Podcasts about 6B

INTRO (00:24): Kathleen opens the show drinking a Sunset List Golden Ale from Dogfish Head Brewing Company.    TOUR NEWS: See Kathleen live on her “Day Drinking Tour.”   TASTING MENU (1:53): Kathleen samples Fisher's Popcorn, Eaglewinz Chesapeake Bay Hot Sauce, and Frank's Red Hot Seasoned Bagel Chips.    QUEEN NEWS ( 13:36): Kathleen shares that Tom Brady had his photo taken with Stevie Nicks at Fanatics Fest.   HOLLYWOOD HAPPENINGS (29:50): HollyBobby provides the latest news in Hollywood.   UPDATES (52:40): Kathleen reports that the FBI has new info on the Nancy Guthrie ransom letters, and Meghan Markle's Emmy nomination is snubbed by Netflix.    WHAT ARE WE WATCHING (17:14): Kathleen recommends watching FIFA Uncovered on Netflix.    HOLY SHIT THEY FOUND IT (56:45): Kathleen reports on the discovery of orange-lipped Likweli monkeys in the Congolese rainforest, and a black king penguin on a South Georgia island.    NEWS (59:36): Kathleen reports that a passenger was sucked out of a plane window on a RyanAir flight bound for Greece, Everest's most famous body finally has a name, a man is attacked by a bison in Yellowstone, Idaho is searching for volunteer police officers to carry out state executions, the kissing daredevils who scaled the Empire State Building are released from jail, a killer elephant is stalking a specific family in Nepal, the Seattle Seahawks are sold for a record $9.6B, torrential rains release thousands of cobras in a Chinese city, the Top 10 worst states to live in are announced, and a traveler hits a $3.3M jackpot on a Wheel of Fortune machine in the Vegas airport.    SPANISH PHRASE OF THE WEEK (1:20:35): The Spanish phrase to learn this week is “la FIFA es corrupta” or “FIFA is corrupt” in English.   PATRON SAINT OF THE WEEK (1:28:28): In honor of World Cup ending, Kathleen reads about Saint Luigi Scrosoppi, the patron saint of soccer.   FEEL GOOD STORY (1:22:41): Kathleen shares that Bette Midler has owned acres of undeveloped land in Hawaii, and in March 2025 she restored wetlands and leased 87 acres to a nonprofit for conservation initiatives.   

Michael Saylor's "never sell" era is OVER. Strategy sold 3,588 BTC (~$216M) at a 20% loss to cover $1.8B in dividend obligations — and Canadian pensions are holding close to $1B of MSTR stock. On June 29, Strategy's board adopted its "Digital Credit Capital Framework": $1B stock buybacks, a 12% STRC dividend, and a $1.25B "BTC Monetization Program" authorizing Bitcoin sales "when strategic." CEO Phong Le calls it "evolving from one-way capital issuance to active capital management." The mNAV premium that financed five years of buying has collapsed from 2.66x to around 1x — and one in three Bitcoin treasury companies now trades below the value of its coins. In this episode of the Canadian Bitcoiners Podcast:- Strategy's pivot: the mNAV death spiral, coins sold at a 20% realized loss, insider selling, and JPMorgan's $2.8B-$11.6B index-exclusion warning- The Canada connection: CPPIB, AIMCo, National Bank, RBC and HOOPP hold ~$1B of MSTR — your pension bought the wrapper trade- A quantum-proof recovery tool that works for everyone except Satoshi's 1.1M BTC- OkoBot: malware that fakes your Ledger/Trezor recovery screen- Global hashrate is shrinking — but Pakistan is up 733%- CleanSpark signs a $6.6B, 20-year AI data center lease- Canada bans crypto political donations under Bill C-25- Clown World North: Stan Cho's $16,203 hotel bill, Canada Post's $30.8M in bonuses against a $1.57B loss, and $159,800 in flight catering- The BIS confirms Canada's housing crash is the biggest on record as 56,400 Canadians leave in a year The leverage cycle is unwinding — the conviction cohort isn't. Long-term holders just hit a record 14.85M BTC. ETF outflows and treasury-company stress are paper Bitcoin changing hands; the base layer doesn't care. Hold your own keys. — Canadian Bitcoiners Podcast- Website: https://canadianbitcoiners.com- X: @CanadianBTCPod- Subscribe & turn on notifications ————————————————————————————————SPONSORS

In this edition of Sunday night pods, join Isaiah as he reacts to Spain winning the World Cup over Argentina as they seal an historic defensive performance in the tournament (4:09). Following Isaiah reacts the news of the Seahawks selling for $9.6B (15:59). Lastly Isaiah gives his thoughts on the latest drama in the WNBA, as he describes it as a clear misunderstanding (28:08).

"I've been cut four times."That is an active NFL quarterback talking. Jake Browning backs up Baker Mayfield at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also co-owns Sutter Street Demolition, an interior demolition subcontractor in LA.He started with one $30,000 trash hauling truck. No flashy launch. Just a low stakes way to build relationships with GCs before bidding a single demo job.On this week's Bricks, Bucks & Bytes, we asked him:→ Why he stays away from structural demo (for now)→ How low overhead wins bids without change order games→ Why he'd rather face a third and long blitz than a late paying GCFull episode on YouTube and Spotify. #bricksandbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #construction #constructiontech #aecChapters00:00 Intro00:36 NFL Construction Trivia03:25 NFL Players Who Own Construction Companies06:12 The Biggest NFL Stadiums Ever Built09:05 SoFi Stadium Construction Cost: $2.6B to $5.5B11:57 Jake Browning Joins the Show13:17 Playing QB for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers15:11 Why an NFL Player Started a Demolition Company17:34 Starting a Business With One $30,000 Truck22:11 How Athletes Should Invest Their Money27:21 NFL Lessons for Running a Business30:12 Finding Your Competitive Advantage37:14 How to Bid Demolition Jobs42:19 Leadership Lessons From the NFL42:48 Why Athletes Struggle to Monetize Their Brand44:14 How to Win Work With General Contractors45:28 Why Being Normal Wins in Construction47:17 The Best NFL Stadiums to Play In49:19 The Scariest Player in the NFL51:32 Inside Sutter Street Demolition55:26 Growing a Demolition Business the Right Way

This week's preacher: McKade Stewart Our Scripture reading: Matthew 9:2, 6B-8

Hour 2 Segment 1 Tony starts the second hour of the show talking about an unstable building in New York City could collapse. Tony also talks about Toyota investing $3.6B in moving production from Mexico to Texas. Tony also talks about the latest on the preliminary trial for the Charlie Kirk assassin case. Hour 2 Segment 2 Tony talks about The View defending Graham Platner. Hour 2 Segment 3 Tony gets into three more things: Essence Magazine’s cover of Ketanji Brown Jackson saying, “the people’s champion”, the building of a helipad on the White House, and Belgium defeating the U.S. 4-1 in the World Cup. Hour 2 Segment 4 Tony wraps up the second hour of the show talking about NATO unveiling billions in arms deals as President Donald Trump once again demands Greenland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tony starts the second hour of the show talking about an unstable building in New York City could collapse. Tony also talks about Toyota investing $3.6B in moving production from Mexico to Texas. Tony also talks about the latest on the preliminary trial for the Charlie Kirk assassin case. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1 Segment 1 Tony starts the first hour of the show talking about Democrats rescinding the endorsements of Graham Platner after more sexual assault allegations. Hour 1 Segment 2 Tony talks about Mitch McConnell being in a hospital for the last three weeks. Hour 1 Segment 3 Tony talks about President Donald Trump's meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over NATO and F-35's. Hour 1 Segment 4 Tony wraps up the first hour of the show talking about cartels sneaking gasoline into Mexico from Texas. Hour 2 Segment 1 Tony starts the second hour of the show talking about an unstable building in New York City could collapse. Tony also talks about Toyota investing $3.6B in moving production from Mexico to Texas. Tony also talks about the latest on the preliminary trial for the Charlie Kirk assassin case. Hour 2 Segment 2 Tony talks about The View defending Graham Platner. Hour 2 Segment 3 Tony gets into three more things: Essence Magazine’s cover of Ketanji Brown Jackson saying, “the people’s champion”, the building of a helipad on the White House, and Belgium defeating the U.S. 4-1 in the World Cup. Hour 2 Segment 4 Tony wraps up the second hour of the show talking about NATO unveiling billions in arms deals as President Donald Trump once again demands Greenland. Hour 3 Segment 1 Tony starts the final hour of the show talking more about President Donald Trump's meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over NATO and F-35's. Hour 3 Segment 2 Tony talks more about Democrats rescinding the endorsements of Graham Platner after more sexual assault allegations. Hour 3 Segment 3 Tony talks about President Donald Trump pardoning six prosecuted for fixing their car under Biden-era emissions rules. Hour 3 Segment 4 Tony wraps up another edition of the show talking more about Belgium defeating the U.S. 4-1 in the World Cup. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ocean absorbs roughly a quarter of the CO₂ we emit. That buffering comes with a cost: chemical changes that are quietly reshaping marine ecosystems and the industries that depend on them. A drop from $2.3B to $1.6B in a single year is a clear signal that something bigger is changing in BC's seafood sector.In this episode, Lourdes welcomes back Myron Roth for his third conversation on Before the Tipping Point. With two decades spent tracking slow-moving climate threats, Myron focuses on the risks that rarely trend until they become irreversible and expensive.Together, they explore:Ocean acidification as the blueprint for “invisible” risk. It builds up slowly, then can cause big issues once it reaches a certain point.The OASIS project's decade-long journey from long-shot idea to real-world adaptation, including a selective breeding program that now produces ~80% of BC's oyster seed locally, a major shift from heavy reliance on imports in 2007.The emerging role of AI in climate modeling, including an unglamorous but critical issue: better prediction often means higher energy use, and the tradeoffs are rarely discussed transparently.This episode creates a clear differentiation between a catastrophic hazard (fire, flood) and a slow-onset risk (acidification, ecosystem drift) and why that distinction changes how we plan, invest, and respond.Support the show

Tamara(Tamie) Adams, Chief Revenue Officer of Octave, joins host Dan Sixsmith in the New York studio during one of the most pivotal weeks of her career ,the day before Octave rings the bell on the NASDAQ. Tamie shares how she was recruited into a $1.6B carve-out from Swedish parent company Hexagon, and walks through the transformation she's driven across sales, customer success, enablement, and channel in her first nine months. The conversation covers her philosophy on CS as a driving force in revenue output, the evolving role of AI in enterprise selling, why negotiation has fundamentally changed, and what it really takes to be a successful CRO today. Tamie also reflects on her career journey from finance to Oracle to a PE-backed exit to Siemens and leaves listeners with her personal definition of success.Timestamps​0:00 — Introduction​0:27 — Octave rings the bell on the NASDAQ: a $1.6B carve-out from Hexagon​1:07 — How Tamie was recruited as CRO​3:16 — First moves: assessing systems, personnel, and data​5:06 — State of Customer Success coming in​5:43 — Rebuilding channel sales and alliance partnerships​8:11 — CS as a true profit center: 200% pipeline growth​14:39 — AI for selling: research, prompting, and the risks​17:29 — The art of storytelling in sales​19:17 — How negotiation has changed​25:36 — CRO tenure: why it's 18–22 months and how to break through​27:42 — Top skills required for a successful CRO today​29:17 — Tamie's origin story: race cars, finance, and Oracle​35:10 — The first CRO role: PE-backed, move with speed, exit to Siemens​37:22 — Definition of success: "A little bit of grit and a little bit of grace"

Jason Fertitta – CEO & Partner, Americana Partners Jason Fertitta shares how Americana Partners grew from a $2.6B breakaway team to a $13B+ enterprise by focusing on ownership, enterprise value, strategic acquisitions, and long-term growth. In Summary Many advisors view independence as the ultimate objective: a chance to gain control, improve economics, and build a business on their own terms. For Jason Fertitta, independence was only the beginning. Louis Diamond speaks with the CEO and Founding Partner of Americana Partners about the firm's evolution from a $2.6 billion breakaway team in 2019 to a national enterprise managing more than $13 billion today. The conversation explores the decisions that fueled that growth, the mindset required to build long-term enterprise value, and why Jason believes advisors should evaluate success through the lens of net worth rather than annual income. Along the way, they discuss recruiting, acquisitions, private equity, professional management, and the tradeoffs that come with building something intended to outlast its founders. The Storyline The independent channel has matured. A decade ago, many advisors pursued independence primarily for greater autonomy, higher payouts, and control over the client experience. Today, a growing number are approaching the decision differently—viewing independence as a platform for building enterprise value, attracting capital, completing acquisitions, and creating businesses that can scale beyond the founders themselves. Jason Fertitta's journey reflects that evolution. When he and his partners left Morgan Stanley in 2019, Americana launched with approximately $2.6B in client assets and a vision to build a nationally recognized wealth management firm. Seven years later, the firm oversees more than $13B, employs roughly 100 people, operates across multiple markets, has completed several acquisitions, and brought on Lovell Minnick Partners as its first institutional investor. Throughout the conversation, Jason offers a transparent look at the realities of enterprise building. That includes reinvesting profits rather than maximizing income, hiring professional management long before it feels necessary, embracing acquisitions as a growth strategy, and making decisions based on long-term value creation rather than short-term economics. For advisors considering what comes after independence, the episode provides a practical framework for thinking about ownership, scale, capital, and the future value of their business. About the Build, Grow & Transact Series for Advisors Build, Grow & Transact explores what happens after independence. The series features advisors and firm leaders who viewed independence not as a destination, but as the foundation for building something larger. Some launched firms from scratch. Others scaled through recruiting, acquisitions, or strategic partnerships. Many eventually faced decisions around capital, ownership, succession, or liquidity. While every story is different, they share a common thread: a willingness to think beyond the transition itself and focus on creating long-term enterprise value. Through candid conversations with founders, builders, and industry leaders, the series examines the decisions, tradeoffs, and lessons that come with growing an advisory business into an enduring enterprise. For advisors contemplating independence, actively building a firm, or considering what comes next, Build, Grow & Transact offers a look at the paths others have taken—and what they've learned along the way. > Download a transcript of this episode… Listen and Learn Highlights for Advisors Why did Americana grow from $2.6 billion to more than $13 billion? (06:16)Jason explains how a combination of organic growth, advisor recruiting, acquisitions, and long-term strategic planning helped accelerate the firm's expansion. Why do clients often do more business with independent advisors? (12:17)Jason shares his perspective on why clients frequently deepen relationships after an advisor leaves a wirehouse environment. What role have alternatives played in Americana's growth strategy? (14:40)The discussion explores how differentiated investment access can help advisors stand apart in an increasingly commoditized marketplace. When is it time to build a professional management team? (18:36)Jason explains why Americana invested heavily in leadership, operations, and infrastructure from the very beginning. Why did Americana bring in private equity capital? (25:16)A candid discussion about growth capital, M&A opportunities, and the decision to partner with Lovell Minnick Partners. How do you evaluate enterprise value versus annual income? (20:16)Jason offers one of the episode's most important lessons: building wealth through ownership can look very different than maximizing current compensation. What makes a successful acquisition target? (39:51)Jason outlines how Americana evaluates M&A opportunities and how acquisitions fit into the broader client experience. Is it better to build your own firm or join an existing platform? (45:40)The conversation closes with Jason's perspective on the trade-offs between launching independently and joining a scaled independent enterprise. Topics Covered Enterprise value creation Independence and ownership Organic growth strategies Advisor recruiting RIA acquisitions Private equity partnerships Professional management teams Alternative investments Family office services Building a national wealth management firm Key Takeaways Independence can be a starting point for building an enterprise rather than the final objective. Long-term wealth creation often stems from ownership and equity appreciation, not from maximizing annual income. Reinvesting profits into leadership, infrastructure, and talent can accelerate enterprise value. Organic growth and acquisitions can complement one another when supported by a clear strategy. Outside capital can be a growth catalyst when aligned with management's long-term vision. The most scalable firms are often built around client needs rather than predefined acquisition targets. Advisors have more options than ever before, ranging from building independently to joining established platforms. https://youtu.be/_12jZJFsi4U Quotable Moments “Even to this day, I don't make anywhere near the amount of income that I made when I was on Wall Street. But my net worth is up tenfold.” “If you want to create value for yourself and your partners and grow your balance sheet, you can do it in a much more tax-efficient way in the independent world.” “I've never thought about how much of the company I own. I've thought about what my slice is worth.” “We want to build something our children would be proud to say we helped create.” FAQs Why are more advisors viewing independence as a business-building opportunity? The independent channel increasingly offers opportunities to create enterprise value, pursue acquisitions, attract capital, and build scalable businesses beyond a traditional advisory practice. How can advisors increase the enterprise value of their firms? Enterprise value is often driven by factors such as growth, profitability, leadership depth, recurring revenue, client demographics, infrastructure, and scalability. What role does private equity play in wealth management firms? Private equity can provide capital, strategic guidance, operational expertise, and acquisition support while helping firms accelerate growth initiatives. How do RIAs use acquisitions to grow? Many firms use acquisitions to expand geographically, add specialized capabilities, deepen client services, and accelerate asset growth. Why are professional management teams becoming more common among RIAs? As firms scale, dedicated leadership across operations, finance, compliance, and business management enables advisors to focus more effectively on clients and growth. Is launching an independent firm always the best path? Not necessarily. Some advisors prefer to build their own enterprise, while others may achieve their goals more effectively by joining an established independent platform that already provides scale and infrastructure. The independent channel increasingly offers opportunities to create enterprise value, pursue acquisitions, attract capital, and build scalable businesses beyond a traditional advisory practice. Enterprise value is often driven by factors such as growth, profitability, leadership depth, recurring revenue, client demographics, infrastructure, and scalability. Private equity can provide capital, strategic guidance, operational expertise, and acquisition support while helping firms accelerate growth initiatives. Many firms use acquisitions to expand geographically, add specialized capabilities, deepen client services, and accelerate asset growth. As firms scale, dedicated leadership across operations, finance, compliance, and business management enables advisors to focus more effectively on clients and growth. Not necessarily. Some advisors prefer to build their own enterprise, while others may achieve their goals more effectively by joining an established independent platform that already provides scale and infrastructure. Related Resources From Ex-Morgan Stanley Advisor to One of the Biggest Breakaway Stories of 2019 with Jason Fertitta (Podcast Episode) Intentional Growth: How Top Advisors Build Businesses That Last (Article) M&A Readiness Assessment (Tool) Guest Bio Jason Fertitta Jason is currently Chief Executive Officer / Founding Partner of Americana Partners. Jason was a Managing Director in Morgan Stanley's Private Wealth Division for eleven years. He joined Morgan Stanley in 2008 after six years with Lehman Brothers High Net Worth Division. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Jason worked six years for Texas Direct. Jason serves on the Board of The Good Samaritan Foundation and Endowment and the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Jason attended St. Edwards University in Austin. NOTE: The views and opinions expressed by the guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Diamond Consultants. Neither Diamond Consultants nor the guests on this podcast are compensated in any way for their participation. View the transcript of this episode… Build, Grow & Transact: Americana's $12B Path from Breakaway to Enterprise A conversation with Louis Diamond and Jason Fertitta, CEO & Partner at Americana Partners.      Louis Diamond: Welcome to the latest episode of our podcast series for financial advisors. Today’s episode is Build, Grow & Transact: Americana's $12B Path from Breakaway to Enterprise. It's a conversation with Jason Fertitta, CEO and partner of Americana Partners. I’m Louis Diamond, and this is the Diamond Podcast for financial advisors. Mindy Diamond: At Diamond Consultants, we help elite advisors identify the right environment for their businesses to thrive, whether that’s at a wirehouse, boutique, or independent firm. With nearly three decades of experience, we’ve guided thousands of advisors, and represented more than a quarter of a trillion dollars in assets transitioned. And each year, one in four advisors managing a billion dollars or more who change firms are our clients. Our process is education driven, and based on building relationships, starting as your strategic partner well before you’re even thinking of a move. To schedule a confidential conversation, call us at 908-879-1002. Wondering why advisors change firms and where they’re headed? Are transition deals going up or down? Those very questions and more inspired us to create our annual advisor transition report. It’s the award-winning data-driven resource designed for advisors that connects the dots between the motivations around movement, and the firm’s appetite for top talent. Arm yourself with the knowledge you need to make smart decisions. Download your copy at diamond-consultants.com/transitionreport. Louis Diamond: Independence is often viewed as the finish line. Break away, gain control, own the business, and enjoy the economics that come with it. But, for some advisors, going independent is just the beginning. That’s the idea behind this new series called Build, Grow, and Transact, featuring advisors who saw independence not as a destination, but as the first chapter of a business building story. And there will be some familiar names along the way, including our first guest who was on our show back in 2020, talking about what was at the time, one of the industry’s breakaway moves. That’s Jason Fertitta, CEO and founding partner of Americana Partners. When Jason and his partners left Morgan Stanley in 2019, they started Americana with approximately 2.6 billion in client assets, and a vision that extended well beyond becoming a successful independent firm. Today, Americana oversees more than 12 billion, has expanded nationally, completed multiple acquisitions, built out a professional management team, and brought on institutional capital to support its next phase of growth. What makes Jason’s perspective valuable that he’s now experienced independence through several different lenses as a breakaway advisor, as a founder, as a builder of enterprise value, and now as the leader of a firm, actively pursuing acquisitions and recruiting talent from across the industry. We talk about the decisions that fueled Americana’s growth, why Jason has always viewed the business through a long-term lens, what changed when private equity entered the picture, and why maximizing enterprise value often requires a very different mindset than maximizing current income. For advisors who think independence is a destination, Jason’s story offers a look at what can happen when it’s treated as a starting point instead, so let’s get to it. Jason, thanks for coming back on our show today. Jason Fertitta: Pleasure to be here. Thanks for inviting me. Louis Diamond: You got it. Yeah, you’re our first guest in our new subseries, so you should feel honored. And I’m honored too, because the last time we had you on the show, Americana was about a year old, you’re navigating COVID, and all those challenges. But, for listeners who may not remember the episode, can you give us a quick version of the origin story of Americana, and what the firm looked like when you first launched it? Jason Fertitta: Yeah, I believe if I’m remembering correctly, I was in Colorado talking to you guys, and it was right after we launched, so that was a fun but stressful time. I think at the time that we launched, it was certainly the road less traveled. Most teams go from one wirehouse to another. We had an entrepreneurial itch. There was 11 of us that started the firm. We actually launched the firm from this exact building that we’re in here, but all of this was under construction. We were in temporary space one floor below on card tables, and pizza boxes, and all the things that you can envision when you think of a startup. But, yeah, we weighed all of our options in terms of going from one firm to another, staying where we were, and had a lot of talks with ourselves, and our spouses, and they were all very supportive. When you do something like this, you’re certainly scratching the entrepreneurial itch that I think is required for somebody that wants to try and build their own company. And I think we’re all satisfying that itch in different ways. We all had a lot of other outside business interests. I’m passionate about the restaurant industry, because it’s what I grew up in as a kid. And so, had opened some restaurants with some chefs that I really admire, and were doing things like that to scratch the itch, but there’s no other way to do it than doing that in your profession. And so, we decided to launch the firm. We also just felt like Texas being such a wealthy state, there really wasn’t a regionally dominant RIA from here. There’s a lot of big RIAs in the Northeast, and the Northwest, and the West Coast. And we just felt like Texas was ready to hopefully be able to support the concept of launching it from the state, and then expanding it out regionally and nationally from here. Those are all thoughts in our heads and dreams and we’ve worked really hard to get to where we are, but I think we’re in a great spot right now for another leg of growth. Louis Diamond: Amazing. I would say that plan has certainly worked out. When you were on our show last in 2019, the firm was at about 2.6 billion at time of launch. And now, I saw in news articles and your ADV, it’s north of 12 billion, but I’m sure it’s even larger now. Can you walk through just what’s the makeup of the firm today? How many partners and advisors? What’s the profile of the end client? What markets are you in, in and around Texas or around the country? Jason Fertitta: Yeah, so today we’re roughly a hundred employees, right at 13 billion in AUM. I would say we have six offices, Houston, Austin, Dallas, Midland, Beverly Hills, and Nashville. We have about 30 advisors, 30 financial advisors, and our average account size I would say is right around $20 million. That’s not a rule, it’s just the way it is. We have some wonderful accounts that are two or three million, and we have some great accounts that are well over a billion. And in terms of the makeup of the firm, since the time we’ve spoken, and we’ll get into this later, but we have run in private equity, we have about nine families that are owners of the firm with us. It’s really families, private equity, and employees. That’s the cap table currently. Louis Diamond: Very cool. As far as building the firm geographically, for the offices of Texas, that makes sense to your earlier comment about wanting to build a Texas dominant or a regionally dominant firm. But, how’d you land in Beverly Hills and Nashville? That’s a little bit different. Jason Fertitta: Yeah, it is. I think so much of where we’re going is secondary to who we’re partnering with. I think we would go anywhere in the country if we had the right partner in that city. We’re not necessarily saying we have to be in Atlanta. Let’s find the right partners in Atlanta. It’s more about, we found the right partners in Atlanta, so we’re going to Atlanta. And you meet these people everywhere. Everyone has their own Rolodex inside of our firm. Sometimes it’s an employee here that has a relationship with someone that wants to break away and be part of an independent firm. Sometimes it’s me. There’s a lot of golf DNA in our firm, so we’ve met a ton of people through the incredible game of golf. In fact, last weekend we just hosted our first Americana Cub Golf Tournament where we took over an entire club, and invited 40 strategic invitations to people that could be helpful to our firm. I would say it’s really just networking, trying to find like-minded advisors that were very big at putting the client at the center of every decision you make. A lot of times you’ll come across of an advisor that financially looks really good on paper, but they’re maybe not always doing what’s right by the client. We run from those situations. We’d rather have a financial advisor that perhaps statistically is inferior to that other one on paper from a P&L perspective, but we feel like it’s doing what’s right by the client in the decisions. And that’s usually the main factor for us in seeking out the right partners. Louis Diamond: I love that. And one of the premises of this new subseries of ours is about growing, and then, of course, recognizing that value through some sort of monetization. To me, the star of your show is your insanely impressive growth, which I would assume comes from both organic means, and also from inorganic, whether through M&A, or recruiting teams from your predecessor firms, or from other wirehouses. Can you talk a little bit about the breakdown of the two growth channels, and how you pursue both, organic and then inorganic growth? Jason Fertitta: Yeah. Well, I think organic growth, the preference for anyone that’s in our sea, because you don’t have to pay for organic growth. It’s just you have to expose your platform to potential clients, and it has to be differentiated enough for them to move assets from another firm to yours. And I would tell you, I think we do a really good job at that. We’ve built an incredible platform that has, and enables a financial advisor to have all the same arrows in the quiver that a big firm has. We’ve got an incredible alts department. We’ve got an incredible CIO that produces great research. We got incredible in-house portfolio managers, both in the core equity space, but then also the municipal bond space. We have an incredible external manager platform that has everything from cash management on steroids, to venture capital investing, to co-investing, to direct investments into companies. We have this really great platform. We also recognize that we want to grow through M&A as well, because there’s only so much time in the day you’re not willing to add more employees and more like-minded advisors to grow. We do both, to your point, we absolutely do both, and they’re both equally as important. On the M&A side, I would say it’s been responsible for half of our AUM growth over the last seven years, and the other half has been organic. And I think as we get bigger and bigger, that number’s going to not stay consistent. I would say that if we could grow our AUM organically by 10% per year, and then do five to seven acquisitions a year, combination of RIAs and Wall Street lift outs, I think those are good goals for us, and we’re off to a good start in trying to achieve those goals. Louis Diamond: I think if you pull off even half of that, I think your private equity sponsors, and investors, and employees would be very happy. Can we double click into the organic growth side? How do you view whether your growth rate changing organically since leaving Morgan to start the RIA? And if it has changed, what do you think are the things that are responsible for the faster growth, or slower growth if it’s slower than when you’re at Morgan? Jason Fertitta: One of the interesting secrets about being independent versus inside of a big bank is I think your clients will actually do more business with you if you’re independent. I didn’t realize that until we went independent. I had heard that before, but I was like, that may or may not be true. But, when we went independent, and every time we recruit a team from a big bank, the same thing happens. It’s like the clients are like, “What took you so long?” They’ve very much, for the most part … Now, that’s not every client, but most clients, I think prefer to be serviced by an advisor that’s conflict bringing the independent channel. There are other clients that might have a big investment banking relationship with a big bank, or something like that, like a business reason for not leaving. But, in terms of just being able to service the client from an independent channel where you’re a legal fiduciary, I think all the interest is aligned from client to service provider, and I just think it’s easier to raise money in this channel than it is at a bank. Louis Diamond: And you really think the types of clients you work with or just clients in general, the difference maker is really the conflict-free advice. Obviously, it sounds good, but I would argue that when you were at Morgan Stanley, your team was one of the top teams in the country, you had an amazing reputation, you’re probably giving similar quality advice then than you were today. How has that really manifested itself? Jason Fertitta: I always say I think you can have a great experience at a firm that is perhaps not the most prestigious, great firm in the country if you’re with the right team. And I think you can also have a horrible experience at a firm with a great reputation if you’re with the wrong team. It is my belief the most important thing from the customer’s perspective is who you’re working with. I appreciate your comments about our team, and we work very hard to deserve the reputation that you’re talking about. But, I also think that when you’re in the independent world, some of the things the banks do very well is they have great investment platforms, and a lot of due diligence in their products. I think when you’re an independent firm, you’re obviously, you don’t immediately have all of those same intangibles that a big bank has. I think it was very important for us to invest heavily into those departments inside of our firm to where we could be on some equal footing with Wall Street firms, and we have been. We have raised a lot of money for alternative managers. I think alternatives are a huge secret sauce that an independent advisor needs to have access to, because in a world where the public markets are getting more efficient and more commoditized, it’s very challenging to grow organically the way that we have without some secret sauce. And I think the secret sauce lies within the alternatives, because it’s very hard to differentiate yourself if you’re just trying to optimize someone’s public equity portfolio, and improve where they sit on the efficient frontier. I think that’s just a tough challenge. But, if you can mix in some truly differentiated alternatives where access is a big component of the value proposition, then all of a sudden, you’re bringing your clients something special, and something that’s unique. Louis Diamond: I really like that perspective. I think you’re completely right. I’ve always heard people say investments are commoditized, and it’s all about advice and planning, but I think the way you framed it about the ALFA essentially being worked out of it, so it’s the access, and it’s what you’re doing different on the investment side outside of the more basic or commoditized stuff that’s a difference maker. When you launched the firm, and I believe still today, Americana hired Dynasty Financial Partners as your infrastructure partner. Now that you’re significantly larger, you’re seven years into your independent journey, how does the relationship with Dynasty change, if at all? What do they do for you that you benefit from differently today than when you first launched? Jason Fertitta: Yeah, it would’ve been impossible for us to do what we did without Dynasty’s help. Dynasty has delivered for us in a meaningful way and they continue to. They’re a great partner. We definitely are developing our own sea legs as well, just because you have to just by virtue of the size that you get to. But, Dynasty, I think, has been incredibly innovative in terms of launching an investment bank and bringing … Dynasty’s brought us deals, which is incredible. Just in addition to being an infrastructure partner, they’ve actually provided us deal flow. They’re also, because they’re working with so many firms, you get in all sorts of situations as an independent firm, and to have someone to pick up the phone and say, “Here’s what we’re dealing with.” And they’ll say, “Oh, here are the three things you need to do. You either need to do it like this or this.” Just a lot of experience within Dynasty. I don’t know if we’re Dynasty’s biggest client or not, but I would say we’re certainly in their top three. We are looking to continue that relationship, and always having a relationship with Dynasty, but I would describe it as evolving, because our revenue is up 6X in the last six years. Louis Diamond: Amazing. That makes complete sense. The needs of the business when you are leaving a big firm is got to get the clients over, got to build the plane before it can fly, and understand how to do X, Y, and Z, to now, it’s enterprise building, and optimizing, and growing inorganically, so that makes complete sense, and very cool to hear that Dynasty has evolved or morphed the relationship to meet you where you are now. And to me, I think a big part of that is hiring professional management. That’s always a question we get. When am I big enough? When’s the right time to hire professional management, whether it’s a full-time CEO, a CFO, a COO, et cetera. I know in your case, fairly early on you hired Ron Thacker who was a regional manager from Morgan Stanley. I saw recently you hired a CFO, so you’re really professionalizing the leadership ranks. When did you know it was the right time to build a professional management team, and how did you think about that evolution? Jason Fertitta: We knew from day one that’s what we wanted to do. I think when you go independent, there’s a couple of different schools of thought. One school of thought is I can go independent. I’m not going to really have a boss. I’ll be my own boss. I may or may not grow the business. I’m going to run it in a way that’s lean. I might be able to have a little bit more of a take home because there’s not a third hand in the cookie jar in terms of the bank, and it’s a great lifestyle. I think that’s one school of thought and I think that’s great. That was not our school of thought. Our school of thought is we had a belief that in this country, there’s going to emerge five to 10 regionally dominant RIAs, and these regionally dominant RIAs were going to enjoy economies of scale, and they were going to compete with Wall Street. And in order to do that, we had to reinvest a lot of our profit into our business through building this management team that you’re referencing. Even to this day, I don’t make anywhere near the amount of income that I made when I was on Wall Street, but I’m not, and it’s because we’re building equity value, and we’re building something that will last, and we reinvest a lot of our cash flow into professionalizing the management team, and then being able to deliver on that promise to the financial advisors that are here that you’re going to have a platform, that when you walk in the room, you’re going to be able to compete with Wall Street. And so, that’s always been our goal, which is not necessarily everybody’s goal when they go independent, because it’s a lifestyle decision really. I work way harder today than I worked when I was at a Wall Street firm. Louis Diamond: It’s so interesting. Two threads I want to tug on from what you said. The first one is I think just the comment you made that you’re making less today when the business is significantly larger than it was when you’re at Morgan Stanley, you’re working harder. I think even that dynamic is going to feel like a shock to a lot of people, right? If you’re working harder, the business is doing six times more revenue than it was at Morgan Stanley, that doesn’t seem like a fair trade. How do you think about that relative to the equity value that you’re amassing? Was that always the plan, or is that just something you’ve leaned into as the firm has grown and scaled? Jason Fertitta: Well, the third component you left out is my net worth is up 10X- Louis Diamond: There you go. Jason Fertitta: … whereas if I would’ve stayed at a Wall Street firm, and so are all the employees here. If it’s about that, I can tell you that we checked that box. Americana is very valuable, and we’re happy about that. It’s really just about how you want to create that, right? If you want to create it through income, and pay a lot of taxes along the way, stay at the Wall Street firm. But, if you want to create value for yourself and your partners, and grow your balance sheet, you can do it in a much more tax efficient way in the independent world. And I’m light years ahead of where I would’ve been if I would’ve stayed at a Wall Street firm. Louis Diamond: I think that’s the coolest realization I think someone can have, right? We always say it’s like, what do you value more? Is it the short-term liquidity, or certainty of getting a big upfront recruiting deal at ordinary income, or staying where you are and keep making your 50% payout, take advantage of your firm’s retire in place program? And for many people, that’s what they value. But, for you, I think you very clearly and transparently articulated that, yeah, I might make less, but what really matters is my net worth. It’s how much I’m actually netting for my family in the long run. For people who want to play the long game, really buy into that concept, it sounds like following your path would be ideal, but it may not be for everyone. Jason Fertitta: It’s a much better path, and I’m living proof of it, and not only am I living proof of it, all of my partners are here, and everybody that owns equity in Americana is living proof of it. Louis Diamond: Amazing. You said you’re working more now than when you’re at Morgan. How has your day-to-day, or day in the life changed? What types of activities are you doing more or less of, and how do you balance everything? Jason Fertitta: Yeah, it’s hard to balance everything, it is. But, I would say that one of the unique things about Americana is the founders are all financial advisors. We aren’t consultants that came out of the consulting world, we’re financial advisors. I’m still a financial advisor. I still cover clients. I would say a third of my time is actually covering the house accounts here with some of my original partners. A third of my time is firm related stuff, and then, a third of my time is M&A, and that’s not only M&A, but helping the advisors that are here grow their business also. And so, I come across a lot of leads and opportunities. I’m not really taking them for the house account book or myself. I’m finding the right advisors that I feel I could service the clients the best, and then I’m flipping them to them and sitting second chair and I’ve seen some amazing growth to their businesses by just being able to send them leads. Louis Diamond: Yeah. I think that’s always like the tug of war for … I think most founders of RIAs in this industry, they were advisors themselves. They were the rainmakers, or they still are, but there’s definitely some folks who, whether because of lack of time, or lose the spark or passion for working with clients, that they pivot to being full-time CEO, or we’ve even seen people go the other way where they say, “I was the CEO. I really just want to be an advisor, or just do M&A, and I’m going to hire a CEO.” It’s really cool to hear how you split up your time, and you’re able to do it all. And I’m sure it’s not perfect. I’m sure your family wishes they saw you more, and et cetera, but it sounds like you’re able to really pursue your different passions. Jason Fertitta: All those three activities are very fun, and they keep everyday interesting, and you don’t necessarily know at what points in the day you’re going to be working on which bucket, and there’s a lot of blend and overlap, but we spend a lot of time here working on behalf of our clients, and the firm, and every day is an adventure, but it's fun. It’s a blast. Louis Diamond: Absolutely. Well, let’s spend some time talking about your fairly recent capital raise. In October of 2024, Americana announced that PE firm Lovell Minnick Partners, the firm’s first outside institutional investor was coming in to take a majority stake in the firm. Can you take us back to that decision? I’m sure it’s still clearly vivid. Maybe talk through it, and when did you first start to think seriously about bringing in capital? Jason Fertitta: Yeah, so probably at the end of ’23, we looked down, and there was $100 million worth of potential M&A that was fairly actionable that we could do. And the other M&A events we did were small deals, 10, $20 million sometimes, but firms with three, 400 in AUM to 600 million in AUM. We were doing deals that size, and we’re just passing the hat, and saying, okay, to the families that were in our cap table and to ourselves, who wants to write a check? The cap table was changing all the time based on people’s buy-in and M&A transaction. But then, when you sit down, and you look at potentially $100 million of M&A, if every deal came through that you’re in conversations around, and we owned at the time 75% of the firm, the families owned 25. If all of that M&A were to have happened, we didn’t have $75 million as employees. We were facing dilution. And then, we went to the families and said, “Hey, we don’t mind being diluted, but we got to know that if all of these came through, you guys want to invest another 100 million into this business.” And that’s when they said, “Well, we can. All the deals that you’ve done so far have been accretive and great. But, our value add to you is not M&A. It’s not underwriting. It’s not how to take this firm from four billion to 12 billion or customers. Why don’t you contemplate bringing in an institutional partner to help you round first base and go to second and third?” And so, I called a good friend, a gentleman by the name of Jimmy Dunne, who’s legendary in the world of golf and business. He’s a vice chair at Piper Sandler. I explained the situation, and he said, “Well, this is going to sound self-serving, but I think you should hire me and my firm to run a process to find your partner.” Louis Diamond: Classic investment banker. Jason Fertitta: And we did, and he worked on a very small retainer, and a contingency fee, and they helped us get ready to show the firm to the institutional world, and that took nine to 12 months of hard work to get ready. They ran the process. I think we had 30 firms sign the NDA in the October of ’24 month that you mentioned. I think we had 20 offers. And during that year, we were getting to know a lot of the people that were going to be bidding on us, and we frankly were incredibly impressed by Lovell Minnick and their success that they have had in investing in the wealth space. We were always pulling for Lovell Minnick to compete and compete well, got to run an honest process and Lovell Minnick was not the high bid, but they were a very good and well-thought-out bid that was easy for us to understand on why they were where they were. And for us, it was about how can we create value from this point forward with the right partner to really grow the firm and scale it to where we wanted it to be? And so, that was the more important driving factor in our decision to sell to Lovell Minnick. Now, of course, we wanted to sell a minority piece, but the reality is, given the activity that we had in our M&A pipeline at the time, they were going to eventually get to majority anyway. And so, I may be skipping ahead a little bit in the podcast, but I know what some of the questions are going to contemplate, and our thought was, you’re in a better position to negotiate minority rights before the transaction than later. And so, we got all of that out on the table in our negotiations with our private equity partner, and then just got married immediately instead of had this weird period of where they ultimately were going to get to majority control through M&A, and then, you have this awkward moment where that shift happens after you’re already partners. Louis Diamond: Very interesting. Was it a hard decision to give up majority control over your baby? Jason Fertitta: Definitely a lot of self-reflecting on behalf of our team and everything, but I think where we came out with it, and I’m a big believer in this, is the people that really control the business are the people that control the relationships with the clients. Lovell Minnick knows that, and we’ve never had a decision in a year and a half that we don’t all arrive at the same place. We negotiate, we study, but they know that it’s not in their best interest to try and force the management team to do something that the management team is not in agreement on, because at the end of the day, we’re servicing all of these accounts. Look, we don’t see eye to eye exactly on everything, no partners do. But, we’re generally in the same zip code on everything, and we talk things through until we all arrive at the same place that this is in the best interest of the company. And I think a big part of why that works so well for us in Lovell Minnick, and I think this is very unique in the industry, it all goes back to we all own the same share class. We’re all in the foxhole together. We all sink or swim together. There’s no way one group can win and another group can lose. We all own the exact same security. Not only do we all own the exact same security, but our employees own it. The families that are in our cap table own it. And so, every decision comes from the standpoint of how do we make decisions to benefit that security? Louis Diamond: Makes sense. It’s still a tough decision, but you lay it out, make it seem like an easy decision with the conviction you have, I think the very pure motivation to make that leap. Aside from capital to fuel M&A, what are the other things that Lovell Minnick is doing for your business to help it? Jason Fertitta: Well, Lovell Minnick, and this is another thing that was impressive to us, they’re always the first institutional capital until what’s otherwise an entrepreneurial family-owned business. They’re not afraid of building the things that you have to build to get ready to scale. They’ve seen it in every investment they’ve made. And so, that was very refreshing to us, because frankly, we wanted the help. We wanted the expertise. We’re financial advisors at heart. Like a lot of private equity firms, LMP has this third party advisory relationships with industry people, and they’ve brought those people into our firm, several sit on the board of the firm today, and they’ve just been fantastic to work with. Some have more experience with FinTech, some have more experience with HR, some have more experience with actual investment platforms and product. Some have more experience in how to help clients optimize from a tax perspective. Some have family office experience. And so, we’ve really benefited from this group of people. And I would tell you that, since they came into our world, which is about 18 months ago, we have been building a lot of things that are about to be unveiled to not only our financial advisors, but our clients. And I think that the experience is just going to continue to get better for both of those segments. Louis Diamond: Very cool. Yeah, it seems like a great fit. And I meant to ask you before, because it’s such a cool, and I think still a fairly novel concept, but what was the thinking behind having nine families, their customers or clients come in, and buy some equity in the firm? Why’d you do that? And then what’s been the outcome of that? Jason Fertitta: It was more their idea than us after we launched the firm. And this goes back to my original comments about the clients want to do more business with you when you’re independent than when you’re inside the bank. And we have a lot of clients that are entrepreneurial. And so, I think when we explained to them the reasons why we were doing this, and the reasons why we’re so excited about it, they got excited about it too, some clients, most clients. And so, what they said was, “Yeah, we’re going to move our money to it, we’re excited about it, but if there’s an opportunity, we’d also like to own a piece of the firm.” And originally, when they said that, I didn’t know if they meant that they wanted us to give them, but they wrote a check. They all wrote checks. We set an arbitrary value of the firm in the first year after we launched it. And that wasn’t a whole lot of science behind the value. It’s basically what we would’ve been paid by walking across the street, and that was the original value. And they bought into the firm, and then, Lovell Minnick really thought it was a nice novel concept that they hadn’t seen before, and they’ve embraced it. When they invested, we brought another round of clients into the firm at that valuation. I think it’s really powerful, because what’s important for us in these families is that they’re all pillars of their respective communities and they’re spread across all over the country and Mexico. We have some incredibly good reputation, great business people in Mexico City, and Monterrey, and Los Angeles, and Midland, and Dallas, and Austin, and Houston. And we’re open to the concept of when we come into new markets, finding that pillar of the community, finding that family who people ask, “Well, what do you do with your money?” We want them to say, “Well, we own our own wealth management firm. He wants to have them call you and they’ll show you what we do with our money.” And that’s a powerful part of the organic growth and the flywheel. Louis Diamond: I absolutely love that. I oftentimes have clients, especially breakaway clients talk about how cool it would be to have a client or set of clients invest in their business. But, the reasons why, I love that as part of a very consistent, repeatable strategy of identifying key influencers essentially in different markets, and then having them come into the cap table. I would assume too, the dynamic of, “Oh, you should call Jason, he’s my financial advisor, he’s great,” to, “Hey, you should come in and meet my firm.” And I feel like clients are probably much more incentivized naturally to refer friends, family, et cetera. And just the power and dynamic of that referral is probably that much better than a referral from another happy customer who’s not an investor. Jason Fertitta: Exactly. When we’re looking at coming into a new city with a new partner, to the extent they have those clients in that community, and when they join us, we have a private equity partner that embraces that strategy and concept. When we’re talking to that Wall Street advisor, and they’re interested in our business model and our plan, I think that particular part of our business model is very differentiated and intriguing to them. Louis Diamond: Amazing. You mentioned in your last answer that you have, it sounds like you have some investors in Mexico, and that you’re serving families in Mexico and Latin America as well. Can you talk about adding that capability or the openness to go international? That’s clearly a big decision. It’s a different risk profile, different client needs. What was the thought process behind taking Americana, I guess, still in the Americas, but outside of America? Jason Fertitta: Yeah. Well, I think a lot of it is growing up in Texas, there’s a lot of wonderful families from Mexico whose kids and grandkids have moved here, and our children are going to school with their children, and they’re part of our community, and I think they’re a great part of our community. And so, I just started to notice how Wall Street treated this community as just one, right? And what we were able to do is cherry-pick a few families that we knew very well that are incredibly good reputations in the cities that they’re from, and their origins are from. And there’s a high desire on behalf of not only those families, but their friends to invest into the United States into our economy. And given that a lot of their children and grandchildren live in the US, these are families that have citizens and their family inside of the US and back home in Mexico. Most of these families, they’ve been going to our colleges. A lot of these families sit on the boards of Fortune 500 companies inside of the United States. These are families that are very easy to do due diligence on, and frankly, we have learned a lot from them. They’re very sophisticated families, and so, they’ve been amazing partners, and we use Bank of New York Pershing to custody a lot of these assets, and I think they’re increasingly becoming more interested in alternatives as part of their portfolios, because I think going back 15, 20 years ago, these families were mostly stocks, bonds, and cash. But, as they continue to build out their own family offices, they’re becoming more sophisticated and interested in alternatives, so it’s really been an exciting part of our firm. Louis Diamond: Did this expansion, does it scratch the itch to go into different Latin American countries in Europe and Asia, or is that not really part of the roadmap? Jason Fertitta: Well, it’s open to the concept. Like I said, the genesis of this for us was the fact that our children go to school with their children, and we got to know several families just through our social circles here in Texas. But, I don’t think that same phenomenon would exist in Europe, other Latin American countries per se, but we’re certainly open to it, and there’s a lot going on in Latin America. There’s a lot going on and a lot of potential, so we’re open to anything that increases the footprint in the right way for Americana. Louis Diamond: Great answer. Let’s go back a little bit to talk a little bit more about your M&A strategy. You merged with or acquired Boulevard Family Wealth, which was Matt Celenza’s firm. I think Matt was the first breakaway guest on our show, and an amazing advisor. You bought Goodpasture Gray in Nashville, and more recently you bought NRT Consulting. I think from my read, three different types of firms, different geographies. How do you think about the M&A strategy? Jason Fertitta: I feel like we’re building out a firm and departments in the firm, and each of those acquisitions goes into a different department of our firm. I think Matt Celenza and Boulevard are fantastic, and they’re really good at tax optimization strategies for families, and they’re really innovative there. That is a very hot topic with all of our clients. More and more families are getting smart about the fact that not only does it matter what your returns look like. What really matters is how much of those returns you get to keep. And so, Matt and his team are incredibly sophisticated and cutting edge on tax optimization, and that's proliferating throughout our firm right now, which is I think making us even better at what we can advise and provide to our clients. I would say that’s more in the family office service and tax planning part of our firm. Goodpasture Gray’s fantastic. WL who runs that firm, or did prior to the merger, I’ve known him for 30 years. He’s a longtime family friend. His clients are in Nashville, Santa Fe, and Texas. He and my father actually used to office together. And then, ironically, he hired Dynasty to represent him to find the right partner. That’s an example where full circle Dynasty brought him back and I hadn’t talked to him for decades, but we shared a bunch of fun stories about how I used to go up in college, and hang out with he and my dad in their office. That was a great full circle experience, but WL’s just a fantastic financial advisor that does what we’ve always done. He’s just a natural fit inside of our firm. And then NRT, Chris Ginsbach and his team, they’re unbelievable. They do bookkeeping services for families. They’re not signing tax returns, but the more sophisticated these families get, some of these families have 35, to 45, to 55 different LLCs that require bookkeeping services. He’s an accountant by training, so is everyone that works there. And I think that there’s a lot of cross-pollinating with our client base that wants bookkeeping services for their needs. With all of these different M&A events, it’s trying to meet or have the ability to meet your client at wherever their pain points are. And some of your client’s pain points are in bookkeeping and accounting. Some are in tax optimization, and some are just good old-fashioned financial advice and access. And all three of those acquisitions that you described are meeting that client in a different pain point, but they’re all pain points, and they’re all important. Louis Diamond: When you’re thinking about M&A, is it like you have, these are the three areas that we want to add to the firm? Next one, making it up, we want to add tax preparation. Are you then going out to find a firm that fits the bill, or is it more so just you’re selective with who you take on, and you look for a new capability, or just like an extreme alignment with how you’re already serving clients, and then, that’s what makes a compelling deal for you? Jason Fertitta: Yeah. Most of the time, we’re getting feedback from our clients on where they need help, and that is usually the spark that starts the fire on, okay, what if we added this? It’s really I would say more based on client feedback. We don’t have estate planning attorneys inside of Americana per se. We don’t have accountants that are signing people’s tax returns inside of Americana. We get a lot of interesting opportunities from accounting firms and estate planning firms. And so, I like how we have this great referral network in place with those industries. And so, I think we’d have to think long and hard about getting into those businesses per se. Louis Diamond: Makes sense. I feel like there’s probably a version of this story, your story, where you break away, you plot along, you’re happy to not have a boss anymore, clients are happy, maybe you get to like four or five billion in assets, and you call it a win, and just throw in coast mode, but clearly you didn’t do that. You went the opposite direction. What do you think drove the ambition to keep building towards something larger? What’s really sparking you and motivating you today maybe differently, or in a more defined way than it was when you first broke? Jason Fertitta: Yeah, I would say it’s not just me, it’s all the founders, and I think all the employees. I share this and not to sound corny about it. I think everyone here wants to try and build something that his or her children would say, “My parent was one of the founders and employees of Americana Partners.” It’s like, I think when you work at a bank, you definitely care about your brand that you’re building, but this is a whole next level of care about your brand. We really care about this brand, and we want it to outlast all of us. Louis Diamond: Love that. For a successful wirehouse advisor or team that’s sitting on a really nice practice maybe similar in size or in the same realm that you had back where you were in that world, and they’re thinking about maximizing their value, what advice would you offer? Do you think your story is an outlier, or do you think it’s doable by others if they follow certain advice or principles? Jason Fertitta: I would have a two-word answer. Call us. I’m kidding. I have a much longer answer. One of the things I really respected about a certain advisor, and if he’s listening to this, he’ll know exactly who he is, but I feel awkward saying his name. When I was contemplating going independent, I talked to an entrepreneur I really admire, and I called him, and I said, “Hey, we’re thinking about doing this.” And he said, “Look, I’m going to try and convince you to join our firm, and if you don’t end up doing that, it’s fine. There’ll be no hard feelings, because we ended up launching our own firm and I would never fault you for the decision if you wanted to do that with your team.” And we thought long and hard, we almost joined his firm. It was in a very different geography so we ended up launching our own firm. I would say that if you want to do it yourself, we would respond the same way. We would give you a high five, and wish you well, and say you’ve made a great decision, and we’d be pulling for you. If you want to spend more time with your clients, and less time in building the firm, we have the firm built, and it’s fantastic, and it wasn’t without blood, sweat and tears for seven years, and we can create a transaction that is economically the same or better as launching your own firm, and you have a voice, and you have a seat at the table, because we’re still small enough to where you can help shape the direction of this firm, and we want your input. The difference is that instead of spending a third of your time interacting with financial advisors the way I do, you could spend 90% of your time interacting with your clients, instead of a third, and be part of a firm that I think has great national prospects. But, I would never fault someone for doing it themselves, because that’s what we did, and that would be hypocritical. But, I really do think that this is a better path, even if you did it yourself, or if you did it with someone like us. I think you’re choosing two better options than what you currently have. Louis Diamond: I think it’s a great perspective, and I think it’s balanced and fair too. There’s plenty of people that I speak to where their passion is building. They want to be the next Americana, right? That’s what’s going to spark them and get them out of bed. They want to do M&A, they want to be the CEO, they want to really make their mark on the industry, and that’s fine. But, I do think there’s probably more advisors out there that would love to be part of something, and they’d love equity, and they’re passionate about different things than you were passionate about when you launched the firm. And the theory of a rising tide lifts all boats, it’s like, you can do this yourself or let’s just build something bigger and better together. And just getting comfortable with the theory of you’ll own a smaller piece of the pie, but the pie is much more valuable than owning 100% or 80% of something that’s less valuable, and is going to take you in a different direction personally. I always say we’re not in the business of making judgments for people. It’s up to them to define their goals, and then, we’ll help them execute on it. But, I really like that perspective. I agree, it’s not for everyone. What you did is extremely hard, it’s a risk, it’s a big swing. But, if you have the stomach for it, and you want to take the swing, to me there’s no better time to pursue that path than today. Jason Fertitta: I agree. And I could totally see a world over the next five years where some of these advisors that join us are bigger shareholders in this firm than me, and that would be great. Louis Diamond: Interesting. Jason Fertitta: I’m with you, not only do I agree with what you’re saying, to me, I’ve never thought about how much of this company do I own? I’ve thought about what is the percentage of the company that I own, and what is it worth? I could care less if it was 25%, 12.5%, 5%. What I care is, what is that slice worth? Louis Diamond: That’s a fun way to look at it. Jason, this has been really fun. This new series Build, Grow, and Transact, this is proof of concept, but we’re going to have to do a ton of these, because the richness of detail, and whenever we have breakaway guests, we’re talking to them in the beginning when they’re still finding their feet, everything’s new and fresh. They haven’t thought about or executed on M&A and taking on capital partners. But, I feel like this is the missing ingredient where it’s a playbook for how others can be better themselves, something to shoot towards. And I really appreciate your candor and transparency, and I’m very serious, we’ll have to do this again when you’re at 25 billion, and you have even more lessons, and I’m sure battle scars to share. Jason Fertitta: No doubt. I’m for sure open to doing that. And maybe in the meantime, I see the pictures behind your head there. I’d love to come visit you in Park City and hang out and ski, or play golf, or- Louis Diamond: You got it. Jason Fertitta: All right. Thanks for your time and thank you for having me. Louis Diamond: Thanks, Jason. Mindy Diamond: As a financial advisor, you hold yourself to the highest standards of integrity, honesty, and credibility. You are successful, because you take your professional responsibility seriously, and are dedicated to your clients, but are you living your best business life? Are your goals aligned with your firms, or could a better option exist? Should I Stay Or Should I Go is a book written with you in mind. It’s a self-guided journey that walks you through the key steps that we take with our advisor clients. This strategic thought process and roadmap to professional self-discovery is designed to help you ask the right questions, and think critically and objectively, whether you’re considering change or not. Learn how to get your copy at diamond-consultants.com/thebook. Build, Grow & Transact: Americana's $12B Path from Breakaway to Enterprise A conversation with Louis Diamond and Jason Fertitta, CEO & Partner at Americana Partners.      Louis Diamond: Welcome to the latest episode of our podcast series for financial advisors. Today’s episode is Build, Grow & Transact: Americana's $12B Path from Breakaway to Enterprise. It's a conversation with Jason Fertitta, CEO and partner of Americana Partners. I’m Louis Diamond, and this is the Diamond Podcast for financial advisors. Mindy Diamond: At Diamond Consultants, we help elite advisors identify the right environment for their businesses to thrive, whether that’s at a wirehouse, boutique, or independent firm. With nearly three decades of experience, we’ve guided thousands of advisors, and represented more than a quarter of a trillion dollars in assets transitioned. And each year, one in four advisors managing a billion dollars or more who change firms are our clients. Our process is education driven, and based on building relationships, starting as your strategic partner well before you’re even thinking of a move. To schedule a confidential conversation, call us at 908-879-1002. Wondering why advisors change firms and where they’re headed? Are transition deals going up or down? Those very questions and more inspired us to create our annual advisor transition report. It’s the award-winning data-driven resource designed for advisors that connects the dots between the motivations around movement, and the firm’s appetite for top talent. Arm yourself with the knowledge you need to make smart decisions. Download your copy at diamond-consultants.com/transitionreport. Louis Diamond: Independence is often viewed as the finish line. Break away, gain control, own the business, and enjoy the economics that come with it. But, for some advisors, going independent is just the beginning. That’s the idea behind this new series called Build, Grow, and Transact, featuring advisors who saw independence not as a destination, but as the first chapter of a business building story. And there will be some familiar names along the way, including our first guest who was on our show back in 2020, talking about what was at the time, one of the industry’s breakaway moves. That’s Jason Fertitta, CEO and foun

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening  The Tai-Ex opened up 296-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 46,339 on turnover of 23.8-billion N-T. The market plunged (暴跌) over 1,000 points on Wednesday after tech stocks suffered heavy losses on Wall Street overnight. FSC closely monitoring growing personal loans amid equity boom The Financial Supervisory Commission says it's closely monitoring expanding personal credit (個人信用貸款) as more and more retail investors (散戶投資人) are opting to borrow money to invest in the local stock market amid the current equity boom. According to the commission's Financial Examination Bureau, it's now conducting regular reviews of the local banking sector and will continue monitoring lending activity. The statements come amid concerns over possible risks caused by retail investors using personal loans to buy stocks, and that once the stock market faces volatility (波動), borrowers could fail to repay their loans, pushing up the number of non-performing loans shouldered by banks. CWA issues heavy rain warnings  The Central Weather Administration has issued rain warnings today. Extremely heavy rain or torrential rain (豪雨；暴雨) advisories (警示) are in effect for Kaohsiung, Pingtung and the Hengchun Peninsula. Heavy rain or extremely heavy rain advisories have been issued for the North Coast area, Taipei, New Taipei and Tainan. While a heavy rain advisory is in effect for Keelung, Yunlin both Chiayi city and county, mountainous area of Taitung, Penghu and Matsu. All of the rain warnings are currently in effect through early tomorrow morning. White House asks Congress for USD$87.6B in supplemental spending for Iran War, farm aid, and ebola response The White House has asked Congress for 87.6 billion US dollars in emergency spending, with the bulk of the money earmarked (指定用途) for the war in Iran. Democrats have dismissed (駁回；不予理會) the request, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling it an attempt to paper over the damage of what he called a reckless war. Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said the package appeared designed not to pass. The request comes a day after both chambers of Congress voted to rebuke (譴責) US President Donald Trump over the conflict. Mitch Mccann reports from New York. Powerful earthquake rattles Japan A powerful earthquake has struck off Japan's northern coast but there was no danger of a tsunami, the country's meteorological agency said. The Japan Meteorological Agency says the quake had a preliminary magnitude (初步規模) of 6.9 and occurred off the eastern coast of Iwate at a depth of about 50 kilometers. The U.S. Geological Survey also reported a magnitude of 6.9. The rattling (搖晃；震動) occurred in the area where strong earthquakes have repeatedly been reported in recent months. The quake struck Japan's northeastern region during rush hour this morning, and also mildly shook Tokyo. Some bullet trains and other local lines have been suspended for safety checks. Officials say nuclear power plants and facilities and a spent fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori, have not reported any abnormalities (異常) from Thursday's earthquake. That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _____. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn

Bitcoin is staring down its biggest day of the week: a $10.6 BILLION Deribit options expiry Friday with nearly 80% of positions out-of-the-money, clustered around a $60K put and $80K call — meaning the next 48 hours will decide whether the relief rally extends or collapses. CryptoQuant publicly called on Saylor to STOP buying as Strategy's dividend obligations QUADRUPLED to $1.2B annually. Add the dollar at a 7-month high, Meta secretly building a prediction market called Arena, the CFTC suing Kentucky as the federal-state war hits 9 states, and the CLARITY Act with 4 unresolved sticking points and 5 weeks until Senate recess — and Friday's $10.6B expiry is the single most important catalyst of Q3. We break down what $60K vs $80K means for the rest of the cycle, whether Saylor will actually pause, and which catalyst could break the floor before Friday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jess Houlgrave breaks down why 2026 is the year of non-USD stablecoins with USDC losing Mica compliance, 30 European banks now issuing a euro stablecoin, and HKD, JPY, SEK and CHF versions all coming to market. She covers WalletConnect's $6B per week in stablecoin volume, why broad asset support is the key to reducing merchant and much more.Jess Houlgrave is CEO of WalletConnect, the leading financial connectivity layer powering stablecoin payments across 700 wallets and hundreds of thousands of applications.The Rollup is where the leaders of digital assets and finance converge. Live from the financial capital of the world.Timestamps: 00:00 Intro01:04 TradFi Crypto Worlds Converging02:48 $6B Volume Last Week04:50 Non-USD Stablecoins Growing Fast08:08 30 Banks Issuing EUR Stablecoin11:26 WalletConnect Just The Pipes13:47 Broad Assets Less Dropoff18:45 Payment Has Multiple Layers20:47 Stablecoin Cards Hurt Merchants24:10 New CRO From Visa28:39 Worst Quarter For SecurityGuest Socials:Jess Houlgrave X: https://x.com/HoulgraveWalletConnect X: https://x.com/WalletConnect?lang=enWalletConnect Website: https://walletconnect.com/Partners:Better than Banks. Transparent capital efficiency earning the highest yields in DeFi. Learn more here: https://infinifi.xyz/---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_i...---

Fourteen deals worth mentioning in a single week. And those are just the ones that surfaced.The week before Cannes, the dam broke. Christian and Ayelet break down the deepest deal review we've done yet — anchored by a transaction Ayelet's team actually advised on the sell side: Residence acquiring GateMaker, a female-founded creator and influencer agency with a blue-chip beauty roster.Plus a sponsor-to-sponsor recap in commerce services (Bluebird Group + Bertram Capital), and a rapid-fire run through 12 more deals across creator, beauty, luxury PR, B2B, and commerce.One platform investment. One deep dive. Twelve quick hits. Under 20 minutes.⏱️ TIMESTAMPS0:39 — Welcome to Market and Deals Friday — and a 14-deal week1:12 — Did everyone wait until the week before Cannes to announce?1:37 — Coming up: a special edition with Chris Erwin of RockWater on the Accenture/Whalar deal2:00 — Market update: Bluebird Group partners with Bertram Capital2:20 — Bertram's buy-and-build model and the Bertram Labs tech advantage3:00 — Reading the deal size from a $1.6B control fund with a 43% IRR4:00 — Why a relationship-driven commerce services business resists AI disruption5:35 — Deep dive: Residence acquires GateMaker — a sell-side deal Ayelet's team ran6:05 — GateMaker's founders, blue-chip beauty roster, and creator economy pedigree7:20 — Did Residence already have creator capability? (No — this was the capability buy)7:50 — Second acquisition in under five months: Residence is now a 9-agency network8:44 — The Gemspring-backed platform build and why Residence is now an active acquirer9:28 — The "anti-holdco" model — and Christian's pushback on the framing10:42 — Why creator and influence relationships command a premium right now11:30 — The cross-industry pattern: do-no-harm PMI for people-heavy businesses11:56 — Advisors: Palazzo and Speed M&A on the sell side12:32 — Brinkley the deal-finding agent and a 20-deal week13:20 — Quick hit: Front Row acquires Carbon Beauty (second deal this year)13:57 — Quick hit: Mazarine acquires Bacchus — luxury PR and UHNW access14:10 — Quick hit: Huge acquires Rotate — composable commerce14:27 — Quick hit: Motion Agency acquires LKHNS — B2B and video (Kim Everl's 7th)15:30 — Quick hit: Akeneo acquires Pricing Hub — PIM moves into pricing16:33 — Rapid fire: Mile Marker/Lyfe, Legion Advertising, Factual/Intelsio, Everything Branding/Darlington17:44 — The week's only disclosed number: 2X acquires KnownWell at a $400M combined valuation18:09 — Quick hit: Scorpion acquires One SEO Digital18:32 — 14 deals, one disclosed price: the lower middle market buying capability quietly18:52 — Don't miss the Erik Huberman interview (Ep. 71) + the Chris Erwin special coming up

AGENDA: 00:00 — SpaceX Completes the Largest IPO in History 03:45 — Elon Musk Adds a Warren Buffett Fortune in 24 Hours 20:45 — Anthropic's Claude Fable Launches Monday, Gets Banned by Thursday 25:00 — Washington Declares War on Frontier AI 39:00 — Europe's Sovereign AI Push Accelerates as Mistral Targets $20B 43:30 — Benchmark Admits Its Biggest Miss: Passing on the Model Labs 45:15 — Salesforce Buys Fin for $3.6B and Rewrites the SaaS Survival Playbook 1:02:00 — Adobe Beats, Raises, and Still Crashes as AI Fears Intensify 1:06:30 — Why Every Legacy SaaS Company Is Trapped in an AI Death Spiral 1:10:00 — The AI Acquisition Window Has Officially Closed 1:13:00 — Nvidia at 16x Earnings vs SaaS at 8x Cash Flow: Where Should Investors Be? 1:17:00 — The Great Rotation: Why Wall Street Is Abandoning Software for AI Infrastructure

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siman 398:6B-7 in Chelek Daled-Hilchos Techumim by Rabbi Tzvi Thaler

SpaceX is acquiring Cursor for $60B days after its blockbuster IPO, as its stock soared 20% on day one. Anthropic's standoff with the Trump administration churned on without resolution, OpenAI's 2025 spending hit $34B, and OpenRouter's Fusion claims to beat frontier models. SEC filing: SpaceX agrees to acquire Anysphere in a merger valuing the Cursor-developer at $60B, expected to close in Q3 2026 (Reuters) SpaceX has agreed to acquire AI coding startup Cursor in a $60B stock deal, less than two months after announcing a tie-up, to help its AI division catch up to the major labs (TechCrunch) SpaceX's stock closed up 19.6% on June 15, its first full day of trading; Musk said it "might be able to reach" ~$1T in revenue in 2030, up from $18.7B in 2025 (CNBC) Anthropic says its senior leaders met Trump admin officials on June 15, but no resolution was reached and both sides are working to resolve things quickly (The Information) A senior White House official says easing Friday's action on Anthropic will likely take more than a few days, but leaves the door open to a quick resolution (Politico) Ben Thompson argues Anthropic has near-perfect alignment between talent, mission, and business — a "safety superpower" he says he both respects and fears (Stratechery) Sources: audited financial figures show OpenAI spending hit $34B in 2025, including $19B on research and development and nearly $6B on sales and marketing (FT) OpenRouter debuts Fusion, a tool that prompts multiple AI models in parallel, claiming it can "reach and surpass Fable-level performance on deep research tasks" (OpenRouter) How OpenRouter Fusion works and how it beats frontier models — a "panel of models" approach that scored 69% on Perplexity's DRACO deep research benchmark (Digit) ResumeWriting.com On Product Hunt Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Figma's Q1 2026 revenue grew 46% YoY to $333M, with net dollar retention hitting a multi-year high of 139%. But even after its post-IPO slide, the stock still trades at ~75x next-12-month free cash flow. We break down what's driving the valuation gap, why free cash flow per share is still feeling IPO dilution effects, and what Figma needs to prove on profitability as AI disruption looms over creative software.Topics covered:Why Figma's valuation is still rich despite the stock's declineFigma vs. Adobe, Microsoft, Wix, and the private design-tool fieldAI's disruption risk to creative/design softwareQ1 2026 results: $333M revenue, 139% net dollar retention, $89M free cash flow (27% margin)Free cash flow per share and the impact of IPO-related dilution$1.6B cash, no debt, and why M&A could be on the tableThe $116M RSU tax settlement behind the cash balance dipQ2 and full-year 2026 guidance (40% and 35% YoY growth)This episode is sponsored by fiscal.ai — get 15% off any paid plan at fiscal.ai/csi.Liked this breakdown? Head to chipstockinvestor.com for our full library of semiconductor and tech stock research, deep dives, and analysis — plus access to Semi Insider, our premium subscription for investors who want the data behind every call we make.

RiskCellar is back with a packed episode that feels like the insurance industry itself, equal parts serious and unfiltered. Brandon Schuh and Nick Hartmann sit down to unpack a week that saw some of the biggest AI-driven headlines to hit the P&C space in recent memory. From a massive brokerage laying off 2,300 employees and blaming AI, to a CNN lawsuit targeting an AI search engine, to an InsurTech startup valued at $2.6 billion on just $40 million in revenue, nothing about this week is normal. And that's exactly the point.The episode digs into the Acrisure story, where roughly 2,300 jobs are being cut, the second round of layoffs in a single year, with AI cited as the primary driver. Brandon and Nick do the math. At $300,000 average revenue per employee, that's a $690 million bet on AI's ability to fill the gap. They zoom out to connect this to the broader PE pressure story, exits, soft markets, rising interest rates, and a potential IPO on the horizon. The conversation doesn't stop there. New York State's newly signed auto insurance tort reform law gets a thorough breakdown, including the new $100,000 cap on non-economic damages and tightened comparative negligence thresholds that could finally start moving the needle on affordability. And the CNN vs. Perplexity lawsuit opens a bigger conversation about AI as a derivative product, one that can't function without the journalism it may ultimately be destroying.Rounding out the news block is a closer look at Corgi, the AI-focused MGA that just raised at a $2.6 billion valuation despite generating only $40 million in revenue, a 65x multiple that leaves both hosts scratching their heads. Brandon draws a pointed parallel to boutique consulting firms now competing with McKinsey-sized players thanks to AI tools, a trend with direct implications for insurance brokerages of every size. The episode wraps with a "Three Truths and a Lie" segment on classic TV shows and a round of Simpsons trivia, staying true to the show's blend of sharp industry analysis and genuine conversation between two people who genuinely enjoy talking shop.Takeaways:Acrisure's 2,300-person layoff represents a (690M) bet that AI can replace human production capacity.PE-backed brokerages are under compounding pressure from soft markets, rising rates, and IPO timelines.New York's auto tort reform caps non-economic damages at (100,000) and tightens comparative negligence rules.AI is a derivative product, it depends on journalism and original content to function.CNN filed suit against Perplexity for alleged copyright infringement in New York federal court.Corgi's (2.6B) valuation at (65times) revenue raises serious questions about InsurTech market rationality.Boutique brokerages now have the firepower of Aon or Marsh thanks to accessible AI tools.Alleged class action litigation is brewing against a PE-backed brokerage over unpaid producer compensation.Chapters:00:00 Welcome to RiskCellar2:45 Big News Tease + What Are You Drinking?4:00 Memorial Day Weekend Recaps7:38 This Week's AI Theme Intro8:00 Acrisure Layoffs: The (690M) AI Bet17:30 Sponsor Break: IPFS + freeflow.ai17:4 CNN vs. Perplexity: AI and Journalism's Collision21:05 Corgi's (2.6B) Valuation and the InsurTech Bubble23:30 Boutique vs. McKinsey: AI Levels the Consulting Playing Field27:10 SpaceX IPO, Elon Musk, and Market Insanity29:00 Howden TROs and Industry Legal Wars30:38 Three Truths and a Lie: Classic TV Edition32:17 Simpsons Trivia: First 100 Episodes33:57 Upcoming Guests and Episode WrapConnect with RiskCellar:Website: https://www.riskcellar.com/Brandon Schuh:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552710523314LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-stephen-schuh/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schuhpapa/Nick Hartmann:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickjhartmann/

Microsoft Build 2026 announced an end-to-end agentic AI stack. COMPUTEX Taipei confirmed heterogeneous AI infrastructure across ARM, Marvell, Intel, Qualcomm, and NVIDIA. Alphabet raised $80 billion. Cisco Live repositioned the network as the AI platform. Patrick Moorhead and Daniel Newman break it all down alongside earnings from Broadcom, HPE, Palo Alto Networks, and CrowdStrike, plus the token cost conversation, the edge AI push, and what Palantir and Oracle are saying about proprietary data as the real AI moat. The handpicked topics for this week are: Microsoft Build 2026 Announced an End-to-End Agentic AI Stack: Microsoft shipped MAI-Thinking-1, its first homegrown thinking model, alongside Scout, Microsoft IQ, Project Solara, and a Majorana 2 quantum update targeting a 2029 commercial timeline with claims of a 1,000x reliability gain. Pat describes MAI-Thinking-1 as likely better than Sonnet 4.6 in blind testing and delivering close to GPT 5.5 quality at a far lower cost. Scout is Microsoft's first autopilot agent, anchoring the M365 Agent Suite with Office Pilot Agent Mode and Agent 365. Microsoft IQ serves as the context layer, integrating M365, business data, boundary IQ, and web IQ with GitHub Copilot, Foundry, and Copilot Studio. Project Solara is a new Android-based platform built for agent-first devices across transportation, retail, and hospital settings. Microsoft also added 83 Unix commands to the Windows stack. Dan frames Microsoft's real play as distribution, not frontier model development, noting that the open model ecosystem being pulled into the platform will matter more to CFOs managing token costs at scale. (The Decode) The AI Stack Goes Multi-Silicon — COMPUTEX Taipei 2026 Confirms Heterogeneous AI Infrastructure: ARM's AGI CPU is in production with Google moving its TPU head node to ARM, and adding Oracle and ByteDance as new customers. ARM also introduced a new switch, the TT100, and put the 51T CPO switch on stage. Marvell received a trillion-dollar company endorsement from Jensen Huang, adding $90 billion in market cap on the comment alone. Intel announced disaggregated inference details and Xeon 6+ Clearwater Forest, its first 18A data center processor. Vista Equity and Cambium Capital announced a NeoCloud called Vector Core Compute, with Xeon 6 handling orchestration, Salmonova RUs handling decode, and Blackwell GPUs handling pre-fill. Qualcomm's Cristiano Amon announced the Dragonfly data center brand with Snapdragon C details coming at their June investor day. The WSTS raised the 2026 semiconductor TAM forecast by 90% to $1.51 trillion, with Pat noting the market could hit a trillion dollars if memory is excluded entirely. (The Decode) NVIDIA RTX Spark and the Edge AI Push: NVIDIA coordinated with ARM and Microsoft around the RTX Spark at COMPUTEX, with the shared message being that the future of Windows is here. Signal65's Ryan Shrout asked Jensen directly why NVIDIA wants to be in the PC business, given low margins and diminishing returns. Dan frames the answer in the context of devices increasingly becoming mobile data centers, capable of running models at much greater efficiency than cloud delivery. The edge AI conversation is also directly tied to token cost economics: as intelligence delivery moves closer to the device, the cost per token drops significantly. The jury is still out on whether NVIDIA will meaningfully disrupt the PC market, but its influence over OEMs like Lenovo and Dell that depend on it for data center gives it real leverage over SKUs. (The Decode) Token Economics and Frontier Model Cost Pressure: Dan and Pat discuss a substantive shift in how enterprises are thinking about AI consumption costs. Dan argues that "token maxing," the practice of defaulting to the most powerful frontier model for every task, has now effectively peaked, as bills have come due at scale. Companies paying for tokens in volume are starting to question whether they can afford the prices that frontier models actually cost to deliver. Pat pushes back, saying the dynamic is still present, but both analysts agree that the market is moving toward a model where token selection is matched to the job, with Microsoft's MOE approach and thinking models positioned to help CFOs manage that economics story. (The Decode) Continuum Goes Public at Highest Valuation for an AI Platform: Dan notes that Continuum, the Honeywell-spawned quantum company, went public this week at what he calls the highest valuation for an AI platform to date. He flags that IonQ will likely contest that characterization. The broader context is Microsoft entering the quantum conversation with Majorana 2 at Build, a name that has largely been absent from the quantum race, while IBM has received most of the attention. (The Decode) AI CapEx Has Outgrown Cash Flow — Alphabet's $80 Billion Equity Raise: On June 1, Alphabet announced an $80 billion equity capital raise, upsized to $85 billion, structured as $40 billion ATM, $30 billion underwritten, and a $10 billion private placement with Berkshire Hathaway anchoring. Pat frames the questions over CapEx returns as entirely dependent on whether you are an AI boomer or a doomer: if the payback comes, the raise is the right move. If it does not, the math doesn't close. Dan argues the investment is existential, drawing parallels to how infrastructure-first companies have always spent ahead of monetization, and notes that Google's equity is being used as a capital engine that may be more efficient than the debt markets right now. Both analysts flag the downstream implications for Broadcom, MediaTek, and Marvell given the TPU connection. (The Decode) The Network Becomes the AI Platform: Cisco Live 2026: Cisco launched Silicon One P200, the Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA and Spectrum X, AgenticOps, MCP-native automation, Cisco IQ, LiveProtect, and folded Astrix Security and Galileo into Splunk under one control plane. Pat identifies Cisco Cloud Control as the biggest announcement of the entire show, pulling together Catalyst, Meraki, Nexus, Firewall, and WebEx under agentic ops that run natively through MCP, with code running directly on smart switches that have x86 processors. Pat also credits Cisco for establishing Silicon One as a credible chip alternative for hyperscalers capable of taking on Tomahawk and Jericho. Dan frames the long-term opportunity as campus and branch enablement when industrial AI and robotics deployments accelerate, arguing that the numerator of AI's economic impact has barely started, as edge deployment spending has not yet begun. (The Decode) The Flip: Did Microsoft Build 2026 Effectively End the OpenAI Partnership? Pat argues the divorce decree has been filed. MAI-Thinking-1 was built with zero distillation from third-party models offering clean enterprise data lineage, with Maia 200 in production plus Anthropic chip supply, which signals vendor hedging. OpenAI is going all-in on AWS, which means you cannot be married to two people, and the full Build stack covering model, OS containment via MXC, agents via Scout and Agent 365, and context via Microsoft IQ removes every architectural dependency on OpenAI. Dan counters that Microsoft is hedging rather than leaving and predicts the partnership will run through the decade. Enterprise Copilot customers are explicitly showing in data that they demand GPT 5.5, internal benchmarks have not been independently validated, and Microsoft stands to make meaningful money from the OpenAI IPO. (The Flip) Broadcom Q2 FY26 Earnings: Broadcom posted revenue of $22.19 billion, a narrow miss depending on which consensus data set is used, with EPS of $2.44 beating estimates and AI semis at $10.8 billion. Hock Tan declined to raise the $100 billion full-year AI chip target, and the stock dropped 13% in premarket trading. Q3 guide came in at $29.4 billion. Pat calls the miss a timing issue driven by Google's multi-sourcing across Marvell, MediaTek, and Broadcom rather than a fundamental problem. Dan flags that Hock Tan opened the earnings call by accidentally reading from the 2025 print, calling it "not the best moment." Sell-side re-ratings held in the 500s across Jefferies, Mizuho, and Deutsche Bank despite the drop, with Futurum Equities having it at 600. (Bulls and Bears) Hewlett Packard Enterprise Q2 FY26 Earnings: HPE delivered revenue of $10.68 billion, up 40% year over year, and EPS of $0.79, up 100%. Juniper integration and AI servers both outperformed, and all FY26 guides were raised. The stock jumped 19% after hours before settling into a roughly 15% gain, with HPE up 68% over the last month. Pat frames HPE as a value play rather than a volume play, methodically targeting enterprise and sovereign cloud deals where it can maintain profitability, rather than competing for massive NeoCloud volume. Antonio Neri was clear on the call that the profitability pull-forward is a one-shot deal. Pat and Dan will both be at HPE Discover the week after next to interview Neri and the C-suite. (Bulls and Bears) Palo Alto Networks Q3 FY26 Earnings: Palo Alto posted revenue of $3.0 billion, up 31% year over year, beating the $2.94 billion estimate, with non-GAAP EPS of $0.85, beating the $0.79 to $0.81 range. NGS ARR reached $8.1 billion, up 60% year over year, including $1.6 billion from CyberArk and Chronosphere. RPO hit $18.4 billion, up 36%. Both FY26 revenue and EPS guides were raised. Adjusted FCF margin came in at 38.5% TTM, up 430 basis points. The stock jumped 11% immediately after hours, then drifted lower. Pat points to 2,200 platformized customers and 120% net retention as the most important metrics. Dan notes the SaaSpocalypse thesis continues to be wrong. (Bulls and Bears) CrowdStrike Q1 FY27 Earnings and the Proprietary Data Moat Argument: CrowdStrike posted revenue of $1.39 billion with EPS of $1.10 and ARR of $5.51 billion. Net new ARR of $255.8 million set a Q1 record, up 32% year over year. FY27 net new ARR guide was raised by $52 million to a $1.29 billion midpoint, and FY27 revenue was raised to $5.915 to $5.959 billion. A 4-for-1 stock split was announced effective July 2nd. The stock dropped 11% despite the beat after a 64% year-to-date run into earnings. Dan uses the results to make a broader argument against the software disruption thesis, referencing Palantir CEO Alex Karp daring customers to build without him using Anthropic or OpenAI, and Larry Ellison's argument that the real AI value unlock sits in proprietary enterprise data that is not accessible to frontier models. Enterprises with governed, secure, proprietary data will continue to need platforms like CrowdStrike regardless of what frontier models can do. (Bulls and Bears) Six Five Summit is coming. Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff will kick off the event. Register and stay current at sixfivemedia.com/summit. Watch the full video at sixfivemedia.com, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you never miss an episode.   The Decode Microsoft Declares Independence — Build 2026 Ships an End-to-End Agentic AI Stack (MAI-Thinking-1 + Scout + Microsoft IQ + Project Solara + Majorana 2) https://www.theverge.com/tech/941738/microsoft-build-2026-biggest-announcements The AI Stack Goes Multi-Silicon — Computex 2026 Confirms a Heterogeneous AI Infrastructure (ARM + Marvell + Intel ASIC + Qualcomm + RTX Spark); WSTS Raises 2026 Semi TAM Forecast 90% to $1.51T https://www.tomshardware.com/tag/computex AI Capex Has Outgrown Cash Flow — Alphabet's $80B Equity Raise Is the Largest in U.S. Corporate History; Berkshire Anchors $10B https://abc.xyz/investor/news/news-details/2026/Alphabet-Announces-Proposed-80-Billion-Equity-Capital-Raise-to-Expand-AI-Infrastructure-and-Compute-2026-b0myAMewCa/default.aspx The Network Becomes the AI Platform — Cisco Live 2026 Launches Silicon One P200, Secure AI Factory (with NVIDIA), AgenticOps, Astrix Security + Galileo https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/about/whats-new/index.html The Flip Did Microsoft Build 2026 Effectively End the OpenAI Partnership? MAI-Thinking-1 Beats Sonnet 4.6 in Blind Testing, Microsoft Claims GPT-5.5 Parity at 10x Cost Efficiency — Will MS Quietly Wind Down OpenAI Exclusivity by FY28, or Is OpenAI Still the Frontier Anchor Microsoft Needs?   FOR:  MAI-Thinking-1 beating Sonnet 4.6 in blind preference + GPT-5.5 parity at 10x cost efficiency is a frontier-model independence proof point https://www.latent.space/p/ainews-microsoft-build-mai-thinking Build 2026: Accumulating Evidence of Microsoft's AI Independence — EDN (June 4) — https://www.edn.com/build-2026-accumulating-evidence-of-microsofts-ai-independence/ Maia 200 in production + Anthropic-Maia chip talks signal Microsoft is hedging its inference vendor stack https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2026/01/26/maia-200-the-ai-accelerator-built-for-inference/ Microsoft canceled Anthropic's internal software licenses + pivoted to chip-supply pursuit — customer-not-competitor positioning https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/21/anthropic-microsoft-maia-200-ai-chip.html   AGAINST:  Enterprise Copilot customers explicitly demand GPT-5.5 — internal benchmarks don't replace the brand https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/release-notes?tabs=all MAI-Thinking-1 benchmarks haven't been third-party verified — Microsoft is the only source https://www.latent.space/p/ainews-microsoft-build-mai-thinking The MS-OpenAI partnership is contractual through 2030+ — unwinding it is impractical and expensive https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2026/04/27/the-next-phase-of-the-microsoft-openai-partnership/ Microsoft's actual strategic risk is OpenAI leaving, not MS leaving — Anthropic + OpenAI IPOs make OpenAI exit risk the real concern https://www.anthropic.com/news/confidential-draft-s1-sec Bulls & Bears Broadcom (AVGO) Q2 FY26 ACTUALS — Rev $22.19B (Narrow Miss) + EPS $2.44 (Beat); AI Semis $10.8B; Hock Tan Refuses to Raise the $100B Full-Year AI Chip Target — Stock −13% Premarket; Q3 Guide $29.4B https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/03/broadcom-avgo-earnings-report-q2-2026.html Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Q2 FY26 ACTUALS — Blowout: Rev $10.68B (+40%), EPS $0.79 (+100%); Juniper Integration + AI Servers Both Outperform; FY26 Guides All Raised; Stock +19% AH https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260601866494/en/HPE-Reports-Fiscal-2026-Second-Quarter-Results Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Q3 FY26 ACTUALS — Beat-and-Raise: Rev $3.0B (+31% YoY, Beat $2.94B), Non-GAAP EPS $0.85 (Beat $0.79-0.81); NGS ARR $8.1B (+60% YoY, $1.6B from CyberArk + Chronosphere); RPO $18.4B (+36%); FY26 Revenue + EPS Guides BOTH RAISED; Adj FCF Margin 38.5% TTM (+430 bps); Stock +11% Immediate AH, Then Drifted Lower https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/company/press/2026/palo-alto-networks-reports-fiscal-third-quarter-2026-financial-results CrowdStrike narrowly beats estimates on AI tailwinds, but stock falls 9% — CNBC (June 3) — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/03/crowdstrike-crwd-q1-2027-earnings.html  

What does it actually look like to lead people through a crisis — not just manage operations, but truly show up for the humans involved? In this episode of Leading Through Crisis, host Céline Williams sits down with Tracy Nolan, a Fortune 50 Senior Executive and global Board Leader with deep expertise in regulated industries, including healthcare and telecommunications. Tracy has led through it all: the closure of 27 retail stores as the last executive standing, being on a plane landing at Newark on the morning of 9/11 while working for Verizon, and managing 14,000 Sprint employees through both COVID-19 and a simultaneous merger with T-Mobile. Her philosophy? Jump in (beyond the operational checklist, beyond what the job description says), and treat your people the way you'd want to be treated. In this conversation, Tracy shares: - Why most leaders fail at crisis communication (and what to do instead) - How she ran "no-canned-questions" listening sessions that changed the way her teams trusted her - The "CEO for a day" roundtable method she uses to stay connected to frontline reality - Why feedback is a gift, regardless of your title - A powerful trust exercise every leader should do with their team today If you're a leader, executive, or manager who wants to build an organization that can not only survive a crisis but thrive through one, this episode is essential listening. — Tracy Nolan is a Fortune 50 senior executive and global board leader with deep experience in regulated industries, including healthcare and telecommunications. She has overseen $6B+ in P&L's, led multi-billion dollar revenue transformations, and delivered sustainable value through M&A integrations, operating models redesigns, and risk-managed expansion.  Tracy currently serves as Senior Vice President, where she leads the Insurance sales organization and distribution strategy. Tracy has recently been named to the 50/50 Women to Watch for Boards list and serves as the Board Secretary for Dress for Success Worldwide. She is an advocate dedicated to "Inspiring Leaders to Lift while they Climb." Connect with Tracy: tracynolan.com | LinkedIn: Tracy E. Nolan

Save big on Vegas with Las Vegas Advisor — get 10% off a membership with code MTM (new members, affiliate): lasvegasadvisor.com Tillman fertitta just bought Caesars Entertainment for $17.6 billion and the Vegas Strip will never be the same. 60 casinos, the biggest gaming operator on the planet, and a loyalty program tying it all together. Plus Palace Station's new Gaudi Bar is a showstopper, and the Vegas Loop still doesn't have a fire truck after five years. What we cover: Excalibur's dragon is still alive A's stadium construction drone update Bally's and the power station problem Baker, CA — Alien Jerky, UFO hotel, World's Largest Thermometer for sale Tacos Escobar — $20 all you can eat tacos on Fremont East Remembering Irving Pete Berger — Ellis Island pit boss, 55 years in Vegas Palace Station Gaudi Bar renovation BREAKING: fertitta Entertainment buys Caesars for $17.6B Vegas Loop still has no fire truck Episode Guide: 0:00 The Excalibur Dragon Lives 0:26 A's Stadium Drone Update 0:57 Bally's & the Power Problem 1:53 Baker — Alien Jerky & World's Largest Thermometer 5:02 Tacos Escobar — $20 All You Can Eat 7:48 Remembering A Vegas Legend 9:05 Gaudi Bar is world class 11:57 BREAKING: fertitta Entertainment Buys Caesars for $17.6B 15:33 Vegas Loop Still Has No Fire Truck Want more MTM Vegas? Get our exclusive weekly aftershow and join the community.

The CFTC is moving to withdraw its $5 million penalty against the crypto exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, a Google staffer in Europe has been charged with fraud over his bets on Polymarket, New York City's pied-a-terre tax will take effect in July, Fertitta Entertainment is buying Caesars in a $17.6B deal, and drone strikes continue in the Middle East, despite a ceasefire. Thanks to the tech sector, markets are on the rise, but Sanctuary Wealth Management's Mary Ann Bartels is reading for a shift–eventually. Plus, New York City is buzzing with the first Knicks NBA final since 1999. Self-proclaimed “psycho fan” Gary Vaynerchuk discusses the eye-popping courtside ticket prices at MSG, pent up demand, and the power of paid media…when coupled with social media virality.   Mary Ann Bartels - 12:35 Gary Vaynerchuk - 24:38   In this episode: Gary Vaynerchuk, @garyvee Joe Kernen, @JoeSquawk Becky Quick, @BeckyQuick Andrew Ross Sorkin, @andrewrsorkin Katie Kramer, @Kramer_Katie Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In June 1988, 24-year-old truck driver David Churchill Jackson walked out of his Pembroke Pines, Florida apartment and completely vanished. He left behind a loving mother, a complicated past, and a young son who would grow up wondering what happened to his father. For fifteen years, David's disappearance remained a frozen mystery—until a cold case detective's vision board caught the eye of an unexpected visitor. ​In this chapter of The Book of the Dead, I explored the life of David Jackson, the devastating silence left in the wake of his disappearance, and the jaw-dropping twist that finally brought a hidden killer to justice decades later. This isn't just a story about how David died; it is about who he was, the family that never stopped looking for him, and why his memory matters.Connect with us on Social Media!You can find us at:Instagram: @bookofthedeadpodX: @bkofthedeadpodFacebook: The Book of the Dead PodcastTikTok: BookofthedeadpodOr visit our website at www.botdpod.comAFTER 7 YEARS, DISAPPEARANCE STILL MYSTERY. (2021, September 24). Sun Sentinel. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1995/08/13/after-7-years-disappearance-still-mystery/Ambushed: The murder of David Jackson. (2014, May 11). CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ambushed-the-murder-of-david-jackson/David Churchill Jackson (1963-1988). (2013, March 16). FInd a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106814812/david_churchill-jacksonDeutsch, K. (2005, January 22). Ohioian linked to 1988 murder. The Miami Herald, 6B.Elmore, C. (1994, September 14). Missing Pines man topic of TV talk show. Sun Sentinel, 2B.Ex-wife charged with murder after 19 years. (2021, September 26). Sun Sentinel. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2007/12/15/ex-wife-charged-with-murder-after-19-years/?clearUserState=trueGuilty plea closes 24-year-old murder case. (2021, September 28). Sun Sentinel. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2012/04/17/guilty-plea-closes-24-year-old-murder-case-2/James, S. (1990, June 25). Disappearance baffles police. Sun Sentinel, 1B.Kamph, S. (2011, June 23). My Father's Bones. Broward Palm Beach New Times, 34, 15–20.Pazdera, D. (1992, July 4). Mom still can't find her son. Sun Sentinel, 13B.Santana, S. (2001, November 3). Man convicted of Miramar murder. Sun Sentinel, 3B.Santana, S., & Marino, J. (2007, December 15). Ex-wife hit with murder charge years after crime. Sun Sentinel, 1B-6B.SUSPECT HELD IN '88 DEATH OF PINES MAN. (2021, September 27). Sun Sentinel. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2004/10/13/suspect-held-in-88-death-of-pines-man/WOLFE v. STATE, No. 4D07-4555. | Fla. Dist. Ct. App., Judgment, Law, casemine.com. (n.d.). https://www.casemine.com. https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/59146407add7b04934271346Woman implicated in ex-husband's murder to be released on bail. (2021, September 28). Sun Sentinel. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2010/09/16/woman-implicated-in-ex-husbands-murder-to-be-released-on-bail/If you enjoyed the episode, consider leaving a review or rating! It helps more than you know! If you have a case suggestion, or want attention brought to a loved one's case, email me at bookofthedeadpod@gmail.com with Case Suggestion in the subject line.Stay safe, stay curious, and stay vigilant.

SUMMARY DEL SHOW Futuros ligeramente en verde tras nuevos récords en $SPX y Nasdaq, con el mercado todavía montado en infraestructura AI, pero con el crudo alto y la geopolítica marcando el pulso. $MU lidera el rally por memoria para AI y contagia a $WDC, $STX y $SNDK, mientras fondos rotan desde software hacia semis según Goldman. $NVDA anuncia expansión grande en Taiwán con el campus Constellation y $IREN firma $1.6B con $DELL para Blackwell en Texas, reforzando que el ciclo de data centers sigue acelerando.

Podean just closed their fourth acquisition in nine months. Travis Johnson is hinting at a fifth. Mountain Gate's strategic roadmap had six puzzle pieces. Four are filled. Two more to go.This is what a PE-backed independent agency rollup looks like when it's working.Travis Johnson — CEO and co-founder of Podean, the largest independent global marketplace-focused agency — is back on In/Organic to walk through the full acquisition path: what each deal was designed to solve, how they've learned to lead with culture before due diligence, why they stopped taking cold calls and built a one-pager instead, and what's still missing from the platform.At roughly 400 people and growing toward 500, managing $600-700M in retail media spend and driving approximately $5-6B in client sales — Podean may be the most acquisitive independent agency in the US right now. And they're not done.What we cover: The rationale behind each of the four acquisitions — Commerce Canal, AdAdvance, AdMerge, and CartBloom — why Walmart is growing faster than Amazon and CartBloom fills that gap, the hard lesson of spending six months on a deal that fell apart on culture, how Mountain Gate runs the identification process while Podean runs the relationship, the one-pager filter that stops time-wasting calls before they start, and what the next acquisition is probably going to be.⏱️ TIMESTAMPS0:26 — Welcome back and a quick apology to the 2,180 YouTube subscribers1:23 — Travis Johnson reintroduction: Podean, Mountain Gate backing, four deals in nine months2:44 — Quick refresh: the four acquisitions — Commerce Canal, AdAdvance, AdMerge, CartBloom3:37 — Podean's strategic thesis: end-to-end, global, social commerce, retail management4:15 — Breaking down each acquisition: what did it add?4:43 — Commerce Canal: retail operations depth, logistics, apparel vertical, New York office5:55 — AdAdvance: media-only depth, Amazon relationships, Streamline tech platform7:30 — AdMerge: two-thirds ex-Amazon team, global footprint now 21 countries, EmergeView and Emerge Engine9:30 — CartBloom: ex-Amazon, ex-Walmart founders, specialist Walmart depth in the fastest-growing retail media platform10:32 — Deal process breakdown: three proprietary, one banker-run (AdMerge)11:20 — What's still missing: social commerce globally and AI-native tech12:14 — TikTok Shop growing globally — Ireland, Europe, US numbers keep rising12:43 — Tech consolidation: from 6 tech people to 30, building AI-native unified platform14:08 — 400+ headcount, $600-700M retail media spend, $5-6B in client sales15:35 — "Just drop Codex on the file system and tell it to fix everything"16:13 — Advice for smaller agencies: don't get distracted, run a solid business first17:00 — The hard lesson: six months on a deal that fell apart on culture fit18:02 — Lead with culture first, numbers second — the pivot that changed their process18:25 — What taking PE money actually means: "You're about to sprint faster than you've ever sprinted"19:30 — Integration is hard: HR platforms, titles, tools, ways of working all different20:04 — Mountain Gate's role: strategic roadmap session, identification, deal sourcing20:38 — Six puzzle pieces. Four filled. Two more to go.22:13 — The one-pager filter: how to triage inbound without wasting time24:00 — Number five is coming. Give the exclusive to In/Organic, not AdAge.

In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ breaks down SpaceX's S-1, unpacking what the filing reveals about Starlink, xAI, X, common control accounting, revenue, losses, CapEx, and Elon Musk's Mars-linked compensation structure.—SPONSORS:RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for teams that have outgrown spreadsheets and billing tool workarounds. It handles high-volume subscriptions, usage-based contracts, and mid-cycle upgrades, so you can scale without scrambling at month-end. For RevRec that keeps your books clean, visit https://www.rightrev.com/CJRillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cjEY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartupsSpendHound is a SaaS spend management platform built for finance and procurement teams that want visibility and leverage in every deal. By tracking all your software, benchmarking pricing across thousands of vendors, and surfacing contracts and renewals, SpendHound helps you stop overpaying and negotiate with confidence. Trusted by teams at ZoomInfo and Hootsuite. Get started at https://www.spendhound.com/cjBrex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metricsAleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/run—LINKS: CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com—TIMESTAMPS:0:00 SpaceX S1 breakdown0:50 Elon's Mars colony comp plan2:03 Common control accounting: SpaceX + xAI + X3:04 What SpaceX actually does3:43 How reusable rockets work4:24 Launch cost curve: foundation of everything5:49 Launch services: $8B, 85% of global launches6:44 Starlink: $11.4B, 63% EBITDA margins7:36 xAI and X: burning $1B/month8:22 Sponsors — RightRev | Rillet | EY11:18 Colossus and orbital AI thesis11:41 Revenue, segments and CapEx breakdown14:54 RPO: $28.4B backlog15:18 Starlink subscribers and ARPU decline16:01 Target valuation: $1.5–1.75 trillion16:47 Starlink deep dive18:05 International pricing strategy21:38 The consolidated entity problem22:28 Related party section: nine pages22:32 Sponsors — SpendHound | Brex | Aleph26:15 Valor Equity: $20B in equipment leases27:05 Tesla cross-ownership and Terrafab28:23 R&D: $8.6B, 46% of revenue30:33 Starship: key risk and growth linchpin31:41 Red flag 1: CEO comp tied to Mars colony32:22 Red flag 2: Musk concentration risk32:49 Red flag 3: Cursor option — $10B downside33:36 Red flag 4: X advertising is shrinking34:06 IPO structure and SPCX ticker34:50 30% retail allocation, no lockups35:44 S&P 500 inclusion forces buying within 15 days37:54 Valuation: 60–70x forward revenue38:43 Peer comparison39:44 What you're buying at $1.5T40:53 CFO comp: the only sane plan in the filing41:25 Bitcoin on the balance sheet41:57 Credits

The New York Times reports that the U.S. and Israel planned to install Ahmadinejad as Iran's leader, Netanyahu rebukes an Israeli minister for taunting a group of detained Gaza flotilla activists, the U.K. seals a free trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council, a judge orders the White House to comply with the Presidential Records Act, the DNC releases its autopsy report on the 2024 U.S. election, the U.N. backs an advisory opinion that member states are legally required to address climate change, Air France and Airbus are found liable in the 2009 fatal crash of Flight AF447, a Detroit-bound plane is diverted to Canada over an Ebola travel ban, NVIDIA reaches an all-time high revenue of $81.6B, and a record 274 climbers summit Everest in a single day. Sources: Verity.News

03:38 Judge rules initial search of assassin's backpack as unconstitutional34:18 Officers on duty for J6 riot sue government officials over $1.6B fund38:29 Drone video shows police BearCat running over armed man who killed copLEO Round Table (law enforcement talk show)Season 11, Episode 101 (2,675) filmed on 05/21/20261. https://rumble.com/v7a18r4-judge-in-luigi-mangione-case-rules-mcdonalds-backpack-search-was-illegal.html?mref=1htl22&mrefc=7http://tampafp.com/backpack-blunder-new-york-judge-allows-suspected-murder-weapon-in-mangione-trial/2. https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/police-officers-who-were-j6-protests-sue-trump-agencies-over-anti3. https://rumble.com/v7a489q-drone-footage-shows-a-bearcat-running-over-and-killing-armed-suspect-who-ki.html?e9s=src_v1_upp_aShow Panelists and Personalities:Chip DeBlock (Host and retired police detective)Dr. Travis Yates (retired major)Anthony Bandiero (retired sergeant and Senior Legal Instructor for Blue to Gold LE Training)Sponsors:Galls - Proud to serve America's public safety professionalshttps://www.galls.com/leoUse 15% OFF Code: RADIO15Compliant Technologies - Cutting-edge non-lethal tools to empower and protect those who servehttps://www.complianttechnologies.net/The International Firearm Specialist Academy - The New Standard for Firearm Knowledgehttps://www.gunlearn.com/MyMedicare.live - save money in Medicare insurance options from the expertshttp://www.mymedicare.live/Related Events, Organizations and Books:Force Science Training and Conference Information:Get Ready—Early Registration for Force Science 2026 Conference​September 22 - 24, 2026 Austin Metro, TXSave $100!Use Code: earlybird26Also,Connect with Von Kliem on LinkedIn:linkedin.com/in/vonkliemconsultingAsk for the discount code for 15% off online FS courses which can be found at:https://www.forcescience.com/online-courses/Retired DEA Agent Robert Mazur's works:Interview of Bryan Cranston about him playing Agent Robert Mazur in THE INFILTRATOR filmhttps://vimeo.com/channels/1021727Trailer for the new book, THE BETRAYALhttps://www.robertmazur.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/The-Betrayal-trailer-reMix2.mp4Everything on Robert Mazurhttps://www.robertmazur.com/The Wounded Blue - Lt. Randy Sutton's charityhttps://thewoundedblue.org/Rescuing 911: The Fight For America's Safety - by Lt. Randy Sutton (Pre-Order)https://rescuing911.org/Books by panelist and retired Lt. Randy Sutton:https://www.amazon.com/Randy-Sutton/e/B001IR1MQU%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_shareThey're Lying: The Media, The Left, and The Death of George Floyd - by Liz Collin (Lt. Bob Kroll's wife)https://thelieexposed.com/Lt. Col. Dave Grossman - Books, Newsletter, Presentations, Shop, Sheepdogshttps://grossmanontruth.com/Sheriff David Clarke - Videos, Commentary, Podcast, Shop, Newsletterhttps://americassheriff.com/Content Partners:Red Voice Media - Real News, Real Reportinghttps://www.redvoicemedia.com/shows/leo/ThisIsButter - One of the BEST law enforcement video channelshttps://rumble.com/user/ThisIsButterThe Free Press - LEO Round Table is in their Cops and Crimes section 5 days a weekhttps://www.tampafp.com/https://www.tampafp.com/category/cops-and-crime/Video Show Schedule On All Outlets:http://leoroundtable.com/home/syndication/Syndicated Radio Schedule:http://leoroundtable.com/radio/syndicated-radio-stations/

Sports Business Journal names Indianapolis No. 3 in 2026 Best Sports Cities rankings. We are attacking Iran ANNNNNNNND it's cancelled. Justice Department Announces Anti-Weaponization Fund. Kentucky GOP voters decide the fate of Representative Thomas Massie. Purdue University President Mung Chiang Leaving for Northwestern. Delegates must vote no on Diego Morales Funding for $1.6B replacement to Indianapolis VA hospital advances in Congress. Today’s Popcorn Moment: Corey Booker: We Shall Overcome. James Comey: Hang On. Today on the Marketplace: Genius or Ridiculous? Iranian officials claim injured Ayatollah is back to health QDoba stabbing in Fishers. Jake Query talking about Indy 500 qualifying. Fist Fighting over Swatch watches TV Theme Song: Big Brother. Howard Stern is a grumpy old manSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Funding for $1.6B replacement to Indianapolis VA hospital advances in Congress. Today’s Popcorn Moment: Corey Booker: We Shall Overcome. James Comey: Hang On. Today on the Marketplace: Genius or Ridiculous? Iranian officials claim injured Ayatollah is back to healthSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The window for government contractors, especially those in defense and space technology, to go public is open again as several listings over the past 12 months show and SpaceX's own offering this year will illustrate. Dave Khalsa, head of mid-cap defense and government technology investment banking at J.P. Morgan, works on transactions of many different types and observes all of them to help companies in the market figure it all out. In starting out this episode, Dave explains what all companies can take away from the handful of initial public offerings over the past 12 months and SpaceX's listing. This is true of whether they plan to go down the IPO path or not. The rest of the conversation between Dave and our Ross Wilkers focuses on how government priorities shape merger-and-acquisition activities by companies under different ownership models, including private equity and venture capital. Public offerings put GovCon in a new spotlight as SpaceX's listing looms HawkEye 360's public offering hauls in $416M AEVEX fetches $320M in IPO proceeds Firefly captures $868M in IPO proceeds York Space Systems raises $629M in public offering Merlin Labs' public offering collects $200M to build an AI autopilot for any aircraft L3Harris to spin off its rocket motor business with the Pentagon as an anchor investor AeroVironment's tech and business blueprints with BlueHalo now in the fold Veritas Capital's ninth fund grows to $15.3B OceanSound Partners hauls in $3.4B for third fund Arlington Capital fetches $6B for its seventh fund Government equity investments open a new frontier for industry Venture investing is part of the M&A conversation too Anduril hauls in $5B for Series H round Shield AI closes $1.5B Series G round and moves on acquisition Saronic wraps up $600M Series C round Sierra Space and Vast detail their Series C investment rounds

This is a recap of the top 10 posts on Hacker News on May 16, 2026. This podcast was generated by wondercraft.ai (00:30): Moving away from Tailwind, and learning to structure my CSSOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48158400&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(01:57): 'No way to prevent this,' says only package manager where this regularly happensOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48155690&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(03:25): Frontier AI has broken the open CTF formatOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48157559&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(04:52): SANA-WM, a 2.6B open-source world model for 1-minute 720p videoOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48159445&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(06:20): HTML ListsOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48161861&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(07:48): Fecal transplants for autism deliver success in clinical trials (2019)Original post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48158494&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(09:15): Accelerando (2005)Original post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48159241&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(10:43): Zerostack – A Unix-inspired coding agent written in pure RustOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48164287&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(12:11): Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphoneOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48158130&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(13:38): We've made the world too complicatedOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48158065&utm_source=wondercraft_aiThis is a third-party project, independent from HN and YC. Text and audio generated using AI, by wondercraft.ai. Create your own studio quality podcast with text as the only input in seconds at app.wondercraft.ai. Issues or feedback? We'd love to hear from you: team@wondercraft.ai

Cerebras is going public with the largest commercial chip ever built, $510M in 2025 revenue, and a $24.6B backlog mostly tied to OpenAI. CJ breaks down the company's wafer-scale AI bet, why inference changed the story, the strange customer-investor-lender relationships behind the IPO, and the big question: is Cerebras the next NVIDIA-style infrastructure winner, or a concentrated hardware company with a very expensive cloud pivot?—SPONSORS:SpendHound is a SaaS spend management platform built for finance and procurement teams that want visibility and leverage in every deal. By tracking all your software, benchmarking pricing across thousands of vendors, and surfacing contracts and renewals, SpendHound helps you stop overpaying and negotiate with confidence. Trusted by teams at ZoomInfo and Hootsuite. Get started at https://www.spendhound.com/cjBrex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metricsAleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/runRightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for teams that have outgrown spreadsheets and billing tool workarounds. It handles high-volume subscriptions, usage-based contracts, and mid-cycle upgrades, so you can scale without scrambling at month-end. For RevRec that keeps your books clean, visit https://www.rightrev.com/CJRillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cjEY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups—LINKS: Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsNCJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com—TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Preview and intro0:59 Cerebras: the dinner plate chip3:56 Why chip size matters for AI5:26 Old vs. new AI: inference is the bottleneck7:30 Revenue: 20x in 3 years7:49 Sponsors — SpendHound | Brex | Aleph11:33 Gross margin12:02 Net income: the one-time accounting trick12:41 Operating cash flow whipsaw13:24 RPO: $24.6B backlog13:58 Customer concentration: the UAE entities18:06 Sponsors — RightRev | Rillet | EY21:05 Cloud revenue: the inverse SaaS story22:23 Cloud gross margin collapse23:53 G42 warrants for pennies29:14 The OpenAI warrant: Funky Town31:08 $40B market cap milestone31:36 R&D and S&M breakdown33:15 Balance sheet and cash burn35:59 Red flag 1: accounting weaknesses36:37 Red flag 2: one foundry, no supply deal37:28 Red flag 3: UAE geopolitical risk38:10 Red flag 4: cloud is unproven39:02 Cap table: founders diluted40:43 Voting control: Class A, B, and N41:15 Valuation: 10–13x forward revenue41:48 Peer comparison43:47 CEO's prior issues46:10 CreditsNothing said or created by this podcast is business or investment advice#RunTheNumbersPodcast #IPO #Semiconductors #AIStrategy #FinanceLeadership

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Pilot -⁠ https://Pilot.com/TWIST⁠Grasshopper Bank -⁠ https://Grasshopper.bank/TWIST⁠Quo -⁠ https://Quo.com/TWiST⁠Plaud - ⁠https://Plaud.ai/twist⁠Anthropic just declared every unauthorized secondary sale of its stock "void" — naming Hiive, Forge, Sydecar, Upmarket, and others in a public hit list. Jason and Alex sit down with Jenny Fielding (Everywhere Ventures), Dave McClure (Practical VC), and Sam Lessin (Slow Ventures) to unpack what the AI lab's move to limit secondary trades means for SPV operators, brokers, and the founders trying to keep control of their cap tables. Plus: a real story of a founder who returned a $15M Series A six months after closing because Claude was going to eat his startup, SaaS moats, and just what does it mean to be rich?Timestamps:0:00 Guest introductions0:48 Anthropic voids unauthorized SPV trades8:41 Accredited investor reform & the SEC sophisticated investor test8:58 Quo (formerly OpenPhone) - Quo gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at https://quo.com/TWiST11:43 Naval's USVC closed-end fund as a workaround16:41 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!17:48 Pro-rata rights battles: when Series A investors push seed investors out19:36 Grasshopper Bank: Time is money. Don't waste either. Go to https://grasshopper.bank/twist and get an exclusive $500 cash bonus just for opening an account.29:13 Pilot: Focus on your product, let Pilot handle your bookkeeping. Pilot provides the most reliable accounting, CFO, and tax services for startups and small businesses. Head to https://pilot.com/twist and get $1,200 off your first year.30:23 Storing wealth in stories vs. cash flows34:19 Cerebras and Fervo Energy IPOs — meaningful liquidity?37:54 Will SpaceX, Anthropic, OpenAI IPOs redistribute capital or compound it?45:58 The $15M Series A founder who returned the money because of Claude50:01 Should founders pivot or return capital when the world changes?56:43 OpenAI's $6.6B tender and Shruti Gandhi's viral SF cost-of-living tweet1:00:25 Intercom rebrands to Fin: the AI-first late-stage pivotSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter:⁠ https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com⁠Check out the TWIST500:⁠ https://www.twist500.com⁠Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple:⁠ https://rb.gy/v19fcp⁠Follow Lon:X:⁠ https://x.com/lons⁠Follow Alex:X:⁠ https://x.com/alex⁠LinkedIn:⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm⁠Follow Jason:X:⁠ https://twitter.com/Jason⁠LinkedIn:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis⁠Check out all our partner offers:⁠ https://partners.launch.co/⁠Great TWIST interviews:⁠ Will Guidara,⁠⁠ Eoghan McCabe⁠,⁠ Steve Huffman⁠,⁠ Brian Chesky⁠,⁠ Bob Moesta,⁠⁠ Aaron Levie⁠,⁠ Sophia Amoruso⁠,⁠ Reid Hoffman⁠,⁠ Frank Slootman⁠,⁠ Billy McFarland⁠Check out Jason's suite of newsletters:⁠ https://substack.com/@calacanis⁠Follow TWiST:Twitter:⁠ https://twitter.com/TWiStartups⁠YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin⁠Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups⁠TikTok:⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups⁠Substack:⁠ https://twistartups.substack.com⁠

David covers three Wednesday stories: Coinbase laying off 14% of staff, a16z Crypto raising $2.2 billion, and Strategy losing $12.5 billion as CEO Phong Le floats selling bitcoin. We also unpack the AI-first layoff narrative, the potential return of the infra supercycle ($6B+ raised across crypto VCs in 2026), and why a Cambrian explosion of DATs and ETFs might absorb whatever Saylor has to offload. Enjoy! -- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (01:17) Coinbase Layoffs (07:15) Nexo Ad (07:50) Coinbase Layoffs (Cont.) (10:30) a16z Crypto Fund 5 (15:17) Nexo Ad (16:09) a16z Crypto Fund 5 (Cont.) (22:30) Strategy Losses FOLLOW THE SHOW › David — https://x.com/dcanellis › The Breakdown — https://x.com/TheBreakdownBW SPONSORS › NEXO Nexo is the premier digital wealth platform. Receive interest on your crypto, borrow against it without selling, and trade a range of assets. Now available in the U.S with 30 days of exclusive privileges. Get started at http://nexo.com/breakdown Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to the Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ DISCLAIMER As always, remember this podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely their opinions, not financial advice.

From Wall Street to Washington, major power players are relocating, redistricting battles are intensifying, and political tensions are spilling into corporate decisions. This episode breaks down a fast-moving shift in money, politics, and influence. ⚡ HOOK (OPEN) A knock on the glass. A billion-dollar exit. And a country quietly redrawing its power map in real time.

Bitcoin holds near $79K as Kraken's parent completes a landmark $550 million acquisition of Bitnomial to gain full CFTC derivatives capabilities. Strategy pauses Bitcoin purchases ahead of earnings, while North Korean terrorism victims obtain a court order to seize $71M in Arbitrum-frozen Kelp DAO ETH. Ethereum ETFs see continued inflows, XRP Ledger emerges as a $3.6B tokenized energy hub, and fake HSBC stablecoin scams are spreading. Markets remain cautious but supported by institutional developments and regulatory progress. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ravi Gupta sits down with Bradley Tusk to break down New York City's mounting budget crisis, a $6B deficit, and the tough choices facing Mayor Mamdani. They dig into the city's $40B education system—why it spends more than anywhere else yet delivers mediocre results—and what real reform could look like. The conversation spans everything from union power and government inefficiency to housing, public safety, and the future of urban leadership. It's a sharp, unfiltered look at whether Mamdani has the political courage to move beyond ideology and actually fix what's broken.  Bradley Tusk's The Firewall Podcast  ____________ Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Ravi at @RaviMGupta Notes from this episode are also available on Substack: ⁠https://thelostdebate.substack.com/⁠ Read more from Ravi on Substack: ⁠https://realravigupta.substack.com⁠  Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F⁠ Listen to Where the Schools Went: ⁠https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/⁠ 

Shoot us a Text.Episode #1323: Carvana keeps buying rooftops while Stellantis slows consolidation. GM delays its next-gen EV trucks amid weak demand, and Sony-Honda scale back Afeela.Show Notes with links:Carvana just scooped up its seventh CDJR store, planting its first franchised flag in Ohio. The online disruptor continues its push into traditional retail—while Stellantis quietly pumps the brakes.Carvana acquired Avon Lake CDJR near Cleveland, strengthening its hybrid model, pairing physical rooftops with its online sales and distribution network.Stellantis recently limited buyers to one CDJR store per year, signaling a push to slow consolidation and maintain dealer network balance.Analysts say these stores double as regional logistics hubs, keeping delivery distances within that 300–400 mile sweet spot.“Nobody wants to sell a Lexus store…with Stellantis, there's a ready supply.” said analyst Jeff Lick of Stephens Inc.GM is hitting pause on the future of its electric truck lineup, shelving plans for a next-gen refresh and signaling a sharper pivot back to gas-powered pickups as EV demand—and profitability—continue to lag.GM has indefinitely delayed its planned 2028 refresh of full-size EV trucks and SUVs, including Silverado EV and Escalade IQ.The move follows $7.6B in EV-related charges and a sharp drop in sales after federal incentives disappeared.Current EV truck volumes remain low, while GM is adding production capacity for gas-powered heavy-duty pickups.Factory Zero, once the centerpiece of GM's EV strategy, has seen layoffs, shutdowns, and reduced shifts amid weak demand.“EVs remain the end game for GM,” the company said, despite the pause in next-generation planning.Sony and Honda are scaling back their joint venture after deciding the current setup couldn't deliver competitive products anytime soon.Sony Honda Mobility is reducing operations after scrapping plans for its Afeela EV lineup.Employees will be reassigned back to Sony and Honda as the JV winds down activity.The companies cited challenges bringing products to market under the current structure.Even as EV plans fade, the partners say they'll continue focusing on software and user experience innovation.“It would be difficult…to bring products and services aligned with the JV's purpose to market,” the companies said.Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast  as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.Get the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/

Send us Fan MailPrivate credit is the crisis everyone's watching, but the real story -- and the one no one has been focused on -- is what private equity is doing behind the scenes.In Part 1 of our 3-part series, Kristen and Jen break down the $30 billion leveraged buyout of Caesars by Apollo and TPG, the deal that became the blueprint for what we now call "creditor-on-creditor violence" and flipped everything everyone thought they knew about the relationship between debt and equity investors on its head.This also happens to be the ultimate Private Equity & LBO deep dive as we start with the basics: what an LBO actually is, how it works, why private equity firms started to do club deals back in 2006/7 (hint...size) and how capital structures work at a high level.From there, Jen and Kristen walk through the actual structure of the Caesars deal — $6B in equity from Apollo, TPG, and 30+ co-investors (everyone from Goldman Sachs to the Michael J. Fox Foundation to Bob Kraft), $7B in bank loans, $6B in bridge-to-high-yield bonds, and $6.5B in commercial mortgage-backed securities sitting at the PropCo level. They explain what an OpCo/PropCo mean in laymen's terms, why it let Apollo juice leverage, why club deals fell out of favor in favor of co-invest structures, and how today's mega-LBOs (Electronic Arts, the Ellison family's Warner Bros. Discovery play) stack up against what was historic in 2007.This series is based on The Caesars Palace Coup by Sujeet Indap and Max Frumes — not sponsored, just genuinely one of the best case studies out there on LBOs and distressed debt investing. Stay tuned for Part 2, where Jen and Kristen get into everything that went wrong, the asset-transfer shenanigans, and the birth of creditor-on-creditor violence and how Britney Spears was the linchpin that kept it all together...until it all unraveled with the biggest names in investing, Apaloosa, Eliott, Oak Tree, Oak Hill, Paulson and more got in the ring. In Part 3, we sit down with Sujeet Indap of the Financial Times to talk about what the Caesars deal means for the private credit market today, and what exactly is going on with Caesars who is back in the news with Carl Icahn and billionaire Tilman Fertitta out with competing offers.For a 14 day FREE Trial of Macabacus, click HEREShop our Self Paced Courses:Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HEREFixed Income Sales & Trading HEREWealthfront.com/wss. This is a paid endorsement for Wealthfront. May not reflect others' experiences. Similar outcomes not guaranteed. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. Rate subject to change. Promo terms apply. If eligible for the boosted rate of 4.15% offered in connection with this promo, the boosted rate is also subject to change if base rate decreases during the 3 month promo period.The Cash Account, which is not a deposit account, is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC ("Wealthfront Brokerage"), Member FINRA/SIPC. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. The Annual Percentage Yield ("APY") on cash deposits as of 11/7/25, is representative, requires no minimum, and may change at any time. The APY reflects the weighted average of deposit balances at participating Program Banks, which are not allocated equally. Wealthfront Brokerage sweeps cash balances to Program Banks, where they earn the variable APY. Sources HERE. 

With Wen Nottebohm—Managing Director, Wealth Advisor at Cresset Overview Wen Nottebohm of Cresset joins Mindy Diamond to share the next gen perspective: how advisors can design their own growth path, earn credibility among UHNW clients, the value of mentors, the influence of AI, and much more. Listen in… > Download a transcript of this episode… NOTE: The views and opinions expressed by the guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Diamond Consultants. Neither Diamond Consultants nor the guests on this podcast are compensated in any way for their participation. Watch… https://youtu.be/jmtqqBQ9C80 About this episode… There's a fairly well-defined career path for most financial advisors. You spend the early years learning the business, supporting senior advisors, and gradually taking on more responsibility. When it comes to ultra-high net worth clients, that timeline tends to stretch even longer, given the complexity and expectations that come with those relationships. But the path isn't always linear. And in some cases, it moves faster than people expect—especially when the focus shifts from simply accumulating experience to developing real expertise and “a seat at the table” early on. That's part of what makes Wen Nottebohm's perspective so compelling. Wen is part of the Atlanta team at Cresset, a $230B+ multi-family office. The team manages roughly $7B in assets, and Wen herself is advising on $1.6B for UHNW families and entrepreneurs. What stands out is not just the scale, but how early in her career Wen stepped into that level of responsibility—and what it actually required to make that work. In this conversation with Mindy Diamond, Wen offers a very real look at the next gen perspective, including: The wirehouse environment—and what made it a successful training ground. The value of a mentor—and how working with Justin Berman helped her move to the next level. Building a book to over $1B—and how she did so in a much shorter timeline than many of her peers. Earning credibility—and what it really takes to build a business and client trust with less of a track record. Working with a sophisticated client base—and how to manage expectations and identify what they really value. The benefit of a firm like Cresset—and how the more personalized culture and boutique feel creates a foundation for growth. The influence of AI—and how it's both changing the dynamic and raising the level of the advisor-client conversation. This episode is a masterclass for next gen and seasoned advisors alike, identifying what it really takes to build a billion-dollar business in a rapidly changing environment and questioning whether the traditional timeline for building an advisory practice is being rewritten in real time. Want to learn more about where, why, and how advisors like you are moving? Click to contact us or call 908-879-1002. Related Resources Finding the Shortest Path to Excellence Can Be a Game Changer for AdvisorsDoing everything you can to deliver better service, drive growth, and achieve your goals faster can result in extraordinary benefits. The 4th Annual Advisor Transition ReportA data-driven look at where advisors are moving, why they're making changes, and what it means for your business in 2026. Life After Goldman Sachs: A Story of Extraordinary SuccessEx-Goldman Sachs advisor Justin Berman shares how he found the courage to leave the Goldman imprimatur, brave Garden Leave, and build the $3B Berman Capital Advisors. Wen NottebohmManaging Director and Wealth Advisor Wen Nottebohm is a Managing Director, Wealth Advisor at Cresset. She works with clients to help protect and grow their legacy in order to have a bigger impact on what is most important to them. Wen was named to the 2024 Barron's Top 100 Independent Advisors, 2025 Barron's Top Independent Financial Advisors, 2025 Barron's Top Financial Advisors By State, 2025 Barron's Top Women Financial Advisors, 2025 Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-In-State, 2025 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors, 2025 Forbes Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors Best-In-State, and 2025 Forbes America's Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors lists. Prior to Cresset, Wen worked as a Wealth Advisor for Berman Capital Advisors, and before that was with AQR Capital Management, where she was a Client Strategies and Portfolio Solutions Analyst. Wen started out her career in the Private Wealth Management division at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, where she specialized in risk and discretionary account management for the firm's ultra-high-net-worth clients. Wen graduated from MIT with Bachelor of Science degrees in Economics and Management Science. She also holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. She obtained the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® designation in 2019. Wen and her husband live in Atlanta with their son and daughter. She serves on the Board of the YWCA of Greater Atlanta and is involved with the Atlanta Regional Commission Global Advisory Panel, the MIT Alumni Association, the Wharton Club of Atlanta, and the Young Women Leadership Forum. Wen is also a member of the LEAD Atlanta Class of 2016.

Amazon's dropping $10.8 billion on Globalstar to beef up its Leo satellite network and challenge Starlink — and Apple's along for the ride. Plus, federal charges for the Sam Altman attacker, OpenAI acqui-hires a fintech startup, Google declares war on back button hijacking, data labeling startups are printing money, and Missouri voters revolt over a data center. Amazon agrees to acquire satellite operator Globalstar for $10.8B to expand Leo satellite network; Amazon and Apple say Leo will power some iPhone and Watch services (Amazon) Amazon to Acquire Globalstar in Satellite Cellular-Connection Push (WSJ) US DOJ charges Daniel Moreno-Gama, accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's home, with attempted murder and arson (CNN) Man who attacked OpenAI CEO's home had list of other AI executives (NYT) OpenAI acquires personal finance startup Hiro Finance (TechCrunch) Google designates "back button hijacking" as malicious, sites could be demoted in Search from June 15 (9to5Google) Data labeling startup Handshake's gross annualized revenue hits ~$1B; Mercor also at $1B+ pace (The Information) Voters in Festus, Missouri oust all four incumbent council members days after council approved a $6B data center (Politico) Learn more at liquid.trade/techbrew. Disclaimer: ● Initial 3 week subscription and 4 weeks of medication from $79 plus tax and $179 per month plus tax for 12 week subscription thereafter. Final pricing depends on program selection.● Noom GLP-1Rx Program involves healthy diet, exercise and support. Individual results vary. Meds & personalization based on clinical need. Not reviewed by FDA for safety, efficacy, or quality. No affiliation with Novo Nordisk Inc., the only US source of FDA-approved semaglutide. Not available in all 50 US states● Based on an analysis of self reported data from 1,254 engaged Noom users. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to episode 351 of The Cloud Pod, where the weather is always cloudy! Justin, Matt, and Ryan are in the studio today and ready to bring you the latest in cloud and AI news. And it's that time of year again – we're coming up quickly on Google Next, place your AI money bets, so we've got our yearly predictions for what's coming from Vegas, as well as more news about Mythos, Amazon finally becoming a utility, and even an aftershow where we discuss the computing power of Artemis. It's a great show, so let's get started!  Titles we almost went with this week Three StorageClasses Walk Into an AI Workload Deprecated Models Don’t Die, They Just Fail Your API Calls SQL Walks Into a Graph Bar and Stays Too Many Agents Spoil the Workflow One Registry to Rule All Your Rogue AI Agents Eight CPUs Walk Into Space, Only One Comes Back Stop Retyping the Same Gemini Prompt Like a Caveman Claude Code Routines Let AI Work While You Sleep AWS Builds a Yellow Pages for Your AI Agents GPT Finally Stops Refusing to Talk About Hacking None of the hosts is ready for Next We are once again trying to look into our next next next crystal ball and failing Google is gonna announce AI, it’s just mandatory now Las Vegas is calling, our Livers are crying A big thanks to this week's sponsors: There are a lot of cloud cost management tools out there, but only Archera provides insured commitments. It sounds fancy, but it’s really simple. Archera gives you the cost savings of a 1 or 3-year AWS Savings Plan with a commitment as short as 30 days. If you do not use all the cloud resources you have committed to, Archera will literally cover the difference. Other cost management tools may say they offer “insured commitments”, but remember to ask: Will you actually give me my rebate? Because Archera will.  Check out thecloudpod.net/archera to schedule a demo today.  We also wanted to tell you about something coming to the US for the first time — WeAreDevelopers World Congress!  They’ve been doing this in Europe for years, 15,000-plus attendees in Berlin, it’s one of the biggest developer events over there. Coté from Software Defined Talk is actually speaking at their Berlin event this summer, so we’ve got some firsthand context here. In September, they’re launching the North America edition. San José, September 23 to 25. 500-plus speakers, 18 tracks — cloud, infrastructure, DevOps, security, AI, data engineering, all of it. Speakers from Datadog, Honeycomb, Sentry, Google, LinkedIn, and Stack Overflow. Olivier Pomel, Christine Yen, Milin Desai, Kelsey Hightower – plus workshops and masterclasses, not just talks. These are people who know how to do a developer conference at scale. wearedevelopers.us, code DEVPOD26 for 15% off. Group rates on top of that for 4 or more. Follow Up 01:47 AI Cybersecurity After Mythos: The Jagged Frontier  Since the original Mythos/Project Glasswing announcement, AISLE published follow-up testing showing that small, inexpensive open-weight models can replicate much of the vulnerability detection work Anthropic attributed to Mythos, with all 8 tested models detecting the flagship FreeBSD NFS buffer overflow, including a 3.6B parameter model costing $0.11 per million tokens. A notable correction to the framing of the original announcement: cyb

Here's the podcast description for March 27, 2026: March 27, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes. Today's top stories: WSJ reports consumers now take 20+ supplements daily spending $1K+ monthly, with SuppCo data showing average user spends $168/month but half of 500+ products fail label claims Longevity hotel market expected to grow from $7.6B in 2026 to $11.7B by 2030 as properties shift from wellness amenities to core health platforms eMed raises $200M at $2B+ valuation with Tom Brady as investor and Chief Wellness Officer, helping employers manage GLP-1 use through supervised platform Today's episode is brought to you by AIIR — a modern communications and experiential agency for health, wellness, fitness, and performance brands. From earned media to events and creator-led campaigns, AIIR helps companies sharpen their story, earn attention, and build trust that compounds. Visit https://aiir.agency to learn more. More from Fitt: Fitt Insider breaks down the convergence of fitness, wellness, and healthcare — and what it means for business, culture, and capital. Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe Work with our recruiting firm → https://talent.fitt.co/ Follow us on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/fittinsider/ Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider Reach out → insider@fitt.co

Get Sam's exact system/playbook for ChatGPT: https://clickhubspot.com/jdeb Episode 807: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk about the wildest stories in AI right now.  — Show Notes:  (0:00) Intro (5:08) Story 1: Anthropic did $6B in revenue last month (10:34) Story 2: Man uses AI to treat his dog's cancer (17:06) Story 3: New high school for entrepreneurs  (29:12) Story 4: Pokemon Go is an AI mapping company now (35:18) Story 5: Karpathy's job thing — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: • Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com  • Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents. • Mercury - Need a bank for your company? Go check out Mercury (mercury.com). Shaan uses it for all of his companies! Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC • I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out: beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/ • Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/ • Copy That - https://copythat.com • Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth • Sam's List - http://samslist.co/ My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /