Podcasts about managing partners

Send us a textIn this episode of the Remarkable People Podcast, Darius Ross breaks down the "Radical Accountability" mindset that took him from a strict Chicago household to the international stage. If you are struggling with adversity or looking to scale your leadership, this is your roadmap.The King's Mindset: Darius Ross on Radical Accountability and Global LeadershipWhat happens when an 18-year-old is suddenly forced to "become the King" of his household?. In this power-packed episode, Darius Ross, Managing Partner of D. Ross & Company, joins David Pasqualone to share a journey defined by tenacity, the samurai code, and a level of accountability that most people only dream of.From Chicago Adversity to Global InfrastructureDarius doesn't just talk about success; he lived the struggle. Growing up in a strict Chicago military household, he learned early that there are no "second chances" when you mess up—you own it and you clean it up. We explore his incredible 7-year journey of "stalling" a bankruptcy to save his family home and how those "street lessons" translated into billion-dollar infrastructure deals in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.The Bushido Code and Scaling Your InfluenceDarius reveals his secret weapon for self-motivation: the Code of Bushido. He breaks down how the principles of the Japanese samurai apply to modern real estate and capital consulting.The Choice Matrix: Why sinking or swimming is a daily decision.Street Smarts vs. Corporate Wisdom: How to negotiate with creditors and federal judges before you're even legal.Global Vision: Why the "Third World" is the next frontier for infrastructure and multi-family investment.Key Takeaways: ✅ How to "become the King" when life takes everything away. ✅ The 7-year legal battle that taught Darius more than any MBA. ✅ Applying the Samurai "Bushido Code" to modern business. ✅ Investing in the future: Infrastructure in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.FULL SHOW NOTES & GUEST LINKS: https://DavidPasqualone.com/DariusRossKey Timestamps & Moments of Gold00:00:54 – The Ultimate Guarantee: What you will gain from this masterclass.00:03:02 – From Chicago Streets to Global Infrastructure: The Darius Ross Story.00:06:45 – The 7-Year Battle: How an 18-year-old saved his family from federal bankruptcy.00:10:12 – The "King's Mindset": Why you must step up when leadership is vacant.00:14:35 – The Samurai Code (Bushido): Applying ancient discipline to modern billion-dollar deals.00:19:20 – Radical Accountability: Why blaming others is the fastest way to fail in 2026.00:23:55 – Investing in the "Third World": Why Africa and Asia are the next frontiers for infrastructure.00:28:10 – The Power of Tenacity: Negotiating with creditors and federal judges before age 21.00:32:45 – How to Solve Global Problems while glorifying God and helping your neighbor.00:35:40 – Final Words: Your Support the showTHE NOT-SO-FINE-PRINT DISCLAIMER: While we are very thankful for all of our guests, please understand that we do not necessarily share or endorse the same beliefs, worldviews, or positions that they may hold. We respectfully agree to disagree in some areas, and thank God for the blessing and privilege of free will. For more Remarkable Episodes, Inspiration, and Motivation, please visit https://davidpasqualone.com/remarkable-people-podcast/ now!

Jonathan Crystal, Managing Partner at Crystal Venture Partners, talks about investing in early-stage AI-driven insurtech companies. After leading his family's insurance brokerage to a successful exit, Jonathan launched his $33M fund when he realized AI was the catalyst insurance had been waiting for. He explains why entrepreneurship means "dooming yourself to years of terror," and why the best investments happen when founders identify problems before revenue models. With investments in companies like Bright Harbor, which helps families navigate disaster recovery, Jonathan explains how domain expertise enables conviction at day one—when there's no product, just a founder with an audacious vision.In this episode, you'll learn:[02:14] From Texas to Princeton to building an insurance dynasty in New York[04:04] Why insurance rewards creativity and curious minds[07:24] The brutal truth: 99% of a VC's job is saying no[10:31] Exiting the family business and finding the "why now" moment for venture[12:10] The ChatGPT revelation that launched Crystal Venture Partners[14:13] Investment thesis: $1-3M checks at day one for transformational companies[19:11] Why building a venture company means years of terror—and that's the test[21:59] Bright Harbor case study: From revenue model questions to product-market fit during LA fires[25:30] Most common reason for no: "We're not your best source of capital"[29:40] Finding investment opportunities in unusual areasThe nonprofit organization Jonathan is passionate about: 12/64About Jonathan CrystalJonathan Crystal is the Managing Partner of Crystal Venture Partners, a $33 million early-stage venture fund focused on AI-driven transformation in the insurance industry. Before entering venture capital, Jonathan spent 20 years as an operator in the insurance brokerage business, ultimately serving as CFO of Crystal and Company, a top-25 national insurance brokerage firm founded by his family. He led the firm to a successful exit to Alliant Insurance Services in 2018. Jonathan brings deep domain expertise and company-building experience to his investments. He backs seasoned, often serial entrepreneurs building transformational companies, writing $1-3 million checks as early as day one. His portfolio includes companies like Bright Harbor, Sixfold AI, NevadoAI, Comulate, and Corvus Insurance.About Crystal Venture PartnersCrystal Venture Partners is a $33 million early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2022 to capitalize on the AI transformation of the insurance industry. The firm writes $1-3 million first checks, often as the first institutional investor or alongside other first institutional investments. Crystal Venture Partners invests in 4-6 companies annually from a pipeline of 300+ opportunities, maintaining a highly selective approach with domain expertise enabling conviction at the earliest stages—sometimes backing founders on day one before product development. The firm's portfolio of 10 companies has shown strong momentum, with over half securing follow-on financing in multiple rounds within a year of initial investment. Led by Jonathan Crystal, who brings two decades of insurance industry operating experience, the firm specializes in identifying transformational opportunities where AI can create and capture significant value in risk management and insurance markets.Subscribe to our podcast and stay tuned for our next episode.

In this episode, David Millili and Steve Carran sit down with Kunal Shah, Managing Partner of Travel & Hospitality at ZS, to explore the future of the hotel industry in 2026, key revenue strategies, and how technology is reshaping guest experiences.Kunal shares insights from his global career—starting at United Airlines, earning an MBA at London Business School, and now leading ZS's travel and hospitality practice. He breaks down the biggest opportunities and challenges hotels face today, including RevPAR pressure, AI adoption, guest personalization, and new revenue streams beyond rooms.Whether you're a hotel operator, GM, revenue manager, or hospitality investor—this episode is packed with practical strategies and industry foresight.What You'll Learn in This Episode:2026 hospitality trends & industry outlookWhy RevPAR growth is plateauingHow hotels can improve guest engagement & incremental revenueThe most promising new revenue streams beyond roomsWhy relationships & intellectual curiosity matter in hospitality leadershipThis episode is sponsored by ZSWatch the FULL EPISODE on YouTube: https://youtu.be/7y2WcNmOwfoLinks:Contact ZSKunal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ksshah/ZS: https://www.zs.com/For full show notes head to: https://themodernhotelier.com/episode/245Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-...Join the conversation on today's episode on The Modern Hotelier LinkedIn pageConnect with Steve and David:Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%8E...David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mil.

Scaling isn't a systems problem — it's a leadership problem.In this episode, we break down what actually changes when you go from being a solo operator to leading a real team. From earning respect instead of demanding it, to building systems that support people (not suffocate them), this conversation unpacks the leadership shifts required to scale without chaos.If you're growing doors, people, or partnerships — this episode will change how you think about leadership.Inside the episode:• The two ways leaders earn respect (and why only one works)• Why supporting team members' goals makes you more valuable• How ego quietly slows down growth• Leading teams through systems, not micromanagement• What it really takes to earn buy-in as a leader• Why consistency beats motivation when scaling00:00 – The Two Ways Leaders Show Up (Title vs Example)04:10 – Why Supporting Team Growth Makes You More Valuable08:05 – From Solo Operator to Leading People12:30 – Letting Go of Ego to Scale Faster16:05 – Earning Respect Without Authority20:10 – Using Systems to Reduce Team Burnout24:05 – Aligning Company Goals With Personal Goals28:00 – Consistency Over Motivation in Leadership32:10 – Scaling Teams Without Losing Culture36:20 – The Leadership Standard That Sustains Long-Term GrowthGuest Bio:Ryan Leake, originally from Mill Valley, CA, moved to Austin, TX in 2023, where he left corporate America and founded Host Del Casa, a short-term rental management company.After successfully building the business, Host Del Casa merged with Five Star Vacation Home Rentals (FSVHR), where Ryan now serves as a Managing Partner for the #1 luxury short-term rental management company in Central Texas - managing 60+ luxury short-term rental properties across Austin and San Antonio.In addition to his role at FSVHR, Ryan became a coach and consultant for STR Secrets, the leading short-term rental business coaching program, where he helped operators overcome self-limiting beliefs and build profitable, lifestyle-driven STR businesses.Today, Ryan continues to coach and mentor new short-term rental operators, share insights as a thought leader in the space, and prioritize a life designed around freedom, impact, and balance.Guest Link:www.instagram.com/itsaleakeGet FREE Access to our Community and Weekly Trainings:https://group.strsecrets.com/

In this episode of the Fitness + Technology Podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes back strategic advisor Pete Moore, Managing Partner at Integrity Square. Pete and his firm specialize in supporting passionate entrepreneurs, high-growth companies, and experienced executives by connecting them with the right sources of capital. At Integrity Square, Pete leads efforts in the health, active lifestyle, and outdoor sectors. During this insightful conversation, Bryan and Pete explore business strategy with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and the current dynamics of the capital markets. They also discuss what today's operators need to be paying close attention to in order to stay competitive and capitalize on emerging opportunities. One Powerful Quote: 26:05: "Master the business that you currently own." 4-10 Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed: 3:47: Pete shares insights on the current state of mergers & acquisitions and private equity within the fitness and wellness industry. 14:26: Pete offers his predictions for the future of the industry. 20:31: Pete speaks about why some brands are failing to innovate and slowly adopt technology. 25:59: Pete leaves listeners with final pearls of wisdom and key takeaways for operators and entrepreneurs. Bullet List of Resources: https://www.halotalks.com/pete-moore/ https://www.integritysq.com/ Guest Contact Information: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peteymo/ https://www.bryankorourke.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryankorourke/ http://www.fittechcouncil.org/ https://www.youtube.com/user/bko61163

For episode 669 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Matt Carr, Managing Partner of QCI Partners.

I had the pleasure of co-hosting another episode of Excess Returns with Matt Zeigler.In this episode of Excess Returns, we sit down with Gary Mishuris, Managing Partner and CIO of Silver Ring Value Partners, to explore how deep fundamental analysis, behavioral insight, and disciplined process come together in real-world investing. Gary shares formative lessons from his early career at Fidelity during the post-tech bubble period, including firsthand experiences learning from legends like Peter Lynch, and connects those lessons to how he evaluates value, quality, and mispricing today. The conversation spans a detailed case study on Warner Bros. Discovery, portfolio construction under uncertainty, selective use of options, and how artificial intelligence is reshaping the research process for long-term investors.Available now on Excess Returns Podcast and Talking Billions.

2026's 2nd episode of the From the Fabricator podcast is now live, and I've got a pair of guests who bring something new to the pod.  I lead off with Mike Rapp of PDS IG.  Mike and his family have been stalwarts in this industry for a while- so it was nice to get a deeper dive on their background and to learn about the innovations Mike & team are working on now.  Then I connect with Cam Reynolds of 3 Form.  In my efforts to bring some new faces to the forefront, Cam fits that bill.  Whip smart and very engaging- Cam provided a ton of insight on the decorative state and a big nugget on office rebuild tastes.  Hopefully, we see more of Cam active in our space.  Overall, two fun interviews.  Thank you very much for checking it out!! Thank you to FHC Frameless Hardware Company for the support!There's a new manufacturing and distribution kid in town.Opening NEXT MONTH, the new FHC Northeast Super Center brings 120,000 sq ft of manufacturing and distribution to the New York Metropolitan area, bringing a new level of products and services this region has been missing.If you're tired of backorders, unanswered calls, ghost town customer service, and endless wait times…You Now Have A Choice… Visit FHC-USA.com and experience the difference.From the Fabricator- #Glass and #Glazing hosted by Max Perilstein, Managing Partner of Sole Source Consultants. Connect with Max on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-perilstein-409ba111/

Today Razib talks to Aneil Mallavarapu, a scientist and technology leader based in Austin, Texas, whose career bridges the fields of biochemistry, systems biology, and software engineering. He earned his doctorate in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the University of California, and has held academic positions at Harvard Medical School, where he contributed to the Department of Systems Biology and developed the "Little b" programming language. Mallavarapu has transitioned from academic research into the tech and venture capital sectors, co-founding ventures such as Precise.ly and DeepDialog, and currently serving as a Managing Partner at Humain Ventures. He remains active in the scientific community through local initiatives like the Austin Science Network. Most of the conversation centers around Mallavarapu's arguments outlined in his Substack The Case Against Conscious AI - Why AI consciousness is inconsistent with physics. The core of his argument rests on the "Simultaneity Problem" and the "Hard Problem of Physics," which involve non-locality and the memorylessness of artificial intelligence phenomena. Though Mallavarapu believes that artificial intelligence holds great promise, and perhaps even "artificial general intelligence" (AGI) is feasible, he argues that this is a distinct issue from consciousness, which is a property of human minds. Razib also brings up the inverse case: could it be that many organisms that are not particular intelligence, also have consciousness? What does that imply for ethics of practices like eating meat?

2025 wasn't business as usual in optometry M&A.  Fewer buyers, more deal scrutiny, softer multiples, and a growing number of practice owners asking the same question: "Is my practice worth what I think it's worth?"   That's why this episode is perfectly timed for the start of 2026.  Eugene is joined by Anne Kavanagh (Founder & Managing Director) and Jason Preator (Managing Partner) from Kavanagh Consulting, two people who have seen more optometry practice transactions than almost anyone in the industry over the last decade. Their perspective is based on real deals, real outcomes, and patterns that repeat year after year.  Anne and Jason explain how the buyer landscape has evolved, who is actively acquiring practices right now, and how buyers are evaluating risk, structure, and long-term profitability.  

On the show this week, our guest is Thomas Pilz, Managing Partner of Pilz GmbH & Co. KG, who dives into the company's evolution from a glass-blowing business to a leader in robotic safety. Thomas emphasizes the importance of adaptability and innovation, highlighting the company's commitment to safety as a core value. He discusses the challenges and opportunities in aligning safety with productivity, the role of international safety standards, and the potential of hydrogen as a sustainable energy source. The conversation also touches on the integration of AI in safety systems and the cultural ethos at Pilz that encourages entrepreneurial thinking among employees.

Deepak Sindwani is Managing Partner at Wavecrest Growth Partners, an active growth equity firm backing bootstrapped and lightly funded SaaS founders. They work with practical founders who've built profitable businesses to $5–$20M ARR and want help growing without VC pressure or losing control. Wavecrest invests in vertical SaaS companies growing 30–60% annually, typically profitable or breakeven. They help founders scale sales, pricing, analytics, and leadership teams while staying capital efficient. Investments are usually $10–$30M total, with founders often taking some liquidity while continuing to lead. Even with the excitement around AI-first companies from VCs, Deepak sees efficient growth equity in practical vertical SaaS as a great investment and a big opportunity for founders. AI is helping serious practical founders, not making them irrelevant. Key Takeaways Capital Efficiency Matters — Wavecrest only backs profitable or breakeven SaaS companies that already respect the business model fundamentals. Founder Liquidity Helps — Taking some money off the table reduces stress and helps founders make better long-term decisions. Vertical SaaS Wins — Deep industry knowledge and data create defensibility AI-first competitors struggle to replicate. AI Is Additive — Software plus AI and data creates more value than AI replacing SaaS systems of record. No One-Size Playbook — Growth equity works best when strategies are customized, not forced by rigid PE-style playbooks. Quote from Deepak Sindwani, Managing Partner at Wavecrest Growth Partners "We don't think B2B SaaS is dead. It may create great headlines to say, AI eats software. We think software plus AI is the right approach. Software, AI plus data. So they're harvesting and creating that data moat that is going to help make them defensible. "Then, using the AI tools, why not use the AI tools to provide more automation for customers? That's what we really think AI does: increase the ability to automate the use of their product and to get value.  "Every company that we're involved with has some AI initiative. How am I changing how I run my business? How am I changing marketing and sales and finance and customer success using AI? Every company is doing something in every function in terms of new tools and tests." Links Deepak Sindwani on LinkedIn Wavecrest Growth on LinkedIn Wavecrest Growth Partners website Podcast Sponsor – Lighter Capital This podcast is sponsored by Lighter Capital. In the last 15 years, Lighter Capital has helped over 600 software and SaaS founders secure simple, non-dilutive financing to grow a little faster—without giving up any precious equity or board seats to investors.  Simple debt funding from Lighter Capital can range from $50K to $10 million, with straightforward terms, no personal guarantees or covenants, and up to a 4-year payback period. Go to LighterCapital.com to apply and get a quick pre-qualification. Then talk with their experienced team to create a practical funding plan to achieve your goals.  The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding.  A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.

Founders don't lose money because they lack intelligence. They lose it because they make emotional decisions under pressure.In this episode of Founder Talk, Alex Sheridan sits down with Dan Tresemer, Managing Partner at OnPath Financial, to break down how founders should actually think when volatility hits. Dan has spent decades stewarding capital for entrepreneurs and business owners, helping guide more than $2 billion through bull markets, crashes, policy shifts, and emotional extremes. This is a founder-to-founder conversation about decision-making, discipline, and long-term perspective—without predictions, hype, or fear-driven narratives.Many founders are strong operators—but struggle when emotions bleed into financial decisions. This episode explores why that happens and how experienced capital stewards counteract it. Dan explains how overconfidence, fear, and short-term thinking quietly erode outcomes, even for highly capable leaders.00:00:00Introduction00:01:21Q: Why does reacting well matter more than predicting markets?A: Because no one can foresee shocks. Durable strategies focus on preparedness and adaptability, not forecasts.00:06:40Q: What role do emotions play in poor founder investment decisions?A: Fear and overconfidence often drive timing mistakes. Most long-term damage comes from emotional reactions, not fundamentals.00:21:12Q: What's a common wealth mistake founders make as their companies scale?A: Overconcentration. Tying too much net worth to one business increases risk, even when growth looks strong.00:30:00Q: How should founders choose a financial advisor they can trust?A: Relationship quality matters more than performance claims. Trust, responsiveness, and alignment drive long-term outcomes.00:36:20Q: Will AI replace financial advisors?A: No. AI enhances efficiency, but human judgment is critical during uncertainty, life changes, and emotional decision points.00:43:40Q: How should founders think about wealth beyond their business exit?A: Wealth creation is multi-generational. Planning for protection and transfer matters as much as building it.Watch the full episode to hear the complete conversation and the nuance behind each decision. This episode is especially relevant for founders navigating growth, scale, or long-term exit planning.Subscribe to Founder Talk for more authentic, no-fluff founder interviews.

According to the New York Times, Verizon was impacted by a major outage that affected millions of customers. In this episode, host Amanda Glassner is joined by Heather Engel, Managing Partner at Strategic Cyber Partners, to discuss. To learn more about today's stories, visit https://cybercrimewire.com • For more on cybersecurity, visit us at https://cybersecurityventures.com.

This week the boys break down the Crypto Clarity Act's dramatic Senate markup with Coin Center's Peter Van Valkenburgh, covering developer liability concerns, tokenized securities language controversy, the banking industry's war against stablecoin yield. Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. Tarun's out this episode, but we're joined by Peter Van Valkenburgh, Principal of Policy at Coin Center and one of the sharpest legal minds in crypto. This week, we're diving deep into the Crypto Clarity Act drama that has DC in chaos mode. What started as crypto's best shot at comprehensive regulation just hit a major roadblock when Coinbase pulled their support hours before the Senate markup. We'll break down the developer liability questions around "control" definitions, the tokenized securities language that has Brian Armstrong fired up, and the stablecoin yield restrictions that have banks and crypto companies at each other's throats. Peter gives us the inside scoop on what's really in this 200-page bill, why Polymarket odds crashed from 80% to 40%, and whether this legislative train wreck can still get back on track. Let's get into it. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights

Daniel Hoffman, Ret. CIA Senior Clandestine Services Officer and a Fox News ContributorTopic: Intel on GreenlandHogan Gidley, Former National Press Secretary for the Trump campaign and former White House Deputy Press SecretaryTopic: Trump in Davos; Congressional redistricting in New York and its impact on the Trump administrationLiz Peek, Fox News contributor, columnist for Fox News and The Hill, and former partner of major bracket Wall Street firm Wertheim & CompanyTopic: "Trump's first year: The good, the great and the foolish" (Fox News op ed)Laine Schoneberger, Chief Investment Officer, Managing Partner, and Founder of YrefyTopic: Latest from YrefyChris Swecker, attorney who served as assistant director of the FBI for the Criminal Investigative Division from 2004 to 2006 Topic: "Walz’s Minnesota mess could spark the toughest fraud reforms in decades" (Fox News op ed)Lee Smith, journalist and the author of the new book "The China Matrix: The Epic Story of How Donald Trump Shattered a Deadly Pact"Topic: China's relationship with Europe and CanadaCongresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, Representative for New York's 11th Congressional DistrictTopic: Redrawing the map of Rep. Malliotakis' districtSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Adam Torres interviews Andrew Frank, Founder and President of KARV, about strategic communications and stakeholder engagement across the Middle East and global markets. Andrew discusses how companies and governments can navigate geopolitical shifts, policy changes, and international expansion through clear, credible communication strategies. About Andrew Frank Andrew Frank is a seasoned expert in communications strategy, specializing in high-stakes situations including crisis management, public affairs, product recalls, and complex litigation. He is a sought after advisor to CEO's and officials in foreign countries.  He founded KARV thirteen years ago, following a distinguished career as Managing Partner at Strategy XXI Group and Kreab. A political appointee in the Clinton Administration, Andrew served in key roles, including Communications Director for the US Information Agency, Deputy Spokesman for the UN World Conference on Human Rights, and media representative for the National Security Council during the Haiti crisis. He also played a pivotal role in media coordination during the 1994 GATT signing in Morocco and worked on numerous overseas presidential and vice-presidential trips. About KARV KARV, a global advisory & communications firm, was founded in 2012 to solve complex, daunting reputational challenges confronting companies and individuals. They specialize in communications campaigns and advisory services for CEOs and corporations, crisis communications, reputation management, litigation support, public affairs, and brand strategy. They work seamlessly across time zones and their clients trust us to provide forward-thinking holistic strategies. Follow Adam on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/askadamtorres/ for up to date information on book releases and tour schedule. Apply to be a guest on our podcast: https://missionmatters.lpages.co/podcastguest/ Visit our website: https://missionmatters.com/ More FREE content from Mission Matters here: https://linktr.ee/missionmattersmedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Venture capital sounds flashy — but what is it really, and who is it actually for? In this episode, we sit down with Mark Phillips, Founder and Managing Partner at 11 Tribes Ventures, to break down venture capital in plain language.Mark explains what venture capital is (and what it isn't), when raising money makes sense, when it doesn't, and why giving up ownership too early can be a costly mistake. This is a must-listen for founders, entrepreneurs, and business owners curious about scaling the right way.Topics CoveredWhat venture capital actually is (without the jargon)The difference between investors, angel investors, and venture capitalWhen raising capital makes sense — and when it doesn'tWhy raising money isn't the same as business successHow venture capital firms evaluate founders and businessesWhat “scalability” really meansThe importance of timing when raising capitalWhy equity is more valuable than most founders realizeAbout Our GuestMark Phillips is the Founder and Managing Partner of 11 Tribes Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in founders and businesses poised for exponential growth. Mark works closely with entrepreneurs to help them scale responsibly and intentionally.Level Up Labs Event InfoThis conversation is part of Level Up Labs, a four-hour, in-person workshop built to help entrepreneurs, professionals, and leaders level up how they grow and lead.

Album 8 Track 3 - What's Poppin? Why Commerce Media is the New Golden Child w/Tim SpenglerIn this episode of Brands, Beats and Bytes, hosts DC and LT sit down with Scale Team Advisory Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Tim Spengler, to talk all things Retail and Commerce Media Networks, the "What's Poppin" topic that is rapidly reshaping the advertising landscape.We are dropping this special edition as a companion piece to our recent Jack Myers episode, and we've got the unofficial "third co-host" of the show to break it all down. We are talking about why performance marketing acolytes are shifting their gaze to this new horizon, the "virtual consumption" lie that traditional data couldn't catch, and why the ability to track "identity" is the new currency of the realm.Whether you're a C-Suite leader or a junior marketer, this conversation dives into why commerce media has exploded into a $67 billion industry (overtaking traditional TV!) and why smart brands are going all in to achieve both scale and precision.Key Takeaways:Truth Over Talk: How "data-led, tech-enabled" purchase history eliminates the gap between what consumers say they do and what they actually buy.The Holy Grail Found: How Retail Media Networks finally solve the age-old marketing dilemma by delivering both high-volume scale and laser-focused precision across the full funnel.Build and Borrow: Why brands entering this space cannot afford "learning curve" mistakes and must blend internal teams with external expertise to launch successfully.Mentioned in this Episode:Lead Human Podcast: Hosted by Tim Spengler & Jack Myers Jack Myers Episode: Check out our first drop of 2026 for the companion conversation! Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and share with a fellow Brand Nerd!Instagram | LinkedIn

Welcome back to Episode #201 of the PricePlow Podcast! We’re thrilled to be joined by Brooks Thomas, Chief Marketing Officer at Louisville Brands, and Nate Frazier, Founder and CEO of Red Knot Capital and Managing Partner at Gym Snack. Long-time listeners will remember Nate from Episode #098 when he was COO at GNC. Today, he’s back to discuss an exciting new venture that’s filling a massive gap in the protein snack market. Gym Snack: Deliciously Savory High-Protein Snacks Gym Snack is tackling a problem many of us face: protein fatigue. The market is saturated with sweet, chewy bars and gummies, but where are the savory options? Brooks and Nate have created a crunchy, plant-based snack delivering 30 grams of protein per bag with clean ingredients and zero seed oils. Using pea protein as the foundation, they’ve launched three distinct flavors that satisfy both taste and macro goals. The discussion covers everything from manufacturing excellence and vegan certification to the impact of GLP-1 agonists on protein absorption and the critical importance of authenticity in today’s crowded supplement market. Subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on your favorite platform, and sign up for Gym Snack news alerts before diving into this exciting conversation! https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/gym-snack-201 Video: Savory Protein Snacks That Actually Deliver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHw8X0eeb5g Detailed Show Notes: Brooks Thomas & Nate Frazier on Gym Snack’s Mission (0:00) – Introductions and Welcome (1:30) – Brooks’ Background and Louisville Brands’ Foundation (2:00) – What Makes Gym Snack Different (4:45) – Nate’s Vision and Industry Perspective (5:00) – The Problem Statement: Where Are the Savory Snacks? (7:00) – Development Journey: From Soy to Pea Protein (9:00) – Three Flavors: Jalapeno Cheddar, Cheddar, and Everything Bagel (9:45) – Manufacturing Excellence and Certifications (10:00) – Nutritional Profile: 30 Grams of Protein, 160-170 Calories Per Serving (12:00) – Clean Ingredient Philosophy: Real Food, Olive Oil, No Seed Oils (18:00) – Protein Fatigue and Market Saturation (25:00) – GLP-1 Agonists and Protein Absorption (35:00) – Authenticity in Branding and Competitive Differentiation (42:00) – Distribution Strategy and Pantry Program (50:00) – Future Flavor Innovation and Collaboration (1:00:00) – The Louisville Manufacturing Advantage (1:09:00) – Where to Sample and Purchase (1:10:00) – Where to Follow and Connect Where to Find Brooks Thomas, Nate Frazier, and Gym Snack Brooks Thomas on LinkedIn Nate Frazier on LinkedIn and Instagram Louisville Brands on LinkedIn Gym Snack on LinkedIn and Instagram Learn more about Gym Snack…… Read more on the PricePlow Blog

In dieser spannenden Podcast-Folge geht es um ein Ziel, das gleichzeitig absurd und doch ziemlich vernünftig ist: gesund sterben. Also nicht möglichst lange irgendwie durchhalten, sondern möglichst lange fit, klar und belastbar bleiben. Mein Gast Georgiy Michailov schaut darauf, was wirklich wirkt und was einfach nur gut klingt. Wir sprechen über Studien, Ernährungsweisen, Routinen und die großen Klassiker: Krafttraining, Ernährung, Schlaf. Georgiy ist Managing Partner bei SMP (Struktur Management Partner) und begleitet Unternehmen in Restrukturierung und Transformation. Turnaround ist sein Beruf. Und genau deshalb ist dieses Gespräch so interessant: Weil wir immer wieder bei derselben Logik landen, die für Körper und Unternehmen gilt. Wir können unseren Einsatz und die Prozesse beeinflussen, aber nicht das Ergebnis. Dieser Gedanke stammt aus dem Stoizismus und kann in Veränderungsprozessen jeglicher Art den Unterschied machen. Ein Gespräch über Gesundheit ohne Hype, über Evidenz statt Bauchgefühl und über die Kraft der Selbstverantwortung. Im Gespräch geht es unter anderem um: - Longevity: Was wirklich zählt und was überschätzt wird - Ernährung: Muster, Studien, Denkfehler und praktische Konsequenzen - Krafttraining als Versicherung fürs Alter - Stoizismus: Fokus auf Einsatz statt Ergebnis - Turnarounds: Was es auf Werteebene braucht, damit Transformation gelingt Über Georgiy Michailov: Georgiy Michailov ist Managing Partner bei Struktur Management Partner, einer auf Transformations- und Turnaround-Management im gehobenen Mittelstand spezialisierten Unternehmensberatung. Das Werteverständnis und die Aufgaben faszinierten ihn seit seinem Einstieg als Praktikant im Jahr 2003. Er durchlief alle Entwicklungsstufen und wurde 2009 Partner sowie 2013 Managing Partner. Heute verantwortet er strategisches Marketing, Vertrieb und Methodenentwicklung. Hier geht's zu seinem ausführlichen Profil: https://www.georgiy-michailov.de/ Als Co-Autor hat Georgiy Michailov mehrere Bücher geschrieben, unter anderem: „Geschäftsmodell-Redesign: Dimensionen bewerten, Werthebel identifizieren, Transformation gestalten – Ein Praxisbuch“ Alle Informationen zum Buch findet ihr hier: https://www.geschaeftsmodell-redesign.de/ Außerdem hostet er den Management-Podcast SMP LeaderTalks: https://www.struktur-management-partner.com/insights/leadertalks Alle Informationen zu meiner Arbeit findet ihr wie immer unter: www.hannah-panidis.de Und hier begegnet ihr mir meist tagesaktuell: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahpanidis LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-panidis-55141a145/?originalSubdomain=de Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HannahPanidisKommunikation/?locale=de_DE

This episode is brought to you by Uniswap! Are you a builder who needs to add on-chain trading to your product? The Uniswap Trading API from Uniswap Labs offers plug-and-play access to some of the deepest liquidity in crypto It's on-chain execution at an enterprise level. More liquidity. Less complexity. Visit hub.uniswap.org to learn more. Is Bitcoin losing its “digital gold” narrative just as geopolitics heat up? The Bits + Bips crew debates what markets still aren't pricing in. In this episode of Bits + Bips, hosts Austin Campbell, Ram Ahluwalia, and Chris Perkins are joined by David Duong, Global Head of Research at Coinbase, to unpack a volatile mix of crypto regulation, geopolitics, and shifting market structure. The group digs into why the latest market structure bill is starting to crack, why investors may be underpricing regulatory clarity, and what it means that Bitcoin is failing to behave like digital gold just as global risk rises. They also explore whether the U.S. and Europe are still true allies, why Wall Street's move toward 24/7 onchain markets matters more than most realize, and how internet capital markets could reshape who gets access to capital in the next decade. Hosts: Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida Austin Campbell, NYU Stern professor and founder and managing partner of Zero Knowledge Consulting Christopher Perkins, Managing Partner and President of CoinFund Guests: David Duong, Global Head of Research at Coinbase Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Nathan and Deirdre Bosa discuss recent advancements in AI-driven coding tools like Replit and Claude Cowork, sharing personal experiences and their potential to disrupt traditional software development. They elaborate on conversations with Amjad Masad of Replit and Aaron Levie of Box about the future of AI in software. The discussion also touches on the US-China AI rivalry, with CEOs from major tech companies urging policy support to compete with China's subsidized AI ecosystem. The conversation highlights concerns over software disruption, the impact of AI on the software market, and geopolitical implications for AI innovation. After the break, Dan chats with Gene Munster, Managing Partner at Deepwater Asset Management, discuss the current state and future trends in AI-related investments as of 2026. Gene shares his perspectives on the AI market's evolution over recent years, particularly focusing on key players like Nvidia and the dynamics around training versus inference. They talk about the impact of recent developments in coding assistants like Claude from Anthropic and its implications for the technology sector. The conversation also covers the valuation and growth prospects of major tech firms including Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta, highlighting their individual strategies and market performance. The dialogue underscores a cautious optimism in the AI sector, with a focus on how technological advancements and market sentiment will influence investment decisions. Links Watch Dee's Convo with Replit's CEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOa3SfkQ0vE Watch Dee's Convo with the CEO of Box: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/11/12/box-ceo-trumps-deregulation-could-spark-a-tech-supercycle.html —FOLLOW USYouTube: @RiskReversalMediaInstagram: @riskreversalmediaTwitter: @RiskReversalLinkedIn: RiskReversal Media

The Lawyer Stories Podcast Episode 250 welcomes back - and we're excited to do so - Samah T. Abukhodeir, Founder and Managing Partner of The Florida Probate & Family Law Firm, joined by her husband and law partner Jose Ignacio Leon. Since our last conversation (Ep. 224), Samah has been building with intention, growing significantly to almost 50 employees across nine law firms. In this milestone episode, we dive into what she's been up to, what it's really like growing a law firm with your spouse, how they divide responsibilities, and why their chemistry works - both inside and outside the office. Jose shares a powerful insight that anchors the conversation: "No one is going to work harder for you than your family." Together, they reflect on trust, alignment, and the impact they strive to make for their clients, while sharing their vision for the firm's continued growth. An honest, inspiring conversation about partnership, purpose, and building something meaningful - together.

What's actually involved in successfully selling a HIT Business?   Fitness industry veteran, expert business broker, and Managing Partner of New Line Business Capital Michael "Mike" Zarrillo joins the podcast to talk about the secrets every HIT studio owner needs to know if they want to build and sell a highly valuable strength training business the right way, as well as avoiding the many hidden headaches that you can run into.   Mike talks about how you can increase the value of your HIT business, the right people to talk to (and who to avoid), how to fix the weak points of your business, industry secrets and pitfalls to watch out for, and more.   Even if you aren't looking to sell your strength training business right now, you can supercharge your HIT studio with the gems Mike talks about when it comes to building a high-value HIT studio — make sure you tune in to this one! ━━━━━━━━━━━━ Get a FREE course to grow your strength training business here ━━━━━━━━━━━━ For the complete show notes, links, and resources, click here

In this episode of Excess Returns, we sit down with Gary Mishuris, Managing Partner and CIO of Silver Ring Value Partners, to explore how deep fundamental analysis, behavioral insight, and disciplined process come together in real-world investing. Gary shares formative lessons from his early career at Fidelity during the post-tech bubble period, including firsthand experiences learning from legends like Peter Lynch, and connects those lessons to how he evaluates value, quality, and mispricing today. The conversation spans a detailed case study on Warner Bros. Discovery, portfolio construction under uncertainty, selective use of options, and how artificial intelligence is reshaping the research process for long-term investors.Topics covered in this episode• Lessons from Peter Lynch and Fidelity on why “just cheap” does not work• The Silver Ring origin story and how early life experiences shaped a value investing mindset• Warner Bros. Discovery as a good business plus bad business mispricing case study• How hated stocks, spin-offs, and catalysts can unlock hidden value• Conviction, position sizing, and staying rational when the market disagrees• When and why options can be used in a value investing framework• Auctions, ego, and why prices can overshoot intrinsic value• The role of mental models like reflexivity, activation energy, and lollapalooza effects• How AI fits into an investment research process without replacing judgment• What average investors should understand about incentives and simplicityTimestamps00:00 Introduction and why “just cheap” does not work02:20 Early career at Fidelity and lessons from Peter Lynch07:40 The Silver Ring story and learning what real value means12:00 Warner Bros. Discovery and the good company bad company problem18:30 Conviction, mispricing, and maintaining discipline in hated stocks26:40 Using options selectively and managing portfolio-level risk34:10 Auctions, ego, and when price can detach from intrinsic value44:30 Entertainment, media disruption, and evergreen demand for content49:50 How AI is changing equity research and idea generation55:40 What AI can see that humans often miss01:00:30 One lesson for the average investor

In this episode of Poised for Exit, we're joined by Mark Kravietz, Managing Partner and Founder of Aline Wealth, for a practical discussion on what business owners need to understand before relocating to a lower-tax state.Mark explains why changing residency for tax purposes is far more involved than many owners expect and why simply spending “six months and a day” in a new state is rarely sufficient. He walks through the core factors states examine when determining residency, including home ownership, time spent, business involvement, personal connections, and family ties, and explains how intent plays a central role in audits and enforcement.The conversation also explores how business ownership complicates relocation decisions, particularly when owners maintain active involvement in high-tax states. Mark shares real-world examples from his decades of advising business owners, highlighting common mistakes, documentation gaps, and misconceptions that can put owners at risk if not addressed early.Throughout the episode, Mark emphasizes the importance of planning ahead, both financially and personally, when considering a move. From aligning residency decisions with long-term exit goals to understanding how lifestyle choices, identity, and post-exit plans factor into success, this episode offers clear, actionable insight for business owners thinking strategically about their future.Connect with Mark Kravietz hereLearn more about Aline Wealth hereConnect with Julie Keyes, Keyestrategies LLCFounder, Consultant, Author, Pod-caster and Instructor

Whether you're in the trenches or taking time to reflect on your business journey, this episode is packed with advice and reflections to help you make informed decisions for 2026 and beyond.Welcome back to another insightful episode of Empowering Entrepreneurs. I'm your host, Glenn Harper, joined by my co-host, Julie Smith.Today, we're diving into a subject that many entrepreneurs grapple with: Is bigger always better, or is better just better? We'll explore the delicate balance between scaling a business and maintaining quality, how to decide which path aligns with your goals, and the crucial role of intention in growth strategies.This episode is brought to you by PureTax, LLC. Tax preparation services without the pressure. When all you need is to get your tax return done, take the stress out of tax season by working with a firm that has simplified the process and the pricing. Find out more about how we started.Actionable AdviceRegular Reflection: Make it a part of your business routine to step back and evaluate where you are and where you want to be.Intentional Planning: As the year comes to a close, use this period for setting clear, deliberate intentions for 2025.Opportunity Cost Evaluation: Consider what you might have to give up in order to achieve your desired growth. Is it worth it?Running a business doesn't have to run your life.Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it's easy to be so busy ‘doing' business that you don't have the right strategy to grow your business.Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for successOur clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.Glenn Harper, CPA, is the Owner and Managing Partner of Harper & Company CPAs Plus, a top 10 Managing Partner in the country (Accounting Today's 2022 MP Elite). His firm won the 2021 Luca Award for Firm of the Year. An entrepreneur and speaker, Glenn transformed his firm into an advisory-focused practice, doubling revenue and profit in two years. He teaches entrepreneurs to build financial and operational excellence, speaks nationwide to CPA firm owners about running their businesses like entrepreneurs, and consults with firms across the country. Glenn enjoys golfing, fishing, hiking, cooking, and spending time with his family.Julie Smith, MBA, is a serial entrepreneur in the public accounting space. She is the Founder of EmpowerCPA™, Founder of PureTax, LLC, COO for Harper & Company CPAs Plus, and Co-host of the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast. Named CPA.com's 2021 Innovative Practitioner of Year, Julie led Harper & Company's transition to an advisory-focused firm, doubling revenue and profit in two years. She now empowers other CPA firm owners nationwide through consulting and speaking, teaching them how

I'm thrilled to share the latest episode of our podcast with you. This time, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Nick Ehret, the Managing Partner and CFO of Hill Capital Corporation. Nick's journey from a small town in Minnesota to launching a breakout growth fund is nothing short of inspiring. Here are some of the key takeaways and intriguing insights from our conversation:

This week we chat with Haseeb Qureshi!Haseeb is the Managing Partner at Dragonfly, a multibillion-dollar leading crypto VC firm, and is a longtime technology-focused crypto investor.He was previously a General Partner at Metastable Capital (now acquired by Dragonfly). Earlier in his career, Haseeb founded a stablecoin startup, worked as a blockchain engineer at Earn.com (acquired by Coinbase), and served as an anti-fraud engineer at Airbnb. Before entering tech, he was among the top heads-up no-limit Hold'em poker players in the world, becoming a sponsored professional and self-made millionaire by age 19. He later authored a best-selling poker book, donated the bulk of his poker earnings—about half a million dollars—to charity, and pursued an earn-to-give path that led him into software engineering and eventually blockchain.Haseeb has taught a Web3 Entrepreneurship course at UC Berkeley and is widely followed for his technical expertise in crypto. Today, he continues to write, invest, and contribute to the ecosystem while committing a third of his pre-tax income to charitable causes.✨ This episode is presented by Brex.Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspodThis episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena.RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazersGusto: gusto.com/trailblazersQuo: Quo.com/trailblazersAthena: athenago.me/Erica-WengerFollow Us!Haseeb Qureshi: @hosseeb@thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTokErica Wenger: @erica_wenger

116 Ethical AI in Business: How to Empower Employees Without Replacing Them | James Lang   The Entreprenudist Podcast https://entreprenudist.com Artificial intelligence is transforming the workplace, but poor implementation can create fear, disruption, and chaos instead of progress. In this episode, we speak with James Lang, Managing Partner at OverLang Venture Partners, about the importance of ethical AI adoption and how organizations can use AI to empower employees rather than replace them. This conversation is essential for business owners, executives, and decision-makers looking to adopt AI responsibly while protecting their teams and long-term success. -------------------------  About James Lang James Lang is the Managing Partner at OverLang Venture Partners, where he focuses on helping businesses adopt ethical and responsible AI strategies that empower employees, drive innovation, and ensure sustainable growth. OverLang partners with organizations to integrate AI solutions that enhance decision-making, improve operations, and protect workplace culture. ------------------ About the Host:  Randolph Love III is the Founder and CEO of ShieldWolf Strongholds, where he helps Franchisors, CPAs, Attorneys, Doctors, Realtors, Contractors, and other Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, Home Owners, and Retirees, secure lasting financial legacies.  He is also a trusted franchise consultant, author of the book The Miracle Money Vehicle: How To Make Money Make Babies, and host of The Liquidity Event, a premier gathering on business growth, financial independence, and legacy planning.  As host of The Entreprenudist Podcast, ranked in the Top 10% worldwide by ListenNotes.com, Randolph shares bold, practical insights that challenge traditional thinking. A sought-after speaker, his dynamic style empowers audiences to reduce taxes legally, grow wealth strategically, and take control of their financial destiny. Additionally, he is also the publisher of The Liquidity Journal, a dynamic publication for business owners, entrepreneurs, executives, retirees, and investors. Focused on leadership, strategy, systems, and motivation, it delivers actionable insights that empower readers to grow, lead, and innovate in today's business world.

What is going to happen on Day 41?  In this episode, Jeff, Jeff, and Carl discuss: Finding your partner who will support you in the good and the bad.Understanding the ebbs and flows of business and real estate.Giving back in everything you do.The importance of giving back to kids in the community.  Key Takeaways: Always lend a hand. If you have to lend two hands, they may not want the help.The streets are filled with squirrels that couldn't make a decision. Trust yourself, make a decision, and move forward.Partner with those who have the same vision in life, in business, and in giving.If you're looking for a cause to champion, consider childhood reading. Reading is one of the key indicators of success for children and teens.  "Don't give up, because a lot of times people quit right before. You don't know, the next day might have been the day." —  Carl Fochler Episode References: Program - A Better World: https://abetterworldcharlotte.org/abwprograms/ About Carl Fochler: Carl Fochler, Founder and Managing Partner of Queen City Land, founded the company in 2011, where he determines the goals and overall vision of Queen City Land. Carl's career in real estate started in 1989 after he graduated from West Virginia University with a Bachelor's in Science Business Administration with a focus on Marketing. He moved to Charlotte and began working for Ryan Homes in 1990. During his 7-year tenure with Ryan Homes, Carl consistently ranked in the top 1% companywide in sales. In 1997, Carl followed his dream to be an entrepreneur and founded the real estate firm, Panther Realty. There, he led a team of over 70 agents and quickly built Panther Realty into one of the most dominant Real Estate firms in the Charlotte MSA, before selling to ERA.Carl and his wife Amy, a veteran attorney, currently reside in Waxhaw, North Carolina, with their 3 daughters, Paisley, Paxton, and Payton. They enjoy sporting events, live music, and traveling to all their daughters' events. In addition to the busy schedule, they remain very active in their church, and Carl is on the board of “A Better World,” an organization founded to uplift underserved youth in Charlotte. Program - A Better World was founded in 2001 by Pastor Ken Gilliard and Forest Hill Church, who identified the need for a positive, educational, after-school program in West Charlotte. When A Better World began, it served eight students two days a week. Thanks to the tireless work of Pastor Ken and his team, the program now serves approximately seventy students five days a week. The kids who stick with A Better World are, at the very least, guaranteed a positive experience and quite possibly one that will change their lives.Each day, our students receive a hot meal, homework support, and small group instruction from teachers who are committed to their well-being. Twice a week, students participate in group therapy sessions with licensed instructors and engage in literacy lessons via i-Ready, an evidence-based education tool.  Every week, A Better World's students partake in expansive extracurricular activities, and their parents gain access to our community pantry, where those in need receive a 7-day supply of groceries. Parents are also invited to attend our community workshops, where they learn how to best support their children's success in the classroom and at home.  Connect with Carl Fochler:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-fochler-492733110  Connect with Jeff Thomas: Website: https://www.arkosglobal.com/Podcast: https://www.generousbusinessowner.com/Book: https://www.arkosglobal.com/trading-upEmail: jeff.thomas@arkosglobal.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/ArkosGlobalAdvFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/arkosglobal/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkosglobaladvisorsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/arkosglobaladvisors/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLUYpPwkHH7JrP6PrbHeBxw

Startup success is often explained through geography, capital, or timing.But the real story is about people, resilience, and long-term commitment.In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Arjun is joined by Allen Taylor, Managing Partner at Endeavor Catalyst, to unpack how world-class companies are being built far beyond Silicon Valley.Allen shares how Endeavor identifies and backs the top 1% of founders across emerging and underserved markets, why venture outcomes are shaped over decades not fund cycles, and how resilience and ambition matter more than location. From Latin America and Eastern Europe to the Middle East and frontier markets like Nigeria and Pakistan, the conversation explores what it really takes to build billion-dollar companies from anywhere.The episode also dives into how venture capital is evolving, why the traditional 10-year fund model no longer reflects reality, how AI is changing both startups and investing, and what creates durable entrepreneurial ecosystems over time.

This week, Jack Sharry talks with Chip Roame, Founder & Managing Partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors & Tiburon CEO Summits. Chip is a leading strategic advisor to 700+ Tiburon corporate member firms and other clients, primarily advising CEOs, senior executives, and boards of directors of wealth and investment management firms. He is responsible for all of Tiburon's research and advisory activities, keeping him at the leading edge of strategic initiatives in the industry's fastest-growing businesses. Jack and Chip break down the real forces shaping wealth management today. Chip shares insights from the latest Tiburon CEO Summit in Boston, covering shifting client segments, asset flows across channels, the dominance of ETFs and private credit, and why scale continues to win. They discuss lead generation as a defining competitive advantage, the accelerating pace of consolidation, and how AI may drive efficiency and personalization without replacing advisors. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:26) - Five major themes from the Tiburon CEO Summit (02:38) – How investors are changing—and why the generational wealth transfer is overstated (05:39) – Where the money is really flowing across wealth management channels (08:37) – Cheap beta vs. private markets: the widening product divide (11:05) – Why scale keeps winning and the biggest firms keep getting bigger (13:07) – Business strategy today: lead generation, advisors, and growth models (15:03) – What real organic growth looks like—and why it matters (19:47) – Industry structure: consolidation, M&A, and what's coming next (22:10) – AI in wealth management: efficiency, personalization, and realistic timelines (24:39) - Chip's key takeaways (26:43) - Chip's interests outside of work Quotes "Private equity firms or the stock market value organic growth much higher than inorganic growth. And certainly, your cost to acquire a client will always be lowest in digital marketing, in social media, where you self-create the lead." ~ Chip Roame "Don't get caught up in all the news that gets reported every day. Focus on which firms are actually gathering the most money because they're the ones that are doing something right." ~ Chip Roame "Lead gen is a big deal right now, and I think those who figure it out are going to win. So if I were a wealth firm, I would be figuring out lead gen for my advisors at the home level." ~ Chip Roame Links  Chip Roame on LinkedIn Tiburon Strategic Advisors Tiburon CEO Summits Morgan Stanley Merrill Lynch Wells Fargo UBS Edward Jones Ameriprise Financial J.P. Morgan Charles Schwab Fidelity Investments BlackRock Forge Global Vanguard iShares Franklin Templeton Investments Jenny Johnson Envestnet Orion Advisor Solutions Addepar Tiburon Impact Adventures Connect with our hosts LifeYield Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

Most financial advisors would love to work with likeminded people with similar beliefs and worldviews to their own, but are wary of being too outspoken or transparent online so as to not alienate potential clients or lose business. Our guests, Zach Teutsch, Founder and Managing Partner of Values Added Financial, and Tim Caban, EA, CFP®, Founder and President of Copper Beech Advisors, have both built successful financial advisory practices by being open about their political beliefs and worldviews on social and digital media, attracting right-fit clients while discouraging those that are less compatible. In this episode exploring differing perspectives, guest hosted by Marie Swift of Impact Communications, we discuss how this strategy works in practice, how it can shape an advisor's client base, and what it means for trust and long-term relationships. To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Tim Caban, please visit www.CopperBeechAdvisors.com. To learn more about Zach Teutsch, please visit www.ValuesAddedFinancial.com.

Join Richard Cunningham and John Coleman for the first Marks on the Markets episode of 2026 as they welcome Brandon Pizzurro, President & Chief Investment Officer at GuideStone Capital Management, to unpack what investors need to know heading into the new year. After three consecutive years of double-digit returns, the conversation explores whether markets can sustain this momentum, the future of AI investing, and the opportunities emerging in small caps and private markets.Key Investment Topics:Market outlook after three straight years of 20%+ returns and where opportunities lie in 2026The Mag 7 dominance: Will small and mid-cap stocks finally see their rotation moment?Federal Reserve policy expectations and why current rates may be historically appropriatePrivate equity and IPO markets thawing after years of constrained liquidityGeopolitical shocks to watch: Iran, Venezuela, and international market divergenceAI's impact on productivity, employment, and whether we're entering a new economic eraNotable Quotes:"Breathless is probably one word. Just coming off three straight years like that, you always wanna protect on the downside. You wanna think about how things can go wrong. And when they don't for a third year in a row, you wanted to catch your breath and really take stock of what just happened." - Brandon Pizzurro"This is the Lord's capital that we're all stewarding, and we need to remember that as we kind of start the year off again. We have a charge here for our investors, but I think it's important to take a moment and be present, be thinking about why you're doing what you're doing." - Brandon Pizzurro"We are people under authority and it's easy to forget that sometimes. When we receive word from God, whether that be through scripture, whether that be through prayer or insight or inspiration, we are intended to execute against that will." - John ColemanAbout the Guests:Brandon Pizzurro serves as Managing Director at GuideStone Capital Management in Dallas, Texas, bringing sophisticated market analysis with a faith-driven perspective on stewardship and investing. John Coleman is a Managing Partner at Sovereign's Capital and regular co-host of the Marks on the Markets series, known for his thoughtful integration of economic analysis with Kingdom principles.This episode offers both tactical market insights and strategic wisdom for faith-driven investors navigating what promises to be a consequential year in financial markets.

Vince Lanci started his career over two decades ago as a marketmaker on the floors of the NYMEX, COMEX, and NYBOT exchanges, where he specialized in trading commodities with a particular focus on energy options. In 2007, he founded Echobay Partners, a venture capital group dedicated to Exchange Vertical Investments. Currently, he holds the position of Managing Partner at Echobay Partners LLC, overseeing the strategic direction in trading and investment. Tickets to Cornerstone Forum 26': https://www.showpass.com/cornerstone26/Tickets to the Mashspiel:https://www.showpass.com/mashspiel/Silver Gold Bull Links:Website: https://silvergoldbull.ca/Email: SNP@silvergoldbull.comText Grahame: (587) 441-9100Bow Valley Credit UnionBitcoin: www.bowvalleycu.com/en/personal/investing-wealth/bitcoin-gatewayEmail: welcome@BowValleycu.com Prophet River Links:Website: store.prophetriver.com/Email: SNP@prophetriver.comUse the code “SNP” on all ordersGet your voice heard: Text Shaun 587-217-8500

Greenland, Iran and Mexico – OH MY Earnings season – yes it is here ! Markets re on fire – all systems go – Get your gold and silver too! And out guest – Benjamin Kahle – Managing Partner of Wellings Capital.  NEW! DOWNLOAD THIS EPISODE’S AI GENERATED SHOW NOTES (Guest Segment) Benjamin Kahle is the Managing Partner of Wellings Capital. He is responsible for the overall management of the firm and its investment offerings, including eight funds and multiple sidecar entities. In this role, Benjamin helps shape the company's investment strategy and guides asset management initiatives. Since joining Wellings Capital as an intern in 2015, Benjamin has played an instrumental role in the firm's growth, driving it from $0 to over $215 million in investor equity under management and over $450 million of assets under management. His leadership has helped establish Wellings Capital as a trusted name in the commercial real estate private equity space. Benjamin's real estate career began early—he became a licensed realtor during his junior year of college. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Liberty University and lives in Central Virginia with his wife and son. Learn More at http://www.ibkr.com/funds Follow @andrewhorowitz Looking for style diversification? More information on the TDI Managed Growth Strategy – https://thedisciplinedinvestor.com/blog/tdi-strategy/ Stocks mentioned in this episode: (SPY), (TSLA), (GOOG), (BIDU)

IWhat is our children's future? What skills should they be developing? How should schools be adapting? What will the fully functioning citizens and workers of the future look like? A look into the landscape of the next 15 years, the future of work with human and AI interactions, the transformation of education, the safety and privacy landscapes, and a parental playbook. Navigation: Intro The Landscape: 2026–2040 The Future of Work: Human + AI The Transformation of Education The Ethics, Safety, and Privacy Landscape The Parental Playbook: Actionable Strategies Conclusion Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Red River West, co-founder of App Annie / Data.ai, business angel, advisor to startups and VC funds, @bschmitt Nuno Goncalves Pedro, Investor, Managing Partner, Founder at Chamaeleon, @ngpedro Our show: Tech DECIPHERED brings you the Entrepreneur and Investor views on Big Tech, VC and Start-up news, opinion pieces and research. We decipher their meaning, and add inside knowledge and context. Being nerds, we also discuss the latest gadgets and pop culture news Subscribe To Our Podcast Bertrand SchmittIntroduction Welcome to Episode 72 of Tech Deciphered, about our children’s future. What is our children’s future? What skills should they be developing? How should school be adapting to AI? What would be the functioning citizens and workers of the future look like, especially in the context of the AI revolution? Nuno, what’s your take? Maybe we start with the landscape. Nuno Goncalves PedroThe Landscape: 2026–2040 Let’s first frame it. What do people think is going to happen? Firstly, that there’s going to be a dramatic increase in productivity, and because of that dramatic increase in productivity, there are a lot of numbers that show that there’s going to be… AI will enable some labour productivity growth of 0.1 to 0.6% through 2040, which would be a figure that would be potentially rising even more depending on use of other technologies beyond generative AI, as much as 0.5 to 3.4% points annually, which would be ridiculous in terms of productivity enhancement. To be clear, we haven’t seen it yet. But if there are those dramatic increases in productivity expected by the market, then there will be job displacement. There will be people losing their jobs. There will be people that will need to be reskilled, and there will be a big shift that is similar to what happens when there’s a significant industrial revolution, like the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th century into the 20th century. Other numbers quoted would say that 30% of US jobs could be automated by 2030, which is a silly number, 30%, and that another 60% would see tremendously being altered. A lot of their tasks would be altered for those jobs. There’s also views that this is obviously fundamentally a global phenomenon, that as much as 9% of jobs could be lost to AI by 2030. I think question mark if this is a net number or a gross number, so it might be 9% our loss, but then maybe there’re other jobs that will emerge. It’s very clear that the landscape we have ahead of us is if there are any significant increases in productivity, there will be job displacement. There will be job shifting. There will be the need for reskilling. Therefore, I think on the downside, you would say there’s going to be job losses. We’ll have to reevaluate whether people should still work in general 5 days a week or not. Will we actually work in 10, 20, 30 years? I think that’s the doomsday scenario and what happens on that side of the fence. I think on the positive side, there’s also a discussion around there’ll be new jobs that emerge. There’ll be new jobs that maybe we don’t understand today, new job descriptions that actually don’t even exist yet that will emerge out this brave new world of AI. Bertrand SchmittYeah. I mean, let’s not forget how we get to a growing economy. I mean, there’s a measurement of a growing economy is GDP growth. Typically, you can simplify in two elements. One is the growth of the labour force, two, the rise of the productivity of that labour force, and that’s about it. Either you grow the economy by increasing the number of people, which in most of the Western world is not really happening, or you increase productivity. I think that we should not forget that growth of productivity is a backbone of growth for our economies, and that has been what has enabled the rise in prosperity across countries. I always take that as a win, personally. That growth in productivity has happened over the past decades through all the technological revolutions, from more efficient factories to oil and gas to computers, to network computers, to internet, to mobile and all the improvement in science, usually on the back of technological improvement. Personally, I welcome any rise in improvement we can get in productivity because there is at this stage simply no other choice for a growing world in terms of growing prosperity. In terms of change, we can already have a look at the past. There are so many jobs today you could not imagine they would exist 30 years ago. Take the rise of the influencer, for instance, who could have imagined that 30 years ago. Take the rise of the small mom-and-pop e-commerce owner, who could have imagined that. Of course, all the rise of IT as a profession. I mean, how few of us were there 30 years ago compared to today. I mean, this is what it was 30 years ago. I think there is a lot of change that already happened. I think as a society, we need to welcome that. If we go back even longer, 100 years ago, 150 years ago, let’s not forget, if I take a city like Paris, we used to have tens of thousands of people transporting water manually. Before we have running water in every home, we used to have boats going to the North Pole or to the northern region to bring back ice and basically pushing ice all the way to the Western world because we didn’t have fridges at the time. I think that when we look back in time about all the jobs that got displaced, I would say, Thank you. Thank you because these were not such easy jobs. Change is coming, but change is part of the human equation, at least. Industrial revolution, the past 250 years, it’s thanks to that that we have some improvement in living conditions everywhere. AI is changing stuff, but change is a constant, and we need to adapt and adjust. At least on my side, I’m glad that AI will be able to displace some jobs that were not so interesting to do in the first place in many situations. Maybe not dangerous like in the past because we are talking about replacing white job collars, but at least repetitive jobs are definitely going to be on the chopping block. Nuno Goncalves PedroWhat happens in terms of shift? We were talking about some numbers earlier. The World Economic Forum also has some numbers that predicts that there is a gross job creation rate of 14% from 2025 to 2030 and a displacement rate of 8%, so I guess they’re being optimistic, so a net growth in employment. I think that optimism relates to this thesis that, for example, efficiency, in particular in production and industrial environments, et cetera, might reduce labour there while increasing the demand for labour elsewhere because there is a natural lower cost base. If there’s more automation in production, therefore there’s more disposable income for people to do other things and to focus more on their side activities. Maybe, as I said before, not work 5 days a week, but maybe work four or three or whatever it is. What are the jobs of the future? What are the jobs that we see increasing in the future? Obviously, there’re a lot of jobs that relate to the technology side, that relate obviously to AI, that’s a little bit self-serving, and everything that relates to information technology, computer science, computer technology, computer engineering, et cetera. More broadly in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, that might actually be more needed. Because there is a broadening of all of these elements of contact with digital, with AI over time also with robots and robotics, that those jobs will increase. There’s a thesis that actually other jobs that are a little bit more related to agriculture, education, et cetera, might not see a dramatic impact, that will still need for, I guess, teachers and the need for people working in farms, et cetera. I think this assumes that probably the AI revolution will come much before the fundamental evolution that will come from robotics afterwards. Then there’s obviously this discussion around declining roles. Anything that’s fundamentally routine, like data entry, clinical roles, paralegals, for example, routine manufacturing, anything that’s very repetitive in nature will be taken away. I have the personal thesis that there are jobs that are actually very blue-collar jobs, like HVAC installation, maintenance, et cetera, plumbing, that will be still done by humans for a very long time because there are actually, they appear to be repetitive, but they’re actually complex, and they require manual labour that cannot be easily, I think, right now done by robots and replacements of humans. Actually, I think there’re blue-collar roles that will be on the increase rather than on decrease that will demand a premium, because obviously, they are apprenticeship roles, certification roles, and that will demand a premium. Maybe we’re at the two ends. There’s an end that is very technologically driven of jobs that will need to necessarily increase, and there’s at the other end, jobs that are very menial but necessarily need to be done by humans, and therefore will also command a premium on the other end. Bertrand SchmittI think what you say make a lot of sense. If you think about AI as a stack, my guess is that for the foreseeable future, on the whole stack, and when I say stack, I mean from basic energy production because we need a lot of energy for AI, maybe to going up to all the computing infrastructure, to AI models, to AI training, to robotics. All this stack, we see an increase in expertise in workers and everything. Even if a lot of this work will benefit from AI improvement, the boom is so large that it will bring a lot of demand for anyone working on any part of the stack. Some of it is definitely blue-collar. When you have to build a data centre or energy power station, this requires a lot of blue-collar work. I would say, personally, I’m absolutely not a believer of the 3 or 4 days a week work week. I don’t believe a single second in that socialist paradise. If you want to call it that way. I think that’s not going to change. I would say today we can already see that breaking. I mean, if you take Europe, most European countries have a big issue with pension. The question is more to increase how long you are going to work because financially speaking, the equation is not there. Personally, I don’t think AI would change any of that. I agree with you in terms of some jobs from electricians to gas piping and stuff. There will still be demand and robots are not going to help soon on this job. There will be a big divergence between and all those that can be automated, done by AI and robots and becoming cheaper and cheaper and stuff that requires a lot of human work, manual work. I don’t know if it will become more expensive, but definitely, proportionally, in comparison, we look so expensive that you will have second thoughts about doing that investment to add this, to add that. I can see that when you have your own home, so many costs, some cost our product. You buy this new product, you add it to your home. It can be a water heater or something, built in a factory, relatively cheap. You see the installation cost, the maintenance cost. It’s many times the cost of the product itself. Nuno Goncalves PedroMaybe it’s a good time to put a caveat into our conversation. I mean, there’s a… Roy Amara was a futurist who came up with the Amara’s Law. We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and overestimate the effect in the long run. I prefer my own law, which is, we tend to overestimate the speed at which we get to a technological revolution and underestimate its impact. I think it’s a little bit like that. I think everyone now is like, “Oh, my God, we’re going to be having the AI overlords taking over us, and AGI is going to happen pretty quickly,” and all of that. I mean, AGI will probably happen at some point. We’re not really sure when. I don’t think anyone can tell you. I mean, there’re obviously a lot of ranges going on. Back to your point, for example, on the shift of the work week and how we work. I mean, just to be very clear, we didn’t use to have 5 days a week and 2 days a weekend. If we go back to religions, there was definitely Sabbath back in the day, and there was one day off, the day of the Lord and the day of God. Then we went to 2 days of weekend. I remember going to Korea back in 2005, and I think Korea shifted officially to 5 days a week, working week and 2 days weekend for some of the larger business, et cetera, in 2004. Actually, it took another whatever years for it to be pervasive in society. This is South Korea, so this is a developed market. We might be at some point moving to 4 days a week. Maybe France was ahead of the game. I know Bertrand doesn’t like this, the 35-hour week. Maybe we will have another shift in what defines the working week versus not. What defines what people need to do in terms of efficiency and how they work and all of that. I think it’s probably just going to take longer than we think. I think there’re some countries already doing it. I was reading maybe Finland was already thinking about moving to 4 days a week. There’re a couple of countries already working on it. Certainly, there’re companies already doing it as well. Bertrand SchmittYeah, I don’t know. I’m just looking at the financial equation of most countries. The disaster is so big in Western Europe, in the US. So much debt is out that needs to get paid that I don’t think any country today, unless there is a complete reversal of the finance, will be able to make a big change. You could argue maybe if we are in such a situation, it might be because we went too far in benefits, in vacation, in work days versus weekends. I’m not saying we should roll back, but I feel that at this stage, the proof is in the pudding. The finance of most developed countries are broken, so I don’t see a change coming up. Potentially, the other way around, people leaving to work more, unfortunately. We will see. My point is that AI will have to be so transformational for the productivity for countries, and countries will have to go back to finding their ways in terms of financial discipline to reach a level where we can truly profit from that. I think from my perspective, we have time to think about it in 10, 20 years. Right now, it’s BS at this stage of this discussion. Nuno Goncalves PedroYeah, there’s a dependency, Bertrand, which is there needs to be dramatic increases in productivity that need to happen that create an expansion of economy. Once that expansion is captured by, let’s say, government or let’s say by the state, it needs to be willingly fed back into society, which is not a given. There’re some governments who are going to be like, “No, you need to work for a living.” Tough luck. There’re no handouts, there’s nothing. There’s going to be other governments that will be pressured as well. I mean, even in a more socialist Europe, so to speak. There’re now a lot of pressures from very far-right, even extreme positions on what people need to do for a living and how much should the state actually intervene in terms of minimum salaries, et cetera, and social security. To your point, the economies are not doing well in and of themselves. Anyway, there would need to be tremendous expansion of economy and willingness by the state to give back to its citizens, which is also not a given. Bertrand SchmittAnd good financial discipline as well. Before we reach all these three. Reaping the benefits in a tremendous way, way above trend line, good financial discipline, and then some willingness to send back. I mean, we can talk about a dream. I think that some of this discussion was, in some ways, to have a discussion so early about this. It’s like, let’s start to talk about the benefits of the aeroplane industries in 1915 or 1910, a few years after the Wright brothers flight, and let’s make a decision based on what the world will be in 30 years from now when we reap this benefit. This is just not reasonable. This is not reasonable thinking. I remember seeing companies from OpenAI and others trying to push this narrative. It was just political agenda. It was nothing else. It was, “Let’s try to make look like AI so nice and great in the future, so you don’t complain on the short term about what’s happening.” I don’t think this is a good discussion to have for now. Let’s be realistic. Nuno Goncalves PedroJust for the sake of sharing it with our listeners, apparently there’re a couple of countries that have moved towards something a bit lower than 5 days a week. Belgium, I think, has legislated the ability for you to compress your work week into 4 days, where you could do 10 hours for 4 days, so 40 hours. UAE has some policy for government workers, 4.5 days. Iceland has some stuff around 35 to 36 hours, which is France has had that 35 hour thing. Lithuania for parents. Then just trials, it’s all over the shop. United Kingdom, my own Portugal, of course, Germany, Brazil, and South Africa, and a bunch of other countries, so interesting. There’s stuff going on. Bertrand SchmittFor sure. I mean, France managed to bankrupt itself playing the 75 hours work week since what, 2000 or something. I mean, yeah, it’s a choice of financial suicide, I would say. Nuno Goncalves PedroWonderful. The Future of Work: Human + AI Maybe moving a little bit towards the future of work and the coexistence of work of human and AI, I think the thesis that exists a little bit in the market is that the more positive thesis that leads to net employment growth and net employment creation, as we were saying, there’s shifting of professions, they’re rescaling, and there’s the new professions that will emerge, is the notion that human will need to continue working alongside with machine. I’m talking about robots, I’m also talking about software. Basically software can’t just always run on its own, and therefore, software serves as a layer of augmentation, that humans become augmented by AI, and therefore, they can be a lot more productive, and we can be a lot more productive. All of that would actually lead to a world where the efficiencies and the economic creation are incredible. We’ll have an unparalleled industrial evolution in our hands through AI. That’s one way of looking at it. We certainly at Chameleon, that’s how we think through AI and the AI layers that we’re creating with Mantis, which is our in-house platform at Chameleon, is that it’s augmenting us. Obviously, the human is still running the show at the end, making the toughest decisions, the more significant impact with entrepreneurs that we back, et cetera. AI augments us, but we run the show. Bertrand SchmittI totally agree with that perspective that first AI will bring a new approach, a human plus AI. Here in that situation, you really have two situations. Are you a knowledgeable user? Do you know your field well? Are you an expert? Are you an IT expert? Are you a medical doctor? Do you find your best way to optimise your work with AI? Are you knowledgeable enough to understand and challenge AI when you see weird output? You have to be knowledgeable in your field, but also knowledgeable in how to handle AI, because even experts might say, “Whatever AI says.” My guess is that will be the users that will benefit most from AI. Novice, I think, are in a bit tougher situation because if you use AI without truly understanding it, it’s like laying foundations on sand. Your stuff might crumble down the way, and you will have no clue what’s happening. Hopefully, you don’t put anyone in physical danger, but that’s more worrisome to me. I think some people will talk about the rise of vibe coding, for instance. I’ve seen AI so useful to improve coding in so many ways, but personally, I don’t think vibe coding is helpful. I mean, beyond doing a quick prototype or some stuff, but to put some serious foundation, I think it’s near useless if you have a pure vibe coding approach, obviously to each their own. I think the other piece of the puzzle, it’s not just to look at human plus AI. I think definitely there will be the other side as well, which is pure AI. Pure AI replacement. I think we start to see that with autonomous cars. We are close to be there. Here we’ll be in situation of maybe there is some remote control by some humans, maybe there is local control. We are talking about a huge scale replacement of some human activities. I think in some situation, let’s talk about work farms, for instance. That’s quite a special term, but basically is to describe work that is very repetitive in nature, requires a lot of humans. Today, if you do a loan approval, if you do an insurance claim analysis, you have hundreds, thousands, millions of people who are doing this job in Europe, in the US, or remotely outsourced to other countries like India. I think some of these jobs are fully at risk to be replaced. Would it be 100% replacement? Probably not. But a 9:1, 10:1 replacement? I think it’s definitely possible because these jobs have been designed, by the way, to be repetitive, to follow some very clear set of rules, to improve the rules, to remove any doubt if you are not sure. I think some of these jobs will be transformed significantly. I think we see two sides. People will become more efficient controlling an AI, being able to do the job of two people at once. On the other side, we see people who have much less control about their life, basically, and whose job will simply disappear. Nuno Goncalves PedroTwo points I would like to make. The first point is we’re talking about a state of AI that we got here, and we mentioned this in previous episodes of Tech Deciphered, through brute force, dramatically increased data availability, a lot of compute, lower network latencies, and all of that that has led us to where we are today. But it’s brute force. The key thing here is brute force. Therefore, when AI acts really well, it acts well through brute force, through seeing a bunch of things that have happened before. For example, in the case of coding, it might still outperform many humans in coding in many different scenarios, but it might miss hedge cases. It might actually not be as perfect and as great as one of these developers that has been doing it for decades who has this intuition and is a 10X developer. In some ways, I think what got us here is not maybe what’s going to get us to the next level of productivity as well, which is the unsupervised learning piece, the actually no learning piece, where you go into the world and figure stuff out. That world is emerging now, but it’s still not there in terms of AI algorithms and what’s happening. Again, a lot of what we’re seeing today is the outcome of the brute force movement that we’ve had over the last decade, decade and a half. The second point I’d like to make is to your point, Bertrand, you were going really well through, okay, if you’re a super experienced subject-matter expert, the way you can use AI is like, wow! Right? I mean, you are much more efficient, right? I was asked to do a presentation recently. When I do things in public, I don’t like to do it. If it’s a keynote, because I like to use my package stuff, there’s like six, seven presentations that I have prepackaged, and I can adapt around that. But if it’s a totally new thing, I don’t like to do it as a keynote because it requires a lot of preparation. Therefore, I’m like, I prefer to do a fire set chat or a panel or whatever. I got asked to do something, a little bit what is taking us to this topic today around what’s happening to our children and all of that is like, “God! I need to develop this from scratch.” The honest truth is if you have domain expertise around many areas, you can do it very quickly with the aid of different tools in AI. Anything from Gemini, even with Nana Banana, to ChatGPT and other tools that are out there for you and framing, how would you do that? But the problem then exists with people that are just at the beginning of their careers, people that have very little expertise and experience, and people that are maybe coming out of college where their knowledge is mostly theoretical. What happens to those people? Even in computer engineering, even in computer science, even in software development, how do those people get to the next level? I think that’s one of the interesting conversations to be had. What happens to the recent graduate or the recent undergrad? How do those people get the expertise they need to go to the next level? Can they just be replaced by AI agents today? What’s their role in terms of the workforce, and how do they fit into that workforce? Bertrand SchmittNo, I mean, that’s definitely the biggest question. I think that a lot of positions, if you are really knowledgeable, good at your job, if you are that 10X developer, I don’t think your job is at risk. Overall, you always have some exceptions, some companies going through tough times, but I don’t think it’s an issue. On the other end, that’s for sure, the recent new graduates will face some more trouble to learn on their own, start their career, and go to that 10X productivity level. But at the same time, let’s also not kid ourselves. If we take software development, this is a profession that increase in number of graduates tremendously over the past 30 years. I don’t think everyone basically has the talent to really make it. Now that you have AI, for sure, the bar to justify why you should be there, why you should join this company is getting higher and higher. Being just okay won’t be enough to get you a career in IT. You will need to show that you are great or potential to be great. That might make things tough for some jobs. At the same time, I certainly believe there will be new opportunities that were not there before. People will have to definitely adjust to that new reality, learn and understand what’s going on, what are the options, and also try to be very early on, very confident at using AI as much as they can because for sure, companies are going to only hire workers that have shown their capacity to work well with AI. Nuno Goncalves PedroMy belief is that it generates new opportunities for recent undergrads, et cetera, of building their own microbusinesses or nano businesses. To your point, maybe getting jobs because they’ll be forced to move faster within their jobs and do less menial and repetitive activities and be more focused on actual dramatic intellectual activities immediately from the get go, which is not a bad thing. Their acceleration into knowledge will be even faster. I don’t know. It feels to me maybe there’s a positivity to it. Obviously, if you’ve stayed in a big school, et cetera, that there will be some positivity coming out of that. The Transformation of Education Maybe this is a good segue to education. How does education change to adapt to a new world where AI is a given? It’s not like I can check if you’re faking it on your homework or if you’re doing a remote examination or whatever, if you’re using or not tools, it’s like you’re going to use these tools. What happens in that case, and how does education need to shift in this brave new world of AI augmentation and AI enhancements to students? Bertrand SchmittYes, I agree with you. There will be new opportunities. I think people need to be adaptable. What used to be an absolute perfect career choice might not be anymore. You need to learn what changes are happening in the industry, and you need to adjust to that, especially if you’re a new graduate. Nuno Goncalves PedroMaybe we’ll talk a little bit about education, Bertrand, and how education would fundamentally shift. I think one of the things that’s been really discussed is what are the core skills that need to be developed? What are the core skills that will be important in the future? I think critical thinking is probably most important than ever. The ability to actually assimilate information and discern which information is correct or incorrect and which information can lead you to a conclusion or not, for example, I think is more important than ever. The ability to assimilate a bunch of pieces of information, make a decision or have an insight or foresight out of that information is very, very critical. The ability to be analytical around how you look at information and to really distinguish what’s fact from what’s opinion, I think is probably quite important. Maybe moving away more and more from memorisation from just cramming information into your brain like we used to do it in college, you have to know every single algorithm for whatever. It’s like, “Who gives a shit? I can just go and search it.” There’s these shifts that are not simple because I think education, in particular in the last century, has maybe been too focused on knowing more and more knowledge, on learning this knowledge. Now it’s more about learning how to process the knowledge rather than learning how to apprehend it. Because the apprehension doesn’t matter as much because you can have this information at any point in time. The information is available to you at the touch of a finger or voice or whatever. But the ability to then use the information to do something with it is not. That’s maybe where you start distinguishing the different level degrees of education and how things are taught. Bertrand SchmittHonestly, what you just say or describe could apply of the changes we went through the past 30 years. Just using internet search has for sure tremendously changed how you can do any knowledge worker job. Suddenly you have the internet at your fingertips. You can search about any topics. You have direct access to a Wikipedia or something equivalent in any field. I think some of this, we already went through it, and I hope we learned the consequence of these changes. I would say what is new is the way AI itself is working, because when you use AI, you realise that it can utter to you complete bullshit in a very self-assured way of explaining something. It’s a bit more scary than it used to be, because in the past, that algorithm trying to present you the most relevant stuff based on some algorithm was not trying to present you the truth. It’s a list of links. Maybe it was more the number one link versus number 100. But ultimately, it’s for you to make your own opinion. Now you have some chatbot that’s going to tell you that for sure this is the way you should do it. Then you check more, and you realise, no, it’s totally wrong. It’s definitely a slight change in how you have to apprehend this brave new world. Also, this AI tool, the big change, especially with generative AI, is the ability for them to give you the impression they can do the job at hand by themselves when usually they cannot. Nuno Goncalves PedroIndeed. There’s definitely a lot of things happening right now that need to fundamentally shift. Honestly, I think in the education system the problem is the education system is barely adapted to the digital world. Even today, if you studied at a top school like Stanford, et cetera, there’s stuff you can do online, there’s more and more tools online. But the teaching process has been very centred on syllabus, the teachers, later on the professors, and everything that’s around it. In class presence, there’s been minor adaptations. People sometimes allow to use their laptops in the classroom, et cetera, or their mobile phones. But it’s been done the other way around. It’s like the tools came later, and they got fed into the process. Now I think there needs to be readjustments. If we did this ground up from a digital first or a mobile first perspective and an AI first perspective, how would we do it? That changes how teachers and professors should interact with the classrooms, with the role of the classroom, the role of the class itself, the role of homework. A lot of people have been debating that. What do you want out of homework? It’s just that people cram information and whatever, or do you want people to show critical thinking in a specific different manner, or some people even go one step further. It’s like, there should be no homework. People should just show up in class and homework should move to the class in some ways. Then what happens outside of the class? What are people doing at home? Are they learning tools? Are they learning something else? Are they learning to be productive in responding to teachers? But obviously, AI augmented in doing so. I mean, still very unclear what this looks like. We’re still halfway through the revolution, as we said earlier. The revolution is still in motion. It’s not realised yet. Bertrand SchmittI would quite separate higher education, university and beyond, versus lower education, teenager, kids. Because I think the core up to the point you are a teenager or so, I think the school system should still be there to guide you, discovering and learning and being with your peers. I think what is new is that, again, at some point, AI could potentially do your job, do your homework. We faced similar situation in the past with the rise of Wikipedia, online encyclopedias and the stuff. But this is quite dramatically different. Then someone could write your essays, could answer your maths work. I can see some changes where you talk about homework, it’s going to be classwork instead. No work at home because no one can trust that you did it yourself anymore going forward, but you will have to do it in the classroom, maybe spend more time at school so that we can verify that you really did your job. I think there is real value to make sure that you can still think by yourself. The same way with the rise of calculators 40 years ago, I think it was the right thing to do to say, “You know what? You still need to learn the basics of doing calculations by hand.” Yes, I remember myself a kid thinking, “What the hell? I have a calculator. It’s working very well.” But it was still very useful because you can think in your head, you can solve complex problems in your head, you can check some output that it’s right or wrong if it’s coming from a calculator. There was a real value to still learn the basics. At the same point, it was also right to say, “You know what? Once you know the basics, yes, for sure, the calculator will take over because we’re at the point.” I think that was the right balance that was put in place with the rise of calculators. We need something similar with AI. You need to be able to write by yourself, to do stuff by yourself. At some point, you have to say, “Yeah, you know what? That long essays that we asked you to do for the sake of doing long essays? What’s the point?” At some point, yeah, that would be a true question. For higher education, I think personally, it’s totally ripe for full disruption. You talk about the traditional system trying to adapt. I think we start to be at the stage where “It should be the other way around.” It should be we should be restarted from the ground up because we simply have different tools, different ways. I think at this stage, many companies if you take, [inaudible 00:33:01] for instance, started to recruit people after high school. They say, “You know what? Don’t waste your time in universities. Don’t spend crazy shitload of money to pay for an education that’s more or less worthless.” Because it used to be a way to filter people. You go to good school, you have a stamp that say, “This guy is good enough, knows how to think.” But is it so true anymore? I mean, now that universities have increased the enrolment so many times over, and your university degree doesn’t prove much in terms of your intelligence or your capacity to work hard, quite frankly. If the universities are losing the value of their stamp and keep costing more and more and more, I think it’s a fair question to say, “Okay, maybe this is not needed anymore.” Maybe now companies can directly find the best talents out there, train them themselves, make sure that ultimately it’s a win-win situation. If kids don’t have to have big loans anymore, companies don’t have to pay them as much, and everyone is winning. I think we have reached a point of no return in terms of value of university degrees, quite frankly. Of course, there are some exceptions. Some universities have incredible programs, incredible degrees. But as a whole, I think we are reaching a point of no return. Too expensive, not enough value in the degree, not a filter anymore. Ultimately, I think there is a case to be made for companies to go back directly to the source and to high school. Nuno Goncalves PedroI’m still not ready to eliminate and just say higher education doesn’t have a role. I agree with the notion that it’s continuous education role that needs to be filled in a very different way. Going back to K-12, I think the learning of things is pretty vital that you learn, for example, how to write, that you learn cursive and all these things is important. I think the role of the teacher, and maybe actually even later on of the professors in higher education, is to teach people the critical information they need to know for the area they’re in. Basic math, advanced math, the big thinkers in philosophy, whatever is that you’re studying, and then actually teach the students how to use the tools that they need, in particular, K-12, so that they more rapidly apprehend knowledge, that they more rapidly can do exercises, that they more rapidly do things. I think we’ve had a static view on what you need to learn for a while. That’s, for example, in the US, where you have AP classes, like advanced placement classes, where you could be doing math and you could be doing AP math. You’re like, dude. In some ways, I think the role of the teacher and the interaction with the students needs to go beyond just the apprehension of knowledge. It also has to have apprehension of knowledge, but it needs to go to the apprehension of tools. Then the application of, as we discussed before, critical thinking, analytical thinking, creative thinking. We haven’t talked about creativity for all, but obviously the creativity that you need to have around certain problems and the induction of that into the process is critical. It’s particular in young kids and how they’re developing their learning skills and then actually accelerate learning. In that way, what I’m saying, I’m not sure I’m willing to say higher education is dead. I do think this mass production of higher education that we have, in particular in the US. That’s incredibly costly. A lot of people in Europe probably don’t see how costly higher education is because we’re educated in Europe, they paid some fee. A lot of the higher education in Europe is still, to a certain extent, subsidised or done by the state. There is high degree of subsidisation in it, so it’s not really as expensive as you’d see in the US. But someone spending 200-300K to go to a top school in the US to study for four years for an undergrad, that doesn’t make sense. For tuition alone, we’re talking about tuition alone. How does that work? Why is it so expensive? Even if I’m a Stanford or a Harvard or a University of Pennsylvania or whatever, whatever, Ivy League school, if I’m any of those, to command that premium, I don’t think makes much sense. To your point, maybe it is about thinking through higher education in a different way. Technical schools also make sense. Your ability to learn and learn and continue to education also makes sense. You can be certified. There are certifications all around that also makes sense. I do think there’s still a case for higher education, but it needs to be done in a different mould, and obviously the cost needs to be reassessed. Because it doesn’t make sense for you to be in debt that dramatically as you are today in the US. Bertrand SchmittI mean, for me, that’s where I’m starting when I’m saying it’s broken. You cannot justify this amount of money except in a very rare and stratified job opportunities. That means for a lot of people, the value of this equation will be negative. It’s like some new, indented class of people who owe a lot of money and have no way to get rid of this loan. Sorry. There are some ways, like join the government Task Force, work for the government, that at some point you will be forgiven your loans. Some people are going to just go after government jobs just for that reason, which is quite sad, frankly. I think we need a different approach. Education can be done, has to be done cheaper, should be done differently. Maybe it’s just regular on the job training, maybe it is on the side, long by night type of approach. I think there are different ways to think about. Also, it can be very practical. I don’t know you, but there are a lot of classes that are not really practical or not very tailored to the path you have chosen. Don’t get me wrong, there is always value to see all the stuff, to get a sense of the world around you. But this has a cost. If it was for free, different story. But nothing is free. I mean, your parents might think it’s free, but at the end of the day, it’s their taxes paying for all of this. The reality is that it’s not free. It’s costing a lot of money at the end of the day. I think we absolutely need to do a better job here. I think internet and now AI makes this a possibility. I don’t know you, but personally, I’ve learned so much through online classes, YouTube videos, and the like, that it never cease to amaze me how much you can learn, thanks to the internet, and keep up to date in so many ways on some topics. Quite frankly, there are some topics that there is not a single university that can teach you what’s going on because we’re talking about stuff that is so precise, so focused that no one is building a degree around that. There is no way. Nuno Goncalves PedroI think that makes sense. Maybe bring it back to core skills. We’ve talked about a couple of core skills, but maybe just to structure it a little bit for you, our listener. I think there’s a big belief that critical thinking will be more important than ever. We already talked a little bit about that. I think there’s a belief that analytical thinking, the ability to, again, distinguish fact from opinion, ability to distinguish elements from different data sources and make sure that you see what those elements actually are in a relatively analytical manner. Actually the ability to extract data in some ways. Active learning, proactive learning and learning strategies. I mean, the ability to proactively learn, proactively search, be curious and search for knowledge. Complex problem-solving, we also talked a little bit about it. That goes hand in hand normally with critical thinking and analysis. Creativity, we also talked about. I think originality, initiative, I think will be very important for a long time. I’m not saying AI at some point won’t be able to emulate genuine creativity. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that, but for the time being, it has tremendous difficulty doing so. Bertrand SchmittBut you can use AI in creative endeavours. Nuno Goncalves PedroOf course, no doubt. Bertrand SchmittYou can do stuff you will be unable to do, create music, create videos, create stuff that will be very difficult. I see that as an evolution of tools. It’s like now cameras are so cheap to create world-class quality videos, for instance. That if you’re a student, you want to learn cinema, you can do it truly on the cheap. But now that’s the next level. You don’t even need actors, you don’t even need the real camera. You can start to make movies. It’s amazing as a learning tool, as a creative tool. It’s for sure a new art form in a way that we have seen expanding on YouTube and other places, and the same for creating new images, new music. I think that AI can be actually a tool for expression and for creativity, even in its current form. Nuno Goncalves PedroAbsolutely. A couple of other skills that people would say maybe are soft skills, but I think are incredibly powerful and very distinctive from machines. Empathy, the ability to figure out how the other person’s feeling and why they’re feeling like that. Adaptability, openness, the flexibility, the ability to drop something and go a different route, to maybe be intellectually honest and recognise this is the wrong way and the wrong angle. Last but not the least, I think on the positive side, tech literacy. I mean, a lot of people are, oh, we don’t need to be tech literate. Actually, I think this is a moment in time where you need to be more tech literate than ever. It’s almost a given. It’s almost like table stakes, that you are at some tech literacy. What matters less? I think memorisation and just the cramming of information and using your brain as a library just for the sake of it, I think probably will matter less and less. If you are a subject or a class that’s just solely focused on cramming your information, I feel that’s probably the wrong way to go. I saw some analysis that the management of people is less and less important. I actually disagree with that. I think in the interim, because of what we were discussing earlier, that subject-matter experts at the top end can do a lot of stuff by themselves and therefore maybe need to less… They have less people working for them because they become a little bit more like superpowered individual contributors. But I feel that’s a blip rather than what’s going to happen over time. I think collaboration is going to be a key element of what needs to be done in the future. Still, I don’t see that changing, and therefore, management needs to be embedded in it. What other skills should disappear or what other skills are less important to be developed, I guess? Bertrand SchmittWorld learning, I’ve never, ever been a fan. I think that one for sure. But at the same time, I want to make sure that we still need to learn about history or geography. What we don’t want to learn is that stupid word learning. I still remember as a teenager having to learn the list of all the 100 French departments. I mean, who cared? I didn’t care about knowing the biggest cities of each French department. It was useless to me. But at the same time, geography in general, history in general, there is a lot to learn from the past from the current world. I think we need to find that right balance. The details, the long list might not be that necessary. At the same time, the long arc of history, our world where it is today, I think there is a lot of value. I think you talk about analysing data. I think this one is critical because the world is generating more and more data. We need to benefit from it. There is no way we can benefit from it if we don’t understand how data is produced, what data means. If we don’t understand the base of statistical analysis. I think some of this is definitely critical. But for stuff, we have to do less. It’s beyond world learning. I don’t know, honestly. I don’t think the core should change so much. But the tools we use to learn the core, yes, probably should definitely improve. Nuno Goncalves PedroOne final debate, maybe just to close, I think this chapter on education and skill building and all of that. There’s been a lot of discussion around specialisation versus generalisation, specialists versus generalists. I think for a very long time, the world has gone into a route that basically frames specialisation as a great thing. I think both of us have lived in Silicon Valley. I still do, but we both lived in Silicon Valley for a significant period of time. The centre of the universe in terms of specialisation, you get more and more specialised. I think we’re going into a world that becomes a little bit different. It becomes a little bit like what Amazon calls athletes, right? The T-Pi-shaped people get the most value, where you’re brought on top, you’re a very strong generalist on top, and you have a lot of great soft skills around management and empathy and all that stuff. Then you might have one or two subject matter expertise areas. Could be like business development and sales or corporate development and business development or product management and something else. I think those are the winners of the future. The young winners of the future are going to be more and more T-pi-shaped, if I had to make a guess. Specialisation matters, but maybe not as much as it matters today. It matters from the perspective that you still have to have spikes in certain areas of focus. But I’m not sure that you get more and more specialised in the area you’re in. I’m not sure that’s necessarily how humans create most value in their arena of deployment and development. Professionally, and therefore, I’m not sure education should be more and more specialised just for the sake of it. What do you think? Bertrand SchmittI think that that’s a great point. I would say I could see an argument for both. I think there is always some value in being truly an expert on a topic so that you can keep digging around, keep developing the field. You cannot develop a field without people focused on developing a field. I think that one is there to stay. At the same time, I can see how in many situations, combining knowledge of multiple fields can bring tremendous value. I think it’s very clear as well. I think it’s a balance. We still need some experts. At the same time, there is value to be quite horizontal in terms of knowledge. I think what is still very valuable is the ability to drill through whenever you need. I think that we say it’s actually much easier than before. That for me is a big difference. I can see how now you can drill through on topics that would have been very complex to go into. You will have to read a lot of books, watch a lot of videos, potentially do a new education before you grasp much about a topic. Well, now, thanks to AI, you can drill very quickly on topic of interest to you. I think that can be very valuable. Again, if you just do that blindly, that’s calling for trouble. But if you have some knowledge in the area, if you know how to deal with AI, at least today’s AI and its constraints, I think there is real value you can deliver thanks to an ability to drill through when you don’t. For me, personally, one thing I’ve seen is some people who are generalists have lost this ability. They have lost this ability to drill through on a topic, become expert on some topic very quickly. I think you need that. If you’re a VC, you need to analyse opportunity, you need to discover a new space very quickly. We say, I think some stuff can move much quicker than before. I’m always careful now when I see some pure generalists, because one thing I notice is that they don’t know how to do much anything any more. That’s a risk. We have example of very, very, very successful people. Take an Elon Musk, take a Steve Jobs. They have this ability to drill through to the very end of any topic, and that’s a real skill. Sometimes I see people, you should trust the people below. They know better on this and that, and you should not question experts and stuff. Hey, guys, how is it that they managed to build such successful companies? Is their ability to drill through and challenge hardcore experts. Yes, they will bring top people in the field, but they have an ability to learn quickly a new space and to drill through on some very technical topics and challenge people the right way. Challenge, don’t smart me. Not the, I don’t care, just do it in 10 days. No, going smartly, showing people those options, learning enough in the field to be dangerous. I think that’s a very, very important skill to have. Nuno Goncalves PedroMaybe switching to the dark side and talking a little bit about the bad stuff. I think a lot of people have these questions. There’s been a lot of debate around ChatGPT. I think there’s still a couple of court cases going on, a suicide case that I recently a bit privy to of a young man that killed himself, and OpenAI and ChatGPT as a tool currently really under the magnifying glass for, are people getting confused about AI and AI looks so similar to us, et cetera. The Ethics, Safety, and Privacy Landscape Maybe let’s talk about the ethics and safety and privacy landscape a little bit and what’s happening. Sadly, AI will also create the advent of a world that has still a lot of biases at scale. I mean, let’s not forget the AI is using data and data has biases. The models that are being trained on this data will have also biases that we’re seeing with AI, the ability to do things that are fake, deep fakes in video and pictures, et cetera. How do we, as a society, start dealing with that? How do we, as a society, start dealing with all the attacks that are going on? On the privacy side, the ability for these models and for these tools that we have today to actually have memory of the conversations we’ve had with them already and have context on what we said before and be able to act on that on us, and how is that information being farmed and that data being farmed? How is it being used? For what purposes is it being used? As I said, the dark side of our conversation today. I think we’ve been pretty positive until now. But in this world, I think things are going to get worse before they get better. Obviously, there’s a lot of money being thrown at rapid evolution of these tools. I don’t see moratoriums coming anytime soon or bans on tools coming anytime soon. The world will need to adapt very, very quickly. As we’ve talked in previous episodes, regulation takes a long time to adapt, except Europe, which obviously regulates maybe way too fast on technology and maybe not really on use cases and user flows. But how do we deal with this world that is clearly becoming more complex? Bertrand SchmittI mean, on the European topic, I believe Europe should focus on building versus trying to sensor and to control and to regulate. But going back to your point, I think there are some, I mean, very tough use case when you see about voice cloning, for instance. Grandparents believing that their kids are calling them, have been kidnapped when there is nothing to it, and they’re being extorted. AI generating deepfakes that enable sextortion, that stuff. I mean, it’s horrible stuff, obviously. I’m not for regulation here, to be frank. I think that we should for sure prosecute to the full extent of the law. The law has already a lot of tools to deal with this type of situation. But I can see some value to try to prevent that in some tools. If you are great at building tools to generate a fake voice, maybe you should make sure that you are not helping scammers. If you can generate easily images, you might want to make sure that you cannot easily generate tools that can be used for creating deep fakes and sex extortion. I think there are things that should be done by some providers to limit such terrible use cases. At the same time, the genie is out. There is also that part around, okay, the world will need to adapt. But yeah, you cannot trust everything that is done. What could have looked like horrible might not be true. You need to think twice about some of this, what you see, what you hear. We need to adjust how we live, how we work, but also how we prevent that. New tools, I believe, will appear. We will learn maybe to be less trustful on some stuff, but that is what it is. Nuno Goncalves PedroMaybe to follow up on that, I fully agree with everything you just said. We need to have these tools that will create boundary conditions around it as well. I think tech will need to fight tech in some ways, or we’ll need to find flaws in tech, but I think a lot of money needs to be put in it as well. I think my shout-out here, if people are listening to us, are entrepreneurs, et cetera, I think that’s an area that needs more and more investment, an area that needs more and more tooling platforms that are helpful to this. It’s interesting because that’s a little bit like how OpenAI was born. OpenAI was born to be a positive AI platform into the future. Then all of a sudden we’re like, “Can we have tools to control ChatGPT and all these things that are out there now?” How things have changed, I guess. But we definitely need to have, I think, a much more significant investment into these toolings and platforms than we do have today. Otherwise, I don’t see things evolving much better. There’s going to be more and more of this. There’s going to be more and more deep fakes, more and more, lack of contextualisation. There’s countries now that allow you to get married with not a human. It’s like you can get married to an algorithm or a robot or whatever. It’s like, what the hell? What’s happening now? It’s crazy. Hopefully, we’ll have more and more boundary conditions. Bertrand SchmittYeah, I think it will be a boom for cybersecurity. No question here. Tools to make sure that is there a better trust system or detecting the fake. It’s not going to be easy, but it has been the game in cybersecurity for a long time. You have some new Internet tools, some new Internet products. You need to find a difference against it and the constant war between the attackers and the defender. Nuno Goncalves PedroThe Parental Playbook: Actionable Strategies Maybe last but not the least in today’s episode, the parent playbook I’m a parent, what should I do I’ll actually let you start first. Bertrand, I’m parent-alike, but I am, sadly, not a parent, so I’ll let you start first, and then I’ll share some of my perspectives as well as a parent-like figure. Bertrand SchmittYeah, as a parent to an 8-year, I would say so far, no real difference than before. She will do some homework on an iPad. But beyond that, I cannot say I’ve seen at this stage so much difference. I think it will come up later when you have different type of homeworks when the kids start to be able to use computers on their own. What I’ve seen, however, is some interesting use cases. When my daughter is not sure about the spelling, she simply asks, Siri. “Hey, Siri, how do you spell this or this or that?” I didn’t teach her that. All of this came on her own. She’s using Siri for a few stuff for work, and I’m quite surprised in a very smart, useful way. It’s like, that’s great. She doesn’t need to ask me. She can ask by herself. She’s more autonomous. Why not? It’s a very efficient way for her to work and learn about the world. I probably feel sad when she asks Siri if she’s her friend. That does not feel right to me. But I would say so far, so good. I’ve seen only AI as a useful tool and with absolutely very limited risk. At the same time, for sure, we don’t let our kid close to any social media or the like. I think some of this stuff is for sure dangerous. I think as a parent, you have to be very careful before authorising any social media. I guess at some point you have no choice, but I think you have to be very careful, very gradual, and putting a lot of controls and safety mechanism I mean, you talk about kids committing suicide. It’s horrible. As a parent, I don’t think you can have a bigger worry than that. Suddenly your kids going crazy because someone bullied them online, because someone tried to extort them online. This person online could be someone in the same school or some scammer on the other side of the world. This is very scary. I think we need to have a lot of control on our kids’ digital life as well as being there for them on a lot of topics and keep drilling into them how a lot of this stuff online is not true, is fake, is not important, and being careful, yes, to raise them, to be critical of stuff, and to share as much as possible with our parents. I think We have to be very careful. But I would say some of the most dangerous stuff so far, I don’t think it’s really coming from AI. It’s a lot more social media in general, I would say, but definitely AI is adding another layer of risk. Nuno Goncalves PedroFrom my perspective, having helped raise three kids, having been a parent-like role today, what I would say is I would highlight against the skills that I was talking about before, and I would work on developing those skills. Skills that relate to curiosity, to analytical behaviours at the same time as being creative, allowing for both, allowing for the left brain, right brain, allowing for the discipline and structure that comes with analytical thinking to go hand in hand with doing things in a very, very different way and experimenting and failing and doing things and repeating them again. All the skills that I mentioned before, focusing on those skills. I was very fortunate to have a parental unit. My father and my mother were together all their lives: my father, sadly, passing away 5 years ago that were very, very different, my mother, more of a hacker in mindset. Someone was very curious, medical doctor, allowing me to experiment and to be curious about things around me and not simplifying interactions with me, saying it as it was with a language that was used for that particular purpose, allowing me to interact with her friends, who were obviously adults. And then on the other side, I have my father, someone who was more disciplined, someone who was more ethical, I think that becomes more important. The ability to be ethical, the ability to have moral standing. I’m Catholic. There is a religious and more overlay to how I do things. Having the ability to portray that and pass that to the next generation and sharing with them what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable, I think is pretty critical and even more critical than it was before. The ability to be structured, to say and to do what you say, not just actually say a bunch of stuff and not do it. So, I think those things don’t go out of use, but I would really spend a lot more focus on the ability to do critical thinking, analytical thinking, having creative ideas, obviously, creating a little bit of a hacker mindset, how to cut corners to get to something is actually really more and more important. The second part is with all of this, the overlay of growth mindset. I feel having a more flexible mindset rather than a fixed mindset. What I mean by that is not praising your kids or your grandchildren for being very intelligent or very beautiful, which are fixed things, they’re static things, but praising them for the effort they put into something, for the learning that they put into something, for the process, raising the

Dr. Adam Solomon is a physician leader dedicated to patient-first care, quality outcomes, and collaborative healthcare partnerships. He practiced for 14 years in Salem, OR, providing the full spectrum of adult care (in-patient and out-patient) as part of a multi-specialty medical group. He became Managing Partner for the group as well as a board member and eventually President of the Independent Physicians Association (IPA). He was also President of the philanthropic foundation and a Trustee on CareMore's Mutual Employers Welfare Trust. He is now based in Los Angeles and responsible for the quality of care, patient satisfaction and overall outcomes.https://www.seniorcareauthority.com/resources/boomers-today/

Episode 443 "AI Infrastructure & Capital Strategy" w/ Brandon Chicotsky, Ph.D., Texas Senator Tan Parker, John Nichols, and Chase Friedman.  For more information on GBR and how to attend future events, please visit: www.godblessretirement.com Our monthly gatherings aim to offer an informational and positional advantage for attendees, whether de-risking investments or servicing deals. Our events are free, thanks to our strategic partners. Monthly topical gatherings were prompted by a joint family office relationship to meet regional lenders, which has since extended to professionals in service of capital. We invite you to the next topical session. Previously serving in the Texas House, Tan held leading committee roles on policy matters vital to our state. His leadership was instrumental in the unanimous election by his colleagues as chair of the House Republican Caucus during the 84th and 85th legislative sessions. Tan's legislative success touches a broad range of issues facing Texans and serves as a reflection of open dialogue with his constituency. His legislative accomplishments represent his extensive work fostering Texas' economic vitality and protecting our most vulnerable. Tan graduated from the University of Dallas and earned a Master's degree from the London School of Economics before building a distinguished private sector career in technology and private equity. He also created the book, Making Government Work. Tan Parker is a businessman, who grew up in North Texas working in his family's restaurants while volunteering in his community. He married his college sweetheart, Beth, and they moved to Flower Mound, raising their daughters, Lauren and Ashley. While family comes first, Tan considers working for the betterment of Texas the highest honor of his professional life. The bedrock of his service is exemplified through passionate advocacy for community and fighting for common-sense, conservative policies that strengthen Texas's prosperity. John Nichols is a recognized leader in artificial intelligence and innovation, currently serving as the Technology Lead for AI & Innovation within EY's Government & Public Sector (GPS) practice. Passionate about helping public institutions navigate the complexities of digital transformation, John works closely with city governments, state agencies, and public education systems to drive meaningful change through emerging technologies. He has played a key role in developing responsible AI frameworks, advancing the adoption of AI/ML in secure environments, and modernizing infrastructure with cloud-native, compliant solutions. John's work is grounded in a deep commitment to public service and innovation, especially in his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. He partners with leaders across government and education to ensure technology is applied in ways that are ethical, scalable, and inclusive. Whether collaborating with CIOs, economic development teams, or innovation labs, John brings a people-first approach rooted in trust, empathy, and a long-term vision for impact. He has spoken on AI at national forums, led executive conversations with state leaders, and partnered with organizations including the White House, Microsoft, and AAAE. John also serves on the board of the Keller Education Foundation and is a strong advocate for AI literacy in underserved communities. At the heart of it all, John is a community builder. He believes the most powerful innovations are those shaped by the needs of the people they serve and he works every day to make that belief real. Chase Friedman is Managing Partner at Alpine Anchor, an AI automation platform making enterprise capabilities accessible to SMBs. With 10 years in sales and solution architecting, he combines technical expertise and business acumen, rapidly architecting solutions. Previously spending weeks building integrations at Venn Technology, he now delivers them in hours. His philosophy: click to deploy, not code—enabling businesses to scale operations without scaling headcount.

Scott Bushkie has facilitated over $2 billion in business sales—and he's seen it all. From founders accepting lowball offers to sellers leaving millions on the table because they didn't prepare, Scott breaks down exactly what it takes to maximize your exit. In this episode, we cover: ✅ Why most business owners are worth 30-40% LESS than they think ✅ The "$500K mistake" that could have been avoided with simple tax planning ✅ How to turn an unsolicited $31M offer into a $51.3M sale using POMO™ (Power of Multiple Options) ✅ The 3-legged stool framework: Real Market Value → Net Number → Lifestyle Number ✅ Why knowing your business value means nothing if you don't know what you'll NET ✅ The biggest red flags that kill business valuations (customer concentration, owner dependency, etc.) ✅ How AI is transforming M&A and what sellers need to know NOW Scott's no-BS approach to exit strategy will change how you think about building and selling your business. Whether you're planning to exit in 2 years or 20 years, this conversation is packed with actionable insights that could literally save (or make) you millions. About Scott Bushkie: Scott is the Founder & Managing Partner of Cornerstone Business Services, one of the most respected M&A advisory firms in the lower middle market. With 27+ years of experience and hundreds of successful exits under his belt, Scott has built a national network of 70,000 financial advisors, 300+ business coaches, and 75 CPA firms—all focused on helping entrepreneurs exit right. He's the creator of the proprietary Assurance 360™ process that creates competitive bidding environments and the POMO™ framework that ensures sellers never leave money on the table.

Hotel food & beverage doesn't fail because of trends — it fails when concept, design, and execution never fully line up. On #NoVacancyNews, I'm joined by Ami Alexander, Managing Partner at Barrel Aged Management, to talk about how #hotel #restaurants actually get built, refreshed, and kept relevant over time. Ami's background spans luxury hotels, global restaurant groups, and lifestyle brands, including time with Hakkasan, Sydell Group, Montage, and Pendry. That perspective shapes how she thinks about storytelling, training, and why hotels can't afford to treat F&B as an afterthought. What stood out to me is how often restaurants get compromised long before they open — furniture chosen too early, kitchens designed without the menu in mind, or concepts forced to fit an already built box. We cover:

Today's episode was recorded live at Ohio VC Fest, where I hosted a panel on AI, joined by an incredible group of investors, including:Peggy Roberts, Managing Partner at The Riverside Company;Candice Matthews Brackeen, Founding Partner at Lightship Capital;Hardik Desai, Managing Partner at JumpStart Ventures;Jamie Weston, Managing Director at Spring Mountain Capital.Together, we walk through where real value is being created with AI, how founders can best leverage it in their business and in raising capital, and explore the vast opportunities and downstream implications of AI looking forward!00:00:00 Introduction to AI Investment Perspectives00:04:27 Understanding the AI Hype Cycle00:06:44 AI in Startups vs. Established Companies00:09:21 Defensibility and Team Dynamics in AI Investments00:12:25 AI's Impact on Business Operations00:15:15 Fundraising Strategies in the AI Landscape00:18:12 Evaluating AI Companies: Metrics and Expectations00:21:08 The Role of Education and Training in AI Adoption00:23:45 Future Predictions for AI in Various Industries00:26:27 Staying abreast AI's Evolution00:43:34 Closing Thoughts on AI-----LINKS:https://ohiovcfest.com/https://www.riversidecompany.com/https://www.lightship.capital/https://jumpstart.vc/https://www.springmountaincapital.com/https://jumpstartinc.org/https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyrhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/candicebrackeen/https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardikadesai/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-weston-75136a2/-----SPONSOR:Roundstone InsuranceRoundstone Insurance is proud to sponsor Lay of The Land. Founder and CEO, Michael Schroeder, has committed full-year support for the podcast, recognizing its alignment with the company's passion for entrepreneurship, innovation, and community leadership.Headquartered in Rocky River, Ohio, Roundstone was founded in 2005 with a vision to deliver better healthcare outcomes at a more affordable cost. To bring that vision to life, the company pioneered the group medical captive model — a self-funded health insurance solution that provides small and mid-sized businesses with greater control and significant savings.Over the past two decades, Roundstone has grown rapidly, creating nearly 200 jobs in Northeast Ohio. The company works closely with employers and benefits advisors to navigate the complexities of commercial health insurance and build custom plans that prioritize employee well-being over shareholder returns. By focusing on aligned incentives and better health outcomes, Roundstone is helping businesses save thousands in Per Employee Per Year healthcare costs.Roundstone Insurance — Built for entrepreneurs. Backed by innovation. Committed to Cleveland.-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

Nick Morianos is Managing Partner at Silver Gold Bull—one of Canada's largest precious metals dealers, with a massive global reach and billions in bullion sold. We dive deep into the current state of the precious metals market, including the evolving gold/silver ratio (which has tightened significantly in recent months amid strong industrial demand for silver and gold's safe-haven status), practical advice for first-time buyers looking to navigate premiums, storage, and timing, the benefits of starting small with fractional gold options for accessibility and diversification, and how Canadians can strategically use their RRSPs (or other registered accounts like TFSAs) to hold physical gold and silver bullion on a tax-advantaged basis. Tickets to Cornerstone Forum 26': https://www.showpass.com/cornerstone26/Tickets to the Mashspiel:https://www.showpass.com/mashspiel/Silver Gold Bull Links:Website: https://silvergoldbull.ca/Email: SNP@silvergoldbull.comText Grahame: (587) 441-9100Bow Valley Credit UnionBitcoin: www.bowvalleycu.com/en/personal/investing-wealth/bitcoin-gatewayEmail: welcome@BowValleycu.com Prophet River Links:Website: store.prophetriver.com/Email: SNP@prophetriver.comUse the code “SNP” on all ordersGet your voice heard: Text Shaun 587-217-8500

Are you a financial advisor planning for succession or retirement? How to navigate the complex world of advisor transitions with a personalized, consultative approach. In this episode of the Registered Investment Advisor Podcast, Seth Greene interviews Andrew D. Mirolli, CEPA®, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at buyAUM.com, who explains how his company acts as a “financial matchmaker,” helping financial advisors plan their succession or sale to the right buyers. Drawing from over a decade in private equity and capital raising, Andrew shares insights on how to approach succession planning, what impacts valuations, and how technology like AI and blockchain is shifting the industry. If you're a financial advisor thinking about the future of your practice, this episode provides invaluable advice on making your business more marketable and transferable. Key Takeaways: → How buyAUM.com matches financial advisors with the right buyers. → Why buyAUM.com focuses on deep conversations and understanding the seller's needs. → How the surge in market consolidation has increased seller fatigue, making a personalized approach to matchmaking even more important. → Why AI and blockchain are changing the financial advising landscape, especially in managing client relationships and valuations. → How asking the right questions can help clients discover their ideal succession plan. Andrew D. Mirolli, CEPA®, is Vice President at buyAUM.com, where he helps independent RIAs and advisory teams design client-safe successions and growth-minded partial equity transactions. He partners with firm owners to evaluate strategic options—full exits, mergers, or “sell & grow” structures—then builds operator-grade playbooks around valuation levers, documentation, and client communications that protect trust, culture, and enterprise value. Drawing on experience with solo practices and multi-partner firms, Andrew focuses on aligning partner timelines, de-risking handoffs, and preserving retention through a clear cadence of client re-introductions and meetings. Known for translating complex deal mechanics into simple steps advisors can act on next quarter, he brings a practical lens to high-stakes transitions. Andrew is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) and a frequent resource to advisors who want to prepare years before they sell—so they can exit (or scale) on their terms. Connect With Andrew: Website: https://buyaum.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buyaum/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-d-mirolli-cepa%C2%AE-7a304259/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's show features: - Stephen Hill, Managing Partner at Oakes Auto Inc - Dave Thomas, Director of Content Marketing at CDK Global - Greg Smith, Vice President of Operations at Leavens Automotive Group This episode is brought to you by: Experian – In the past year, 85% of dealers have suspected or confirmed fraud cases, primarily due to income fabrication and forged documents. The fix? Experian Automotive's Fraud Protect. Fraud Protect quickly and easily validates customer identities and documents with zero disruption to your sales flow or the consumer journey. Learn more at: https://www.experian.com/automotive/fraud-protect Dealer Video Excellence Challenge, presented by Covideo – enter the contest by submitting your videos for your chance to win $1,000 and 3 months of Covideo access here: https://2tqce38uozv.typeform.com/to/KEOuOixJ — Check out Car Dealership Guy's stuff: CDG Circles ➤ https://cdgcircles.com/ CDG News ➤ https://news.dealershipguy.com/ CDG Jobs ➤ https://jobs.dealershipguy.com/ CDG Recruiting ➤ https://www.cdgrecruiting.com/ My Socials: X ➤ https://www.twitter.com/GuyDealership Instagram ➤ https://www.instagram.com/cardealershipguy/ TikTok ➤ https://www.tiktok.com/@guydealership LinkedIn ➤ https://www.linkedin.com/company/cardealershipguy/ Threads ➤ https://www.threads.net/@cardealershipguy Facebook ➤ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077402857683

Is 2026 the year that changes everything in healthcare?Steve and Halle sit down with legendary healthcare VC Annie Lamont for their annual predictions episode to dive into 2026 predictions and trends that founders and operators should pay attention to. We cover:

Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. It's a new year, and that means the crew is back with their annual year-end awards and predictions episode. First up: the 2025 winners and losers. From Trump's meme-coin windfall to Gary Gensler's legacy getting torched, from prediction markets going mainstream to Web3 getting its official eulogy — no one is safe. The team debates the biggest surprises (Circle's shocking IPO run, Ethereum's pivot under new leadership, Zcash's unlikely comeback), the best new mechanisms (ICO 2.0, DATs, federal preemption), and the year's best memes (including the Chopping Block's own tariff factory video). Then comes the flops and comebacks: AI agents that overpromised, Berachain's fall from grace, and Tether somehow winning again. Finally, the crew reviews how badly their 2025 predictions aged — spoiler: not great — and lays out fresh calls for 2026 including AI-powered hacks, stable-coin-funded AI capex, and equity perps taking over DeFi. New year, fresh takes, brutal honesty — let's get into it. Show highlights