Podcasts about builders

A part of the Techish Live Show that happened in London, 25TH March 2026.Exploring the future of AI, market disruptions, and strategies for navigating the evolving tech landscape. Insights range from market predictions to practical tips for builders and entrepreneurs.Chapters00:00 Introduction: Exploring AI's Future Impact00:25 Fictional Memo from 2028: A Workforce Apocalypse00:54 Market Cap Losses and AI's Disruptive Power01:18 Rational Agents and Transactional Shifts in Payment Systems01:48 Stock Market Predictions and Investor Sentiment02:03 The Hysteria Around Market Predictions02:29 The Role of Journalism and Fiction in Market Perceptions02:51 Long-term Investment Strategies and Index Funds03:40 Consumer Economy and AI Automation's Limits03:47 Universal Basic Income and AI's Economic Impact04:14 Global South Economies and AI Transformation04:32 The Fantasy of Building Personal Software05:03 Corporate Software Development and CTO Decisions05:44 The Reality of Enterprise Software Procurement06:55 Legacy Languages and AI Compatibility07:42 AI and Military/Surveillance Use Cases08:34 The Disruption of Entry-Level Jobs and Education09:22 Unemployment Trends in Hospitality and Retail10:30 AI's Role in Workplace Disillusionment and Diversity11:38 Changing Company Structures and Skill Requirements12:24 Automation and Talent Demand in Small Businesses13:32 Global Political Instability and Corporate Risk Management14:11 The Remote Work Hustler and Ethical Questions15:21 The Rise of Multi-Job Hustlers and Ethical Concerns16:07 Full Stack Builder: A New Role for Product Managers16:47 Security Risks of Agentic AI and OpenClaw18:00 Practical AI Tools for Builders and Entrepreneurs19:01 Opportunity in AI: Accelerated Development or Capitalism?19:45 Human Creativity vs Capitalistic AI Tools20:37 The Shift in Young Adults' Social and Career Habits21:35 Tychogenic Lifestyle: Increasing Luck and OpportunitiesThe Path to ExitFounders—thinking of selling or raising capital? Here's what you should know... Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showJoin our Patreon for early content, extra-long episodes and ad-free content: https://www.patreon.com/techish Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@techishpod/Advertise on Techish: https://goo.gl/forms/MY0F79gkRG6Jp8dJ2———————————————————— Stay in touch with the hashtag #Techishhttps://www.instagram.com/techishpod/https://www.instagram.com/abadesi/https://www.instagram.com/michaelberhane_/ Email us at techishpod@gmail.com

Every Friday around 8:15​-8:20 a.m. on KFAN 100.3 the Power Trip Morning show plays the Initials Game presented by Builders & Remodelers!The game involves 12 items people, place, things, phrases or anything as long as they share the same initials. All 12 items share the same initials. The contestants do not know the initials until they are revealed shortly before the game starts. Each item has 6 clues. As soon as the contestants know who or what the host is describing, they yell out their name. Their name is their buzzer. If the contestant gets it right, they get a point. If they get it wrong they are out for just that item. The item does have to be pronounced correctly. It is best out of 12 with tiebreakers if needed. Tiebreaker items have 3 clues.#InitialsGame #ThePowerTrip #KFAN1003FOLLOW The Power Trip on Social Media:► Like the show on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PowerTripKFAN​​► Follow the show on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/PowerTripKFAN​​► Follow the show on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/PowerTripKFAN​​► Follow Cory Cove on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CoryCove​​► Follow Chris Hawkey on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Chris_Hawkey​​► Follow Meatsauce on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Meatsauce1​► Follow Mark Parrish on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MarkDParrish► Follow Marney Gellner on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MarneyGellner► Follow Zach Halverson on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ZachHalversonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you using the right contract for your building projects in Texas?In this episode of the Your Project Shepherd Podcast, Curtis Lawson sits down with three industry leaders to unpack the value, structure, and legal protection behind TAB Contracts:Frances Blake – General Counsel & VP of Regulatory Affairs, Texas Association of BuildersAdam Aschmann – Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Tilson HomesDonald Shelton – Attorney/Shareholder, Bush Rudnicki Shelton, PCTAB (Texas Association of Builders) contracts are specifically written for residential construction in Texas — and they're designed to protect builders operating under Texas law.In this conversation, we cover:Why TAB contracts exist and how they differ from generic templatesCommon contract mistakes that expose builders to unnecessary legal riskHow properly structured agreements protect both builders and homeownersThe role contracts play in dispute prevention and risk managementWhy professional builders should treat contracts as a strategic tool — not just paperworkIf you're a custom home builder, remodeler, or residential contractor in Texas, this episode will help you better understand how to protect your business and operate more professionally.Contracts aren't just legal documents — they set expectations, define relationships, and can determine whether a project ends in success or in court.Listen in and learn why TAB contracts may be one of the most important investments you make in your business.

What if courage wasn't something you either had or didn't, but something you could build? Nikki and David open up about the real journey of courage, not as a Hollywood moment, but as a daily practice. From David's vulnerability in asking for help after a major injury, to Nikki's story of taking the stage during the emotional turbulence of divorce, they strip courage down to its core. The duo introduces a four-step framework rooted in faith, values, support systems, and taking action, even when it's scary. This episode is a call to action for anyone stuck in self-doubt or fear of failure. Whether you're facing a personal crossroads or seeking to lead others with more heart, you'll walk away inspired to become a courage builder, not a courage killer.   Additional Resources: Follow Addicted to Betterment wherever you listen to podcasts! Connect with Nikki on LinkedIn Connect with David on LinkedIn Watch Gut + Science (and more) on YouTube! Connect with Nikki on LinkedIn Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Learn more about PeopleForward Network   Key Takeaways: Courage starts with knowing you're not alone. Core values anchor brave decisions and actions. Borrowed belief powers you through tough times. Trying new things builds your courage muscle. Be a courage builder, not a courage killer.  

You built the team.You hired well.You know you should step out of the day-to-day.But every time you look closer… you find something missed.So you step back in.It feels responsible. It feels like leadership.And slowly, the business learns to depend on the very habit that keeps it from growing.Nothing breaks. Clients stay happy.Yet growth feels slower than it should.In this conversation, AJ Cassata and Dr. Yishai explore the moment founders discover that responsibility and personal involvement quietly stop meaning the same thing.About AJAJ Cassata is founder of Revenue Boost, helping B2B companies build outbound systems that keep businesses alive through consistent pipeline and growth.INSIDE THE EPISODE• Why founders still feel the urge to double-check work they've already delegated• How catching small mistakes quietly reinforces staying involved• What keeps pulling leaders back in during high-stakes moments• How teams unintentionally learn to escalate back to the founderTHIS EPISODE IS FOR• Founders stuck between operator and leader• Leaders whose standards keep pulling them back in• High performers still acting as the safety net• Owners whose business works but growth feels constrained• Builders beginning to suspect they may be the bottleneckWHAT TO DO NEXTSharewith a founder who keeps stepping back into the weeds. They'll feel seen. And know you understand what leadership actually costs – and what it takes to level up.Connectwith Dr. Yishai on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dryishai/ Let's ChatBook your free Ceiling Break Session on his LinkedIn page to get the shift yourself. ABOUT THE PODCAST You were built for speed.But right now you feel slower than you look on paper.Most founders try to outwork that slow-down.It only burns them out.Your mind is the only machine your company doesn't upgrade.So leaders keep pushing against the wrong thing.Hosted by doctor of psychology and executive coach Dr Yishai Barkhordari. DISCLAIMER This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace medical, psychological, legal, or financial advice. It is not therapy, clinical advice, or coaching guidance. All examples and stories are illustrative. Some examples or stories are composites. Results vary based on personal effort, context, and market conditions.Always consult qualified professionals before making decisions that impact your business, health, or well-being. © 2026 Yishai Barkhordari. All rights reserved.

In Episode 208, I'm joined by Sam Chapman to talk about building businesses with family and long time partners and what that actually looks like behind the scenes.Sam lives in Northern Virginia and has spent the last 10+ years growing companies in the construction and insurance restoration space. After beginning his career in commercial real estate, he partnered with his brother to build Caseco into a general contracting company and later launched Merit Restorations, which now operates in multiple markets across the U.S.This episode is centered around entrepreneurial leadership.We talk about:What it really takes to build with family and friendsHow radical transparency keeps partnerships healthyThe difference between loyalty and accountabilityCulture breakdowns and the cost of avoiding hard decisionsDiversification as a long term growth strategyWhy you can't shortcut the early stages of buildingLearning to say no and protect your commitmentsSam shares openly about seasons where culture wasn't strong, where leadership decisions were delayed, and how stepping into accountability changed the trajectory of the business. If you're thinking about scale, legacy, and building something that lasts beyond you, this conversation will challenge you in the right way.Connect with Sam and his companies:Caseco Homes: https://caseco.net/ Merit Restorations: https://meritrestorations.com/Sam's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samchapmanco/Sam's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samcprojects/Connect with Builders of Authority:Website: https://buildauthority.com/FREE Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/7685392924809322GoHighLevel Extended 30-day Free Trial w/TONS of Personal Branding Bonuses: http://gohighlevel.com/adammcchesney

Joan Barnes wanted to meet new moms and that was the inspiration for a place for moms to hang out with other moms. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is… Well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients. Here’s one of those. [Tommy Cool Plumbing, Cooling & Heating Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast, Dave Young here with Stephen Semple, and we’re talking about empires. Stephen just whispered the name of the topic into my headphones, and I recognize it, but I don’t recognize it. I don’t have any direct experience with this other than when I was a little kid watching Romper Room, but I don’t think it’s the same thing. The topic is Gymboree, but it sounds like it’s probably related, but I doubt that it is. Stephen Semple: Gymboree is not big any longer. There’s a bit of a sad story on that. Dave Young: It was a place though, wasn’t it? Stephen Semple: Right, it was, and it was huge at one point. It was part of the culture and it was mentioned in movies. It was a really, really big deal at one point. Dave Young: Yeah, here’s the issue. Here’s why I don’t remember it. I didn’t grow up in a place. It wasn’t the kind of place it would have a thing. I think I told you I drove 100 miles on our first date to go to Starbucks at a Barnes and Noble. Stephen Semple: It wasn’t even a real Starbucks. Dave Young: No, it wasn’t even a standalone Starbucks. Stephen Semple: Well, to give you an idea how big it got in 2010, Bain bought the company for $1.8 billion, 1.8 billion, and seven years later it went bankrupt. Dave Young: Oh, boy. That’s a bigger story than Gymboree if we wanted to go there. But let’s go go with building the empire. Stephen Semple: Let’s go with the building of the empire. Dave Young: How many buyout people does it take to ruin a company? Not many. Stephen Semple: But here’s the thing that’s interesting about this story. We often talk about this whole idea of unleveraged assets, and unleveraged assets becomes a very, very big part of this story. It’s very, very cool. The business was founded by Joan Barnes in 1976. She grew up outside of Chicago, studied dance and English in college, and got married. They moved to the West Coast. She’s this new mom in this new area looking for connections, and she started to host these get togethers with parents and kids at a local Jewish center. Joe Barnes, her husband, was a journalist. This journalist background becomes important a little bit later. As I mentioned, they grew up outside of Chicago and they picked up and moved and landed in San Francisco, where he got a job. And then they moved out to a suburb in 1973. She was basically lonely. 1973 was actually one of the lowest birth years in a long time, and so she was looking for people who had kids. Both of their families, both her family and his family, were back on the East Coast, and so she wanted to meet other moms. At this point, this whole idea of play groups didn’t exist. It was this new idea. And so she was in this dance company and had a friend in the company, and this friend had been offered a job to run activities for kids in a local community center. She was nervous to do it. Joan suggests, “Why don’t we share this idea?” And so it was a preschool after school programs. Joan went to a local YMCA that had this gym that they had set up called Kindergym, and she went and she checked it out. Everything there was this full-sized gym equipment and they modified how it was being used, but it was like full sized trampolines and full sized this and full sized that. As soon as she saw it, she had this vision of what it could be. Dave Young: I mean, there’s nothing funnier than a five-year-old on the uneven bars. Stephen Semple: Yeah, there you go. Dave Young: I’m just saying. But go ahead. Stephen Semple: So she had this vision: scale down the equipment, make it colorful, add music, lively teacher. This could be something really special, and maybe this is what could be done at the Jewish center. Now, some of the things were available it turns out she found out for special needs kids and the rest needed to be built, so she started to do that. But here’s the other thing. She knew how to get press to promote this. She had learned from her husband. She created a story of what the plan would be like, and she managed to get this big full page feature article in the local newspaper. In 1976, they opened this Kindergym in the JCC, and it’s immediately this huge success. It’s oversold. They hire preschool teachers to run the program. The goal was for the kids to have fun and let moms connect with other moms. That was the goal. It’s so successful they open another one in a center close by, and at this point they get approached by an entrepreneur, Max Shapiro, to put up some money. Basically the idea was, let’s do more of these. I’ll put up the money, you run them. Max Shapiro had run a basketball camp with Rick Barry, who was an ex-basketball player, that he had sold. He had some money kicking around to do this. They went down to San Montejo and they opened a Kindergym in a temple there, and they hired someone of the preschool background to run it and did the same idea. Joe went and got a story in a local paper, big story in a local paper. Basically it filled up, and she was running it almost like a franchise. They expand to five or six locations, and at this point she buys out Max and she makes the people that are running these couple of locations partners. It’s 1976, and there’s nine locations in California. They’re making a little bit of money. Joan decides she’s going to get a license to open franchise. Here’s the thing, she didn’t get any legal advice on setting any of this stuff up. She tries to trademark Kindergym, and she’s running this for a couple of years as a franchise until she discovers you can’t franchise Kindergym. It’s too generic a name- Dave Young: Oh, because kindergarten, kinder… Stephen Semple: But she’s already got these franchises isn’t been operating under the name Kindergym. They’re trying to think of different names, trying to think of different names. One day, one of the names sticks. Her husband even calls and the says, “Gymboree, Gymboree, Gymboree.” What a great name, Gymboree. They decide to set it up as Gymboree, and she decides to do it right this time. She goes out and gets some advice, a guy by the name of Bud Jacob, who has experience in franchising, likes the idea, likes her, and decides to help her out. It’s 1982 and they need to raise some money, and Bud introduces her to Stuart Muldaw, who invests. Now at this point, they’re still renting church halls. This is how they’re doing it. They’re going and renting church halls. It’s no leases, none of this other stuff. It’s handshake agreements. He invests $300,000 into the business for 30%. Here’s what they’re looking for. They’re looking for women that were just like Joan when she started this. They’re looking for women in their late 20s, early 30s who are raising families but wanted to do something, wanted to do something more, wanted to bring some extra income into the household. Their strategy is they’ll create a PR strategy in every community that they’re thinking about going to, so just replicating the idea. Again, remember Joe knows how to create this because of her husband, and also was very successful. But here’s another idea that they created. They also did advertorials in the Wall Street Journal. For those who don’t know what advertorials are, their advertisements that look like an editorial. Dave Young: Yeah, you write your own news report, news story, and then pay to have it placed in the paper. Stephen Semple: Right, and this speaks to how well she understands influencers. Because what she was looking at when she created these advertorials, they were not written to the women. They were written to the husbands. The whole idea is the father would read this article in the Wall Street Journal, this advertorial, and think to themselves, “This would be perfect for my wife,” which is really interesting because so many people would want to target the buyer instead of targeting the influencer. Dave Young: We call it indirect targeting. You write an ad that’s ostensibly an employment ad for your company. But when you talk about the kind of people you want to hire, you’re really talking to every consumer out there saying, “No, this is the kind of people that we are.” I love that, I love that. Stephen Semple: But today, so few people think that way. It’s all about target, got a target. But here she was purposely targeting the influencer, targeting the father who would read it, this be perfect for my wife. Now, here’s one of the things they were really picky on. Fit was one of the biggest things. If they didn’t think there was a good fit, they didn’t offer the person the franchise, and they focused on the East Coast. At this point, they’re focusing because they didn’t need help on the West Coast. LA was exploding. A lot of the people that they had focusing in on already understood press and media because they were actors on the side and all this other stuff. The West Coast was growing organically, so they were focusing these advertorials and whatnot on the East Coast. Here’s how much it was growing. By 1986, they have 400 centers. They’re doing 15 million in sales in 400 centers. But here’s where the problem happened. Audio: Stay tuned. We’re going to wrap up this story and tell you how to apply this lesson to your business right after this. [Using Stories To Sell Ad] Dave Young: Let’s pick up our story where we left off. Trust me, you haven’t missed a thing. Stephen Semple: Here’s how much it was growing. By 1986, they have 400 centers. They’re doing 15 million in sales in 400 centers. But here’s where the problem happened. Joan realized the franchising model was flawed. It was never going to work. The franchisees could not pay enough money to pay for the support that head office was providing because they were all like these really tiny businesses. They felt like they couldn’t charge much more because there was competitors popping up because it didn’t cost a lot to get these things started. They couldn’t reduce the service they were supporting. Here’s this business, 400 units, all looking great. It’s being mentioned in press and all this other stuff. But the business side is failing, so they needed to figure out another way to make money because the investors needed to get repaid, right? They thought, “Hey, maybe here’s what we could do. Maybe we do licensing because everybody knows the Gymboree name.” Dave Young: Merch. Merch. Stephen Semple: Yeah, so they go out and they get a whole pile of great licenses. But guess what? After about a year, almost all of them dropped them because the products didn’t sell. Hasbro then looks at doing an acquisition event, so they think, “Okay, great.” It felt like a bailout for Joan and a lifeline. Literally, they’re at the stage. Joan and her lawyer and the senior management team have flown to New York to sign the deal with Hasbro. She’s in the hotel and she gets a telephone call from one of the VPs of Hasbro who says the deal’s off. Dave Young: The deal’s off. Just like that? Stephen Semple: Just like that. Her team is there, the investors are there, her lawyer’s there, and they’re supposed to meet the next day, and the deal is off. She’s devastated because she now has to go back and tell everyone that this is off. She’s so completely spent this point she says she’s got to go for the weekend to her cabin in the Sierras. She basically looks at her team and says, “You got to think of another plan. You got to think of another plan. This franchising isn’t working. The Hasbro’s deal’s off. We need another plan.” Guess what? what’s the unleveraged asset that they have, Dave? Dave Young: Well, their name. I mean, we’ve got all these kids in there. Stephen Semple: Yeah, so she comes back because they have this great brand, but they have a business that can’t make money. She comes back and sitting on her desk is a sketch of a play center right next to a retail store. Dave Young: There you go. Stephen Semple: Actually, what they end up doing was putting the play center at the back of the store. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: What’s the asset that they have? Moms coming in to drop their kids off, parents coming in to drop their kids off. And what are they going to do when their kids are playing? Dave Young: Walk clear through the store. Stephen Semple: Clear through the store. It’s like having the gift shop at the back of the museum. When you leave the museum, you got to walk through the gift shop. Dave Young: It’s the milk and eggs back in the back of the grocery store. Stephen Semple: Exactly, unleveraged asset. And so here’s what they decide to do. They’re going to sell their own apparel, sell, play equipment, toys, all that stuff. They’re going to do as much as they can, where they’re going to brand it all themselves. Basically you got to walk through the gift shop, and the gift shop is what’s going to make the money. The play center is the draw that brings people in. They went back to the board to ask for money to invest, and they agree to do a test store. That then for a whole bunch of reasons, ends up becoming two test stores. One of the things that freaked Joan out at the time was one of the people on the board was very close to the folks at Gap. She gets a meeting with Gap, and Gap says to them, “We love the idea so much. We’re launching Gap Kids in a few months.” Dave Young: Oh, great. Thank you, we’re stealing the idea. Stephen Semple: It was one that was so far along she’d even say it wasn’t that because they were like, “Literally, we’re opening in four months Gap Kids.” Dave Young: They already were watching and saw that this paying attention to little kids can pay off. Stephen Semple: Yeah. But anyway, they launched in 1987. I want you to go back to 1987 because in 1987, malls were really big, and getting into a mall… You couldn’t just get into a mall. Malls had to approve you. They were very picky, right? Now, it’s still that way for really high-end luxury malls today. But you couldn’t just pick up the phone and say, “Hey, I wanted to open in a mall.” But what Joan was able to do is the Gymboree name was so well-known she was able to leverage the name. She was able to leverage the idea that parents will be coming in, dropping their kids off, and wandering around. She got into a couple of really great malls, and here’s what ended up happening. That Christmas, her two locations were the highest dollar per square foot sales in the entire mall. Dave Young: In the mall? Okay. Stephen Semple: So that huge success, huge success. Based upon that success, she was able to go out and raise $6 million to expand the business. 17 years later, Bain comes along and buys the business for $1.8 billion and then bankrupts eight, seven years later. Dave Young: I wonder how much of the equity she still owned. Stephen Semple: I don’t know because one of the things that happened- Dave Young: I mean, she sold that 30% chunk and that early guy… I hope she did well. Stephen Semple: One of the things is she did well, but she was completely uninvolved with the company by the time Bain bought the company, she recognized when it was growing that it was beyond her abilities. But she also had some real health issues with some eating disorders and things along that lines, and so there was a certain point after the raise of $6 million and they were doing the really rapid expansion that she actually left the company. She had a whole pile of health issues that she went, “You know what? I’ve got to deal with all of this. I actually need to step back and step away from the business.” I didn’t want to explore all of that. What I wanted to explore was the success that she had of building this business and this whole idea of… To me, it was really interesting. You and I often talk on this podcast, what are the unleveraged assets of the business? They had it there in front of them, and they were forced to look for it when all of a sudden it was, this franchise model cannot make money. They explored every possible way, and there was no way for it to make money. The sale falls through and suddenly it’s like, well, what do we do? The unleveraged asset was we have all these people coming to our locations. We have all these kids- Dave Young: All we got to do is find a location that wants this traffic. Stephen Semple: Yeah, all these kids are coming. Dave Young: They’ll want us if they want the traffic. Stephen Semple: Right? It’s like the whole movie theater. Again, when movie theaters were much bigger than they are today, you would have a mall where you put a movie theater. And then that would attract all sorts of restaurants around it because the movie theater brings people to the location. The anchor tenant back in the day. We had the anchor tenant in the mall. That brought people to the mall. They had that asset there and were not leveraging it. Dave Young: I mean, to have that designation of the highest dollars per square foot in the mall, that was before at Apple Stores, but she held that position for a bit, right? That’s pretty cool. Stephen Semple: Yeah, and it was all from, okay, we’ve got these people coming in. It’s no easy task, no easy task. People coming in, we should sell them stuff. They love Gymboree, so let’s sell them branded Gymboree apparel, branded Gymboree toys, and all that other… Dave Young: And the brand just doesn’t exist anymore? They bankrupted it and… Stephen Semple: Still a few around. I think there’s a company that now that’s trying to revive it and things along that line. I didn’t look too far after the whole Bain thing was like- Dave Young: Yeah, in my mind I’m thinking, okay, well, she did all this before social media, too. That’s pretty amazing. Stephen Semple: But what she leveraged was and what she knew was how to create PR. Dave Young: Yeah, I love videos of kids falling off playground equipment for some reason. Or there’s one where you’ve probably seen the meme of the perfect job doesn’t exist. Oh wait, it’s a guy on a skating rink throwing a big ball at kids and knocking them over. I’m like, “Okay, yeah, sign me up.” Well, that’s a cool story. There’s several reasons I didn’t really know much about it. I was born at the wrong time when she was up and running big. I was a young guy in his 20s without any kids living in a town that didn’t have a mall and blissfully unaware of all the things that were affecting us. But what a cool story, and good for her for building it up and making a nice, big, juicy exit. Stephen Semple: When I heard it just jumped out at me just because of it being such a good example of an unleveraged asset that they were forced to find because of all these other challenges. That’s often the thing that we’re doing when we’re going and visiting businesses is that whole, what are the assets? Is it a story? Is it thing? Is it- Dave Young: Oh, absolutely. It’s fun. To me, that’s the fun of the one-day sessions that we do, which is you start pulling at threads looking for those. They don’t even realize it, but that’s really what you’re looking for. What do you have that we can leverage in a good way that people just don’t understand that you do or that you have or where you are or who you are? Those kinds of things. Stephen Semple: They didn’t realize they had it until they were forced to look for it. Dave Young: Great fun. Well, is there a Gymboree for old men? I should probably go. Stephen Semple: There’s a business opportunity. Dave Young: We just go in and play around on equipment. Not serious weightlifting, but you’d get some work in. Stephen Semple: There you are. Dave Young: I can, probably. Thank you for bringing the Gymboree story. Stephen Semple: All right, thanks, David. Dave Young: Thanks for listening to the podcast. Please share us. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app, and leave us a big, fat, juicy five-star rating and review at Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to schedule your own 90-minute Empire Building session, you can do it at empirebuildingprogram.com.

Two words that make most engineers shudder: code refactoring. Now raise the stakes — refactoring decades of legacy systems inside a large enterprise. A tech debt-heavy project of this scale needs a leader who has driven complex digital transformations, like Gayatri Narayan (formerly PepsiCo, Microsoft, Amazon). Now, as President of Technology at Builders FirstSource, Gayatri Narayan is achieving a 3–4x increase in engineering velocity since joining less than a year ago.  Gayatri joins host Yousuf Khan to unpack the strategy behind those results, including how to deploy AI across the SDLC, how to rigorously evaluate ROI on AI investments, and how to lead change across complex enterprise tech stacks.Key Moments: 01:30 – Why Construction Technology Is Ready for Transformation 04:05 – AI Strategy: Elevating UX and Customer Experience 08:20 – Evaluating AI Investments: ROI, NPV, and Operating Costs 12:45 – Achieving 3–4x Engineering Velocity 16:05 – Humans in the Loop: Craft, Code Review, and AI Amplification 18:35 – Where the Industry Gets AI Adoption Wrong 20:30 – Leadership Advice: Start with the Customer About Gayatri: Gayatri Narayan is a general management executive with more than 15 years of experience leading product, engineering, data science, and operations across global enterprises, with full P&L responsibility and a track record of driving profitable growth through digital transformation.  She currently serves as President of Technology at Builders FirstSource, where she leads enterprise technology strategy, modernizes legacy systems, and embeds AI into the software development lifecycle to accelerate innovation across the residential construction value chain.  Previously, she served as Senior Vice President of Digital Products and Services at PepsiCo and held multiple general management roles at Microsoft, including leading Product and Engineering for Intelligent Communications across Teams and Skype as well as Enterprise PaaS and SaaS businesses; she also held leadership roles at Amazon spanning Marketplace Transportation and Logistics and several major retail categories. Guest Highlights: “We've seen a three to four times increase in engineering velocity — especially in refactoring legacy systems where historically there was very little knowledge of how the system actually worked.” “With generative AI, companies that have existed for 20 or 30 years don't have to get bogged down by legacy stacks. They can embrace emerging technologies without spending 18 to 24 months just refactoring.” “It really comes down to efficiency of time. The developer's surface area of impact expands dramatically — it's not just about writing code anymore, it's about delivering business value faster.” Visit ciopod.com for more episodes. Subscribe on YouTube or follow on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss a conversation with today's top technology leaders. Our Sponsor:  Want to accelerate software development by 500%? Meet Blitzy, the only autonomous code generation platform with infinite code context, purpose-built for large, complex enterprise-scale codebases.  While other AI coding tools provide snippets of code and struggle with context, Blitzy ingests millions of lines of code and orchestrates thousands of agents that reason for hours to map every line-level dependency.  With a complete contextual understanding of your codebase, Blitzy is ready to be deployed at the beginning of every sprint. Blitzy handles the heavy lifting, delivering over 80% of the work autonomously. The platform plans, builds, and validates premium-quality code at the speed of compute, turning months of engineering into a matter of days. It's the secret weapon for Fortune 500 companies globally.  To hear how engineering leaders are transforming the way they deliver software, visit blitzy.com. Schedule a meeting with their consultants to enable an AI-Native SDLC in your organization today. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

hema.to is building AI-powered diagnostic infrastructure for cytometry—a specialized area of laboratory medicine analyzing immune system data to detect blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma. Unlike radiology or pathology where AI solutions are abundant, cytometry has remained largely untouched by the AI wave, creating both opportunity and isolation for the Munich-based company. In a recent episode of BUILDERS, we sat down with Karsten Miermans, CEO at hema.to GmbH, to discuss why they're deliberately keeping sales founder-led despite having paying customers, how South America became an unexpected beachhead market, and what it actually means to build infrastructure versus point solutions in healthcare. Topics Discussed:  From consulting project to venture-backed company: recognizing scalability in hindsight  The workflow integration problem killing healthcare AI implementations  Infrastructure versus technology: why healthcare AI isn't just about the algorithm  Learning ideal customer profile after 18 months of being "all over the place"  Why South America's governance structure enables faster adoption than the US  Resisting the urge to hire sales before achieving true repeatability  The 10-year vision: shifting from "watch and wait" to "predict and prevent" in immune disease GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Pattern matching fails when you're an outsider—budget 18+ months to find your beachhead: Karsten assumed every application of their diagnostic method was the same and spent a year and a half "blue eyed" (naively optimistic) before identifying their true ICP. The outsider advantage lets you reimagine workflows insiders can't, but you'll incorrectly assume transferability across use cases. Don't expect repeatability in year one when entering regulated, workflow-dependent markets. Infrastructure requires multi-stakeholder orchestration—resource for enterprise complexity from day one: Karsten distinguishes technology (point solutions, single users) from infrastructure (shared resources requiring data exchange and workflow integration). In healthcare, this means integration into hospital systems, databases, and electronic health records across multiple stakeholders. "Every sale becomes enterprise sales" even for individual labs because of this infrastructure requirement. Founders building horizontal platforms should model sales cycles and resource requirements as enterprise from the start, regardless of deal size. Your ICP is cognitively overloaded—they won't understand your category innovation: Doctors are "under so much pressure that they just don't have any cognitive capacity left" to philosophically evaluate why AI might be difficult to implement or how infrastructure differs from technology. They need problems solved within their existing mental models. Skip the category education. Frame everything as workflow enhancement, not innovation. Let sophistication emerge through implementation, not pitch decks. Revenue doesn't equal repeatability—know when you're still in discovery mode: Despite having paying customers, Karsten explicitly states "we're not at product-market fit yet" because they're "discovering and learning things with every new laboratory hospital" around data privacy, integration, and AI deployment. The PMF signal isn't customer count or revenue—it's when the process becomes predictable, customers refer others, and you stop discovering new requirements. Hiring sales before this point scales complexity, not revenue. Regulatory friction determines market sequencing, not just market size: US governance complexity turns every deal into heavy enterprise sales with "many stakeholders," while South America proved "much more willing to move with fewer processes," making them "just much faster to adopt innovative technology." This wasn't strategy—Karsten's CTO speaks Spanish through a personal connection. But the lesson transfers: for infrastructure plays in regulated markets, test adoption velocity in lower-governance environments first to build proof points, even if TAM looks smaller on paper. In healthcare, marketing is clinical evidence—customer success creates your GTM flywheel: Karsten spends minimal time on marketing because beyond the first 5-10 users, doctors "want to see clinical evidence, they want to see papers, they want to see maybe that a friend of theirs is using it." Marketing in healthcare isn't content or demand gen—it's peer validation and published proof. Founders should structure early customer engagements to generate this evidence, not just revenue. The "marketing sales flywheel really does kick in much more once you have product market fit" because PMF enables the evidence generation required for credibility. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

What if the future of UX isn't about better interfaces — but about moving beyond interfaces altogether?In this episode, I'm joined by Morten Rand-Hendriksen, Principal Instructor at LinkedIn Learning, to talk about where design is really heading in the age of AI.Morten has a background in web development, UX, and interaction design, and over the last years has gone deep into AI and product thinking. We've met at conferences like Future Product Days and had several conversations before — and every time, he brings a perspective that challenges assumptions in the best possible way.This episode is not about tools.It's about responsibility, agency, power shifts — and what it really means to be a designer today.We talk about:• Why technology is always a choice — even when it feels inevitable• What happens when users bypass interfaces completely• Why designing for screens might already be outdated• How AI agents change the balance between automation and control• Why service design is becoming more important than ever• Why designers now have an advantage over engineers• And what junior and mid-level designers should focus on todayOne of my favorite moments:“You didn't become a designer to move pixels. You became a designer because you saw how the world could be better.”This conversation goes deep. It touches capitalism, automation, AI agents, product moats disappearing, and why the future belongs to people who understand systems — not just surfaces.If you're feeling excited, overwhelmed, curious, or slightly uncomfortable about where AI is taking design — this episode is for you.Find Morten:LinkedinMorten's Ted talk AI for Designers: 5-week Bootcamp

251 - Ben Brandt In episode 251 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host, James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Ben Brandt. In their conversation Ben tells us about his 1962 ES 335 and his recent move to Nashville from Pennsylvania after commuting for a few years. Ben discusses his previous band “Soul Miners Union” and working with guitarist Josh Smith. Ben talks us about his new album “Solid Ground” which will be released March 20th, that was produced by J.D. Simo who also plays on the album. Ben describes learning guitar from his father early on and playing in bands starting at age 10 and moving to drums and bass before returning to guitar. Ben takes us through his gear amps pedals and guitars both on the new album and his live rig. Ben describes his plans for touring in the summer and fall and his love of guitar shows. To find out more about Ben you can go to his website: benjbrandt.com Please subscribe, like, comment, share and review this podcast! #VintageGuitarMagazine #BenBrandt #JoshSmith #JDSimo #SoulMinersUnion #SolidGround #Nashville #ElderlyInstruments #GibsonGuitar #JamesPatrickRegan #theDeadlies #DRZamps#haveguitarwilltravelpodcast #HGWT #tourlife https://www.patreon.com/cw/HaveGuitarWillTravelPodcast Please like, comment, and share this podcast! Download Link

Empathy is pioneering bereavement care as an enterprise benefit, transforming how employers and financial institutions support employees during life's most challenging transitions. Working with 9 of the top 10 life insurance carriers in the US and Canada—covering over 40 million people—Empathy created a new category by combining grief support with practical logistics like probate navigation, account deactivation, and estate settlement. In a recent episode of BUILDERS, we sat down with Ron Gura, Co-Founder & CEO of Empathy, to learn how the company went from testing five verticals simultaneously to dominating life insurance, then leveraged the group life/employer overlap to expand into employee benefits. Topics Discussed: Testing five enterprise verticals simultaneously to find product-market fit Landing New York Life through their venture arm and innovation team Why life insurance carriers need to be risk-averse (and how to work with that reality) The strategic overlap between group life insurance and employee benefits Investing in brand at seed stage when your barrier to entry is psychological aversion Navigating dual audiences: decision-makers in their workday versus end users in crisis Expanding from loss to adjacent life transitions like disability leave and estate planning GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Run parallel vertical tests with focus constraints, not sequential exploration: Ron identified 10+ potential verticals but intentionally tested exactly five simultaneously—hospices, funeral homes, employers, and two others before life insurance emerged as the winner at position five. This parallel testing with artificial constraints forces prioritization while dramatically compressing time-to-insight. Sequential testing would have meant potentially cycling through five failed pilots before discovering their strongest market. B2B founders with horizontal platforms should pick their top 3-5 verticals and run focused pilots in parallel, accepting that this burns more resources upfront but eliminates the risk of quitting before finding your wedge. Map the ecosystem overlap between buyer personas before choosing your wedge: Empathy's expansion from life insurance to employers wasn't growth strategy—it was recognizing an architectural reality. Half their carriers sell group life, meaning MetLife doesn't sell to consumers at metlife.com but exclusively to employer groups. When Amanda at Paramount loses her sister (not covered by insurance), she calls Paramount HR. When her husband dies (covered by MetLife group policy), the beneficiary calls MetLife. Same end user, two different enterprise entry points into the same moment. B2B founders should map these triangular relationships before choosing their wedge vertical. The question isn't just "who has budget?" but "who else touches this user in adjacent contexts?" Brand investment at seed stage is product strategy when fighting cognitive aversion: Ron's insight: "The barrier to entry isn't regulatory and isn't technology. It's us humans trying really hard not to think about our own mortality." This isn't a marketing problem—it's a fundamental go-to-market blocker. The company made what most would consider Series A investments (premium domain, design system, tone/voice framework) at seed stage specifically because brand reduces psychological friction to adoption. Contrast this with Monday.com starting as "daPulse" and rebranding years into success. B2B founders addressing taboo topics (death, mental health, financial distress, relationship issues) should model brand as a core distribution lever, not post-PMF polish. In deeply human categories, buyer's lived experience is your demo: Enterprise buyers at Citibank, MetLife, or Google aren't experiencing crisis during the sales cycle—they're evaluating ROI in their normal workday. But as Ron noted, "Everyone we're talking to...they're humans. They have parents, they had loss, they went through probate." The most common response after seeing the product: "Damn, I wish you called me a few months ago. I needed this a year ago with my mom." This turns product demo into personal recognition. B2B founders in universal human experience categories (caregiving, bereavement, parental leave, financial stress) should structure discovery and demo to activate buyer's memory of their own experience, not just their budget authority. Category creation is a resource-attraction strategy that trades speed for competitive exposure: Ron explicitly acknowledged: "There's pros and cons to defining a category. It's helpful when you attract resources, talent, capital. It also creates very fertile ground for a number two sympathy.com to come along and learn from this podcast...what to go after." Category leadership accelerates recruiting and fundraising by providing narrative clarity, but it simultaneously publishes your playbook. Every hiring blog post, podcast appearance, and positioning document teaches future competitors which verticals to target and which to avoid. B2B founders should treat category creation as a conscious bet: trade competitive opacity for talent/capital velocity. If you're not ready to defend your position, stay in stealth longer. Bridge new categories to existing budget lines through analogous benefits: When entering new verticals beyond life insurance, Ron doesn't educate from zero. With employers, he positions bereavement care alongside caregiving solutions, fertility programs, and parental leave: "This is a life transition happening in my own intimate house. Just like a new baby. I have new duties now." This isn't metaphor—it's budget mapping. Bereavement care gets evaluated against existing family benefits spending, not created from scratch. B2B founders in new categories should identify which existing line item their solution logically extends, then structure ROI narratives around reallocation, not net-new budget creation. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

Season 6, Episode 720: Servicing the College Fence Builders Excerpt, An Age Gap Hotwife Novella, written and narrated by podcast host Ruan Willow. Blurb: In this MMMMMF, John continues to lead his wife through sharing events with work men who come to the house, and the big surprise of the day is she's helping the work men work this time! She gets a special 'uniform', which is skimpier than one would expect anyone to do work in, but that's not the biggest shocker of the day. When the workers arrive, Laney's jaw drops as she had expected one man, but it's a crew! Not just any crew, this is a band of five sexy strong male college students who build, repair, and paint fences. As John dictates the rules for the day, and for the spicy event that will be the hot delicious finale, all the men and Laney are ready to tear into the day with lusty excited hopes. They are all ecstatic about all the potential dreamy flirty pitstops along the way as they do their duty to get the fence job done, but with much more salacious edging than any of them had expected. Being the female in the group, Laney is looking forward to so many high riding peaks, her highest count ever will surely be achieved with a full beefy crew like this. John's certainly not left out of the fun though! He has outdone himself this time in delivering a scheme for one of Laney's topmost unmet fantasies, and his beaming smile tells all. He's not only overindulgent with his wife, but he's going to reap all the steamy benefits once the guys head home, and for years and years to come thereafter. He's no dummy! Novella 5 in the Servicing the Work Men, My Filthy Hotwife Adventures Series. This contains affiliate links. Get the novella: https://books.ruanwillowauthor.com/servicingthecollegefencebuildersanagegaphotwifestory Get the FULL book: https://books.ruanwillowauthor.com/servicingtheworkmenherfilthyhotwifeadventures Ruan's Links, Newsletter Signup, Affiliate links and Deals:  PodNation Podcast Affiliate link, Get 15% OFF with code podna15 on Ryze Coffee at ⁠https://www.ryzesuperfoods.com/⁠ ⁠Support the show and get exclusive content⁠ Sign up for Ruan's Newsletters ⁠https://subscribepage.io/ruanwillow Get 10% OFF ENTIRE ORDER (min. purchase $69, no usage limits) with code RUANWILLOW10 on pleasure sex toys at https://www.kiiroo.com/ https://offers.feeliate.com/to92wTJh Strokers for men: https://offers.feeliate.com/?lp=5&offer=1&uid=019bea75-2e7d-75cf-a618-850a2d3e8d59 "I especially love my pearl toys from Kiiroo!"says RUAN. Toys with responsive touch are best! See them here: https://www.kiiroo.com/products/pearl3-for-performers All Ruan's links and books: ⁠https://linktr.ee/RuanWillow⁠ Affiliate link, collect your body's health and sexual health info with a wearable device for men from Firm Tech 15% OFF with code ruan15 ⁠https://myfirmtech.com/ruanwillow⁠ BeeDee app. Enter the code ohfuckyeah on the Whips ('superlikes') page to get 1 free Whip, use my affiliate link to check out this app at ⁠https://beedee.app/?r=ohfuckyeah⁠ The Fantasy Box, where you can try out a similar fantasy in a box, or find a theme you like! (affiliate link) ⁠https://thefantasybox.sjv.io/c/6250602/2141126/26423⁠ ⁠Copyright 2026 Pink Infinity Publishing. All Rights Reserved.

The Texas Tribune is grateful for the support of our sponsors. Presenting sponsor for this TribCast Live event is Builders. Major sponsors for the program are Texas Matters and Raise Your Hand Texas. Please note that while sponsorship provides critical support for the Tribune, sponsors play no role in programming or the line of questioning for Tribune events.The 2026 Texas primary elections mark a pivotal moment in a state where many races are effectively decided long before Election Day. There are more than 18 statewide elected officials up for election, along with Texas' members of Congress, state legislators, district-based judges and local elected officials.Leading up to March 3rd's primary election, join TribCast hosts Matthew Watkins and Eleanor Klibanoff, along with a panel of experts, for a discussion of where the state's most consequential races stand and what their outcomes could mean for Texas.

Hi Tradies, memory isn't that great. You can't rely on it.If you want a successful business that gives you more money, time and freedom, you need to act more like a businessperson and less like a tradie.And that means not relying on fallible memory — yours, and everyone else's: customers, staff, suppliers and partners.I see a lot of things done on handshakes and verbal agreements. Instructions, arrangements, agreements. This creates problems, of course - different recollections of what was said or agreed: forgetting to do things or not doing them properly.The answer, as usual, is systems and writing things down.I'll tell you a quick story. I once shared a memory about a friend, Ted, who I thought had done a week in jail over a dispute with a client. His wife later told me it wasn't true. He got in trouble, but he didn't do time. My memory was close — but wrong.That's how memory works. Yours is the same. So is everyone else's.Here's where your memory can cause problems in your business.1 Your Tasks. Many of you don't write things down. You trust yourself to remember. You need a system — a diary, phone notes, Outlook, Gmail, and voice notes to your admin. Pick one and use it.Your Appointments. Too many people don't put everything in their calendar or don't check it properly. All meetings and jobs should be in one synced calendar. Have a system to get “See you Thursday at 2” into your calendar straight away and another to remind you to check it.Agreements with Customers. Quotes, variations, dates, access, rules, changes — if it matters, write it down. Send a confirmation email: “Confirming we agreed…” This is important because if they don't remember it the same way you find out now and if they don't disagree now, that's now the truth. Attach it to the job.Job Instructions to Your Team. Too often it's a quick verbal briefing and everyone's expected to remember it. They won't. We all forget, misunderstand, and mix things up. Every job needs written instructions, job cards, plans, drawings, and site diaries where needed. These belong in your job management system.Agreements with staff. Contracts, pay, reviews, warnings, leave — keep proper records (and send email confirmations). Use HR software if you can.Agreements with suppliers. Same as with clients. Record what you verbally agree - prices, discounts, delivery, terms — confirm in writing and attach to your job management system.The Other S#*t. Phone calls, site conversations, ideas, things that occur to you. If it's written down, it's what happened. Put it in your diary or send it to your admin.This is part of becoming a businessperson instead of just a tradie. It stops you forgetting things, saves you time, and prevents f#*k-ups.It's a game-changer. If you don't have this in place — for you and your team — get onto it.--------------------------------------Get the Written Confirmation Worksheet for Trades and Builders here: https://pages.smallfish.com.au/business-for-trades-written-confirmation-worksheetIf you want more money (profit), more time (off work), and more freedom (from work, stress, responsibility) Book a Money Call: smallfish.com.au/tradies/money-call/FOLLOW US AT:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallfishcoach/Twitter: https://twitter.com/smallfishcoachInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallfishbusinesscoach/YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/smallfishau

Are you behaving like a Tradie or a Businessperson? I'm talking specifically about becoming more conscious of your behaviour - how you act at work, as the trade business owner. You should be aware that you need to act like a businessperson if you want your business to be better: more money, more time and more freedom.How do you do this, though?First, assess yourself, download the Tradie VS Businessperson worksheet.--------------------------------------Get the "YOUR BUSINESS ASSESSMENT AND RE-SET." for Trades and Builders here: https://pages.smallfish.com.au/business-assessment-reset-tradie-vs-businessperson-dlIf you want more money (profit), more time (off work), and more freedom (from work, stress, responsibility) Book a Money Call: smallfish.com.au/tradies/money-call/FOLLOW US AT:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallfishcoach/Twitter: https://twitter.com/smallfishcoachInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallfishbusinesscoach/YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/smallfishau

Are you goal setting, tradie? Many tradies and builders start their businesses without clear goals, focusing initially on just surviving. Without direction, businesses can become overwhelming, with more work, stress, and insufficient financial reward.No one starts a business to be overworked and stressed, but without goals, you might end up there. The good news: it's not too late to change this.You can set goals - start with these two: 1. A 3-year business vision2. Short-term goals for the next 4–6 monthsUse the Trade Business Lifestyle Ladder as a guide, focusing on money, time, and freedom. Identify specific steps to move up from your current position and tackle urgent problems first. Aim for realistic goals to ensure progress.So get the Goal Setting worksheet and get started.--------------------------------------Get the "YOUR BUSINESS ASSESSMENT AND RE-SET." for Trades and Builders here: https://pages.smallfish.com.au/business-assessment-reset-setting-goals-dlIf you want more money (profit), more time (off work), and more freedom (from work, stress, responsibility) Book a Money Call: smallfish.com.au/tradies/money-call/FOLLOW US AT:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallfishcoach/Twitter: https://twitter.com/smallfishcoachInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallfishbusinesscoach/YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/smallfishau

Make a Plan to Hit Your Goals Why make a plan? To hit your goals, it's in the title of this video.If you've been following this series, you'll have made some goals, so now you have to decide how you're going to make them happen.And that's where the impact filter comes in. It's a simple tool to use to help you plan projects and get them off the ground.Grab the Impact Filter worksheet and start making those goals happen.--------------------------------------Get the "YOUR BUSINESS ASSESSMENT AND RE-SET" for Trades and Builders here: https://pages.smallfish.com.au/business-assessment-reset-make-a-plan-dlIf you want more money (profit), more time (off work), and more freedom (from work, stress, responsibility) Book a Money Call: smallfish.com.au/tradies/money-call/FOLLOW US AT:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallfishcoach/Twitter: https://twitter.com/smallfishcoachInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallfishbusinesscoach/YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/smallfishau

Hi Tradie, how's business? That's a pretty open question, isn't it?Usually, the answer to that is pretty basic, isn't it?"Not great""Pretty good""Good, we're booked out till Easter"But they're just conversational responses, aren't they? They're not real answers to the question.I'm a business coach, obviously, so I am interested in a real answer to the question, which will be longer and more complicated.It might involve a general statement like those ones but then some further clarifications.If we're having a Strategy Session and you're considering buying my program, we start here and I probe for specific answers.I want to know how are money, time, and freedoom -the 3 things everybody wants.We're interested in how profitable your business is—how much you get from it as wages and profits compared to how much you want to be getting and compared to the industry benchmark.We're interested in how hard you're working—how much time you put into your business and how much is left for you.And we're interested in how much you get to enjoy that time without worrying about stuff or being called by people or having to have your phone or laptop with you to check in. How much freedom from your business you have.They're the personal things you want as the owner and boss, aren't they?And they're all influenced by the things that are going on in your business:Have you got enough work on?Is it profitable work?Is it organised & efficient?Are people paying?Are your people performing well?And a million other things.So, how's business and what are you doing about making your business better?It's a good question, isn't it?Obviously, I'd like you to buy my thing, which is business coaching for tradies and builders. But, if you're not ready for that, here is a thing I've made that's free and no sales call required so you can make a start. It's usually exclusively for my clients.It's the Business Assessment and Re-Set for Tradies.It's a 4 video training sequence, with worksheets for you to take yourself through.You'll assess your business for how it's going and then you'll assess yourself for how you're operating as a business person and as a tradie, you'll set some realistic goals for your next few months and make a specific project plan for each one to help you hit those goals.Have fun.--------------------------------------Get the Business Assessment and Re-set for Trades and Builders here: https://pages.smallfish.com.au/business-assessment-reset-dlIf you want more money (profit), more time (off work), and more freedom (from work, stress, responsibility) Book a Money Call: smallfish.com.au/tradies/money-call/FOLLOW US AT:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallfishcoach/Twitter: https://twitter.com/smallfishcoachInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallfishbusinesscoach/YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/smallfishau

Is Your Business Giving You What You Want?Most tradies want the same three things: More Money, More Time, More Freedom. That's exactly what the Trade Business Lifestyle Ladder measures.It helps you assess how well your business is serving you across Money, Time and Freedom.There are eight levels — from Problem Business at the bottom to Beautiful Business at the top — and they're realistic: a few million a year, a four-day week, eight weeks' holiday, and a business that doesn't need you every day.What business do you want? Lots of tradies work hard for everyone else and don't get the reward they could. The answer is to put more focus on your business, not just your trade.If your business isn't giving you what you want, it's time to do something about it.Start by grabbing the Trade Business Lifestyle Ladder and assessing yourself.--------------------------------------Get the "YOUR BUSINESS ASSESSMENT AND RE-SET." for Trades and Builders here: https://pages.smallfish.com.au/business-assessment-reset-dlIf you want more money (profit), more time (off work), and more freedom (from work, stress, responsibility) Book a Money Call: smallfish.com.au/tradies/money-call/FOLLOW US AT:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallfishcoach/Twitter: https://twitter.com/smallfishcoachInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallfishbusinesscoach/YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/smallfishau

☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE – EPISODE 432: What if the reason your team is stressed, your projects feel harder than they should, and your profits aren't where they should be has nothing to do with labor shortages, material pricing, the market, your subcontractors, or even your clients?  What if the real issue is that you've been letting your clients run your business and, without meaning to, have adopted what I call the Burger King philosophy? In this episode of The Construction Leading Edge Podcast, I break down why letting clients run your business is costing you big time, and how to take back control without losing the relationships you value. You'll learn a clear framework to set boundaries that protect your time and profit, and build a rhythm where clients follow your proven process instead of running your schedule. 

250 - Luke Winslow-King In episode 250 of Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with singer/songwriter Luke Winslow-King. Luke joins us from his home in Spain. In their conversation Luke shares with us what life is like in Spain and he tells us about his experiences busking in Europe and dealing with Gypsies and his experiences with his band in Europe. Luke talks about living in New Orleans previously and going to the university of New Orleans and busking there as well with a group of musicians known as the “Loose Marbles” that eventually became Tuna Skinny, Hooray for the Riff Raff as well as members of Luke's band. Luke describes his gear including a resonator that he's had since 2001 and the rest of his gear and a shoutout to his home music store Elderly Instruments. Luke discusses his early touring experiences with a group of friends following a book by Pete Seeger of Woody Guthrie songs called “California to the New York Islands” Luke describes his current tour schedule traveling throughout Europe and the US and talks about his band, both in Europe and the US and he gives us insight into booking in Europe. Luke tells us about his new record “Coast of Light” his ninth album and he describes his musical education. Luke discusses his future, recording an album with “Little Freddie King” and another album for himself. To find out more about Luke you can go to his website: lukewinslowking.com Please subscribe, like, comment, share and review this podcast! #VintageGuitarMagazine #LukeWinslowKing #LittleFreddieKing #CoastofLight #BuskinginEurope #NewOrleans #TubaSkinny #hoorayfortheriffraff #ElderlyInstruments #resonatorguitars #GibsonGuitar #JamesPatrickRegan #theDeadlies #haveguitarwilltravelpodcast #HGWT #tourlife https://www.patreon.com/cw/HaveGuitarWillTravelPodcast Please like, comment, and share this podcast! Download Link

In this episode of AI Marketing for Remodelers, Kai Biami and Spencer Powell discuss the overwhelming landscape of AI for builders and remodelers. They emphasize the importance of focusing on key areas for AI implementation, including establishing systems and SOPs, leveraging data analysis, and exploring vibe coding. The hosts provide actionable insights on how to effectively learn and implement AI tools, advocating for a shift from passive learning to active implementation. They also highlight the evolving nature of software development in the age of AI, encouraging listeners to adapt and innovate in their businesses.

249 - the Sky Chiefs - Stephen McCarthy (The Long Ryders, The Jayhawks) and Kevin Pittman (The Dads) In episode 249 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine,host James Patrick Regan speaks with the Sky Chiefs, who are Stephen McCarthy from The Long Ryders and The Jayhawks and Kevin Pittman who's put out two solo albums and also was in The Dads. In their conversation Kevin gives us a little bit of his history and then Stephen joins and we discuss the “Sky Chiefs” debut album and how it was recorded and produce 36 years ago and the Personel on the album and they take us through the musical styles on the album. Stephen tells us about his time in California playing with the Long Ryders The two tell us how they met while Kevin was in a band called “the Dads” and moved from LA to back to Richmond, VA. Stephen talks about his main guitar a tele style guitar with a b-bender “string bender” installed by Gene Parsons, the inventor of the string bender Gene is interviewed in episode 117 of this podcast. The two both tell us about the gear not just for the album but also what they're using now. Stephen discusses seeing Danny Gatton play many times early on. The two describe the few shows they did 36 years ago and they talk about plans for shows upcoming and discuss the support they're receiving from Sirius/XM's Outlaw Country. The two talk about a new album and the work they are doing separately, Stephen with a new Long Ryders album coming up (Stephen gives us a little bit of the Long Ryders history and logistics for an upcoming tour) and he tells us about his tour work with the Jayhawks. The two talk about the Palomino club in LA and encounters with Nudie Cohen at his shop. To find out more about Stephen and Kevin”s album you can go to their website: theskychiefs.com Please subscribe, like, comment, share and review this podcast! #VintageGuitarMagazine #theSkyChiefs #StephenMcCarthy #KevinPittman #theLongRyders #theJayhawks #BBender #StringBender #TheDads #JamesPatrickRegan #GeneParsons #theDeadlies #haveguitarwilltravelpodcast #HGWT #tourlife https://www.patreon.com/cw/HaveGuitarWillTravelPodcast Download Link

Tradie, are you ready for Christmas? (Do this now while there is still time!) Get the Quick Christmas Cash PlanYou need to be ready for the shutdown period - don't get caught out - get the template and get organised.--------------------------------------Get the Quick Christmas Cash Plan for Trades and Builders here: https://www.smallfish.com.au/tradies/christmas-cash-plan/If you want more money (profit), more time (off work), and more freedom (from work, stress, responsibility), Book a Money Call: smallfish.com.au/tradies/money-call/FOLLOW US AT:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallfishcoach/Twitter: https://twitter.com/smallfishcoachInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallfishbusinesscoach/YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/smallfishau

Remember — you're not just a tradie anymore. You're a business owner.And it's your job to make sure your business is trading profitably.A lot of people don't do this properly. Don't be one of them.Here's a simple monthly money check-in I do with all my clients — and I want you to do it too.✅ Step 1: Log into your accounting software(Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks — I'll use Xero as the example)✅ Check your cashYour bank balances. All business accounts. No hiding. Enough cash to pay wages? Good.My clients log these in our Big Numbers Tracker.✅ Check what you're owed and what you oweIn Xero: "Invoices owed to you" and "Bills you need to pay".Make sure data is up to date. Are you owed more than you owe? Not too much overdue?✅ Check the month's revenueLook at your P&L. Did you invoice much? If not, can you? If you can't — why not?✅ Check your gross marginThat's Gross Profit ÷ Revenue.Builders: aim for 20–30%Other trades: 30–40%If it's outside the range — investigate. Materials bought but not invoiced yet? That's fine, but fix it next month.✅ Check your net profitTarget: 10% of revenue (after paying yourself properly).If you're not hitting it, ask why.Common culprits:- Underquoting or discounting- Inefficient team or poor scheduling- Travel/project management time not quoted properly- One-off expenses- Poor job setupIf your margins are off, something's wrong. Fix it.This is your job now. Stay on top of it.Don't put your head down and hope it sorts itself out.I can help, of course.If you're not doing this and you need your arse kicked — come and find me.My clients use the Big Numbers Tracker. You can have it too — $39 to get started.--------------------------------------Get the Big Numbers Tracker for Trades and Builders here: https://www.smallfish.com.au/tradies/big-numbers-tracker/If you want more money (profit), more time (off work), and more freedom (from work, stress, responsibility) Book a Money Call: smallfish.com.au/tradies/money-call/FOLLOW US AT:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallfishcoach/Twitter: https://twitter.com/smallfishcoachInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallfishbusinesscoach/YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/smallfishau

What is the TRUE COST of your TRADESPEOPLE?A lot of tradies and builders misunderstand how much their people actually cost their business, and, because of that misunderstanding, they undercharge for the labour they're selling.Labour is one of the biggest costs in a trades business, and if you don't charge enough, you won't be profitable. You have to put time and energy into understanding your business's numbers and making sure you run your business profitably.How do you do this? I've made a tool called the Tradie Labour Cost Calculator - it calculates the REAL cost of tradespeople. Get it and calculate the cost of your people for how you pay them, and how you charge your customers.And start charging enough to cover their costs to your business.That's your job now: to make sure your business IS profitable.--------------------------------------Get the Tradie Labour Cost Calculator for Trades and Builders here: https://www.smallfish.com.au/tradies/true-cost/If you want more money (profit), more time (off work), and more freedom (from work, stress, responsibility), Book a Money Call: smallfish.com.au/tradies/money-call/FOLLOW US AT:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallfishcoach/Twitter: https://twitter.com/smallfishcoachInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallfishbusinesscoach/YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/smallfishau

Every Friday around 8:15​-8:20 a.m. on KFAN 100.3 the Power Trip Morning show plays the Initials Game presented by Builders & Remodelers!The game involves 12 items people, place, things, phrases or anything as long as they share the same initials. All 12 items share the same initials. The contestants do not know the initials until they are revealed shortly before the game starts. Each item has 6 clues. As soon as the contestants know who or what the host is describing, they yell out their name. Their name is their buzzer. If the contestant gets it right, they get a point. If they get it wrong they are out for just that item. The item does have to be pronounced correctly. It is best out of 12 with tiebreakers if needed. Tiebreaker items have 3 clues.#InitialsGame #ThePowerTrip #KFAN1003FOLLOW The Power Trip on Social Media:► Like the show on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PowerTripKFAN​​► Follow the show on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/PowerTripKFAN​​► Follow the show on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/PowerTripKFAN​​► Follow Cory Cove on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CoryCove​​► Follow Chris Hawkey on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Chris_Hawkey​​► Follow Meatsauce on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Meatsauce1​► Follow Mark Parrish on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MarkDParrish► Follow Marney Gellner on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MarneyGellner► Follow Zach Halverson on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ZachHalversonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send a textYou don't need a million dollars to start building wealth, you need time.Happy Black History Month! In this episode, we sit down with Chelsea Ransom-Cooper, CFP® the Co-Founder and Chief Financial Planning Officer of Zenith Wealth Partners, a black-owned wealth management firm on a mission to generate $1 billion in wealth for women and people of color. Chelsea is not only leading a firm; she's cultivating the next generation of diverse financial planners who are committed to helping first-generation wealth builders take confident steps toward financial freedom.We talk about why waiting is the most expensive decision women make, how money discipline does not have to mean deprivation, and why so many women are focused on becoming work optional instead of retired.Chelsea shares her journey into wealth management, emphasizing the importance of financial education, particularly for black women and first-generation wealth builders. The conversation covers topics such as overcoming financial challenges, the value of early financial planning, and the concept of 'work optional' lifestyles. Chelsea also discusses effective strategies for managing cash flow, the significance of building a lasting legacy, and tips for transitioning from employment to entrepreneurship. Follow & connect with Chelsea Ransom-Cooper:Website LinkedIn InstagramWant to take this conversation one step further? Join us for our next Money Talks, a free 30 minute live session where we'll dig into a question we hear all the time from women business owners: Budgeting for Businesses to Offer Benefits. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! Follow & connect with us! Website Facebook Page Facebook group Instagram TikTok LinkedIn YouTube Reddit Resources Have questions? Click this to check out our expert Q&A for tips from industry experts, tailored to help women address their most common financial concerns. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive financial tips delivered weekly here! ...

Lula rebuilt property maintenance from the ground up by solving a fundamental problem: property managers spend 40% of their time coordinating maintenance with zero visibility into work order status. After pivoting from a B2C app when they discovered landlords were their actual users, Bo Lais and his team made a critical insight—deep PMS integration wasn't a feature, it was the entire go-to-market strategy. Today, Lula's 9,000-contractor network processes 1,000 work orders daily across 50 markets, performing 30 HVAC replacements per day at scale that enables direct manufacturer relationships. Now they're commercializing their internal tech stack as Foresight, a standalone SaaS platform launching Q1. In this episode of BUILDERS, Bo breaks down the strategic decisions behind building integrations as distribution, using network density to create pricing advantages competitors can't match, and knowing when to productize your internal tools. Topics Discussed: Why the B2C to B2B pivot happened after discovering usage patterns, not market research How PMS integration eliminated "swivel chair" friction and became the primary distribution channel Strategic partnership depth over breadth: enabling co-selling with AppFolio, Buildium, Yardi rather than partner proliferation The 250-door threshold where maintenance coordination breaks and technology becomes necessary Network density economics: 30 daily HVAC replacements creating leverage for direct manufacturer negotiations and flat-rate service catalogs The decision framework for commercializing Foresight based on upstream customer advisory group feedback Maintaining discipline around ICP when sales teams naturally want to expand GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: System of record integration is your distribution strategy, not a feature: Lula's standalone app created adoption friction because property managers refused to work outside their PMS. Bo's realization: "They need everything to live in their system of record...They don't want swivel chair. And then providing that real time visibility throughout the entire life cycle of the work order was really valuable because prior to that they assign it to a vendor, and then they cross their fingers and hope that it gets done." The integration solved both adoption friction and delivered continuous visibility their workflow demanded. For B2B founders: if your users live in Salesforce, HubSpot, or vertical-specific platforms all day, your integration strategy IS your distribution strategy—build there first, not alongside. Strategic partnerships require enablement infrastructure, not just signed contracts: Bo's approach rejects partnership sprawl: "It's not about stacking on another 10 partnerships, it's about how do we go deeper and enable those partners to co-sell with us and talk about the value props that together we can provide." This means building co-selling toolkits, joint value propositions, and partner success metrics. For B2B founders: one partnership where the partner's sales team actively sells your solution beats ten partnerships where you're just listed in a marketplace. Invest in making partners successful sellers, not collecting logos. ICP discipline requires sales team enforcement mechanisms, not just definitions: Lula knew their ICP but struggled with execution. Bo learned "it's one thing when we understood who our ICP was, but then it's a whole nother thing to adhere to that and get the sales team to adhere to that ICP." The specificity matters: residential (not multifamily), single-family, 250+ doors (where coordination breaks), capped at several thousand doors (before enterprise needs diverge). For B2B founders: document your ICP, but also build the compensation structures, deal approval processes, and CRM workflows that prevent sales from chasing deals outside the sweet spot—even when quota pressure hits. Message outcomes customers measure, not the technology delivering them: Bo's AI framing: "They care about the outcomes, right? If we're able to move the needle on the outcomes and provide a better experience for residents by automating communication, automating the time to schedule, automating the time to get resolution...it's not the how, it's the result." Lula's AI eliminates truck rolls through upfront troubleshooting and improves one-trip resolution rates—that's what property managers track. For B2B founders: if your customer's boss asks "how's that new tool working," they answer with metrics they're held accountable for (resolution time, truck rolls, resident satisfaction), not "it uses AI." Lead with those metrics. Productize internal tools when customer advisory groups request them and you have defensible advantages: Lula commercialized Foresight after upstream customers specifically asked for their tech during advisory sessions. Bo's competitive moat thinking: "Everyone else thinks they're going to do it better with the AI and automation they have. But our competitive moat is that our on-demand network is built inside this AI work order management system. And because of the scale of our network and the buying power, we can provide instant quotes for a lot of services...our competitors that are just doing software don't have this network of contractors nationwide." For B2B founders expanding product lines: customer pull plus operational advantages competitors can't replicate (Lula's contractor density, manufacturer relationships, 1,000 daily work orders of training data) create viable new products. Without both, you're just building undifferentiated software. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

theion is developing lithium-sulfur battery technology targeting 500 watt hours per kilogram in their first commercial product—nearly double today's lithium-ion cells at 270-300 Wh/kg—with an ultimate roadmap to 1,000 Wh/kg. By replacing nickel-manganese-cobalt cathodes with crystalline sulfur and graphite anodes with lithium metal, theion aims to deliver three times the energy density at one-third the cost and CO2 footprint of current batteries. In this episode of BUILDERS, we sat down with Dr. Ulrich Ehmes, CEO of theion, to discuss how a production-focused CEO is navigating the journey from TRL 3-4 to pilot line, why they're targeting electric aviation first, and how a 12-year battery industry veteran evaluates what actually constitutes a materials breakthrough. Topics Discussed: Why sulfur cathodes and lithium metal anodes enable the performance jump beyond lithium-ion The critical importance of monoclinic gamma crystalline structure for cycle life  Navigating the transition from coin cells to pouch cells to industrialization  Strategic decision-making on initial market entry for deep tech hardware  Why process innovation in mixing and coating is required to unlock sulfur's full potential  Building a China-independent supply chain using oil refining waste  The 3-year development reality driven by cycling test requirements GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Price your technology against value creation, not cost savings alone: Ulrich's market strategy centers on "markets which will pay a lot of money for super lightweight batteries"—specifically aviation applications where weight reduction directly enables business model viability. For eVTOLs, the constraint isn't battery cost but energy density; current batteries make many routes economically impossible. This is fundamentally different from cost-driven markets like consumer EVs where incremental weight savings have marginal value. Deep tech founders should map which customer segments face hard physical constraints that only your technology solves versus those seeking incremental optimization. The former will pay 3-5x premiums; the latter will demand cost parity from day one. Match CEO background to the company's primary risk: Ulrich led Leica's 600-person Portugal production facility for a decade before entering batteries, and he frames his value as "I'm a production guy...for me it's very important not to produce only one battery cell in a lab, but millions of cells in highest quality." For a battery company at TRL 3-4 moving toward industrialization, the existential risk isn't the science—it's whether you can manufacture at quality and yield. Many deep tech companies fail because PhD founders remain CEOs through manufacturing scale-up. Ulrich's hire signals that theion's board correctly diagnosed their de-risking sequence. Founders should brutally assess what will kill the company in the next 24 months and ensure the CEO's pattern recognition matches that failure mode. Seek investors where your technology is infrastructure for their thesis: theion's primary investor is "heavily invested in eVTOLs," making theion's battery technology directly relevant to multiple portfolio companies facing the same energy density constraint. This creates structural alignment on timeline expectations—eVTOL companies won't reach commercial scale before 2027-2028 anyway, matching theion's development cycle. The investor understands that battery development "takes time because always when you change a parameter, you have to cycle again to test the cells." This is radically different from a generalist VC expecting SaaS-like iteration speeds. Hardware founders should explicitly map how their technology unblocks other portfolio companies and use this to negotiate patient capital terms and strategic customer introductions. Use competitive landscape size as legitimacy signal, not differentiation: When pressed on disrupting incumbents, Ulrich immediately countered: "We are not the only company working on sulfur and this is good...there are 28 other companies out there." He then differentiated on "monoclinic gamma crystalline structure" validated by Drexel University achieving 4,000+ cycles. This is sophisticated category positioning: the 28 competitors validate that lithium-sulfur is a credible next-generation technology, while the specific crystalline approach provides technical differentiation for those who understand the chemistry. Founders should resist the urge to claim they're the only ones solving a problem in nascent categories—it raises "why hasn't anyone else tried this?" concerns. Instead, position within an emerging category and differentiate on technical approach. Communicate realistic timelines as competence signaling, not weakness: Ulrich states plainly that commercial availability is "at least the next three years" and frames this as doing "first things first and first things right." For sophisticated buyers in aviation and aerospace, compressed timelines signal naivety about certification requirements, manufacturing validation, and qualification testing. A battery company claiming 12-month commercialization would lose credibility with Boeing or Joby Aviation procurement teams who understand the actual development cycles. Deep tech founders should recognize that customer segments accustomed to long development cycles (aerospace, automotive, medical devices) interpret realistic timelines as domain expertise, while consumer/software buyers may interpret them as lack of urgency. Match timeline communication to buyer sophistication. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

CoreStory is building code intelligence platforms that address the fundamental limitation of today's coding agents: their inability to navigate complex enterprise codebases. While foundation models excel at greenfield development, they fail at real-world engineering tasks in systems spanning millions of lines of code. CoreStory's context layer delivers a 44% improvement on SWE-bench, the industry's standard benchmark for measuring coding agent effectiveness on actual GitHub issues. In this episode of BUILDERS, I sat down with Anand Kulkarni, CEO of CoreStory, to explore how his team is enabling the shift to AI-native engineering and seeding the category of spec-driven development across Microsoft, GitHub, and Amazon. Topics Discussed: Building with GPT-3 API 18 months before ChatGPT went public Why even GPT-5 and Opus 4.5 struggle with enterprise codebases on SWE-bench The narrative shift required when selling AI pre- and post-ChatGPT CoreStory's 44% improvement in coding agent performance through context intelligence How "spec-driven development" got adopted by Microsoft, GitHub, and Amazon without formal analyst relations The parallel between JIRA monetizing Agile and CoreStory enabling AI-native engineering Three-channel distribution: direct enterprise, coding agent partnerships via MCP, and hyperscaler/GSI routes Why specs become the source of truth while code becomes disposable in the AI era GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Match your narrative precision to technical depth: CoreStory deploys three distinct positioning strategies based on audience sophistication. For AI practitioners tracking benchmarks, they lead with "44% SWE-bench improvement"—a metric that immediately signals meaningful progress on the hardest problem in the space. For engineering leaders aware of AI tooling but not deep in the research, they focus on velocity gains and ROI metrics. For executives, they describe reverse-engineering codebases into machine-readable specs. The key insight: technical audiences dismiss vague value props, while non-technical audiences get lost in benchmark details. Map your positioning to how your audience measures success in their world. Seed category language through earned adoption, not manufactured consensus: Anand initially called their approach "requirements-driven development" before simplifying to "spec-driven development." Rather than pitching analysts, they used the term consistently in customer conversations, gave talks at GitHub Universe, and shipped demos showing the workflow. When customers naturally adopted the language and community leaders began using similar terminology independently, Microsoft and GitHub followed with their own implementations (like GitHub's SpecKit). The lesson: category language sticks when practitioners choose to use it because it clarifies their work, not because a vendor pushed it. Focus on customer adoption as proof of concept before seeking broader market validation. Position against emergent practices, not just incumbent products: CoreStory doesn't position against legacy code analysis tools—they position as the enabler of AI-native engineering, the discipline that will displace Agile. Anand's insight from watching JIRA's success: "People don't love JIRA. What they love is Agile as a way to move away from waterfall." CoreStory is betting that 10x velocity gains from AI-native practices will drive the same categorical shift. When you're early in a technology wave, attach to the practice change (how teams will work differently) rather than feature comparisons with existing tools. Movements create markets. Design channel strategy around customer problem awareness: CoreStory's three channels map to different stages of buyer sophistication. Direct enterprise comes from teams already deep in AI engineering who've hit the context limitation wall. Coding agent partnerships (via MCP integration with tools like Cognition and Factory) serve builders wanting better AI tooling who haven't diagnosed the context problem yet. Hyperscalers and GSIs distribute into modernization and maintenance projects where AI enablement is emerging as a requirement. Each channel serves a distinct buyer journey stage. Don't force one go-to-market motion—design multiple paths based on where different customer segments are in understanding the problem you solve. Navigate pre-legitimacy markets by hiding the breakthrough: Before ChatGPT, selling anything AI-driven faced immediate skepticism about whether it was "real" or just smoke and mirrors. Anand couldn't lead with AI without triggering disbelief. CoreStory focused on delivered outcomes—"here's what you'll be able to do"—with AI as the mechanism, not the message. Post-ChatGPT, the challenge flipped: everyone expects AI, but now the differentiation question becomes harder. If you're building on emerging technology before market consensus forms, deemphasize the technology until buyers have context to evaluate it. Once the market validates the technology category, shift to demonstrating your specific technical advantage within it. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

Telo Trucks is reimagining the American pickup for dense urban environments. With over 13,000 reservations and plans to deliver their first vehicles in 2026, Telo is tackling one of the hardest challenges in business: starting an automotive company. In a recent episode of BUILDERS, I sat down with Jason Marks, CEO & Founder of Telo Trucks, to learn about the company's journey from building electric motorcycles to creating a mini truck that's 152 inches long—shorter than a Mini Cooper—but delivers the bed capacity of a full-size pickup. Topics Discussed: Pivoting from electric motorcycles to mini trucks after weekend street research revealed 89% preference for trucks Solving the safety engineering challenge of vehicles with no front overhang and minimal crumple zones Reaching unit profitability at 5,000 vehicles before attempting volume manufacturing Dual go-to-market strategy serving both urban consumers and commercial fleets replacing golf cart + truck combinations Navigating overlapping regulatory jurisdictions: NHTSA, EPA, CARB, IIHS, IICAR, and functional safety standards Running 100 virtual crash simulations daily using automated AI tools to accelerate safety validation Learning from 60+ failed automotive startups that rushed to high-volume manufacturing without proving fundamentals GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Compress customer validation into concentrated research sprints: Jason spent one weekend conducting street interviews across LA and San Francisco—hitting sidewalks, motorcycle meetups, and car meets with concept drawings. 89% of respondents, including dedicated motorcyclists, pointed to the mini truck concept over the motorcycle Telo was building. This wasn't survey data or focus groups—it was showing drawings to real buyers in target markets and asking direct questions. B2B founders should design rapid validation sprints that test core assumptions with target buyers in their natural environment before significant capital deployment. Pivot immediately when validation data is definitive: Telo was in final partner meetings for their motorcycle fundraise when weekend research proved trucks were the opportunity. On Monday morning, they opened the VC call with "Stop. Before you say anything, we're pivoting 100% to mini trucks." The investors called back two hours later and committed. The lesson isn't just willingness to pivot—it's having the conviction to act on clear data even when it disrupts active processes. B2B founders should establish decision thresholds: what percentage of target customers pointing to a different problem would trigger a strategy change? Reverse-engineer failure patterns in your category: Jason systematically studied the 60+ automotive startup failures and identified the core pattern: raising massive capital ($100M-$1B+) created pressure to sprint toward high-volume manufacturing before proving unit economics or even delivering vehicles. Telo's counterstrategy is explicit: achieve unit profitability at 5,000 vehicles using one-tenth the capital of predecessors. This isn't generic "learn from failures"—it's forensic analysis of what killed companies and designing operational constraints that make those failure modes impossible. B2B founders should map the 5-10 companies that died in their category, identify the 2-3 recurring failure patterns, and build those constraints into their operational model. Announce vision publicly to surface latent demand: Telo launched with a full-size foam and fiberglass vehicle model in June 2023 targeting urban consumers. Commercial buyers—downtown construction companies, wineries doing urban delivery, city parks departments—immediately contacted them. These buyers were spending $80,000 combining golf carts for site work with full-size trucks for materials, creating maintenance nightmares. They needed one platform replacing both. B2B founders shouldn't just build in stealth—strategic public announcements surface buyer segments and use cases you didn't model, especially when your product solves problems in adjacent categories. Define unit economics constraints, then cascade all decisions from them: Telo's entire strategy works backward from one milestone: unit profitability at 5,000 vehicles. This constraint cascades: pricing structure, component COGS targets, manufacturing approach (low-volume vs. high-volume tooling), distribution model (direct vs. dealer), insurance program design. Every functional area has targets derived from the profitability constraint. B2B founders should identify their critical economics milestone, then explicitly cascade what must be true across pricing, CAC, gross margin, and operational efficiency to hit it—before building the go-to-market motion. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

Most people don't fail because they lack opportunity. They fail because they never fix their purpose.   In this powerful episode of The Abundance Mindset, Vinney (Smile) Chopra and Gualter Amarelo break down one of the most misunderstood — yet life-changing — principles from Think and Grow Rich: Fixity of Purpose.   Vinney shares his personal journey from arriving in the U.S. with just $7 to building a billion-dollar real estate portfolio, and why deciding once — and refusing to turn back — made all the difference.   This episode dives deep into:

If you're building a business while trying to be a present leader, spouse, or parent, this episode is going to resonate with you. In this conversation, I sit down with Jaden Barr to talk about what really builds authority over time. We go beyond tactics and dive into identity, discipline, leadership, leverage, and community.Jaden is a St. Louis-based real estate business owner, former college quarterback at Truman State, and father of two. He left corporate during the pandemic to build his business from scratch in a new market, and his story is rooted in discipline, faith, family, and long-term thinking.We break down how athlete-level habits translate into business, why honoring your calendar matters more than motivation, and how systems create freedom instead of burnout.Here's what we cover:Why personal branding starts with identity, not strategyHow discipline compounds over timeThe role community plays in long-term authorityLeveraging systems to buy back timeBalancing entrepreneurship with marriage and fatherhoodIf you're trying to build something sustainable, not just successful, this conversation will give you perspective.Connect with Jaden BarrInstagram: Instagraminstagram.com/jbarr_realtorFacebook: Facebookfacebook.com/jaden.barr.96Website: Kwjadenbarr.kw.comLinkedIn: Linkedinlinkedin.com/in/jaden-barr-12462610bYouTube: YoutubeJaden BarrConnect with Builders of AuthorityWebsite: BuildauthorityDigital Marketing Agency St Louis | Builders of AuthorityFree Facebook Group: FacebookLog in or sign up to viewGoHighLevel Extended 30-day Free Trial w/TONS of Personal Branding Bonuses: Gohighlevelgohighlevel.com/adammcchesney

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Evelyn Ackah discuss:Reframing challenges as opportunitiesBuilding security through owning your book of businessDesigning a firm around delegation and technologyProtecting culture by hiring and leading with intention Key Takeaways:Success begins with asking whether challenges are happening to you or for you. A growth-oriented mindset is not optional for entrepreneurs and rainmakers. Those who thrive train themselves to see obstacles as openings, not endings.Relying solely on servicing others' clients limits mobility and control. Developing your own clients creates long-term security and professional freedom. Rainmaking is a learnable skill built through systems, discipline, and study.High-value leaders focus only on work they alone can do. Everything else can be delegated, automated, or systemized through tools and virtual teams. Intentional tech stacks and strong delegation enable autonomy, even four-day workweeks.Skills can be trained, but values and attitude determine long-term fit. Toxic hires damage momentum and must be addressed quickly. Great leaders invest in coaches, mentors, and team development to sustain growth. "Your staff are your dream builders. They help you create your dream. And so you want to invest in them just as much as they're investing in your success." — Evelyn Ackah Check out my new show, Be That Lawyer Coaches Corner, and get the strategies I use with my clients to win more business and love your career again. Ready to go from good to GOAT in your legal marketing game? Don't miss PIMCON—where the brightest minds in professional services gather to share what really works. Lock in your spot now: https://www.pimcon.org/ Thank you to our Sponsor!Rankings.io: https://rankings.io/Lawyer.com: https://www.lawyer.com/ Ready to grow your law practice without selling or chasing? Book your free 30-minute strategy session now—let's make this your breakout year: https://fretzin.com/ About Evelyn Ackah: Evelyn Ackah is the Founder and CEO of Ackah Business Immigration Law, a cross-border firm representing corporations and professionals in Canadian and U.S. immigration matters. With more than 25 years of experience—including leadership roles in Big Law and at Ernst & Young—she delivers strategic, business-focused immigration solutions tailored to her clients' goals.Originally from Ghana and raised in Canada, Evelyn brings both personal insight and professional depth to her work in global mobility. She is passionate about legal entrepreneurship, leveraging technology and innovative systems to build a scalable, client-centered practice.Evelyn is also the host of the Ask Evelyn Ackah Immigration Lawyer podcast, where she interviews industry leaders on immigration and related business topics. Connect with Evelyn Ackah: Website: https://www.ackahlaw.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AckahBusinessImmigrationLaw/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ackahlaw/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ackah-business-immigration-law/ & https://www.linkedin.com/in/evelynackah/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ackahlaw/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw7M2pQKwsRteq-nThuaELQ   Connect with Steve Fretzin:LinkedIn: Steve FretzinTwitter: @stevefretzinInstagram: @fretzinsteveFacebook: Fretzin, Inc.Website: Fretzin.comEmail: Steve@Fretzin.comBook: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science and more!YouTube: Steve FretzinCall Steve directly at 847-602-6911 Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Brian Whorley, Founder and CEO of Paytient, is rebuilding healthcare's broken payment infrastructure. Paytient enables employers and insurers to front healthcare costs for members who repay over time, interest-free. The company now serves 6,000 employers and powers payment solutions for nearly half of America's 50 million Medicare seniors. In this episode of BUILDERS, Brian reveals his counterintuitive GTM pivot from employers to insurers, why he testified before Congress on healthcare affordability, and how to build in highly regulated markets without fighting the system. Topics Discussed: Why healthcare lacks functional buyer-seller dynamics and transparent pricing The World War II tax quirk that prevents employers from giving healthcare dollars directly to employees Cash market case studies: Why LASIK prices decreased in real terms since 1998 while maintaining quality improvements Paytient's unexpected discovery that insurers were better strategic partners than employers Congressional testimony before the House Committee of Oversight and Government Reform on December 10th The company's evolution from founder-led employer sales to insurance-first distribution strategy Launching self-serve for sub-200 employee companies while closing Fortune 100 accounts How Medicare regulations requiring prescription payment flexibility created a 50-million-person market GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Test enterprise distribution earlier than your assumptions suggest: Brian assumed Paytient needed a million users before insurers would engage. Instead, one of the nation's largest insurers partnered early because they recognized out-of-pocket costs as a critical experience gap they couldn't solve internally. The insurer's product team understood the problem but lacked control over member finances. When building in complex ecosystems, large strategic partners may engage earlier than expected if you solve a problem outside their core capabilities. Prioritize partners with longer planning horizons: Brian discovered insurers planning 2027-2029 health plans in early 2025, while employers focused on last month's challenges. This planning horizon difference fundamentally changed Paytient's GTM strategy. Insurers became the majority of their business because they could "invest and reshape for the long term" as part of broader strategy. When choosing between customer segments, prioritize buyers who think strategically over those managing tactical, short-term needs—they'll invest in solutions before acute pain points emerge. Regulatory tailwinds can create massive distribution overnight: A law passed four years after Paytient launched required all Medicare insurers to offer exactly what Paytient provides—prescription cost flexibility with insurer-fronted payments. This regulation instantly created a 50-million-person addressable market. Brian now powers this for "almost half the country." When building in regulated industries, track pending legislation that could mandate your solution category, creating instant distribution through compliance requirements. Build different GTM engines for concentrated vs. fragmented markets: Healthcare is "a very concentrated industry" at the top 40 insurers, where Paytient focuses enterprise efforts. For the fragmented small business market (under 200 employees), they launched a self-serve platform at patient.com this month, immediately gaining traction with venture-backed employers seeking simple subscriptions. The dual-motion approach—high-touch for concentrated markets, self-serve for long-tail—maximizes coverage without burning capital on inefficient sales motions. In trust-based sales, delivery quality drives expansion velocity: When Paytient launches with a Fortune 100, "tens of thousands of people have access to patient now." The benefits stack is "sacred and sacrosanct"—a trust-based, relationship-driven sale. Brian emphasizes the product must work "exactly how you said, even better" because performance creates referrals through benefit brokers and consultants. In high-stakes enterprise deployments, your product quality directly determines sales velocity through partner and customer networks. Navigate regulatory constraints as creative boundaries, not barriers: Brian's core advice for healthcare founders: "You have to work with the system as it is." Many founders approach healthcare "as antagonist" with solutions "too foreign or too different" that threaten the status quo. Instead, innovate within existing regulatory and operational frameworks. There are "plenty of space" and "data requirements for how healthcare can work today" to build billion-dollar businesses while respecting industry structure. Fighting the system guarantees slow adoption; working within it enables scale. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

(this episode is an excerpt) --- Welcome to the third episode of our new series dedicated to the builders of the Farcaster ecosystem (⁠⁠⁠⁠https://farcaster.xyz⁠⁠⁠⁠). In this limited run, we are going to understand the strategies, timing, and mental models of the founders building the next generation of onchain experiences. In today's episode, we sit down with Ahn.eth (⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/ahn_going⁠ and ⁠https://farcaster.xyz/ahn.eth⁠), the founder of Quidli (⁠⁠⁠https://quid.li/⁠). We are looking at the plumbing of social finance with Ahn.eth (Justin), a founder who is tackling one of the most persistent points of friction in crypto: making value transfer as intuitive as sending a direct message. We discuss: + why your social graph might be your most valuable on-chain asset, + the structural limitations of current identity systems like ENS, and + how to build a 'Yellow Pages' for the decentralized web that works across Farcaster, Telegram, and email without locking users into a single platform.It is a very useful episode for understanding how portable social graphs can abstract away complex blockchain UX to enable seamless value transfer across any platform.-- The podcasts are authored, edited and produced by Raphael Grieco (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠raphael-grieco.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠olivecapital.vc⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠).

Welcome to the third episode of our new series dedicated to the builders of the Farcaster ecosystem (⁠⁠⁠https://farcaster.xyz⁠⁠⁠). In this limited run, we are going to understand the strategies, timing, and mental models of the founders building the next generation of onchain experiences. In today's episode, we sit down with Ahn.eth (⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/ahn_going and https://farcaster.xyz/ahn.eth), the founder of Quidli (⁠⁠https://quid.li/). We are looking at the plumbing of social finance with Ahn.eth (Justin), a founder who is tackling one of the most persistent points of friction in crypto: making value transfer as intuitive as sending a direct message. We discuss: + why your social graph might be your most valuable on-chain asset, + the structural limitations of current identity systems like ENS, and + how to build a 'Yellow Pages' for the decentralized web that works across Farcaster, Telegram, and email without locking users into a single platform.It is a very useful episode for understanding how portable social graphs can abstract away complex blockchain UX to enable seamless value transfer across any platform.-- The podcasts are authored, edited and produced by Raphael Grieco (⁠⁠⁠⁠raphael-grieco.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠olivecapital.vc⁠⁠⁠⁠).

Are you supposed to be able to mark doom during the part of the game that's all about relaxing and resetting? Dunno if it's rules-as-written, but it happened. Pilfer cooks up a staff stew. Master Brickithon finds out where his palantir went. Oleg gets a new son. • • • Patreon: patreon.com/improvtabletop Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / TikTok: @ImprovTabletop Email: ImprovTabletop@gmail.com Donations: ko-fi.com/improvtabletop • • • Audio Credits The theme song for The Tension Builders is "Melodic Marauders Scared Stupid" by Ned Wilcock. The following songs also by Ned Wilcock. “Fuguenchillen” The following songs are from tabletopaudio.com. All of the 10 minute ambiences on this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). “Dark City” “Arcane Athenaeum” The following songs are used courtesy of the YouTube Audio Library License. “Birdseye Blues” by Chris Haugen “Nicolas MF Cage” by Ezra Lipp Professor Umlaut by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4243-professor-umlaut License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • • • This actual play episode uses the Bump in the Dark RPG rules by Jex Thomas and Last Pine Press. This is a fanmade work of parody. Improv Tabletop is not affiliated with the LEGO brand or its owner The LEGO Group.

Logan sits down with Nick Schiffer, founder of NS Builders, to unpack what it really takes to build a brand so strong that clients wait five years to hire you. With over 400,000 followers across platforms, NS Builders is widely recognized for high-end craftsmanship and polished content—but this conversation goes far beyond Instagram. Nick shares how intentionality drives everything: from floor transition details and branded clothing to proposal books, employee handbooks, and long-term trust with clients. If you want to understand how brand, systems, communication, and consistency compound over time to create real market leverage, this episode is a masterclass.

In 1947 Dave Pace spiced up America with Salsa and this turned into a 90 Billion Dollar category. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients. So here’s one of those. [ECO Office Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast. I’m Dave Young here talking to Stephen Semple. And the listeners may not know this because we only release these every week or so, right? Stephen Semple: Mh-hmm. Dave Young: But we often record them one after the other. And we just got done recording the episode about Doritos and Tostitos. And now you’re telling me that we’re going to talk about dip, Pace Salsa. Stephen Semple: Pace Salsa. Yeah. Dave Young: So the picante sauce people. Stephen Semple: Correct. Correct. Absolutely correct. Dave Young: And that’s great with Doritos. Stephen Semple: I never thought about it being with Doritos. Dave Young: Really? Stephen Semple: Tostitos, I would, but not Doritos. Dave Young: How about both? Stephen Semple: Okay. Dave Young: I say you can dip a Dorito into anything. I’m in that camp. I’m firmly in the camp that anything dippable is- Stephen Semple: You’re all-inclusive in your attitude towards Doritos and dip. Very open-minded. Here’s the thing I’m going to say. If someone has not listened to the Doritos, Tostitos story, you really should go back and listen to it before listening to this one because there’s certain things that kind of come together in terms of what’s happening in the world. Dave Young: Like chips and dip. Stephen Semple: And these stories are kind of linked even though this story starts in 1947. Well, the Doritos story starts in the late ’50s. They still have kind of a bit of a shared history. Dave Young: These stories that are on a collision course, a deathening. Stephen Semple: They are. And this story’s also not just about pace salsa, but it’s really about the origin of the salsa in the United States as a category, which is a $90 billion category. And the business was started by David Pace in 1947 in San Antonio and was sold to Campbell Soup in 1995 for $1.1 billion. Dave Young: All right. Stephen Semple: So not a bad little payday. Dave Young: Not a bad deal. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So now David Pace was from Louisiana and he moved to Texas after World War II. He had been running a small food business processing sugar substitutes, which were popular both during the war and shortly after the war with rationing because of the sugar rationing. But as rationing was coming off, what he knew is there was going to be less and less of a need for these sugar substitutes. So he was looking for a new idea. And so we have to remember, it’s 1947, food’s kind of boring in the United States. It’s not diverse. It’s bland. It’s meat and potatoes. The condiment that was used to improve food was ketchup. That was the condiment to improve food, right? And Mexican food was not really a thing. About the only thing that people knew about Mexican food, it was spicy. Here’s the part that I came across that really surprised me the most. In New York City, one of the most diverse cities in the world, and certainly the most diverse city in the United States, there was just one Mexican restaurant in the city and New York at the time. Dave Young: In the ’40s? City. Stephen Semple: In the late ’40s, ’47. Dave Young: Okay. Wow. Stephen Semple: There was only one. That was it. Now, you could get Mexican food in the South because let’s face it, 100 years previous, a lot of parts of the South were part of Mexico, right? Dave Young: That’s right. Stephen Semple: As we like to remind ourselves. So here he is in- Dave Young: Well, Tex-Mex started just spreading in. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So here he is in San Antonio. He was stationed in Texas during the war and he’d settled in San Antonio, but he had never had Mexican food because now he’s off the base living in San Antonio and he tries salsa for the first time. And he’s like, wow, this is great. And he decides he needs to bring it to the market. A couple of challenges he ran into. First is how to make it. There’s lots of recipes around. He wanted to make his own version to sell the non-Mexican, so he wanted to tone down the intense flavors. He also needed to be able to jar it so it had shelf life. Here’s one of the fun challenges he ran into. A couple of the recipes he worked with would ferment once put in a jar. Well, what happens in a jar when something ferments? Dave Young: Botulism? Stephen Semple: No, kaboom. They blow up. Dave Young: Kaboom. They blow up. Okay. Yeah. Stephen Semple: So exploding jars, exploding jars of salsas, not really the objective. Dave Young: That’s never a good look either. Stephen Semple: Not really. But he gets it figured out and he brands it as Pace Picante Sauce. So it was first of all, promote it as a sauce, not a dip. And he starts selling it locally. He advertises it in the newspapers, but again, not as a dip as a sauce, like a marinade, something you brush on meat before baking. That was how it was being positioned. Dave Young: Well, it’s still, that’s the label on the jar is Pace Picante Sauce. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: I’ve always wondered about that. He did that so he didn’t have to… Well, go ahead. Stephen Semple: But that was just kind of how he thought about it. And so for over a decade, he works on building up a following in Texas. It was building slowly. He liked spicy food, but most people didn’t, because even though he took the spice down, it was still spicy. Now he hires his son-in-law, Kit Goldsbury, and Kit hates spicy food, like can’t stand it, but still thinks he can sell it. And Kit starts at the bottom working every job and works his way up. And there’s a point where Kit becomes more senior. And Pace is now in five states and is making some money. They’re having some success. Dave Young: Good. Stephen Semple: But Kit’s goal is he wants us to become coast to coast. He wants to turn this into a big thing. But here’s what he notices. It’s too hot for northerners, but northerners want flavor because they’re eating Doritos. They’re eating nacho Doritos and cheese Doritos. They’re eating those things. So it’s not like they don’t want flavor. They just don’t want the heat. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: There’s a marker for something interesting, unique, and different, but to go national, he needs to mute the heat. Dave Young: Needs to call it mild. Stephen Semple: Right. And around this time, Tostitos takes off and which is being used for dipping and it’s a massive success. So he decides to lean into the dip angle because he saw what was going on with Tostitos and he said, “You know what? We need to make this as a dip, not as a sauce, but I still need to take down the heat.” So he hires tasters to try all the jalapenos out there to find out which is the one that would work the best. Here’s the problem. Taster’s results were really inconsistent. He goes, “Okay, so I’ve still got to solve this heat problem.” So he hires a food scientist to engineer a heat-free jalapeno. Dr. Rasplicka, I think is how you pronounce his name, who basically created this measurement system for capsaicin, which is about how hot it is. And from this, they were able to figure out how to remove the heat because they were able to identify each one, able to identify the source of it and create this non-heat version of salsa. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: Now, you jump the gun on it a little bit, as you often do. So remember, while Americans didn’t want heat, they wanted something interesting. So of course they didn’t call it bland. What did they call it? Dave Young: Stay tuned. We’re going to wrap up this story and tell you how to apply this lesson to your business right after this. [Using Stories To Sell Ad] Dave Young: Let’s pick up our story where we left off and trust me you haven’t missed a thing. Stephen Semple: Well, Americans didn’t want heat. They wanted something interesting. So of course they didn’t call it bland. What did they call it? Dave Young: Mild. Well, they’ve got the three. They’ve got mild, medium, and hot. Stephen Semple: Right. And that’s exactly what they did. They had the other spice levels, but they didn’t go with bland. They went with mild. Dave Young: Yeah, yeah, yeah. This the Goldilocks rule, right? Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Wow. Stephen Semple: And so therefore, and with mild, everyone can enjoy it. And then of course they offered the other spice levels and they market it as a dip. Very quickly, sales went from $3 million to over $50 million. Dave Young: I can imagine. Stephen Semple: So successful, supermarkets started placing salsa in the chip aisle because it was not in the chip aisle previously. In 1991, salsa passes ketchup as the number one condiment in the United States. Dave Young: Not till ’91. Stephen Semple: Not till ’91. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: 1995, Campbell’s buys the business for over a billion dollars. Dave Young: All right. Stephen Semple: Now, I forget what year it was. I think it was ’92, but anyway, early ’90s, Campbell’s actually created a Heinz Salsa. Dave Young: Really? Stephen Semple: Yes. And it failed miserably. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: But if you think about it, we often bump in these situations where companies do these line extensions, right? Where it’s like, “Well, why not? It’s tomato. It’s a condiment. It’s all this other thing. We can do a Heinz Salsa.” Why wouldn’t a Heinz Salsa work? People love Heinz ketchup. They’ll love Heinz Salsa.” It bombed. It totally bombed. Like bombs so much to the degree that it only existed for about three years and they went, “You know what? Instead, we’ll spend $1.1 billion buying a competitor rather than trying to develop our own.” Dave Young: Heinz is what it is and you know what you’re getting. Stephen Semple: But how often do we see that whole line extension happen and it fails? Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Right? Like Gerber’s wanting to make adult food. Dave Young: No. Stephen Semple: Doesn’t work. Heinz making salsa. Dave Young: Make adult food and call it something else. Stephen Semple: Coke understood this when they went into the energy drink market because it was not Coke energy drink. They knew that would fail. Coke understood that. They were like, “No, no. Coke’s a pop. It’s a soft drink. It’s not an energy drink. We’re going to have to do something completely different.” But it’s amazing how often businesses will make that mistake of, “Oh, well, we do this thing. Let’s also market ourselves this thing and do this line extension.” And it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work. Dave Young: I think there are just invisible boundaries that if you don’t know them and you try to cross them. And in this case, it’s the style of food, right? Heinz goes on certain things, but it doesn’t go on Mexican food. You don’t dump ketchup on Mexican food. You don’t dump mustard on Mexican food. And Heinz makes ketchup and mustard and relish. Stephen Semple: And pickles. Dave Young: Pickles and all of those things, but they’re definitely not things that you put on Mexican food. Stephen Semple: It’s interesting. I was having this conversation with Michael Torbet, one of our partners, because we’re dealing with a situation with a client, an existing client where we’re struggling with getting them to think about not doing a line extension. And I was sharing with him this whole story of Heinz and we were talking about Gerber and a bunch of other companies that tried to do line extension and have failed. And we got talking about ketchup. And I was saying to him, “Well, I think the reason why it didn’t work because ketchup is something that you put on hamburgers.” But I like how you put it. It’s not specifically about hamburgers, but the foods that you put ketchup on, because again, Heinz is successful in pickles and they’re successful in mustard, but there’s foods where pickles, mustard, and ketchup go together. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: And none of those foods does salsa go on it. It’s a different food category that salsa goes on. So you could make salsa and you could probably make cheese and that would actually work. Where you think about it, ketchup and salsa from a manufacturing standpoint are closer than salsa and cheese. Dave Young: Yeah. Those are weird associations. Stephen Semple: In fact, those companies do make cheese. They make cheese with a little bit of jalapeno. Dave Young: Yeah, absolutely. They’re right there next to the picante sauce. Stephen Semple: But I loved how you expressed it, hidden barriers, but they exist. And if you cross those barriers, it doesn’t work. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Very cool. I didn’t think about them as being hidden barriers. That’s an amazing observation. Dave Young: Like Rolex should never make a phone. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: Right? Well, phones keep times like, yeah, but that’s not right. Anyway, that’s just an example. There’s just lanes. Stephen Semple: Right. But there’s a couple of luxury watch brands that tried to dip their toe into the smartwatch market and it didn’t work. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: And Rolex was not one of them, but I can’t remember who did, but they did and it failed terribly, failed terribly. Part of the appeal to a Rolex is the handmade and craftsmanship and all this other stuff. Dave Young: Well, and I don’t know. I have an Apple Watch and I have an Apple Watch not so much so I can tell time, but so it can do some other things for me. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: It can notify me. I use the timer function all the time and I could just carry a stopwatch around my neck or some kind of timer. But I also noticed that Apple sells, you can buy really fancy, upgraded, shiny, gold, sparkly, diamond encrusted versions of Apple Watch cases. The thing still does the same thing, but I don’t know how popular that stuff is. I’m guessing it’s pretty niche. Stephen Semple: I’m going to guess it probably is. And again, it’s not a line extension. It’s an add-on to an Apple Watch. It’s not a different watch. It’s an add-on. Dave Young: I think the guy that’s buying a Patek Philippe… I don’t know. Stephen Semple: Philippe Patek? Yeah. Dave Young: Or even a Rolex. Stephen Semple: Were you? Yeah. Dave Young: You’re not buying it for the same reason you’re buying an Apple Watch of any sort. And you’re not going to be fooled by the glitz and glam of the accoutrement on an Apple Watch into thinking that you’re buying a fancy watch. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: It’s still an Apple Watch. Stephen Semple: It’s still an Apple Watch. Yeah. It’s a different thing. Dave Young: Interesting. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Anyway. Dave Young: That’s a fascinating subject to just these invisible barriers. Stephen Semple: In a great book that covers this a little bit is the 22 by… Is it Al Ries and somebody? Dave Young: Trout and Ries, 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. Stephen Semple: Yeah. And one of the laws that they go through is basically don’t do line extension. And they’ve got some great stories in that book around it. And anybody interested in branding, it’s a great… I have it on my desk and it’s a bible I refer to because those 22 laws, yeah, they are like you break them at your peril. With all of Heinz power, it couldn’t extend that and instead gave up and spent a billion dollars buying a competitor. Dave Young: And probably didn’t rename it Heinz. Stephen Semple: They did not. They kept it as Pace. Yeah. Dave Young: And they learned their lesson. Stephen Semple: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Dave Young: We’ve spent this time talking about Pace and just before this recording, we talked about Doritos, Tostitos. I’m getting kind of hungry. Are you getting hungry? Stephen Semple: Yeah. And of course we also talked a little bit about Taco Bell. Dave Young: Yeah. Yeah. Stephen Semple: As a sidebar. Yeah. A lot of food conversation here late in the afternoon. Dave Young: If people hear my tummy grumbling in the microphone, you know what’s going on. If we weren’t in different cities on the same continent, I’d suggest we go out and grab a bite somewhere, Stephen, but we’ll have to do that another time. Stephen Semple: We’ll have to do that another time. Exactly. Dave Young: I’ll bring the dip, you bring the chips. Stephen Semple: All right, you’re on. Dave Young: Thanks for bringing us the Pace story. Stephen Semple: All right. Thanks, David. Dave Young: Thanks for listening to the podcast. Please share us, subscribe on your favorite podcast app and leave us a big, fat, juicy five star rating and review at Apple Podcasts. And if you’d like to schedule your own 90-minute empire building session, you can do it at empirebuildingprogram.com.

Recorded live from the 2026 International Builders' Show in Orlando, Housing Developments welcomes Jason Eichenholz, philanthropist and owner of The New American Home 2026. Jason explains how this home isn't just a residence, but an activation center for his foundation, Jonathan's Landing.

Send a textWe break down how to turn raw land into builder-ready communities while reducing risk by securing the buyer first. Brandon shares the three-phase model, the biggest mistakes to avoid, and why the right city partners and civil engineer change everything.• buyer-led land targeting and concept planning• securing city buy-in before heavy spend• locking a national builder during due diligence• three phases: entitlement, horizontal, exit• multiple exits to fit the market cycle• designing lots to match builder product lines• choosing developer-friendly states and cities• costly pitfalls from poor engineering and approvals• investor options: passive capital or mastermind coaching• community impact: rooftops, retail, tax baseGive us a five-star review, write something nice, subscribe, follow, all of the things because podcasts, you know, we do these for you to help you learn, educate, and help you become a better real estate investor Support the showThanks again for listening. Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a FIVE-STAR review.Head to Dwanderful right now to claim your free real estate investing kit. And follow:http://www.Dwanderful.comhttp://www.facebook.com/Dwanderfulhttp://www.Instagram.com/Dwanderful http://www.youtube.com/DwanderfulRealEstateInvestingChannelMake it a Dwanderful Day!

Tired of watching your best practitioners walk out the door with your hard-earned client list? Here's the truth bomb you need: they're not leaving to steal from you—they're leaving because you haven't given them a reason to stay. In this episode, Kim breaks down the three-tier system that transforms your business from a revolving door of resentful employees into a thriving company where top talent fights to stay. What You'll Learn: 1️⃣ Why most employees aren't business-minded (and what that means for your hiring strategy) 2️⃣ The difference between building a personal brand vs. building a scalable company 3️⃣ How to create a development culture that makes leaving feel like a downgrade 4️⃣ The 3-tier structure: Visionaries, Builders, and Integrators—and why you need all three 5️⃣ Why "fairness" in the workplace isn't optional if you want to keep good people 6️⃣ The real reason your star performers are eyeing the exit (hint: it's not about money) I took notes for you: Download the worksheet here > https://link.kimguillory.com/widget/form/YuJ4m69dvSzmXnt7ggbI  Ready to become the leader who can hold space for bigger success? This episode will challenge you to look in the mirror and ask: Am I creating a workplace worth staying for? Resources Mentioned: Want help becoming the visionary leader your team needs? Email Kim or reply wherever you're listening to explore working together. support@kimguillory.com If this episode resonated, please: Share it with a salon, spa, or wellness business owner who's struggling with turnover Leave a rating and review to help us reach more business owners Send Kim your topic requests for future episodes Full show notes: https://kimguillory.com/podcast/stop-employees-from-leaving 

On this episode of the Established Podcast, we hear from Jillian Friot who is the CEO of the Global Venture Network and Donna Harris, the CEO of Builders and Backers.    Jillian and Donna were interviewed as part of our Established Network, Monthly Innovation Circle, and we continue to host these events on the third Thursday of every month. Sign up today at: http://est.us/TheMIC202   Get Involved! Founders, investors, startup teams, entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs), and innovators, we invite you to join the Established Network, our digital hub where creativity, capital, and collaboration collide. https://established.network    Watch the episode on the Established YouTube Channel at: https://soty.link/ESTYouTube   Thank you for listening, and as always, please check out the Established website and subscribe to the newsletter at: www.est.us    Subscribe to the Established podcast: https://theestablishedpodcast.com/     Startup of the Year helps diverse, emerging startups, founding teams, and entrepreneurs push their companies to the next level. We are a competition, a global community, and a resource. Startup of the Year is also a year-long program that searches the country for a geographically diverse set of startups from all backgrounds and pulls them together to compete for the title of Startup of the Year. Check out Startup of the Year at: www.startupofyear.com   Established is a consultancy focused on helping organizations with innovation, startup, and communication strategies. It is the power behind Startup of the Year. Created by the talent responsible for building the Tech.Co brand (acquired by an international publishing company), we are leveraging decades of experience to help our collaborators best further (or create) their brand & accomplish their most important goals. Check out Established at: www.established.us Connect with us on X (formerly Twitter) - @EstablishedUs    Connect with us on Facebook - facebook.com/established.us

Show DescriptionChris has opinions about being sick, implied target for popovers, should Apple provide cross platform virtual machine images for Safari testing, what tips are there for beginners to HTML and CSS, which website builder CMS's do we recommend, and a Chipotle hack for your lunch plans. Listen on WebsiteWatch on YouTubeLinks The Missing Link for Web Components – Frontend Masters Blog Better defaults for popovers - Manuel Matuzovic 346: With Ben Evans – CodePen Ben Evans on CodePen Pure CSS Only Portrait - Isla Pure CSS Still Life - Water and Lemons A Single Div Webflow Craft CMS Sanity Contentful

In the first part of this two-episode series on the tombs of the tomb builders, host Stephanie Rice journeys beyond the iconic monuments of the Giza Plateau to explore the long-overlooked settlement of the pyramid workers.Often overshadowed by the Great Pyramids themselves, the massive wall known as Heit el-Ghurab, aka the “Wall of the Crow”, once concealed the remains of a thriving community. Ongoing excavations have revealed barracks, bakeries, administrative buildings, and, most importantly, carefully constructed cemeteries that challenge long-standing myths about enslaved labor or alien technologies.This episode examines the archaeological evidence for a socially stratified yet respected workforce: laborers buried in modest but well-built tombs, artisans interred higher on the hillside, and even small mastabas and pyramids constructed for workers. Through burial architecture, grave goods, and settlement remains, we uncover a story not of disposable bodies, but of skilled Egyptians who brought their regional traditions with them in life and in death.Offline Sources Cited:David, A. Rosalie (editor). 1996. The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt: A Modern Investigation of Pharaoh's Workforce. Routledge, London New York.Forshaw, Roger. Trauma Care, Surgery and Remedies in Ancient Egypt: A Reassessment.Lehner, Mark. 2015. Labor and the Pyramids: The Heit El-Ghurab “Workers Town” at Giza. In , pp. 397–522.Lehner, Mark. 2023. Combinatorial Evolution and Heterogeneous Cohabitation at the Giant Pyramids. Journal of Urban Archaeology 8:21–46.Steinkeller, Piotr, and Michael Hudson. 2015. Labor in the Ancient World: A Colloquium Held at Hirschbach (Saxony), April 2005. International Scholars Conference on Ancient Near Eastern Economies No. volume 5. ISLET, Dresden.TranscriptsFor transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/31LinksThe Past Macabre Research Notes on SubstackSee photos related to episode topics on InstagramLoving the macabre lore? Treat your host to a coffee!Website | The Giza Plateau Mapping ProjectWebsite | Information about the worker's cemetery at Heit al-Ghurab from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and AntiquitiesArchPodNetAPN Website: https://www.archpodnet.comAPN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnetAPN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnetAPN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnetAPN ShopAffiliatesMotion Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ronak Desai, Co-founder and CPTO at Payment Labs, breaks down a surprisingly hard problem that sits at the intersection of fintech, sports, and compliance. If you have ever assumed paying winners is just a simple payout flow, this episode will change that view fast.Payment Labs helps tournament organizers, league operators, and modern sports businesses handle payouts plus tax compliance and support, all in one system. Ronak explains why spot payments are high risk, why manual workflows still dominate the space, and how stablecoins and AI are about to reshape fraud, identity, and trust.Key TakeawaysOne time payouts are a fraud magnet, inconsistent winners and risk based rules make verification and compliance much harder than payrollSolving payments without solving tax and forms still leaves the biggest liability sitting with the organizerMany sports and esports operators still run payouts in a surprisingly analog way, checks, cash, and post event cleanupAI is now good enough to pressure identity verification, and stablecoins make recovery harder because transfers are effectively finalProduct adoption depends on meeting users where they are, younger athletes expect texting and simple flows, not tickets and portalsTimestamped Highlights00:29 What Payment Labs actually does, payouts plus tax compliance plus support for sports, esports, and creator economy use cases01:15 The origin story, a real tax problem hit an esports operator and exposed how broken the payout workflow is02:46 Why spot payments raise risk, random recipients, fraud pressure, and why bank partners treat this differently than payroll04:58 The industry reality check, still running on checks and cash, and what digitizing the workflow unlocks next06:58 AI fraud versus AI detection, how identity verification is getting bypassed and why stablecoin rails raise the stakes11:55 The NIL wild west and the product lesson, meet athletes where they already live, including iMessage supportA Line Worth RepeatingNow you have AI committing the fraud and then you have AI detecting the fraud.Pro Tips for Builders and OperatorsIf your users are young and mobile first, build support where they already communicate, texting beats ticketing for adoptionDo not bolt on AI for a storyline, use it where it replaces manual work you already do and frees time for higher leverage decisionsMap your tasks with the Eisenhower quadrant, then automate what is repetitive before you chase shiny featuresCall to ActionIf this episode helped you think differently about fintech, fraud, and modern payout infrastructure, follow the show and share it with a founder or operator who touches payments. For more conversations at the intersection of tech, data, and real world execution, connect with Amir on LinkedIn and subscribe to the Elevano newsletter.