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In this solo episode, host Alex Pardo gives a candid update on Dan's journey to buy his first self-storage facility — a deal that had strong market demographics, favorable bank financing, and real value-add upside, until one buried spreadsheet assumption changed everything. This episode is a real-world lesson in self-storage underwriting, revenue ramp-up timelines, and what it actually costs to miss a detail in your deal filter. If you're working toward your first storage deal and want to understand how to stress-test your numbers before it's too late, this episode will save you from making the same costly mistake Dan made. You'll Learn How To: Understand why storage revenue doesn't move like a light switch after acquisition Identify the ramp-up period tab in your deal filter and how to use it correctly Calculate how many net move-ins per month is realistic for your market Stress-test your debt service coverage ratio before presenting a deal to a bank Negotiate from a shoulder-to-shoulder position with sellers when deals need restructuring Recognize when a deal that looks good on paper is missing a critical timeline assumption Surround yourself with a community that can catch what your spreadsheet can't What You'll Learn in This Episode [0:00] Dan's deal looked solid until one buried assumption flipped everything [0:32] Alex introduces Season 2 and Dan's journey from unemployed to first-time storage buyer [1:09] Why Dan wasn't excited when he finally got under contract — and what that reveals [1:45] Why celebrating each step matters even when you've been burned before [2:06] The market fundamentals Dan liked: demographics, income, population growth [2:31] The bank terms that made the deal attractive — 5.29% fixed for 5 years or 5.99% for 10 [3:05] A cautionary tale: a well-known investor who lost $15 million when rates adjusted on a $70M multifamily deal [4:13] Why Alex jumped on an impromptu Zoom to review Dan's underwriting spreadsheet [4:33] How Storage Wins community member Casey McKillop saved $100,000 on his first offer [6:02] The specific tab Dan wasn't reading correctly — net move-ins and the ramp-up period [7:07] The real issue: Dan assumed revenue would jump from $170K to $210K overnight [7:51] It would take Dan 10 months to reach profitability — and he wasn't prepared to fund it [8:09] The bank pulled out after reviewing the deal more closely [8:59] How to explain debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) to sellers and why 1.25–1.3 matters [10:14] The lesson: growth comes from adversity, and Dan won't make this mistake again Who This Episode Is For: First-time storage investors preparing to make their first offer Investors who have been under contract before and had deals fall through Anyone underwriting a value-add storage deal and projecting a quick revenue bump Buyers who haven't stress-tested their debt service coverage ratio Entrepreneurs who know the numbers but need a second set of eyes on their assumptions Storage investors trying to understand how ramp-up timelines affect deal viability Why You Should Listen: Dan's deal had everything going for it on the surface — strong demographics, committed bank financing, and a clear path to raising rents. But one overlooked tab in the deal filter spreadsheet showed that revenue wouldn't jump overnight. It would take ten months to reach profitability, and Dan hadn't budgeted for that gap. That single assumption blew up the DSCR, the bank walked, and a deal that looked ready to close came apart fast. This episode isn't about what went wrong. It's about what you can learn before it happens to you. Alex walks through the exact mistake — projecting revenue as a light switch rather than a ramp — and explains why having a community to stress-test your deal before you go under contract is worth more than almost anything else in this business. The most expensive education is experience. But it doesn't have to be yours. Dan learned this lesson so you don't have to. Follow Alex Pardo here: Storage Wins Website: https://www.storagewins.com Book a Discovery Call: https://www.storagewins.com/call Storage Wins Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/storagewins Instagram: @alexpardo25 YouTube: Storage Wins If this episode hit home, share it with someone who's currently underwriting a self-storage deal or about to make their first offer. One conversation, one extra set of eyes on a spreadsheet, can be the difference between a great deal and an expensive lesson. Follow Storage Wins on your favorite podcast platform, and leave a rating and review — it helps more investors find the show. Ready to move from learning to owning? Head to https://www.storagewins.com/call and schedule your free ten-minute discovery call with Alex. Your first storage facility is closer than you think. Join the Storage Wins Facebook Group and connect with investors who are in the trenches just like you. The community is free, the knowledge is real, and the next deal could come from a conversation you haven't had yet.
They said it was too taboo to talk about. Too sensitive to market. Too uncomfortable to scale.Jhalesa Seymour turned it into a multi-million dollar empire.In this episode of Inside The Vault, Jhalesa breaks down how she built an eight-figure feminine wellness brand from her college dorm room — starting with just $67 and a problem no one wanted to address.No investors. No big box stores. No massive ad budget.Just conviction, focus, and a product that worked.Inside this episode, we cover:• How Jhalesa built a $70M brand from handmade soap • The power of word-of-mouth marketing (no ads for years) • The 150,000-unit breakthrough moment • Losing 20,000 orders overnight (and surviving it) • The $80,000 internal betrayal that changed everything • Why focus is the real eight-figure secret • How to scale a physical product business the right way • Building legacy beyond the moneyIf you've ever wanted to build a product-based business, dominate a niche, or turn something “too taboo” into a global movement — this is the blueprint.
This week on the Hammersley Brothers eCommerce Podcast, we reveal the real conversations happening inside fast-growing eCommerce brands. After speaking with our coaches and reviewing dozens of businesses, we break down the common themes that keep appearing in companies scaling from 7 figures to 8 figures and beyond. In this episode: • Most eCommerce brands think they have a marketing problem. Actually, they have a numbers problem • The real reason ads stop scaling and what successful brands do instead • Why are there no secret tactics, hacks, or magic buttons in eCommerce • How top brands "architect the numbers" before they scale • The role of seasonality and why many stores completely misunderstand it • Why existing customers create the biggest growth tailwind in your business • How larger brands use momentum to outperform smaller competitors • The surprising truth about branding that most founders gets wrong • Why tracking movement in your numbers matters more than the numbers themselves If you've ever wondered what the businesses doing $10M, $20M, or even $70M+ are actually focused on, this episode gives you a rare look behind the curtain. P.S. Whenever you're ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/scheduleuk-ant 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://gohigh.hammersleybrothers.com/get-the-book 3. Join the Ultimate Guide To Ecommerce Facebook group and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/924567391291786
Why This Episode MattersFirgun Ventures launched in late 2025 with a $70M first close anchored by the Qatar Investment Authority and a mandate that doesn't exist anywhere else in the market: lead Series A and B rounds in quantum scale-ups globally. Kris Naudts is a neuroscientist and former Culture Trip founder whose path to quantum runs through a near-fatal medical misdiagnosis. Zeynep Koruturk spent over a decade building the Goldman Sachs Tech Initiative and meeting more than a thousand founders. Both were early angels in what became Quantinuum.If you're trying to understand how quantum companies actually get financed between the lab and the IPO window — or why a specialist fund needed to exist at all — this conversation is one of the clearest views available. It's also a useful frame for founders thinking about what an informed institutional investor actually does in a round.SponsorThis episode is brought to you by Outshift, Cisco's incubation engine. The need for computational power is rapidly increasing in every sector. From drug discovery to material innovation to complex financial modeling, classical systems are reaching their absolute limits. It's time for a paradigm shift. The answer is a scalable quantum network, built on open standards and vendor-agnostic architecture. By uniting distributed quantum devices, you unlock limitless computational power.Learn more about the Cisco Universal Quantum Switch at Outshift.com.Go deeper with the blog post The switch that quantum networking has been waiting for.What We Get IntoWhy Kris's ALS misdiagnosis became the conviction event that pulled him from media entrepreneurship into quantum investingHow Zeynep's decade at Goldman Sachs Tech Initiative shaped her pattern-matching for deep tech, and where that pattern-matching breaks down in quantumThe structural reason Series A/B is the real bottleneck in quantum financing — and why precede and seed capital is no longer the gap people assume it isHow Firgun underwrites engineering and execution risk after the scientific risk is largely retiredWhy a quantum-specialist fund unlocks soft commitments from larger institutions that otherwise stay on the sidelinesThe role of Firgun's "scientific co-founder" Professor Mete Atatüre and the need for sub-specialist diligence across modalitiesHow Firgun thinks about portfolio construction across silicon-spin/photonic (Photonic Inc.), silicon CMOS (Quantum Motion), and other architectures without picking a qubit winnerWhy a truly global mandate is a feature, not a focus problem, given how concentrated quantum talent is in roughly a dozen ecosystemsHow sovereign capital, US equity-stake announcements, and geopolitical fragmentation are starting to reshape who can invest in whatWhy the binary "fault-tolerant or bust" framing of quantum investing misses the gradient of capability that drives near-term valueResources & LinksGuest & FirmFirgun Ventures — The fund's homepage, with the team and "Time to Talk Quantum" podcast featuring the founders' own framing of the market.Firgun Ventures on Crunchbase — Confirms London HQ, global mandate, and Series A/B focus.Fund Launch & ThesisFirgun Ventures Launches $250M VC Fund to Invest in Quantum — The Quantum Insider — Launch details, QIA anchor commitment, and founder backgrounds.Firgun Ventures Launches With $70M for Quantum Tech Innovation — TechFundingNews — Deeper breakdown of the LP roster and market rationale.Firgun Ventures: Scaling Quantum Beyond the Early Stages — Future of Computing — Extended interview with Kris and Zeynep on the Series A/B bottleneck.Portfolio Companies MentionedFirgun Invests in Photonic Inc. — The Quantum Insider — Firgun's first portfolio investment in DARPA-validated Photonic Inc.Photonic Inc.'s World-First Quantum Teleportation — QC Report — Technical context on the "Entanglement First" silicon-spin/photonic architecture.Photonic Inc. Closes $200M+ Round — The Quantum Insider — Final close at a $2B valuation.Quantum Motion Raises $160M Series C — The Quantum Insider — Firgun's first European investment in silicon CMOS quantum computing.Quantum Motion's Silicon CMOS Approach — Technologies.org — Technical analysis of the CMOS scalability thesis.Key Quotes & InsightsKris on the conviction event: "If you're expecting to die and then you're told you're going to live, you have to rethink it yet again… You can go in the direction of enjoy every day, or you can go in the direction of let's try to do something meaningful with whatever time I have left."Zeynep on the real bottleneck: Pre-seed and seed capital in quantum is no longer the gap — the A and B rounds are. Roughly 40% of companies in the space need that bridge to unlock larger institutional capital, and almost no one is set up to lead it.Kris on diligence limits: No one person can underwrite the full quantum stack. Firgun pairs a "scientific co-founder" with sub-specialists for each modality, because in quantum "no propositions sound stupid" — and that's exactly the problem.Zeynep on the asymmetric bet: Quantum is one of the few areas where geopolitical reality creates a floor under the downside. The West can't afford to lose, which means funding will be there long enough for the right companies to mature.Kris on willing the timeline: "You cannot will it into being. The space will evolve at the pace it is set to evolve with the capital and the talent in it." A useful corrective for anyone pitching a five-year cure-for-Parkinson's roadmap.Related Episodes
Chris Camillo turned $20,000 into over $70M using a strategy anyone can learn. In this episode, he shares his exact strategy, and why AI now makes this the biggest opportunity of your lifetime. Try Vanta Today: https://Vanta.com/calum Want to get the Chris Camillo Observational Investing Guide, subscribe to New Era, our weekly newsletter: https://calumjohnsonshowlinks.lovable.app/ Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:39 Why now is the easiest time in history to get rich 07:14 Why the game is rigged in your favor 11:11 How AI does the hardest part of investing 14:32 Watch this if you're unhappy with your 9-5 22:40 The $70M strategy anyone can learn 27:54 How I turned $20k into $2M in 3 years 33:14 The trade that cost me 1/3 of my net worth 36:35 The money trick the top 1% use 41:42 How much money do you need to start investing? 55:00 Why AI will create more jobs 01:00:22 The business anyone could build right now 01:06:30 What is an AI agent? (clearly explained) 01:16:17 How to start with AI if you're not technical
Block Out by Grand Games is scaling to $300K/day — and it doesn't even have an Android version yet. It's about to become Grand Games' biggest title, overtaking Magic Sword, and the whole thing is a masterclass in perfect execution over original innovation.Matej Lančarič, Jakub Remiar, and Felix Braberg break down Block Out, the deterministic sort puzzler that's quietly become one of the most aggressive scalers in mobile. The conversation covers how Block Out's iteration is now out-earning the game it borrowed from (Color Block Jam), the level-design difference that makes it more casual and more approachable, the UA upgrade that Jakub estimates at 500%+ over Grand's earlier games, the iOS-only / US-only / single-AppLovin-campaign soft launch playbook (the same one Pixel Flow used), the blended-ROAS interstitial strategy driving 32-36% ad revenue, and the 1,000+ creatives and 260 playables now powering the scale. Plus the bigger Grand Games story: a $70M raise, $105M+ total funding, and a template machine that takes proven concepts and executes them better than anyone.The thesis, straight from the episode: Grand Games doesn't do giant innovation. They do perfect execution.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 the 500% UA upgrade03:50 The numbers — $300K/day, 140K downloads/day, iOS only06:40 The Grand Games template — perfect execution, not innovation10:25 What a deterministic sort puzzler actually is13:25 Block Out vs Color Block Jam — the level design difference20:50 The soft launch playbook — one AppLovin campaign, US only21:45 The ad question — blended ROAS and 32-36% ad revenue26:30 The UA breakdown — Mintegral, 1,000 creatives, 260 playables--------------------------------------PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors---------------------------------------For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultanthttps://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultanthttps://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultanthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me---------------------------------------If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit lancaric.substack.com & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej LancaricDo you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask Matej AI - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai
Tim Hammond opens with one frame: most buyers are reactive. The phone rings, the land is available, they start figuring out whether they can buy it. Tim's position is that question should have been answered two years before the call. The prepared buyer already has the number. The unprepared buyer watches somebody else close it. Wade walks the Four Ds from the buyer's seat -- Define (kitchen table, ambitions, logistics), Discover (compile, blueprint), Design (three options, pros/cons, recommendation), Deliver (execute). Tim notes the process is not linear; in practice they cycle back to Define as new information surfaces. The container for all of it is the war room: accountant, lender, lawyer, and real estate advisor in the same room at the same time. Poll 2 found zero percent of the audience had done this. Tim was not surprised. The second half opens the capital question. Wade is working a live deal where a seller with a $70M holding is willing to retain $30M to make the transaction possible for a buyer who cannot finance the full amount. Tim names the industry horizon: not enough capital exists in the system to transition all the farms that need to move in the next two to three decades, and creative structures -- tranches, seller retention, equity partnerships -- will become the standard, not the exception. Two topics flagged for future episodes: right of first refusal (common, well-intentioned, six-figure exit consequences if set up wrong) and the young farmer entry question (Joshua from Lethbridge, land at $20K-$30K per acre -- Tim's answer: start the conversation before you think you need to). KEY TOPICS - Poll 1: 55% said biggest barrier is structure (no entity or plan); 33% said finding land; 9% financing; 0% timing - Poll 2: 0% have a war room with all advisors at the table; 40% partially; 30% no; 10% did not know that was the move - Poll 3: 33% actively looking or in a deal; 8% positioned and waiting; 17% thinking about it; 25% harvest mode; 17% advisors here for the framework - Four Ds applied to the buyer: Define, Discover, Design, Deliver -- not linear, frequently cycles back to Define - The war room: accountant + lender + lawyer + real estate advisor in the same room at the same time - Most expensive mistake in 30 days: buying land that doesn't fit your operation (Wade: "You've just spent $500K to $1M on a quarter you shouldn't have bought, and now when the right one shows up, you might not be able to") - Seller retaining $30M on a $70M deal: creative structure enabling the deal to close for a buyer who can't finance the full amount - Capital supply gap: not enough capital in the system to transition all farms needing succession in the next 2-3 decades - Saskatchewan: average farmer owns 2/3 of the land they farm -- highest ratio in the world (US is 40%, Europe is 10-20%) - Cap rate gap: investors require 2.5-4%; farmers outbid investors because they capture both land return and operating return - Right of first refusal: flagged as common-but-misunderstood tool with major exit consequences -- future episode - Young farmers question: Joshua from Lethbridge, land at $20K-$30K per acre; Tim's answer: start the conversation before you think you need to CONNECT - Tim Hammond and Wade Berlinic: hammondrealty.ca - growingthefuture.ca Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.
In this episode, Hall Martin and Kat DelGaudio host a Ten Capital investor education session highlighting how Ten Capital connects growth startups with accredited investors through relationship-driven events and coaching, and they point attendees to tenthcapital.group/events and a QR code for startups seeking to raise. Hall introduces Ava, Ten Capital's AI venture assistant on startupfundingespresso.com, built from over 500 blogs, podcasts, and calculators to answer startup funding and investing questions. The investor panel features Vadim Balashev of Viaduct Ventures, a Series A B2B AI-focused VC writing roughly $500K checks, and Nola Masterson of Portfolia, a venture fund with 2,000+ investors (about 90% women) across 14 funds and $70M deployed in areas including women's health, active aging, and sustainability. Founder Nathan Monte pitches Enamel Pure's $35K laser-and-camera hygiene device that cleans plaque, hardens enamel as a fluoride replacement, whitens via a mouth guard, and creates 2D/3D dental scans for AI-driven diagnostics and aligner measurement files; he cites FDA clearance, distributor-led go-to-market, per-procedure recurring revenue, and an upcoming $8M Series A at a $32M pre after finishing a $1.5M round. ________________________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/ For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/ For eGuides check out: https:/_/tencapital.group/education/ For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Bobby Triplett is VP of Renovation Services at Offerpad, a publicly traded iBuyer with operations in 20+ markets across 15 states, where he has led the renovation of more than 40,000 homes over nearly a decade. His team now offers institutional-grade, W2-staffed project management to private investors — from first-time flippers doing two deals a year to clients running 120 renovation projects a month. This episode covers how Bobby built a scalable renovation infrastructure that private investors can plug into without hiring a single employee, and why itemized scopes, fast trade payments, and a culture of accountability are the real drivers of ROI. If you're a real estate investor trying to scale your fix and flip or rental renovation operations without drowning in contractor headaches, this one is for you.Episode Highlights[1:03] – Host introduces Bobby and why his renovation model helps investors make, spend, and keep more money[2:17] – Bobby explains how Offerpad scaled to 100 renovations a month across 20 states before pivoting to serve private investors[3:09] – How Offerpad's $60–$70M annual materials spend lets private investors access wholesale pricing and institutional-grade service[4:37] – Bobby describes his client range: from investors doing 2–3 flips a year to one client running 120 projects a month[5:31] – Why Offerpad Renovate is like renting a sports car: investors get the speed and systems without the overhead[6:59] – How Bobby built loyal trade networks by guaranteeing volume, fast payment, and relationship-based accountability[9:08] – The culture of ownership and stewardship that defines how Bobby's team handles mistakes and escalations[12:52] – Where the model works best: median price and below, investment properties only, no luxury or retail renovations[16:37] – Why Bobby refuses lump-sum bids and uses fully baked, room-by-room itemized scopes instead[18:35] – Bobby's core mission: giving investors confidence in renovation so they can focus on sourcing and scaling[21:08] – The tech stack: CompanyCam for photos, proprietary software for scopes, and a dedicated W2 project manager as the investor's single point of contact[24:18] – Bobby's backstory: from Bible college and 15 years in ministry to leading Invitation Homes' 7,900-door Tampa maintenance division[27:02] – How Bobby turned one of Invitation Homes' worst-performing markets into a top-five in the country within one year[30:01] – A Saint Louis client scaled to 11 markets and 7 states without hiring a single employee, using Offerpad Renovate as his renovation infrastructure5 Key TakeawaysVolume Is the Loudest Language — Contractors don't have marketing budgets. When you guarantee consistent pipeline and pay fast, you earn loyalty and wholesale pricing. That combination is how Bobby's team delivers institutional quality at a price private investors can actually work with.Itemized Scopes Protect Your ROI — Lump-sum bids are where investors get burned. Bobby's team submits fully baked, room-by-room scopes with labor, materials, margin, and taxes on every line item. That transparency lets investors make real-time tradeoffs and actually understand where their money is going.Culture of Accountability Scales — "What gets celebrated gets repeated" isn't just a slogan at Offerpad. Bobby built his reputation by teaching his team to own mistakes and communicate proactively, even when the news is bad. No news, he says, is always worse than bad news.Scale Without Adding Overhead — One of Bobby's clients operates across 11 markets and 7 states with a small team and zero local hires. By using Offerpad's W2 project managers as their on-the-ground infrastructure, investors can say yes to good deals in markets they've never set foot in.Confidence Is What Lets Investors Grow — Most investors hit an ejection button not because they run out of deals, but because they run out of trust in their partners. Bobby's model is built to give investors confidence in the renovation piece so they can stay focused on sourcing and scaling.Links & Resources• Offerpad Renovate — offerpad.com/renovate • CompanyCam (photo documentation tool) — companycam.com • Simple CFO (financial systems for real estate investors) — simplecfo.com • Need to Lead by David Burke (leadership book Bobby's team is reading together)Closing RemarkIf you're scaling your real estate portfolio and renovation costs are eating your margins or slowing your growth, Bobby's model is worth a serious look. Share this episode with an investor in your network who's been burned by contractors or is ready to expand into new markets. Subscribe, review, and share the show — and if you want to get control of your cash flow on the financial side, visit simplecfo.com.
Founded in 2010, the Institut Pasteur spinout PathoQuest sold to top CRO Charles River for $70M this year, a product of years of collaboration and stepwise investments.Jean‑François tells us how the exit unfolded, as well as the importance of biosafety and CMC as pharma and biotech outsource heavily and cell and gene therapies mature. We also cover how animal testing is disappearing from CMC and how France must nurture its biotech ecosystem.---For transparency, this episode has been sponsored by PathoQuest.---⭐️ ABOUT THE SPEAKERJean-François has more than 20 years of pharma leadership under his belt. Before his ten years at PathoQuest, he was a Senior Vice-President in charge of Ipsen's GI-oncology and endocrinology franchise.He has an engineering degree and a master's degree in Foreign Trade.
A top-5 mobile game with 60-70 million daily active users just disappeared from Google Play for 24 hours and came back. Nobody from Hungry Studios is saying anything. That's the headline.Jakub Remiar flies solo this week with nine stories from the May 23-29 news cycle. The Block Blast Android outage is the biggest shock — a game that big going dark on a major platform for an entire day with zero public explanation. The Monopoly Go licensing story is the most quietly important: Scopely paid Hasbro $41M last quarter alone, confirming the $168M/year run-rate that puts Monopoly Go in genuinely different stratosphere from everything else in social casino. And Valve raised the Steam Deck OLED 1TB from $649 to $949 — a 40% hike that prompted Tim Sweeney to publicly joke about Gabe Newell's $500M super-yacht.Plus: Playtika layoffs as social casino keeps declining, Unreal Engine 6 teased via Rocket League, NetEase posts 7% YoY growth, CD Projekt Red announces a new Witcher 3 expansion called Songs of the Past, IO Interactive's James Bond game hits 1.5M copies in 24 hours, Fortnite returns to iOS to a 3.4M download spike, and the GDC 2026 trend report confirms generative AI is the only thing anyone in the industry is talking about.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open — the Steam Deck mega-yacht joke00:30 Block Blast vanished from Google Play (and came back)02:00 Playtika layoffs + Monopoly Go's $41M Hasbro license fee03:30 Unreal Engine 6, NetEase Q1, Witcher 3 + James Bond05:24 Sponsor — Potensus06:32 GDC 2026 trend report — generative AI dominates07:30 Fortnite iOS return drives 3.4M downloads in 8 years08:30 Steam Deck +40% price hike + the mega-yacht punchline
Send us Fan MailJoin hosts Ben Kornell and Alex Sarlin as they explore the growing backlash against AI in education, the race to build AI-native learning systems, and the shifting future of edtech, workforce learning, and global education policy.✨ Episode Highlights:[00:02:18] Reflections and takeaways from this year's ASU+GSV Summit [00:05:16] Gen Z backlash against AI grows at college commencements [00:08:06] China's practical AI rollout contrasts with the U.S. race toward AGI [00:15:09] Anthropic and Gates Foundation launch a $200M AI education partnership [00:23:02] Debate over the future and business model of AI tutoring [00:29:25] OpenAI expands its “Education for Countries” initiative [00:37:28] New education tax credits could shift spending power to families [00:42:15] Google, Meta, and Apple push AI glasses and XR learning forward [00:48:40] AI simulations gain traction in workforce training [00:51:06] Multiverse raises $70M for AI-driven workforce upskilling Plus, special guests:[00:55:51] Angel Chung, PhD Candidate at The Wharton School, on proactive AI tutoring systems and new research showing measurable learning gains for students using adaptive AI guidance[01:18:08] David Rogier, Founder and CEO of MasterClass, on AI-powered learning, the future of higher education, and MasterClass Executive — developed alongside OpenAI & Chicago Booth to explore the future of AI-native business education.Learn more here: https://www.masterclass.com/booth-ai
Learn More about Peter at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petertmclaughlin/ and his work at : https://blueskyhypnosis.com Follow him on Social Media: Twitter: https://x.com/PetMcLaughlin IG: https://www.instagram.com/thepetermclaughlin/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/@BlueSkyHypnosis Show Notes
Supercell enters the toy business, Playtika fully embraces casual games, and Turkey's puzzle game machine keeps printing hits and billion-dollar studios.In this episode of TWIG, Jen is joined by Adam, Phill, and LT to break down the biggest stories in mobile games, from Grand Games' massive $70M raise to the deeper economics behind hybrid casual, DTC monetization, and why puzzle games are evolving beyond traditional match-3 design.Topics Covered:● Grand Games raises $70M, and why Turkey has become the world's most concentrated puzzle game ecosystem● How government subsidies, repeat founders, and UA rebates are fueling Turkey's gaming flywheel● Why hybrid casual puzzle games are breaking classic casual game design rules and still winning● Playtika shifts away from social casino and doubles down on casual hits like Disney Solitaire● Royal Kingdom's aggressive celebrity UA campaign and whether it actually moved the needle● Royal Match quietly launches web shop payments and new event monetization systems● Why DTC revenue is becoming critical for casual mobile games● The “worldification” of live service games after Genshin Impact and whether open worlds are sustainable● Sega and Rovio are restructuring after disappointing mobile performance and failed synergy bets● Supercell partners with Spin Master for Clash and Brawl Stars toys● Angry Birds teams up with Subway Surfers in a new crossover event● Wordle gets a TV show because apparently everything becomes IP nowCHAPTERS: 00:13 Welcome and Episode Lineup02:08 Health Updates and Travel Plans03:03 Adam Check-In and AI RAG Tool05:25 DOF Roundtables Announcement08:55 Gran Games Funding Breakdown09:49 Turkey Puzzle Flywheel12:04 Hybrid Casual Design Debate23:47 Emotional States in Puzzle Play26:30 Playtika Shifts to Casual28:30 Playtika pivots casual29:55 D2C Mix hits 40%30:47 Royal Kingdom check-in32:44 Cannibalization and UA blitz35:11 Match 3 needs weird38:01 Royal Match goes web shop42:54 Worldification debate49:41 AI and open worlds50:50 Quick hits Wordle and toys54:18 Rovio Sega restructure59:40 Wrap-up and goodbye
Will Hopkins is the Co-Founder of Blackbox Logistics, a Birmingham-based freight brokerage nearing a $70M run rate, built through post-COVID cycle swings and open-deck volatility.This week's episode is sponsored by Levity and ChainInterested in sponsoring our podcast? Send us an email at pbj@freightcaviar.com.
Bitcoin dips below $80K on U.S.-Iran tensions and oil spike, while Coinbase reports its second straight quarterly loss and announces 14% workforce cuts. Arbitrum DAO votes to unlock $70M for Kelp DAO exploit relief, Solv Protocol migrates $700M tokenized Bitcoin to Chainlink, and 21Shares launches the first Canton Network ETF. Australia ramps up crypto supervision, Elizabeth Warren questions Meta's stablecoin plans, and TON achieves record 0.6-second finality. Markets are cautious with focus on geopolitical risks, institutional earnings, and regulatory progress. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
MoonActive just launched the obvious counter-punch to Monopoly Go — and it's already pulling 2.2M monthly downloads against Monopoly Go's 1.8M, with 10x fewer creatives.We break down Coin Master Board Adventure end-to-end: the stacked core loops (board + merge + Klondike + bombs + idle tree pets), the static-vs-seasonal album split, the 5-pop-up energy trap, the UA creative library, the launch trajectory, and why social casino monetization is still a money printer that the rest of the industry can't crack.Plus the question that opens the episode and pretty much defines the genre: what is the D365 retention of users spending $5,000+ a month? (Spoiler: basically 100%.)If you work on UA, live-ops, or social casino product, this one's required viewing.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open — D365 retention of $5K/month whales02:55 The setup: MoonActive's counter-launch to Monopoly Go04:13 Coin Master is a $70M/month plow horse — for years08:50 Walking the actual game: pop-ups, energy, board core13:12 Five stacked cores: merge, Klondike, bombs, idle tree20:00 Launch trajectory — $300K/day, 80K downloads/day21:27 UA creatives: 1.5K running, why CPIs stay at $90+31:21 Year-end predictions and the Las Vegas granny--------------------------------------PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors---------------------------------------For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej LancaricPodcast: Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultanthttps://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultanthttps://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultanthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me---------------------------------------If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit lancaric.substack.com & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej LancaricDo you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask Matej AI - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai
Après des années à voir Revolut exploser partout, j'ai voulu comprendre ce qu'il y a vraiment derrière la machine.J'ai reçu Nicolas Moalic, en charge du marketing pour la France et le Benelux.On parle sans filtre de :→ Comment ils sont passés de 3 personnes à 300 en France→ Les vraies stratégies d'acquisition derrière une boîte à 70M d'utilisateurs→ Pourquoi Revolut ne “paye pas” vraiment ses utilisateurs contrairement aux autres banques→ Leur approche ultra structurée de l'influence (et pourquoi ils misent tout sur le long terme)→ Les coulisses de leurs gros partenariats (YouTube, TV, NBA, créateurs…)→ Leur stratégie pour devenir la banque principale des utilisateursMais surtout, on parle d'un truc clé :
The $300M KelpDAO exploit became a watershed moment for DeFi, and the Arbitrum Security Council voted froze $70M worth of stolen funds. Is this a slippery slope or learning from history? Thank you to our sponsors! MultiChain Advisors is an emerging technology growth firm that has helped create $50B+ in enterprise value for 80+ clients over the past 4 years. They're the partner to help navigate markets. Build real traction today at multichainadv.com The largest DeFi hack of 2026 starts with an RPC node. Not a smart contract bug. Not a stolen key. A spoofed node and a forged transaction. And North Korea drained $300 million from Kelp DAO through LayerZero's bridge in a single block. Then the attacker went to Aave, borrowed against assets that didn't exist, and created a bad debt crisis that locked Kain out of his own position. That was Friday. By Sunday, North Korea had started laundering. By Tuesday, Arbitrum's security council had done something no L2 has ever done: frozen $70 million of funds had stolen by upgrading a bridge contract mid-hack. Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan, and Luca Netz, with guest Odysseas Lamtzidis, take apart every layer: the DVN architecture flaw, the Aave contagion, the circuit breaker debate, and why the ‘code is law' era may have just quietly ended. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Guest: Odysseas Lamtzidis, Founder & CEO of Phylax Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Arbitrum Security Council just made one of the most controversial decisions in DeFi history — freezing $70M in ETH stolen by North Korean hackers from the KelpDAO bridge exploit. But was it the right move? And what does it say about the systems we're building?Griff Green (Giveth Co-Founder and Arbitrum Security Council member) and Gabe Shapiro / Lex_node (crypto lawyer, MetaLex founder, ZK Sync Guardian Council) go head-to-head on the decisions, the precedent it sets, and the hard questions the DeFi ecosystem can no longer avoid.They debate:Was freezing North Korea's funds the right call?Do Stage 1 rollups like Arbitrum have too much centralized power?How does the Arbitrum Security Council compare to PayPal, Bitcoin miners, and Ethereum validators?What would real accountability look like for security councils?What's the path to Stage 2 — and how long will it take?This is one of the most important conversations in DeFi right now. Don't miss it.
John Arrow bootstrapped Mutual Mobile from a $0.99 iPhone app to a 350-person company — with zero investors — and sold it twice. In this episode of MoneyWise, John breaks down exactly how he built and exited one of Austin's most successful tech companies, what he did with the money, and what his financial life actually looks like today.John gets radically transparent about his net worth (well into 8 figures), his monthly spending ($50–65K/month), his investment strategy, and why he thinks most wealth managers are a waste of money.Plus: the illegal Cuba trip right before signing a life-changing deal, the $500K bet to hack Apple's encryption, how he sued American Express on behalf of a friend and won in 48 hours, and the new AI company he built the morning of this recording.Topics covered:How John made his first $1,000/day at 14 years oldBootstrapping Mutual Mobile to a $70M exit with no outside fundingWhat actually happens the day a wire hits your accountWhy he sold the company a second time — and for how muchHis exact portfolio breakdown (stocks, private investments, real estate)Why he never drinks (the real reason)FreedomGPT and the future of uncensored AIHow to think about money once you never have to work againStop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: https://www.joinhampton.com Sponsors:Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.comOceans - Hire incredible talent for marketing, ops, sales, and more, and even have them build out all your AI workflows for you. Go to https://www.oceanstalent.com/moneywise now.
In this episode of In Depth, First Round Partner Josh Kopelman sits down with Shachar Hirshberg and Dan Shiebler, co-founders of Artemis, the AI-native security platform that just emerged from stealth with $70M in combined seed and Series A funding. Shachar and Dan unpack how they built a 30-person team in seven months, why AI-native companies are outperforming their AI-enabled counterparts, and why they plan to stay on a texting basis with every customer, even at scale. In today's episode, we discuss: How to interview for AI fluency when building an AI-native startup Why founder-market fit is a critical early signal for startup success The surprising lesson Dan learned from founder-led sales How Dan and Shachar are instilling customer-obsession into Artemis' culture How the two co-founders approach conflict and decision-making References: Abnormal: https://abnormal.ai Amazon Web Services (AWS): https://aws.amazon.com Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com Artemis: https://artemissecurity.com CrowdStrike: https://www.crowdstrike.com Demisto (now Cortex XSOAR): https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cortex-xsoar OpenAI: https://openai.com Palo Alto Networks: https://www.paloaltonetworks.com Todd Jackson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddj0/ Where to find Shachar Hirshberg: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shachar-hirshberg/ Where to find Dan Shiebler: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-shiebler-10219b42/ Where to find Josh: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkopelman/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/joshk Where to find First Round Capital: Website: https://firstround.com/ First Round Review: https://review.firstround.com/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/firstround YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FirstRoundCapital This podcast on all platforms: https://review.firstround.com/podcast Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:06 What Artemis does and why now 02:51 Shachar's AWS and Palo Alto playbook 05:15 Dan's founder journey: From Twitter to Abnormal 08:51 Why founder-market fit is critical for startups 11:38 Finding the right moment to take the leap and build 13:52 The hiring process that powers a startup in stealth 16:58 Building a team centered on AI capabilities 21:48 How AI implementation changes dashboard metrics 23:22 The ICP they chased and the one they ignored 26:44 The magic of closing the first customers 27:49 The surprising signals of early product-market fit 32:06 Critical lessons from founder-led sales 33:51 Why the first product should make founders uncomfortable 36:03 Hiring 30 people while still in stealth 42:08 “Should we be arguing more?” 43:37 How the AI security market is evolving 49:03 Why AI-native beats AI-enabled company structure 51:09 The most surprising moments as a first-time founder
Presented by Understood.orgYou built something that works. Now you cannot stop working without everything feeling like it might fall apart.Krista Mashore is a powerhouse in digital coaching. She built a $70M business after leaving real estate at her peak. She is the gold standard for fast execution and high-output growth, and her systems come directly from managing her own ADHD at scale.We break down what burnout actually looked like behind the scenes. From selling 150+ homes a year to walking away overnight. Krista explains her “stop, snap, switch” framework, how she manages constant mental noise, and why ADHD makes fast decision-making a real advantage.You will walk away understanding why success does not remove burnout, and what needs to change if you want to keep growing without breaking yourself.What We CoverWhy ADHD high performers push past burnout signalsThe moment she walked away from a $1.8M incomeHow “stop, snap, switch” interrupts negative thought loopsWhy fast decision-making works with ADHDThe real cost of building without systemsIf you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org's new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslabConnect with Krista:YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KristaMashoreCoaching Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristamashore/ DM Krista the word BOT and she will help you find the real constraint in your business. P.S. If your ADHD symptoms turn every business day into chaos, with unfinished tasks piling up and revenue stuck, it's not you. It's your operating system. Click here to book an operational strategy session with Skye.
The Twenty Minute VC: Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
Jake Paul is one of the most influential creators of the digital era, with over 70M+ followers across platforms. He transitioned from YouTube stardom to become one of the biggest pay-per-view draws in boxing history with fights against Mike Tyson and Anthony Joshua. Jake is also Co-Founder of Anti Fund, where he has made investments in Ramp, Anduril, Cognition and Olipop to name a few. Geoffrey Wu is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Anti Fund. He previously built his career at Goldman Sachs and Point72. He is at the forefront of a new model of investing—where distribution is as powerful as capital. AGENDA: 00:00 — Why Attention is Now More Valuable Than Cash 04:36 — Inside the Secret $BN Jake Paul Business Empire 06:50 — Jake Paul's MasterClass on How to Tell Great Stories 10:50 — Why Jake Paul Is Literally Uncancelable 16:15 — The Brutal Reality of VC: Why Seed Investing is for Amateurs 25:10 — Is AI About to Make the Entire Human Race Unemployed? 33:15 — Trump Endorsed Me: Is Jake Paul Actually Running for President? 41:10 — The 60/40 Rule: How to Build an Unbreakable Relationship 44:15 — Dark Side of Greatness: Is Jake Paul a "Psychopathic" Work Addict? 50:20 — The Ultimate Choice: Boxing, Content, or Investing?
Netflix beat on revenue and income but dropped 10%+ on weak Q2 guidance as Reed Hastings exits the board. Anthropic launches Claude Design, OpenAI overhauls Codex Desktop with computer control, and DeepSeek seeks its first outside funding at $10B+. Netflix reports Q1 revenue up 16% YoY to $12.25B, vs. $12.2B est., net income up 83% YoY to $5.28B, and forecasts Q2 EPS and revenue below est.; NFLX drops 10%+ (Bloomberg) Anthropic launches Claude Design, a new experimental product that lets users create visuals like prototypes, slides, one-pagers, and more using Claude (TechCrunch) Sources: Dario Amodei is set to meet with WH Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on Friday, a breakthrough in Anthropic's effort to resolve its fight with the Pentagon (Axios) OpenAI updates its Codex desktop app with features like computer control, an in-app browser, image generation, automation memory, plugin support, and more (ZDNet) Sources: DeepSeek is in talks to raise outside capital for the first time, seeking at least $300M at a valuation of at least $10B (The Information) Longreads India produces 1.5M+ CS graduates annually, but AI coding tools are forcing its $315B IT outsourcing industry into an existential reckoning (Bloomberg) Doug Liman's $70M movie Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi uses AI for sets, lighting, and more in post-production, cutting costs from an estimated $300M (The Wrap) Defunct startups are being liquidated for their Slack archives, Jira tickets, and email threads—operational exhaust that AI labs now treat as premium training data (Forbes) 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
In this episode of the Capital Razor Show, Richard C. Wilson sits down with Dr. Jacque Sokolov—Chairman and CEO of SSB, a healthcare investment firm behind multiple billion-dollar exits and a $10B+ decacorn—to unpack what it really takes to build lasting value in a $5 trillion industry. Dr. Sokolov shares lessons from over 30 years in healthcare investing, including how he scaled physician practice management platforms, built one of the largest investor-backed LLCs in the space, and helped create wealth for thousands of physicians along the way. The conversation dives into where the biggest opportunities are emerging today—from AI and mRNA to physician practice roll-ups—and why most investors still miss the mark by overlooking three critical pillars: clinical model, business model, and operational execution. You'll also hear practical insights on: How to identify scalable healthcare opportunities in a complex, evolving market Why timing cycles in sectors like Medicare and PPM can make or break returns The strategy behind turning $70M into multi-billion dollar outcomes How to "pay it forward" while building billion-dollar relationships and investor networks Why expanding your network across diverse channels is one of the highest ROI moves you can make If you're a founder, investor, or operator looking to navigate healthcare, raise capital, or build something that compounds over decades—this episode delivers a masterclass from someone who has done it at the highest level.
Presented by Understood.orgYou're funding everything yourself, and it's quietly slowing your business down.Not because you're doing anything wrong, but because you're relying on the most limited resource you have: your own cash and capacity.Kat Weaver has helped founders raise over $70M and won 22 out of 23 pitch competitions herself. But her approach isn't about chasing investors, it's about using the right kind of money at the right time.In this episode, she breaks down:Why self-funding creates a ceiling most founders don't noticeThe funding options that actually make sense for service-based businessesWhy grants are one of the most overlooked (and accessible) starting pointsHow to think about money as leverage, not pressure or validationAnd how to follow through on applications without getting stuck or avoiding themIf you've ever felt maxed out, stuck at the same level, or like growth depends entirely on you pushing harder, this will probably hit.If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org's new podcast, Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids.Listen here: https://lnk.to/everyonegetsajuiceboxPS!adhdskillslabConnect with Kat:DM the word “GPT” on Instagram to get Kat's free capital calculator, designed to help founders determine how much to raise and what type of capital is best for their stage: https://www.instagram.com/iamkatweaver/Apply to work with us: https://powertopitch.com/apply/Find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katweaver P.S. If your ADHD symptoms turn every business day into chaos, with unfinished tasks piling up and revenue stuck, it's not you. It's your operating system. Click here to book an operational strategy session with Skye.
Ryan Pineda and Brian Davila host Sam Taggart as he breaks down how he transitioned from door-to-door sales into building a $70M roofing roll-up, sharing deep insights on sales culture, private equity strategy, and scaling service-based businesses.Connect with Sam - https://www.instagram.com/thesamtaggarthttps://thed2dexperts.com/__________If you want to start your real estate investing business, we'll give you 1:1 coaching, seller leads, software, & everything you need. https://www.wealthyinvestor.comIf you're a business owner who wants to get in peak physical shape, we can help! https://www.allproceo.comJoin our private mastermind for elite business leaders who golf. https://www.mastermind19.comJoin free Bible studies and workshops for Christian business leaders. https://www.tentmakers.us__________CHAPTERS:3:21 - Roll-Up Strategy Explained10:27 - Why Cashless Merger15:06 - Growth Targets & Exit Plan19:13 - Roofing Business Breakdown29:49 - Biggest Bottleneck in Scaling36:16 - Short-Term vs Long-Term Wealth41:32 - Starting a Roofing Company59:00 - Recruiting Hidden Talent1:02:07 - Sales Team Power Struggles1:04:03 - Door-to-Door Conversion Math1:07:26 - Craziest Door-to-Door Stories1:15:28 - Why Roofing Has Opportunity1:19:17 - Solar Industry Collapse1:30:34 - Private Equity Risks & Strategy1:32:25 - Scaling with Data & Systems
In this episode, Jeff Malec sits down with Vuk Vukovic and Scott Alford of Oraclum Capital (ORCA) to explore how an academic project on elections turned into a $70M hedge fund powered by crowd predictions. Vuk explains how he and his co-founders, coming from economics, physics, and computer science backgrounds, built a survey-based system that originally nailed events like Brexit and the 2016 and 2020 U.S. elections, then adapted the same framework to financial markets. Scott breaks down how ORCA combines wisdom of crowds, network analysis, and machine learning to identify the best retail predictors each week and turn their aggregated views into directional options trades on the S&P and Nasdaq. They discuss incentives for participants, how they filter noise, why independence and diverse networks matter more than “experts,” the limits of traditional polling, and the rise, and risks, of retail trading and prediction markets. The conversation also touches on political polarization, elite networks, and what it really takes to build a differentiated strategy in today's markets. SEND IT!Chapters:00:00-01:34=Intro01:35-12:38= Origins of ORCA: From Broken Polls to a Crowd-Powered Market Prediction Engine12:39-21:01= Why Traditional Polls Fail and How Academic Research (and Grants) Really Work21:02-35:35= Inside ORCA's Signal: Paying Predictors, Mapping Networks, and Turning Weekly Surveys into Option Trades35:36-49:49= Timing the Crowd: Weekly Signals, Zero-Dated Options, and How ORCA Differs from Prediction Markets49:50-1:01:03= Hot Streaks, Crypto Crowds, and Why True Wisdom of Crowds Needs Independent Thinkers1:01:04-01:20:36= Retail Traders, Polarization, and Building Better Predictors: How ORCA Sees the Future of MarketsFrom the Episode: Youtube: Predict Market Moves by Oraclum https://www.youtube.com/@predictmarketmovesYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@vuk_vukovic_author/videosPersonal website: https://www.vukvukovic.org/Follow along with Vuk , Scott and ORCA on LinkedIn, you can find Vuk on X @wolf_vukovic and ORCA @OraclumCapital as well - be sure to check out oraclumcapital.com for more information!Don't forget to subscribe toThe Derivative, follow us on Twitter at@rcmAlts andsign-up for our blog digest.Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visitwww.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer
AlabamaGovernor Ivey appoints a retired judge to the 28th Judicial CircuitA bill that restructures the PSC has passed out of state senate committeeALGOP Chairman is hopeful for passage of closed primary bill in senateABC 33/40 releases apology for using quote from Muslim BrotherhoodA Walker County jury awards man $70M re: Tyson Foods wastewater causing flesh eating bacteriaMercedes Benz to invest $4B into Tuscaloosa County manufacturing plantNationalAn American Journalis was kidnapped in Iraq by Iranian affiliated militiaPresident Trump signs EO regarding mail in ballots going through USPSFederal judge blocks construction of the White House Ballroom without Congressional approvalKristi Noem's husband exposed as a cross dresser with fetish SCOTUS rules 8-1 that CO ban on Conversion Therapy is violation of 1A
The Shadow of Entrepreneurship: Why Most Founders Break Before They Build (Founders Compass) | Phil Neil . What If Entrepreneurship Isn't Your Path to Freedom… But the Thing That Exposes You? . Let's stop pretending. Most people don't want to build a business. They want the identity they think success will give them. Freedom. Control. Status. Legacy. But here's the part nobody warns you about: Entrepreneurship doesn't just build your company. It strips you down to who you actually are. And if you stay in long enough… It will find the cracks. In this episode , Dov Baron sits down with entrepreneur, investor, and founder of Founders Compass, Phil Neil, to confront what most founders spend years avoiding: The Shadow of Entrepreneurship Because behind every success story you've been sold… There's another story: The burnout no one posts about The identity collapse that follows rapid success The emotional patterns quietly sabotaging decisions The pressure that turns smart founders reactive
Let's stop pretending. Most AI strategies are just a collection of pilots that nobody had the courage to kill. The data this period is brutal: 95% of genAI pilots stall. Only 11% reach production in financial services. Microsoft — the biggest company in the world, with the best distribution on the planet — just reorganized Copilot because nobody internally could agree on what it was supposed to be. And while enterprises burn cycles debating governance frameworks, a new class of startups is quietly replacing entire job functions. Not assisting. Replacing. The gap between the people who get this and everyone else isn't a skills gap. It's a courage gap. This edition is about which side you're on.What You'll Learn in This EditionThis edition confronts the uncomfortable reality that most AI investments are producing demos, not outcomes — and the structural reasons why.*
Tim Mann was raised in a blue-collar family in western New York, today's guest turned discipline, faith, and competition into a 40+ year career in financial services leadership. A former college football player at SUNY Plattsburgh, he went on to serve as Complex Director for Truist Investment Services, leading the firm's most prolific team of 42 client-focused advisors—producing $70M+ in annual revenue and managing $11B+ in assets. After surviving a life-threatening car accident in 2004 that forced him to relearn how to walk and speak, he redefined his approach to leadership. He now serves on the board of Folds of Honor, supporting educational scholarships for the families of fallen and disabled service members and first responders. 2:52 Building a 40-year career leading elite financial advisors 7:41 Early lessons from sports, competition, and mental toughness 11:15 Getting started in financial services and sales 17:30 The moment a life-threatening car accident changed everything 20:55 A month-long coma and the fight to survive 28:31 Learning to walk and talk again after catastrophic injuries 31:23 The slow grind of rebuilding strength and confidence 38:40 Leadership lessons from building high-performing advisor teams 45:10 Why compliance excellence starts with great hiring 52:30 Purpose, service, and giving back through Folds of Honor Don't forget you can also follow Dr. Rob Bell on Twitter or Instagram! Follow At: X @drrobbell Instagram @drrobbell Download Your Daily Focus Map! https://drrobbell.com/ If you enjoyed this episode on Mental Toughness, please subscribe and leave a review! Dr. Rob Bell
This week's Espresso covers news from DollarApp, Zapia, Celero, Cicada, and more!Outline of this episode:[00:30] – Ualá raises $195M led by Allianz X[00:40] – DollarApp raises $70M from Sequoia and Founders Fund[00:48] – Zapia raises a $7M round[00:55] – Celero raises $2.9M Series A[01:06] – Vitrify raises $190K for private credit platform[01:15] – Cicada raises $13.5M Series A round[01:31] – Pagsmile acquires 49% of a55Resources & people mentioned:Startups: Ualá, DolarApp, Zapia, Celero, Vitrify, Cicada, Pagsmile, a55,VCs: Allianz X, Prosus Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, Headline, Citigroup.
Zainulabedin Shah is a visionary leader with over 18 years of expertise in data strategy, analytics, and AI, renowned for transforming businesses and driving significant growth. As the CEO and Co-Founder of Zeed, he empowers companies to unlock their potential through cutting-edge data solutions. His accomplishments include modernizing data and AI platforms for a $5B global company, resulting in $2M in annual savings, and leading strategy at First Republic Bank, driving a 42% year-over-year sales increase. He also scaled a $2M auto startup into a $70M business with a 143% CAGR, despite having no prior industry experience. As CEO of Zeed, Zainulabedin continues to leverage his vast experience, helping businesses harness the power of data to drive strategic priorities and achieve scalable growth. His expertise extends to executing complex M&A integrations, developing innovative business models, and fostering data-driven cultures. As a podcast guest, Zainulabedin brings valuable insights into data strategy, digital transformation, and leadership, offering a compelling perspective for audiences seeking to understand the intersection of technology and business growth. Connect with Jon Dwoskin: Twitter: @jdwoskin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.dwoskin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejondwoskinexperience/ Website: https://jondwoskin.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondwoskin/ Email: jon@jondwoskin.com Get Jon's Book: The Think Big Movement: Grow your business big. Very Big! Connect with Zainulabedin Shah:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zainulabedinshah/ *E – explicit language may be used in this podcast.
Interview with Jim Starr, President and CEO of America's Charities, about the organization's mission to “mobilize the power of giving” through workplace giving, corporate volunteering programs, emergency assistance funds, and scholarships. They explain the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC)—founded in 1961, once raising $280M in 2009 but down to $68M from about 70,000 donors in 2024—its shift from paper catalogs to an online platform, and factors behind its decline, including new charity fees, government shutdowns, and workforce morale; retiree giving is noted as a bright spot. Starr says OPM has paused or signaled possible cancellation, shut down the reporting portal, and has not opened 2026 applications, raising concern the CFC may end and that much of the $70M would not be replaced due to payroll giving's low-friction nature. Starr also highlights America's Charities reaching $1B in total funds processed to nonprofits and describes how emergency assistance funds provide confidential, tax-free grants for employee hardships and how the organization administers scholarship programs with vetting and fraud checks. 00:00 Welcome and Introductions 00:57 Mission and Services 01:50 Origins in the CFC 04:12 CFC Decline and Drivers 05:53 Is the CFC Ending 09:02 Fees and Participation Basics 09:56 Rebrand Joke and Real Stakes 11:42 Why Payroll Giving Matters 13:39 Billion Dollar Milestone 16:56 Emergency Assistance Funds 18:02 How EAFs Work 19:45 Privacy and Employer Benefits 20:41 Who Should Offer EAFs 21:00 Who Uses Emergency Funds 22:15 Retention And Community Impact 24:56 Direct Giving Versus GoFundMe 26:29 Life After The CFC 29:03 Expanding Corporate Philanthropy 29:50 Scholarship Program Walkthrough 33:17 Pricing And Review Workflow 35:13 Fraud Checks In The AI Era 37:17 Billion Dollar Milestone Wrap
On today's episode, we welcome Amy Smilovic, Founder & Creative Director of Tibi and author of the new book Almost Reckless. What started in 1997 with $15,000 and no formal fashion training has grown into one of the most respected independently owned luxury brands — built not on focus groups or algorithms, but on rigorously defined principles and instinct. In this conversation, Amy shares how she rebuilt her $70M business by rejecting sameness, redefining traditional success metrics, and embracing what she calls the “Creative Pragmatist” mindset — balancing bold creativity with discipline and utility. We talk about navigating “the good ick” before growth, knowing when a risk aligns with your values, building community without chasing trends, and leading with conviction in an era dominated by data. A thoughtful episode for founders, creatives, and anyone committed to building something original with structure, clarity, and courage. Are you interested in sponsoring and advertising on The Kara Goldin Show, which is now in the Top 1% of Entrepreneur podcasts in the world? Let me know by contacting me at karagoldin@gmail.com. You can also find me @KaraGoldin on all networks. To learn more about Amy Smilovic and TIBI:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/773715/almost-reckless-by-amy-smilovic/https://tibi.com/https://www.instagram.com/tibi/https://www.instagram.com/amysmilovic/https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-smilovic/ Sponsored By: Square - Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/karagoldin Check out our website to view this episode's show notes: https://karagoldin.com/podcast/808
DAMIONBroadcom CEO Pay Soars to $205.3 Million After AI-Fueled Rally. WHO DO YOU BLAME?The workers: “The median of the annual total compensation of all our employees is $378,281. Therefore, the Ratio calculated in accordance with Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K is 543 to 1.”Board chair Henry Samueli: completely non-independent.Owns $27B of Broadcom stockDirector Since: 2016. Chairman of the Board since 2018. served as Chief Technical Officer (2016-2018)co-founded Broadcom Corporation in 1991 and held several executive leadership positions at Broadcom Corporation until its acquisition by Broadcom Inc.Compensation Committee chair Harry L. You337,162,605 against votes at 2025 AGMThe other 8 directors combined: 252,626,537Annoyingly preoccupied:Current RolesChairman: Rain Enhancement Technologies Holdco, Inc.Executive Chairman: Berto Acquisition Corp. (2025 – Present)Interim CEO: dMY Squared Technology Group, Inc. (2025 – Present)CFO: dMY Squared Technology Group, Inc. (2022 – Present)Chairman: dMY Squared Technology Group, Inc.Past Roles (Operating Companies)Vice Chairman: GTY Technology (2019 – 2022)Director: IonQ, Inc. (2021 – 2025)Director: Coupang, Inc. (2021 – 2023)Director: Genius Sports Limited (2021 – 2022)Director: Rush Street Interactive, Inc. (2019 – 2022)Director: Korn/Ferry International (2005 – 2016)Past Roles (SPACs)Co-CEO: dMY Squared Technology Group, Inc. (2022 – 2023)Director: Coliseum Acquisition Corp. (2023 – 2024)Director: dMY Technology Group, Inc. VI (2021 – 2023)Director: dMY Technology Group, Inc. II (2020 – 2021)Director: dMY Technology Group, Inc. IV (2020 – 2021)CEO Hock E. TanMcDonald's CEO awkwardly samples his company's new burger in viral videoThe disgusting food at McDonald'sHyper-Salinity: Contains up to 75% of daily sodium in one meal, causing immediate "salt bloat" and dehydration.Low Moisture: High salt and thin patties "mummify" the meat, preventing natural decay and creating a "plastic" texture.Dough Conditioners: Buns use enzymes and monoglycerides to stay unnaturally soft and shelf-stable for weeks.Insulin Spikes: Added sugars (dextrose/HFCS) in the buns trigger rapid blood sugar crashes and lethargy.Industrial Additives: Use of sodium citrate (for plastic-like cheese melt) and antifoaming agents (in frying oils).Flash-Freezing: Destroys meat cell structures, resulting in a gray, rubbery texture rather than a juicy sear.The McDonald's attack on societyThe "Bliss Point": Engineered ratios of salt/sugar/fat that override the brain's "full" signal, feeling predatory rather than nourishing.The Uncanny Valley: Extreme consistency makes the food feel "fake" or "soulless" compared to artisanal, imperfect meals.Industrial Stigma: Global face of factory farming, mass land use, and high methane emissions.Disposable Culture: The lack of dining ritual (eating fast in a car/bag) leads to a psychological "guilt" or "grossness" post-consumption.Commodity Perception: Ultra-low pricing subconsciously signals "low quality" or "trash" ingredients to the brain.The controversial stain of CEO Chris Kempczinski"Failed Parents" Texts (2021): Leaked texts to Chicago's Mayor blaming the parents of Jaslyn Adams (7) and Adam Toledo (13) for their shooting deaths, stating they "failed those kids."The "Numbers Don't Matter" Remark: Reportedly told Black executives "numbers don't matter" when confronted with the decline of Black leadership from 42 to 7 executives.$10B Byron Allen Settlement (2025): Settled a massive racial stereotyping lawsuit regarding the company's refusal to contract with Black-owned media.VP "Purge" Allegations: Lawsuits from high-ranking female executives alleging a "war against the African American community" via demotions and ad-spend cuts.Peaster Retaliation Case: Allegations that Kempczinski "shunned" his Head of Security for challenging his "racist" texts during a company town hall.The "Franchisee Gap": Confirmed a $400,000 annual cash-flow deficit between Black-owned and White-owned franchises.Enforcement Loophole: Revealed that "Global Brand Standards" are largely unenforceable suggestions for the 95% of restaurants owned by franchisees.DEI Backsliding: Criticized for quietly removing DEI goals from executive bonus structures shortly after the audit concluded."Tough Love" Comments (2026): Blasted for "corporate gaslighting" after telling workers "nobody cares about your career as much as you do.""Broke Customer" Blame: Attributed declining sales to "low-income/broke" consumers while simultaneously defending aggressive menu price hikes.Predatory Pricing Tactics: Leaked internal documents showed teams targeting "budget-constrained" families with high-margin "add-on" items.Extreme Pay Inequality: Scrutiny over an $18–$20M compensation package, creating a 1,200:1 pay ratio compared to median workers.Franchisee Revolts: Intense friction over $70M in new tech fees and the 2025 cut of $100M in subsidies for worker tuition and Happy Meals.Cultural Legacy: Ongoing criticism for failing to dismantle the "boys' club" atmosphere inherited from predecessor Steve Easterbrook.Lead Independent Director Miles D. WhiteDirector since 2009.What was really behind Jack Dorsey laying off nearly half of Block's staff? CEO cited AI advances in cutting 4,000 workers, but a weak crypto market and declining stock price may also be at play. WHO DO YOU BLAME?Co-founder and CEO and Chair Jack Dorsey: 46% influence/41% voting powerIt is also the Board's duty to oversee senior management in the competent and ethical operation of the Company … ensure that the Company is committed to business excellence, ethical and honest conduct, and the highest levels of integrity.”Gender Diversity: The benchmark we reference for gender diversity is 50% representation for women.Board is 30% with 5% influenceLeadership is 27%Co-founder and director James McKelvey: 35% influence/10% voting powerThe Classified board structureThe Class B shares worth 10 votes (co-founders control 99.6% of these shares, Dorsey with 80%)Would have lost management vote on 2025 Equity Incentive Plan769,264,245:171,645,010… 171,343,335:171,645,010Jay-ZGEO Group leadership transitionOn February 6, 2026, J. David Donahue, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, provided notice to The GEO Group, Inc. (“GEO” or the “Company”) of his retirement effective February 28, 2026 (the “Separation Date”).(i) $104,167 per month commencing on March 1, 2026 and continuing through February 28, 2028 in accordance with the terms of the Consultant Agreement(ii) health insurance premiums for himself and any covered dependents for up to twenty-four (24) months(iii) the outstanding unvested stock options and restricted stock previously granted to Mr. Donahue will continue to vestOn February 9, 2026, George C. Zoley, GEO's founder and Executive Chairman, was appointed Chief Executive Officer effective March 1, 2026$1.2M/200%/300%Days after Trump's 2024 reelection—which private prison companies funded to the tune of over $1 million—Zoley hailed the “unprecedented opportunity” of the incoming administration's mass deportation campaign.“The GEO Group was built for this unique moment in our company's [and] country's history, and the opportunity that it will bring,” he beamed.George C. Zoley founded GEO in 1984; was appointed Executive Chairman on July 1, 2021; served as CEO from the time the Company went public in 1994 through June 2021; served as Chairman since May 2002; served as Vice Chair from January 1997 to May 2002. Prior to 1994, he served as President and Director from the Company's incorporation in 1988Feb 2026: completed a US$92.45 million share buybackWHO DO YOU BLAME?The GEO Group Emperor: George C. Zoley 84% influence!founded GEO in 1984; Chair (2002-2021); Executive Chair (2021-present); CEO (1994-2021); Vice Chair (1997-2002). Prior to 1994, Director (1988-)3% stock ownerThe Trump bromance:Days after Trump's 2024 reelection—which private prison companies funded to the tune of over $1 million—Zoley hailed the “unprecedented opportunity” of the incoming administration's mass deportation campaign: “The GEO Group was built for this unique moment in our company's [and] country's history, and the opportunity that it will bring,” he beamed.Pam Bondi: The current Attorney General was a former lobbyist for The GEO GroupA GEO Group subsidiary, GEO Acquisition II Inc., donated $1 million to a pro-Trump Super PAC. Additionally, the company contributed $500,000 to the 2025 inaugural committee—double what it gave for the 2017 inaugurationThe economic opportunism of private prisons with ICE contracts2/13/26: Private prison company GEO Group on Thursday reported a company record of $254 million in profit last year—a roughly 700% increase over 2024—driven by asset sales and contracts with the Trump administration to build several new US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities across the US.The top 4 sleepy institutional investors (34%)Blackrock 13.8% Vanguard 9.5% Wolf Hill Capital Management 5.5% FMR 5.0%The CEO clown car after June 2021 meant to keep Zoley powerfulJose Gordo (1/1/21-12/31/23); was also directorBrian Evans (1/1/24-12/31/24); was not directorJ. David Donahue CEO (1/1/25-2/28/26); was not directorThe intentionally incompetent Compensation Committee in charge of succession planning2025 proxy: Jack Brewer (Chairman), Thomas C. Bartzokis, Scott Kernan, Terry MayotteBrewer is former NFL playerBartzokis is cardiologistKernan is Agency Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and RehabilitationMayotte has stepped down2024 proxy: Terry Mayotte (Chairman), Thomas C. Bartzokis, Scott Kernan, Andrew Shapiro2023 proxy: Terry Mayotte (Chairman), Anne N. Foreman, Andrew Shapiro2022 proxy: Richard H. Glanton (Chairman), Anne N. Foreman, Terry Mayotte2021 proxy: Richard H. Glanton (Chairman), Jose Gordo, Duane Helkowski, Guido Van HauwermeirenGEO Group's weird lack of transparency: maybe the only public website or investors website i've ever seen that does not list management or board membershttps://www.geogroup.com/about-us/management_team/Page not found :(Sam Altman Is Realizing He Made a Gigantic Mistake"Opportunistic and sloppy."OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is continuing his apology tour, conceding OpenAI "shouldn't have rushed" its Department of Defense deal.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman went into full damage control mode over the weekend. A day before the United States attacked Iran, the embattled CEO announced that the company had signed a new agreement with the Pentagon over how its AI models could be used — and the blowback is clearly impacting the company's bottom line, because Altman is sounding deeply defensive.Many users saw the military terms move as an attempt to swoop in and yank a multibillion-dollar government contract from the clutches of its rival, Anthropic. Last week, Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei refused to give in to the Department of Defense's demands, drawing a line in the sand and insisting that its AI models may not be used for autonomous killing machines or mass surveillance of Americans, a decision lauded by many users of its chatbot Claude.WHO DO YOU BLAME?Sam AltmanWAR WITH IRANA “business”-”man” (baby) running the country used to transaction approach to everything, including trading young girls with Epstein, leads the US into war with Iran for speculative and imaginary reasons - WHO DO YOU BLAME??Founder fetish (President/CEO!)Sycophantic boards (Congress!)Investors (Voters!)China! (China!)
Mullsy is duking it out with someone from the McAfee Show. He's tired of the dough-eyed optimism surrounding Will Howard before he ever throws a pass in the NFL. Poni is giddy because the more and more he thinks about it, the more he feels like the Steelers may not be held hostage here and maybe they are the side that isn't interested in another go with Aaron Rodgers. What other options are out there? 93.7 The Fan Sports Director Jeff Hathhorn joined the show. What did Jeff make of the Aaron Rodgers interview today with McAfee's guys? Jeff still believes the Steelers choice is to have Rodgers be their starting QB next season. Could money be a hold up here? Jeff doesn't get the feel that Malik Willis has a lot of smoke around him from the Steelers. Jeff said the focus from the team may be on 2027, but then what about Will Howard? Jeff recapped his week at the NFL Combine. He said Mike McCarthy loves QBs the way Jon Gruden does and every rookie prospect is going to have high praise after their meetings. Jeff doesn't see the Steelers going QB in the 1st round and could be counting on Ty Simpson slipping. Jeff expects Kenneth Gainwell to test the market and Isaac Seumalo to be gone once the legal tampering begins at noon on Monday. How are the Steelers going to attack WR? Jeff thinks CB could be an early selection in the draft. Judge Donny – Should the Steelers offer Malik Willis a 3-year, $70M deal?
Daniel Rudyak built a healthcare company the hard way. No venture capital. No safety net. And for a long stretch, not even the freedom to buy “two tacos” without doing the mental math. In this episode, Jerome Myers talks with Daniel, founder of ReadyRx, about what it takes to go from private equity boardrooms to the chaos of building: 120-hour weeks, 18 months pre-revenue, and the constant pressure of carrying a mission that's deeply personal. ReadyRx has grown to 10,000+ monthly customers and a reported $70M valuation, but this conversation isn't about hype. It's about the truth founders rarely say out loud: the climb is hard, the summit is brief, and the “money” doesn't give you what you think it will. If you're chasing an exit, thinking about raising capital, or worried about what happens after the deal closes, press play. In this episode: Why ReadyRx exists (and the healthcare failures that sparked it) The real difference between investing in businesses and building one Why they refused venture money and what control is worth The hidden skill founders need after liquidity: allocation, not adrenaline Why most people don't break on the way up, they break on the way down Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
You don't need a bigger team to scale your CPG brand. You need the right who. Most founders think the next move is hiring a full-time VP of Sales, a marketing team, or a supply chain lead. But at $5M, $10M, even $20M, that kind of overhead can crush your cash flow before retail ever pays you back. In this episode, we sit down with Les Hamilton, founder of CPG Integrated and former Target buyer, agency executive, and Chief Revenue Officer. He breaks down what actually happens when you get into retail—and why so many brands fail after they "win" the shelf. You'll hear: • Why retail is an audition—and most brands fail it • The hidden cash flow trap behind national rollouts • What buyers really care about (hint: it's not your factory) • Why premium pricing beats competing on margin • When to hire marketing first—and when you desperately need a CFO • How fractional executives can get you to $70M without a $300K salary If you're a founder trying to move from digital to brick-and-mortar—or from $7M to $70M—this conversation could save you millions. Listen now and rethink how you scale.
A $70M reinvestment only matters if guests feel it. I'm in Puerto Rico at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar with Andro Nodarse-Leon, CEO of property owner Lion Grove, for #NoVacancyNews. Andro walks through how the team rethought this 30-year-old resort around how people actually spend time on property—what they do, where they go, and why they stay. Andro explains how the rainforest, beach, and golf course influence design and programming, and how the rebuild touches sustainability, wellness, and operations—not as buzzwords, but as decisions that change guest flow. We also talk F&B strategy: variety, authenticity, local sourcing, and how you build experiences that keep guests engaged from morning through night. We cover:
Leo Laporte and Paris Martineau go head-to-head over whether today's AI breakthroughs are truly unprecedented or history repeating itself. Hear what happens when the show's hosts use cutting-edge tools to challenge each other's optimism, skepticism, and predictions for the future of work. Something Big Is Happening Building a C compiler with a team of parallel Claudes Amazon's $8 billion Anthropic investment balloons to $61 billion Google is going for the jugular — by doubling capex and outspending the rest of Big Tech Google's Gemini app has surpassed 750M monthly active users OpenAI's Meta makeover ChatGPT's deep research tool adds a built-in document viewer so you can read its reports Alexa+, Amazon's AI assistant, is now available to everyone in the U.S. Amazon Plans To Use AI To Speed Up TV and Film Production AI didn't kill customer support. It's rebuilding it Worried about AI taking jobs? Ex-Microsoft exec tells parents what kind of education matters most for their kids. A new bill in New York would require disclaimers on AI-generated news content AI Bots Are Now a Signifigant Source of Web Traffic Crypto.com places $70M bet on AI.com domain ahead of Super Bowl Frontier AI agents violate ethical constraints 30–50% of time, pressured by KPIs How To Think About AI: Is It The Tool, Or Are You? LEO! Reliability of LLMs as medical assistants for the general public: a randomized preregistered study HBR: AI Doesn't Reduce Work—It Intensifies It As AI enters the operating room, reports arise of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts Waymo Exec Admits Remote Operators in Philippines Help Guide US Robotaxis Medicare's new pilot program taps AI to review claims. Here's why it's risky Section 230 Turns 30; Both Parties Want It Gone—For Contradictory Reasons Meet Gizmo: A TikTok for interactive, vibe-coded mini apps The Evolution of Bengt Betjänt Uber Eats adds AI assistant to help with grocery shopping Is having AI ghostwrite your Valentine's Day messages a good idea? As Saudi Arabia's 100-Mile Skyscraper Crumbles, They're Replacing It With the Most Desperate Thing Imaginable YouTube Argues It Isn't Social Media in Landmark Tech Addiction Trial 'Man down:' Watch Amazon delivery drone crash in North Texas Understanding Neural Network, Visually Leo's AI Journey The TIMELINE TWiT x 2 in Super Bowl commercials Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: preview.modulate.ai Melissa.com/twit spaceship.com/twit
Leo Laporte and Paris Martineau go head-to-head over whether today's AI breakthroughs are truly unprecedented or history repeating itself. Hear what happens when the show's hosts use cutting-edge tools to challenge each other's optimism, skepticism, and predictions for the future of work. Something Big Is Happening Building a C compiler with a team of parallel Claudes Amazon's $8 billion Anthropic investment balloons to $61 billion Google is going for the jugular — by doubling capex and outspending the rest of Big Tech Google's Gemini app has surpassed 750M monthly active users OpenAI's Meta makeover ChatGPT's deep research tool adds a built-in document viewer so you can read its reports Alexa+, Amazon's AI assistant, is now available to everyone in the U.S. Amazon Plans To Use AI To Speed Up TV and Film Production AI didn't kill customer support. It's rebuilding it Worried about AI taking jobs? Ex-Microsoft exec tells parents what kind of education matters most for their kids. A new bill in New York would require disclaimers on AI-generated news content AI Bots Are Now a Signifigant Source of Web Traffic Crypto.com places $70M bet on AI.com domain ahead of Super Bowl Frontier AI agents violate ethical constraints 30–50% of time, pressured by KPIs How To Think About AI: Is It The Tool, Or Are You? LEO! Reliability of LLMs as medical assistants for the general public: a randomized preregistered study HBR: AI Doesn't Reduce Work—It Intensifies It As AI enters the operating room, reports arise of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts Waymo Exec Admits Remote Operators in Philippines Help Guide US Robotaxis Medicare's new pilot program taps AI to review claims. Here's why it's risky Section 230 Turns 30; Both Parties Want It Gone—For Contradictory Reasons Meet Gizmo: A TikTok for interactive, vibe-coded mini apps The Evolution of Bengt Betjänt Uber Eats adds AI assistant to help with grocery shopping Is having AI ghostwrite your Valentine's Day messages a good idea? As Saudi Arabia's 100-Mile Skyscraper Crumbles, They're Replacing It With the Most Desperate Thing Imaginable YouTube Argues It Isn't Social Media in Landmark Tech Addiction Trial 'Man down:' Watch Amazon delivery drone crash in North Texas Understanding Neural Network, Visually Leo's AI Journey The TIMELINE TWiT x 2 in Super Bowl commercials Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: preview.modulate.ai Melissa.com/twit spaceship.com/twit
Leo Laporte and Paris Martineau go head-to-head over whether today's AI breakthroughs are truly unprecedented or history repeating itself. Hear what happens when the show's hosts use cutting-edge tools to challenge each other's optimism, skepticism, and predictions for the future of work. Something Big Is Happening Building a C compiler with a team of parallel Claudes Amazon's $8 billion Anthropic investment balloons to $61 billion Google is going for the jugular — by doubling capex and outspending the rest of Big Tech Google's Gemini app has surpassed 750M monthly active users OpenAI's Meta makeover ChatGPT's deep research tool adds a built-in document viewer so you can read its reports Alexa+, Amazon's AI assistant, is now available to everyone in the U.S. Amazon Plans To Use AI To Speed Up TV and Film Production AI didn't kill customer support. It's rebuilding it Worried about AI taking jobs? Ex-Microsoft exec tells parents what kind of education matters most for their kids. A new bill in New York would require disclaimers on AI-generated news content AI Bots Are Now a Signifigant Source of Web Traffic Crypto.com places $70M bet on AI.com domain ahead of Super Bowl Frontier AI agents violate ethical constraints 30–50% of time, pressured by KPIs How To Think About AI: Is It The Tool, Or Are You? LEO! Reliability of LLMs as medical assistants for the general public: a randomized preregistered study HBR: AI Doesn't Reduce Work—It Intensifies It As AI enters the operating room, reports arise of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts Waymo Exec Admits Remote Operators in Philippines Help Guide US Robotaxis Medicare's new pilot program taps AI to review claims. Here's why it's risky Section 230 Turns 30; Both Parties Want It Gone—For Contradictory Reasons Meet Gizmo: A TikTok for interactive, vibe-coded mini apps The Evolution of Bengt Betjänt Uber Eats adds AI assistant to help with grocery shopping Is having AI ghostwrite your Valentine's Day messages a good idea? As Saudi Arabia's 100-Mile Skyscraper Crumbles, They're Replacing It With the Most Desperate Thing Imaginable YouTube Argues It Isn't Social Media in Landmark Tech Addiction Trial 'Man down:' Watch Amazon delivery drone crash in North Texas Understanding Neural Network, Visually Leo's AI Journey The TIMELINE TWiT x 2 in Super Bowl commercials Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: preview.modulate.ai Melissa.com/twit spaceship.com/twit
Leo Laporte and Paris Martineau go head-to-head over whether today's AI breakthroughs are truly unprecedented or history repeating itself. Hear what happens when the show's hosts use cutting-edge tools to challenge each other's optimism, skepticism, and predictions for the future of work. Something Big Is Happening Building a C compiler with a team of parallel Claudes Amazon's $8 billion Anthropic investment balloons to $61 billion Google is going for the jugular — by doubling capex and outspending the rest of Big Tech Google's Gemini app has surpassed 750M monthly active users OpenAI's Meta makeover ChatGPT's deep research tool adds a built-in document viewer so you can read its reports Alexa+, Amazon's AI assistant, is now available to everyone in the U.S. Amazon Plans To Use AI To Speed Up TV and Film Production AI didn't kill customer support. It's rebuilding it Worried about AI taking jobs? Ex-Microsoft exec tells parents what kind of education matters most for their kids. A new bill in New York would require disclaimers on AI-generated news content AI Bots Are Now a Signifigant Source of Web Traffic Crypto.com places $70M bet on AI.com domain ahead of Super Bowl Frontier AI agents violate ethical constraints 30–50% of time, pressured by KPIs How To Think About AI: Is It The Tool, Or Are You? LEO! Reliability of LLMs as medical assistants for the general public: a randomized preregistered study HBR: AI Doesn't Reduce Work—It Intensifies It As AI enters the operating room, reports arise of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts Waymo Exec Admits Remote Operators in Philippines Help Guide US Robotaxis Medicare's new pilot program taps AI to review claims. Here's why it's risky Section 230 Turns 30; Both Parties Want It Gone—For Contradictory Reasons Meet Gizmo: A TikTok for interactive, vibe-coded mini apps The Evolution of Bengt Betjänt Uber Eats adds AI assistant to help with grocery shopping Is having AI ghostwrite your Valentine's Day messages a good idea? As Saudi Arabia's 100-Mile Skyscraper Crumbles, They're Replacing It With the Most Desperate Thing Imaginable YouTube Argues It Isn't Social Media in Landmark Tech Addiction Trial 'Man down:' Watch Amazon delivery drone crash in North Texas Understanding Neural Network, Visually Leo's AI Journey The TIMELINE TWiT x 2 in Super Bowl commercials Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: preview.modulate.ai Melissa.com/twit spaceship.com/twit
January 29, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes. Today's top stories: Sword Health acquires Kaia Health for $285M, expanding AI Care platform into Germany's 70M+ person reimbursement system Flo Health and Mayo Clinic study finds U.S. women lag behind UK, Canada, and Australia in recognizing perimenopause symptoms Life Biosciences receives FDA clearance for first human trial of partial cellular reprogramming, targeting glaucoma using gene therapy 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
The Twenty Minute VC: Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
Max Junestrand is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Legora, the legal AI company that has scaled to $70M in ARR, 750 of the world's leading law firms as customers and over 300 employees in just 2 years. They have raised over $200M from some of the best in the business including Benchmark, General Catalyst, Redpoint and ICONIQ. AGENDA: 04:16 Why Does Everyone Think Harvey When They Hear Legal AI? 07:35 Why OpenAI is Toast? Switching to Anthropic! 11:47 24 Months: Which Foundation Models Will Win? 23:53 Lessons Scaling from Europe into the US 28:53 Do Americans Work As Hard As They Say? 32:20 Why Seat Models Are Not Dead in SaaS? 36:17 How to Use Competition To Drive a Fire in Your Team? 40:59 Is Legal AI a Winner-Take-All Market? How Does It End? 47:18 The Future of Law Firms: Do Juniors Get Fired? 53:19 How We Raised $200M and 3 Rounds with No Deck 57:21 Quickfire Round: Best Advice, Closest Mentor, Biggest Mindset Shift
This episode of Inside the Vault with Ash Cash features entrepreneur, coach, and salon suite mogul Patrice “Sway the Pro” McKinney.Throughout the conversation, Patrice shares her journey from working behind the chair to becoming a multi-millionaire by building salon suites — a business model she describes as being a landlord in the hair and beauty industry. She explains why the “sexy route” in entrepreneurship is often the least profitable and how quiet, strategic positioning creates long-term wealth.Listeners will hear candid stories about setbacks, resilience, belief, and mindset — including moments where everything went wrong but quitting was not an option. Patrice also breaks down the salon suite business model, how leasing commercial property works, how to fill suites, common mistakes to avoid, and when franchising makes sense.This episode focuses on money mindset, smart business strategy, and the power of belief — especially for first-generation wealth builders.⏱️ Timestamps / Chapters0:00 – “Cigarette money” & being warned against barbering 0:10 – Seeing barbers living well in Atlanta & New York 0:17 – Why the “sexy route” is often the least lucrative 0:24 – Breakthroughs always come with quit moments 0:30 – Signing the lease & immediate setbacks 0:36 – Architect runs off with the money 0:42 – Permits, pressure, and breaking down emotionally 0:48 – Unexpected help clears the way 0:54 – “Everybody got ‘owner' in their bio” 1:00 – Do you need to own property to build salon suites? 1:06 – Leasing vs owning explained 1:13 – What it takes to cross into millionaire status 1:19 – Do you have to be delusional to succeed? 1:24 – Legacy and long-term impact2:36 – Official show intro: Inside the Vault with Ash Cash 2:50 – Patrice's business model overview 3:04 – Turning 95 sq ft into $1,500/month 3:16 – Risking everything to build the first location 3:22 – Selling the first location & still collecting royalties4:10 – Patrice introduces herself in her own words 4:48 – Coaching & mentoring in the beauty industry 5:32 – Falling in love with salon suites 6:03 – Barber shop vs salon suite comparison 6:15 – Why salon suites are hands-off and scalable7:27 – Why calm money is better than flashy money 7:52 – Working smarter, not harder8:22 – Upbringing, popularity, and mindset 9:55 – Basketball career & full scholarship 10:45 – Why she didn't pursue the WNBA 11:20 – Pivoting into music and entertainment12:34 – Music industry gatekeeping & rejection 13:38 – Being told to change who she was 14:33 – God's redirection and bigger purpose15:09 – Resilience through repeated setbacks 16:37 – Growing up without role models 17:03 – Deciding to break the cycle17:36 – Moving the family from Michigan to Georgia 18:01 – Crashing the U-Haul 18:46 – Losing housing at the last minute 19:17 – Laptop stolen before the move 19:52 – Choosing not to turn back20:26 – Carrying the weight for the family 21:09 – “Make it a good decision by doing whatever it takes”21:38 – Being the first millionaire in the family 22:03 – Belief as the real barrier 22:20 – Optimistic delusion explained23:49 – Every breakthrough comes with resistance 24:22 – Buildout stress & no mentorship 25:09 – Racism, permitting delays, and anxiety 25:55 – Why mentorship matters27:38 – What salon suites actually are 28:14 – Why the model works long-term 29:01 – Comparing salon suites to real estate 30:03 – Students making six figures from one location 30:33 – Big brands doing $70M+ annually31:57 – Leasing vs owning explained again 32:22 – Why “ownership” is misunderstood 33:08 – Using other people's money ethically 34:07 – Tenant improvement allowances (TI) 34:55 – Landlords funding buildouts36:10 – How many suites to start with 36:46 – Medical office spaces as ideal properties38:02 – How to fill salon suites 38:25 – Social media as the #1 marketing tool 39:10 – SEO vs paid ads40:35 – Biggest mistakes new owners make 41:10 – Wasting square footage 41:49 – Not understanding commercial leases42:46 – Franchising: when it makes sense 43:34 – Systems, SOPs, and FDDs 44:24 – How franchising accelerates growth48:09 – Why she wrote Sweet Victory 49:12 – Showing the full journey, not just success50:01 – Defining legacy and impact 51:24 – The importance of support systems 52:17 – Support helps but isn't required53:50 – Handling visibility, blogs, and virality 55:23 – What's next: real estate, investing, speaking57:47 – How to connect with Patrice “Sway the Pro” 58:22 – Free training information 58:56 – Closing the Vault with Ash CashAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy