Podcasts about Enron

On June 12, 2026, Elon Musk officially became the world's first trillionaire after SpaceX's record-shattering IPO. But here's the uncomfortable part: he built that fortune by breaking the most repeated rule in personal finance. He never diversified. He bet everything — twice — on companies he controlled. In this episode, I unpack what that actually means for your money. We walk through Musk's all-in playbook, from the $180 million PayPal payout to nearly going broke in 2008, and confront an uncomfortable truth: nobody ever got on the Forbes list with a diversified portfolio. Then we visit the graveyard nobody talks about — the thousands who made the same bet and lost everything — and break down the three advantages Musk had that you and I don't. You'll leave with a clear framework: when concentration makes sense, when diversification is non-negotiable, the one concentrated bet you already own (and should double down on), and how to size a "conviction bet" without putting your family's plan at risk. What we cover: The SpaceX IPO and what a trillion dollars actually looks like. The all-in playbook: PayPal to near-bankruptcy to history. Why diversification will never make you rich — and isn't supposed to. Survivorship bias: Enron, dot-com, and the losing tickets history forgets. Concentrate to build, diversify to keep: what this means for you Questions about your own portfolio's hidden concentration? Book a conversation by emailing me at info@creatingricherlives.com. Disclosure: This episode is for educational purposes only and is not personalized investment advice.

Do you remember Enron? Or more recently, Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos? Really smart people deceived other really smart people. Today, Pastor JD warns you: the end times are coming, and whether you’re smart or not, you can be deceived. What will prevent you from deception? God’s word will provide the anchor.

For three years, a counterfeiting bug sat live inside Zcash's shielded pool, and no one noticed. Then Taylor Hornby pointed a custom Claude Opus 4.8 agent at the code, and it surfaced the flaw in Orchard that had gone undetected since 2022. Austin Campbell, Ram Ahluwalia, and Chris Perkins debate what that means for privacy protocols, the rotation away from dead-protocol alts, and why Bitcoin's simplicity may be its strongest security argument yet. The conversation closes on quantum risk and whether the Lindy effect holds up under the new threat environment. Hosts: Austin Campbell, Founder of Zero Knowledge Consulting and Adjunct Professor at NYU Stern - https://x.com/austincampbell Ram Ahluwalia, CEO of Lumida - https://x.com/ramahluwalia Chris Perkins, President of CoinFund - https://x.com/perkinscr97 This clip is from a longer conversation on AI, security, and the Zcash counterfeiting bug. Full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/live/oSUVTmC3wZo?si=zTopwWKi3ETPD5Rz  We go live every Monday at 4:30pm ET - subscribe to catch it live. Sponsors Cape: Your biggest crypto vulnerability isn't your wallet, it's your phone number. Cape is America's privacy-first mobile carrier that rotates your SIM identity daily and blocks SIM swaps before they happen. Get 33% off your first six months at cape.co/unchained (use code: UNCHAINED). Chapters

For three years, a counterfeiting bug sat live inside Zcash's shielded pool, and no one noticed. Then Taylor Hornby pointed a custom Claude Opus 4.8 agent at the code, and it surfaced the flaw in Orchard that had gone undetected since 2022. Austin Campbell, Ram Ahluwalia, and Chris Perkins debate what that means for privacy protocols, the rotation away from dead-protocol alts, and why Bitcoin's simplicity may be its strongest security argument yet. The conversation closes on quantum risk and whether the Lindy effect holds up under the new threat environment. Hosts: Austin Campbell, Founder of Zero Knowledge Consulting and Adjunct Professor at NYU Stern - https://x.com/austincampbell Ram Ahluwalia, CEO of Lumida - https://x.com/ramahluwalia Chris Perkins, President of CoinFund - https://x.com/perkinscr97 This clip is from a longer conversation on AI, security, and the Zcash counterfeiting bug. Full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/live/oSUVTmC3wZo?si=zTopwWKi3ETPD5Rz  We go live every Monday at 4:30pm ET - subscribe to catch it live. Sponsors Cape: Your biggest crypto vulnerability isn't your wallet, it's your phone number. Cape is America's privacy-first mobile carrier that rotates your SIM identity daily and blocks SIM swaps before they happen. Get 33% off your first six months at cape.co/unchained (use code: UNCHAINED). Chapters

Today on The Jeff Dornik Show, Peter A. Kirby joins me to expose the machinery behind chemtrails, geoengineering, weather manipulation, carbon credits, Davos, weather derivatives, and the coming attempt to rebrand spraying the skies as “saving the planet.” Because apparently when global elites break God's created order, the obvious solution is to monetize the cleanup. Very humble of them.We dig into Kirby's research from Chemtrails Exposed, including the evidence he points to, the financial incentives behind weather control, and why the “climate change” narrative may be less about protecting the earth and more about controlling everything on it. As Scripture says, “The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof” — which is awkward for the people trying to turn the atmosphere into a subscription service.Order your copy of Peter A. Kirby's book Chemtrails Exposed from Skyhorse Publishing: https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781510785106/chemtrails-exposed/Follow Jeff Dornik on Pickax - https://pickax.com/jeffdornikBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-jeff-dornik-show--4788100/support.Follow The Jeff Dornik Show on Apple Podcasts and leave a 5-star review. That's how we reach more people and bypass Big Tech suppression.Watch LIVE daily at 7pm ET on Rumble and subscribe so you never miss a show:https://rumble.com/c/jeffdornikBig Tech is silencing truth while harvesting your data to feed the machine. That's why I built Pickax, a free speech platform where creators own their content and your voice isn't controlled. Join now:https://pickax.com/?referralCode=y7wxvwq&refSource=copy

Lords: Aubrey http://glowhno.com/ Avery Topics: Every day since 1981 Yuri Borisovich Norstein and his wife Francheska Yarbusova have worked on their masterpice--an animated adaptaion of Gogol's short story The Overcoat. They couple is now in their 80s and will most likely never complete their film. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Overcoat_(animated_film) Video game urban legends https://vimeo.com/91436410 https://saint-arthur.tumblr.com/post/146680746144/riding-immortal-on-the-seeking-road Bay Area Airport Naming Drama The Only Animal by Franz Wright https://april-is.tumblr.com/post/89794820/april-25-2008-the-only-animal-franz-wright Microtopics: Loving only the parts you don't hate. Finishing the whole pack of Red Vines because you refuse to let them defeat you. An album you haven't put on Spotify. You know. Those podcasts. The sort of thing we don't do around here. Holding up cue cards so the guests know what to say. Reading all 180,000 messages in the Frog Fractions 2 ARG solvers discord. The tech company you're applying to sending you all the Enron emails, saying "review these before the interview" Mysteries, Easter eggs, and rose-tinted glasses. Hedgehog in the Fog. Arduous animation processes. Working on an animated feature by yourself for over 40 years. Great Family Entertainment. A story about a guy who has everything he needs who dies while trying to buy an overcoat. A huge pack of Red Vines that you and your wife have been eating since 1981. Burning yourself out very quickly if you don't put guardrails in place. Perfectionists throwing away years of work because it's not good enough. DJs who still spin vinyl and other artists who choose to do things the hard way. Enveloping yourself in an emotion. Refusing to break character for the entire time you're making the Youtube documentary. Putting away art you're having a hard time with and coming back to it later. Everything that happened between the Sigil Master and Austin Walker. Losing track of whether art looks good. The fine line between pacing yourself and torturing yourself. The statue in the background of Frog Fractions that turns red when you're on Mars. Encouraging people to have whimsy. Space Knight Rom. Snagglepuss the 1950s playwright. Back when you could make up a video game rumor and not have it immediately debunked. GTA San Andreas urban legends. Windows Movie Maker transition screens. Gravitating towards the unknowable. Self-destructing music. Scarcity and unknowability. Buying an album from the record shop and perusing the indie record label catalog that comes with it. Searching for the 16th colossus. Forming a small community and feeling communal with them. Playing games with a group of friends like a book club. An MMO full of ARGy type stuff. Automatically grouping people into a puzzle solving community. Being paralyzed by the sheer amount of information that you don't know. What's going on with the iGlyphs? Finding evidence of the Jejune Institute on a telephone pole. Painstakingly making the 7th Frog Fractions game, 45 years from now. The history of Seeking Mr. Eaten's Name. Game secrets that can't be ruined by one jerk with a decompiler. Sleep No More. Getting pulled into a secret compartment during an interactive play. Multi-city zombie larps. The Oakland Airport renaming themselves to the San Francisco Bay International Airport and then later the lawsuit becoming the Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport. Bay Area topology. San Francisco and South San Francisco. The Unincorporated Area of San Mateo County International Airport, or UAOSMCIA. American cities named after European cities. The Bass Pro Shop Pyramid in Memphis, TN. Filling a 32-story disco pyramid with sports equipment. Fry's Electronics. Another episode of Topic Lords where we read from Wikipedia. A huge empty building with paintings of Mayan gods holding torches that used to be an electronics store. One more way in which people forget about San Diego. The only animal that brushes its own teeth A monkey wearing a spacesuit trying to smoke a cigarette through the face shield. The only animal that smokes cigarettes. (Todd, who works down at the warehouse.) Meeting your estranged dad when at the awards show when you're both up for the same Pulitzer. Whether that fuckin' awesome monkey is a Bored Ape. Whether Google Image Search is making up images yet. That time Ryan North and his dog got stuck in an empty swimming pool and turned it into an interactive text adventure. By the time you've smelt it, they have dealt it. Topics are over!

Retirement planning is about more than just saving money—it's about making smart decisions with your finances to ensure that you keep as much of what you've earned as possible. On the show this week, I'm sharing essential strategies for managing your taxes in retirement—including a real-life example of a couple selling $146,000 in capital gains and paying zero taxes. I break down the benefits of non-retirement brokerage accounts, clarify the rules around capital gains and losses, and reveal a key element of the tax code that hasn't changed in nearly 50 years. In the second half of the show, I'm also discussing the risks and rewards of company stock, stock options, and restricted stock units (RSUs), and providing guidance for anyone investing in their own company or dealing with equity compensation. This episode is packed with practical advice and insightful stories to help you retire in the best financial position possible.   You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in... [00:26]Importance of tax management in retirement [02:05] Capital gain harvesting (an uncommon topic) and capital loss harvesting [06:25] Explaining brokerage account basics [08:17] Distinction between short-term vs. long-term capital gains [14:24] Practical example of managing large capital gains [18:30] Tax-free capital gains strategy [24:40] Understanding equity compensation risks [31:51] RSUs and the tax implications [33:27] Evaluating company stock and options Understanding Brokerage (Non-Retirement) Accounts Brokerage accounts, also known as non-retirement accounts, are investment accounts funded with after-tax dollars. Unlike IRAs or 401(k)s, which have strict withdrawal rules and penalties, these accounts offer much more flexibility. There are two primary advantages: Accessibility: Funds are available before age 59½, meaning you aren't locked into waiting as with some retirement accounts. Tax Control: Taxes in these accounts are mainly due on capital gains, dividends, and interest, and you can influence the timing and amount of tax owed by managing what and when you sell.   Many investors overlook the advantages of these accounts, often assuming that retirement planning must revolve solely around 401(k)s and IRAs. Speaker B points out that one of the biggest benefits is the ability to 'cherry pick' what is bought and sold, giving investors direct control over their tax liabilities.   Capital Gains and Loss Harvesting Most people are familiar with the idea of harvesting capital losses—selling investments at a loss to offset taxable gains or up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year. But 'harvesting capital gains' can also be a powerful strategy. If your income is low enough in a particular year, it's possible to realize long-term capital gains at zero federal tax, especially under current tax laws. There are nuances, however. The $3,000 capital loss deduction limit hasn't changed since 1978, despite decades of inflation, and excess losses must be carried forward to future years—a critical aspect often forgotten. Additionally, the wash-sale rule prevents you from writing off a loss if you purchase the same (or substantially identical) security within 30 days before or after the sale.   Risks and Rewards of Company Stock, Stock Options, and RSUs  Equity compensation—whether through company stock, stock options, or restricted stock units (RSUs)—is a growing component in many retirement portfolios. Stock options come in two primary flavors—incentive stock options (ISOs) and non-qualified stock options (NSOs)—with distinct tax treatments. The potential upside can be huge, especially in fast-growing companies, but if the stock price falls below the strike price, the options may end up worthless. Upon vesting, the value of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) is taxed as ordinary income. Many companies manage tax withholding by selling some shares at vesting, but any future gains after vesting are subject to capital gains tax. Overreliance on one company's stock can be financially devastating. Don't be like the Enron employee who lost almost everything by refusing to diversify. It's essential to manage company-specific risk and diversify holdings as you approach retirement.   Resources & People Mentioned 3 Steps to Retirement Planning IRS Case Study 1 – Wash Sales    Connect With Gregg Gonzalez   Email at: Gregg.gonzalez@lpl.com Podcast: https://RetireStrongFA.com/Podcast Website: https://RetireStrongFA.com/ Follow Gregg on LinkedIn Follow Gregg on Facebook Follow Gregg on YouTube Subscribe to Retirement Made Easy On Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts  

This episode of Talking Real Money examines why financial advice so often turns into emotional debate instead of productive problem-solving. Don and Tom discuss how investors routinely underestimate spending, cling emotionally to employer stock, and defend strategies like dividend chasing, covered calls, crypto, or gold despite decades of evidence favoring diversified investing. They answer a listener question about aggressively paying down a 6.625% adjustable-rate mortgage versus maintaining liquidity, warn about commissioned advisors circling employees receiving RSU payouts, and correct a previous mistake regarding Roth employer matches under Secure 2.0 legislation. Along the way, the hosts mix humor, blunt honesty, and personal stories about why changing financial behavior is far harder than simply explaining the math.0:05 Are listeners looking for advice, validation, or just an argument?0:58 “Two old white guys waiting to die on a podcast” and why changing investor behavior is so difficult1:24 Basis points complaints and arguing over financial terminology2:21 Why financial planning conversations often become debates3:16 Most people underestimate how much they actually spend4:04 Net income minus savings equals spending, whether you admit it or not4:59 Growing up arguing in big families and learning debate skills early5:53 Emotional attachment to employer stock and concentration risk6:19 Microsoft, Enron, Washington Mutual, and the danger of loyalty investing7:02 Why many individual stocks underperform for long stretches7:42 Covered calls, dividend strategies, and belief in “secret” investing systems8:16 Why Don and Tom remain skeptical of crypto, gold, and speculative investing9:16 Their investing philosophy comes from peer-reviewed academic research, not hunches10:17 If you call for portfolio help, don't expect automatic validation11:23 Listener Jim asks whether to aggressively pay down his adjustable-rate mortgage12:17 Extra principal payments versus saving cash to pay off the mortgage later13:12 Why a 6.625% mortgage changes the payoff math14:35 Liquidity concerns versus the emotional appeal of being debt-free15:06 Mortgage recasting explained and reducing future interest costs17:39 Regret over not refinancing during ultra-low-rate years18:10 Why peace of mind sometimes outweighs financial optimization18:50 “Paper argues badly” and the transition into listener emails18:59 RSU sharks circling a listener with a large restricted stock payout19:48 Wealth managers aggressively targeting employees cashing out company stock20:47 Warning signs of commissioned annuity sales disguised as “help”21:48 Why concentrated company stock remains risky even after huge gains22:24 Recalling the advisor who openly admitted to a 10% annuity commission22:41 Retirement quiz follow-up and correcting a Roth 401(k) mistake23:01 Secure 2.0 technically allows Roth employer matches in 401(k)s24:09 Why most employers still don't offer Roth matching contributions24:36 Tax uncertainty and the value of maintaining both Roth and pre-tax accounts25:33 Tom admits he occasionally tells players when he missed a call as a referee26:05 Encouraging listeners to argue, ask questions, and engage with the show27:02 Offering free portfolio consultations without annuity sales pressure27:39 Joking about becoming annuity salesmen after all these yearsQuestions? Comments? Click!

As part of their long-running series, Alex and Sarah end the 00s with a bumper exploration of two pivotal years for playwriting this century – with Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem, Lucy Prebble's Enron, John Logan's Red, Lynn Nottage's Ruined and so many more to mull over. But which plays will be Sarah's top picks? And what have we forgotten from the month before? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailPoor leadership is becoming one of the biggest reasons Gen Z and millennials are losing trust in the workplace. Inconsistent communication, lack of accountability, performative leadership, favoritism, empty promises, and disconnected management styles are creating frustration across modern workplace culture.In this episode, Dr. Jason Wiggins breaks down how poor leadership damages workplace trust and why younger professionals are paying closer attention to leadership behavior than ever before. From leaders who avoid accountability to managers who communicate one thing publicly and operate differently behind closed doors, this episode explores why trust in leadership is declining across today's workforce.We discuss how Gen Z and millennials view leadership differently, why transparency and consistency matter more than corporate messaging, and how poor leadership weakens employee trust, workplace culture, communication, morale, and long term organizational performance.Using lessons from Enron and modern workplace examples, this episode explores what happens when leadership prioritizes image over honesty, messaging over action, and authority over trust. We also examine why silence from employees is often a sign of lost confidence in leadership rather than agreement.Topics covered in this episode include poor leadership, workplace trust, Gen Z workplace culture, millennial leadership expectations, toxic leadership, leadership accountability, workplace communication, organizational trust, management failure, employee trust, leadership transparency, and workplace culture.If you are a leader, manager, executive, Gen Z professional, or millennial employee trying to navigate leadership challenges in today's workplace, this episode will challenge how you think about trust, accountability, communication, and effective leadership.Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more people discover conversations about poor leadership, workplace trust, leadership accountability, and modern workplace culture.Support the show

Join host Adam Larson as he welcomes expert guests Dana Hermanson, Daniel Haggerty, and Douglas Boyle—the authors of the 2026 Curt Verschoor Ethics Feature of the Year—for an honest, eye-opening discussion on the shadow side of professional ethics. After their award-winning article on building virtue, the trio flips the script—this time tackling the capital vices of pride, envy, and greed, and exploring why good people sometimes make bad choices. Hear real-world examples, from Enron to Theranos, and pick up practical strategies for recognizing and overcoming these vices in yourself and your organization. Daniel shares a philosopher's perspective on the roots of bad behavior, Douglas draws on his executive experience to talk about healthy versus harmful pride, and Dana connects classic wisdom to familiar fraud prevention tools. Whether you're a finance leader, student, or just curious about why fraud still happens, this is a conversation packed with insight, stories, and advice you can use right away—including a behind-the-scenes look at their award-winning article.

Holding a significant portion of your wealth in one or a handful of individual stocks can be both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. While the rewards of watching a single company's meteoric rise can be life-changing, the risks of a lack of diversification are just as great. The problem is that liquidating these positions often means getting hit with daunting tax bills. We walk through practical solutions and the new tools now available to investors seeking diversification without immediate tax consequences.  The Real Risk of Concentration It's tempting to simply hang onto a winning stock, postponing taxes until you're in a lower bracket or retired. But over 90% of stocks underperform the market long term. Individual company fortunes can change abruptly—think Enron, Lehman Brothers, or stock collapses from $50 to $0.50. Banking your whole plan on one company's continued success is a risk that can jeopardize even the soundest of financial plans. Taking calculated steps to shift your assets, even if taxes are due eventually, is often essential for long-term stability. Modern Options for Tackling Concentrated Stock Technology and innovation in the investment industry are opening doors once reserved for the ultra-wealthy. Here are four tax-deferral solutions we discuss: 1. Exchange Funds Exchange funds allow investors to pool their highly appreciated stocks with others, resulting in a diversified basket—often 20–30 stocks. You maintain your original cost basis, and after a 7-year lock-up period, you can access a more diversified portfolio. There are usually high entry minimums ($250,000–$500,000) and the investor must be an accredited. It requires a long holding period and comes with added complexity, costs, and delayed K-1 tax forms. At the end, you still owe taxes if you sell, but you've reduced single-stock risk. 2. Section 351 Funds If you hold several different stocks or even ETFs that no longer fit your strategy, Section 351 exchanges allow you to transfer them into a new, broadly diversified fund with tax deferral. This is similar in spirit to a 1031 real estate exchange but designed for securities. This option gives you flexibility, but it only works with publicly traded investments in taxable (not retirement) accounts 3. Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) SMAs have become popular for allowing greater customization. In an SMA, instead of owning an index fund, you hold the constituent stocks directly—allowing for tax loss harvesting and the exclusion of specific stocks. This offers personalized values-based investing but creates more complex tax reporting and can create complications for you and your CPA. 4. Tax Aware Long/Short Strategies Recently popular but highly complex, these leverage SMAs and add a long/short overlay, aiming to maximize loss harvesting regardless of overall market conditions. This uses leverage and shorting, increasing risk and management costs. It gives greater potential for tax loss harvesting, but introduces tracking error and liquidity constraints. This is best for specific, high-need scenarios.    Keep Your Broader Plan in Mind Always return to your broader financial plan. Look at that accumulated stock position in the context of your overall financial plan and everything else that's happening in your goals and life. These tactics are tools, not silver bullets. Sometimes, the simplest (if less glamorous) move—selling, paying taxes, and reinvesting—might be your best decision. Concentrated stock positions can be both an opportunity and a source of anxiety. Before chasing the latest "shiny object," evaluate your situation with the help of an advisor. Find the approach that aligns with your risk, liquidity needs, and long-term goals. Sometimes, boring really is better—for both your taxes and your sleep. Outline of This Episode 00:00 Discussing tax deferral options 03:42 Risks of relying on stocks 09:14 Evaluating stock donation options 12:49 Explaining Section 351 funds 14:29 Using ETFs for tax deferral 18:24 Considering life changes for tax planning 21:57 Evaluating investment advice sources   Resources & People Mentioned The Retirement Podcast Network   Connect With Chad and Mike https://www.financialsymmetry.com/podcast-archive/  Connect on Twitter @csmithraleigh @TeamFSINC Follow Financial Symmetry on Facebook   Subscribe To This Podcast   Apple Podcasts Stitcher Google Play  

Trump takes on Xi: who’s about to get outplayed?; Trump showed massive economic, military, and global power upon arrival in China. So why are people claiming Xi has the power? Why did Xi threaten Trump and over what? What did Xi already promise? Fairfax firestorm: prosecutor accused of going soft on illegal immigrants; House hearing heats up as Soros funded DA is confronted for giving slaps on the wrist of illegal alien child rapists and murderers. And why lectured that “mass deportations are fantasy”? Mamdani roasted: “balanced budget” gets torched by Democrat strategist; What kind of Enron math was he using? Who’s paying more in fees? Hint…it’s not the rich. Pope Leo firestorm: Vatican defends honor given to Iranian leader; Why would a Pope honor ambassador of a barbaric regime? With guest Tim Murphy, “The Christ Cure”.Support Our Mission: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=ZMGRBFGDJKRS8See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 991 of The Professional Left starts with a question that sounds absurd on its face — are Americans "underbabied"? — and then spends an hour making the case that the people asking that question are the same ones who have spent decades doing everything in their power to make starting a family feel financially impossible. Driftglass and Blue Gal trace the long arc from the post-war baby boom through the Reagan era's war on the social safety net, showing how decades of Republican policy quietly transformed children from a shared public good into a personal lifestyle choice that you'd better be able to afford on your own. A detour through the Enron collapse and the Great Recession ties it all together — because low birth rates aren't the disease, they're the symptom, and this episode lays out exactly what's causing them.Stay in Touch! Email: proleftpodcast@gmail.com Website: proleftpod.com Support via Patreon: patreon.com/proleftpod or Donate in the Venmo App @proleftpodMail: The Professional Left, PO Box 9133, Springfield, Illinois, 62791Artwork courtesy of "america has rabies" on BlueSky @thebatshitsutras.bsky.socialSupport the show

Episode 84 From Enron to Today: What 20 Years Taught Us About White Collar Crime Host Matt Adams sits down with former Enron Task Force lead prosecutor and Duke Law Professor Samuel Buell to trace the arc of corporate fraud enforcement — from the historic conviction of Enron's top executives to the challenges facing regulators and prosecutors today. Buell offers a candid look at how the Enron prosecution came together, including the pivotal decision to flip CFO Andrew Fastow, the controversial case against Arthur Andersen, and why holding individuals accountable in America's boardrooms remains far more difficult than the public tends to assume. Buell makes the case that criminal prosecution alone cannot prevent the next corporate crisis — and that strong regulatory infrastructure may matter more than any single perp walk. With the Department of Justice closing over 23,000 cases, the SEC losing experienced staff, and career prosecutors stepping away, Buell reflects on what happens when enforcement capacity erodes. The views expressed in this podcast are those of the participants and should not be considered the views of Fox Rothschild LLP or its attorneys. This podcast is for informational purposes only, is not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Tom and Don take aim at the persistent myth that active management adds meaningful long-term value, using a new study highlighted by Larry Swedroe showing that 1,260 balanced mutual funds dramatically underperformed simple low-cost index portfolios from 1990–2021. The duo contrasts expensive actively managed balanced funds with inexpensive index strategies like the Vanguard Balanced Index approach, illustrating how fees alone can devastate long-term returns. Along the way, they discuss the emotional challenge of rebalancing, the hidden costs inside broker-sold funds, and why simplicity usually beats complexity in investing. Listener questions cover paying off a high-interest HELOC, whether gold or silver make sense as CD replacements, how advisor fees relate to the 4% withdrawal rule, and the behavioral value of good fiduciary advice. The episode wraps with a detour into collectible stock certificates, including Enron, Washington Mutual, and even Trump Media, proving once again that Talking Real Money can turn almost anything into a financial lesson and a comedy bit.0:05 Satirical opening mocking the “you need a professional” investing pitch0:27 The enduring myth that active management beats indexing1:40 Larry Swedroe study on 1,260 balanced mutual funds vs. index portfolios3:05 Balanced funds underperform across returns and risk-adjusted metrics4:32 Massive fee differences between active funds and index funds6:05 Rebalancing challenges and lousy 401(k) investment menus7:05 American Funds Balanced Fund fee breakdown shocks Don8:49 Vanguard Balanced Index Fund cost comparison9:36 Why advisor fees are different from high mutual fund expenses10:30 Simplicity and low costs win most of the time11:41 Enron stock certificate becomes a lesson on stock-picking risk14:47 Listener question about paying off a 7.1% HELOC19:29 Whether pensions should count as “bond-like” assets21:42 Gold and silver vs. CDs discussion25:40 Does the 4% rule include advisor fees?26:11 Vanguard Advisor Alpha and the behavioral value of advisors27:32 Fiduciary advice, tax management, and preventing investor mistakes28:50 Collectible stock certificates and bizarre eBay discoveries30:48 Closing banter and preview of future unpredictabilityQuestions? Comments? Click!

Before you think that Enron's implosion was ancient history, think again. Their former CFO says corporate fraud is up 20%. Some would argue we have a fraudster as president.This is a detailed breakdown of what happened after Enron and how many used it less as a cautionary tale and more as a blueprint.Sign up for Haloless: Decoded - Enron video drops tomorrow.https://www.youtube.com/@thehalolessdecodedhaloless.io#fraud #Enron #investments #halolessdecoded

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This week on the show, BJ is joined by David Gerard of Pivot to AI. Come listen about how the AI bubble, like crypto, is a scam funded by the venture capital bros, and how that scam works. If we're all eating out of soup cans this time next year, you may hear in this episode why. Learn more about our show at Stupid Sexy Privacy.com.

Recorded live at the Daniel Energy Partners Thrive Conference, hosts David de Roode and Victoria Beard Queen sit down with Jackson Wise, CEO of Signal Peak Silica, and world-class pit master, to unpack the realities of the modern sand business and what it takes to lead through cycles. Wise shares his unconventional path from Enron and investment banking with the infamous Simmons & Company to operating one of the largest regional frac sand platforms in the U.S., along with the hard lessons learned during Signal Peak's 2019 turnaround.The conversation dives into how regionalization has reshaped the sand market, why delivered cost and logistics matter more than brand, and how consolidation and capital discipline are defining the future of the sector. Wise also reflects on leadership, mentorship, building high‑trust teams, and why barbecue, community, and culture still play an outsized role in oil & gas today.00:00 Why Oil And Gas Matters00:36 Podcast And Sponsors01:59 Live From Thrive Conference03:14 Meet Jackson Wise03:40 Early Career And Enron05:52 BP MBA And Simmons07:17 Simmons Culture Lessons09:34 Leaving Banking To Operate11:38 Mentorship And Leadership13:16 Signal Peak In 30 Seconds15:49 Turnaround And Team Building17:24 Sand Consolidation Strategy20:06 How The Sand Market Changed22:47 Plant Costs Then And Now24:17 Wet Versus Dry Sand25:36 Wet Sand Reality Check26:15 How Heavy Is Sand27:14 Logistics And Truck Staging28:59 Pitching SPS Value30:57 Five To Ten Year Vision32:48 Barbecue And Oilfield Culture34:53 Winning At Pebble Beach38:21 Cookoff Community And Team42:27 Career Wisdom And Wrap

On this week's installment of Weathering Decarbonization, we welcome Martin Malinow, CEO of Parameter Climate, into the SmarterMarkets™ studio. David Greely sits down with Martin to discuss his work building weather and climate risk transfer markets from the days of Enron to today. They talk about where these markets are now, where they're going, and what we need to be doing to get them there.

In this episode of Corporate Finance Explained, we dive into one of the most critical but overlooked foundations of finance: internal controls and fraud prevention. What starts as a simple reconciliation issue quickly becomes a much bigger question about trust, accuracy, and the systems that keep businesses running. Internal controls are often misunderstood as bureaucratic red tape, but in reality, they function as the immune system of a company. They are the invisible guardrails that ensure financial data is accurate, operations run efficiently, and organizations remain compliant with regulations. Without them, even the largest companies can collapse under the weight of errors or fraud.We break down the three core types of internal controls, preventive, detective, and corrective, and explain how they work together to protect a company's financial integrity. From segregation of duties and access controls to reconciliations and internal audits, you will learn how finance teams design systems that catch issues before they become catastrophic.This episode also explores real-world case studies that show both success and failure. We look at how companies like Microsoft and Procter and Gamble build robust control environments through automation and culture, and contrast that with major breakdowns like Enron and Wirecard, where weak oversight and lack of verification led to massive financial scandals.We also unpack the role of regulation, including the impact of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, and what corporate finance and compliance teams actually do day to day to maintain trust in financial reporting.Ultimately, this conversation reframes internal controls as more than just compliance. They are systems designed to engineer trust, reduce risk, and protect the credibility of financial information in global markets.If you work in finance, analyze companies, or want to understand how businesses prevent fraud and ensure accuracy behind the scenes, this episode will fundamentally change how you think about financial systems.

"The team's the most important thing." "I didn't listen very well." "I thought I had most of the answers when I didn't even know the problem." "Treat them as they want to be treated." "If I screwed up, it's also my job to go to the team and say, 'Hey, I screwed up and we're going to change.'" Jim Weisser is President and co-founder of SignTime in Japan, a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and long-time participant in the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. He arrived in Japan in 1993 after studying chemical engineering and briefly working in a chemical plant, then began his career in the country as an English teacher in Yokohama before moving into computer consulting and internet infrastructure. During Japan's early internet era he worked across multiple roles at an internet service provider, later joined Enron's broadband business, and then built a consulting practice that led to the launch of PBXL, a hosted business telephony company that was eventually acquired in 2015 by a business that later became part of Cisco. After helping his team transition through that acquisition, he returned to entrepreneurship and co-founded SignTime, an electronic signature platform designed around Japanese workflows, including hanko culture, ringi-sho approval flows and practical adoption at the gemba. His career arc reflects unusual adaptability in Japan: from English teacher to technical operator, founder, exit entrepreneur, investor and software builder, with each stage sharpening his view that leadership in Japan depends less on forceful direction than on judgement, humility, consensus-building and patient execution.   Jim Weisser's leadership philosophy was not formed in a classroom. It was forged through a series of reinventions in Japan: from English teaching to internet infrastructure, from startup failure to acquisition, from operational leadership to SaaS product design. That lived range gives his perspective unusual credibility. He does not romanticise leadership, and he does not pretend he got it right the first time. In fact, one of the most striking themes in the interview is how bluntly he describes his early mistakes. He admitted that he did not listen well, overestimated the value of his own answers, and underestimated how much weight a leader's words carry in a Japanese workplace. That self-awareness becomes the foundation of the larger lesson: effective leadership in Japan is not about becoming less decisive, but about becoming more inclusive, more deliberate and more accountable. His account of Japan pushes back against simplistic stereotypes. The country can look highly hierarchical from the outside, yet execution often depends on alignment far below the top. A president's approval does not automatically move an idea into reality. Decisions are shaped through nemawashi, quiet pre-alignment, and through the practical logic of ringi-sho style circulation, where the proposal is stress-tested across functions before it becomes formal. For foreign executives, that can feel slow, indirect or even evasive. Weisser interprets it differently. He sees it as a system optimised for social durability and operational legitimacy. In that sense, what appears to be risk-aversion is often disciplined uncertainty management. Japanese organisations do not necessarily reject change; they reject poorly socialised change. That distinction matters because it reframes why global leaders struggle. Many arrive with a hero model of leadership: define the vision, make the call, push execution. Weisser has enough self-knowledge to recognise that he once behaved that way himself. Over time, however, he learned that command without context fails in Japan. Employees need room to interpret, absorb and support the direction. They also need psychological safety. In a defect-sensitive environment, even a mildly negative comment from the boss can be amplified. The leader who wants innovation must therefore reward initiative, model learning and publicly own mistakes. His example of apologising to a team member after sending an email in the wrong tone captures this beautifully. Accountability is not weakness; it is cultural permission for others to act. His current venture, SignTime, becomes a practical case study in decision intelligence and local design. Rather than forcing a Western e-signature model onto Japan, he and his team built around the lived realities of hanko, sequential approvals, gemba resistance, paper habits and contract storage needs. He also looks ahead: blockchain-based smart contracts, AI-generated contract summaries, reminder systems and digital twins of approval workflows all point to a future in which technology helps organisations make better decisions without violating the social logic of how work is actually done. For Weisser, the ultimate lesson is clear. Leadership in Japan is not about overpowering uncertainty. It is about reading it well, involving people early, translating vision into natural process, and having the humility to say, when necessary, that the leader was wrong and the team will adjust together. Q&A Summary What makes leadership in Japan unique? Leadership in Japan is shaped by a paradox: it looks hierarchical, yet outcomes depend heavily on broad internal alignment. Weisser argues that senior approval alone rarely settles execution. Real progress comes through nemawashi, ringi-sho style circulation, and practical buy-in at the gemba. Leadership is therefore less about dramatic authority and more about socialising ideas until they feel workable, legitimate and low-friction across the organisation. Why do global executives struggle? Many global executives import a Western hero model into Japan. They expect clear top-down momentum once a senior sponsor agrees. Weisser warns that this approach often collides with the Japanese preference for consensus, face preservation and careful groundwork. Foreign leaders also underestimate how intensely a boss's comments are felt. What sounds direct or efficient in one culture can feel damaging or unsafe in another. Is Japan truly risk-averse? Weisser does not see Japan as simply risk-averse. He sees a society that manages uncertainty carefully. The distinction is important. Japanese companies may resist abrupt change, but often because they want operational confidence, stakeholder alignment and social durability before moving. This is less about fear and more about uncertainty avoidance. In modern terms, it reflects a form of organisational decision intelligence: not refusing action, but wanting stronger proof, smoother process and wider consensus before committing. What leadership style actually works? The most effective leadership style in Japan combines clarity with humility. Leaders still need to set direction, but they must do so in ways that invite contribution and reduce resistance. Weisser's own growth came from realising that he had to listen more, ask better questions and stop assuming he had the answer before fully understanding the problem. He now emphasises accountability, reflection and behavioural modelling. When leaders admit mistakes and adjust openly, they create permission for others to think, act and learn. How can technology help? Technology helps when it respects natural workflow rather than trying to bulldoze it. That insight sits at the core of SignTime. Instead of treating Japan as a delayed copy of Western markets, Weisser built around hanko habits, sequential approvals, gemba realities and repository needs. He also points to future possibilities including blockchain-based contracts, AI-generated business summaries, renewal reminders and digital twins of approval processes. These tools can reduce friction and improve visibility, but only if they support how people actually make decisions. Does language proficiency matter? Language matters, but not only in the narrow sense of vocabulary. What matters more is social fluency: understanding the pacing, implications and decision rituals behind what is being said. A leader may function with limited Japanese if they deeply grasp nemawashi, ringi-sho logic, face concerns and the emotional effect of authority. Conversely, fluency without cultural judgement can still fail. Weisser's lesson is that leadership credibility in Japan comes from behavioural understanding as much as linguistic skill. What's the ultimate leadership lesson? The ultimate lesson is that leadership is not about always being right. It is about building a team and a process that can keep moving when reality changes. Weisser repeatedly returns to the value of the team, the need to treat people as they want to be treated, and the importance of owning mistakes. In Japan especially, where subtle signals carry great weight, the leader's humility becomes a strategic asset. It strengthens trust, supports innovation and makes consensus more than procedure; it makes it productive. Author Credentials Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programs, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have also been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). In addition to his books, Greg publishes daily blogs on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, offering practical insights on leadership, communication, and Japanese business culture. He is also the host of six weekly podcasts, including The Leadership Japan Series, The Sales Japan Series, The Presentations Japan Series, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews. On YouTube, he produces three weekly shows — The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews — which have become leading resources for executives seeking strategies for success in Japan.

How can corporate scandals—from Enron to the Facebook privacy controversy—change the way the world works for the better?Political scientists Pepper Culpepper and Taeku Lee have drawn on a decade of research on policymaking and public opinion to show how scandals can ignite a public with few political outlets for their discontent. Scandals don't simply dominate news cycles: they can provoke us to demand better policy, spurring governments to adopt rules that protect us from massive corporations run amok. They say that today it is giant companies, not governments, that run the world. Businesses launch rockets into space, control satellite communication, and develop era-defining AI technologies. But around the globe, these corporate titans are facing increasing public hostility. Tech giants are accused of promoting misinformation, undermining democracy and violating our privacy. Big banks, reeling since the financial crisis of 2008, continue to face major scandals. Drawing on real-life examples such as the powdered milk scandal that rocked France, the VW scandal in Germany, the Goldman Sachs scandal in the United States, Cambridge Analytica in Britain and Samsung in South Korea, Culpepper and Lee say these scandals are not just symptoms of a careless corporate elite, they are opportunities for real political change.They explore all of this in their book The Billionaire Backlash, and Taeku Lee comes to Commonwealth Club World Affairs to reveal their take on how the shared anger of citizens can be channeled into a backlash that has the potential to reinvigorate our failing democracies. One corporate scandal at a time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An F-15E is down in southern Iran. Justin, Tony, Eric and I talk through what combat search and rescue actually looks like, how a captured pilot changes the politics of ending this war, and why a hostage makes the "pack up and go home" play functionally impossible. Then: the AWACS that "only" lost a third of itself on a Saudi tarmac, why CENTCOM is still parking high-value aircraft like it's 2003, and what Operation Spiderweb and three years of Ukrainian drone warfare should have taught us but didn't. Plus Pete Hegseth's ongoing purge of the officer corps, the Enron theory of Pentagon innovation, and why the War of 1812 is the best analogy for where this is all heading. Tony's article on CENTCOM sucking: https://www.breakingbeijing.com/p/what-did-we-learn-centcom Justin on just war: https://justinmc.substack.com/p/just-war-theory song: https://suno.com/s/vroapDDimBnmCxdO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An F-15E is down in southern Iran. Justin, Tony, Eric and I talk through what combat search and rescue actually looks like, how a captured pilot changes the politics of ending this war, and why a hostage makes the "pack up and go home" play functionally impossible. Then: the AWACS that "only" lost a third of itself on a Saudi tarmac, why CENTCOM is still parking high-value aircraft like it's 2003, and what Operation Spiderweb and three years of Ukrainian drone warfare should have taught us but didn't. Plus Pete Hegseth's ongoing purge of the officer corps, the Enron theory of Pentagon innovation, and why the War of 1812 is the best analogy for where this is all heading. Tony's article on CENTCOM sucking: https://www.breakingbeijing.com/p/what-did-we-learn-centcom Justin on just war: https://justinmc.substack.com/p/just-war-theory song: https://suno.com/s/vroapDDimBnmCxdO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Misty Phillip has many bullets on her resume. She has even had her photo displayed in Times Square, which is pretty amazing, but the thing I love most about her is her passion for championing others. Her testimony speaks powerfully to what God can do through our obedience and it's such a beautiful reminder that His timing is impeccable!  Misty shares about God's timing in launching the Spark Christian Podcast Conference on Feb. 21–22, 2020—just weeks before the pandemic—equipping believers to keep sharing the gospel when churches shut down. She shares her background from working at Enron to homeschooling, then writing, speaking, podcasting, and creating Spark Media; she also wrote six books and an award-winning 2019 Bible study, The Struggle is Real, but So is God. She explains how God led her to transition in 2023 into her husband's tech consulting work in cybersecurity and AI, describing how AI is already embedded in daily tools (maps, photo editing, search, Netflix, Canva).  Misty urges Christians to steward AI with discernment, noting bias from non-Christian worldviews, risks for kids (isolation, harmful answers), the need to verify outputs, and the importance of Scripture and the Holy Spirit amid deepfakes and cultural change. She distinguishes her books Upskill or Die and The Trojan Horse of the Digital Age, offers free resources on mistyphilip.com, and closes with prayer against fear and for wise, obedient kingdom impact. 00:00 Gods Timing Story 00:42 Meet Misty Phillip 01:32 Spark Conference Miracle 05:44 Books and Bible Study 07:09 Shift Into AI Work 10:25 AI Everywhere Today 14:16 AI Bias and Worldview 16:37 Parents and Kids Safety 20:00 Two Books Explained 22:54 Trojan Horse Warnings 25:31 Resources and Checklists 27:59 Prayer for Discernment 30:23 Final Thanks and Wrap Misty's website and resources: https://www.mistyphillip.com/  To purchase the new Trojan Horse Book: https://a.co/d/01mdiWEW  For Upskill or Die: https://a.co/d/0iyQTBV6  For the Struggle is Real but So is God Bible study: https://a.co/d/04qRTfqJ

Tiffany Masterson was a stay at home mom who wanted to help out the family. With grit and a willingness to be different she built an empire. 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. [AirVantage Heating & Cooling Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to The Empire Builders Podcast. I’m Dave Young. Stephen Semple is here with another just enticing story of someone who’s built an empire, mostly sold it. Sometimes they’re still running it. And today he told me we’re sticking our toe back in the cosmetics industry. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: And then he named a company that I’ve never heard of. If you told me the name of it, I wouldn’t have guessed it was cosmetics. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: Elephant what? Elephant. Drunk Elephant. Stephen Semple: Drunk Elephant. Dave Young: Drunk Elephant. Stephen Semple: And you think of it. It’s a crazy name for anything in cosmetics because it’s not like- Dave Young: I mean, it’s a crazy name for anything. Stephen Semple: It’s not like you aspire to have skin like an elephant. Dave Young: Especially a drunk one. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Drunk Elephant. It was started by Tiffany Masterson in 2013. And six years later, it sold for $845 million to the Japanese company, Shiseido. Dave Young: Dang, Tiffany. Way to go. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Right? Crazy, right? And so she’s a 40-year-old stay-at-home mom of four and her brother-in-law got involved in the business and she had no background in skincare business, didn’t have anybody around her in the skincare business. And it was like really her brother-in-law who gave her the seed money. And again, when I came across this and was like, “What the heck does elephants or drunk have anything to do with skincare?” Because elephants are wrinkly. Dave Young: Well, and so may I take a detour? Stephen Semple: Absolutely. Dave Young: I love that kind of a name. The worst, in my opinion, which is correct. Stephen Semple: If you do say so yourself. Dave Young: If I do say so myself, in my humbly correct opinion, the most intriguing business names are not descriptive names. Stephen Semple: Correct. Dave Young: They’re names that make you stop and snap your head around and go, “Wait, what?” And descriptive names are okay if you’re just counting on people searching in Google for whatever it is your business describes. Stephen Semple: Yeah, but I’d even argue- Dave Young: But even then- Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Yeah. We could go on this one for a long time, but I love the name and I love that it’s not Drunk Elephant lipstick. I mean, maybe it is. I don’t even know. It’s skincare. Stephen Semple: Everybody around her tried to talk her out of the name and she was like, “No, I’m sticking with this name.” And there’s a little bit of a reason for the name. But coming back to your point, when we go out and take a look at successful businesses. Your very, very, very hard press to find successful businesses where the name is descriptive. And even the ones that are descriptive, we do not even refer to them that way. Case in point, we do not call General Motors General Motors, we call them GM. We do not call General Electric General Electric, we call it GE. There’s Ford. There’s Chrysler, there’s Tesla. Dave Young: There’s International Business Machines. Stephen Semple: Yeah, which we do not refer to them as I refer to them as IBM. Apple. Microsoft. Now, Microsoft is slightly descriptive, but not at the same time. Dave Young: But I love names like Drunk Elephant, Caterpillar. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Yeah. I love it. Stephen Semple: Absolutely. So back to Tiffany. So back to Tiffany. So Tiffany grew up in Houston. Her dad was actually a quarterback. She was not a good student, couldn’t focus in school. She did okay in college. What she really wanted to be, she wanted to be a mom. She wanted to be a mom. She wanted to get married. She wanted to have babies. And she met her husband when she was 30 and was on a blind date and they got married pretty quickly and had babies pretty quickly. And her husband, Charles, was at Enron. Had two kids from a previous message. And when Enron failed, he went on to find a job at Texas Commercial Energy, which then also ended up failing with a bunch of things going on. But she was happy being at home raising kids. And she had four babies under four years old, but she wanted to do something creative, especially with all these things going on with her husband. She wanted to be able to contribute to the family. And so when she started off with the idea of wanting to do a catering company, and her idea was she was going to sell stuff from Frozen, but she couldn’t make the numbers work. She looked at it and looked at it and looked at it and said, “Yeah”. She couldn’t figure out how to make money from it. Then she thought, she got interested in all this cooking stuff and she thought, “Well, I’ll do a pantry cleaning out business, get rid of all the bad food and replace it with good food.” And that, she wasn’t able to get traction on that. Then she started selling Arbonne, which is a skincare line that’s sold as in the multi-level marketing world. And Charles, her husband, is really an artist at heart and he started to do prototypes of custom lights and he wanted to start doing that as a job, but it’s not an easy way to support a family of six. Did it for a few months, was not really from him. And got a call from his brother who had this little store in Austin and told him about a bar where they could sell stuff in store. And when I say a bar, like a bar of soap. So they came across this bar of soap that they thought that they could sell. And it was called this Wonder Bar and it had all sorts of benefits and these crazy ingredients. And she decided that she was going to sell this bar. So she was going to buy this bar, and the bar sold for $100. Dave Young: All right. A bar of soap. Stephen Semple: Bar of soap. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: So she was making like this $2,500 a month on profit. But what she also noticed is it cleared up her skin, because she had had all these skin issues. And people liked the bar. They were still having problems. So she had her skin cleared up, but other people’s skin didn’t clear up. And so she started asking them, “Well, what else are you using it? Send what all the other things you’re doing.” She started looking into this and she loved the idea of marketing the bar. She promoted it and was having this huge success to the degree where she had an opportunity to join Wonder Bar United States, like the main company making it, because she was just a reseller. She was just distributor. And she discovered that the bar cost $18 to make. Dave Young: Sure. That’s a good margin. Stephen Semple: Yeah. And her brother-in-law invested $300,000 to buy a national distribution on this. But again, this whole thing she would find is that people were still having issues with their skin and told it’s normal, do a detox, all this other stuff. And the other thing she started to learn is that in a lot of cases, the ingredients on a lot of skincare products were bogus, like was not actually true. And at one point she talked to Sephora about this bar. Like, “You should sell this bar in Sephora,” and Sephora was not interested in one skew. And then she learned of the bar did have some bad ingredients in it. She decided she was going to create her own, and she would make herself the guinea pig and she started to discover about ingredients that should not be put on your skin. And she wanted a line with ingredients that she knew she was comfortable with and would be good. And she did tons of research around ingredients. And here’s the other thing she learned. A lot of ingredients are basically the same ingredient under a different name. She would be like, “This ABC ingredient is bad, but then it’s ABC here and it’s X, Y, Z over there.” Dave Young: Yeah. I think there’s a lot of that that goes on. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: It makes me think of the Certs breath mint commercial from the ’70s that it had Retsyn in it. Retsyn. Stephen Semple: Oh, Retsyn. Dave Young: And they’d make a little sparkly- Stephen Semple: Forgot about that. Dave Young: …each one has a drop of Retsyn. Nobody knows what that is. It’s probably peppermint oil. I don’t know. Stephen Semple: Probably. Dave Young: But yeah, it’s just some made up nonsense. Stephen Semple: So she decided to create an owner-owned formulation. Now, one of the things she discovered in all of this is that to create an owner formulation costs like 30 grand to like- Dave Young: Oh, wow. Okay. Stephen Semple: …to do all of that. But one of the first things that she discovered that she really liked was marula oil was one of the first ingredients, and it can be used as a moisturizer. And when she was researching it, she came across this YouTube video of elephants. 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: One of the first things that she discovered that she really liked was marula oil was one of the first ingredients, and it can be used as a moisturizer. And when she was researching it, she came across this YouTube video of elephants. So marula oil comes from a fruit, and when that fruit falls on the ground, seemingly it ferments and elephants and other animals eat it. And she came across this YouTube video of these elephants staggering around. I don’t even know whether that’s true or whether it happens. And she was like she didn’t even know whether this video was true, but all of a sudden the name Drunk Elephant. Dave Young: Well, I’d say it’s worth investigating. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So she decided to call Drunk Elephant, everywhere around her hated it. They said it sounded like a pub. And she was like, “That name is for me. I like it. I like it.” And one of her things that she kept saying in the interview that I heard her say was if she was going to fail, she was going to fail because of her decisions. She was not going to fail because of following somebody else. Dave Young: Good point. Yeah. Stephen Semple: She was like, “I like it. I’m going to do it.” And you know what her attitude was? No one’s going to forget it. Drunk Elephant. No one’s going to forget it. It’s going to stand out. So she creates six SKUs, gets 5,000 units each, costs about $150,000. It’s late 2013. In total, they have about $450,000 invested in creating formulations and all this other stuff. And she launches in August of 2013 and wants to get into Sephora. This is the company she wanted to get in from the beginning. All she wanted to do is get in this one place and really focus on that and make it grow. Meanwhile, her brother-in-law who’s invested all this money is getting nervous. He’s like, “Get into more stores. Don’t just focus on Sephora.” And basically at launch, Charles wanted out and she couldn’t raise money to buy him out. Two investors came in and returned some of the money to Charles. They didn’t do any advertising, but they reached out to every beauty director. And here’s what she did. If you look at Drunk Elephant, if you go online and take a look at it, the packaging is crazy colorful. And again, this is the other thing she noticed. She looked on the shelves and skincare products are very dull. So she created this crazy colorful packaging that goes along with Drunk Elephant and every product had its own color. And there was no color in skincare at the time. And the packaging people even pushed back saying, “Skincare is not done that way.” So she decided that she was going to, again, really push on this whole idea of getting something into Sephora and she started randomly trying email addresses to get ahold of people. Dave Young: Okay. Yeah. I’ve heard about it. Stephen Semple: So she would go “Oh, Dave Young works at Sephora. So is it dave.young@sephora? Is it dyoung@sephora?” Dave Young: Try it at all. Stephen Semple: Until she gets ahold of people. And look, and also she was doing some things again with local beauty companies and whatnot. So the first year sales were under $100,000. July 2014, the final packaging and formulation is done and she goes to this retail show. Now it’s this Cosmoprof retail show and the retailers choose to meet you. And Sephora is not on the list. She looks at all the companies want to meet with her. Sephora is not on the list, but she goes anyway. She goes with her sister. And on the last day, these ladies come walking by and they say to her, “Well, we’re not picking up anything new this year, but tell us about your product and we’re going to keep in touch.” And a week later, she finds out those folks were from Sephora and they wanted to talk to her about launching her brand. Dave Young: Nice. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah. And one of the things that she did have was really good repeat customers. She was pricing the product between drugstore and dermatology brands, so they really liked the price point. January 2015, she’s in Sephora. Dave Young: Nice. Okay. Stephen Semple: And the other thing that attracted Sephora is she got really big on Instagram because of the big, colorful packaging. Dave Young: A Drunk Elephant. Who is not going to watch a Drunk Elephant video? Stephen Semple: Right. Now, they did a few products with her and they sold out right away. And then April in 2015, she went on the favorites wall, Sephora. So Sephora has this wall of favorite products. And the other thing that she did, so here’s the other thing she did that was smart. She recognized you can’t just get into Sephora and automatically get sales. And if you don’t get sales, you’re not staying in Sephora. So what does she do? She gave every single employee at Sephora samples. Dave Young: Man, okay. Stephen Semple: Right. And in 2017, took on some private equity and she became the fastest growing skincare brand at Sephora. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: A few years later, along come Shiseido offering them $845 million to buy the company. Dave Young: Great. Good for her. So the only disappointing thing I hear in this story is that the private equity folks probably got most of that. Stephen Semple: Yeah, maybe. Dave Young: That’s the way it works. Yeah. Stephen Semple: That’s often the way it works. Dave Young: You need that leg up sometimes. Stephen Semple: Yeah. But what I loved was a couple of things that she did here that I loved. One was name Drunk Elephant. Secondly, the colorful packaging, because again, the argument of everybody was, “Skincare is not done that way.” Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Her instincts to do things differently was really powerful. The other thing that I also really liked, again, Instagram is not where you would think about promoting skincare, but she looked at it and said, “I got this great name in this colorful packaging. It probably would work in Instagram.” Dave Young: Yeah. And it’s definitely where you can get famous for a skincare product because all the young women that are on Instagram are people that are good prospects for you. So my thought is, “Yeah, you can do it,” but I’m guessing she did it right and that she just use it to build fame. Stephen Semple: Yes, she did. Dave Young: Right. She wasn’t trying to sell products. She was just building fame. Stephen Semple: Building fame. That’s exactly what it was. Dave Young: And then people will go find it somewhere. They’re going to go to Sephora anyway. She knew that. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: So that’s great. I mean, I just did a quick Google image search for Drunk Elephant. And yeah, the screen just becomes this bright batch of every color. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: The bright white packages with brightly colored lids and caps and things. It’s fun. It communicates that this is a fun brand. Stephen Semple: Yeah. And when I first heard about it, I was like, “Good for her sticking with the name Drunk Elephant.” And also liked her. And again, her instincts were very good. Dave Young: Yeah. I love it. I love the story. Have you tried it? Stephen Semple: I have not. Dave Young: I haven’t either. Well, of course, I haven’t tried it because I just now heard of it, but I’m thinking about finding Sephora and go get my beauty on. Stephen Semple: Well, you know what, next time- Dave Young: I’m 60, almost, oh geez, almost 63 this year, less than a week. And so I need some skincare. I’m looking at the mirror and going, “Ooh, yikes-“ Stephen Semple: There’s no Sephora in my little town. Next time I’m down in Toronto- Dave Young: …”Dave, you need to moisturize.” Stephen Semple: You need to moisturize. Next time I’m down in Toronto, I’ll step in the Sephora and get one. Dave Young: All right. Well, thank you for bringing us the Drunk Elephant story. What’s she doing now, just sitting on her pile of money like a dragon? Stephen Semple: Well, like she said, she loved being a mom, so maybe just taking care of her kids. I don’t know. Dave Young: Yeah. Awesome. Stephen Semple: All right. Dave Young: Well, thank you for bringing Tiffany’s Drunk Elephant to the room. Stephen Semple: All right. Thanks, David. Dave Young: Thank you. 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.

You ever notice how the people telling you what the future is supposed to look like… never seem to be the ones living with the consequences?In today's episode of Common Sense with Chad Law, we break down one of the biggest financial sleight-of-hand tricks of the last decade—what Chad calls “morality markets.”From ESG investing…to fake meat…to solar subsidies…to Enron, FTX, and beyond…This isn't random.It's a pattern.A system where capital isn't flowing to what works—it's flowing to what sounds good.And when that system breaks…it's not the celebrities, executives, or early investors who pay.It's you.Your retirement.Your future.This episode walks through:How ESG reshaped capital allocationWhy “morality-driven markets” always collapseThe fake meat industry as a real-time case studyHistorical parallels: Enron, Volkswagen, Solyndra, FTXHow your 401(k) may already be exposed (without you knowing)What you can actually do about itBecause at the end of the day:

With merritt once again visiting the International Space Station, John and Niki hold down the fort by investigating Taco Bell's desperate new menu items, the contents of Niki's mail, what Enron was or did, the difference between then and now (money ver.), Niki's new health insurance, and folks? Somehow even more.Welcome to If You're Driving, Close Your Eyes, a listener-supported comedy podcast where three noble explorers chip away at the crumbling foundations of reality, five or six simultaneous topics at a time. Hosted by Niki Grayson, merritt k and John Warren, and produced by Jordan Mallory, with music by Jordan and art by Max Schwartz.Follow us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ifyouredriving.bsky.socialSupport us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ifyouredriving Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy Podcast for our especially special Daily Special, Blue Moon Spirits Fridays, is now available on the Spreaker Player!Starting off in the Bistro Cafe, Trump had a 12:30am meltdown as the nightmare of war scares the living shi* out of him.Then, on the rest of the menu, Live Nation employees pulled an Enron by mocking customers as ‘so stupid' in internal messages released in the multi-state antitrust court case; the Trump administration sued California over the state's nation-leading vehicle-emission rules; and, Montana halted permitting on all weekend rallies at the Capitol in a brazen move to thwart the massive upcoming ‘No Kings' event.After the break, we move to the Chef's Table where Dutch police are investigating an arson attack after a fire broke out at a Rotterdam synagogue; and, an Australian jury convicted a Sydney business consultant over deals with Chinese spies.All that and more, on West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy with Chef de Cuisine Justice Putnam.Bon Appétit!The Netroots Radio Live Player​Keep Your Resistance Radio Beaming 24/7/365!“Structural linguistics is a bitterly divided and unhappy profession, and a large number of its practitioners spend many nights drowning their sorrows in Ouisghian Zodahs.” ― Douglas Adams "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/west-coast-cookbook-speakeasy--2802999/support.

Most people hide their addiction until it destroys them — Kellan Fluckiger spent $3,000 a week on cocaine while testifying before Congress, then flatlined in an ICU and met God at the door. In this episode of The Root of All Success, Jason Duncan sits down with Kellan Fluckiger, a former energy executive turned coach, author of 30+ books, billboard-charting choir performer, and founder of The Ultimate Life Formula. After hiding cocaine addiction and depression for 30 years while working at the highest levels of government and industry, Kellan experienced a divine intervention in 2007, quit cold turkey, and walked away from millions in contracts. In 2018, he died in the ICU for 17 days — and what happened at that doorway changed everything. Kellan shares how severe childhood abuse created the “I'm not good enough” belief that fueled decades of overachievement and self-destruction, his 18-hour out-of-body life review of pain he caused and received, and the four truths God gave him about purpose and mission. This conversation dives into: • How childhood abuse created a lifelong “prove I'm good enough” addiction • Spending $3,000/week on cocaine while running energy operations and testifying before Congress • The 2007 divine intervention and 18-hour life review • Quitting cocaine cold turkey after hearing “it is enough” • Meeting his wife Joy at a Yo-Yo Ma concert when God said, “You need to marry this woman. Tonight.” • Walking away from millions in contracts without knowing what came next • The 2018 near-death experience: flatlining in the ICU for 17 days • Standing at the doorway with God and being asked, “Do you want to come home?” • A vision of infinite domains (like the movie Contact with Jodie Foster) • Four truths brought back from death: You're divine. You have a mission. You have gifts. Help is available. • Why God said “Because you don't believe,” when asked why people settle • The Book of Context framework for eliminating limiting beliefs • God's final question before returning: “Are you sure?” • How “context straitjackets” (BDEEP: Beliefs, Definitions, Experiences, Expectations, Perceptions) limit us • Why success isn't what you accumulate — it's what you make of yourself • His refusal to give up: “I friggin won't stop.” If you're battling hidden addiction, stuck in “not good enough” patterns, or wondering if transformation is possible after decades of pain — this episode will challenge everything you thought you knew about redemption and purpose.

In this episode of The Authority Company Podcast, Joe Pardavila talks with Mark Roberts, founder of Off Wall Street, about the mindset behind successful short selling. Mark explains why betting against the crowd is less about negativity and more about disciplined analysis, independence, and the willingness to question popular narratives.The conversation revisits his early call on Enron, where he dug into the company's business model months before its collapse. Instead of focusing only on accounting red flags, Mark examined whether the underlying operations could realistically support market expectations, a question few others were asking at the time.Joe and Mark also explore market bubbles, hedge fund dynamics, and today's AI boom. Mark shares why history keeps repeating, why energy constraints may shape the AI buildout, and why the real edge in markets comes from understanding the gap between hype and reality.

In the 1990s, Glenn Jarvis was living in London working for a very powerful American corporation called Enron. He was under a huge amount of stress at work, when his mental health began to spiral downwards.In the late 1990s Australian Glenn Jarvis won a job in London with Enron, a giant American energy and investment corporation. Life was exhilarating and he made lots of friends.But after a time Glenn began to notice some very odd transactions at Enron.Giant amounts of money were flooding in to the company that simply couldn't be accounted for.Glenn took it up with with his bosses, but they didn't want to know.In part because of the questions he was asking, Glenn's reputation at work began to change, and his mental health began to deteriorate.He had a psychotic episode, and spent the next 2 years in and out of mental health units in Australia and the UK.Eventually he found himself back in town of Queanbeyan where he grew up, with no job, no money, and few friends who understood what he'd been through.His family stuck by him, but things were difficult, and he ended up in supported accommodation.Across the road from where he was living was a local Bowling Club. He would go there and buy a single beer most nights, and eventually befriended some of the regulars.With the help of these elderly friends, and meaningful work, Glenn began a slow and painstaking climb back into an entirely different kind of life.

Bill Gurley is a Wall Street and Silicon Valley legend. He's the analyst who led the Amazon IPO and went on to become one of the most successful VCs of all time and an early investor in Uber, Zillow, and GrubHub. Today, he joins Nicole to answer the biggest questions on investors' minds right now. Bill doesn't mince words: yes, we're in an AI bubble— and he explains exactly why, from circular spending deals that smell like Enron to the speculative behavior that always follows a real wave of innovation. He breaks down why the IPO system is rigged against retail investors, what tokenization could do to fix it, and what a SpaceX IPO would actually mean for everyday investors. He also shares the one market sector he thinks is quietly becoming a buy, and the specific Chinese battery stock he personally owns. Then the conversation shifts to Bill's new book, Runnin' Down a Dream, and his surprisingly personal framework for building a career you actually love. He shares the question he asked himself twice that changed the entire course of his life, his research on career regret, and why chasing passion is a competitive advantage. Check out Nicole's financial literacy course The Money School  Find a Financial Advisor or Financial Coach from Nicole's company Private Wealth Collective Watch video clips from the pod on Money Rehab's Instagram and Nicole Lapin's Instagram Get Bill's book Runnin' Down a Dream  Here's what Nicole covers with Bill:  00:00 Are You Ready for Some Money Rehab?  01:12 SpaceX + xAI: What Elon's Deal Really Means  03:18 Why Retail Investors Keep Getting Shut Out of the Best Companies  05:55 The IPO System Is Rigged  08:36 Inside the Amazon IPO 10:40 Are We in an AI Bubble?  16:30 AI vs. the Dot-Com Bubble 21:15 Which AI Tools Bill Actually Uses  22:00 Bill's Take on AGI Hype  23:30 Where Bill Sees Opportunity Outside of Tech  27:30 The Chinese Battery Stock Bill Personally Owns  28:45 How to Evaluate Stock Options as an Employee  31:50 The Hidden Value of Joining a Fast-Growing Company  33:15 Buy Side vs. Sell Side Analysts  35:40 The Question That Changed Bill's Career Twice  38:00 Why Following Your Passion Is a Competitive Advantage  42:00 How Tito's Vodka Started with a Blank Sheet of Paper  45:20 Bill's Next Chapter: A Policy Institute  48:00 Nuclear Energy, Healthcare, and the Issues Bill Wants to Fix  51:06 Bill Gurley's Tip You Can Take Straight to the Bank All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Always do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any financial decisions.

In today's episode we talk to Mark Roberts, founder of Off Wall Street, a legendary provider of short selling research to hedge funds. Seven months before Enron became the biggest bankruptcy in US corporate history, Off Wall Street published a report recommending the shares be sold. The success of this call made Mark and Off Wall Street synonymous with original and rigorous research. We talk to Mark about his unusual personal background, how being a hippie in Berkeley in the 1960s prepared him for identifying overvalued companies two decades later. He explains why questionable accounting and high valuations are the “symptoms, not the disease” and compares today's markets with those of the Dotcom era. His new book, Off Wall Street How To Win At Short Selling By Betting Against The Crowd was just released in February 2026.-----50 YEARS OF TREND FOLLOWING BOOK AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO FOR ACCREDITED INVESTORS - CLICK HERE-----Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.IT's TRUE ? – most CIO's read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here.And you can get a free copy of my latest book “Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio” here.Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.comAnd please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest Rating & Review on iTunes or Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.Follow Kevin on SubStack & read his Book.Follow Mark on LinkedIn and read his book.Episode TimeStamps: 01:41 - Introducing Mark Roberts, Off Wall Street, Enron, and the book03:35 - An unconventional path: French literature, skepticism, and early life choices07:40 - The first “short sale”: selling a failing steel business and learning risk firsthand11:10...

In episode 77 of Audit Bites, Robert dives deep into a critical yet often neglected audit risk—organizational culture. This compelling episode, inspired by a real-life scandal at Citigroup and insights from author Pete Havel's book The Arsonist in the Office, explores why auditors commonly ignore toxic culture, the devastating impact it has on productivity, reputation, and trust, and practical advice for making culture an auditable focus.Key topics include:Real-world stories of culture failures at major organizations like Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Enron.Why audit teams often default to controls instead of tackling the “messy” aspects of culture.The Harvard research showing bad apples outweigh rock stars—how toxicity magnifies risk.Eight actionable culture components auditors should integrate into every audit, from goals and budget decisions to promotion patterns and whistleblower data.How leadership consistency, exit interviews, and local subcultures shape the organization's health.Special mention: Pete Havel, whose book The Arsonist in the Office inspired this episode. Learn how one toxic individual can burn down an entire workplace and what auditors should do to stop it.Want to level up your audit team? Visit thatauditguy.com for on-demand training, resources, and tools to help you audit culture before it wreaks havoc.If you found value in this episode, don't forget to leave us a five-star review and share with your network!Mentions & Resources:The Arsonist in the Office by Pete Havelthatauditguy.com – Podcast resources, courses, training, and contact infoHarvard Business Study on workplace culture impactsTune in to uncover why addressing culture is essential for auditors and how it can make the difference between organizational success and failure.

Send a textRecap & Breakdown of HBO's Industry season 4 episode 6,Harper launches her assault on Tender at the Alpha Conference, delivering a devastating short thesis complete with a DCF analysis and sum-of-the-parts valuation. We break down every piece of the finance, from enterprise value vs. equity value, what a price target of zero really means, and the real-world fraud parallels to Enron, Valiant, and Luckin Coffee. We also discuss why Tender's "convertible bond" is actually a putable bond (a la Succession Season 1). Meanwhile, Whitney's relationship with Henry takes some deeply unsettling turns, and cracks in Tender's armor start showing from directions nobody expected. The episode's biggest revelations reshape everything we thought we knew, which would have been unbelievable had it not come directly from the Wirecard scandal. A bunch of our theories come true but sadly...and we discuss new theories and hopes given a shocking exit by one of our characters. With only two episodes left this season, the battle lines are drawn. Whether you're here for the finance masterclass or the character drama, this one has it all.Did you know we have a 25-hour Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals self study that covers exactly what new hires get when they start on Wall Street? Step-by-step modeling, valuation, accounting, and more, delivered by Kristen who taught this exact content at firms including Blackstone, Morgan Stanley and more for over a decade. Check it out here: https://thewallstreetskinny.com/investment-banking-private-equity-fundamentals/#investment-bankingFor a 14 day FREE Trial of Macabacus, click HERE Visit https://iconnections.io/ to learn more about iConnections!Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HEREFixed Income Sales & Trading HERE Wealthfront.com/wss. This is a paid endorsement for Wealthfront. May not reflect others' experiences. Similar outcomes not guaranteed. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. Rate subject to change. Promo terms apply. If eligible for the boosted rate of 4.15% offered in connection with this promo, the boosted rate is also subject to change if base rate decreases during the 3 month promo period.The Cash Account, which is not a deposit account, is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC ("Wealthfront Brokerage"), Member FINRA/SIPC. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. The Annual Percentage Yield ("APY") on cash deposits as of 11/7/25, is representative, requires no minimum, and may change at any time. The APY reflects the weighted average of deposit balances at participating Program Banks, which are not allocated equally. Wealthfront Brokerage sweeps cash balances to Program Banks, where they earn the variable APY. Sources HERE.

Crime Talk Store: https://scottreisch.com/crime-talk-store In this special episode of Crime Talk Vault, Scott sits down with Texas trial legend Dan Cogdell to talk about what really happens when the stakes are life, death, and reputation. From the Enron "sole survivor" acquittal to the Waco siege trial of Clive Doyle and the Ken Paxton impeachment defense, Cogdell has made a career winning cases everyone else thought were lost. They break down how juries actually think, why "boring lawyers lose," war stories from the trenches (including the infamous cattle prod demo in front of a jury), and what it takes mentally to stand next to the most hated person in the room and say, "Not guilty." If you care about real trial work—not TV law, but the ugly, brilliant reality—this one's for you. Connect with Dan Cogdell / Cogdell Law Website: https://www.cogdell-law.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CogdellLawUncensored X (Twitter): https://x.com/DanCogdell Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dancogdell/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CogdellLawFirm Subscribe for more deep-dive conversations with the people who actually live in the courtroom, not just talk about it. #CrimeTalk #DanCogdell #TrialTitans #TrueCrime #LegalAnalysis #ScottReisch

For more thoughts, clips, and updates, follow Avetis Antaplyan on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/avetisantaplyan⁠⁠In this episode of The Tech Leader's Playbook, Avetis Antaplyan sits down with Kylee Ingram, a decision science expert and co-founder of Wizer, a platform built to help leaders design better decision-making rooms at scale. Kylee's journey began in sports television and documentary work before pivoting into interactive media and ultimately decision intelligence—a shift inspired by her desire to remove industry gatekeepers and build systems that empower diverse thinking.Kylee unpacks the science behind why good leaders still make bad decisions, revealing how cognitive diversity—not just demographic diversity—is the missing ingredient in most executive teams. She breaks down the three hidden biases that compromise leadership groups (social, information, and capacity bias), why “smart people in the room” isn't enough, and how decision profiles dramatically change communication, hiring, fundraising, and strategic alignment.Through research from Dr. Juliet Burke and real-world examples from organizations like Enron, Kylee illustrates how teams drift toward sameness as companies scale, quietly erasing the diversity of thought needed for innovation. She also shares practical tactics for CEOs to improve decision quality—without slowing down execution—and how leaders can tailor communication to different decision styles for more buy-in, clarity, and outcomes.This episode is a masterclass on designing better rooms, better conversations, and ultimately, better decisions. TakeawaysCognitive diversity—not demographic diversity alone—is what prevents bad decisions in leadership teams.Most CEOs fall into just two decision-making styles, which creates blind spots and groupthink at scale.The “hippo effect” (highest-paid person's opinion) strongly influences decisions unless leaders intentionally speak last.Independence is critical in decision design; decisions made before people enter the room create false consensus.Structured diversity in decision profiles can reduce decision error by 30% and increase innovation by 20%.Decision profiles offer a practical way to identify missing perspectives (e.g., risk-focused, analytical, visionary).Leaders should audit each decision by asking: “Who is missing from this room?”Communication should match decision styles; most organizations inadvertently ignore analyzers, achievers, and risk-oriented leaders.Designing rooms—not relying on gut instinct—is the most reliable way to scale high-quality decisions.Chapters00:00 The Hidden Problem in Leadership Decisions01:12 Kylee's Journey: From TV to Decision Intelligence03:07 Early Wins & The Birth of Wizer04:45 When Gut Instinct Isn't Enough05:40 The Three Biases Undermining Every Leadership Team09:17 The Hippo Effect & Room Dynamics12:22 Cognitive Overload & Oversimplification14:16 Speed vs. Quality: Avoiding Paralysis by Analysis17:38 Cognitive Skew & The Enron Example19:07 The Seven Decision Profiles22:47 Small Teams & Practical Application25:55 Why Personality Tests Don't Work30:34 Cognitive Drift in Scaling Companies33:10 Conflict Entrepreneurs & Modern Culture34:08 Why the Wrong People Keep Making the Decisions36:00 Designing Better Interviews & Panels37:29 Messaging & Decision Styles41:27 Tailoring Communication Without Manipulation43:07 One Thing CEOs Should Implement This Week45:15 Mapping Your Organization with Wizer47:30 Kylee's Aha Moments & Reflections49:06 Closing Thoughts & What's NextKylee Ingram's Social Media Link:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleeingram/Resources and Links:⁠⁠⁠https://www.hireclout.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.podcast.hireclout.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/hirefasthireright⁠

Today we were delighted to welcome Jim Murchie, Co-Founder, Co-Portfolio Manager, and CEO of Energy Income Partners (EIP). Prior to co-founding EIP, Jim's career in power and electricity included establishing Lawhill Capital, serving as a Managing Director at Tiger Management focused primarily on energy, commodities, and related equities, and working as a Principal at Sanford C. Bernstein, where he was a top-ranked energy analyst. He began his career at British Petroleum and holds an MA in Energy Planning from Harvard University. We were thrilled to connect with Jim for an insightful discussion on the power landscape. We covered a lot of ground in our conversation, starting with how EIP navigates macro and market volatility by focusing on regulated monopolies and pipelines with stable, cost-plus earnings, Jim's career path and research philosophy, and how EIP's focus on utilities and pipelines emerged from investor demand for real assets and dividends. Jim provides a history lesson on power markets and how deregulated wholesale markets evolved, Enron-era manipulation, and the early-2000s gas plant buildout that ultimately led to overcapacity and merchant distress. We dig into the three-bucket framework for customer bills (generation, transmission, and distribution/other) and why the public debate often overemphasizes generation, while the biggest driver of residential bill increases has been distribution/other costs (bucket three). Jim explains that the third bucket on power bills often acts as a catch-all for costs that are neither generation nor transmission, even when they aren't distribution in the literal last-mile sense, and that greater billing and policy transparency can clarify what's exogenous versus what's controllable. He describes how the impact of data centers can differ between vertically integrated cost-plus states and deregulated commodity-market states, and unpacks behind-the-meter realities, including how hyperscalers often prefer a grid connection for reliability but still deploy backup generation. We discuss the administration's push for hyperscalers to sign long-term contracts to enable new generation build, policymakers' heightened focus on avoiding blackouts, and why this is often a peaking problem more than a supply problem. Jim emphasizes how incentives, rather than intent, drive investment behavior in regulated versus deregulated markets, challenges the narrative that data centers are inherently driving higher power prices, and highlights the economic value of reliability investments and peak-load management in shaping long-term system costs. It was a wide-ranging discussion, and we look forward to continuing the dialogue with Jim in a future episode. As you will hear, we reference a few items in the discussion. Please find the links below: Energy Income Partners Report: “Power Struggle I – How False Political Narratives Cloud the Drivers of Higher Residential Electricity Prices” (linked here)Energy Income Partners Report: “Power Struggle II – How Market Structure Affects Wholesale Power Price Increases” (linked here)Veriten's COBT episode featuring Thomas Popik, Foundation for Resilient Societies (linked here)Mike Bradley opened the discussion by noting that the 10-year U.S. bond yield looks to be the least volatile asset class at this juncture, with the 10-year bond yield trading very rangebound (around 4.25%). The dominant market theme this week, and for much of the year, has been extreme volatility across commodities (Bitcoin, Energy, and Metals). On the crude oil market front, WTI price is trading at ~$63/bbl, with volatility elevated over t

Cash is the number one reason small businesses fail, and it usually happens quietly. In this episode of Business By The Books, I walk you through four balance sheet red flags I see business owners ignore all the time, even when revenue and profit look strong. We talk about why the income statement alone can create a false sense of security, how debt and owner draws quietly drain cash, and what warning signs to watch for before financial stress takes over. My goal is to help you understand what your balance sheet is actually telling you so you can take action with clarity and confidence as a CEO. By the end of this episode, you'll have a clearer perspective on what it really means to grow into your role as CEO.

John is joined by Christopher D. Kercher and Peter H. Fountain, both partners in Quinn Emanuel's New York office.  They discuss their recent representation of Citadel Securities, one of the world's largest market makers, in connection with a case concerning Mallinckrodt, a pharmaceutical company forced into bankruptcy due to opioid litigation.  The central issue was whether $1.6 billion in stock share buybacks conducted between 2015 and 2018 could be recovered by the bankruptcy estate as fraudulent transfers. The legal theory advanced in the case by a litigation trust formed during the bankruptcy was unprecedented in that it sought to void Mallinckrodt share repurchases on the open market that were made in the ordinary course of business.  The trust contended that, under Irish law (Mallinckrodt was an Irish corporation), these repurchases were void because Mallinckrodt should have recognized that it was insolvent due to substantial opioid-related tort liabilities not reflected on its balance sheet. The litigation trust characterized these sales as constructive fraudulent conveyances, asserting that Mallinckrodt lacked adequate capital when executing the buybacks.  The trust sought to claw back the full $1.6 billion from ordinary market participants who had sold shares years prior, basing their argument on limited precedent from Enron-related cases from the 1980s. The defense successfully challenged these claims by invoking the Section 546(e) bankruptcy safe harbor provision. This provision is intended to preserve finality in financial markets and protect legitimate securities transactions.  The defense emphasized that Citadel and similar market makers qualified as financial participants and that the share repurchases constituted protected settlement payments and transfers pursuant to securities contracts under the safe harbor provision. Accepting the litigation trust's theory would require market makers to investigate not only the published financial statements of every traded company, but also hidden tort liabilities and the corporate laws of each jurisdiction of incorporation before facilitating any transactions.  Both the bankruptcy and district courts recognized that imposing such obligations would paralyze financial markets and defeat the purpose of the safe harbor provision and rejected the trust's novel claims.Podcast Link: Law-disrupted.fmHost: John B. Quinn Producer: Alexis HydeMusic and Editing by: Alexander Rossi

Eugene Soltes, professor at Harvard Business School, studies white-collar crime and has even interviewed convicts behind bars. While most people think of high-profile scandals like Enron, he says every sizable organization has lapses in integrity. He shares practical tools for managers to identify pockets of ethical violations to prevent them from ballooning into serious reputational and financial damage. Soltes is the author of the HBR article “Where Is Your Company Most Prone to Lapses in Integrity?”

Two quick questions:   1.      Do you value independent thinking—from yourself and your team? 2.      How do you create space for it on your team?   Most construction leaders say they value open dialogue, critical thinking, and intelligent, amicable debate . . . yet many unwittingly shut it down.   In this episode, host Bradley Hartmann uncovers the hidden habits that silence your team, the myth of "making people feel safe," and how to rethink your leadership to drive better decisions on the jobsite and in the boardroom.   In this episode you'll:   ·       Learn why independent thinking isn't about being contrarian—and why your team might be holding back. ·       Discover the subtle ways leaders kill creativity (even when trying to be supportive). ·       Examine the new talent on your team and question the risk of potential "organ rejection" ·       Walk away with simple changes to your next meeting that will encourage better input, challenge assumptions, and improve outcomes.   Listen now to discover how to lead with clarity, create space for real thinking, and build a team that speaks up when it matters most.   At Bradley Hartmann & Company, we help construction teams improve sales, leadership,  and communication by reducing miscommunication, strengthening teamwork, and bridging language gaps between English and Spanish speakers. To learn more about our product offerings, visit bradleyhartmannandco.com.   The Construction Leadership Podcast dives into essential leadership topics in construction, including strategy, emotional intelligence, communication skills, confidence, innovation, and effective decision-making. You'll also gain insights into delegation, cultural intelligence, goal setting, team building, employee engagement, and how to overcome common culture problems—whether you're leading a crew or managing an entire organization.   Have topic ideas or guest recommendations? Contact us at  info@bradleyhartmannandco.com.   New podcasts are dropped every Tuesday and Thursday.     This episode is brought to you by The Construction Spanish Toolbox —the most practical way for construction teams to learn jobsite-ready Spanish in just minutes a day over 6 months.      

Spencer and Jamie break down the 10 core principles of Bogleheads investing and show how military service members can apply this simple, low-cost approach to build wealth through the TSP and other accounts. If you're overwhelmed by investing advice or tempted by day trading and crypto, this episode cuts through the noise with a proven strategy that's worked for decades. Hosts: Spencer Reese (former Air Force pilot, 12 years active duty) and Jamie (active duty officer) The 10 Bogleheads Principles Develop a workable plan - Create an investment policy statement (even informal) to guide decisions during market volatility Invest early and often - Automate contributions to remove decision fatigue; increase TSP allocation today Never bear too much or too little risk - Age-appropriate asset allocation; avoid the old G Fund default trap Diversify - Don't put all eggs in one basket; TSP funds cover entire US market plus international exposure Never try to time the market - Time IN the market beats timing the market; market dropped 19% in April 2025, now up 38% from that low Use index funds when possible - TSP offers five low-cost index funds; 90% of active managers can't beat index funds over 20 years Keep costs low - TSP expense ratios under 0.1%; avoid predatory companies charging 1-2%+ fees Minimize taxes - Leverage Roth TSP and Roth IRA; military tax advantages (BAH, BAS, combat zone exclusion) Invest with simplicity - LADS approach (Low-cost, Automated, Diversified, Simple); Warren Buffett's S&P 500 bet crushed hedge funds Stay the course - Measure performance in decades, not days/weeks; don't panic sell during downturns Key Takeaways Why Bogleheads Philosophy Works for Military: Takes power back from financial advisors and complex products Simple enough anyone can succeed with minimal effort Perfect match for TSP's low-cost index fund structure Removes emotion from investing decisions TSP Advantages: Five index funds (C, S, I, G, F) cover nearly entire investable market Lifecycle funds automatically balance risk by retirement year Expense ratios under 0.1% (incredibly low) Now defaults to lifecycle funds instead of G Fund (huge improvement with Blended Retirement System) Common Military Investing Mistakes: Old G Fund default trap - cost retirees millions in missed gains Trying to time the market or day trade Paying high fees to predatory companies Not automating contributions Measuring performance over days/weeks instead of decades The Math That Matters: First $100K took Spencer 4+ years; second $100K took 2 years (compound growth accelerates) Market will drop 30% in next 10 years (guaranteed) - but timing it is impossible S&P 500 gained 125% over 10 years vs. best hedge fund's 87% in Warren Buffett's famous bet April 2025 market drop: 19% down, then 38% up from that low within months Diversification Made Easy: C Fund: 500 largest US companies (S&P 500) S Fund: ~2,000 smaller US companies I Fund: 5,000+ international companies (20+ developed + emerging markets, excludes China/Hong Kong) Combined: Total US and international market exposure Add VXUS in Roth IRA for China/Hong Kong exposure if desired Automation is Your Friend: Log into MyPay once, increase TSP allocation, never think about it again Every promotion or time-in-grade raise = bump allocation by 1% One decision removes 100 future decisions Eliminate decision fatigue and emotional reactions Fee Impact Example: Predatory companies charge 1-2%+ fees TSP: Under 0.1% Fidelity FZROX: 0% expense ratio Vanguard funds: 0.03% Rule of thumb: Stay under 0.25%, ideally under 0.10% Resources Mentioned Books: "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing" by Jack Bogle "The Military Money Manual" by Spencer Reese (available at MWR Library, Libby app, Amazon) Investment Accounts: TSP (Thrift Savings Plan) - Military 401k Roth TSP and Roth IRA (tax-advantaged accounts) Recommended brokerages: Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab Key Terms: LADS: Low-cost, Automated, Diversified, Simple Index fund vs. active management Expense ratio and basis points Asset location strategy Investment Policy Statement Previous Episodes Referenced: TSP deep dives (search podcast) Roth TSP vs. Roth IRA explanations "Do Better" episode on predatory companies Real-World Examples Lieutenant with $50K in checking account - proves military pay allows saving, just need to invest it Service member paid off all auto and student loans in 3 months of deployment Retirees with $250-500K in G Fund who missed out on millions Enron, WorldCom, Lehman Brothers - why diversification matters MicroStrategy (MSTR) - current example of concentrated risk Who This Episode Is For Military service members at any rank TSP participants unsure how to invest Anyone tempted by day trading, crypto, or "get rich quick" schemes New investors overwhelmed by options Service members paying high fees to financial advisors Anyone who wants a simple, proven wealth-building strategy Quick Action Steps Log into MyPay and increase TSP allocation (even 1% helps) Verify you're in appropriate Lifecycle Fund (birth year + 60-65 years) NOT in G Fund unless near retirement Set automatic annual increases (1% per year) Open Roth IRA at Fidelity, Vanguard, or Schwab Read "The Military Money Manual" (free at base library) Stop checking account daily - check quarterly at most Contact Website: MilitaryMoneyManual.com Instagram: @MilitaryMoneyManual Book: "The Military Money Manual" (Amazon, $3 Kindle, free at MWR libraries) The Bogleheads philosophy has helped millions become millionaires through simple, low-cost index fund investing. As a military service member, you have access to one of the best low-cost investment vehicles in the world - the TSP. Stop overthinking it, automate your investments, and stay the course.  

The stock market is where the real gangsters operate — not the streets, not the movies. Wall Street will break you mentally, financially, and emotionally if you don't understand the game. In this video, Wallstreet Trapper breaks down the truth behind Nvidia, Michael Burry's warnings, AI stocks, market manipulation, and what's really happening behind the scenes.We talk about:

The stock market is where the real gangsters operate — not the streets, not the movies. Wall Street will break you mentally, financially, and emotionally if you don't understand the game. In this video, Wallstreet Trapper breaks down the truth behind Nvidia, Michael Burry's warnings, AI stocks, market manipulation, and what's really happening behind the scenes. We talk about: