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Most e-commerce brands pour everything into getting customers to checkout — and then hand them a generic, one-size-fits-all experience that quietly kills the sale. Avi Moskowitz, co-founder of PDQ, has processed millions of checkouts across top Shopify brands (including Jones Road Beauty), and his diagnosis is blunt: cart abandonment isn't a technical problem. It's an emotional one. And it's leaving $270 billion on the table every year.Inside the episode:Why your checkout is the one place segmentation goes to die — and how personalizing it by customer type (first-time, returning, high-value) can drive an 18% AOV lift or double-digit conversion jumpsThe "WISMO problem": why more than 50% of order-related support tickets arrive the same day the order was placed — and what it tells you about the trust gap you're creating at checkoutThe free shipping threshold mistake almost every brand is making (hint: they copied a competitor who also just guessed)Surprising checkout wins from PDQ's testing: why moving the economy shipping option down one slot meaningfully increased revenue per session — without a single new ad or productHow to think about every order as its own P&L — factoring in CAC, COGS, fulfillm—Sponsored by OMG Commerce - go to https://www.omgcommerce.com/contact and request your FREE strategy session today!—Chapters:[00:00] Intro — The $270B checkout abandonment problem[00:22] Welcome & Guest Introduction: Avi Moskowitz, Co-Founder of PDQ[01:52] Avi's Background: From Craft Beer to SaaS Founder[03:23] COVID Timing & The eCommerce Wake-Up Call[05:09] The Root Cause of Cart Abandonment: Trust, Not Technology[07:27] How PDQ Solves the Checkout Confidence Gap[14:30] Reducing Friction: Shipping, Delivery Dates & Upsells[23:00] Free Shipping Thresholds & AOV Optimization[34:00] Building a Checkout That Converts Like Amazon[43:24] Thinking in Mini P&Ls: Per-Order Profit Optimization[46:26] Personalized Checkout Logic at the Customer Level[48:24] Where to Find PDQ & Get Your Free Checkout Audit—Connect With Brett: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebrettcurry/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQmbMwBW8LYDfFAqNqlgTGw Website: https://www.omgcommerce.com/ Request a Free Strategy Session: https://www.omgcommerce.com/contactRelevant Links: Avi's LinkedIn: /moskowitzaviPast guests on eCommerce Evolution include Ezra Firestone, Steve Chou, Drew Sanocki, Jacques Spitzer, Jeremy Horowitz, Ryan Moran, Sean Frank, Andrew Youderian, Ryan McKenzie, Joseph Wilkins, Cody Wittick, Miki Agrawal, Justin Brooke, Nish Samantray, Kurt Elster, John Parkes, Chris Mercer, Rabah Rahil, Bear Handlon, JC Hite, Frederick Vallaeys, Preston Rutherford, Anthony Mink, Bill D'Allessandro, Stephane Colleu, Jeff Oxford, Bryan Porter and more
" There are three defining characteristics of a Sauve Qui Peut game: an unusual underlying concept, commitment to the bit, and beautifully painted murals." They do things a little differently around here. That's been Steven Keller's personal design philosophy ever since he started making his first escape rooms at his company, Sauve Qui Peut, located in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in Quebec, Canada. If you've ever played games at this company, you'd know the house style is that there is no house style. Every game feels distinct and different, almost like they were designed by different people. And yet Steven is the mad genius behind it all. Steven is one of the most instinct-driven designers I've encountered in this industry. He designed his first three rooms within five months of having the idea, before he'd even signed a lease. He deliberately avoided playing other escape rooms early on so he wouldn't get influenced. However, he eventually abandoned this philosophy when he realized that Egyptian-themed rooms were not, in fact, his invention. What hasn't changed is his core approach: start with one really cool thing, build around it, and figure out the story last. Like I said, they do things a little differently around here. However, Steve doesn't do it alone. Shawn Mercier is Steven's right hand man, and he joins us also to give us the nuts and bolts perspective. He started as a gamemaster, began quietly fixing and improving mechanisms, and pretty soon made himself indispensable. Shawn introduced more sophisticated and reliable tech to Sauve Qui Peut's rooms. He helps keep everything running smoothly, all before he turned 26! We know, because he celebrated his birthday with us on the day of our recording. Together, Steve and Shawn are responsible for some of the most inventive and, yes, slightly unhinged escape room design in Quebec. I really appreciated hearing Steven talk about his design process. There's a madcap creative improv quality to it, and it's part of what makes their games so quirky and memorable. If you enjoyed this conversation and want to check out the games at Sauve Qui Peut, consider joining us on one of our future Escape, Immerse, Explore tours to the Montreal area. Full Show Notes Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community. Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy. PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse. Reality Escape Convention Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026. RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals. Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht
“We really wanted to make a game that would encourage creators to make more weird stuff.” Low budgets, tight spaces, and a DIY mentality. As it turns out, indie filmmaking and creating escape rooms have a lot in common. James Hamer-Morton & Charlie Bond of Deadlocked Escape Rooms in Reading, UK, know this better than anyone. They joined us on REPOD to talk about creating their quirky, puzzle-driven games. James and Charlie actually met as actors on the set of a film, and they've been partners in life and business ever since. David even wrote a post about one of their projects, Echoes of Darkness: A Star Wars Fan Film . These origins really honed their “do-it-yourself” ethos. As Charlie puts it, “It originally stems from a lack of funds. But also it's enjoyable to do it yourself, and to learn a new skill in the process.” Where Deadlocked really shines though is in their creativity. Their games have quirky mechanics and stories. They've employed clever tricks to make the sets feel larger than they are. Relying on quick wits and creativity have allowed Deadlocked to stay nimble. During the pandemic, they created a wonderful virtual game called The Insiders that gave them global recognition in the escape room world. This led to them giving a talk at the very first RECON about Adapting Your Escape Room Business to New Mediums. James and Charlie have spent the better part of a decade building one of the UK's most distinctive escape room companies. Deadlocked is currently ranked the #1 escape room in the UK, and their newest game, The Reading Witch, recently topped the TERPECA rankings for England. One of my favorite stories from this episode is about the time they were playing an escape room and they stopped mid-game to help the owners fix a broken prop. They are two of the most charismatic, creative, and relentlessly hands-on people in the business, and I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it. Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community. Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy. PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse. Reality Escape Convention Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026. RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals. Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht
In this episode of the Inventory Genius Podcast, I'm serving up a major wake-up call for product-based business owners: revenue does not equal profit. If you've ever had a record-breaking sales month but still feel completely broke, or if you're making major business decisions based on a gut feeling rather than actual data, this episode is for you. I break down the massive misconception that growing your top-line revenue automatically means scaling your business. In fact, without a clear picture of your numbers, a product business can easily sell itself right out of business due to skyrocketing fulfillment costs and hidden inventory drains. I share the exact four-bucket framework I use with my clients to strip the emotion out of finances, stop the reactive discounting, and give you the ultimate roadmap to smart cash flow. Key Takeaways Feelings Are Not a Financial Strategy: Making reactive decisions based on emotion leads to overstocking, undercharging, and unnecessary discounting. Data gives you the confidence to say yes or no to hires, ad spend, and wholesale inquiries. The Revenue Trap: Product businesses can easily grow themselves out of business if their cost of goods sold (COGS) is too high or if inventory is mismanaged. Your Secret Weapon: Gross margin is the single most overlooked and underutilized number in a product business, but it serves as the absolute backbone of a sustainable brand. The 4 Buckets of Numbers To make your data easy to digest, I break down your business metrics into four distinct categories: Revenue & Sales: Total sales, sales by revenue stream (e-commerce, wholesale, brick-and-mortar), average order value (AOV), and units per transaction (UPT). Profitability: Gross margin per product, total COGS (materials, packaging, labor), and net profit/loss. This is where vanity metrics end and true scaling begins. Inventory & Cash Flow: The value of inventory on hand, inventory turn (what's moving vs. sitting), and cash in versus cash out. Customer Metrics: New vs. returning customer ratios, email list growth, and store/website conversion rates. These allow you to accurately predict future revenue trends. Your Financial Hygiene Rhythm Different numbers require a different review process. I recommend establishing a dedicated routine—like our signature Money Mondays—to check in on your business health. The Weekly Checklist - Total revenue (this week vs. last week)- Units sold by product category or brand- Average order value (AOV)- New email subscribers or customer acquisition numbers- Cash balance in your dedicated inventory checking account- Outstanding invoices or bills due- Top-selling products- Ad spend vs. revenue generated from ads The Monthly Checklist - Total revenue vs. the prior month and the same month last year- Breakdown of revenue by specific revenue stream- Gross margin by your top 5 products or brands (be ruthless here!)- Total cost of goods sold (COGS) for the month- Full financial review (Profit & Loss statement and Balance Sheet)- New vs. returning customer ratios- Total marketing spend vs. total revenue generated Work with Me - https://www.ciarastockeland.com/work-with-meVisit the Bookstore - https://www.ciarastockeland.com/bookstoreSign Up for Free Weekly Tips and Trainings - https://www.ciarastockeland.com/subscribe More About the Episode Sponsor:Simply Lynn's Creative (https://simplylynnscreative.com/) - With real retail roots and 225+ brands served since 2018, Simply Lynn's Creative partners with retailers and product-based businesses on branding, Shopify website design, and Klaviyo email marketing. They build the strategy, the systems, and the confidence to help you grow a brand that looks the part and sells to match! Use code CS15 at checkout, and save 15% off anything in the Resources Shop!
In this episode of the Inventory Genius Podcast, I'm serving up a major wake-up call for product-based business owners: revenue does not equal profit. If you've ever had a record-breaking sales month but still feel completely broke, or if you're making major business decisions based on a gut feeling rather than actual data, this episode is for you. I break down the massive misconception that growing your top-line revenue automatically means scaling your business. In fact, without a clear picture of your numbers, a product business can easily sell itself right out of business due to skyrocketing fulfillment costs and hidden inventory drains. I share the exact four-bucket framework I use with my clients to strip the emotion out of finances, stop the reactive discounting, and give you the ultimate roadmap to smart cash flow. Key Takeaways Feelings Are Not a Financial Strategy: Making reactive decisions based on emotion leads to overstocking, undercharging, and unnecessary discounting. Data gives you the confidence to say yes or no to hires, ad spend, and wholesale inquiries. The Revenue Trap: Product businesses can easily grow themselves out of business if their cost of goods sold (COGS) is too high or if inventory is mismanaged. Your Secret Weapon: Gross margin is the single most overlooked and underutilized number in a product business, but it serves as the absolute backbone of a sustainable brand. The 4 Buckets of Numbers To make your data easy to digest, I break down your business metrics into four distinct categories: Revenue & Sales: Total sales, sales by revenue stream (e-commerce, wholesale, brick-and-mortar), average order value (AOV), and units per transaction (UPT). Profitability: Gross margin per product, total COGS (materials, packaging, labor), and net profit/loss. This is where vanity metrics end and true scaling begins. Inventory & Cash Flow: The value of inventory on hand, inventory turn (what's moving vs. sitting), and cash in versus cash out. Customer Metrics: New vs. returning customer ratios, email list growth, and store/website conversion rates. These allow you to accurately predict future revenue trends. Your Financial Hygiene Rhythm Different numbers require a different review process. I recommend establishing a dedicated routine—like our signature Money Mondays—to check in on your business health. The Weekly Checklist - Total revenue (this week vs. last week)- Units sold by product category or brand- Average order value (AOV)- New email subscribers or customer acquisition numbers- Cash balance in your dedicated inventory checking account- Outstanding invoices or bills due- Top-selling products- Ad spend vs. revenue generated from ads The Monthly Checklist - Total revenue vs. the prior month and the same month last year- Breakdown of revenue by specific revenue stream- Gross margin by your top 5 products or brands (be ruthless here!)- Total cost of goods sold (COGS) for the month- Full financial review (Profit & Loss statement and Balance Sheet)- New vs. returning customer ratios- Total marketing spend vs. total revenue generated Work with Me - https://www.ciarastockeland.com/work-with-meVisit the Bookstore - https://www.ciarastockeland.com/bookstoreSign Up for Free Weekly Tips and Trainings - https://www.ciarastockeland.com/subscribe More About the Episode Sponsor:Simply Lynn's Creative (https://simplylynnscreative.com/) - With real retail roots and 225+ brands served since 2018, Simply Lynn's Creative partners with retailers and product-based businesses on branding, Shopify website design, and Klaviyo email marketing. They build the strategy, the systems, and the confidence to help you grow a brand that looks the part and sells to match! Use code CS15 at checkout, and save 15% off anything in the Resources Shop!
In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Ryan Roccon, CFO of Zapier, to cover AI hiring standards, automating month-end close, measuring ROI on AI spend, and why determinism still beats agents most of the time.—SPONSORS:EY has been part of Silicon Valley since it was just a valley, helping the most successful names in tech go from startup to exit to megacap. With teams across strategy, tax, audit, and transactions, EY helps you get your financials right early, long before your investors start asking for it. You build the next big thing, and EY will help you build it right. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartupsSpendHound cuts your SaaS and AI spend by up to 30% using real pricing benchmarks across 10,000 vendors, so you always know what fair pricing looks like before your next renewal. Rated #1 on G2 in SaaS spend management, it's free forever for teams up to 1,000 employees. Sign up by June 12th and get $500 just for getting started. Go to https://www.spendhound.com/cjBrex is an intelligent finance platform with AI-powered agents that capture expenses automatically, enforce policy before the spend happens, and close your books in minutes instead of weeks. 35,000+ companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Anthropic, and DoorDash already run on Brex. It's time to get Brex AF. Learn more at https://www.brex.com/metricsAleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/runRightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform that lets your product team ship new pricing without asking finance for permission, and your sales team close deals without creating downstream chaos. Check out their free tool at calculator.rightrev.com It scores your rev rec process, shows what's exposing you to risk, and tells you exactly where to focus before it bites you in the rear end. Check it out at https://calculator.rightrev.comRillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj—LINKS: Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsNGuest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanroccon/Company: https://zapier.com/CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com—RELATED EPISODES:Ryan's First Appearancehttps://youtu.be/VIZ_RzfV78IChris Byington, Head of Data @ Superhumanhttps://youtu.be/ydH38JnWfww—TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Preview and intro2:11 Ryan's scope at Zapier3:17 Why the finance guy runs ecosystems6:19 AI is a required hire competency6:46 The four levels: unacceptable to transformative8:48 How Zapier tests for it11:50 Favorite interview question13:06 Sponsors — EY | SpendHound | Brex16:18 AI changes the hiring profile17:07 Support becomes customer-facing engineering18:44 Where AI beats deterministic Zaps21:00 80-90% of builds are deterministic22:41 Sponsors — Aleph | RightRev | Rillet26:00 Month end close on Zaps27:40 Time saved is a leading indicator29:53 AI token costs: COGS or investment?31:51 Performance issue or measurement issue?33:41 Partner ARR: chasing the wrong thing35:56 Build around what changes the decision37:17 The initiative sizing coach40:00 Escalate on magnitude, not certainty41:55 The 9,000 integration story44:02 M&A process and minimum model46:19 Cash vs. stock: incentive alignment48:06 CFO's role in M&A: show up early49:18 Credits
"We don't fear spoilers because a good room has more to offer than just the set that you saw in a photo. It must be something that you feel also." When most people think of an escape room, they think of puzzles, padlocks, with maybe a light narrative slapped on top. When Rémy Strobbe and the team at Live Cinema created Zone 51, however, they thought: okay, but what if instead of solving puzzles, you were inside a movie? Rémy is the co-founder and creative director of Live Cinema, based in Paris, France. He joins us on REPOD to talk about Zone 51, a jaw-dropping 120-minute experience set across 550 square meters, 25 rooms, 3 live performers , and a cinematic globe-spanning story. David calls it "one of the most remarkable experiences that I have seen in the immersive world." Zone 51 begins the moment you walk through the door. Indeed, for those unaware, they might be convinced that they're here to watch an actual movie. As you can see, the set is absolutely gorgeous. Rémy talks candidly about the difficult journey to creating this game. Amongst their troubles, they had a construction partner go bankrupt mid-build and take €80,000 with them, and a pandemic that halted production for over a year. He also shares the secrets behind the tight pipelining schedule that makes this project financially feasible. I especially loved hearing Rémy talk about their philosophy on marketing and allowing players to record their games. Live Cinema leans into sharing striking visuals. As Rémy put it, a good experience has more to offer than just what you see in a photo. And those photos are spectacular. Zone 51 is currently bookable in French, with limited English sessions available by email. English availability is expected to expand by fall 2026 — which happens to align perfectly with the Escape Immerse Explore Paris Tour. Zone 51 (review coming soon) will be on the Tour, along with a few other games from the same creators at Lock Academy. If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining us on the Tour, if it hasn't already sold out! Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community. Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy. PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse. Reality Escape Convention Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026. RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals. Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht
"We take your favorite games from TV, but we put our own twist on it." Sound design is the most underused tool in escape room design. It's not just for ambiance; it's a feedback system. It tells players what they did, redirects them when they're wrong, and stops them from doing the same wrong thing over and over. Sound design plays a huge role at The Escape Game and Great Big Game Show. Troy Armstrong has two music composition degrees. If you've played Cosmic Crisis, The Depths, or The Rugrats version ofThe Playground, then you've heard some of his work. Troy got his start in the industry as a gamemaster at The Escape Game. One day, he cold-emailed the head of design to "talk about game design" and left with a sound design commission. Today he's Director of Product Design for Great Big Game Show, one of the newest immersive gaming options from The Escape Game. Great Big Game Show is not an escape room. Rather, it's a live immersive gaming experience where two teams compete over a series of mini games, all guided by an energetic, live host. It takes familiar games from TV, but adds origin spin on the concepts. Troy is passionate about gameshows and sound design. It was fascinating to hear him talk about how he crafts these elements to create the best possible experience for guests. I especially enjoyed hearing him talk about all the ways that sound design can help direct players and shape the flow of a game. If you're interested in hearing more about how sound design matters, join us at the Reality Escape Convention, where Troy will be speaking. Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community. Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy. PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse. Reality Escape Convention Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026. RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals. Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht
Today we're digging into a topic you might not have considered before: the importance of clean financial data. We talk about numbers constantly—how to focus on them, why they matter, and what you should be looking at. But we haven't truly discussed why having clean information is the absolute backbone of successful decision-making in a product-based business. The Danger of Dirty Data I recently spoke with two clients who were using a financial analysis tool to guide their buying. The tool kept telling them to buy more, buy more. They followed the data, thinking they were being efficient, only to end up buried in inventory that didn't move. That wasn't a supply chain problem or a marketing problem—it was a data problem. Dirty data is dangerous because it doesn't come with a warning label; it looks like fact, but it's actually fiction dressed as finance. What Does Dirty Data Look Like? If you want to avoid making wrong decisions confidently, watch out for these five common red flags: Miscategorized Transactions: Expenses floating in no man's land or assigned to the wrong revenue streams. COGS vs. OPEX Confusion: When your inventory purchases are blurred with operating expenses, you can't see your true margin. Timing Errors: Recognizing revenue when cash hits rather than when it's earned (Cash vs. Accrual). Inventory Valuation Gaps: Your books say you have 800 units, but your warehouse only has 500. Un-netted Discounts: Refunds and chargebacks that aren't properly subtracted from your top-line revenue. The Three Cs of Clean Data To run a genius inventory system, your data must be: Consistent: Applying the same rules and categories every single month. Connected: Your POS, bank account, and accounting software should all tell the same story. Current: Books should be reconciled and in your hands by the 15th–20th of every month—not just at tax time! 8 Key Data Points You Need to Track I want you to look at your dashboard and ask: “Do I actually have this number, and can I trust it?” Gross Margin by SKU: Not just overall, but by category and brand. Inventory Valuation: Real-time wholesale and retail value. 12–13 Week Cash Flow: A forward-looking projection of your bank balance. Net Revenue: Gross sales minus returns, fees, and discounts. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): What it actually costs to get a buyer through the door. Inventory Turn: How fast your product is moving by department. All-in Cost Per Unit: The landed cost including shipping and handling. Contribution Margin: Revenue minus all variable costs to see what truly goes toward profit. Your 3-Step Data Audit Don't just listen—take action today with these three simple steps: Step 1: Pull your P&L and go line-by-line. Ensure every expense is correctly categorized. Step 2: Confirm your bookkeeper is reconciling accounts monthly and delivering reports on time. Step 3: Check your POS. Ensure every SKU has an accurate cost associated with it. Final Thought: Stop treating your books like a tax document and start treating them like a GPS. Clean data leads to better decisions, which leads to stronger margins, which leads to cash. Work with Me - https://www.ciarastockeland.com/work-with-meVisit the Bookstore - https://www.ciarastockeland.com/bookstoreSign Up for Free Weekly Tips and Trainings - https://www.ciarastockeland.com/subscribe More About the Episode Sponsor:T&O Strategic Advisory (http://www.tostrategicadvisory.com/) - Offering a wide range of tax and accounting services, including entity election and S-Corp advisory.
Most real estate teams are built around their leader. And at some level, most team leaders know it. Nathan Clark identified that problem early, named it clearly, and spent 20 years solving it. The result is a 600-plus transaction, 24-agent, 5-ISA, and 7-staff real estate team in Rhode Island that generates 30 to 35% net profit annually and genuinely runs without him: 15 to 20 hours of work per week, five race cars, and a full year away from the business when his family needed him. The team kept running.You'll learn how Nathan structures the financial model that makes that possible, starting with the COGS ceiling most teams quietly violate and the full P&L benchmark he reviews weekly.You'll learn why he charges sellers $2,000 and buyers $1,000 before showing a single home, how that generates $40,000 to $50,000 per month in working capital, and how that revenue funds better advertising and a better agent income on a lower split.You'll also learn when to step out of production, the ideal ISA:agent ratio, what team size has been most profitable for them, how to grow revenue per client instead of chasing transaction count, and what Nathan believes the team model will look like when AI is fully in the picture.Watch or listen for Nathan's insights into:0:00 Intro and welcome 1:43 Why speed, going all in, and staying focused would make more leaders successful 6:57 What "runs without you" actually looks like 10:36 Specific lessons learned between 200 and 600 transactions, including the right ISA:agent ratio 17:34 Starting with the end in mind and making your team or brokerage more valuable 21:49 Why your cost of sale should be 40%, what that means for your splits, and how your agents can still get ahead 27:20 Raising your commission when everyone else is cutting it 29:06 Getting paid three times on each transaction, including upfront (and what he's doing with the $40-50k/month in working capital that generates) 36:36 Why they were most profitable at 20-25 agents and when you should be able to leave sales production 39:34 Why growing GCI by 50% doesn't require 50% more agents and 50% more closings 43:35 The weekly or monthly meeting you must have, even if it's just with yourself 44:36 The P&L benchmarks: 40% COGS max, 15% advertising, 14-15% payroll (including yourself), 1-3% rent, 25% base profit, up to 35% with add-ons 48:24 Why teams modeled after enterprises will continue to take market share and how AI can empower a 600-transaction team to scale to 2-3k 51:37 At the end, learn about the underdog and the goat, an addiction that runs fast and costs a fortune, and a personal crisis that proved his business was worth every hour he put into it over the years.Mentioned in this episode:→ Mike Schumm “The Hidden Curve That Kills Real Estate Team Profit”→ Andy Mulholland “Mastering Real Estate Business Financials”→ Anthwon Thomas “Preserving Your Profit Margins”Connect with Nathan Clark:→ Nathan at NathanClarkTeam dot comLearn about the systems Nathan runs on:→ https://hs.yhsgr.com/maibConnect with Real Estate Team OS→ https://www.realestateteamos.com→ https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos→ https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
Today we're digging into a topic you might not have considered before: the importance of clean financial data. We talk about numbers constantly—how to focus on them, why they matter, and what you should be looking at. But we haven't truly discussed why having clean information is the absolute backbone of successful decision-making in a product-based business. The Danger of Dirty Data I recently spoke with two clients who were using a financial analysis tool to guide their buying. The tool kept telling them to buy more, buy more. They followed the data, thinking they were being efficient, only to end up buried in inventory that didn't move. That wasn't a supply chain problem or a marketing problem—it was a data problem. Dirty data is dangerous because it doesn't come with a warning label; it looks like fact, but it's actually fiction dressed as finance. What Does Dirty Data Look Like? If you want to avoid making wrong decisions confidently, watch out for these five common red flags: Miscategorized Transactions: Expenses floating in no man's land or assigned to the wrong revenue streams. COGS vs. OPEX Confusion: When your inventory purchases are blurred with operating expenses, you can't see your true margin. Timing Errors: Recognizing revenue when cash hits rather than when it's earned (Cash vs. Accrual). Inventory Valuation Gaps: Your books say you have 800 units, but your warehouse only has 500. Un-netted Discounts: Refunds and chargebacks that aren't properly subtracted from your top-line revenue. The Three Cs of Clean Data To run a genius inventory system, your data must be: Consistent: Applying the same rules and categories every single month. Connected: Your POS, bank account, and accounting software should all tell the same story. Current: Books should be reconciled and in your hands by the 15th–20th of every month—not just at tax time! 8 Key Data Points You Need to Track I want you to look at your dashboard and ask: “Do I actually have this number, and can I trust it?” Gross Margin by SKU: Not just overall, but by category and brand. Inventory Valuation: Real-time wholesale and retail value. 12–13 Week Cash Flow: A forward-looking projection of your bank balance. Net Revenue: Gross sales minus returns, fees, and discounts. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): What it actually costs to get a buyer through the door. Inventory Turn: How fast your product is moving by department. All-in Cost Per Unit: The landed cost including shipping and handling. Contribution Margin: Revenue minus all variable costs to see what truly goes toward profit. Your 3-Step Data Audit Don't just listen—take action today with these three simple steps: Step 1: Pull your P&L and go line-by-line. Ensure every expense is correctly categorized. Step 2: Confirm your bookkeeper is reconciling accounts monthly and delivering reports on time. Step 3: Check your POS. Ensure every SKU has an accurate cost associated with it. Final Thought: Stop treating your books like a tax document and start treating them like a GPS. Clean data leads to better decisions, which leads to stronger margins, which leads to cash. Work with Me - https://www.ciarastockeland.com/work-with-meVisit the Bookstore - https://www.ciarastockeland.com/bookstoreSign Up for Free Weekly Tips and Trainings - https://www.ciarastockeland.com/subscribe More About the Episode Sponsor:T&O Strategic Advisory (http://www.tostrategicadvisory.com/) - Offering a wide range of tax and accounting services, including entity election and S-Corp advisory.
Answer our 2026 Audience Census! "I wasn't an Imagineer because of the dollar. It's because I wanted to do something marvelous for people to enjoy." Captain Eo. Ghostbusters. Men in Black. Team America. Star Tours. The Muppet Movie. If you've ever fallen in love with puppeted characters that felt impossibly alive, there's a good chance Terri Hardin worked on them. A master puppeteer, creature builder, and performer, Terri has spent decades blurring the line between imagination and reality, helping bring some of the most iconic characters in film, television, and the Disney Parks to life. Thanks to the success and beloved characters of Jim Henson, puppets and fantastical characters were having a huge moment in the 80s and 90s. Studios depended on practical effects and humans to create and bring to life characters such as Stay Puft, the giant Marshmallow Man and Zuul, the Temple Dog in Ghostbusters, both of which Terri helped animate. Terri has such an impressive list of productions she's worked on that her bio below is a 22 page document full of references to beloved films and characters. We've also linked to some videos of her work below in the Resources section. Terri also worked as a sculptor and Imagineer at Walt Disney for many years. She is brimming with incredible stories about all the people she's worked with including Michael Jackson, Dan Aykroyd and Jim Henson, and Michael Eisner. Terri talks to us about how she prepared herself so that when any opportunity came, she was ready. I especially loved her story about how she created the Dragon's Lair attraction at Disneyland Paris. Terri is an absolutely remarkable character herself, and she had both me and David laughing through the entire interview. Beneath it all, Terry is a passionate artist who breathes life into all her creations. Whether you're a film buff, a Disney fan, a maker, or just someone who loves a good behind-the-scenes story, this conversation pulls back the curtain on puppetry as a craft. You'll never look at puppetry the same way again. Full Show Notes Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community. Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy. PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse. Reality Escape Convention Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026. RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals. Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht
Are AI inference costs already eating into your gross margin — and you can't even see them on your P&L? In episode #370, Ben Murray breaks down exactly what belongs in AI COGS for SaaS companies offering an AI-first or AI-infused product line. Inference bills are stacking up fast, infrastructure-layer spend is the surprise line item nobody priced in, and most finance teams haven't built the GL account structure to capture any of it cleanly. If you don't get the framework in place now, you'll be reporting AI gross margin you can't actually defend by next quarter — and your board will notice. The 5 cost categories every AI COGS framework needs — inference, model hosting/GPU infrastructure, the AI infrastructure layer, monitoring and observability, and AI-specific support Why AI inference costs deserve their own GL account — and shouldn't be buried inside your cloud hosting bill where they disappear The surprise cost line one industry report flagged as the #1 unexpected AI expense — hiding in data platform usage, networking, and egress How to structure your COGS cost centers so you can deliver clean margins by AI product line, not just lumped together at the company level Why token tracking by customer cohort (heavy / medium / light users) is now table stakes for any AI product sold as a subscription The deployed-engineer question: should AI support tickets sit with tech support or a specialized team — and how that decision rewires your margin model Tune in to get the AI COGS framework in place before your gross margin lands on a board slide you can't defend. Resources Mentioned Ben's new AI course: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/ai-finance-metrics-saas Ben's blog post: What Should Be Included in AI COGS: https://www.thesaascfo.com/what-should-be-included-in-ai-cogs/ SaaS Metrics Foundation course: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/the-saas-metrics-foundation
Did your AI bill just jump overnight — even though no one announced a price increase? In episode #369, Ben Murray breaks down the hidden AI price hike that's quietly hitting SaaS P&Ls this month. Anthropic shipped a new tokenizer underneath Claude Opus 4.7 — same menu pricing as 4.6, but real enterprise workloads are showing 12-27% higher effective cost, with some prompts consuming up to 35% more tokens for identical output. Most finance teams won't catch this variance until the invoice lands. If you're running AI in production, paying for Claude Code, or modeling AI COGS into next year's plan, this is the cost dynamic you need on your radar before the next board meeting. Why "same per-token pricing" doesn't mean same cost — and how a new tokenizer can quietly inflate your token consumption by 35% The real-world math: how a $50K/month API spend can balloon to $67K with zero changes to the pricing page What Anthropic's doubled Claude Code per-developer estimate ($6 → $13/day) signals about the end of subsidized AI pricing Why the era of "AI is just going to keep getting cheaper" assumptions is breaking down — and what that means for forecasting and runway The exact metrics to monitor in your Anthropic console today to catch token volume spikes before they hit your GL How to use the Inference Efficiency Ratio (revenue ÷ token costs in COGS) to measure AI margin if you're embedding AI into your product Why finance teams now need to document internal-use AI models the same way they document internal-use software Tune in before your next Anthropic invoice lands — and learn what to track now so AI variance doesn't become a board question. Resources Mentioned Dev.to article: https://dev.to/dev_tips/the-ai-price-hike-that-never-showed-up-on-the-pricing-page-your-bill-went-up-27-anyway-3mn5 Put your AI framework in place: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/ai-finance-metrics-saas
Dave "CAC" Kellogg and Ray "Growth" Rike dig into the Redpoint Ventures 2026 Software and AI Market Update - a 69-page report built on proprietary CIO survey data from 141 respondents, plus public market data from Qatalyst, Pitchbook, Goldman Sachs, RBC, and McKinsey. Big report with even bigger implications. Ray and Dave unpack the data that matter most for B2B SaaS and AI-native software operators.WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODEThe AI Build-Out Is Real and It's Not the Dot-Com BubbleHyperscaler CapEx is projected to hit $765B in 2026, up nearly 50% year over year. More than 90% of new data center capacity is already pre-committed. Compare that to the dot-com era when fiber utilization was under 3%. The other critical difference: today's infrastructure spend is funded primarily by free cash flow, not debt. The more important signal is demand. AI has reached 1 billion monthly active users in four years. The internet took far longer to reach 70 million. The demand is real. The risk of speculative overbuild is also real.The Agent Maturity Curve and Why Most of the Value Is Still AheadPage 7 of the report maps the four phases of agent maturity by runtime: co-pilots (seconds), task agents (minutes), workflow agents (hours), autonomous agents (days). Co-pilots represent roughly $500B in software spend. Task agents, where coding tools live today, push that to $1.2T. Workflow agents expand the TAM to $2.8T. Autonomous agents take it to $6.1T. Coding has been the beachhead use case for good reasons: structured training data, instant verification, self-improving feedback loops. The real enterprise revenue opportunity is still in phases three and four.What the CIO Survey Actually Says This is the buried lead of the report. 54% of CIOs are actively consolidating vendors. 45% of AI budgets are coming from existing software budgets, not net-new spend. 58% say AI feature additions are the top driver of incremental software spend. 54% prefer to stay with incumbent vendors if they deliver on AI. Only 13% have a strong preference for AI-native software. The 33% who are neutral are the swing vote. Incumbents are winning the preference battle but losing the execution battle — the CIO feedback on Agentforce, Copilot, and ServiceNow AI in the survey is not flattering.Terminal Value Is the Real SaaS Valuation StoryThe public SaaS median NTM revenue multiple sits at 4.1x (Meritech says 3.1x), the lowest since the global financial crisis. In a SaaS DCF, 85 to 95% of enterprise value comes from terminal value, not the five-year forecast. The implied long-term growth rate embedded in current SaaS valuations has collapsed from 4.7% to 1.1%. Short-term beats like ServiceNow's recent quarter do almost nothing to move the stock because the market's concern is not next year. It's year ten and beyond. That is a terminal value story, not a growth story.ARR Per Employee - The Benchmark EvolvesCursor and Anthropic hit $100M ARR in roughly two years. Slack took three. Salesforce and Adobe took four to five. ServiceNow took seven to eight. AI-native companies have made $1M revenue per FTE the new floor. The P&L transformation model in slide 39 projects R&D costs down 15 to 20%, sales costs down 15 to 20%, COGS increasing due to inference spend but offset by reductions in customer support and customer success. Net result: potential EBITDA expansion of 100 to 250% on the same revenue base over three to five years.Private Markets Are in an AI Love FestAI-native deals represent nearly 100% of new VC activity in Q1 2026. Deal concentration is accelerating: the top 20 deals captured 44% of total funding in 2025, up from 31% in 2024 and 7% in 2022. At the model layer, dollars and valuations are concentrated while deal volume belongs to the application layer (61% of deals). The model competition is effectively over. The only question is rank order. The application layer is where the volume plays out, and AI-native vendors are winning that battle.Redpoint 2026 Software and AI Market Update: https://www.redpoint.com/reports/2026-market-updateABOUT THE METRICS BROTHERS Ray Rike is the Founder and CEO of Benchmarkit, the leading B2B SaaS and AI-native software benchmarking company. Dave Kellogg is an EIR at Balderton Capital, independent consultant, and author of Kellblog. Together they bring a CFO-meets-GTM lens to the metrics and benchmarks that drive efficient revenue growth and enterprise value.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Answer our 2026 Audience Census! "I want to make things big and explosive." You've just been thrown in jail, locked up inside a massive prison complex in the Netherlands. Along with 125 other prisoners, you must scheme, bribe, blackmail, commit mayhem, and find your way out. This is Prison Escape, an immersive experience structured as a cinematic escape from prison. In 2025, Prison Escape ran 280 shows with an average player count of 125 participants. Approximately 22 of those shows were available in English. Prison Escape creator Rik Stapelbroek joins us on REPOD to talk about this remarkable experience. There are many paths through to the end, including sweet talking the guards, perhaps poisoning a few, or maybe you work together with other prisoners to start a riot. Rik walks us through some of the logistics of how they create different opportunities for each type of player to succeed. Rik has designed many types of interactions, from social manipulation style puzzles, to fact gathering missions so a player can contribute to a shared escape route map. He is also expanding their offerings online so more people can experience Prison Escape. This is an absolutely bonkers game, in the best way possible. If you're a fan of larps, or large scale open world play, this episode is a must-listen. Full Show Notes Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community. Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy. PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse. Reality Escape Convention Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026. RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals. Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht
Today Grandpa Bill talks about- Mastering Sensory MappingUnlock the secret power of the human voice and sensory awareness to transform your well-being from the inside out. Grandpa Bill takes you on a soulful journey, weaving ancient wisdom with practical modern techniques to elevate your vitality. Discover how vocal mastery and the COGS framework can deepen your connection to yourself and your environment, amplifying mental clarity, emotional resilience, and physical well-being.Grandpa Bill Asks:How can tuning into your voice and senses transform your daily well-being?What role does sensory awareness play in achieving holistic health?"What if your best healing tool isn't a pill or trend, but your own voice and senses?
Dave "CAC" Kellogg and Ray "Growth" Rike tell the full story of how Intercom, a $400M ARR company that stalled at 4% growth, executed one of the most dramatic AI-first transformations in B2B SaaS. From writing off tens of millions in ARR to building a proprietary vertical AI model, this episode breaks down what it actually took to reinvent a mature SaaS business from the ground up.Topics CoveredFrom 4% to 26% Growth: The Numbers Behind the Turnaround. Intercom hit rock bottom with five straight quarters of declining net new ARR before founder Eoghan McCabe returned and went all in on AI following the ChatGPT launch in November 2022. Ray and Dave walk through the growth trajectory and what made the timing of the reset both urgent and actionable.The "Burn the Ships" Organizational Decision. Intercom rotated roughly 80% of its R&D team onto the new AI product, deliberately wrote off 50 to 60 million in ARR, and created small startup-like teams of 10 to 15 people with directly responsible individuals leading each workstream. Ray and Dave discuss why half-measures fail and how a stuck business actually has an advantage: very little to lose.Board Dynamics and Why Committees Kill Bold Moves. Dave shares a candid take on how PE boards versus VC boards respond differently to dramatic pivots, and why the committee nature of multi-partner VC boards tends to drive toward measured, middle-ground responses that often produce no real outcome.AI Economics: Gross Margins, Inference Costs, and Building Your Own Model. The shift from SaaS to AI-native changes the cost structure fundamentally. Ray puts current gross margin ranges in context (40 to 55% for pure AI-native, 55 to 70% for blended), explains why inference spend is actually rising despite lower per-token costs, and discusses why Intercom built its own vertical customer agent model for both performance and COGS optimization.Outcome-Based Pricing and the 99-Cent Resolution. Customer support is one of the clearest use cases for outcome-based pricing because the natural unit is obvious: a resolved ticket. Ray and Dave break down how Intercom priced Fin at 99 cents per resolution, validated the model against an 81% internal resolution rate, and watched NRR climb from 112% to 146% as adoption scaled across 8,000 customers.Never Waste a Good Crisis. Dave frames the broader lesson for SaaS CEOs: two paths exist now, dramatic AI reinvention or a Rule of 60/70 efficiency play. The Intercom story illustrates what the reinvention path actually demands. Ray adds that many SaaS companies sitting at 10% growth and 25% EBITDA are already in a slow-moving crisis and just haven't admitted it yet.If you lead a B2B SaaS company navigating the shift to AI, this episode is the most concrete case study available on what full commitment actually looks like in practice. Ray and Dave go beyond the headlines to examine the organizational design, board dynamics, cost structure, pricing model, and retention metrics behind Intercom's transformation. Whether you are considering an AI-first pivot or trying to understand why incremental approaches tend to stall, this episode gives you the analytical framework and the real numbers to think it through.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Answer our 2026 Audience Census! "Try to find the delight in puzzles." Amanda and Errol have been fixtures in the escape room community for years, so of course we had to get the OG escape room podcasters on REPOD. This episode is basically a love letter to everything weird and wonderful about playing escape rooms, designing immersive games, and the incredible community we found along the way. From 2016-2022, Errol and Manda, along with their other co-hosts Ruby and Mike, podcasted about their escape room antics. They gave valuable commentary on the early years of escape rooms, and along with Room Escape Artist, really helped shape the community that grew around this new form of immersive gaming entertainment. Not only did Errol and Manda provide commentary on escape rooms, they also helped create some iconic games, including Heist on a Moving Train, the Cryptex Hunt puzzle hunt series, and Present Quest. They have each appeared twice as speakers for our own convention, the Reality Escape Convention. As a Certified Fraud Examiner, Manda gave a talk in fraud prevention for RECON 25. Errol's puzzle design talk from RECON 21 remains one of the most popular from any RECON. Errol and Manda are a joy to chat with. If you enjoyed this episode, the Bonus Aftershow we recorded with them was even more fun. Consider joining our Patreon for even more content! And a very special thanks to Bill Sunderland from Escape This Podcast for singing, "The Glow of Black Light" in this episode. We now have a special offer just for REPOD listeners! Get 70% off your first month at the Bonus Show level ($5/month). Valid now through the end of May. Use code MOREREPOD at checkout to claim this offer. Full Show Notes Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community. Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy. PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse. Reality Escape Convention Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026. RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals. Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! We'll answer your question on the show.Whether you're five to ten years from exiting your optometry practice or just starting to think about it, the decisions you make right now have a major impact on what your practice is ultimately worth. In this episode, Evon is joined by Erich Mattei of Akrinos — a returning guest who specializes in practice transitions and valuations — to break down the key levers practice owners should be focused on long before they're ready to sell. From profitability and expense benchmarks to payor mix, capital expenditure, and add-backs, this conversation gets into the mechanics of how fair market value is actually determined and what you can do to improve it.What You'll LearnHow fair market value for an optometry practice is determinedThe two primary drivers of practice value: profitability and capital expenditureKey expense benchmarks for COGS, occupancy, non-doctor payroll, and general overheadWhy growing revenue matters — and why growing the right revenue matters even moreHow payor mix and cash pay percentage affect practice value and buyer negotiationWhat add-backs are and why minimizing seller discretionary spend before exit is criticalHow associate doctors and full-time equivalent coverage factor into valuationWhy outdated equipment can undermine an otherwise profitable practiceKey TakeawayThe time to prepare your practice for sale is long before you're ready to sell. The ODs who get the most at exit are the ones who ran their businesses like a business — with clean financials, controlled expenses, growing revenue through the right channels, and a practice that a buyer can step into with confidence.ResourcesErich Mattei / Akrinos: contact@akrinos.comAkrinos 360 Due Diligence Resource — reach out to Erich directly or contact Evon at podcast@optometrywealth.comAkrinos WebsitePodcast Ep 50: Guide to Due Diligence on Practice Purchases with Erich MatteiPodcast Ep 80: Intro to Optometry Practice Valuations with Erich MatteiWant a more proactive approach to your planning?You can schedule a no-commitment introductory call to discuss what's on your mind financially and learn how we help optometrists navigate those same decisions nationwide.
Sometimes you need to listen to the universe when it is trying to help you. Kyla Dufrense listened and survived. 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. [Handyside Ad] Speaker 6: Told you, Brian. Brian: Told me what? Speaker 6: This is part two of last week’s episode. Brian: Oh yeah, and it was getting good. Speaker 6: If you missed it, go back and listen to part one first. Take it away, fellas. Stephen Semple: It’s funny how often we see this mistake. It’s even interesting. There’s a famous marketer, Al Rice, and Jack Trout wrote a book called The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. And one of the things that they talk about in the book is, don’t extend brand. Look, it’s amazing how many times companies try to just go, “Well, let’s just make it this bigger thing and we’ll talk…” And it almost always never works. You’re much better off multiplying the thing that you do well than trying to add around the edges. Kyla Dufresne: Yeah, you got to keep it simple. I will tell you, it is very challenging to train one person to be the best at five different services. Really it is. Stephen Semple: Absolutely. Kyla Dufresne: We know how to train someone to be the best waxer in a five-day program. We can turn someone with the right personality, obviously, but we can turn somebody into a fantastic hair removal expert in five days. To be great at nails and lashes and hair, I mean, God, that takes a really long time. And then you want to go, okay, you have to do all of these things. How do you get one person to be great at all of those things? You’re going to be putting out a mediocre product, maybe, for the convenience of a one-stop shop. Truly, you can’t be the best at all things. Stephen Semple: Well, and I’m going to put it to you another way too, because that’s the operational challenge. I’m even going to look at it from the marketing challenge. So, what we want to be, in anytime we’re marketing a business, we want to be thought of first and we want to be like the best, right? But thought of first for what? Now, if it’s thought of first for being a salon, well, there’s lots of salons, right? Thought of first for waxing, that’s a little bit different, right? And it’s way easier than to lean into that and really be liked about, because even the whole thing, Foxy Box, people like that. Well, now it’s this other name that was a little bit safer and more conservative because we’re in this area. It was also harder to be liked for that. Kyla Dufresne: Yeah. Stephen Semple: So this whole strategy had of being thought of first for this thing and liked the most for this, you had to deviate from that. And I’m going to say, even if you got the operations going, I don’t think it would’ve been a success. Kyla Dufresne: Yeah, for sure. Stephen Semple: In fact, I think if you got the operations going, it would’ve been a trap because it would’ve worked okay. I actually think the universe gave you a gift of it burning to the ground, and causing you to go, wait a minute, I should just focus. I think the universe was actually looking out for you there. Kyla Dufresne: Oh, for sure. Yeah. It was bringing me back to my roots. And I mean, I learned so many lessons in there. Every experience shapes the leader that we are today. I used to lose so much sleep. I used to cry a lot and now I just don’t. I always say to people, things don’t get easier, we just get better at tackling them. Stephen Semple: Yeah, for sure. Kyla Dufresne: Your business doesn’t get easier. At the top of one mountain, you’re at the bottom of the next. Literally it’s just a constant like, okay, now what’s my next challenge I have to face? But the great thing about that experience is, I lost a lot of sleep. I got a lot of gray hairs, I cried a lot, and now I’m much stronger on the other side. I learned how to be a great leader. I learned how to lead a team, how to build a team. I got clarity on my business structure. It wasn’t all a failure. I think Harvard is probably more expensive than 30,000, so that’s my [inaudible 00:05:03] education. Stephen Semple: So you had one store, went to two stores, you’re back to the one store. What was the next step in the evolution? Kyla Dufresne: My first franchise. Stephen Semple: So what made you decide to franchise? Kyla Dufresne: I knew I wanted to franchise from day one. I said, “I’m going to start a brand. I’m going to call Fox Box. I’m going to franchise and take over the world.” My fire behind that, I had a boss at the bar that I worked at. He’s probably going to hate that I call him out quite a lot on podcasts, because I love him truly. And I learned so much from him on how to develop culture into business. But he said, “You can’t franchise this business, Kyla. People come to you. They’re not going to go, you can’t franchise this.” And I just went, “I use this as my fuel. Watch me.” Stephen Semple: Nice. Nice. Kyla Dufresne: And so I told everybody that would listen that I was going to franchise. I’m a franchise. You can buy a franchise if you want. I had no idea what that meant to Stephen. I didn’t know what franchising was. I didn’t know what that meant for my role, but everyone knew like, “Oh yeah, I’m going to sell franchises.” I didn’t have anything. I had no franchise agreement, no FTD, but I told everybody I was a franchise. So two of my top estheticians came to me and said, “Kyla, we want to be a first franchisees. We’re ready. We want to open in the West Shore in one of the fastest growing communities.” I think it was in Canada at the time. And I went, “All right, great. Let’s do it.” I reached out to my lawyers. I said, “I’ve got two of my technicians. They want to be my first franchisees.” They whipped me up a license agreement because it was much cheaper and faster. And like, this is all you need. Put it in front of them. We all signed on the dotted line and things went south from that moment forward. A few things that went wrong. Number one is that I sold a license agreement instead of our franchise agreement. Stephen Semple: Yeah, very different. Yeah. Kyla Dufresne: When you sell a license agreement, there isn’t this 160-page document called a franchise disclosure document. And in a franchise disclosure document, it outlines everyone’s roles and responsibilities in this marriage that you’re going to enter into. So we went into this blind, like, “I don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing.” There was zero expectations. When it came to support, for example, for me, I thought, “Oh, if they need something, I’m going to answer.” If they text or whatever, support to them meant, “Oh, if I’m short-staffed, you come and work in my store.” So when they open their door like, “Hi, I’m short-staffed. They need you to come work.” Well, this is not what I thought I was getting into. So our expectations were just not aligned at all. The other thing that went wrong is that they were incredibly undercapitalized. Because I didn’t understand that you need a lump sum of money to start a business, because I did it organically. Stephen Semple: Because you did it differently. Kyla Dufresne: Yeah. I did it differently that I just thought, oh, everyone just figures it out and funds the business. That’s not how it works. These guys had… How much, I think they had $30,000 or something like that to their name and to open the store. 10,000 of that went to me for the license agreement. The remainder was to build out their 1,200 square foot store, market their business, and get up and running. Fortunately, the two of them both were dating general contractors. And so they were, back then too, this was almost 10 years ago, back then you could kind of whip together a space for very little, and they managed to pull off the build out, which was insane. But at the moment they opened their doors, they were strapped for cash and super stressed out. Stephen Semple: Right. Kyla Dufresne: The other thing is that I had nothing systemized. I didn’t understand that. I was in there helping them train their staff. I had no training materials put together. I whipped up an operations manual. My friend owned a franchise, which she since sold a quick service food franchise. She gave me her operations manual. I kind of copied and pasted and changed like, “Here’s your hours.” And the waxing that we do and just general shit. Anyhow, very basic stuff. I had nothing systemized. So when they opened, also I was still in my business waxing full-time. So when they needed stuff, I wasn’t available immediate to lead to them. So we opened and we just had a terrible relationship from the word, go. I realized very quickly that I had no idea what the hell I was doing and I needed help. I found a franchise business coach here in Victoria. Her dad started M&M Meat Shops, which grew to 500 locations. Her name’s Angela Cote. If you don’t know her, she’s awesome. Follow her. Her new business is AC Inc. She teaches field coaching, trains people’s field coaches. But, I reached out to her. I hired her on the spot. I stepped out of my business. We put in a manager at my store so that it could continue running smoothly, systemized everything, built in those proactive support systems, which is, I don’t just wait for you to need something. I’m giving you information to help you make decisions that impact your performance regularly. Weekly, I’m giving you KPIs. We’re meeting monthly to help support you, but we just couldn’t get that relationship back. It was too strained from the beginning. They hated me. And so, we decided to have a mutual termination. I put two offers in front of them. One was, “You guys can keep your store and change your name, or the other is I’ll buy back your store from you and continue to operate.” They chose to keep their location and change their name. Thank God, because back then I went, “I don’t know how the hell I’m going to get money.” Well, you’re in your early days. You have exactly zero. Stephen Semple: Zero. Well, actually often less than zero. Yeah. Kyla Dufresne: Yes, exactly. So they chose the latter, which was a little bit of a relief for me. It was kind of heartbreaking to go like, oh my God, my very first franchise is a failure, but it was the best case scenario. They decided to keep it. They still operate in that market and we’re actually back in that market with one of our fastest growth stores in the system that’s performing very well. But then we went back to market, over prepared at that. We had everything in place like, okay, we’re a buttoned up franchise and now we can go. And I did that. I learned that all from the first location. So it’s a blessing that it was that it was just one that I went, “Okay, I’m out of my league here. I don’t know what I’m doing.” And then- Stephen Semple: How long was it from that coming to its end to then you going out and getting everything together and then getting that real first franchise going? Kyla Dufresne: Probably two years. Stephen Semple: Two years. Yeah. It doesn’t surprise me, because it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of costs, a lot of work, a lot of time. Yeah. Kyla Dufresne: I just want to add in, that that mutual termination, I managed to work through with my franchise business coach with no lawyers. Stephen Semple: Oh, that’s very good. That is very good. Kyla Dufresne: I always kind of lean into, and I know that we’re Canadian as well, and maybe that doesn’t happen everywhere, but I always lean into that relationship piece. We’re all human beings. And so, if you can get in front of someone and try and work it out together, start there. Stephen Semple: Yeah, it’s always way better. Kyla Dufresne: And instead of going like, “Oh shit, I need a lawyer up.” Let’s start with having a conversation and seeing if we can’t agree on something together. Well, [inaudible 00:11:33]- Stephen Semple: The best way to do these things is you come to the agreement and then yeah, I get at the end, it’s got to be put into legalese words. Kyla Dufresne: For sure. Stephen Semple: But if we can do it where, okay, you and I have come to the agreement, okay, now let’s get it put into proper paperwork because you got to kind of do that. That’s always the best way to land on these things. Kyla Dufresne: Yeah. Yeah. It started with like a come to Jesus moment, which is like, “Are you happy? Because I’m not happy. I’m not happy. I’m trying here. And so if we can’t get on board, what’s our next steps? And so let’s get on this together.” But that was probably a two-year process, from me stepping out of my business to going back to separating and going back to market. We had to build a lot of infrastructure. Our FA, our ED, all of our training material had to be filmed and put onto Trainual. There was a lot of building blocks, figuring out our KPIs, our chart of accounts, our COGS, all of those things had to be flushed out before we could go, “Okay, we’re ready.” And so, now that was six years ago now is when we started to, we got our first franchise, because now we’ve had three renewals since then that have renewed for their next five-year terms. Stephen Semple: Nice. Kyla Dufresne: And so yeah, that was probably the pause. And to be quite frank, Steve, we’re kind of in that pause again at this size. We’re doing that now, which is, we’ve gotten this far. Okay, now what needs to change and pivot to be able to get to 50 locations and then get to a hundred locations? 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] Dave Young: Let’s pick up our story where we left off, and trust me, you haven’t missed a thing. Stephen Semple: I see this all the time. I have clients we’ve worked with for a long time. They get to a certain revenue and then they kind of flatten out for a few years. And often it’s because there’s a whole reorganization has to happen. Some changes have to happen to get ready for that next push. You look at businesses, businesses do that. You go back, look, they grow, they flatten out for a little bit. They grow, they flatten out for a little bit. It’s just because what got you there is not what’s going to get you to the next stage. So there’s always this little retooling that has to happen. But one thing I want to just go back and revisit, this whole idea that you talked about of me and people being out in the community, when you were talking about it, made me think of a story that Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon talked about. And in the early days, he would seek out women who were like taking yoga and Pilates and things along that lines to hire as salespeople. Even if they had never done sales, because he’d be like, “You’re in that community, you understand that community, you hang out with people who are part of that community, and that community is who we’re selling to.” He would much rather hire somebody who was from that community, who had never done a sale of their entire life, than a professional salesperson who is from outside of that community. Kyla Dufresne: I always say to all my franchisees, “You should look for bartenders and servers to be your magicians.” Stephen Semple: Yeah. Kyla Dufresne: I’ll tell you why. They’re quick on their feet. They’re great at diffusing situations, they’re great at communication and they can multitask. So I actually kind of stay away from, if you hire an aesthetician, here’s what’s going to happen. The great thing about our business model, it will look different when we go into the US, but I feel like there’s a larger net of estheticians to pull from. The great thing about our industry in Canada is that the hair removal industry is unregulated. So you don’t have to be an esthetician to perform hair removal services. We have our own certification program that we put everybody through to certify them as a waxer. And the great thing is that if you hire on the right personality, and you train them to be a great magician, they’re going to have loyalty to you. They’re going to stay with you forever because our girls make great money. I think on average they’re like 37 bucks or 40 bucks an hour, with their tips and commissions, being a waxer. So to take someone that has no education, train them in this industry and build them up, they’re going to stay with you. When you hire estheticians, a couple of things. Typically, a lot of estheticians like to do facials and spas, so they might not be the right personality for Brazilian waxing. The other thing is that because they’ve invested in their education themselves, they’re going to be real quick to leave you for someone that gives them 50 cents more. Stephen Semple: Sure. Yes. Kyla Dufresne: So really I lean into, yes, it’s expensive to train your staff, but you’re going to have much less turnover if you really invest in the right candidate, and look for that personality type that is going to be warm and inviting and quick. And typically that really aligns parallel to people in the service industry. Stephen Semple: You know what’s interesting about that, one of, super successful client of mine in the heating and air conditioning business in the US, talks about how he does a lot of his recruiting from people who work in bars and restaurants. Kyla Dufresne: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Stephen Semple: For those reasons. And on top of that, like when you talk about being able to be taken away or whatnot, he’ll train them. So he’ll turn you into an AC tech and he looks at it and says, they may make more money, they may not, but here’s what you get, evenings and weekends off. He can actually give them a better life, give them a better path forward. And what he’s found is, all those things. They understand how to talk to people, they understand how to upsell things, they understand how to diffuse the situation when things go wrong and they’re great in teamwork. Kyla Dufresne: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Right? Kyla Dufresne: Exactly. All of those. Stephen Semple: And those are the things that are hard to teach. The technical stuff, yeah, we got books and manuals and trainers. Kyla Dufresne: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I think that’s one of the things when I go back to my boss who said, “You can’t franchise this business.” What I really learned from him is how to create a culture where staff want to stay as well. Stephen Semple: Yes. Kyla Dufresne: Because I could have. And at the end of my bartending career, I did go move to the place where I could make almost double the tips, because it was much higher volume. I used to get… Try to… People used to poach me to come and bartend at their bars all the time. And I say that, Lucky Bar is the name of the venue. It’s still around in Victoria. I was there for four years. I had people that I knew the bartenders made much more, try and poach me all the time, but I stayed at Lucky Bar because he created such a culture of family where I loved going to work. We all jibed. He would take us on these staff retreats all the time. It felt like a family and I really wanted to go and work there, taking that- Stephen Semple: And those are important parts to retention. Kyla Dufresne: It’s not always about that extra money. It’s about, “I’m going to be spending most of my time at work. Where do I want to be?” Stephen Semple: Yeah. And you’ve created a place that’s got some fun and things along that lines. I want to thank you for this time. If there’s a final thought, because the people who listen to this podcast, many are looking at this for ideas to help them with their business and they’ve got a smaller mid-size business. What is a piece of advice that you would give them? Kyla Dufresne: I would say, find a mentorship, really. Reach out to… Never be afraid to ask for help. I think that’s probably been one of my biggest blessings is that I have no ego when it comes to like, “I don’t know this.” You got to put your ego aside and reach out if you don’t know something. I’m constantly looking at people who are where I want to be and reaching out and going, “How do I get there?” If someone’s got a hundred locations, 150 locations, I’m reaching out to go, “When you were at my size, what did you do? What did you change?” Recently, our pause right now is I put together a board of advisors. I’ve got all these beautiful C-suite executives on my outside perspective on my brand to help guide me through, what needs to change or pivot, what suppliers do we need to add on or systems that need to be fleshed out in order to help us get to the next level. I also, on top of that, I mean, I’m an entrepreneur. I have a two-year-old. So on top of that, I have my community of moms as well. When you can connect with other business owners, or there’s also a group of, there’s 12 of us female franchisors, we’re on this text group and we meet once a month. When you can do that, it’s going to normalize some of your fears, your thoughts, your stresses, and your struggles, and it’s going to help you push through, because this is not easy. Opening a business is not easy. Stephen Semple: No, it’s not. Kyla Dufresne: It’s never going to be easy. If it was easy, every single person on the planet would own a business. So if you can surround yourself with people that are going to help push you through those challenging times or provide insight, then do that. On top of that, reach back and help the next person. I’m also a mentor for other people franchising their business. I’m always happy to provide my time and give insight of the guts, especially I love it if they come prepared to a meeting to go, “Here’s my questions.” And I do that with people who are my mentors or I reach out to, I come prepared for that and I go, “Here’s my struggles and this is what I need help with.” So my advice would be don’t just show up and go, “What do I need to know?” Come with what are your challenges right now so that you can get actual tangible advice out of it. Stephen Semple: That’s cool. That’s awesome. And if I was going to say what I think is the most valuable piece of information that people could get from this podcast, and I love how you leaned into it, was in the early days, grass roots, gorilla, face-to-face, whatever terminology we want to put towards it, that’s the biggest thing. And if I could tell you the number of meetings that I’ve had over the years with people wanting to start a business, and the first thing I’ve said to them is, “Okay, in the first year, here’s what you want to do is you want to… And I’ll give you some coaching on how to do that,” and then I never hear from them again. And then what I find out is, “Yeah, but I hired this person who’s putting together this app for me and that’s what’s going to make…” I’m like, “You don’t even understand your customer.” And so I really love the fact that you put that out there and leaned into it, because I think that’s really important in the early days. Kyla Dufresne: Yeah. Oh, for sure. Stephen Semple: And pretty much every entrepreneur I know who’s been hugely successful did that in the early days. The early days, there was a lot of precedent of the flesh. Kyla Dufresne: Yeah. I think it’s kind of a benefit, Stephen, sometimes if you don’t have that extra capital or money because you- Stephen Semple: Because you have to. Yes. Kyla Dufresne: If you felt like, “Oh, I’ve got access to this big loan or all this money, I’m just going to sit here and put it online.” It’s kind of a benefit. You should always think scrappy, always think scrappy. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Kyla Dufresne: How do I get the most return out of my time? And that is… I mean, yeah, you got to go shake your hands with babies and hold babies, and shake hands like you have to. Stephen Semple: Yeah, you really do in the early days for a whole bunch of reasons. Look, this has been awesome and thank you very, very much for your time. So if somebody wants to learn more about your business, or maybe even potentially franchise, where should they go to learn more? Kyla Dufresne: Foxyboxwaxbar.com is our website. Stephen Semple: Foxyboxwaxbar.com. Kyla Dufresne: We’ve got our franchise information. You can find me on LinkedIn, Kyla Dufresne. I’m super active on there. If you’ve got any questions to even … I’m always happy to give my time to people who are interested in franchising and have some questions. Always feel free to reach out. And follow us on social media because our brand is super fun. We’re FoxyBoxWaxbar on Instagram as well, so check us out. We’re pretty hilarious. Stephen Semple: And it’s for the dudes as well. Kyla Dufresne: It is for everybody. Stephen Semple: All right. Thank you very much. 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.
Answer our 2026 Audience Census! " A big mistake [is saying] 'look at our thing', instead of 'How do I empower and serve my customer?'" What is the future of storytelling? If you ask Charlie Melcher, the answer lies in "living stories," stories where the audience has a role and participates. Indeed, the subtitle of his new book, The Future of Storytelling is "How Immersive Experiences Are Transforming the World." In the early 90s, Charlie started Melcher Media, publishing books. Even then, he noted that books had a unique tactile physicality. He talks about working on the infamous Madonna photo book Sex, and how they made it into an early "immersive experience," wrapping the book in mylar to mimic the look of a condom. He also produced and designed S by J.J. Abrams, which told a story through elaborate annotations and other media enclosed within a copy of the novel The Ship of Theseus. The book has a very unusual mechanic for storytelling, including postcards and even a cipher wheel. He even did something different when it came to his own book, The Future of Storytelling. He created a unique multi-fold dust jacket so readers could choose the genre and look of the cover themselves. Charlie Melcher has been pushing the envelope when it comes to books and storytelling, so it's no surprise that when he attended his first immersive experience, he was hooked from the beginning. Today, he joins us on REPOD to talk about his vision for where immersive stories are going. Besides having his own podcast, also titled The Future of Storytelling, he has hosted many immersive summits under the same brand. Charlie has so many thoughtful insights about immersive storytelling. We touched on topics from the complexities of scaling intimate moments, to breaking down immersive experiences into the core components of physical, participatory, and emotional immersion. I found this to be an enlightening conversation. And if you enjoy this conversation, I highly recommend you listen to Charlie's own podcast, The Future of Storytelling, starting with the episode where David and I were guests. Full Show Notes Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community. Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy. PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse. Reality Escape Convention Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026. RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals. Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht
Is your AI SaaS company skating on thin ice because of exploding compute costs you're not tracking? In episode #365, Ben Murray tackles one of the most pressing financial challenges facing AI-first SaaS companies: the structural margin compression caused by LLM inference costs. Traditional SaaS was built on near-zero marginal cost per customer — that era is over. If you're building on top of AI, every prompt, query, and agentic workflow is a hard COGS line that scales with revenue, and if you're not managing it, it will quietly destroy your unit economics. Why AI-first SaaS companies are running 50–60% gross margins (vs. 70–80% for legacy SaaS) — and what Bessemer data shows about AI supernovas with margins as low as 25%. How inference and compute costs differ fundamentally from traditional SaaS COGS — and why they won't scale down the way hosting costs did Why token costs vary wildly (from $1–2 per million to $30–180+ for frontier models) and how that variability makes feature-level economics a CFO priority 5 tactical ways to reduce LLM spend: model routing, prompt caching, context compaction, semantic caching, and batch processing How to set up your GL accounts and COGS tracking to allocate inference costs by feature — so you actually understand the economics of what you've built Tune in before your next board meeting — because if you're not tracking AI inference costs at the feature level, you're flying blind on your most important unit economics. Resources Mentioned The SaaS CFO: https://www.thesaascfo.com/ Ray Rike — AI to ROI Newsletter: https://ai2roi.substack.com/ Tomas Tunguz: https://tomtunguz.com/ Fungies.io — 5 Ways to Save on LLM Costs: https://fungies.io
Ever hit a milestone in your business that you thought would feel life-changing… only to find yourself wondering why it suddenly feels heavier, more confusing, or even a little anticlimactic? In this episode, I'm joined by operations and growth mentor Michelle M. Ghassemi, who brings her signature no-fluff clarity to what really happens after you reach big goals and why success can be just as emotionally complex as the climb. Michelle shares the mindset gaps founders don't anticipate, the data habits that build true confidence, and the micro-pivots that keep your business moving without burning everything down. We talk about what shifts between 100K and 500K, why “what got you here won't get you there,” and how to use your numbers to make aligned decisions instead of reactive ones. If you've been feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure what your next step should be, this conversation will help you reconnect with your power, simplify your strategy, and lead from a grounded CEO mindset, not fear or guesswork. Today you'll hear:03:19 – What a life-first business looks like for Michelle right now, and the non-negotiables that keep her grounded04:59 – The moment Michelle realized that hitting six and seven figures felt different than expected and why success can feel disconnected07:58 – Why what got you to a milestone won't get you beyond it, and the shift from going wide to going deep11:00 – The core metrics every entrepreneur should track, starting with cost of goods (COGS) and understanding your baseline12:48 – How often to review your numbers and why building the habit early prevents major problems later17:48 – What “micro-pivots” really look like: small adjustments in pricing, messaging, keywords, or systems that make a measurable impact20:48 – Why fear keeps many women from looking at their numbers and how data helps you take back control22:48 – Why fast results are unrealistic, why your data needs time to show patterns, and how to build sustainable growth25:36 – Why founders hit a wall between 100K–500K and how identifying “what's missing” determines your next strategic hire28:59 – The simple tools Michelle uses to stay organized, manage decisions, and stop busywork before it starts30:09 – How Michelle uses AI for ideation, content creation, and training development CONNECT WITH MICHELLE:Instagram: @opsandgrowthmentorFREE 30 min biz assessment calls: https://calendly.com/michelle-ghassemi/bizassessmentcall
High Growth, Higher Risk: The Business of Cannabis w/ Melissa Diaz of Highrock Accounting - AZ TRT S07 EP07 (289) 4-12-2026 What We Learned This Week Cannabis Companies Are Taxed on Gross Margin Because of 280E, they can't deduct ordinary business expenses — creating massive tax burdens. Federal Classification Drives Everything Schedule I status impacts taxation, banking, regulation, and investor appetite. Many Companies Are Playing Legal Offense Some are challenging 280E aggressively, treating unpaid taxes as a strategic risk. Licensing Structure Determines Success Limited-license states create stronger economics. Unlimited states create margin compression. Consolidation Is Coming Stronger, vertically integrated, mid-sized operators are likely to dominate by 2026. Guest: Melissa Diaz https://www.highrock.co/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-k-diaz-cpa-10215623/ Melissa Diaz is a powerhouse at the intersection of accounting, strategy, and tech. As Co-Owner and CRO of High Rock Accounting (and co-founder of Rebel Rock PC, now High Rock), she leads with precision on everything from cash flow and budgeting to due diligence and audit readiness. At High Rock she helps businesses harness cutting-edge technology to make smarter, faster, fully compliant financial decisions both day-to-day and long-term. With an expertise in Cannabis and the Technology industry, Melissa's mission is clear: empower businesses to stay competitive, compliant, and efficient in high-pressure, high-growth environments. Whether she's solving complex reporting challenges or decoding 280E, Melissa brings charisma, clarity, and confidence to the table every time.
Answer our 2026 Audience Census! " There's lots of places in the world you can gamify." Emma Rochon and Melissa Eapen were young game masters working at a local escape room company over 12 years ago. They loved this "new" genre of entertainment, and asked the owners how they could get more involved in growing the business or designing new rooms. The owners replied with "There's no growth in [escape rooms]. Also though, if you try to make your own company, I'll sue you". These famous last words spurred Improbable Escapes co-founders Emma Rochon and Melissa Eapen to quit and start their own company. While looking for locations, they mapped out all the known escape rooms in Canada at the time, and settled on the charming city of Kingston. They chose it primarily for its qualities as an escape room wasteland, because it didn't have any notable existing escape rooms. Today, they've certainly built out enough games to put Kingston, Ontario, Canada on the map of any escape room enthusiast. They have built and designed over forty different games and experiences, including escape rooms, outdoor escape rooms, large event "podium games," and even a board game café. They also started a sister company called Visual Menace Creative that builds sets, props, and immersive activations for brands, film, television and music videos. Emma Rochon joins us on REPOD to share her escape room journey in the industry. I was simply mind-blown by these two young women who built an escape room empire out of nothing but sheer determination and passion. I love stories where someone is told "no" and they proceed to prove nay-sayers wrong in the most epic way possible. If you enjoyed this episode and you want to hear more from Emma, she will be speaking at this year's Reality Escape Convention about deconstructing escape rooms, and how to literally think outside the box when it comes to designing interactive puzzle games. Full Show Notes Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community. Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy. PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse. Reality Escape Convention Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026. RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals. Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht
In episode #364, Ben Murray breaks down how SaaS finance teams should structure their chart of accounts to properly track inference costs, productivity AI, and agentic AI spend. As organizations shift from W-2 headcount to token costs and agentic software, your current expense coding may be out-of-date. If you can't see where the AI spend is going, you can't tie it to ROI — and you definitely can't make the case for going fully agentic. Why COGS is the right home for product inference costs (Claude, OpenAI, Gemini) — and why lumping them in with hosting is a mistake The three distinct AI spend buckets every SaaS CFO needs to track: direct COGS delivery costs, general productivity tools, and explicit labor substitution (agentic AI) Why agentic AI spend deserves its own GL account — and how that ties directly into your ROSE metric Where the tracking gets fuzzy: productivity tools vs. true labor displacement, and how to think about cause-and-effect as a CFO How AI spend reshapes the ROSE metric as orgs push toward $5M–$10M ARR per FTE targetsTune in to get the chart of accounts framework SaaS CFOs need before AI spend becomes too big to ignore — and too messy to measure. Resources Mentioned ROSE Metric: https://www.thesaascfo.com/saas-rose-metric/
"One of the highlights of the Finnish larp is heavy, hard emotions. Crying is very much associated with Nordic style and Finnish style larping." Have you ever wanted to trauma bond with a hundred strangers aboard a spaceship while fleeing an alien threat? Do you want to be emotionally devastated while making hard choices about love, sacrifice, and humanity? Then Finnish larp is for you! Laura Kröger is the lead producer and narrative director of Odysseus, a large-scale sci-fi larp run in Helsinki, Finland in 2019 and 2024, in both Finnish and English. Built for 104 players, it's set in an original science fiction universe inspired by classics such as Battlestar Galactica. Each participant has a pre-written role with past relationships, loyalties, secrets and fears, but the choices and emotional journeys are in the hands of the players. Beyond the script, the set of Odysseus is mind-blowingly realistic, considering it was built into an elementary school as a temporary installation during summer break. Laura talks to us about all the logistics of running such a massively complex larp, including how food and lodging is handled, costuming, and emotional support. I especially enjoyed hearing about how battles and "injuries" are handled. There is even a medical bay with some very graphic special effects "injuries" where "surgeons" are operating. (You can see more photos of Odysseus here). Odysseus is currently running an Indiegogo campaign because they are trying to build a permanent installation so they can run Odysseus continuously without having to constantly build it and tear it down. If you're interested in experiencing this yourself, consider supporting their campaign for a chance to attend. Full Show Notes Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community. Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy. PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse. Reality Escape Convention Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026. RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals. Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht
Discover how ancient wisdom meets modern mindfulness with Grandpa Bill in this transformative episode of The BH ⁓ Sales Holistic Healing Hour. Unlock the profound power of vocal, tonal, and sensory techniques—like the innovative COGS framework—to ground your mind and energize your body. If you're seeking natural ways to boost mental clarity, emotional resilience, and overall vitality, this episode offers an empowering journey into holistic healing that you can practice anytime, anywhere.Imagine transforming your daily routine into a ritual of sensory engagement—using water and fire flows to activate your brain's memory pathways and elevate your energy. Grandpa Bill guides you through vivid mnemonics rooted in Portland, Maine, blending visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and olfactory cues to refine your mental clarity and deepen self-awareness. From conceptual frameworks to physical practices, you'll learn how to harness your body's innate vibrational energy for a more balanced, purposeful life.You'll discover:The innovative KAVE COGS methodology, an accessible tool for enhancing memory and focus through the sensesHow water and fire flows can be used as mental and physical anchors to reset your energy statesPractical techniques for grounding and energizing your body using city-inspired mnemonicsThe importance of integrating sensory and tonal vibrations to promote mental acuity and emotional harmonyWhy embracing holistic, human-centric practices can revolutionize your approach to wellness—beyond surface trendsHow can ancient sensory techniques transform your daily wellness routine?What role does your voice play in grounding and energizing your body?
In this episode, I sit down with Marc Rice of Brytos Accounting Services to talk about something that sounds simple, but is often a mess behind the scenes: brewery bookkeeping. Marc shares what he sees when he opens up a new client's QuickBooks file for the first time - liabilities showing up as revenue, duplicate expenses from bank sync errors, unreconciled accounts, and charts of accounts that make it nearly impossible to understand what's actually happening in the business. We dig into why complete, accurate, and timely reporting isn't just about compliance, it's about decision-making. Marc explains how a properly structured chart of accounts, clear separation of business segments using classes, and regular weekly reconciliations can dramatically improve financial clarity. We also discuss when it makes sense to outsource bookkeeping, how to assess whether your books are healthy, and why clean financials are the foundation for improving margins, cash flow, and long-term profitability.Key TakeawaysReconcile Weekly, Not Just MonthlyDon't wait until month-end. Weekly bank and credit card reconciliations prevent duplicate entries, missing transactions, and costly clean-up work later .Design a Chart of Accounts That Works for a BreweryYour chart of accounts should separate taproom, wholesale, and other segments clearly—and properly classify COGS, labor, and overhead so you can see true margins .Watch for Common Brewery Bookkeeping MistakesBe on alert for liabilities recorded as revenue, double-entered expenses from bank feeds, and unreconciled accounts—these distort profitability and cash flow .Use QuickBooks Classes (or Similar Tools) to Separate Business SegmentsSegment reporting helps you see which channels (taproom, distribution, events) are driving profit and which need attention .Outsource When You're Wearing Too Many HatsIf bookkeeping is something you “get to when you can,” it's probably time to bring in a specialist who understands brewery accounting .ResourcesGet the Brewery Profit Brief - tips, tactics, and strategies to create more profit and better cash flow in your brewery.Ready to transform financial results in your beer business? Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, a network of owners and managers working together to build more profitable companies.
In this episode, host Josh interviews Tyler Jefcoat, founder of The Seller Roundtable, about financial strategies for Amazon and e-commerce sellers. Tyler explains key metrics like COGS, Amazon fees, and advertising costs, and shares actionable tips on optimizing profit margins, managing inventory, and preparing for business exits. He emphasizes the importance of accurate accounting, SKU-level analysis, and disciplined habits for long-term success. The discussion also covers useful tools and resources, including Merchant Spring and the book "Atomic Habits." Listeners gain practical advice to build more profitable and acquisition-ready e-commerce businesses.Chapters:Introduction to Tyler Jefcoat and Seller Accountant (00:00:00)Tyler's background, experience, and introduction to his work with e-commerce sellers.Key Financial Metrics for Amazon Sellers (00:00:38)Breakdown of revenue, cost of goods sold (COGS), Amazon fees, and advertising expenses.Profit Margins and Targets for Sellers (00:01:44)Discussion of ideal net profit margins, advertising spend, and benchmarks for healthy Amazon businesses.Net Profit Margin Benchmarks and Market Trends (00:03:59)Analysis of average net profit margins, market headwinds, and acquisition readiness.Preparing for Exit: Case Study and Best Practices (00:05:01)Advice and case study on preparing for business exit, including accounting and inventory management.Return on Capital and Product Portfolio Analysis (00:06:54)Explanation of return on capital, product-level profitability, and portfolio optimization.FBA Fees and SKU-Level Analysis (00:10:18)Importance of monitoring Amazon FBA fees, SKU-level analysis, and correcting fulfillment fee errors.Automating FBA Fee Audits (00:11:45)Discussion on automating FBA fee audits and best practices for large catalogs.Three Actionable Takeaways for Sellers (00:12:59)Summary of three key actions: solid accounting, SKU-level profitability, and price testing.Book Recommendation: Atomic Habits (00:15:40)Tyler recommends "Atomic Habits" by James Clear and discusses its impact.Favorite Software Tool: Merchant Spring (00:16:46)Recommendation and overview of Merchant Spring for multi-channel sales integration.Closing Remarks and Contact Info (00:17:28)Final thoughts, recommendation to contact Tyler, and episode wrap-up.Links and Mentions:Tools and Websites "Merchant Spring": "00:16:46"Books "Atomic Habits by James Clear": "00:15:49"Transcript:Josh 00:00:00 Today, I'm excited to introduce you to Tyler Jefcoat. Tyler is the founder and CEO of Stellar Accountant, where he exercises his passion for helping sellers maximize their businesses. Tyler provides financial coaching for sellers totaling more than 100 million per year in e-commerce sales. Tyler also leads the Sellers Roundtable, an exclusive mastermind group for seven and eight figure sellers. Before founding Seller Accountant, Tyler was the co-founder and managing partner for Care to Continue, a home health care company that grew from 0 to 100 employees in four years. So, Tyler, welcome to the show.Tyler 00:00:36 All right, Josh, thanks for having me.Josh 00:00:38 So you have your top line revenue. The next thing we have is you're going to have your cost of goods sold, right? So with your cost of goods sold, you said the average is about 30 to 35% is what you're seeing right now.Tyler 00:00:52 And this kind of landed cost. So if you kind of think about what it costs you to satisfy your Chinese Po and then do the duties freight into the states, I think.Tyler 00:01:01 Across the board, we're seeing literally pretty close to a third 33, 34%.Josh 00:01:05 So if you're below 30% or so, that's a good indication then. Right. Okay. Looking good. All right then next you have your Amazon fees that are going to come up. Right. And I think I'm going to split these up with the advertising separate. So what is your Amazon fees that your 15% commission plus the pick and pack. All that goes into the Amazon ecosystem. You're saying 30 to 35% is what you're seeing there. Is that right?Tyler 00:01:34 To keep the numbers easy is probably another third. So you got about a third in your unit cost to Google. You got about a third and normal Amazon fees.Josh 00:01:44 okay. Cool. And then so all right. So at this point we have 66% right of our revenue going to Cogs in Amazon. And so what you're saying is that the last remaining portion for that POG number that you were talking about is your advertising expense specifically on Amazon. So with your advertising expense, you said ideally you want to be between that 20% to 25%, you know, net gross margin, including the advertising costs in there.Josh 00:02:16 So that means you're going to be needing to sit around somewhere between 15 to 20%. Correct.Tyler 00:02:22 So if we if you think about it, we've got it split into thirds, a third in cogs, a third name is on fee. So we've got 33 points left. I can spend between, you know, roughly 10% on tacos in that model. Let's assume that your cost of goods sold model. Then I'm really going to. So so right. Take another 10% away for ads. That leaves me with a 23% P&G or post advertising gross profit. And I would say that's a really good target. Like, again, I would rather aim for 25 and hit 23 than really flirt with 20 constantly. But yes. So that would be that would be a fairly prototypical private label or kind of brand building seller on Amazon is third, Amazon fees. Third product cogs are about a dime, about ten points going to tacos. And then I've got 22, 23, 24% after ads that I can put towards my overhead.Tyler 00:03:08 And mama wants a boat, you know, whatever it is, that's the money I want.Josh 00:03:12 Makes sense. Makes sense. So with that, and then the other thing you mentioned is, hey, if you have really good cost of goods sold, right, you know, you might be 10 to 20%, right? Well, then you could ramp up your advertising spend. Right. So you can kind of offset those things, but the more profitable you are, the better. Like you said, some people were 30 to 35% that were really getting some premiums, with all the acquisitions that were going on. So this is awesome. This gives us a lot to think about and great targets to shoot towards, especially like net profit margin. You said, you know, ten is kind of the average. You said, right. 15 means that you're really good. You know looking good. You're a good candidate to be acquired. Is that correct?Tyler 00:03:59 Yes. And honestly, coming out of like 2022, I would actually say that, you know, 10% was actually probably pretty good because we did see a lot of headwinds.Tyler 00:04:09 So give your give yourself some grace. Like if you're looking at your piano right now, you know, here in the middle of 2020 and you're like, well, boy, I got 5% last year, I must be dead. That actually might be more normal than you think it is. But don't don't think that that's going to be normal forever. I think we are we're, we're we're continuing to want to see the market get better and we want to we work too hard and we risk too much to take a 2% profit margin for too long. And so getting a 10% is really crucial. And then I think if you're going to exit, getting it closer to that 15% net profit. Yeah.Josh 00:04:38 Awesome, awesome super valuable content. Tyler thanks again. All right. So with that, let's talk about maybe some of the levers that people can be pulling, you know, as they prepar...
The Giant OGs once THRIVED off lightning at the Beanstalk. In fact, it was under immense atmospheric electrical disturbance back in 2014 that we FLOGGED the Swannies, recording our first ever win against our arch rival. Remember when Cogs was good? He had a day. The headline read: "The GIANTS survived thunder, lightning and a rare rain delay to pull off the greatest victory in its short history, stunning the Sydney Swans by 32 points at Spotless Stadium."Fast forward to 2026, and THIS MOB(!!!)—well, they musn't have read the script. For the first three quarters against the Saints WE WERE ASLEEP, WOEFUL, still in bed trying to figure out the day's Wordle.Ragnar and Orca have a bit to say on this, so tune in and see if we can make sense of this madness...Bring on the Pies, stay positive, and remember: Never Surrender----To get in contact, drop an email, comment on Spotify or message on X.We love reviews or ratings.Email: thesquinterspodcast@gmail.comYouTube: NeverSurrenderByTheSquintersX: The SquintersInstagram: gws_squintersFB: thesquintersTikTok: the.squinters
Grandpa Bill Asks: How can your voice become a tool for healing and vitality?
Join the brothers as they discuss the minor characters of the Indomitus Crusade, such as the Ultramar Tetrarchs, the primaris space marine Justarian Parris, and a couple normal people, a priest and a rogue trader!
Inventory is often the largest asset on a brewery's balance sheet and the biggest source of hidden margin leaks. In this episode, we break down how to build a profitable inventory system that protects cash, improves COGS accuracy, and creates operational discipline. You'll learn how to install simple standard operating procedures, use scorecards to quantify what “good” looks like, and turn inventory management from a monthly headache into a competitive advantage. Plus, we'll share a practical SOP template you can use immediately.Actionable TakeawaysInstall Clear Inventory SOPsLearn how to document and standardize receiving, transfers, adjustments, and returns so inventory accuracy doesn't depend on memory or good intentions.Move from Guesswork to Measurement with a ScorecardIdentify the key metrics (turnover, days on hand, shrinkage %, slow-moving SKUs) that quantify what strong inventory management actually looks like.Protect Gross Margin Through Better Valuation & ReconciliationUnderstand how counting discipline and consistent valuation methods improve COGS accuracy and prevent margin distortion.Identify and Plug the “Inventory Leaks”Discover the most common breakdown points — from receiving errors to production yield loss — and how to install controls that prevent them.Free Up Cash Without Increasing SalesSee how improving inventory turns and reducing excess stock can unlock working capital and strengthen your financial position.ResourcesGet the free Brewery Profit Bulletin - tips, tactics and strategies to create more profit in your beer business.Ready to transform financial results in your beer business? Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, a network of owners and managers working together to build more profitable companies.
In this episode, host Josh interviews Pradeep, a scientist-turned-entrepreneur who built a seven-figure Amazon business in under a year. They discuss advanced strategies for Amazon sellers, focusing on negotiating cost of goods sold, building strong supplier partnerships, optimizing inventory and cash flow, and avoiding the pitfalls of launching too many products at once. Pradeep shares actionable tips on supplier negotiations, payment terms, and expense management, emphasizing the need for a sophisticated, business-minded approach to succeed in today's competitive Amazon marketplace.Chapters:Introduction to Pradeep and His Background (00:00:00)Josh introduces Pradeep, his scientific background, and transition to Amazon e-commerce and asset acquisition.Beyond Basic Amazon Strategies (00:00:37)Discussion on moving past common optimization tactics to focus on COGS, supplier negotiation, logistics, and inventory.COGS Negotiation and Supplier Relationships (00:01:45)Pradeep explains the importance of negotiating COGS, exclusive agreements, and sophisticated supplier relationships.COGS Tracking and Unit Economics (00:04:19)Emphasis on tracking COGS, using software, and managing multiple brands and inventories.Inventory Management Pitfalls (00:05:44)Analysis of overstocking, poor forecasting, and leveraging inventory in distressed asset acquisitions.Amazon Warehousing Changes and Cash Flow (00:06:53)Transition to how Amazon's warehousing changes impact cash flow and inventory strategies.Cash Flow Mistakes and Overspending (00:07:13)Discussion on unnecessary spending on consultants, poor HR choices, and excessive conference expenses.Negotiating Payment Terms for Cash Flow (00:09:42)Advice on negotiating 30-120 day payment terms with suppliers to improve cash flow and acquisition leverage.Launching Multiple Brands: Cautionary Advice (00:11:50)Warning against launching multiple brands/products without sufficient cash flow and the risks of overextending.Key Takeaways and Action Steps (00:13:04)Josh summarizes actionable steps: focus on supplier partnerships, negotiate terms, and improve cash flow management.Expense Management and Exit Planning (00:15:08)Highlighting the impact of recurring expenses on business valuation and the importance of efficient spending.Closing Remarks (00:15:57)Final thanks and acknowledgments as the episode concludes.Links and Mentions:Tools and Websites "Jungle Scout": "00:12:30" "Helium 10": "00:12:30" Key Takeaways "Supplier Partnership": "00:13:45" "Negotiation with Suppliers": "00:14:10" "Cash Flow Management": "00:15:08"Transcript:Josh 00:00:00 Today I am excited to introduce you to Pradeep. He is trained as a scientist at Oxford University and Harvard University, and then he became the vice president of Global Business development for a biotech company. During the pandemic, he found himself in a unique situation which led him to start his Amazon e-commerce business. He became a seven figure seller in just 11 months and now has a new business model of acquiring distressed assets, and he also owns a boutique Amazon account and launch management agency. So welcome to the podcast, Pradeep.Pradeep 00:00:36 Thank you so much.Josh 00:00:37 I love that you made the mention of when we go to conferences. And as you listen to speakers speak on stage or even listening to podcasts time and time again, we hear the same optimization strategies and the same keyword strategies, and it's just a new tool that people are using. But instead what you're saying is like, the hard stuff is what people aren't necessarily talking about. People aren't getting into the weeds of cogs and negotiating with suppliers and renegotiating on an ongoing basis, and the finer details of logistics and where you're warehousing things.Josh 00:01:14 And with Amazon, you know, reducing inventory limits across the board for people. What are people doing now to kind of prepare themselves for a world where Amazon does limit you completely and with maybe 1 or 2 months worth of inventory and that's it. And how are you staging your inventory and still winning on Amazon in that environment and then cash flow? I mean, all of these things are such great topics. So yes, let's do a deep dive into each of these. Let's start with the cogs first.Pradeep 00:01:45 Yeah, sure. so what we see is quite interesting with cogs. the cog numbers to start off with, sometimes a minimum, we say 3 to 5, but as Amazon and e-commerce goes more expensive, I think it's about 8 to 10. So if you're buying something for $1, you should be above 8 to 10 in terms of selling prices, if not more, right? What we see is again and again people are saying, hey, we have particularly beginners, hey, we have this 3 to 4, but with inventory, PPC, shipping and all these things, it's just the profits are gone.Pradeep 00:02:21 Before the pandemic or during the pandemic is very profitable. And this is, by the way, experienced. This sounds stupid. I find I find myself finding myself stupid explaining this to someone, but we actually see it every day. Seven, eight, nine figure sellers saying you want this brand because the cogs have gone too expensive because they haven't worked out. Fundamentally, the multiples and the multiples have to be really strong now and the bigger multiple margin to sell. So those cogs are fundamentally negotiable, and you have to have the right product and the cogs are cheap. Price number one. It sounds stupid, but that's what we see. Number two is the negotiation. Hey, we bought 100,000 units. Next time we're going to have three 400,000 units. But you're still selling for the same price. Why? Your your factory should be giving you a note or, you know, handle cash flow or a cheaper price because they're getting raw material cheaper. And what we see is, you know, I sign NDAs, but what we see is some of these aggregators and others who are famous when they go back and some of these factories are quite savvy, say, hey, you raise X amount of money.Pradeep 00:03:29 All of a sudden your cogs are gone up. So, you know. So I think that's again how you negotiate and how you have exclusive agreements for a period of time, particularly on your best selling products. We do this in pharma and other business tools all around the world. You want it for five years. This is the price. If the if if inflation goes down or if the market changes, this is going to be a price. We have the power to change it not you. So it might be having exclusive agreements. And that's how sophisticated you guys we have to get in e-commerce. Because this is no longer a, a mom and pop kind of operation. This has to be sophisticated. Even if your mom and pop or a guy in a basement. That's how you should be thinking. you know, solar. It could be a corporate on your own, but you've got to think like that. So, cogs and how you define the first cogs, the renegotiate the cost is very important.Pradeep 00:04:19 Then thirdly, how are you people storing cogs, right. How are you doing unit economics and how are you storing Excel sheet or software and so forth. And that has to be updated on a daily basis. we see fundamental mistakes and we see fundamental errors as well. You can pick it out straight away from, profit and loss statements as well. so that's something people have to be aware of. And it gets really hard because if you have multiple brands, multiple products, multiple inventory, you know, it's all over the place.
Disney, Trivia Contests, Escape Rooms, Stephen Sondheim, Crosswords, and Puzzles Eagerly awaiting the next season of Reality Escape Pod? Great news! Season 11 is just around the corner. While you wait, enjoy a special compilation from Season 10. Our editor Steve Ewing, has chosen a memorable clip from every episode. It's the ideal way for new listeners to get acquainted with the podcast, and the perfect trip down memory lane for our devoted fans. This season featured a variety of talented creators, escape room owners, designers, game makers, and even a live audio escape room that first debuted at RECON Remote in 2025. One of our dream guests launched the season: Puzzlemaster Will Shortz. This episode was filled with fascinating stories about his time working at Games Magazine and his early years editing the puzzle section for the New York Times. Other veteran creatives this season included Jim “The Oz” Olivia, who helps run the World's Largest Trivia Contest, and Doris Hardoon whose years as an Imagineer at Disney yielded many insights for us into what it took to create “the happiest place on earth” at EPCOT and later at Shanghai Disney Resort. We uncovered the parlor game and puzzle obsessions of Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim with author Barry Joseph, who has published an in-depth look at a little-examined facet of Sondheim's genius. Adam Bellow detailed the process of developing escape room-inspired educational kits for classrooms all over the world through the work of his company, Breakout EDU. Of course, we had many standout escape room owners share their trials, tribulations, and moments of triumph. Will & Kim Rutherford, owners of Escape Artist Greenville, Stephen & Stevie Kristof of 60 to Escape in the Chicago area, and Jonathan Driscoll & Sacha St. Dennis of Escaparium in Montreal, where RECON will be held in August of 2026. Zach Sherwin will be at RECON Montreal, running his hilarious act The Crossword Show. He joined David & Peih-Gee to chat about its development, and what it's like to be a comedy rap star on YouTube! And we caught up with Rita Orlov & Lauren Bello of PostCurious to learn about their latest collaboration in the world of boxed puzzle games. As always, we featured a couple episodes that were pure fun. Yannick Trapman-O'Brien & Lyra Levin played Mark Larson's audio escape room: BLOT. On our Holiday Special, REA team members Theresa Piazza and Andrew Reynolds tested their mettle against Peih-Gee's Playhouse word puzzles. Finally, we received the yearly industry report from RoomEscapeArtist.com Editor-In-Chief Lisa Spira. She walked us through her data analysis concerning escape rooms in 2025, including trends in booking times, revenue, and the growth of challenge arcades. Episode Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors: Buzzshot and Patreon supporters like you. Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. Become a Patron Today! Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: The REPOD Bonus Show The Spoilers Club The Travelogue Series Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters
Three Latin-American food brands saw the opportunity to go further, faster, together – so they took it. Stefanie Garcia Turner of Tuyyo, Jocelyn Ramirez of Todo Verde, and Regina Trillo of Nemi share how they met, why they decided to merge their businesses and brands, and what their vision is for the new brand, unified under Tuyyo. The three woman-and-minoroty-owned brands share a mission of amplifying their Latin-American food culture through authentic and innovative latin foods, representation food culture, and community impact . Learn how this strategic merger will allows each leader to lean into their strengths, and how collaboration aligned on shared values can accelerate growth in the challenger food brand space.Takeaways:The origins and individual missions of Jocelyn of Todo Verde, Regina of Nemi Snacks, and Stephanie of Tuyyo FoodsThe strategic process behind their merger—personality tests, role division, and cultural alignmentHow they'll leverage their merger to reduce costs, expand categories, and innovate fasterTransition strategies for branding, retail placement, and consumer education across their unified brand Tuyyo FoodsSupply chain synergies and efforts to lower COGS by 35% or more through manufacturing and sourcing efficienciesThe broader vision: promoting Latin American flavors regionally and globally while supporting farmers and sustainabilityChallenges faced—costs of rebranding, education hurdles around regional products, and maintaining brand integrityThe importance of shared values, culture fit, and a growth mindset for successful mergersRecommendations for founders considering collaboration and merger as a growth pathwayBook and resource recommendations around exponential thinking, sensory storytelling, and personal spiritualityThoughts on building a healthier food system rooted in equity, community, and transparent ingredient sourcingSound Bites:“We can create something that is even bigger, that is even more impactful, that really is going to make a dent in the food industry.” (Stefanie)“We went from, I'm holding this, this is my baby, to really egoless, like this isn't about me, this is about a brand.” (Jocelyn)“We all knew each other relatively well before the merger. Stephanie is better at this than I am, Regina is better at this than I am, you know, so there was already a sense of like, if we came together, we could split the work in that way.” (Jocelyn)“We are planning on bringing everything under the one Tuyyo brand.” (Stefanie)“We're moving towards standardizing our supply chain operations. It's been a constant conversation and communication with suppliers, both in the US and in Mexico to see what's going to be the best way to do it.“ (Regina)“As of right now, [cost of goods optimization has] been at least 35%, which is it's been a big amount. And based on some information that we have, it's probably going to be higher than that.” (Regina)“I think that it's really gonna be about putting our community first and building a brand that not only can we be proud of, but that is a reflection of our heritage.” (Stefanie)“It took me six years to figure out that I didn't want to continue doing it alone.” (Regina)“[A better world is one] with more representation of the reality of how the community and how that should be represented on shelf as well. Ideally with products that are actually better for us, that are made with real ingredients, that are also supporting the farmers that are producing those ingredients.” (Regina)“[A better world is one with] a food system that is actually catered to the betterment of people in their everyday lives. It would just solve so many issues. And with all of the problems that we have between preventable diseases and healthcare systems that don't work for the people, it goes beyond justice for the farmer, but justice for everybody in the food chain.” (Stefanie)“I think that that in an ideal world there are policies put in place that are protecting people [by regulating] what is allowed and what isn't allowed in our food system. And products, especially those we give to children, that allow us to really reshape our palates and create shortcuts for cooking without taking the cooking part away because that's an basic survival life skill that most people should have and it empowers people to like know what's in their food, and how to nourish their families.” (Jocelyn)Links:Stefanie Garcia Turner on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanie-garcia-turner/Jocelyn Ramirez on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyncramirez77/Regina Trillo on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/regina-trillo-a5055711/Tuyyo - https://tuyyofoods.com/Tuyyo on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/tuyyofoods/Tuyyo on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tuyyofoods/Tuyyo on Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/tuyyofoods/Tuyyo on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@tuyyofoodsTuyyo on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4b_-VIdL7Yl7UQb91y5Vow…Tuyyo Wefunder - Coming soon……Todo Verde (website will go away soon) - https://todoverde.org/Nemi (website will go away soon) - https://neminative.com/…Brands for a Better World Episode Archive - http://brandsforabetterworld.com/Brands for a Better World on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/brand-for-a-better-world/Modern Species - https://modernspecies.com/Modern Species on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/modern-species/Gage Mitchell on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gagemitchell/…Print Magazine Design Podcasts - https://www.printmag.com/categories/printcast/…Heritage Radio Network - https://heritageradionetwork.org/Heritage Radio Network on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/heritage-radio-network/posts/Heritage Radio Network on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HeritageRadioNetworkHeritage Radio Network on X - https://x.com/Heritage_RadioHeritage Radio Network on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/heritage_radio/Heritage Radio Network on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@heritage_radioTimestamps: 0:00 - Introduction of guests and their brands2:11 - The idea of merging to amplify Latin American food culture3:14 - The role of Jocelyn as a connector4:14 - Initial conversations and alignment of goals5:09 - Personality tests and understanding team dynamics6:18 - Personal insights and alignment of values7:19 - Confirmation of shared vision and responsibilities8:36 - Expanding vision and impact9:23 - Egoless collaboration and shared goals10:16 - Overcoming personal challenges in the merger process11:33 - Open communication and external support12:47 - Technical adjustments during recording13:00 - Introduction and alignment of values and vision13:29 - Discussion on dividing responsibilities among the founders13:49 - Initial retreat and mission alignment14:19 - Specific roles and responsibilities based on skills15:16 - Transitioning responsibilities before the merger15:57 - The natural fit of the founders' skills16:18 - Pre-existing relationships and collaboration17:27 - Importance of enjoying the process and having fun19:20 - Branding and unifying product lines under Tuyo Foods20:11 - Transition phase and retail placement21:11 - Marketing strategies and community engagement22:34 - Plans for easing the transition on retail shelves23:28 - Supply chain synergies and manufacturing efficiencies25:12 - Cost reduction strategies and shared resources26:54 - New shared vision and broader goals27:39 - Community focus and brand representation29:28 - Expanding Latin American food representation31:01 - Becoming a go-to platform for Latin foods33:07 - Benefits and opportunities unlocked by the merger36:30 - Challenges and unresolved issues37:37 - Fundraising and rebranding costs38:20 - Advice for other founders considering mergers41:58 - Future of the industry and collaboration45:26 - Fun questions about favorite Latin American foods53:51 - Book recommendations and personal insights60:10 - Influential voices and brands to watch65:17 - Vision of a more representative, equitable, and sustainable food system71:13 - Upcoming plans and ways to connect with Tuyo FoodsFor more insights on food innovation, community building, and scaling purpose-driven brands, subscribe and stay tuned for future episodes.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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
In this episode, we break down what really belongs in COGS, how to read gross margin correctly, and how to dig deeper to uncover hidden margin leaks. If you want stronger cash flow, smarter pricing, and better decisions, this episode will help you master the numbers that matter most.
Behind nearly every breakout CPG brand is an early believer willing to write the first check. In this episode, Adam Spriggs — a founding member of the early-stage investor community The Angel Group and a general partner at its funding arm, Supernatural Ventures — shares how a casual investing experiment evolved into a 275-member syndicate backing the next generation of emerging brands. Along the way, The Angel Group has invested in standout companies including Painterland Sisters, Poppi, Siete, Goodles, Bachan's, and Jesse & Ben's — a track record that underscores its eye for breakout potential. Adam breaks down how his team evaluates nearly 1,000 opportunities each year, why founder quality remains the ultimate differentiator, and what he means by backing brands that are both "interesting and obvious" — concepts that feel fresh yet inevitable in hindsight. He also discusses the firm's evolution from early-stage "signature" checks to larger growth investments, how they support founders beyond capital, and why categories ranging from THC beverages to frozen potatoes and premium tortilla chips still hold significant untapped upside. Show notes: 0:20: Adam Spriggs, Founding Member, The Angel Group – Adam discusses his background in CPG branding and business development, explaining how his path to angel investing began with informally reviewing deals alongside industry peers before ultimately formalizing the Angel Group. He talks about how the group has completed 35 investments, primarily in brands generating less than $1 million in revenue and why its members have increasingly pursued "top-shelf" opportunities in more mature, high-growth businesses. He outlines the group's funnel along with the core signals they prioritize and ranks key investment criteria, including the founder, retail velocity, COGS, and price point, and illustrates these principles with examples such as Poppi and emerging categories like THC beverages. Adam explains how the group supports portfolio companies through regular check-ins, industry introductions, and structured updates. He closes with advice for aspiring angel investors: don't invest alone, recognize the inherent risk of early-stage bets, and seek curated deal flow and a strong community where investors can add value through expertise and connections. Brands in this episode: Poppi, Garage Beer, Olipop, Goodles, Siete, Nowadays, Shift Naturals, Painterland Sisters, Ayoh!, Jesse & Ben's, El Nacho, Wild Monkey Bar, Magic Spoon, Graza, Truff, Coyotas, Stone & Skillet, Modelo
Send a textGetting on shelf is a milestone, but (close your ears if you're faint hearted), it's just the starting line.In episode 151 of the Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, I sit down with Rebecca Brook, founder of Rise Growth Lab, a food and beverage accelerator.This conversation is for brand owners already on shelf. If you want to finish 2026 with more accounts, more reorders and more money in your pocket - and stop leaving it on the table - this is your episode.Grab your pen and tune in to hear:
For most direct-to-consumer brands, the term "ERP" evokes dread. Six-month implementations. Six-figure costs. Software built for factories, not Shopify stores. Kyle Hency experienced that pain firsthand. He scaled Chubbies Shorts past $100 million in revenue, and along the way, his "sophisticated" spreadsheet system (built by a former banker) completely fell apart. The breaking point? When Nordstrom called wanting to stock Chubbies, and his team realized they had no infrastructure to even accept the order. That painful lesson led Hency to raise $13.5 million for GoodDay Software, an ERP designed from day one for Shopify merchants. In this episode, we demystify what an ERP actually is, identify the warning signs that a brand has outgrown spreadsheets, and explore why the traditional barriers to operational infrastructure are finally falling for smaller businesses. Hency makes the case that it doesn't have to be this hard anymore.SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & moregetswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopifycleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnelszipify.com/KURTLINKSGoodDay Software: https://gooddaysoftware.comKyle on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kylehencyThe Normal Brand case study: https://bit.ly/4bzwcFMWORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Helpethercycle.com/applySee Our Resultsethercycle.com/workFree Newsletterkurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.
#MindBodySoul, #WellnessJourney, #BillHolt, #KAVECOGS, #HolisticLiving,Grandpa Bill discusses the Connection Between KAVE - COGS and Holistic Healing Unlock the secret to transforming your life through holistic energy principles in this episode with Grandpa Bill. When technical glitches threaten to derail their latest recording, Grandpa reveals how setbacks and unexpected disruptions can become powerful lessons—if you know how to leverage them. Whether you're exploring personal growth, business resilience, or integrating multiple modalities of healing, this episode offers a fresh perspective on turning life's obstacles into opportunities for profound change.Grandpa shares insights on the innovative KAVE framework—Kinesthetic, Auditory, Visual, Emotional, Conceptual, Olfactory, Gustatory, and Spatial—and how understanding these sensory channels can elevate your self-awareness and decision-making. You'll discover practical tips from his decade-long experience in health, wellness, and podcasting, along with behind-the-scenes stories about handling technical challenges while staying focused on your purpose. Plus, get a sneak peek into his upcoming fictional novel, The Greater Portland Crab Caper, and how his passion for community, art, and holistic healing intertwines in his daily life.In this candid conversation, Grandpa Bill breaks down complex energy concepts into relatable, actionable insights—perfect for entrepreneurs, healers, or anyone curious about mastering life's chaos. You'll learn why resilience, flexibility, and a holistic mindset are your greatest assets in today's unpredictable world. If you're ready to pay forward positivity, expand your consciousness, and turn mishaps into meaningful moments, this episode is your blueprint for doing just that.Whether you're a seasoned wellness practitioner, a curious beginner, or someone seeking inspiration amidst life's turbulence, you'll walk away with tools to enhance your energy awareness and embrace life's surprises. Tune in now—your journey to holistic mastery starts here.This topic, and this platform are here to engage our audience by promising valuable insights and practical wisdom, making it available to a wide range of listeners interested in personal development and holistic healing.Why this works:This episode introduces listeners with a compelling story about overcoming technical setbacks. It highlights specific frameworks and actionable insights, appealing to those interested in wellness, resilience, and personal development. The conversational tone and promise of practical wisdom make it important to anyone facing chaos or seeking growth.Holistic HealingResilience and PreparednessKAVE FrameworkEmotional AwarenessBusiness InsightsTechnical GlitchesPersonal GrowthWellness Practices#HolisticHealing,#Resilience,#KAVEFramework,#EmotionalAwareness,#BusinessInsights,#TechGlitches,#PersonalGrowth,#WellnessJourney,How do you typically respond to unexpected disruptions in your daily life, and what strategies have you found most effective?In what ways do you think understanding the KAVE framework could enhance your personal or professional growth?
Unlock the secrets of perception and resilience in this captivating episode featuring overviews of expert insights into how our minds interpret reality. If you're eager to understand the psychological frameworks that shape your daily experiences—and learn practical tools to enhance your mental clarity—this episode is your must-listen destination.Explore how perception influences everything from emotional well-being to memory, with innovative concepts like the KAVE framework (Cogs, Auditory, Visual, Emotional) that help decode how you process the world. Grandpa Bill shares his journey through the fascinating world of memory palaces, the Magnetic Memory Method, and how these techniques can be applied to boost mental resilience at any age. Discover how simple exercises, like the "Tree" Qigong or mindful sensory awareness, can transform your health and mental sharpness.Grandpa Bill researches a wide array of scientifically backed topics: from understanding fear and anxiety through the lens of psychotherapy, to uncovering how memory palaces and multi-sensory techniques can elevate your cognitive performance. Grandpa Bill also reveals how integrating sensory awareness—smell, sight, taste, and touch—can improve focus, reduce stress, and foster emotional calm. Whether you're a health enthusiast, a mindset seeker, or a mental fitness rookie, these insights will empower you to reframe how you perceive your reality and harness it for personal growth.How can understanding perception improve your emotional well-being?What role do memory techniques play in enhancing mental resilience?This episode matters because in a world saturated with information overload and emotional turbulence, mastering perception can be your secret weapon. By understanding and applying these tools, you unlock the ability to navigate life with greater resilience, clarity, and purpose. Don't miss out on the opportunity to elevate your mindset—your journey to mental mastery starts here.Perfect for health buffs, psychological explorers, and anyone interested in sharpening their mental toolkit. Tune in now to turn perception into your greatest strength and see the world—and yourself—in a whole new light.Grandpa Bill is a retired health and wellness advocate with decades of experience exploring memory, perception, and resilience. His passion is sharing practical, science-backed strategies to improve lives of all ages.Join us as we explore the fascinating connection between perception and resilience through the eyes of Byron Athene, author of Find Your Path to Resilience. Discover how psychological categories like anxiety, fear, and identity influence your daily life, and learn practical memory techniques like the Memory Palace and RIP hand method that can boost your mental agility from ages 1 to 92. Whether you're a mental health professional, a lifelong learner, or simply curious about sharpening your mind, these insights will revolutionize how you see the world—and yourself.Failing to master perception leaves you vulnerable to stress, bias, and mental fog. But by tuning into your senses and understanding the psychology behind perception, you open doors to sharper focus, emotional calm, and more resilient thinking—all accessible today.How do your senses influence your perception of reality?What practical exercises can enhance your mental clarity and resilience?Perfect for anyone eager to upgrade their mental toolkit—whether in personal growth, professional development, or everyday wellness—this episode offers practical frameworks with real, measurable outcomes. If you're ready to see the world—and your mind—in a new light, hit play now.Perception, Mental Clarity, Resilience, Memory Techniques, Psychological Frameworks, Self-Improvement, Mindfulness, Emotional Health#PerceptionPower, #MentalClarity, #ResilienceJourney, #MindMastery, #MemoryTechniques, #SelfImprovement, #Mindfulness, #EmotionalHealth,
In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Chris Brubaker, SVP of Finance at Postscript, who's helped build the finance function from the ground up. Chris shares how he partners with sales through deal desks, sets pricing guardrails, and makes sure finance helps close deals instead of slowing them down. They dig into his hands-on approach to automation using AI with limited engineering resources, how Postscript's metrics evolved as the company scaled, when to trust internal data over benchmarks, and where teams get tripped up. Plus, a private jet accounting story—because of course.—SPONSORS:Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to close faster without fighting legacy systems. Designed to support complex revenue recognition, multi-entity operations, and real-time reporting, Rillet helps teams achieve a true zero-day close—with some customers closing in hours, not days. If you're scaling on an ERP that wasn't built in the 90s, book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cjTabs is an AI-native revenue platform that unifies billing, collections, and revenue recognition for companies running usage-based or complex contracts. By bringing together ERP, CRM, and real product usage data into a single system of record, Tabs eliminates manual reconciliations and speeds up close and cash collection. Companies like Cortex, Statsig, and Cursor trust Tabs to scale revenue efficiently. Learn more at https://www.tabs.com/runAbacum is a modern FP&A platform built by former CFOs to replace slow, consultant-heavy planning tools. With self-service integrations and AI-powered workflows for forecasting, variance analysis, and scenario modeling, Abacum helps finance teams scale without becoming software admins. Trusted by teams at Strava, Replit, and JG Wentworth—learn more at https://www.abacum.aiBrex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metricsMetronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That's why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.comRightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving, visit https://www.rightrev.com—LINKS:Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wchrisbrubaker/Postscript: https://postscript.io/CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com—RELATED EPISODES:So You're Looking for a “Strategic” CFO? Bloomerang's Steve Isom on What That Really Meanshttps://youtu.be/cgHOtvG1CesThe IPO Playbook: Expert Advice from Lee Kirkpatrick, Twilio's Former CFOhttps://youtu.be/PTKAUD7PSWUThe CFO Case for Probabilistic Forecasting With AI | Bruno Annicqhttps://youtu.be/Dl8nDZPJMpE—TIMESTAMPS:00:00:00 Preview and Intro00:02:22 Sponsors — Rillet | Tabs | Abacum00:06:55 Interview Begins00:07:36 First Finance Hire and Early Scale at Postscript00:09:02 Usage-Based Margins, COGS, and the Twilio Parallel00:10:31 Partnering With Sales and Building Deal Desk00:13:16 Pricing Guardrails, Payback, and Deal Economics00:15:35 How Deal Desk Evolves Over Time00:16:01 Sponsors — Brex | Metronome | RightRev00:19:44 Making Finance a Deal-Closing Partner00:20:44 Automating Deal Desk With a Slack Bot00:23:48 How Technical Finance Leaders Need to Be00:25:17 Automating Without Engineering Help00:27:12 Why Human Touch Still Matters in SaaS00:27:53 Postscript's Finance Tech Stack00:28:30 ERP Migration and Month-End Efficiency00:29:42 The Reality of Continuous Close00:30:34 First Real AI Wins in Accounting00:31:18 Experimenting With AI Forecasting00:33:32 Metrics That Matter: Usage as a Leading Indicator00:35:49 How Metrics Evolve as the Company Scales00:37:41 Understanding the Product in a Usage-Based Model00:39:27 Micro-Seasonality and Forecasting Volatility00:42:21 How to Use Benchmarks Without Misusing Them00:43:50 Long-Ass Lightning Round: A Costly Modeling Mistake00:45:45 Advice to a Younger Finance Leader00:47:05 The Private Jet Accounting Story00:49:11 Credits#RunTheNumbersPodcast #FinanceLeadership #DealDesk #UsageBasedSaaS #AIinFinance This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com
In this episode of The Floral CEO Podcast, Jen walks you through a simple, real-world way to forecast your floral business revenue—using the bookings you already have (or want) to estimate your average wedding value, close rate, expenses, flower costs, labor, taxes, and ultimately how much you can pay yourself.Whether you're a newer florist or you've been in business for years but still feel unclear about money, this episode gives you a practical framework to stop guessing and start planning like a CEO.What You'll Learn (Key Takeaways)How to calculate your average wedding order value (AOV) so you can forecast incomeHow to use your close rate to estimate how many leads you need to hit your booking goalA simple “CEO math” approach to estimate:Flower/COGS percentagefixed monthly expenses (your “turn the lights on” costs)freelance laborsales tax/tax set-asidesprofit cushionowner payWhy guessing creates scarcity—and why forecasting creates confidenceHow to put this into a spreadsheet so you can make smarter decisions all yearThe Framework Jen Uses (Step-by-Step)1) Start with your funnel numbers (your real booking pipeline)Track these numbers:How many inquiries/leads you receiveHow many you respond to / have real conversations withHow many consults you bookHow many proposals you sendHow many you close (booked + contract signed)Close rate formula:Booked weddings ÷ proposals sent = close rateJen's note:If your close rate is very high, you may be underpriced (you're “too easy to book”).2) Calculate your average wedding value (AOV)Average wedding value formula:Total booked wedding revenue ÷ number of booked weddings = AOVThis gives you a usable “planning number” even if you have a few outliers.3) Forecast income based on your goal number of weddingsIf you want to go from 8 weddings to 20, you need 12 more weddings.Projected revenue formula:(Goal weddings × AOV) = projected gross revenue4) Estimate your cost of goods (flowers + supplies)If you're still learning sourcing/recipes, Jen recommends being conservative:30–35% as a planning range for flower costs (COGS)COGS formula:Projected revenue × COGS % = flower/supply costs5) Subtract fixed “lights-on” business expensesThese are costs like:websiteCanvaQuickBooks/bookkeeping softwareemail platformadmin tools/subscriptionsbusiness renewals/feesvehicle costs (if the business covers them)Fixed costs formula:Monthly fixed expenses × 12 = annual fixed expenses6) Add labor estimates (freelancers)Example logic from the episode:how many weddings need helphow many hours per weddinghourly ratenumber of staff-daysLabor formula:(Hours × rate × number of days/weddings) = labor cost7) Set aside taxes (don't get surprised later)Jen specifically mentions sales tax and recommends setting aside a percentage (often close to 10% in MN depending on location/rate, but use your local rate).Tax set-aside formula:Projected revenue × tax % = tax bucket8) Build profit into the business (a cushion)Profit is not “whatever is left.” It's intentional.Even starting with 5–7% gives you a cushion for growth:cooler purchaseeducationequipmentupgradesemergency bufferProfit formula:Net-after-costs × profit % = profit bucket9) What's left can become owner's compensation (pay yourself)After subtracting:COGSfixed costslabortaxesprofit…the remainder is what you can use to pay yourself (owner's comp), then plan for income taxes/self-employment taxes depending on your setup.Practical Action Steps (Do This This Week)Make a simple spreadsheet with columns for:inquiriesconsultsproposalsbookingsclose rateList your booked weddings and total revenue → calculate your AOVChoose your booking goal (ex: 20 weddings)Forecast gross revenue (goal × AOV)Pick conservative COGS % (30–35% if you're still dialing in recipes)Estimate annual “lights-on” expensesEstimate freelancer laborCreate 3 buckets in your business:tax set-asideprofit cushionowner payReview the final number and ask:“Is this enough for the life I want?”“What needs to change: price, volume, efficiency, or offers?”Mentioned in This EpisodeBook RecommendationProfit First by Mike Michalowicz (Jen's foundational framework for building profit and paying yourself consistently) https://a.co/d/1s9O2mm
COGS Live: 2025 (00:00:00) The Stone - 05/31 - Merriweather Post Pavilion (00:12:09) Proudest Monkey - 08/23 - Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View (00:18:19) Pig (ft. Jason Crosby) - 06/03 - PNC Bank Arts Center (00:26:40) Loving Wings - 06/27 - Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island (00:34:03) Say Goodbye - 05/30 - Blossom Music Center (00:40:55) The Dreaming Tree (ft. Mike Maher) - 07/22 - BankNH Pavilion (00:53:54) Lie in Our Graves (ft. Jake Simpson) - 08/29 - The Gorge Amphitheatre (01:03:29) Pay for What You Get - 07/18 - Saratoga Performing Arts Center (01:09:22) #41 (ft. Béla Fleck & the Flecktones) - 08/30 - The Gorge Amphitheatre (01:25:51) Drunken Soldier (Dave & Tim) - 01/26 - Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort (01:33:13) Spoon (Dave, Molly, Mary, & Vanessa) - 08/02 - Big Sky Events Arena (01:39:35) The Last Stop - 07/12 - Ruoff Music Center THANK YOU to ALL of the tapers! Scott Plumer, Bill Lakeman, Zach Semcken, Crumbo, John Gortakowski, Jason Johnson, Chris Drews, Ryan Hoyt, and SiriusXM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
" I love shining a light on escape room creators and telling their stories." For the last 10 years, Lisa Spira of Room Escape Artist has been tracking the growth of the US Escape Room industry and publishing industry reports. For our Season 10 finale episode, Lisa joins us to talk about this year's annual report. New this year is a collaboration with previous REPOD sponsor Morty, an app that tracks individual games as well as escape room companies. Through this collaboration, Lisa was able to look at additional metrics, including revenue. The 2025 Industry report is available on the Room Escape Artist website, and Lisa shares deeper analysis on this episode. Some interesting trends noted include consolidation of ownership, and expansion of immersive gaming business models. We also talk about some interesting stats, including which days might be better for an escape room company to go dark; it's not what you would expect! We close out the episode with some musings on exciting new design trends in escape room design, trends we don't care for, and where we think the escape room industry is headed. Whether you're an escape room owner, aspiring to work in the escape room industry, work in the immersive entertainment field, or just a data-loving enthusiast, the REA US Escape Room Industry Report is a must-read. This is the last episode of Season 10. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back with a new season of REPOD in the spring of 2026. Meanwhile, consider joining our Patreon for access to our library of Bonus Aftershows and Spoilers Club episodes. Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community. Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy. PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse. Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. COGS COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout. Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht
" I appreciated your janitor's slow decline into madness." BLOT needs our help! The Bureau of Legitimate and Otherworldly Troubles has suffered a breach in their laboratory, and they need someone to clean up the mess. In the lab, there's a chalkboard to the left, a table with beakers and test tubes to the right and a small computer desk. The room is covered with a strange, gunky substance all over the walls and floor. What would you like to do? BLOT was the official game for RECON Remote 25, available to play for all Community, Pro, and Champion ticket holders who opted in. It was created and run by Mark Larson, who was a guest on REPOD S5E11. On this episode, Yannick Trapman-O'Brien and Lyra Levin join us to play BLOT. Lyra was a featured speaker for RECON Remote 25 with her talk, Make Stuff Fast: Rapid Prototyping for Interactive Experiences, now available on YouTube. Yannick originally appeared on REPOD S8E7 to talk about his incredible show for one, Undersigned. They joined us on REPOD for an actual play of BLOT. Lyra and Yannick are both experienced improvisers, and I'd never laughed so hard watching a play-through. Scroll down to the timestamps to follow along with game images. If you missed playing this game during RECON Remote 25, or if you want to relive your glory moments, join us for this final play-through of BLOT. Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community. Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy. PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse. Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. COGS COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout. Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht
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