, but I love, love, love what we do at XO Medtech. It's so much fun. [00:13:11] Lindsey Dinneen: Awesome. Well, I love hearing that. So tell us a little bit about both XO Medtech and Medtech Vendors and yeah, their, their focuses. [00:13:21] Spencer Jones: Yeah. So I think, you know, like I said, we started XO Medtech and it's, it's a online community. So think like Skool, like S-K-O-O-L School or Circle, or there's some other Mighty Networks, like one of the-- we use Circle-- but you know, it's whether you're ideation or just like curious about medtech all the way through like series A really, you know, we've got, you know, there's community feed, people are posting. I mean, we posted you know, Project Medtech, you know, event stuff, discounts a lot of exclusive stuff where, I think we added, it was like three or $4,000 worth of discounts. Like just for being like once you join XO Medtech. But then there's that primary feed people, it's like a massive exchange of value and it's it's not like LinkedIn. There's no promotion. Like we base, we will take your post down if you're like nakedly promoting your own stuff or your services, whatever. The whole point of it is to be massive exchange of value. So you know, "Hey, we did some like really cool testing, ETO sterilization testing on coil tubing to see how it retained its memory. Here's what we found, your pictures," you know what I mean? Just stuff like that where it's like kind of giving people behind the, behind the curtain peaks at your own organizations or that kind of, those, those moments of alpha, those nuggets that you've found and just sharing it so you can have you know, and they're doing the same and everybody's better for it. But then we have a training course and then some other like mini courses, probably a couple dozen downloadable resources. So these are like, you know, prebuilt, proformas, budget forecasts, you know, IP stuff, due diligence type stuff, like stuff to help you with, get your data room beef, you know, beefed up and looking good. And we do videos. There's some live events every now and then. So, so that was very focused on the founder side, you know what I mean, like the entrepreneur side. We, you know, my co-founder used to run a med device, venture studio, so like doing like business engineering, business development, engineering, you know, kind of market related stuff for like early stage, largely like clinician and inventors and stuff like that. He used to run a, a, a group that did that. And we knew we wanted to kind of start to do more offerings that kind of for that side of the table, like the CDMO contract manufacturer design and development group side of the table. So we launched, we started building MedTechVendors.com and launched it in 2025, February, 2025. And then did kinda a relaunch with adding some like agentic AI features in I think at the end of the summer last year. But it, but at its core, I always say this analogy, it's like Angie's List, right? You know, Angie's List, what do they do? Well, it connects people with local pros. Allows them to like, evaluate, engage them really easily, you know, get, get their stuff done quickly from trusted people. You know what I mean? So we have the same approach. We help device teams, and that could be device teams at large, medium, small, or startup organizations or tech transfer offices, whoever we help those device teams find, evaluate, and engage contract manufacturers, CDMOs testing facilities, design and development groups, one man band engineers, whatever through the platform. We have an an ag agentic AI chat. So like it'll ask you questions about your device. It'll start recommending, "Hey, do you need this? Do you need these types of services? Are you looking for this type of vendor? This type of vendor?" It pre-populates forms. It generates matches for you. You can review each vendor's profile, one click get email intros or request quotes, and we're adding some some really cool additional features around some different like skills that you can run. So, think like a reimbursement skill or market a, you know, different predicate device selection skill, whatever. And so those are all gonna be like linked up to the to this kind of AI agent. I don't wanna say too much 'cause we're still building it. I'm like really excited about, but there's other things that we're adding to it. The ability to do quote, visualization you know, and trying to make it kind of a, you know, a home away from home, a hub where you can track execution, get things done, engage vendors, and kind of evolve it more laterally in kind of the lifecycle journey. Not just " Hey, I'm looking for a vendor," 'cause that's a very acute point in time in a, you know, in a person's journey. But trying to expand it out to say the period of time when you're doing X and Y and Z and looking for a vendor so we can get some really was sticky, more sticky use and add more value. So, that was that. And we've started really focusing on some more like intimate, I would say, engagements with CDMOs contract manufacturers focused on giving their sales and marketing teams massive, massive leverage using AI and ai, AI native tools. [00:17:35] Lindsey Dinneen: Awesome. That's really cool. Yeah. Okay, so going back a little bit to the, to XO Medtech, I know you know you, you mentioned that there's a lot of resources available, but one of the things that I think is super cool, and I would love if you just share a little bit more about this, is you have a course that-- i don't remember the name off the top of my head-- but it's basically sort of Medtech Innovation 101. It's, I think... [00:18:00] Spencer Jones: Yeah, The Playbook. [00:18:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Call it like-- The Playbook! And you call it like the MBA for somebody who needs to learn. So can you just share the value of that and sort of what, what made you go, "Okay. I have, you know, the expertise in all these different areas enough to be able to share the journey from start to finish." [00:18:19] Spencer Jones: Yeah, absolutely. I think like the, the value there partially comes-- I mean, I think speaking about the value, you gotta speak about kind of like why there was a gap there, like how it, why it didn't exist, whatever. There's just a lot of really bad content in medtech. You know, there's a lot of stuff that reads I mean, there's guidance documents, you know, ISO and this and that. Like those are tough reads, right? And then, you know, the, the content around " "here's how you really fundamentally apply these guidance documents and here's how all this fits together." And it just felt like everything was I don't know what the opposite of like inside baseball is, right? Like that kind of " Hey, here's what you really need to know." Whatever the opposite of that is, is how medtech content felt like to me everywhere. It was just like polished press releases, really, like consulting speak. You know, "You gotta be strategic with your analysis." It's okay "You know, you know, you gotta find your champions." "How do I find them? What do I tell them? You know, how do I engage them?" So it was just, that was the big gap. So I think the value, what we tried to do with The Playbook was, you know, give, like I said, pre-seed all the way through Series A, the right information, like the right depth, on the right topics in the right order with the right assets, so resources, downloads, all that stuff along the way so that you can go cradle to grave on this, basically be a novice, or we've had people that have launched products and gone through it and they were like, "Holy crap, I wish I would've had this five years ago." But the whole idea is to basically not make you a supreme expert on any one of those topics. There's 46 different lessons, 47, and like you can get through each one in probably 20 minutes, right, 15 minutes. But not to make you an expert on each individual topic, but to give you like a dangerous level of information on any one, and then make you able to dive deeper on any of them, you know, very quickly and easily. So like when you meet with your, you know, a regulatory consultant or an IP attorney, or go down the list, you are not, they're not saying words you don't know for the most part. You're not paying them $300 an hour or $500 an hour to educate you on definitions and concepts. Right? You're, you're applying principles and evaluating strategy versus " What's that again? Like, how does this, what's the timeline for that?" 'Cause that you know, that's just not good for anybody. You know, so, so that, that's kinda the main, the main value prop thrust of it. And I just, I frankly didn't think it existed, but proof's in the pudding. Like we've sold it to accelerator programs, we've sold it to hospital, you know, innovation departments. We've sold it to incubators, like trade associations that have like their like kind of innovation arms. It works. Like when people do it, it works. It's funny-- we can talk about this too-- but like the, you can lead a horse to water thing. It's funny how many people say they want to be entrepreneurs and say they wanna be innovators and really they just want to just yap. And they don't actually wanna put the time in. I'm telling you, it's like crazy how many, you know, fake entrepreneurs there are out there. But it's okay. It's okay. You know, like there has to be, I think there needs to be some cleaving or weaning or calving of the herd to some degree because we've got, I don't know, and maybe we need to develop 'em more, but it's, it is frustrating seeing it firsthand when it's like "You have a really cool device, but you are so uninvestible and you have no interest in being coachable that it just hurts me." [00:21:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh yeah, absolutely. No, I love that you've done that resource and yes, super excited to see hopefully a lot of innovation actually happen and be successful as a result of that. So with, you know, okay, so you have, you have this community now and I'm wondering if there are any moments that kind of stand out to you, maybe as you've built the company, also Medtech Vendors that kind of enforce, "Wow, I am, I am in the right place at the right time." [00:22:00] Spencer Jones: You know, I definitely-- you know, it's, it's, it's really, there's not, I would say, any huge singular moments. I mean, we've had people like get business from coming on the XO Medtech podcast. You know, we've had people meet new clients, new strategic partners type stuff, like in the XO Medtech community. I mean, I've made a ton of friends in the XO Medtech community, people that I talk to you know, every, every week or two you know, Brad Shirley, I'll mention him. He's fantastic. And like I've learned from him, he's learned from me. We've both learned stuff from the community. I, I, I really do think it's though, it's like it's, you know, those-- whether it's a LinkedIn DM or you know, somebody messaging me in XO and they're like, "Hey, I just went through this lesson. It was like, so good. You know, blah, blah, blah." And I think those little things honestly like power me, power me up, give me juice, give me energy. You know, and, and like reading, we, we did a ton of, I mean we probably got 30 people that did kind of like a pre- and post- assessment and they gave their feedback on The Playbook so we could refine it like as we were, you know, after launch and all that stuff 'cause we're constantly trying to improve it. And have reading the testimonials and people just being like, yeah, like "This is, this is killer." People that are brand new, people that have been in the industry for 20 years that went through it. I think so, I think, I think it's kinda like a myriad of those things. I would say some of the stuff on-- and that's on the XO Medtech -- I think some of the stuff on the Medtech Vendor side and what we're doing with, you know, kind of campaigns and the tools that we're developing and the work that we're doing there, like we are fully an AI native organization. Like it, like we, it there is just not at all like a significant amount of people in medtech using AI to like actually do not in their products. I don't care about that. Like I'm talking about like in their day-to-day operations and, and whatnot and like we're trying to change that. And so like in that respect, like we will come out with things, you know, release features, release products, build custom tools for CDMOs and you know, the looks on their faces and like how amazed that they are at X, Y, and Z. And sometimes it's like stuff where it's hey, I'm like building them a just showing them how to do something with not even a tool that we built and like they're blown away. And anyways, all of that stuff, I feel like, man, like this is where I'm supposed to be because like. We, we've gotta make MedTech a more attractive investment opportunity. We've gotta compress the development cycles and the cost to develop and the time to develop and get things to market. You know, and I look at AI drug discovery for the pharma world as like a huge way that that's happening. But we have to have that similar type of like, when you to engage with this, it will be good for our ecosystem and industry as a whole, becoming more investible, becoming more cash efficient and all that stuff because you've seen other sectors, you know, software is taking money from early stage medtech, like nobody's business. You know, people are investing AI and you know, I just looked at the annual report from like HSBC, the Venture Report, and like me, early stage medtech funding continues to be down. You know what I mean? So we just gotta do something like, I, I feel like it's an existential, it's an existential issue for early stage medtech to get better at being scrappy and using AI. [00:25:03] Lindsey Dinneen: And there's so much opportunity there. Yeah, I love that you're helping to promote that. So you've gotten to lead a number of different companies now and through very challenging milestones. And so I'm curious, how has your own leadership philosophy developed over the course of your career so far? [00:25:24] Spencer Jones: Oh, what a good question. You know, I, I hate to say this, but I've almost gotten more cynical, you know. [00:25:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay. [00:25:31] Spencer Jones: Well, and it, it's, it's like I try to be very protective of my time and like protective of the time of the people that I work with, right. You know, and that doesn't mean I'm not willing to like go the extra mile and whatnot, but I think it's about respecting people's time. Right? And, and you know, I think honestly my leadership philosophy, I think a lot of it revolves around just like incredibly clear communication and like staying above the fray. No riff-raff, just just executing and moving fast and like keeping expectations really high, because I feel like when you've got complacency, you know, at the top, it just, it like doubles every rung of the ladder lower that you go in the org chart or whatever. You know, so I think like pace, you know, pace and hyper clear communication, like no subversive or passive aggressive or anything. It's just like straight up, like I'll just exactly tell you if I wasn't happy with something or whatever, but I just, I don't know, like I feel, I feel like you know, leadership style too, like I think, I think it, so much of it boils down to communication for me. It's just like really, really clearly communicating and like making sure that people understand what good work looks like and what a, them doing a good job looks like, and where... Yeah, I think, I think being clear about expectations, really clearly communicating those expectations around like work product, what it should look like, how fast it should get done, how many updates I need, or how many questions I expect to get as you're doing this, what resources I expect you to expend and explore before you come to me with something you could Google. Like all of that stuff, but honestly, I, it, it's kind of a tough question thinking in like the more immediate past, just because I feel like there's been such like, almost like a flattening of org charts, frankly, with the way that we're using technology and AI these days where I feel like in the companies I'm operating in right now, like it's mainly just principles and like lower level stuff, like we're either delegating to AI agents or delegating to like VAs that are in a different country or something, you know what I mean? And, and so there's just been a big flattening. You know, seven years ago, six years ago, I was managing, you know, new grads outta college, two or three at a time, and, you know, having to like, have these kind of like, you know, like brotherly, you know, like talks with, you know, these types of things, " Hey, like you really gotta do this" and like coaching and stuff like that, i, you know, there's a, we have to have that stuff. I'm just not in, in organization and honestly, the organizations I'm in right now in startup world I just feel I don't know. Like I, I feel like we're, I haven't seen that and I, I know a lot of organizations that are small and nimble and whatever, and I feel like the org charts are getting real flat in terms of like people that are getting managed, you know, it's a lot of agents getting managed, frankly. [00:28:21] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Interesting. Yeah, that, that's a really interesting insight too. But I really do think that to your point of coaching and mentorship and how much of a difference that makes, but especially, I was just on this conversation earlier today of the critical importance I feel that there is about establishing expectations across the board, whether it's your clients, your employees, your coworkers, just making sure that everybody's on the same page is such a critical aspect of, of setting yourself up for success. So yeah, I love that you touched on that 'cause like I said, literally earlier today. [00:29:00] Spencer Jones: Yeah. And, and can I, can I, quick aside here. It's, it's on topic, but before we move on, I mean, I, I'm not the first person to think this or say this, but I'll, I'll die on this hill. The more you use AI when, when you're using it the right way, right, the better leader and better specifically, the better communicator you'll become, right? Why? So much of interpersonal office drama, bad management, bad leadership is like what we talked about, right? It's poor communication. It's expecting people assumed something or had knowledge they didn't, right? It's not letting them know what you really wanted, what good work looks like, all that stuff. This is all context engineering, right, which is just a similar to prompt engineering, but context engineering is kind of the other more important piece these days with AI. What do I mean by that? Like I'm gonna give a prompt to a chat. Is it in just like a virgin chat or is it in a project? What context, what documents, skills, reference templates, et cetera, access to code bases does that project have, right? What am I telling it to do? How am I breaking that down? How am I, you know, big, high level goal? What do I want it to do? What does the output need to look like? How deep do I want it to go? Right? Like, how many questions I say, "Ask me like five or six questions" when I'm prompting, right, if I want that, right? Give, so giving the other person right in that space to say " What questions do you have?" Right? The, the, the best people at context engineering and leveraging AI in that way end up becoming more, better and better and better communicators because it's-- I mean, yes, you're talking to a machine, but at the same way, like those principles a hundred percent apply to good professional communication. So I'll die on that hill. There's a lot of people that are like brain rott using AI. It's " what's the weather today?" And you know, "how many calories does mayonnaise have?" And those people are not, you know, they're, they're not improving their leadership communication by using app, but the people actually doing it right a hundred percent are, [00:30:52] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes, I could not agree more. I think that is one of the coolest things that AI has taught me personally is-- to your point, to be a better communicator, to be clearer with the way that I communicate, to avoid assumptions that the other person, say, knows what I'm talking about or, or does have the context behind why I asked the question the way I did, or all those kinds of things. So I, I could not agree with you more. Yeah. And it's exciting to see how it continues to evolve. Okay. [00:31:22] Spencer Jones: Yeah. And why, real quick, why, like the AI models, especially with the reasoning models and stuff, Opus 4.6, all this stuff, telling them why they're doing something and why doing it, doing a certain task within that project flow is important is proving to be more effective than telling them how. And I think that's something where, you know, you tell someone what to do, they may do it, but if you tell them and make them believe why it's important, they do it that way, they're really gonna do it that way. [00:31:49] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Love that so much. Okay. All right, so pivoting the conversation a little bit, just for fun. Imagine that you were to be offered a million dollars to teach a masterclass on anything you want, could be within your industry, but doesn't have to be. What would you choose to teach? [00:32:05] Spencer Jones: Does this, assume-- I have a question. Does this assume that I'm already I'm already capable and you know, have enough expertise to actually teach this class? Or is it like I choose this topic, I'm now an expert in that and I get to teach it? [00:32:19] Lindsey Dinneen: I like, I like I like both options, but I'm gonna go with option B because you have a million dollars to play with, right, so you could build up the expertise. Yeah. [00:32:29] Spencer Jones: You know, I would still say like building AI tools, AI agent systems, you know, skills and subagents and these flows and, and really tactically executing that for medtech. And that that goes from founder, you know, innovator to service provider, reg, quality ,reimbursement, like all the way up through sales and marketing and then like CDMO teams, you know, doing contract manufacturing, doing this. Like I, I just, I'm so passionate about it and I, I just see that there's so much untapped opportunity that that is the thing I think, and, and like we, we are doing that not a masterclass, but like we are working with groups to do some of that. But, I just, it's just so, so, so, so much opportunity to do it. And I think there's like weird structural reasons why it's not being adopted the same, you know, at the same clip it is in other industries. But you know, medtech's very rules-based game. You know, you've got your guidance docs, you've got your predicate devices, you've got your clinical trial protocols, you've got your stats analysis. You got your, you know, X, Y, Z hospitals get paid a certain way. Like lots of formulas, lots of reference material, lots of guidance docs. You know, it's very kind of rules and order based system in a lot of ways. And biology has its own kind of, prescriptive way that things happen, right? So I just feel like it's so primed for it. And anyways, I, I just, I wanna see it adopted more so we can see like what's happening with software now, where, you know, the cost to build and, you know, produce and get software to market has com has almost collapsed, but compressed to, you know, from like months, maybe years to, you know, days and weeks and, you know, you got a $200, 250 bucks worth of like software subscriptions, Claude this, that, the other, you can get it done in a week if you, you know, two weeks if you put your mind to [00:34:21] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. No, that would be an incredible masterclass. I like it. All right. And then how do you wish to be remembered after you leave this world? [00:34:30] Spencer Jones: Oof. God, what a good question, Lindsey. You know, I hope to be remembered at all. [00:34:35] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. [00:34:36] Spencer Jones: You know, 'cause I, I'm definitely one of those people that's " nobody cares, nobody's thinking about you." You know, you may have, I, I mean, I think there's like some healthy main character syndrome that people can have that gives 'em confidence, but at the end of the day, no one cares. They're just, everyone's thinking about themselves. But if I am remembered, which I hope to be I wanna be viewed as like someone that was, I'd say, loved their family was a good dad, good husband. I would say brought people joy, was like fun to be around, but like from a interested in other people sense, you know, you know, genuinely cared about people. But I would say that on the professional side, like somebody that you know, would like consistently just delivered an absurd amount of value whether it was, you know, running a business or coaching and developing people at a company or working on behalf of clients or trying to make a positive change. I would say impactful and valuable, you know, with the work that I'm doing. That's, that's, that's how I wanna be remembered. I mean, we don't have big, I don't wanna be a unicorn billion dollar company. No, we have no desire to do that. We don't even have a, a desire to get acquired at any point. We're not raising money, you know, we've, we've deliberately chosen to bootstrap it. You know, we frankly just wanna employ really awesome smart people that we work with, you know, pay everybody well. And like I said, add a absurd amount of value you know, and joy to the people and the clients that we work with and like work at the company with, you know what I mean? [00:36:05] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah, that's a absolutely wonderful legacy to aspire to. I love it. All right. And then final question. What is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? [00:36:19] Spencer Jones: Oh, I gotta be, I've got a 1-year-old kid. Banks. Banks Austin Jones. So it's gotta be him, and my wife of course. One thing that makes me smile though, every time I see it, oh... you know, I am, I'll cry at a good TikTok, so I'm so I guess that's like a form of smiling, you know? But I'm a pretty big softie, honestly. You know, this is gonna sound weird, but it's kind of those moments where you know, people usually strangers and usually people that don't look like each other, just show humanity to each other. And that could be like holding a door open for somebody. It could be small things, you know what I mean? But I really love seeing those moments and capturing them like candidly, you know? Just you know, oh, I was in a restaurant, I saw this thing happen. You know? I really love that these days. [00:37:09] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. We all need more of that these days too, so, yeah. Love it. Alright, well, Spencer, this has been a, a fantastic conversation. I really appreciate you and your time today. I love what you're building in the medtech industry and cultivating community and resources and providing value. So just thank you for everything you're doing to change lives for a better world. [00:37:34] Spencer Jones: Thank you. Can I ask you a question? I feel like you were so good, like with the questions and kind coming on the back of like my responses, but I have a question for you like what? You know, what about the medtech space, like most excites you? It can be a specific technology, it can be a specific, you know, company doing something. It can be anything, but what's most exciting to you, kind of looking at 2026 and, you know, kind of in the realm of medtech broadly. [00:38:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Oh, I love that question. So I love this industry in general, but there, there's something really special about the energy of being around people who truly care about making a difference. Part of the reason I started The Leading Difference was because I, when I first joined, had sort of noticed this sort stigma from people from the outside who weren't very familiar with the innovation, what it takes to get from, you know, drawing to commercialization. Just didn't, just didn't know. And there was this stigma that people were here just for the money. And then I started meeting all of these incredible change makers who they had personal stories of what they were seeing, or a family member was impacted. And I just loved the fact that there were so many cool people doing such cool things and getting to play a small role in that was the coolest thing in the world. So, you know, I, I say I happily stumbled into medtech five years ago and found my people and my happy place, haven't looked back. I love it. I love being around people who are genuinely trying to do good things in the world. And I hear about new and you know, new ideas every day, and I get excited probably almost equally about most of them because it's just cool to see. So I don't know. Does that answer your question? [00:39:29] Spencer Jones: No, it, it does. I mean, it, it really the, it all comes back to the patient at the end of the day. And I definitely, I, I feel like when people think of like medical device stuff, like their minds immediately go to like Stryker sales reps or something, you know what I'm saying? And there's just so much more to it than that. And there's one of my favorite things about medtech is like the personalities, you know, like you got your wacky, you got your wacky inventors and you know, you got your straight laced regulatory people. But when you get to know 'em, they're, they're absolutely hilarious. You know, you got your attorneys, you got your like, and I, every industry, every industry has their personalities. But I think medtech, you know, you got your beef head sales reps that are like posting " What's up guys? I'm here in the locker room in my scrubs" and like "Motivation Monday." You're like, "Oh my God." But it's just like all these personalities and you go to these conferences and you just see 50 of the same person, but they're each different, they have their own dreams and conflicts and ideas and whatever, but they're still like so in the same box in some ways. I think that's one of the funnier, like funnier things about medtech that just makes it quirky, you know? [00:40:30] Lindsey Dinneen: I love it. And I also love the amount of respect that I see shared amongst people of very, very different backgrounds and areas of expertise. And that was one of the things that made me fall in love with the industry too. I was like, I, for instance, you know, I'm in, I'm in marketing and business development, so I play a very small role in, in sharing about these devices. But people, the engineers that I work with and the consultants that I work with, and everybody in the ecosystem is always just " Wow, well, I can't do what you're doing. And so I think what you're doing is fantastic." And so there's just, there's this mutual respect that I think is super cool about being here too. So yeah, I'm a fan. [00:41:08] Spencer Jones: Yeah, I agree. I agree. We could, we could keep going for, for days... [00:41:12] Lindsey Dinneen: I know. [00:41:13] Spencer Jones: ...On this. I really, I know, I know we have to wrap it, but but yeah. Well, Lindsey, thank you for having me. Seriously, this was a blast. And you know, I'll just maybe like quick sign off plug or something here. If anybody that's listening to this is like interested in, leveraging AI, leveraging AI in medtech or for you personally or whatever, follow me on LinkedIn and post a lot of content about it. You know, talk about it a lot on the podcast. But then if you're, if you're on the founder side, if you're an innovator, like join XO Medtech. If you're on the CDMO side, if you're, you know, on a sales and marketing team, contract manufacturer, CDMO, even like signed development groups, that kind of stuff like, you are like, "We know we need to be using AI to better leverage X, Y, Z, or do this thing. We have all these, we have HubSpot and this thing and that thing, and none of it works together well and we've got too many tools." Whatever. Just hit me up. Let's have a conversation. We're doing some absolutely incredible things leveraging AI, giving these sales and marketing teams like crazy leverage. So yeah, just drop a dm. I'd love to talk to you. [00:42:08] Lindsey Dinneen: Awesome. Sounds good. And we are so honored to be making a donation on your behalf as a thank you for your time today to the Polaris Project, which is a non governmental organization that works to combat and prevent sex and labor trafficking in North America. So thank you for choosing that organization to support, and we wish you continued success as you work to change lives for a better world. Looking forward to seeing the future of all the good things that you're doing. All right. Bye. [00:42:41] Dan Purvis: The Leading Difference is brought to you by Velentium Medical. Velentium Medical is a full service CDMO, serving medtech clients worldwide to securely design, manufacture, and test class two and class three medical devices. Velentium Medical's four units include research and development-- pairing electronic and mechanical design, embedded firmware, mobile app development, and cloud systems with the human factor studies and systems engineering necessary to streamline medical device regulatory approval; contract manufacturing-- building medical products at the prototype, clinical, and commercial levels in the US, as well as in low cost regions in 1345 certified and FDA registered Class VII clean rooms; cybersecurity-- generating the 12 cybersecurity design artifacts required for FDA submission; and automated test systems, assuring that every device produced is exactly the same as the device that was approved. Visit VelentiumMedical.com to explore how we can work together to change lives for a better world.

Dream Games swore they would never add ads to Royal Match or Royal Kingdom. In February 2026, they quietly did it. Here's the proof — and what it means for the rest of the industry.Felix Braberg flies solo this week to break down the three biggest stories in mobile gaming: Playtika officially walking away from social casino to chase Disney Solitaire (with D2C revenue now at 62% of their IAP), Mistplay's acquisition of Mychips as the rewarded UA M&A wave begins, and the most interesting story of the week — Dream Games caught adding ads to Royal Kingdom via Wayback Machine forensics, generating an estimated $170-190K/day in interstitial and rewarded revenue while 6x'ing downloads in markets like Brazil.If Dream Games breaks, Playrix is next.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open — Royal Kingdom's $190K/day ad revenue01:25 Playtika exits social casino, casual is now 76% of business03:10 The D2C dark pool — Playtika now at 62% off-platform04:45 Mistplay acquires Mychips — the rewarded UA M&A wave07:00 Royal Kingdom's secret ads — Wayback Machine forensics08:30 The Brazil test — 25K to 150K downloads/day, IAP also up09:30 Top charts wrap — Magic Sword, Grand Games, Monopoly Go━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Apply to work with me one-on-one: https://www.cleartheshelf.com/apply $30,000 in legal fees. Just to get dismissed from a lawsuit. The seller didn't make the product, didn't ship it, didn't fulfill it. The customer tripped over the FBA box on their doorstep and sued everyone.Ashlin Hadden has insured more than 5,000 e-commerce businesses. She processes 50-100 insurance applications a week for Amazon sellers. Today she breaks down what Amazon actually requires, what your LLC doesn't protect you from, why your homeowner's insurance won't cover your inventory, and the seven product categories you should never sell without a policy.Chapters:00:00 - Ashlin's Origin Story04:57 - What Amazon Actually Requires06:14 - General Liability vs. Product Liability07:10 - You Jumped on Someone's Listing. You're Responsible for It.08:10 - "Your LLC Can't Pick Up the Phone and Defend You"10:46 - What Happens When You Get Sued (The Claims Process)12:12 - How Much Coverage Do You Actually Need?14:13 - Umbrella Policies and Excess Coverage Explained16:33 - The $30,000 Lawsuit Over a Box on a Doorstep19:00 - 7 Products You Should NEVER Sell Without Insurance22:12 - A Resistance Band Hit a Surgeon in the Face (Horror Story)26:00 - Your Homeowner's Insurance Won't Cover Your Inventory28:06 - Prep Center Risk: Only a Handful Actually Have Coverage30:05 - Prop 65: California's Ambulance Chaser Problem32:34 - Cease & Desist: Is Legal Defense Covered?34:00 - What Does Insurance Actually Cost? ($600 to $150K)37:37 - How to Get Started (Application to COI in a Day)38:52 - Lightning Round: One Thing Every Seller Must KnowFollow Ashlin:Website: ecom.insureEmail: sales@ashlinhaddeninsurance.comSocial: @ashlinhadden everywhereFollow Chris Grant:X/Twitter: @cleartheshelfNewsletter: https://cleartheshelf.com/newsletterFollow Chris Racic:X/Twitter: @ChrisRacicNewsletter: https://oaleads247.com

The Layer Underneath Every Six-Figure Plateau You've rebuilt the funnel, rewritten the sales page, added another bonus, and tested every subject line. But when your launch numbers come in… your revenue hasn't budged.  There's a layer sitting underneath every funnel and every sales page. It's a strategic decision most six-figure founders have never been taught to examine, and when it's off, it creates a very specific pattern of revenue inconsistency that no amount of optimization can fix. It's called positioning. In this episode, I'm walking you through what positioning actually is, how it's different from messaging, and three signals that tell you it's the layer that needs your attention first. By the end, you'll know where the leak in your business actually lives, and you'll have three concrete starting actions to take before your next launch. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Revenue highs are exciting. The unexplainable dips that follow? Not so much. If your coaching, course, or membership business is at $150K or more, the problem isn't that things aren't working. It's that you can't yet see what is. And you can't repeat what you can't see. My free live training, The Revenue Consistency Formula, fixes that. Click here to learn what's actually behind your numbers and how to bank on them. The Milly Club Made to Scale Mastermind HERE ARE THE 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: 1️⃣ Positioning Is the Decision Before the Words — Messaging is the words on the page. Positioning is who those words were written for, what stage they're in, and what exact problem you're solving for them. Get that clear and your copy starts working. Leave it fuzzy and you'll rewrite the sales page ten times and watch the number stay the same. 2️⃣ Clarity Creates Confidence — When you keep softening the language around your price, it shows up as a confidence problem. Specificity in your positioning is what creates the confidence. When the right person reads your offer and sees themselves in the first three sentences, the number stops being something they're weighing. 3️⃣ A Funnel Can't Fix a Positioning Problem — Every funnel sits on top of one question: who is this offer for, and what exact problem does it solve for them? When positioning hasn't answered that, no email sequence ever will. Fix the layer underneath the funnel before you optimize anything else. MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram @amyporterfield SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more entrepreneurs who need these insights.

What happens inside a studio when a game explodes past every projection on launch day? Jeremy Fielding, Community Manager and Narrative Coordinator at Stunlock Studios, was there when V Rising hit 150,000 concurrent Steam players — and he walked us through all of it: the chaos, the 60-hour weeks, the improvised official servers, and the feedback systems they built on the fly.Joined by Steve McLeod, founder of Feature Upvote, this conversation covers the full arc of community management at scale — from why every community manager is fundamentally a game developer, to how Stunlock built player trust through transparency, to why studio announcements largely don't work and what does instead.If you work in community, player support, or live ops — this one is packed.What We Cover:Why community managers are game developers (and why that framing matters)What it was actually like inside Stunlock during V Rising's early access launchHow to build feedback systems that scale before you think you need themThe case for private beta feedback boards — and the "Dracula pun" password strategyWhy AI bots in Discord often backfire — and what players actually want when they reach outHow transparency converts skeptical players into studio advocatesThe measurement problem: why community impact is real but hard to quantifyThe rise of the double-A studio and why mid-size teams have a community advantageGuests:Jeremy Fielding (Jeremy Berson online) — Community Manager & Narrative Coordinator, Stunlock Studios | playvrising.comSteve McLeod — Founder, Feature Upvote | featureupvote.com | LinkedInTimestamps:00:00 — Intro & warm-up02:00 — Are community managers game developers?05:30 — How game dev is really about solving problems you made yourself09:00 — Translating player feedback to dev teams — the middle seat13:00 — V Rising's early access launch: what 150K concurrent looks like from inside21:00 — AI in community support: when it helps, when it backfires27:00 — Why honesty builds the community that defends you30:00 — Feedback tools at scale: what to look for, what to avoid38:00 — Private beta feedback with Feature Upvote (and Dracula passwords)44:00 — Turning feedback into competitive advantage49:00 — Why studio trust is the new double-A advantage54:00 — Guest intros & where to find themConnect with Player Driven:Discord: https://discord.gg/zdwAqvgvfyNewsletter: Player DrivenYouTube: Player Driven

Paraguay just launched the Investor Pass — a brand new golden visa-style program that gives you direct permanent residency with zero temporary stage and no job creation requirements. In this episode, we break down everything: the three investment routes ($150K in tourism projects or $200K in real estate/stocks), tax benefits (8% dividend tax), application process, timelines, risks, and whether this underrated South American option beats other residency-by-investment programs. If you're looking for affordable second residency, low taxes, or a Plan B with strong upside, this could be one of the best new opportunities in 2026. Tune in for the full guide! 

"If we popped the quantum solution today, I think we'd be at $150K in two months." That's Ken Egan's call on Bitcoin Policy Hour Episode 36, joined by Zack Shapiro and host Zack Cohen. The trio walk through the Tillis-Brooks stablecoin yield compromise, the Clarity Act markup window, Admiral Paparo's watershed Indo-Pacom Bitcoin testimony, Secretary Hegseth's national security follow-up, and the quantum issue holding institutional capital on the sideline.

MTM Travel - May 7, 2026 Chase has a massive new Sapphire Reserve offer, but the rest of the episode shows why the points world feels less predictable than it used to. Shawn and Mark break down Rakuten's strange but useful Bank of America and Bilt stack, Citi ending ThankYou point sharing, the refreshed AT&T Points Plus card and Chase's quietly weaker Points Boost values. Episode Guide 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel 2:56 Rakuten, Bank of America and bonus Bilt points 7:51 Chase Sapphire Reserve hits 150K 12:34 Chase spending offers get easier to track 13:48 Citi ends ThankYou point sharing 16:43 AT&T Points Plus gets a real refresh 20:43 Chase Points Boost gets less predictable 25:37 Final thoughts on transferable points rankings Topics Covered Rakuten is offering up to $300 back, or 30,000 Bilt points, when applying for select Bank of America cards. The Bank of America Travel Rewards card can stack its own offer with the Rakuten payout, making it a strong no-annual-fee play. Chase Sapphire Reserve now has a 150,000 point offer after $6,000 in spend in the first three months. Chase appears to be matching some recent Sapphire Reserve applicants to the new offer, with reported cutoff dates. Chase targeted spending offers are becoming easier to track after activation. Citi is ending ThankYou point sharing, removing a useful option for two-player households. The AT&T Points Plus card adds stronger AT&T discounts and keeps its no-annual-fee setup. Chase Points Boost remains useful in theory, but the changing rates make it harder to plan around. Links Rakuten Bank of America bonuses - https://milestomemories.com/rakuten-offering-extra-bonus-for-bank-of-america-cards/ Chase Sapphire Reserve 150K offer - https://milestomemories.com/is-chase-matching-the-sapphire-reserve-offer/ Chase quarterly spending offer lookup - https://milestomemories.com/how-to-find-chase-spending-offer-details/ Citi ending ThankYou point sharing - https://www.doctorofcredit.com/citi-ending-points-sharing-on-5-16/ AT&T and Citi enhance Points Plus card - https://milestomemories.com/att-points-plus-world-mastercard-refresh/ Chase The Edit 2.5 cent Points Boost - https://milestomemories.com/new-2-5x-points-boost-at-select-the-edit-hotels/

In Part 2, we pick up right where we left off in Part 1, with Gina's first official address in San Francisco. In talking about finding a place to live in The City, Gina mentions that all her friends either live in rent-control apartments they've been in forever, or they're able to live in a place that someone in their family bought and has kept in the family. When she tells me where that first apartment in SF was, I let her know that my first place here, back in 2000, was less than a block away. As we're name-dropping hotspots on the block, I have a brain fart and can't remember the name of Cordon Bleu, the rad greasy-spoon Vietnamese joint still there on California near Polk. From that first apartment, Gina would take Muni to her job over in Potrero Hill. Back then, in the days before smartphones, she'd read on her long, chill Muni rides. She'd come home, make dinner with her roommate, and maybe head out to Polk Street or for karaoke in the hood. That AmeriCorp VISTA gig lead to a job doing literacy work. At that part-time job, Gina also started doing events. She also ran a non-profit dance company, and was trying her best to make both things work out for her. We step back to talk about Funkanometry SF, Gina's dance company. It started in LA, moved north, and the founders handed Gina the keys, so to speak. That happened in Gina's senior year at Berkeley. Because the dancers she was directing were older and more experienced, and because she had literally no experience running a non-profit or a business, she went to Barnes and Noble to buy a copy of a book from the "For Dummies" series. In Gina's time running it, Funkanometry took off. They received invitations to perform internationally, to places like the Philippines, the UK, and Colombia. On the back end, Gina figured out a way to pay herself $600 a month. She felt like she'd made it. Despite all those successes, though, the company didn't make money. The low-paying, part-time job and non-profit dance company was fun, but it wasn't meant to last. She got hit up on LinkedIn by a recruiter for Google and got an interview. Gina had reservations and talked with her mom about them. Lillian told her to daughter to go and listen to what they have to say, and so that's what Gina did. After the interview, she still didn't know if it was a good fit, but she accepted the offer regardless. She was now a software engineering recruiting coordinator at Google. To get to work, Gina took the infamous Google bus. As someone from The Bay who already had immense pride in her city, she felt ashamed. The money was good, but standing in line to wait for the hated busses felt bad. When cars or pedestrians passed by while she waited, she wanted to let them know that she wasn't "one of those people," that she's from here and runs a non-profit dance company. It didn't matter. Her internalized shame remained, but she says the job was fun enough to make up for it. That Google contract job turned into full-time work, and Gina stayed at the company for seven years. During this time, Gina met and started dating a San Franciscan who grew up in the Inner Richmond. They got engaged and Gina moved to that hood. She still worked at Google and now waited for their corporate bus in a chiller area with fewer protests. Then Gina's family suffered a tragic loss. One of her first cousins died by suicide. She says the experience "broke [her] family open," meaning it obviously hurt them all, but it also brought them closer. It made waiting for the Google bus that much more impossible for Gina, too. She'd moved into a new role at the company and was doing events for them. She decided it was time to branch out on her own and do what she loves. She was able to go part-time while launching her own events company. She'd tried to quit, but Google asked her to stay on. It ended up serving her well, as it provided some needed income while she undertook all the stuff it takes to start a company from scratch. The first event she produced under her new moniker, Make It Mariko, was Undiscovered SF, which began in 2017 as the first Filipino night market in SOMA. The first Undiscovered SF was such a success that it inspired Gina to transition Make It Mariko to her full-time work. The stories goes like this: A friend let her know about the nonprofit SOMA Pilipinas. She met with those folks and pitched a launch event. They applied for and received a $5K grant to do the event. A friend was able to wrangle $150K on top of that. That one launch event turned into six events, spaced out one per month. In 2020, Undiscovered SF went virtual. Gina had her tech background, and they had plenty of time to transition. This allowed them to connect Filipinos across the diaspora, sitting on panels and interacting with one another. And of course, there were DJs from all over. Prior to the pandemic, in addition to many other kinds of events, Make It Mariko had quite a lot of corporate event-planning business. Since COVID, though, a lot of that went away. Gina decided she wasn't gonna sit around and wait for big events to hire her company. She wanted to build on the success of self-produced events like Undiscovered. The seeds of what became POC Food and Wine were planted. Gina loves wine. During the pandemic, she got a scholarship to join a wine program where she was able to dive into that world. One of the topics was pairing, and so she was able to take that knowledge and apply it to the POC Food and Wine Festival, pairing POC chefs with specific wines and other beverages. Attendees were encouraged, but not required, to navigate the space and its makers along the lines laid out for them by Gina and her staff. I'll just say: It was one of the best, most unique experiences I've had in my 26 years here in the Bay Area. We end the episode with me letting Gina know how much I also enjoyed this year's Love Thy City event, which took place in February. It was to celebrate Make It Mariko's 10th anniversary and to establish a relationship with The Foundary space in South of Market. The love (right there in the name) that night was palpable—love of San Francisco, of community, of one another. All of these events—Undiscovered, POC Food and Wine Festival, Love Thy City—for me show how dedicated Gina and her people are to uplifting real people doing extraordinary things. Find Gina all over the place, really: Brave New Spaces, whose goal is to help creatives eventually own their spaces Make It Mariko, her events company Photography Mason J.

In this episode of Real Estate Investing Fast Track, I break down a Greenwood Lake, NY wholesale deal that I didn't even want to buy myself. But just because it wasn't a deal for me doesn't mean it wasn't a deal for someone else. I got it under contract for $150K and assigned it for $168K, making an $18K profit with a smooth, transparent transaction from start to finish. I go over how I found it through direct mail, why I passed on flipping it, and how I still made money by assigning it to another investor.  

VALUE FOR VALUE Thank you to the Bowl After Bowl Episode Producers: ChadF, Kevin S, cottongin, NetNed, ericpp, cbrooklyn112, Salty_Crayon, RevHodl, piranesi, Boolysteed, Sir Libre   Check out the latest Local Bitcoiners Episode 009: Growing Slow Builds Strong Communities featuring Sir Spencer    Tune in for Bowls With Buds featuring Shadrach FRIDAY at 8pm Central   GET FREE STICKERS Send a self-addressed envelope to PO Box 410154 Kansas City, MO 64141   Mentioned websites: motherfuckingwebsite.com NickTheRat.com v4vmusic.com BoostMeBitch.com   Intro/Outro: From the Dust - Alive   FIRST TIME I EVER… Bowlers called in to discuss the First Time THEY Ever said too much. Next week, we want to hear about the First Time YOU Ever had tequila.   TOP THREE 33 Arkansas gas prices jump more than 33 cents in a week (NBC) Zoom is giving away $150K to solopreneurs with no strings attached as 33 million workers ditch corporate to become their own boss (Fortune) 'Star Wars' Day: Fans streamed franchise for 33 billion minutes in 2025 (Variety) Man arrested after traffic stop leads to seizure of 33 pounds of marijuana in Bedford County (WSET)   BEHIND THE CURTAIN DEA clarifies HHC is federally banned, doesn't count as legal hemp (Federal Register) Governor of Sinaloa, 9 other current and former Mexican officials charged with drug trafficking, weapons offenses (DOJ) Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signs bill extending the Task Force on Responsible Use of Natural Psychedelic Substances for a year (Maryland Legislative) Minneapolis mayor vetoes drug paraphernalia decriminalization ordinance (FOX) Arkansas marijuana company tied to more than a quarter of Missouri dispensaries (Missouri Independent)   METAL MOMENT Tonight, the RevCyberTrucker brings us Judas Priest's Breaking the Law.  Follow along with his shenanigans on the Fediverse at SirRevCyberTrucker@noauthority.social   ON CHAIN, OFF CHAIN, COCAINE, SHITSTAIN Bitcoin tops $81K as Strategy mulls selling its Bitcoin to fund dividend obligations (CoinDesk) Strategy reports $12.5B net loss, impacting Bitcoin sentiment for May 2026 (CryptoBriefing.com) Strategy breaks from 'never sell' Bitcoin approach (CNBC) Saylor says Strategy may sell Bitcoin if it benefits company (Bloomingbit) May 18th: Join us for the first Next Generation KC Bitcoiners meetup at Westport Flea https://feed.bowlafterbowl.com/chapters/images/next-gen-bitcoiners.png   FUCK IT, DUDE. LET'S GO BOWLING! Secret Service agent, 33, arrested after masturbating in front of horrified hotel guests he stalked 'across lobby' (The US Sun) Retired Army staff sergeant gets 33 months for stealing Humvee, ramming Fort Stewart HQ (WGXA) Man, 33, remains in custody over suspected plot against Princesses Amalia and Alexia (Netherlands Times) Taco Bell worker opens fire on customers over drink dispute (Puget Press) Mom, baby survive ambulance crash (Not the Bee) Scottish man caught having sex with a wheelie bin (The Scottish Sun) Arkansas family finds man living in their basement (Fox) California crapping bandit caught (OutKick) Rhode Island person in white pointed hood video 1 and 2 Classes cancelled at Chicago school after campus officer loses gun (Not the Bee)

The Three Assets That Close the Sale Before the Cart Opens Your sales page isn't what closes the sale. By the time someone clicks it, they've already decided. That decision happened weeks earlier on a podcast, in an email, during a free training where something clicked and they thought, I trust her. Your sales page just confirms what they already believe. It doesn't convince anyone of anything. So if you've been rewriting it for the tenth time, obsessing over every headline, that was never the real work, which is actually good news. It means your launches feel hard because you're focusing on the wrong thing, and that's fixable. In this episode, I'm covering the three assets that actually drive conversions, the audit to run before your next launch, and how I hit 300% of my Calibrae Collective launch goal in month one. By the end, you'll know exactly where to put your energy so when you open your cart, your audience is already ready to buy. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Ever have a month where your revenue looks amazing… and the next month leaves you wondering what just happened? Once you've built a business doing $150K or more, it's rarely that nothing is working. The challenge is knowing what's actually driving your results. Some months feel strong. Others feel harder to explain and harder to repeat. That gap is where the frustration lives. In my free live training, The Revenue Consistency Formula, I'll walk you through what's really going on behind the scenes and how to turn what you've already built into something you can rely on. You'll walk away knowing exactly what to focus on next. Save your seat here for revenue that feels steady and a whole lot less confusing. Two Weeks Notice by Amy Porterfield HERE ARE THE 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: 1️⃣ Why Your Sales Page Was Never Going to Save the Launch — Your sales page is a mirror. It reflects back what your audience already believes about you and what's possible for them. Once you really get this, you stop pouring hours into copy that was never built to carry your whole launch, and you redirect that energy where it actually moves the needle. 2️⃣ Treat Every Episode and Email Like a Deposit Into Your Trust Account — The content you publish six months before a launch is doing just as much conversion work as the emails you send during cart open. Podcast hosts rank just below friends and family in recommendation trust, and 74% of regular listeners say they trust the host enough to buy what they recommend. If you've ever wondered whether showing up consistently is worth it, this is your answer. 3️⃣ A Live Experience Is the Fastest Way to Take Your Conversions From 2% to 25% — A sales page on its own typically converts cold traffic at 2 to 3%. A Live webinar before that page lifts you to 8 to 10%. Add a Live bootcamp and I've personally hit 25%. Same offer, same price, same sales page. If your launches have gone quiet, this is the asset to revisit first.MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram @amyporterfield SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more entrepreneurs who need these insights.

Your CPA sends a P&L on the 20th of every month showing a positive bottom line. Then tax season hits — or partners ask for a distribution — and the cash isn't in the bank. Sound familiar? This episode breaks down why standard P&Ls fail private practices doing $150K+/month, and how to replace them with a live financial dashboard that tells you the truth in real time. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

In this episode, we sit down with Jesse Bongiovi, Founder of Hampton Water Wine Company and Lily Pond Group, to unpack how a brand that could have been written off as “celebrity wine” — backed by his father, Jon Bon Jovi — turned into a durable growth engine that's bucking industry trends.Hampton Water is now at ~150,000 cases globally, growing ~20% year-over-year, distributed in 60+ countries, and built on a model that looks very different from how wine brands are typically scaled. During the pandemic, it became the #1 selling rosé on Wine.com, while also building one of the largest digital footprints in the category — now the most-followed alcohol brand on TikTok (~400K+ followers), according to Bongiovi — with some ~600,000 followers across platforms.But the real story is how that growth was built — and what it indicates about how wine is actually selling today.

The Founder Pattern Behind Unpredictable Revenue Every female founder I've ever coached is running as one of three types. The Resourceful Founder, the Abundant Founder, or the Calibrated Founder. Two of them are working themselves into the ground. One of them is quietly scaling. And by the end of this episode, you will know exactly which one is running your business right now. The pattern you're in right now is the reason your revenue is inconsistent. It's not your work ethic. It's not your offer. It's not your niche. It's the way you instinctively respond when something in your business underperforms, and that instinct is either compounding your growth or quietly costing you everything you've built toward. I was the wrong one for almost a decade before I saw what I was doing to myself. I'll tell you exactly what it cost me, walk you through three business scenarios so you can diagnose yourself in real time, and give you a clear first step to start operating like the founder who actually gets where you want to go. You'll recognize yourself in the first five minutes. What you do with it is what makes significant changes to your business and your bottom line. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Ever have a month where your revenue looks amazing… and the next month leaves you wondering what just happened? Once you've built a business doing $150K or more, it's rarely that nothing is working. The challenge is knowing what's actually driving your results. Some months feel strong. Others feel harder to explain and harder to repeat. That gap is where the frustration lives. In my free live training, The Revenue Consistency Formula, I'll walk you through what's really going on behind the scenes and how to turn what you've already built into something you can rely on. You'll walk away knowing exactly what to focus on next. Save your seat here for revenue that feels steady and a whole lot less confusing. Claude HERE ARE THE 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: 1️⃣ The Resourceful Founder Can't Stop Starting Over — She's smart. She's read the books, taken the courses, studied what everyone else is doing. And she's quietly sabotaging herself by jumping to a new tactic every time the current one doesn't deliver fast enough. Her welcome sequence has been rewritten four times this year. She still can't tell you what her email list actually converts at. 2️⃣ The Abundant Founder Is Solving the Wrong Problem — She's the hardest worker in the room. She believes if she just adds one more bonus, sends three more emails, launches one more time, the revenue will finally catch up to the hours she's putting in. I was her for years. Here's what I wish someone had told me: you can't add your way out of a messaging issue, an offer issue, or a lead generation issue. All that extra effort is making a business you're already exhausted by even harder to run. 3️⃣ The Calibrated Founder Is Who You're Becoming — When her revenue dips, she doesn't panic, doesn't spiral, doesn't start over. She looks at her numbers and asks one question. Which of my three systems is off? Messaging, offer, or lead gen. Then she fixes one thing and tests. She works fewer hours than she used to and makes more money than she ever has. You're closer to her than you think, and I'll show you the first move.MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram @amyporterfield SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more entrepreneurs who need these insights.

In this episode, Chris sits down with Nat Eliason - founder, writer, and now launching Alpha High, a new entrepreneur high school in New York City. Tuition is $150K a year. The promise: every student hits a million dollars in gross profit by graduation, or the family gets their tuition refunded. The first class is around 20 freshmen. The day is split between AI-driven academics in the morning and business building the rest of the day. This is also the same Nat Eliason who in his spare time built Felix - an AI agent he gave a Stripe account, an email, and an X handle, then told to launch a business overnight. Felix has done $60+K in sales since. Nat has not touched the code. They discuss: - Why the "game of school" is kayfabe and what's finally breaking it - The 16-year-old flying out to California to run short-form video for Al Pacino's new movie - The Munger inversion behind Alpha's curriculum: "why would these kids fail?" - What businesses a 14-year-old should and shouldn't build (and the $500/month software budget) - How Nat masters a new domain every two or three years, and why his $35K smart-contract loss accelerated him faster than caution would have - Felix - what "zero human" actually looks like, and the rules Nat set up to keep himself out of it - The day Anthropic shut off Open Claw and Alpha students reverse-engineered a proxy workaround in hours - Why the founding fathers wrote the Declaration in their early 20s, and what we forgot about teenagers Timestamps (05:55) What Alpha Does Differently From Conventional Schools (11:48) Playing the Fake Game of School (21:46) How Nat Masters New Domains (32:18) Open Claw Deep Dive (43:50) Building the Alpha Entrepreneurship Program (51:43) Freshman Year Structure at Alpha School (1:00:23) How Students Can Pitch for Equity or Debt Funding (1:04:08) Why Establish a New York Location for Year One (1:11:15) Nat's 10-Year Vision (1:15:11) AI as a Force Multiplier for Teenage Founders (1:16:15) How Alpha Students Quickly Reverse-Engineered a Workaround After Open Claw Went Down (1:24:13) Teen-Parent Conflict as a Symptom of Infantilization Support our Sponsors Collateral Partners: https://collateral.com/fort Chris on Social Media: X: https://x.com/fortworthchris Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepowerspodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ Visit our website: https://www.powerspod.com/ Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO

Fast Hours has entered the witness protection program. Same Drew. Same Rory. But fewer syllables and more chaos.In this episode, Drew Brucker and Rory Flynn officially drop “Midjourney” from the podcast name and relaunch as Fast Hours, a broader home for the creative AI ecosystem: image models, video models, LLMs, vibe coding, Claude, ChatGPT, Midjourney, and whatever tool drops five minutes after they hit publish. Naturally, the rebrand lasts about four minutes before they're elbows-deep in GPT-Image-2, OpenAI's new ChatGPT image model that quietly showed up and immediately started making designers question their calendar, career choices, and relationship with kerning.The big topic: GPT-Image-2 is shockingly good with text, typography, brand systems, visual decks, product mockups, and multi-image outputs. Rory walks through how he used ChatGPT and Claude to create a custom typeface from visual references, generate a premium typography presentation, extract geometry, and turn the whole thing into usable font files. Drew then shows how he turned his own handwriting into a working typeface, because apparently “personal brand” now includes making your lowercase g file a tax asset.They also dig into the uncomfortable middle ground of AI creative work: when it saves time, when it still needs human judgment, why anti-AI panic and AI hype both miss the point, and why the real advantage is context. Not prompts. Not magic buttons. Context.The episode also covers GPT-Image-2 vs Nano Banana Pro, richer color rendering, micro-text improvements, AI-generated sports graphics, brand kit concepts, Freepik settings, Claude Design, 4K video generation, Kling, Veo 3.1, Seedance, and the strange reality that a custom brand typeface can now go from “that'll be $150K” to “Rory did it before lunch.”Basically, it's an episode about the exact moment creative production stops feeling like a tool demo and starts feeling li ke a factory someone accidentally left unlocked.---⏱️ Fast Hour00:00 Fast Hours is (re)born03:36 Going tool-agnostic04:34 GPT-Image-2 quietly drops05:31 Text becomes the unlock07:31 The AI backlash returns10:57 Hype, fear, and the middle12:10 Typography gets weird14:50 What custom fonts cost15:43 GPT-Image-2 vs Nano Banana17:39 Rory's font experiment18:47 Fiddleheads become a typeface19:39 Building the type deck20:36 The nine-slide image unlock21:14 Geometry, spacing, and logic22:11 Turning images into font files23:02 Micro-text gets better24:19 Claude builds the font package26:41 The revision loop changes27:50 Context is the silver bullet32:11 Drew makes a handwriting font35:35 Why designers obsess over type37:52 Reverse-engineering prompts39:51 Richer color and sports graphics41:27 Fixing artifacts and details42:37 Nano Banana vs GPT-Image-2 tests44:26 Sports realism gets scary good45:27 Why teams need this now46:43 Freepik settings and ratios48:36 Testing, tokens, and limits49:44 Brand kits and rebrand concepts53:19 Google I/O and the next model53:48 Veo 3.1 falls behind55:04 Kling adds native 4K56:40 Character sheets and macros58:07 Rebrands as visual prototypes01:00:53 Building a reference library01:01:36 Three weeks in a row01:02:58 Claude Design tease01:03:37 Tell your local [fill in the blank] spam finale

Send Leanne a messageLeanne Hughes and Alan Weiss explore what it really takes to design premium client experiences — from large-scale thought leadership conferences to intimate high-touch group gatherings in penthouse suites around the world. Alan shares the frameworks, courage, and lifestyle philosophy behind his most successful events, and Leanne reflects on her own recent red carpet camp-out experience.Topics CoveredDefining high-end experiences — Alan's two models: large group conferences (125–150 people) vs. intimate groups (7–10 people in premium locations)The large format event — Outside speakers (Dan Pink, Jonah Berger), a $30–35K AV crew, volunteer wranglers, concurrent sessions, and how to turn a cost-neutral event into $150K in spinoff businessThe intimate group format — Penthouses in London, Paris, and LA; Michelin-starred dinners; provoking IP over socialisingThe role of location — Why venue matters more for small groups, and how Alan used his Kauai suite to transform a stuffy sessionProgram design — Overwhelming with value, reframing problems rather than solving them, and the story of Mike Robert's legendary Pebble Beach strategy programCourage and filling seats — Becoming an "object of interest," the chain reaction of attraction, and why you should never lead with priceAccessibility as a brand strategy — Being the most accessible expert in a niche, and where to draw the lineCurating the right room — Why sophistication and maturity matter more than income, and the one time someone didn't belongLifestyle as the real brand — Why people follow Alan for the life he lives, not just his consulting expertiseWhat people get wrong — The experience should showcase you, not the venue; using Broadway plays, tours, and dinners as vehicles for IPVirtual high-end experiences — Why Alan believes in-person is essential for high-touch, community-building workPlanning and promotion — Shameless promotion, letting your wife veto the destination, and the 24-hour sign-up experimentKey Quotes"You don't solve problems. You recast and reframe them, so people say, 'I never looked at it like this before.'" — Alan Weiss"The higher high-tech goes with AI, the higher touch is required." — Alan Weiss"I prove that you can do it — and more importantly, that you can do it unashamedly." — Alan Weiss"If we're not pissing somebody off every day, we're not doing our job." — Alan WeissResources & People MentionedDan Pink — Author and speakerJonah Berger — Wharton School professor, author of ContagiousMichael Bungay Stanier — Author of The Coaching HabitRandy Gage — Author, prosperity mindset expertThe Innovation Formula — Alan Weiss & Mike Robert (1985)ConnectAlan Weiss: alanweiss.comLeanne Hughes: First Time FacilitatorTalk the Walk — next episode: first week of JuneGet Work Fame, my Substack newsletter, sharing the best ideas direct to your inbox!Support the show

How to Get Found on ChatGPT Before Your Competitors Do A complete stranger asked ChatGPT how to explain binge eating to their partner. ChatGPT recommended one woman's podcast. That stranger listened, fell in love with her work, and showed up to the consult call already knowing the price and ready to sign. She made $3,500 from a conversation that happened without her. This is what's happening in search right now. AI tools are recommending specific businesses by name, and the businesses getting named are the ones who figured this out first. Rachel Lindteigen spent 25 years in marketing, Fortune 500s and ad agencies, before turning that expertise toward one question: how do small businesses get found? She now teaches entrepreneurs how to show up in both Google and AI search. One of her students found a single keyword, optimized her homepage around it, and made $150,000 in six months. No launches. No ads. In this episode, Rachel breaks down how AI tools decide which businesses to recommend, how to find the right keywords, and the three mistakes keeping most online business owners invisible. The window is open. This is where you start. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: You've built something real. A business making $150K to $500k annually, an audience, and offers that work. But revenue still feels harder to predict than it should. The Revenue Consistency Formula is a free live training for established female founders who have built momentum but are tired of inconsistent results. In this training, I'll teach you how to turn scattered marketing effort into predictable revenue. Ready to build that system? Save your seat here. Etched Marketing (Rachel's website) Marketing for Entrepreneurs Podcast Rachel Lindteigen on Instagram ChatGPT Claude Perplexity Yoast SEO Plugin WordPress Squarespace HERE ARE THE 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: 1️⃣ AI Search Is Recommending Specific Businesses by Name, and Yours Could Be One of Them — When your ideal client asks ChatGPT a question in your area, those tools recommend specific businesses by name. Getting named comes down to one thing: content that directly answers what your clients are already asking, in their own words. 2️⃣ Content Strategy Comes Before Optimization, and That Order Is Everything — The most important SEO question is strategic: what is your ideal client searching for? Answer those questions first, then optimize for findability. Most business owners do it in reverse, and that's why the results never come. 3️⃣ The Keyword You Haven't Found Yet Might Be Worth More Than Your Next Launch — One of Rachel's students found one phrase, optimized her homepage around it, and made $150,000 in six months. No launches. Finding the right keyword is a learnable skill, and for the entrepreneurs who do, it quietly changes everything.MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram @amyporterfield SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more entrepreneurs who need these insights.

Emma Grede built a business and media empire (including brands like Good American and SKIMS) without a safety net. Today, she joins Nicole to pull back the curtain on the money mindset, negotiation tactics, and hard-won lessons that got her there. Emma gets raw about paying herself £45K while paying a male hire £150K to do a worse job, the moment Good American sold $1 million worth of inventory on day one (and why her investors turned on her by noon), and creative strategies she's used to close major deals. She and Nicole also dig into Emma's exact playbook for negotiating a raise, the traps women fall into with money, and why Emma never lends money — she just gives it. Then they get into the taboos: prenups, the questions people should stop asking female founders, and whether financial planning and family planning should ever be kept separate. Pick up Emma's amazing book Start With Yourself Listen to Emma's inspiring podcast Aspire Check out Nicole's financial literacy course The Money School  Find a Financial Advisor or Financial Coach from Nicole's company Private Wealth Collective Watch video clips from the pod on Money Rehab's Instagram and Nicole Lapin's Instagram  Here's what Nicole covers with Emma:  00:00 Are You Ready for Some Money Rehab?  03:39 Emma's Early Money Mistakes 06:00 The £45K vs. £150K Lesson  07:12 Learning the Language of Business  10:34 What Wealthy People Know About Investing  11:48 Good American's $1M Day One — and the Investor Critique  15:39 What Money Can't Buy (But People Think It Can)  18:13 Does Money Buy Happiness?  19:00 Emma's Secret to Always Asking for More  19:48 The Natalie Portman / Dior Negotiation Story  21:58 The Secret to Great Negotiations  22:30 Negotiating a Prenup at a Restaurant  24:33 Protecting What You Build During Marriage  26:45 Raise Negotiation Role Play  33:18 What NOT to Say When Asking for a Raise  35:01 Questions Female Founders Get That Men Never Do  38:20 The "Army of Help" and Financial Family Planning  40:34 Raising Wealthy Kids Without Ruining Them  43:59 Emma's Early Hustle 46:00 Secure the Bag 53:15 What's Next For Emma  01:01:39 Emma Grede's Tip You Can Take Straight to the Bank

Former TNA Knockout's Champion Ash By Elegance joins the show to chat about TNA Rebellion, The Elegance Brand, Mickie James, Arianna Grace & More Powered By Twisted Shamrock Studio & Spa   #womenswrestling #ashbyelegance #tnaknockouts #tna #tnawrestling #nxt #wwe   As Always The BCP is brought to you by our FAVORITE store, Funkenstein Wrestling Superstore located in The Englishtown Flea Market (NJ) from 8 am -3pm Sat & Sunday and online. Get your favorite wrestling merch, retro games, ninja turtles, Ghostbusters, and so much more!!   Please welcome in our NEW sponsor, MANIA CLUB . Established in 2015, MANIA CLUB is a WWE recognized community for fans with an eclectic love for both the world of professional wrestling and raising money for Connors Cure. During WrestleMania weekend, we host the official Tailgate of WrestleMania while also celebrating Connor Michalek. They are the single largest donor within the V Foundation for Connors Cure with over $150K raised! Please donate and join the Facebook group at MANIA CLUB   The BCP is also sponsored by The No Gimmicks Podcast !! The Pro Wrestling podcast that keeps it 100% real, 100% of the time!! The No Gimmicks Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. The No Gimmicks Podcast WRESTLING ALL DAY ALL NIGHT is the best wrestling discussion group on Facebook! We provide more of a community feel here, and have wrestling fans introduce other fans to something they may not have seen before, such as old school wrestling, indie wrestling, Japanese wrestling, and more! We also strive to be a source of information regarding upcoming wrestler meet & greets and signings. And remember, we're open 24/7. All Day. All Night! Be sure to follow on socials and join the group on Facebook at Wrestling All Day All Night   Sweet Chin Musings is the creation of the reigning, rarely defending, highly disputed champion of wrestling podcasts, “Mr. Perfect” Mike Mueller, and his tag team partner in crime, Luke Kudialis. SCM focuses on the in-ring product of WWE and AEW (no dirt sheet rumors here), as well as backstage news, predictions and analysis of characters, storylines, and major pay per views. Old school fans, don't worry, we have you covered too, with a look back on classic matches, top 10 lists, and interactive tournaments that let the fans decide who is truly the best of all time. You can find us on Facebook at Sweet Chin Musings   Please welcome in our returning pod sponsor for the show GPW Productions !! GPW provides your promotion or event with TOP TIER video, audio, production, live streaming, and more!! I can personally vouch for them in saying they are hands down THE BEST Production company I have ever worked with as they have and continue to work with the likes of AEW, GCW, Starrcast, MLW, not to mention the majority of the local independent Promotions in the tri-state area. They can even help you film a vignette or promo for your persona/gimmick. And guess what? GPW doesn't just work in wrestling. They cover MMA, boxing, basketball, or any other sporting event as well!! On a personal note I'd like to thank Michael James Sesko , Frank León , Oneil Andrews & the team for giving me multiple opportunities to work with them and some of the best talent in the world. BOOK GPW for your promotion or event today at contact@gpwproductions.com   ISPW Wrestling brings the Independent Superstars of Wrestling to the Parsipanny PAL February 13th!! Get your tickets now at ISPWWRESTLNG.COM for the Glitter Ticket Rumble!!   Please welcome in our newest podcast sponsor ISPW Weekly featuring host Totowa Tom Mele as he interviews the stars of the ring, uncover their stories, rivalries, and electrifying action that defines ISPW. Catch ISPW Weekly on The ISPW Facebook Page every week!! ISPW Wrestling   Looking to press play on feeling good again? Twisted Shamrock Studios & Spa —Delaware County's Retro Recovery Rebels—are here to rewind time and reboot the way you heal. From therapeutic massage and assisted stretch therapy to glow-up facials and energy work—this is where function meets feel-good. Perfect for athletes, overachievers, and everyday Joes & Janes who need real relief with a vintage twist. Reboot your body. Recharge your soul. Rock the retro vibe. Call or text 484-574-8868 And follow us for pop-up events, retro inspo, and more!   Please welcome back our returning pod sponsor, Jay Adam Photography !! Jay provides quality, artistic, innovative photography with quick turnaround. Be sure to check out his latest pics from the top promotions here in the northeast and much more stellar content. Contact Jay at Jay Vogel for promo shots at events or off site, match photos, and much more!! Thank you Jay!! Jay Vogel   Please welcome in our new pod sponsor for 2025 the @Ropes N Riffs Podcast featuring maestro John Kiernan speaking with the Stars of professional wrestling about in ring, tunage, gear, and more!! Check out John's interviews with the likes of Lince Dorado, Mercedes Martinez, and more!! Find the Ropes N Riffs Podcast on all major Podcast platforms!! @Ropes N Riffs Podcast   USDN Podcast is run by USDN_Chairman and the Council of Nerds. We bring you all the latest news and rumors from the World of Nerds and consolidate it right here at USDN. USDN is for the people, by the people and of the people. https://www.facebook.com/usdepartmentofnerds USDN Podcast   Please welcome in our new podcast sponsor EM Collectibles featuring Live Signings, Collectibles, toys and more!! Be sure to follow them on Facebook and stay tuned for upcoming events: UPCOMING EVENTS!! March 28-29, 2026 Syracuse Collectors Con with Mr. Anderson, American Gladiators Malibu, Diamond, Blaze, and one more name TBA May 2, 2026- New England Fan Fest with Adam Bomb, Harvey Whippleman, The Headbangers and Powers of Pain! Be sure to follow EM Collectibles on Facebook!   Please welcome back our returning podcast sponsor, From the Left Side Get hit From the Left Side with all the wrestling and sports news you can handle!! Thank you FTLS for sponsoring the BCP!!   Please welcome in our NEW podcast sponsor The SDN Podcast !! For in-depth WWE predictions, pay-per-view reviews, and insightful interviews with wrestling personalities, I highly recommend The SDN Podcast. They cover all the big events and give you expert analysis every week. Be sure to subscribe and stay updated on everything wrestling. Thank you S.D.N. Podcast for sponsoring the BCP! The SDN Podcast Brii Combination Wrestling returns to Ridgefield Park NJ on Sunday January 18th for Welcome to the New Year feat. BCW Champ Darius Carter, Women's Champ the Notorious Mimi, and more!! Get your tickets now and be sure to watch BCW on Title Match Network!!

WWE WrestleMania 42 Full Card Predcitions with the BCP+ Crew !! Join the chat and let us know who YOU got!!   Powered by Twisted Shamrock Studios & Spa    As Always The BCP is brought to you by our FAVORITE store, Funkenstein Wrestling Superstore located in The Englishtown Flea Market (NJ) from 8 am -3pm Sat & Sunday and online. Get your favorite wrestling merch, retro games, ninja turtles, Ghostbusters, and so much more!!   Please welcome in our NEW sponsor, MANIA CLUB . Established in 2015, MANIA CLUB is a WWE recognized community for fans with an eclectic love for both the world of professional wrestling and raising money for Connors Cure. During WrestleMania weekend, we host the official Tailgate of WrestleMania while also celebrating Connor Michalek. They are the single largest donor within the V Foundation for Connors Cure with over $150K raised! Please donate and join the Facebook group at MANIA CLUB   The BCP is also sponsored by The No Gimmicks Podcast !! The Pro Wrestling podcast that keeps it 100% real, 100% of the time!! The No Gimmicks Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. The No Gimmicks Podcast WRESTLING ALL DAY ALL NIGHT is the best wrestling discussion group on Facebook! We provide more of a community feel here, and have wrestling fans introduce other fans to something they may not have seen before, such as old school wrestling, indie wrestling, Japanese wrestling, and more! We also strive to be a source of information regarding upcoming wrestler meet & greets and signings. And remember, we're open 24/7. All Day. All Night! Be sure to follow on socials and join the group on Facebook at Wrestling All Day All Night   Sweet Chin Musings is the creation of the reigning, rarely defending, highly disputed champion of wrestling podcasts, “Mr. Perfect” Mike Mueller, and his tag team partner in crime, Luke Kudialis. SCM focuses on the in-ring product of WWE and AEW (no dirt sheet rumors here), as well as backstage news, predictions and analysis of characters, storylines, and major pay per views. Old school fans, don't worry, we have you covered too, with a look back on classic matches, top 10 lists, and interactive tournaments that let the fans decide who is truly the best of all time. You can find us on Facebook at Sweet Chin Musings   Please welcome in our returning pod sponsor for the show GPW Productions !! GPW provides your promotion or event with TOP TIER video, audio, production, live streaming, and more!! I can personally vouch for them in saying they are hands down THE BEST Production company I have ever worked with as they have and continue to work with the likes of AEW, GCW, Starrcast, MLW, not to mention the majority of the local independent Promotions in the tri-state area. They can even help you film a vignette or promo for your persona/gimmick. And guess what? GPW doesn't just work in wrestling. They cover MMA, boxing, basketball, or any other sporting event as well!! On a personal note I'd like to thank Michael James Sesko , Frank León , Oneil Andrews & the team for giving me multiple opportunities to work with them and some of the best talent in the world. BOOK GPW for your promotion or event today at contact@gpwproductions.com   ISPW Wrestling brings the Independent Superstars of Wrestling to the Parsipanny PAL February 13th!! Get your tickets now at ISPWWRESTLNG.COM for the Glitter Ticket Rumble!!   Please welcome in our newest podcast sponsor ISPW Weekly featuring host Totowa Tom Mele as he interviews the stars of the ring, uncover their stories, rivalries, and electrifying action that defines ISPW. Catch ISPW Weekly on The ISPW Facebook Page every week!! ISPW Wrestling   Looking to press play on feeling good again? Twisted Shamrock Studios & Spa —Delaware County's Retro Recovery Rebels—are here to rewind time and reboot the way you heal. From therapeutic massage and assisted stretch therapy to glow-up facials and energy work—this is where function meets feel-good. Perfect for athletes, overachievers, and everyday Joes & Janes who need real relief with a vintage twist. Reboot your body. Recharge your soul. Rock the retro vibe. Call or text 484-574-8868 And follow us for pop-up events, retro inspo, and more!   Please welcome back our returning pod sponsor, Jay Adam Photography !! Jay provides quality, artistic, innovative photography with quick turnaround. Be sure to check out his latest pics from the top promotions here in the northeast and much more stellar content. Contact Jay at Jay Vogel for promo shots at events or off site, match photos, and much more!! Thank you Jay!! Jay Vogel   Please welcome in our new pod sponsor for 2025 the @Ropes N Riffs Podcast featuring maestro John Kiernan speaking with the Stars of professional wrestling about in ring, tunage, gear, and more!! Check out John's interviews with the likes of Lince Dorado, Mercedes Martinez, and more!! Find the Ropes N Riffs Podcast on all major Podcast platforms!! @Ropes N Riffs Podcast   USDN Podcast is run by USDN_Chairman and the Council of Nerds. We bring you all the latest news and rumors from the World of Nerds and consolidate it right here at USDN. USDN is for the people, by the people and of the people. https://www.facebook.com/usdepartmentofnerds USDN Podcast   Please welcome in our new podcast sponsor EM Collectibles featuring Live Signings, Collectibles, toys and more!! Be sure to follow them on Facebook and stay tuned for upcoming events: UPCOMING EVENTS!! March 28-29, 2026 Syracuse Collectors Con with Mr. Anderson, American Gladiators Malibu, Diamond, Blaze, and one more name TBA May 2, 2026- New England Fan Fest with Adam Bomb, Harvey Whippleman, The Headbangers and Powers of Pain! Be sure to follow EM Collectibles on Facebook!   Please welcome back our returning podcast sponsor, From the Left Side Get hit From the Left Side with all the wrestling and sports news you can handle!! Thank you FTLS for sponsoring the BCP!!   Please welcome in our NEW podcast sponsor The SDN Podcast !! For in-depth WWE predictions, pay-per-view reviews, and insightful interviews with wrestling personalities, I highly recommend The SDN Podcast. They cover all the big events and give you expert analysis every week. Be sure to subscribe and stay updated on everything wrestling. Thank you S.D.N. Podcast for sponsoring the BCP! The SDN Podcast Brii Combination Wrestling returns to Ridgefield Park NJ on Sunday January 18th for Welcome to the New Year feat. BCW Champ Darius Carter, Women's Champ the Notorious Mimi, and more!! Get your tickets now and be sure to watch BCW on Title Match Network!!

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What Actually Needs to Be True Before Your Higher Price Converts I went from 50 sales to one overnight. Same offer. Same audience. Same launch. The only thing that changed was my price.  I blamed the number for months before I finally admitted what actually went wrong. It was me. I didn't believe in the price, and my audience could feel it. Every word I used to sell that offer was drenched in doubt. I over-explained. I piled on bonuses. I practically apologized for what I was charging. And here's the thing nobody tells you: your audience doesn't decide your price. Your confidence does. This episode is the conversation I wish I'd had before that launch. I'm breaking down what has to be true before a higher price converts, and it's not a new offer, a redesigned sales page, or a better number. It's three specific things, and once you see them, you'll understand why every pricing problem you've ever had was never really about the price at all. I also get into payment plans, how to handle existing clients when you raise your prices, and what to do when someone's upset the price went up since the last time they checked. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: You've built something real. A business making $150K to $500k annually, an audience, and offers that work. But revenue still feels harder to predict than it should. The Revenue Consistency Formula is a free live training for established female founders who have built momentum but are tired of inconsistent results. In this training, I'll teach you how to turn scattered marketing effort into predictable revenue. Ready to build that system? Save your seat here. HERE ARE THE 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: 1️⃣ Transformation Clarity Unlocks Pricing Confidence — Before you raise your price, you need one clear sentence: who is your student before your offer and who are they after? When you can answer that simply, the value stops feeling abstract and the price starts feeling obvious. Confidence doesn't come before clarity. It comes after. 2️⃣ Your Positioning Does the Selling Before You Ever Make the Offer — When you're specific about who you help, own a clear point of view, and back it up with real results, your audience arrives already believing in you. By the time you name the price, the work is already done. 3️⃣ How You Talk About Your Offer Matters More Than the Number Itself — If you're over-explaining, hedging, or piling on bonuses to justify the price, your audience feels your doubt. Say the price out loud until it stops feeling big. Lead with the transformation, not the features. Address objections before they surface. Your comfort with the number is contagious, and so is your doubt.MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram @amyporterfield SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more entrepreneurs who need these insights.

Piyush Jain, Founder and CEO of Simpalm and co-founder of Ducknowl, is on a mission to solve real-world challenges by combining technology and entrepreneurship. With over 15 years of experience building custom software solutions, Piyush helps businesses turn complex ideas into practical applications by blending technical depth, business acumen, and a strong problem-solving mindset. We explore Piyush's AI Ideation Framework—Validate idea, Proof of concept, Design, Competitor analysis, and Feature selection—a practical approach to building software in the post-AI era. Piyush explains how AI can help teams better understand user personas, validate product assumptions, and rapidly prototype ideas, while human expertise remains essential in design, architecture, and production-grade development. He also shares how prompt engineering, peer-reviewed prompting, and a right-shoring delivery model can help businesses build smarter, faster, and more cost-effectively. — 3D Print Your Software with Piyush Jain Good day, dear listeners. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint, and my guest today is Piyush Jain, the Founder and CEO of Simpalm, a custom software development company, and the co-founder of Ducknowl, a candidate screening and assessment application business for high-volume recruiting. Piyush, welcome to the show.  Thank you, Steve. Thanks for inviting me.  Well, I’m very curious about the stuff that you have to share with us, and I’d like to ask first about your personal purpose. What is your “why,” and how are you manifesting it in your business?  Yeah, so that’s a very interesting question. And I think for every entrepreneur or tech founder, really, that's the motivation—why you want to do certain things. So for me, if I look at it, my personal “why” is: why are we not solving challenges? Or why are we not solving them the right way? Why are we not transforming our lives? I grew up in India and then came to the US, so I've seen many different parts of the world—from Asia to North America. I see people face different challenges, but then we are not focusing on solving those problems. A lot of it I see is there’s a lot of challenges in the world because I believe there are not enough entrepreneurs. Because entrepreneurs are the ones who really take risks, combine everything, and create solutions. That was like me, right? That’s what I learned growing up, that I think I can do that, right? I can combine the technical knowledge and the business acumen and create solutions that people like, solve their challenges. Growing up, like I'm more on the technical side.Share on X I was inclined more toward science and technology, but then as I got into my undergrad and grad school, I realized that I have that entrepreneurship aspect, but it's still around science and technology. That’s when I realized that, you know what, I cannot be a pure scientist or maybe a pure entrepreneur, but I can be someone who can combine these two, because my main driving factor is problem-solving. I can combine these two and then live my life, be very happy with what I do. That has been my motivation. I like it. So solving challenges and being an entrepreneur, and kind of combining the two—being the technical expert and the entrepreneur in one. Now, one of the things that we always talk about on this podcast is frameworks. And you have developed a really good one for AI ideation, which I think is something that everyone needs to do these days or use these days, and it helps you create business apps and other business applications. Can you share with me how that framework works, and what are the steps in it?  Sure, yeah, definitely. So just to give you a brief background, we've been building software for the last 15 years. Some companies have used different frameworks, whether it's Agile or Waterfall in SDLC, in building the software, right? There are different methodology that companies have used, and they've been good, successful—they've played their role. But now, with the advent of AI, things have changed. We had to figure out, in our organization, how to use AI, and that's how this framework was built. My team helped me building this framework as well.Share on X But we realized that we were losing business—we were losing clients—since we didn't have an AI framework that would fit our clients. Again, for me, it's a challenge. So anytime I see a challenge, it create brain juice in me, right? So I said, okay, let's figure out how we create this framework. How did you do it?  So really, we built this framework—very interesting. A lot of the steps are similar, but then a lot of things are different.Share on X Whenever client comes to us and says, “Hey, we want to solve this challenge,” what we do is we do enough research. And now we use a lot of AI tools to really understand the problem better and understand the user persona. When you build any software application, there is a person who's going to use that. Sometimes we used to do user research or focus studies to understand that. Now, with the help of AI, we can get a lot of ideas about the user persona. For example, maybe we are building a healthcare application for an anesthesiologist. I don’t know much about that. I know, I mean, because I have been through some medical surgery and all that, but I can't fully understand their user persona or their requirements with respect to the application we're building. But now, with AI, I can actually ask different AI models, “Hey, we are building this app for anesthesiologists. What are their pain points? How would they see it?” So all that deeper mindset and psychology we can get using AI.  You are validating the idea by interrogating AI applications.  What users are going to like and all that. So I will always use this term earlier. In software engineering, now we have this pre-AI and post-AI, right? If you read history, we talk about before Christ and after Christ, right? Yeah. So it's a similar thing now. Yeah, exactly. Or before Covid, after Covid. Before AI, after we did all the user research and everything and created a requirements document, we would usually do design, create like a visual design of the software. But now, with the AI framework, we don't do that. That's not the next step. What we do instead is create a quick prototype using AI platforms.Share on X  So there are a lot of AI platforms—like Lovable, Claude. Now ChatGPT launched Codex for coding, and Replit. Depending on what kind of application you're building—for example, maybe if you're building a web-based application—then I recommend using Lovable or Replit. They're very good at creating that. Whatever software you want to build, whatever user personas that you’re addressing, you can feed into that and it’ll create like a prototype application. Okay.  So what that does is actually, then this prototype, clients can just take it to their customers or internal users and get feedback. A picture is better than a thousand words. Organizations discussing an idea is very different from when they actually see something. Then everybody starts chipping in—“Oh yeah, I see this in the prototype, but I don't want this,” or “I want to move things around,” or “This is what I want.” Basically, building a prototype on AI platforms is much faster than building wireframes and design prototypes like we used to do earlier. So that has changed. So you're 3D printing your software, right?  Yes, exactly. There you go. Well, that’s a very good way you put it together. Yeah. So, yeah, exactly. You’re just 3D printing the software, right? So you can see it, visualize it, and then once you go through that, it creates a lot of better ideas about the software in faster time. So once you have that, then you go into UI/UX design. So in that also, there are two steps. One is wireframing. Wireframing is like creating the flow in black and white. It's like creating a skeleton of your software. It does not have the color, the font, or the branding, but you just create all the different user journeys, the screens, the flow, and the fields that will be there on the screen. So we have integrated AI into that step as well. Earlier, it used to be created by a designer or a business analyst. Now we are using software like Uizard or UX Pilot, where we define what we want—what kind of user journey, flows, and screens—and it creates that. It spins out those wireframes in minutes. So really that has reduced now. The time it used to take to create wire frames is faster now.  So you're designing the wireframes with AI?  Yes, but it's just the wireframe part of it, and it's still guided by our expert VA or designer—someone who knows how to really visualize things and has done a lot of wireframes and sketches. So they know what to tell the AI. Prompting is very important. It's very important that you know how to prompt—what to ask for—so that you can get variations and differentiation in the wireframes. You don't want a standard AI-created wireframe. Everybody can recognize AI-generated images now, right? If I show you one, you'd say, “Oh yeah, it's AI-generated.” I know that, right? Yeah. So again, we keep the human intelligence. We're not asking AI to create the full software end-to-end. It never works—it'll never work. It just doesn't. I know that's a strong statement, but I'm saying that based on experience and an understanding of human behavior and psychology. So AI agents will not be able to code software, in your opinion?  No, they can do the coding, but they cannot build the whole software end-to-end—a production-deployed software. Because these software are being used by humans. You have to have human intelligence to understand and define what you need and how it works.Share on X You can maybe create some software, but it doesn't work very well. Even if you use all these platforms, you can cut down your production time and cost by 30%, 40%, 50%, right? That's the number we are seeing—30 to 50% reduction, depending on the software you're building and the objectives. So just to recap—you validate the idea by interrogating Claude and ChatGPT, asking about the needs of that customer, the psychology of the customer—that's step number one. Step number two is 3D printing the software with Lovable or Replit—so proof of concept. And then you design the wireframes. And then what's next after you design the wireframes? What's the next step?  So that’s a good thing. That’s it. Now I'm going to talk about the human element—some people listening to this podcast will be surprised. Now it comes to visual design, right? So you've created the skeleton, and now you have to add the skin, the tone, the color, the emotion to the design, to the workflow. Now, we have tried AI, but it doesn't work. It's very monotonous. So we use an experienced visual designer, a UX designer, for that step—to give it emotion. When you use AI—I wish I could show you some examples—it creates very similar kinds of designs for apps and software. So what we did is we gave it three different apps with very different objectives and everything, and the designs it came up with were very similar—blocks, buttons—very monotonous. So there's no differentiation. And design is the main thing that becomes the differentiator, right?  Yeah.  So that's what we learned from our experience. And I say that very categorically in all of my talks—that visual design, final UX, has to be human, not AI.Share on X Because you are communicating emotions, right? And AI is still not there to communicate emotions.  Yeah. It doesn’t have emotions.  Well, some people will argue with you and say, “No, it can understand if you're sad or unhappy.” But my response to that is—it's because we've programmed it that way. But things change based on situation, context, ethnicity, culture, fear—how people express nervousness, fear, and all that—it's very different. So there was this AI video interviewing company five or six years ago. They were sued by the Department of Justice because they were trying to detect emotions of people like anxious, nervous, when the interview was happening.  It turned out their model was trained only on one race—they didn't account for other races or ethnicities. So their model failed, and they were sued by Department of Justice for that. So yeah, emotions is something—maybe they have unlimited dimensions, we don't know. So it's hard to program that. So basically: ideation, prototype, wireframe, and then final visual design—that's the discovery and design framework. Now, when it comes to development framework, this is where AI has been a game changer—the coding part. But again, you have to be very careful about how you use AI in your coding pattern with your coding team. It depends on the application, it depends on the tech stack, right? Every platform has its own strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you want to build a web-based application in the React JS framework, then Lovable is great. That's very good—very efficient and cost-effective. Then Claude is there. Claude has been really good in software engineering. I would say it has been built and designed mostly for coding, right? Anthropic—their idea, their starting point—was coding, how to make coding and software engineering better.  So they've been a front runner in the race. ChatGPT is trying to catch up using Codex, and Copilot is great. Copilot is mostly used by enterprises who are on the Microsoft stack. They use Copilot a lot for coding in .NET and enterprise-level applications. They’re used to co-pilot. It’s because they feel comfortable with Microsoft security policies and all that. That’s fine. But in general, we see Claude to be at the top—from our perspective. We've also built a framework for software coding. In software development, there's a popular process called peer review. So when you create source code, you get it reviewed by your peer—your colleague.Share on X  Is this what happens on GitHub?  Yeah, yes. So basically anywhere—any source code repository—you can do that. So your team members can help you make your code better and more efficient.  Yeah, I understand. But now we have a step called prompt peer review. When you're using prompts to build software, those prompts get reviewed by team members. Because if your prompts are not very specific or good enough all the way through the SDLC, you can run into a lot of challenges trying to fix the code. Because now you have a situation where you have code that you have not written fully, and when you ask AI to change something in the code, sometimes it ends up changing a lot of things that you don't want it to change. Yeah.  That's what we've seen, and that's why we evolved. Before we build any software, we create maybe a 10-, 20-, 30-page prompt document, where we go through each screen and function and write it out. It's very sophisticated—it has evolved really well. But the thing is, it takes a few days to do that within the team, because we know if we do it right, the next step is faster and more accurate. So really, the prompt document—think of it more like an architecture document. Earlier, we used to create a solution architecture document, defining all the tools, the design, everything.  But now it's more like an AI-driven solution architecture document with prompts, which get reviewed by team members. So we do that, and then we run that, and we get the code and everything. So I have a CTO club—I run a CTO Club in Maryland—and I was talking to CTOs. They're all using this, but some of them are so advanced that they actually define the test cases in the beginning. They define, “Okay, this is what I want, this is the function I want, and these are the test cases I want it to pass.” That's even more advanced. If you can do that, you can have very efficient code.  Yeah, I love it.  So is that the end? You have your test cases, you design the prompt, you peer-review the prompt, and you already had the prototype, so now you're coding the software—what's the last step?  Yeah. Then there’s an integration as well. So AI doesn’t do the integration so well. You can do the front-end coding, you can do the back-end coding, you can probably create the APIs. APIs require a lot more human intervention. But once you have that, then you have to connect it, right? You have to connect the front end with the backend. A lot of that is still done by the programmer. It's hard to rely on AI for doing that. And again, it depends on the application. Maybe if it's a smaller application, maybe you can have AI do that. But if it's a bigger application—we mostly build bigger applications—then integration, then final QA and testing, and deployment.  So all that is there. But in each of these steps, you can use some sort of AI tool to speed up the process. But the key is you still have to have your architecture, the process. You have to know the steps more. You have to be a good, experienced developer to use AI efficiently if you want to build a production-ready application. You can build a prototype. Anybody can build a prototype on Replit or Lovable, but it's not going to be production-ready that you can give to your customer and charge them money. So that’s the differentiator.  Yeah, I understand. So Piyush, I’d like to switch gears here. I understand the AI ideation framework—that's great. We talked about the technical part of it, the curiosity, the technical challenges. Let’s talk about the entrepreneurship part, which is also part of your profile. So what drives the growth of your business? What would you say drives it?  For us, there are multiple factors that drive the growth of our business. The first is, again, our problem-solving attitude. Any client that comes to us we communicate in that modelShare on X The problem, the challenge, the solution, the business part, the value proposition we bring. And the second factor is our location. We are here in Maryland, and we have another office in Chicago. So being here, we have a global shoring model—that's a main driving factor of our business from the entrepreneurship perspective. So what the global shoring model is: our client-facing team, the senior team, is here—solution architects, sales engineers, designers, project managers, business analysts—they are here in the US, client-facing. And our dev team and testers are in our offshore locations.  Some people call it hybrid shoring. I call it right shoring. The reason I call it right shoring is because in this model, you have the right people at the right shore, so you get the most value. Here, you have people who understand the culture, the product, the context—because products are used by people in a certain culture. And if you are not in that culture, if you haven't experienced it, it's always harder to design the right software solution. I was one of the first people to start that model here in the DMV area for mid-size and smaller companies. This model existed before, but mostly for large enterprise companies. They have used that. But I started to offer that 16 years ago to smaller companies. Either companies were just going offshore, or they were doing onshore, right? I introduced this hybrid—or right-shoring—model, and it has been well received by our customers. So that’s it.  So what is one thing that you’re trying to figure out in your business right now?  Right now, what I'm trying to figure out in my business is scaling. I mean, we have built solutions for many different industries. We have built solutions for different clients in fintech, healthcare, education, nonprofit, startups, IoT, construction. But now what we are trying to figure out is how do we create some off-the-shelf solutions for different industries? Because one challenge we see is that, from the client's perspective, getting custom software built takes time and money. But in certain use cases, we can have off-the-shelf, industry-specific solutions, and then customize those based on the client's needs.  So that's what we are trying to figure out—across different industries, what those solutions can be—so we can scale and also make it easier. And these are more like AI-driven, off-the-shelf solutions that are customizable. So think of it like Salesforce—its core is off-the-shelf, but then you can customize the front end and a lot of other things. Not exactly like Salesforce, but more like industry-specific solutions for different use cases—nonprofit, construction, right? With those, overall, we can build solutions faster.  That’s fascinating. So how has the offshoring—or right shoring, as you call it—model evolved over the past 10 years? Is it different now than it was 10 or 20 years ago?  Yeah, I think that's a great question. It has evolved and changed. Earlier—maybe 10, 12 years ago—when we were talking about hybrid shoring, we were mostly talking about the US and Asia. But now we have different players. We have the nearshore model, which has become quite popular as well—like South America. We have team members in nearshore locations as well, in South America, because we want to leverage different time zones, resources, and culture. And we've seen very positive results. Then you have Eastern Europe. We have competition from countries like Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Poland. I think it’s the part of the globalized world, right? It's like energy flowing in different spaces—it's not limited to one place, which is great. That's one way it has evolved.  I also know some companies working in Kenya—there are developers there. Some companies are setting up in East Africa, West Africa. So different places are playing roles now. That’s one thing I see. And now, with the help of AI, what's going to happen is it will play two roles. One— in many situations, with AI, you can do more things onshore. That’s one aspect of it. And second—with AI, someone sitting offshore who knows how to use AI can become very competitive as well. We don't have enough data yet to fully see how this will evolve, but maybe in a year or so, we'll see how it plays out.  But I also find that with these simultaneous translation tools—like Apple, I think an iPhone can now translate in all languages. Essentially, another barrier falls that if the language and knowledge of your offshore contractor is not perfect, they can understand things much more clearly because of simultaneous translation. Even on Zoom, you can now flip a switch and they can read what's being said in their own language during a conversation. So that's amazing, I think.  Yeah. That’s amazing. That’s amazing. They can understand more about the culture and mindset. So that's something have to see. Again, I think it depends on the use case, the application, the problem we're solving. But in some cases, it might be great news for onshore—we can keep more dollars here. But keeping dollars here with AI also means a lot of that spend is going to AI, right? So that's one thing—we have to be very careful. Yesterday, in our tech breakfast, our presentation was about how to optimize your AI tokens. There are some companies spending $150,000 per year per employee on tokens. Wow.  That's like the salary of one employee.  Yeah.  A mid-level developer—$150K—they're spending that much. And then they’re trying to figure out how to optimize it. And on top of that, they have cloud costs, right? AWS, Azure—those costs are still there—and then you add AI. So it's a lot of money. You really have to be very smart about understanding and optimizing it. That’s why the prompting is so important, right? It's not just about getting the right software—it's also about getting the cost down.  Yeah. Again, you need expert people who can prompt well, because it's about being able to communicate well. Prompting is about communication—it's about clarity, brevity, security, all that stuff. So, Piyush, we're coming close to the end of the recording. If someone would like to learn more about the applications you develop, how you're using AI, and how you can help their business develop technology, where can they find you? What's the best way to get in touch with you? Sure, there are many ways people can reach out to me. They can go to my website, www.simpalm.com—we have a contact form there. They can submit the form, or they can reach out to me via email directly at contact@simpalm.com. They can also connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm on LinkedIn—message me there if somebody needs anything. I always like discussing problems and what the solutions can be. If anybody reaches out to me, I'm always very quick to respond.  That's awesome. So Piyush Jain, the CEO of Simpalm—and we didn't even talk about your other business, Ducknowl—thank you for coming, and thank you for sharing your insights and your framework on how to build an ideation framework for AI. So thanks for sharing that. And if you're listening and you enjoyed this conversation, then stay tuned, because every week we have another entrepreneur sharing their insights and frameworks with you. So make sure you follow us on YouTube, subscribe, and give us a review on Apple Podcasts. So thanks for coming. Thank you, Steve. It was a pleasure talking to you. Important Links: Piyush's LinkedIn Piyush's website

How to Make a Hit Rom-Com: Will Packer & Kat Coiro on You, Me & Tuscany Are romantic comedies officially making a massive comeback? This week on The Filmmakers Podcast, we sit down with powerhouse producer Will Packer (Girls Trip, Ride Along, Straight Outta Compton) and hitmaking director Kat Coiro (Marry Me, She-Hulk, Dead to Me) to discuss their stunning new theatrical release, You, Me & Tuscany. We dive deep into the nuts and bolts of the industry, looking at how Kat transitioned from making her first feature for just $150k in 11 days, to commanding massive international sets. Will drops absolute gold on what producers are actually looking for when they hire directors, and how to successfully pitch (and stick to) your ideas in the studio system. Whether you are an indie filmmaker starting in the "run-and-gun" world or a producer looking to mount an international shoot, this episode is a masterclass in collaboration, scheduling, and leadership.

How to Lead Under Pressure Without Losing Yourself in the Process There's a version of you that is not built to lead. And every time you drag her into a high-stakes meeting, a hard decision, or a moment where your team needs you to be their leader, you pay for it. Your team pays for it. Your business pays for it. You walk away exhausted and wonder why running a company you built feels so relentlessly heavy. That weight has a name, and this episode is where you finally figure out what to do about it. Dr. NaTasha Jordan has worked with Fortune 500 executives and seven and eight-figure entrepreneurs, and she's watched the same pattern play out at every level: the more you've built, the more you're leading from a version of yourself that was never meant to carry it. I'll tell you something I don't love admitting. When Dr. NaTasha spoke at my Made to Scale Mastermind and asked the room "do you know who you are?", I raised my hand during Q&A, which I almost never do with my own guests, because I genuinely didn't have the answer. What came out of that conversation changed something specific for me, and I share exactly what that was in this episode. You'll walk away understanding exactly why you're exhausted, who you actually need to be in your business, and what to do about the one fire that's been quietly burning everything else down. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: You've built something real. A business making $150K to $500k annually, an audience, and offers that work. But revenue still feels harder to predict than it should. The Revenue Consistency Formula is a free live training for established female founders who have built momentum but are tired of inconsistent results. In this training, I'll teach you how to turn scattered marketing effort into predictable revenue. Ready to build that system? Save your seat here. Follow Dr. NaTasha Jordan on Instagram Free Lifeline Audit HERE ARE THE 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: 1️⃣ The "Just Be Yourself" Advice Is Costing You More Than You Know — Your real self needs rest and protection. She's not built for high-stakes leadership moments. When you bring her into them anyway, your team shifts into caretaker mode and manages you instead of the work. Your performer self is the one who walks in with clarity, holds the standard, and gives your team something steady to follow. Kobe had Black Mamba. Beyoncé has Sasha Fierce. You need yours too. 2️⃣ Under Pressure, You Don't Rise to the Occasion. You Fall to What You've Trained — Knowledge alone doesn't change behavior under pressure. You can read every leadership book ever written and still find yourself reactive and deciding from fear the moment something goes sideways. The leaders who stay steady have done the internal work of understanding their triggers before those triggers run the show. That's what Dr. NaTasha walks you through here. 3️⃣ You Already Know Which Fire Is Burning Your Business Down — You don't have ten problems. You have one. One decision you've been avoiding, one fire generating all the smoke you keep putting out everywhere else. Name it, give it 30 days, then spend the next 30 building a different pattern. It takes 66 days to rewire a behavior. It starts the moment you get honest about which fire you've been walking past. MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram @amyporterfield SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more entrepreneurs who need these insights.