Podcasts about Ott

Sari Zeidler is the vice president of audience development for NBCUniversal Local.In this role, Zeidler leads audience strategy for the division's extensive digital portfolio, which includes desktop and mobile sites, mobile and connected apps, social media and OTT platforms for 50 media properties, including NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations and the NBC Sports Regional Networks.Overall, Zeidler has more than 15 years of experience growing audiences and building engaging content strategies at some of the world's leading media organizations. Throughout her media career – which has included experiences as a writer, editor and producer – she has worked in Washington D.C., Atlanta, New York and London.Prior to joining NBCU in 2019, Zeidler spent nearly three years with Quartz as director of growth and editorial director of growth. Previously, she served as social media editor and international homepage & features producer for BBC.com during a three-year tenure. She also worked at CNN in a variety of digital, production and news roles.Zeidler began her career as an award-winning general assignment reporter for the Long Island Herald after graduating from the University at Albany with a degree in English.

In this episode of "The Free Lawyer," host Gary interviews Bo Royal, a former Fortune 500 marketing executive who successfully transitioned to legal marketing. Bo shares how he quadrupled online case volume at a major Philadelphia injury law firm by implementing data-driven strategies and shifting focus from traditional to digital channels. He discusses the importance of tracking, intake systems, and operational readiness for law firms, and explains how his company, Pareto Legal, helps firms build robust case pipelines. The episode offers practical insights for maximizing marketing efficiency and leveraging digital tools to drive sustainable law firm growth.Bo Royal is a former Fortune 500 agency exec who spent over a decade scaling online revenues for iconic brands like Calvin Klein, GNC, Sallie Mae, and Kate Spade New York. After leaving the corporate grind, he took the helm at a top Philadelphia injury law firm, supercharging its online case volume by fourfold through data-driven decisions and relentless focus. His journey from high-stakes agency work to legal marketing quickly established him as an industry expert with a knack for results.Now, as an advisory board member at that very firm—thriving with eight-figure revenues and 12 office locations across Pennsylvania—Bo drives innovation at Pareto Legal. His team empowers small and medium-sized law firms to secure seven- to eight-figure case pipelines by leveraging real-world experience and smart digital strategies. When he's not optimizing campaigns, Bo shares his marketing insights on podcasts and uses his success to give back to the community.Bo's Transition from Corporate to Legal Marketing (00:02:05) Initial Surprises in Legal Marketing (00:03:59) Diagnosing and Transforming the Law Firm's Marketing (00:05:49) Shifting from Traditional to Digital Marketing (00:08:35)Earned vs. Unearned Case Pipeline (00:10:41) OTT and Modern Advertising Explained (00:12:13) Importance of Data-Driven Decision Making (00:13:19)Implementing a Culture of Data and Change (00:15:45) Pareto Legal's Differentiated Approach (00:18:22) Assessing Firm Readiness for Digital Marketing (00:22:06) Vanity Metrics vs. Real Results (00:25:39) Holistic Marketing Efficiency and Attribution (00:27:52) The Hawthorne Effect and Tracking Benefits (00:32:06) Current Trends and AI in Legal Marketing (00:33:49)You can find The Free Lawyer Assessment here- https://www.garymiles.net/the-free-lawyer-assessmentWould you like to learn what it looks like to become a truly Free Lawyer? You can schedule a complimentary call here: https://calendly.com/garymiles-successcoach/one-one-discovery-callWould you like to learn more about Breaking Free or order your copy? https://www.garymiles.net/break-free

Die neue Vorsitzende der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, sieht kein Problem darin, dass sie sich in einer Kampfkandidatur durchgesetzt hat – gegen den Wunschkandidaten des Bundeskanzlers. Sie unterstützt grundsätzlich den Kurs des Kanzlers in der Außenpolitik. AKK fordert aber deutlich mehr Härte gegenüber Moskau. Sie ist dafür, eingefrorene russische Vermögen zu nutzen, um weiteren Druck auf Wladimir Putin auszuüben.Im Interview mit Alexander Wiedmann diskutiert Taxfix-CEO Martin Ott die Standortbedingungen für deutsche Start-ups. Er kritisiert, dass die digitalen Prozesse zu langsam seien, und fordert einen „One-Stop-Shop“ für Unternehmensgründungen nach internationalem Vorbild. Ein weiterer wichtiger Punkt ist für Ott, privates Kapital in Europa zu mobilisieren. Mit dem „richtigen Mut“ lasse sich in Deutschland noch viel erreichen.Hier geht es zur Anmeldung für den Space.TableTable Briefings - For better informed decisions.Sie entscheiden besser, weil Sie besser informiert sind – das ist das Ziel von Table.Briefings. Wir verschaffen Ihnen mit jedem Professional Briefing, mit jeder Analyse und mit jedem Hintergrundstück einen Informationsvorsprung, am besten sogar einen Wettbewerbsvorteil. Table.Briefings bietet „Deep Journalism“, wir verbinden den Qualitätsanspruch von Leitmedien mit der Tiefenschärfe von Fachinformationen. Professional Briefings kostenlos kennenlernen: table.media/testenHier geht es zu unseren WerbepartnernImpressum: https://table.media/impressumDatenschutz: https://table.media/datenschutzerklaerungBei Interesse an Audio-Werbung in diesem Podcast melden Sie sich gerne bei Laurence Donath: laurence.donath@table.media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The day is finally here! Gather the family once more, as the south coast duo bring some festive well wishing, reflections and hopes for the coming year in their annual Christmas Day speech.Merry Christmas and a happy New Year from Alex & Dan!#GITS

Í þættinum fjallar Halla um það sem tók við eftir að orðið tölva varð til í málinu. Hún segir m.a. frá samtali sínu við Sigrúnu Helgadóttur, tölfræðing, og veltir því upp hvers vegna við segjum „talva“ í stað „tölva“.      ////////////////////////      Anna Ólafsdóttir Björnsson. (2018). Tölvuvæðing í hálfa öld: Upplýsingatækni á Íslandi 1964-2014. Skýrslutæknifélag Íslands. / Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. (1989). Íslensk orðsifjabók. Orðabók Háskólans. / Baldur Jónsson. (1994). Um orðið tölva. Í Sagnaþing: helgað Jónasi Kristjánssyni sjötugum 10. apríl 1994 (bls. 33-43). Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag. / Guðrún Kvaran. (2005, 6. apríl). Af hverju segja allir „talva“ í staðinn fyrir „tölva“? Vísindavefurinn. https://www.visindavefur.is/svar.php?id=4873 / Höskuldur Þráinsson. (1982). Bölvuð talvan. Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði, 4(1), bls. 293-294. / Kjartan G. Ottósson. (1983). Talva, valva og wōn-stofnar. Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði, 5(1), bls. 178-183. / Sigrún Helgadóttir. (1993). Um uppruna orðsins tölva. Tölvumál, 18(4), bls. 28-29. / Sigrún Helgadóttir. (2018). Að tala og rita um tæknina á íslensku. sky.is. https://www.sky.is/sagautaislandi/139-serkaflar-1/2656-serkafli-adh-tala-og-rita-um-taeknina-a-islensku / Tölvuorðasafnið, hluti af Íðorðabanka Árnastofnunar: https://tos.sky.is/leit//ordabok/TOLVUORDSKY / Þorsteinn Sæmundsson. (1982). Um vikur ársins, almanök og orðið “tölva”. Tölvumál, 7(5), bls. 9-12. / Án höfundar. (1965). Ársskýrsla. Veðráttan 1965: Ársyfirlit samið á Veðurstofunni, 42(Ársyfirlit), bls. 132. / Án höfundar. (1967, 13. júlí). Talandi tölvur. Morgunblaðið, bls. 19.

We continue Christmas Season this week and we've done something a little bit different! Join the dynamic duo of the south coast on the orange sofa with your choice of beverage and watch Home Alone with us.With live commentary, facts galore, and just what exactly are Kevin's traps really doing to the wet bandits?Let us know if we should do more watch alongs?#GITS

Fluent Fiction - Hungarian: Christmas Chaos: The Bird That Stole the Party Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/hu/episode/2025-12-20-08-38-20-hu Story Transcript:Hu: A fenyőillatú, ünnepi díszekkel ékesített Botanikus Kert Kávézó varázslatos hellyé változott karácsony környékén.En: The pine-scented, festively decorated Botanikus Kert Kávézó transformed into a magical place around Christmas.Hu: Minden sarokban piros mikulásvirágok álltak, és a mennyezetről füzérek lógtak.En: In every corner stood red poinsettias, and garlands hung from the ceiling.Hu: Gergely, egy középkorú, vidám ember, aki imádta a természetet, már alig várta, hogy barátaival, Mártával és Zoltánnal, meghitt teázást tartson.En: Gergely, a middle-aged, cheerful man who loved nature, could hardly wait to have a cozy tea time with his friends, Márta and Zoltán.Hu: Gergely álma az volt, hogy tökéletes karácsonyi összejövetelt szervezzen.En: Gergely's dream was to organize the perfect Christmas gathering.Hu: Ezúttal minden simán akart menni, ezért különleges figyelmet fordított a részletekre.En: This time, he wanted everything to go smoothly, so he paid special attention to the details.Hu: Az asztal körül ültek a barátai, közel a beltéri kert szívéhez, fenyőágakkal és mikuláscsizmákkal díszített saroknál.En: His friends sat around the table, close to the heart of the indoor garden, in a corner adorned with pine branches and Christmas stockings.Hu: Az asztalukon illatos teák és frissen sült karácsonyi sütemények sorakoztak.En: On their table, fragrant teas and freshly baked Christmas cookies were lined up.Hu: Ám egy szemtelen, ámde ártalmatlan kis madár felborította Gergely terveit.En: However, a cheeky yet harmless little bird disrupted Gergely's plans.Hu: A kávézó törzsvendége volt ez a madár, aki azonnal célba vette a finom karácsonyi süteményeket.En: The bird was a regular at the café and immediately targeted the delicious Christmas cookies.Hu: Emberek megdöbbenve figyelték, ahogy a madár minden pár percben leszáll, és egy-egy süteményt megcsíp.En: People watched in astonishment as the bird landed every few minutes and pecked at a cookie.Hu: Gergely először csak barátságosan intett felé, remélve, hogy elriasztja.En: At first, Gergely waved at it in a friendly manner, hoping to scare it away.Hu: De a madár szívós volt.En: But the bird was persistent.Hu: Gergely próbálkozott azzal is, hogy egy darab kekszet ajánlott fel neki, talán így megszűnik az édességlopás.En: Gergely also tried offering it a piece of biscuit, perhaps to stop the sweet theft.Hu: De a madár csak még éhesebb lett.En: But the bird only became hungrier.Hu: Miközben Gergely egyre inkább elvesztette türelmét, a jelenet komikussá kezdett válni.En: As Gergely grew increasingly impatient, the scene started to become comical.Hu: Márta és Zoltán sem tudták visszafogni a nevetést, ahogy a madár az asztalon billegő tálcát fölborítva egy mézeskalácsot pontosan a kerti szökőkút bugyogó vizébe repített.En: Márta and Zoltán couldn't hold back their laughter as the bird, tipping a wobbly tray on the table, precisely sent a gingerbread cookie flying into the bubbling water of the garden fountain.Hu: Ez a pillanat eltörölte Gergely tökéletesség iránti vágyát.En: This moment erased Gergely's desire for perfection.Hu: A barátaival együtt felnevetett, könnyekben úszva nevettek a madár bátorságán.En: He burst into laughter with his friends, tears flowing as they laughed at the bird's boldness.Hu: "Gyertek, menjünk be!En: "Come on, let's go inside!"Hu: " mondta Gergely végül kiszáradó hangon a nevetéstől, "Ott talán nyugalomban megesszük a maradék süteményeket.En: Gergely finally said in a drying voice from laughter, "There we can maybe eat the remaining cookies in peace."Hu: "Ahogy átsétáltak az üvegház melegébe, Gergely hirtelen megértette.En: As they walked into the warmth of the greenhouse, Gergely suddenly understood.Hu: A valódi öröm nem a tökéletességben rejlik, hanem a közösen átélt pillanatokban és a megosztott kacagásban a barátokkal.En: The real joy lies not in perfection but in the moments shared and the laughter shared with friends.Hu: Az idei karácsony talán nem maradt emlékezetes a hibátlan szervezés miatt, de a boldogságtól ragyogó arcok és a jókedv örökre megmaradt.En: This Christmas might not be remembered for flawless organization, but the faces glowing with happiness and the good cheer will remain forever. Vocabulary Words:pine-scented: fenyőillatúfestively: ünnepigarlands: füzérekcheerful: vidámcozy: meghittgathering: összejövetelsmoothly: simánfragrant: illatoscheeky: szemtelenastonishment: megdöbbenéspersistent: szívósimpatient: türelmetlencomical: komikuswobbly: billegőtipping: fölborítvafountain: szökőkútburst into laughter: felnevetettboldness: bátorságdrying voice: kiszáradó hanggreenhouse: üvegházshared: megosztottflawless: hibátlanglowing with happiness: boldogságtól ragyogóreal joy: valódi örömmagical: varázslatosattention: figyelemindoor: beltéribravery: bátorságpecked: megcsípetttears flowing: könnyekben úszva

Aadi Saikumar enters the Permit Room and talks about his mindset right now, the movies he liked recently, Saikumar wanting him to be a cricketer, growing up in Chennai, being a fan of Chiranjeevi, playing cricket, Prema Kavali, Lovely, OTT, disappointments, hits, being a father, Shambala and much more!Chapters:00:00 - Mindset right now4:47 - Movies he liked recently8:46 - Did Saikumar want him to be an actor?15:05 - Growing up in Chennai21:25 - Big fan of Chiranjeevi24:07 - Cricket during inter34:32 - Learning dance39:24 - Dubbing is hard44:20 - Prema Kavali & Lovely50:54 - Comedy timing55:15 - Sukumarudu59:12 - How to cope with disappointment?1:11:06 - Is it difficult to say no?1:16:09 - OTT appreciation1:24:09 - Being a father1:28:25 - Relationship with social media1:34:29 - Director's actor1:38:51 - Executing a script is difficult1:41:55 - Shambala1:47:39 - Drinking career1:49:17 - Hostage movies1:53:00 - Four aspects

Dalam konferensi pers KPK bersama Kejaksaan Agung pada Jumat dini hari, Plt. Deputi Penindakan dan Eksekusi KPK, Asep Guntur, menyebutkan bahwa kasus dugaan pemerasan yang terjadi di Banten kini diserahkan ke Kejaksaan Agung. KPK juga telah menyerahkan pihak yang terjaring operasi tangkap tangan (OTT) beserta sejumlah barang bukti.Sesjamtintel Kejagung, Sarjono Turin, menjelaskan bahwa oknum jaksa yang terjaring OTT KPK tengah berada dalam proses penyidikan Kejaksaan Agung. Sarjono memastikan bahwa Kejaksaan Agung akan memproses oknum jaksa tersebut secara transparan.Sebelumnya, KPK telah melakukan operasi tangkap tangan (OTT) di wilayah Banten atas dugaan pemerasan. KPK berhasil mengamankan sejumlah barang bukti serta 5 orang, termasuk oknum kejaksaan.

Menjelang akhir tahun, Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi kembali melakukan operasi tangkap tangan (OTT) di sejumlah daerah, mulai dari Banten dan Jakarta, Kabupaten Bekasi, hingga Kalimantan Selatan. Sejumlah pihak diamankan, termasuk kepala daerah dan oknum penegak hukum, yang kembali menyorot persoalan integritas dan pengawasan dalam tata kelola pemerintahan.Bagaimana mencermati OTT KPK kali ini dan pesan apa yang ingin disampaikan kepada publik? Isu ini dibahas bersama M Jasin, Wakil Ketua KPK periode 2007–2011, untuk membaca pola, tantangan, serta arah pemberantasan korupsi ke depan.

Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi, atau Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi, kembali melakukan Operasi Tangkap Tangan terhadap Bupati Bekasi. Kasus ini kembali membuka pertanyaan besar yang belum kunjung terjawab secara tuntas: seberapa kuat sebenarnya pengawasan terhadap integritas kepala daerah di Indonesia?OTT ini bukan hanya soal individu, tetapi juga mencerminkan masih rapuhnya sistem pencegahan korupsi di tingkat daerah. Padahal, kepala daerah telah melalui berbagai tahapan pengawasan, mulai dari Laporan Harta Kekayaan Penyelenggara Negara, pengawasan internal pemerintah, hingga kontrol politik melalui DPRD dan partisipasi publik.Namun fakta di lapangan menunjukkan, mekanisme tersebut sering kali bersifat administratif dan belum menyentuh akar persoalan. Celah penyalahgunaan kewenangan masih terbuka lebar, terutama dalam sektor perizinan, pengadaan barang dan jasa, serta pengelolaan anggaran daerah—ruang-ruang yang rawan praktik suap dan gratifikasi.Pengawasan integritas sejatinya tidak cukup hanya mengandalkan penindakan setelah pelanggaran terjadi. Yang lebih penting adalah pencegahan sejak awal, melalui sistem transparansi anggaran, digitalisasi layanan publik, penguatan pengawasan internal, serta keterlibatan aktif masyarakat dan media.Kasus OTT Bupati Bekasi ini seharusnya menjadi momentum evaluasi menyeluruh. Bukan hanya bagi aparat penegak hukum, tetapi juga bagi pemerintah pusat, partai politik, dan pemilih. Sebab integritas kepala daerah bukan sekadar persoalan moral pribadi, melainkan hasil dari sistem yang dibangun—atau dibiarkan lemah—secara kolektif.Jika pengawasan masih longgar dan sanksi politik tidak memberi efek jera, maka OTT demi OTT akan terus berulang. Dan pada akhirnya, yang dirugikan bukan hanya negara, tetapi juga kepercayaan publik terhadap demokrasi dan pemerintahan daerah.TALK ::: Sekretaris Pendiri Indonesia Audit Watch, Iskandar Sitorus & Pengamat Politik, Mantan Ketua KPU Provinsi Jawa Tengah, Joko Purnomo

Rob Koenen, Founder and CBO of Tiledmedia, the company that built the multiview player for F1, joined me for a detailed conversation about the latest multiview deployments across the OTT industry. Rob and I discuss the different technical approaches to building multiview functionality, the trade-offs of each, and the challenges of delivering multiview across so many devices. We cover latency, the impact of limited bandwidth, customizing multiview layouts and the challenges in offering a multiview option that's scalable and personalized.Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

लोकसभा में ‘VB-G Ram G' बिल पास हुआ, जो 20 साल पुराने मनरेगा एक्ट की जगह लेगा, विपक्ष और AAP ने इसे गरीबों पर हमला और गांधी विचारों का अपमान करार दिया, लोकसभा में शांति विधेयक पारित हुआ, जबकि राज्यसभा में इस पर चर्चा हुई, शिक्षा मंत्रालय ने बताया कि देशभर के 5,149 सरकारी स्कूलों में कोई छात्र नहीं है, OTT प्लेटफॉर्म्स में प्रतिबंधित कंटेंट के लिए 43 प्लेटफॉर्म्स ब्लॉक किए गए, बिहार में डॉग शेल्टर बनाने का फैसला, नीतीश हिजाब विवाद पर जावेद अख्तर की कड़ी प्रतिक्रिया और रक्षा मंत्री राजनाथ सिंह ने नीदरलैंड्स से रक्षा सहयोग पर समझौते पर हस्ताक्षर किए. सिर्फ 5 मिनट में सुनिए शाम 4 बजे तक की बड़ी ख़बरें.

Operasi tangkap tangan kembali dilakukan Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi.Kali ini, yang terjaring adalah oknum penegak hukum—pilar yang seharusnya menjadi garda terdepan dalam menjaga keadilan dan integritas hukum di negeri ini.OTT ini bukan sekadar penindakan, tapi juga alarm keras bagi sistem penegakan hukum kita. Ketika aparat yang diberi kewenangan justru menyalahgunakannya, kepercayaan publik ikut dipertaruhkan. Pertanyaannya kemudian, mengapa kasus seperti ini terus berulang? Dan yang lebih penting, bagaimana mencegahnya agar tidak terjadi lagi?Penguatan pengawasan internal menjadi kunci pertama. Lembaga penegak hukum perlu memastikan sistem kontrol berjalan efektif, transparan, dan bebas kompromi.Kedua, integritas tidak cukup diajarkan—ia harus ditegakkan. Rekrutmen, promosi, hingga penempatan jabatan harus berbasis rekam jejak dan merit, bukan relasi atau kepentingan.Ketiga, hukuman yang tegas dan konsisten bagi pelanggar menjadi pesan penting bahwa tidak ada ruang toleransi bagi korupsi, siapa pun pelakunya.Dan terakhir, perlindungan bagi pelapor harus diperkuat, agar budaya diam bisa diubah menjadi budaya berani melapor.OTT KPK seharusnya menjadi momentum evaluasi menyeluruh, bukan sekadar sensasi sesaat.Karena keadilan hanya akan bermakna, jika mereka yang menegakkannya juga bersih dan berintegritas.TALK :: Eksekutif Indonesia Political Review (IPR), Iwan Setiawan & Pegiat Antikorupsi Lembaga Koordinasi Pemberantasan Korupsi (LKPK) - Bejo Suhendro

Welche Rolle Egisto Ott und sein Umfeld in der BVT-Affäre gespielt haben sollen, wie Ott im BVT-U-Ausschuss in engem Kontakt mit der FPÖ stand und warum der Ex-BVT-Beamte nun juristisch gegen Kritikerinnen und Kritiker vorgeht.Moderation: Max MillerRecherche: Stefan Melichar und Max Miller Produktion: Matthias HoferIntro: Franziska SchwarzSprecher: Louis NostitzMehr zum Thema Spionage lesen Sie hier: profil.at!  

God loves you so very much, and He has a plan for your life and your relationship with Him that He has had in the works since the foundations of the world, when you were only a twinkle in His eye. Join us as we celebrate the remarkable Love of God. On the podcast, we've been walking through the Abrahamic Covenant of Promise as a meditation on the four themes of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy, and now Love. On the fourth Sunday of Advent (Dec 21), we light all four candles. Christmas is almost here!! On Christmas Day, we encourage you to complete the Advent celebration with the lighting of the Christ Candle, which you can place at the center of your wreath. Join us on the trail as we wrap up the Advent series with a look at the remarkable love of God and as we celebrate some 2025 highlights and pray for our community. Grab your Bible and linger with us over the Binding of Isaac and the Message of Christmas (Gen 22) and meditate on the Gospel of Love given to us (Gal 3:8; Jn 15:13; Rom 8:32).Finally, wow, what a robust year 2025 has been! Thank you to everyone who has been a part of the journey – from prayer partners, to financial partners, to volunteers and beyond! Thank you for prioritizing your heart and the hearts of those around you as you cultivate a deeper walk with God. May you, being rooted and grounded in the love of Christ who dwells in you, be filled with all the fullness of God. (See Eph 3:14-20.) Merry Christmas!Soli Deo GloriaStephanie Warner P.S. This is the last episode of 2025. We'll be taking a break over the holidays and be back with you in January. The plan is to kick off the OTT year on January 12th, but stay tuned to our socials. Stephanie will communicate via OTT's Instagram (@onthetrail_podcast) especially if there are updates for the release schedule and such.

The emotions are running high in Arizona this week! On today's The Valley Verdict, we cover a coaching contract debate that brought Kenny Dillingham to tears, and a Lakers game that exposed the referee-controlled rhythm of the NBA.In this episode:Dillingham Triples Down: We start with the massive speculation that Kenny Dillingham might leave ASU for Michigan. We analyze Dillingham's raw, emotional response during his media availability on Saturday, where he said, with tears in his eyes: "I love this place... this place is a special place for me."The Referee Chaos: We break down the tough, chippy 116-114 loss to the Lakers, focusing entirely on the extreme free throw disparity (Lakers 43 FTs vs. Suns 25 FTs).Ott's Truth: We feature Coach Jordan Ott's blunt answer when asked about the constant stoppages: "No rhythm. There is no rhythm. They control the rhythm. That's what it is. It's stoppage, stoppage, stoppage."Don't miss our full breakdown of the emotional rollercoaster and what Ott's comments mean for the future of Suns-Lakers matchups! Subscribe to The Valley Verdict and follow us on Facebook [@thevalleyverdict], Instagram [@thevalleyverdictpodcast], and YouTube [@thevalleyverdict] for more analysis.

Fluent Fiction - Hungarian: Rediscovering Home: A Christmas Journey in Budapest Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/hu/episode/2025-12-14-23-34-02-hu Story Transcript:Hu: A Buda Vár fényárban tündökölt a karácsonyi időszak közepén.En: The Buda Vár shone with light in the middle of the Christmas season.Hu: Réka, aki nemrég tért vissza Kolozsvárról, kissé idegenül érezte magát Budapest utcáin.En: Réka, who had recently returned from Kolozsvár, felt a bit like a stranger on the streets of Budapest.Hu: De a szíve mélyén már várta a karácsonyi vásárt.En: But deep in her heart, she was already looking forward to the Christmas market.Hu: Egy meleg kabátban, sálba burkolózva sétált fel a lépcsőkön a Vár felé.En: Wrapped up in a warm coat and scarf, she walked up the steps towards the Castle.Hu: Az orrát csiklandozta a kürtőskalács és a forralt bor illata.En: The smell of kürtőskalács and mulled wine tickled her nose.Hu: Mellette Áron, lelkes kisöccse, egyfolytában beszélt az elkövetkezendő karácsonyi tervekről.En: Beside her, Áron, her enthusiastic little brother, kept talking about the upcoming Christmas plans.Hu: „Nézd, Réka! Ott van a mézeskalácsos bódé!” – Áron szeme csillogott az örömtől.En: "Look, Réka! There's the gingerbread stall!" - Áron's eyes sparkled with joy.Hu: Ő mindig is imádta a karácsonyt és annak minden pillanatát tökéletessé akarta varázsolni idén is.En: He had always loved Christmas and wanted to make every moment perfect again this year.Hu: Péter, az apjuk, komótosan követte őket.En: Péter, their father, was leisurely following them.Hu: Kezében két bögre forralt borral egyensúlyozott.En: He balanced two mugs of mulled wine in his hands.Hu: „Gyere Réka, igyunk egyet!” – kiáltotta mosolyogva.En: "Come Réka, let's have a drink!" he shouted with a smile.Hu: Réka kissé habozva vette át a bögrét, megpróbálta élvezni a pillanatot.En: Réka hesitantly took the mug, trying to enjoy the moment.Hu: De a régi ünnepi szokások mintha már nem passzoltak volna hozzá.En: But the old holiday traditions no longer seemed to fit her.Hu: Azonban nem akart csalódást okozni Áronnak és Péternek.En: However, she didn't want to disappoint Áron and Péter.Hu: Ezért Réka elhatározta, hogy részt vesz minden tevékenységben.En: So Réka decided to participate in every activity.Hu: Segített a kavalkádban díszíteni a vásárlókat, csodálta a szebbnél szebb kézműves dekorációkat, és megkóstolt minden finomságot.En: She helped decorate the shoppers in the hustle and bustle, admired the beautiful handmade decorations, and tasted every delicacy.Hu: Ahogy az esti fények a Duna tükrében ragyogtak, Réka megszorította Áron kezét.En: As the evening lights shone on the Duna's reflection, Réka squeezed Áron's hand.Hu: „Áron, Péter” – kezdte félénken –, „szeretnék beszélni veletek. Úgy érzem, hogy eltávolodtam, de fontos számomra, hogy ismét közel legyek hozzátok.”En: "Áron, Péter" she started shyly, "I feel like I've drifted away, but it's important to me to be close to you again."Hu: Péter figyelmesen hallgatta; tudta, hogy Réka mit érezhet hosszú távolléte után.En: Péter listened attentively; he knew what Réka might feel after her long absence.Hu: „Értjük, kedvesem” – mondta lágyan –, „de tudd, hogy mindig van helyed itthon.”En: "We understand, dear," he said gently, "but know that there is always a place for you at home."Hu: Áron közbeszólt.En: Áron interrupted.Hu: „Réka, hány angol karácsonyi éneket ismersz?En: "Réka, how many English Christmas carols do you know?Hu: Taníts meg néhányat! Talán együtt énekelhetnénk őket a jövőben.”En: Teach me a few! Maybe we could sing them together in the future."Hu: Az éneklés ötlete új lendületet adott Réka szívének.En: The idea of singing brought new momentum to Réka's heart.Hu: Persze, az új dolgok is lehetnek részesei a régi hagyományoknak.En: Sure, new things can also be part of old traditions.Hu: Az est folyamán zengtek a dalok, keveredve a piacon hallható más dalokkal, és Réka érezte, hogy egy meleg, meghitt hangulat uralkodott el.En: Throughout the evening, songs rang out, mixing with other songs heard in the market, and Réka felt a warm, intimate atmosphere take over.Hu: Végül a három alak, Réka, Áron és Péter, együtt álltak a Buda Vár egyik bástyájánál, nézték a hó alatt szunnyadó várost.En: Finally, the three figures, Réka, Áron, and Péter, stood together at one of the bastions of Buda Vár, watching the city slumbering under the snow.Hu: Réka rájött, hogy a hagyományok megújulhatnak, fejlődhetnek.En: Réka realized that traditions can renew and evolve.Hu: És így az utazásai által megtanult dolgok is helyet kaptak a család új ünnepi szokásaiban.En: And thus, the things she had learned through her travels now found a place in the family's new holiday customs.Hu: A Buda Vár csendes, békés kilátása alatt, Réka már nem érezte magát kívülállónak, hanem annak, aki újra megtalálja helyét, mind a családjában, mind szívében.En: Under the quiet, peaceful view of Buda Vár, Réka no longer felt like an outsider, but like someone who had rediscovered her place, both in her family and in her heart. Vocabulary Words:shone: tündököltstranger: idegenülwrapped: burkolózvatickled: csiklandoztagingerbread: mézeskalácsosenthusiastic: lelkesleisurely: komótosanbalanced: egyensúlyozotthesitantly: habozvahustle: kavalkáddelicacy: finomságsqueezed: megszorítottaattentively: figyelmesenintimate: meghittslumbering: szunnyadórediscovered: újra megtaláljabastions: bástyájánálreflect: tükrébenabsentee: hosszú távolléterenew: megújulhatnakevolve: fejlődhetnekcustoms: szokásaforementioned: említettleaped: lendületet adottfalter: megpróbáltaseason: időszakmugs: bögredecorations: dekorációkatcarols: énekettraditions: hagyományok

It's the big one this week! Get your slippers and hot chocolate handy, as Alex & Dan bring you - for the first time ever! - their own interpretation of the cornerstone of straight-to-TV film tradition - the Hallmark Christmas movie!Who went to the big city, only to return and open old wounds? Who was enticed by big Kevin at Marvel, only to experience a meet cute back in their home town? Who did the dirty and moved in with an old flame just before Christmas.... wait, what? That's right - complete with live readings, recorded scenes and Hallmark Trailers to boot - this episode continues Christmas Season with a breakdown of what to expect from a Hallmark Movie - along with some of your ideas too!Make a mad dash for that soon-to-be-departing plane, find love in the Christmas Tree farm and uncover unresolved relationship woes in the coffee shop, in this amateur dramatic hour over at OTT!#GITS

#DiskusiInteraktif Golkar tengah mengusulkan evaluasi sistem Pilkada menyusul maraknya operasi tangkap tangan (OTT) terhadap kepala daerah oleh KPK. Apakah evaluasi ini sudah mendesak?[TALK] Peneliti TRUST Indonesia/Direktur Eksekutif Adidaya Institute, Ahmad Fadli&Pengamat politik Mantan Ketua KPU Prov Jateng, Joko Purnomo

The Bundle is our long running series on the sports media and streaming marketplace with co-hosts Yannick Ramcke, General Manager of OTT at the streaming service OneFootball and Murray Barnett, founder of 26West Sport and formerly of F1, World Rugby and ESPN.This episode of the Unofficial Partner podcast is brought to you by Sid Lee Sport.Sid Lee Sport is the fame-making creative and sponsorship agency for brands in sport.Through exceptional creativity, deep sponsorship expertise, and flawless on-site delivery, they help brands, sponsors, and rightsholders unlock their full potential in sport - most recently picking up a Leaders Sports Award for their work with Lidl at UEFA EURO 2024.Everything they do is driven by a culture of effectiveness - because in sport, performance matters. Not just on the pitch, but in the work too.So whether you want to build buzz, connect with audiences, or do something that actually cuts through, Sid Lee Sport knows how.Visit sidleesport.com Sid Lee Sport - where brands become champions.Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 400 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner' on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and every podcast app. If you're interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series, you can reach us via the website.

Bart is shocked to learn that there was once a better prankster at Springfield Elementary, and it turns out to be Jonah Hill! Well, kinda. Plus, Marge gets judged by the other mothers for the snacks she feeds her kids. Honestly, a pretty fun episode that pokes fun at youtuber pranks, as well as OTT parents who think everything is unhealthy.We also discuss how Guy has never heard 'Baby Shark', how Dando has never seen 'Twilight', why Dando's car decided to rip open his ear and more.If you enjoy this review, please consider supporting us on Patreon for as little as $1 per month at patreon.com/fourfingerdiscountListen on Spotify - spoti.fi/4fDcSY0Listen on Apple Podcasts - apple.co/4dgpW3ZCHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Goin' Down To South Park - spreaker.com/show/goin-down-to-south-parkThe Movie Guide with Maltin & Davis - themovieguidepodcast.comThe One About Friends - spreaker.com/show/the-one-about-friends-podcastTalking Seinfeld - spreaker.com/show/talking-seinfeldSpeaKing Of The Hill - spreaker.com/show/speaking-of-the-hill-a-king-of-the-hill-The Office Talk - spreaker.com/show/the-office-talk-podcastBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/four-finger-discount-simpsons-podcast--5828977/support.

We're kicking off Festive Season this week by discussing some of our favourite iterations of Santa from film. And with the power of social media, some of yours! What differs these iterations of Santa from the mythical being we're used to on coca cola cans and Christmas cards?We discuss the reluctant, the jacked, the cool, and... The violent. Why do they make us love their respective films?#GITS

YT Comedian/Podcaster Hoff Matthews joins me to sum up our favorite moments about the so-bad-it's-good slasher dark comedy franchise SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT.   Which installment would be so much better if it loosened up on the disturbing backstory?   Is the first sequel still one of the best quotable bad movies of all time?   Are director Brian Yuzna's later entries honestly the best?   All this and theories on if it inspired other OTT comedies!       FOLLOW HOFF MATTHEWS HERE: https://hoffmatthews.com/     MUSIC USED: SNDS 2 OST Soundtrack by Perry Botkin      

Tell us what you though of the episode

This week, the Dynamic South Coast duo return to the not-so-mean streets of Old Portsmouth to the cinema and back, to bring you their honest thoughts - AND THE SPOILERIFIC REVIEW - on the latest film from the magic-hesit action film franchise Now You See Me - with the third outing - Now You Don't!Returning is an all star cast of illusionists, thieves and escape artists - the first one was great (Alex's guilty pleasure), the second was OK - will the third buck the third film curse and be any good? There's only one way to find out - stream and listen wherever you get your podcasts! Whatever you do - don't take your eye off of the trick.....#GITS

Die Kabarettistin Malarina bezeichnete den ehemaligen Verfassungsschützer Egisto Ott, der derzeit wegen mutmaßlicher Kreml-Spionage vor Gericht steht, auf Social Media als „russischen Ex-Agenten“ – worauf Ott nicht nur Malarina klagte, sondern auch Follower, die ihr Posting teilten. FALTER-Chefredakteur Florian Klenk und FALTER-Korrespondentin Tessa Szyszkowitz ordnen ein, was die Medienprozesse für die Meinungsfreiheit bedeuten. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Duane Rankin of AZ Republic joins Ray and Nick to preview the upcoming game between the Sacramento Kings and the Phoenix Suns. They discuss the surprisingly strong start to the season for the Suns, and the impact of new Head Coach Jordan Ott. They also discuss the new players helping Ott to drive the team's new defensive philosophy, including the impact of Dillon Brooks. Finally, they look ahead to the upcoming Kings-Suns game and which matchups they're looking out for in the game. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Building a Compliant and Scalable FinTech Ecosystem

11-22-25 John Klingberg PP Goal SJ 1 OTT 1 by San Jose Sharks

11-22-25 Linus Ullmark-OTT-save on Celebrini SJ 1 OTT 1 by San Jose Sharks

Game 22: OTT 3 at SJ 2 FINAL. TT: 00:09:35

Josh Justice, CEO of Peerly, highlights the new Video in Motion technology, an evolution of their previous HD video texting service. This next-generation tool allows for sending 4K high-resolution video to voters' phones via text message, bypassing the limitations of MMS protocols. This is a direct-to-voter messaging model that Josh argues is superior to traditional OTT and CTV advertising because it delivers a measurable interactive experience directly to voters. Josh and I talk about: The integration of AI for video captions and thumbnails using AMP AI to handle replies that text campaigns generate The benefits of delivering messages directly to a voter's phone versus paid advertising The value of the robust real-time metrics tracking 64 different points of engagement Need for campaigns to take a mobile-first strategy to meet voters where they are in motion and not just sitting in front of a screen #Peerly #VideoInMotion #CampaignTech #PoliticalInnovation #DigitalOutreach #VoterEngagement #MobileStategy Peerly.com    

בפרק זה של הפודקאסט "על המשמעות" עו"ד תמיר דורטל מארח את שר התקשורת, חבר הכנסת ד"ר שלמה קרעי, לשיחה מרתקת על מאבקי הרגולציה והכוח שמסעירים את המדינה.השר קרעי, המגיע היישר מדיונים אינטנסיביים בכנסת על חוק עונש מוות למחבלים, פורש את משנתו לגבי הצורך הדחוף בשינוי מבני עמוק בישראל. הוא מסביר את הרציונל שמאחורי חוק השידורים החדש, שמטרתו המרכזית היא פירוק מונופול התקשורת הוותיק. קרעי יוצא בחריפות נגד ההפרדה המבנית שנוצרה בערוצים 12 ו-13, וטוען כי היא משמשת "כיסוי לשקרים" ומאפשרת להנהלות הערוצים להכתיב סדר יום חדשותי מבלי לתת דין וחשבון לציבור.השר מתאר את המאבק האישי והפוליטי חסר התקדים שלו נגד גורמים במערכת המשפט והפקידות הבכירה. הוא חושף כיצד גורמים בייעוץ המשפטי לממשלה ניסו לעכב את הרפורמות שלו במשך חודשים ארוכים, ואף מנעו ממנו למנות דירקטורים לתאגיד השידור הציבורי. לדברי קרעי, מדובר ב"מאבק איתנים" על השליטה בתודעה הציבורית, שבו האליטה המשפטית והתקשורתית משתפות פעולה כדי לשמר את כוחן.קרעי מציע פתרונות פרגמטיים באמצעות טכנולוגיה, כולל מעבר לשידורי OTT (אינטרנט) באמצעות עידן פלוס חדש, שיאפשר חובת נשיאה ויפתח את השוק לתחרות אמיתית, ויספק לציבור גישה ל"נתוני אמת" על הרייטינג, במקום הנתונים המוטים הקיימים.מה יקרה כאשר הרגולטור ייחלש לחלוטין? מדוע הקושי להפריט את חדשות 'כאן' עולה למשלם המיסים מאות מיליונים בשנה? והאם חוק השידורים הוא "כלי הקיבול" ההכרחי לכל רפורמה אחרת בישראל? בשיחה אינטלקטואלית ונוקבת עם תמיר דורטל, תקבלו תשובות מפתיעות ומטלטלות על מאבקי הכוח שמכריעים את עתיד הדמוקרטיה והתקשורת בישראל. אל תחמיצו את הניתוח המעמיק הזה של מי שמנסה לנפץ את "מונופול התודעה".00:00:00 חוק עונש מוות למחבלים: ההבדל ששינה את החוק00:02:30 הפצ"ר החדש: האם המינוי יביא לשינוי בצבא?00:04:55 חוק השידורים: פירוק הרשות השנייה ופתיחת השוק00:08:05 ההפרדה המבנית: מדוע היא רק "כיסוי לשקרים"?00:14:15 תחרות ושוק חופשי: חובת נשיאה ופריצת המונופול00:20:00 מונופול הרייטינג: מי פוחד מנתוני הצפייה האמיתיים?00:26:05 מלחמת האיתנים: היועמ"שית והפקידות מעכבים את החוק00:33:30 שערוריית המינויים: כך מסכלים את הפיקוח על תאגיד 'כאן'00:40:30 עידן פלוס ורפורמת הרדיו: לקראת שידורים דיגיטליים חופשיים00:52:20 אחוז החסימה: האם הפתרון למשבר הפוליטי טמון כאן?#פודקאסט #על_המשמעותSupport the showתוכנית המנויים "על המשמעות פלוס" ➕: https://bit.ly/MashmaPlus גישה מוקדמת לפרקים

India's largest cineplex chain, PVR INOX, has pulled off a major financial reversal, posting a ₹100 crore profit this quarter, a drastic recovery after bleeding nearly ₹12 crore last year. Over 40 million people showed up—but occupancy ratios are still struggling to cross 30%.To fix this, PVR INOX is expanding into new, non-metro markets like Gangtok and Raipur. But there's a major twist: the company is no longer footing the bill for expansion.Taking a page from hospitality giants like Marriott, PVR INOX is embracing an asset-light franchise model. Partners will now bankroll everything from projectors to seating, while PVR INOX manages the brand and operations. We explore this strategic shift—how it hedges risk, frees up capital, and whether betting on multiplexes in the age of OTT is a "Hail Mary" move.Tune in.Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India's first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories. Join The Ken as a Podcast Producer and work with India's most ambitious storytellers! We're creating a podcast about India's biggest companies, with each episode backed by weeks of deep research. You'll lead the workflows that turn that research into exceptional narratives and bring the show to listeners around the world. Join us to help shape something exceptional. Check out the details and apply here. 

Treuer Staatsschützer oder Landesverräter? Egisto Ott ist wegen mutmaßlicher Russland-Spionage angeklagt – er bestreitet die Vorwürfe. Wie tickt der ehemalige BVT-Beamte?Es wird wohl der größte Spionage-Prozess, den Österreich je erlebt hat. Die Staatsanwaltschaft Wien wirft dem früheren Verfassungsschutz-Beamten Egisto Ott vor, für den russischen Geheimdienst Daten gesammelt zu haben. Ott bestreitet das vehement – demnächst muss ein Geschworenengericht darüber entscheiden.  Wer ist der Mann im Zentrum einer Staatsaffäre? Wo ist er im Laufe der Zeit überall angeeckt? Und was weiß man eigentlich über Egisto Ott, der sich in Handy-Chats mitunter „Aigistos Aigistos“ nannte, auf der Kino-Leinwand in James-Bond-Manier zu erleben war und rechtlich massiv gegen Kritiker vorgeht? Ziemlich viel. Hören Sie selbst.Recherche und Moderation: Stefan Melichar und Max MillerProduktion: Matthias HoferIntro: Franziska SchwarzSprecher: Louis NostitzDie Recherchen zum Podcast:Ott-Anklage: Was hinter dem Verdacht der Russland-Spionage stecktVerletzt „Jup.“ die Menschenwürde von Egisto Ott?Putins Maulwurf in Wien: Der Fall Egisto Ott

Fluent Fiction - Hungarian: Hungarian Traditions: The Gift of Art Along the Danube Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/hu/episode/2025-11-09-23-34-02-hu Story Transcript:Hu: Az ősz hűvös reggelével köszöntötte Budapestet, és a levelek zörögve hullottak az utcákon.En: Autumn greeted Budapest with its chilly morning, and the leaves rustled as they fell onto the streets.Hu: Az Országház pompás árnyéka alá bújva a turisták sereglenek mindenütt, hogy megnézzék Magyarország egyik legimpozánsabb épületét.En: Nestled under the majestic shadow of the Országház, tourists gathered everywhere to view one of Hungary's most impressive buildings.Hu: A Várkert Bazár és a Duna szélén elterülő pesti korzó közelében állva, Ákos, az elmélyült építész, a tömegben próbált utat találni.En: Standing near the Várkert Bazár and the Pest promenade along the Danube, Ákos, a dedicated architect, tried to find his way through the crowd.Hu: "Egy emlékezetes ajándékot keresek" - gondolta, miközben a Parlament körüli boltocskák kirakatait fürkészte.En: "I'm looking for a memorable gift," he thought as he scanned the shop windows around the Parliament.Hu: Mentorának, aki megszerettette vele az építészetet, különleges ajándékot akart venni. Olyat, amely megszólítja Magyarország gazdag kulturális örökségét.En: He wanted to buy a special gift for his mentor, who had instilled in him a love for architecture—a gift that would express Hungary's rich cultural heritage.Hu: Ákos, Zsófi és Bence a körülötte nyüzsgő turisták elől menekülve csatlakoztak hozzá.En: Ákos was joined by Zsófi and Bence, escaping the bustling tourists around them.Hu: "Ez itt kész őrület!" nevetett Bence, a baráti társaság vidám hangján.En: "This is madness!" laughed Bence, the jovial voice of their group.Hu: "Próbáljunk máshova menni" - javasolta Zsófi, miközben egy kis empátiát fütyült a hűvös szél.En: "Let's try going somewhere else," suggested Zsófi as the chilly wind whistled with a hint of empathy.Hu: Ákosra nézett és hozzátette: "Hallottam, hogy egy kis kézműves bolt nyílt a közelben. Ott kevésbé zsúfolt lehet."En: She looked at Ákos and added, "I heard a small artisan shop opened nearby. It might be less crowded there."Hu: Ákos elmerült a gondolataiban.En: Ákos immersed himself in his thoughts.Hu: A színes kalotaszegi szőttesek, a kalocsai hímzések és a pécsi kerámiák mind-mind emlékeztették őt a magyar örökség gazdagságára.En: The colorful Kalotaszeg weavings, the Kalocsa embroideries, and the Pécs ceramics all reminded him of the richness of Hungarian heritage.Hu: Egy kis bolt talán rejteget valami különlegeset.En: A little shop might just hide something special.Hu: Hármasban elindultak az új cél felé.En: The trio set off toward the new destination.Hu: Az utcák csendesebbé váltak, ahogy közeledtek egy kis sikátorba, ahol a kézműves bolt rejtőzött.En: The streets grew quieter as they approached a small alley where the artisan shop was hidden.Hu: Az üzletbe belépve a béke és csend fogadta őket.En: When they entered the shop, they were greeted by peace and quiet.Hu: A polcokon kézzel készített tárgyak sorakoztak, minden darab egy-egy történetet mesélve.En: Handcrafted items lined the shelves, each piece telling its own story.Hu: Ákos szeme rögtön megakadt egy gyönyörű porcelán vázán.En: Ákos's eyes immediately caught a beautiful porcelain vase.Hu: Aranyló mustrái finoman visszaadták Budapest építészeti vonásait.En: Its golden patterns subtly echoed the architectural features of Budapest.Hu: Az egyszerű, mégis elegáns dizájn lenyűgözte őt.En: The simple yet elegant design fascinated him.Hu: "Tökéletes!" kiáltott fel, megérintve a tárgyat.En: "Perfect!" he exclaimed, touching the object.Hu: Érezte, hogy ez a váza jelképezi mindazt, amit keresett.En: He felt that this vase symbolized everything he had been searching for.Hu: Vásárlás után, ahogy kilépett a boltból, melegség ömlött szét benne.En: After buying it, as he stepped out of the shop, a warmth spread through him.Hu: Megtalálta, amit keresett, és közben felfedezte, mennyire inspiráló tud lenni a helyi művészet.En: He had found what he was looking for and, in the process, discovered how inspiring local art could be.Hu: A Duna partján hagyományokat és kultúrát hordozó ajándékával a kezében Ákos közelebb érezte magát mind a mentorához, mind saját gyökereihez.En: With his gift brimming with tradition and culture in his hand, Ákos felt closer both to his mentor and his own roots by the Danube's shore.Hu: Az Országház ég felé törő tornyai alatt, a ragyogó naplementében, Ákos már nem csak a vásárlás, de a hely szellemiségével is gazdagodva indult haza.En: Beneath the soaring spires of the Országház, in the glowing sunset, Ákos set off home, enriched not just by his purchase but also by the spirit of the place. Vocabulary Words:greeted: köszöntötterustled: zörögvenestled: bújvamajestic: pompásdedicated: elmélyültmemorable: emlékezetesscanned: fürkészteinstilled: megszerettettebustling: nyüzsgőjovial: vidámempathy: empátiáthint: kisimmersed: elmerültweavings: szőttesekembroidery: hímzésekceramics: kerámiákheritage: örökségtrio: hármasbanalley: sikátorbapeace: békehandcrafted: kézzel készítettporcelain: porcelánpatterns: mustráielegant: elegánsfascinated: lenyűgöztesymbolized: jelképeziinspiring: inspirálóshore: partjánsoaring: ég felé törőspires: tornyai

On this week's show we have an essay from one of our listeners on why he wants to stick with his DVR over streaming. We also take a deep dive into Automatic Content Recognition and how to turn it off on your smart TVs. As usual we also read your emails and take a look at the week's news. News: Disney pulls channels from YouTube TV as carriage deal expires DIRECTV now offering the Disney Bundle free to select customers TV Set-Top Box Losing Market Dominance Please support Movember and enter to win great prizes from Bright Side Home Theater Movember Raffle — Bright Side Home Theater Swimming against the Stream - An essay from Jorge Beltran  I know I will sound old and swimming against current, but I would like to go back to my world where we had our cable subscriptions, DVR and Netflix.  Simple, vs having to manage 5-7 subscriptions to watch what we want at a cost we can pay. The proliferation of streaming services is turning out to be a way for content owners to extract more value from customers and significantly increase the amount of work customers have to do to find and track the content we want to watch.  Even sports.  Furthermore, it has backfired to content producers, with less opportunity to monetize content, driving them to look for economies of scale again.  I follow or used to follow La Liga, Premier League Soccer, ski, college football, and formula 1 racing. Back in the day I knew what channel carried all of these sports on my cable line up, would set it to record on my DVR and done.  I could watch it when I wanted and where I wanted since I could access my DVR from anywhere but the plane.  Netflix was just growing and buying "older" content from the major networks and allowed us to binge watch old series we had missed.  Some new exclusive content was coming out and that made paying the 10 - 12 $/mo a good value. Fast forward to today: The best games of Premier League have been taken off the over the air or regular cable channels are now behind a Paramount or someone else's paywall.  Why am I going to pay for access to content that is mostly CBS that I can get over the air?.  Worst of all, you can not skip commercials when you stream this content nowadays.  You can't DVR the content and skip the commercials. I have lost track of who is now airing La Liga, but last time I checked was behind some other streamer.  Fubo has a lot of soccer but is now super expensive too.   Conclusion:  I have stopped following La Liga and Premier League.  My enthusiasm for good Futbol has gone down tremendously.  I turned my eyes to college football and Formula 1.  The worst part is that now I fear the same is going to happen with College Football, moving from free over the air or in basic cable channels to some exclusive need-to-pay streaming service.  You guys praised Formula 1 going to Apple.  I dread it!!! I do not pay for Apple TV(plus or not plus) and I catch Formula 1 over ESPN.   Does it mean I will have to drop ESPN, that gives me other content and add AppleTV?  If I were an NFL fan I would have lost it. Some content is on Amazon, other in the different networks or streamers.  I do not know how much you have to pay to be able to watch the NFL consistently.  Call me old school.  I still have a cable service that gives me the right to HBO, ESPN, Fox, and the likes.  I can watch and record all the related content in Hulu from the major networks. I only keep paying for Netflix that I see as a premium channel (like paying for HBO back in the day).  Rationale - we get a lot of exclusive content there.  I only keep the Disney/Hulu bundle cause it comes free with my wireless bill. And Amazon Prime (now with commercials) free for the shipping.  But I barely watch Primer or Hulu cause I can't stand the commercials! In a world with many streamers, the economies of scale enjoyed by bundling content in cable packages have been lost and thus it costs more per viewer for content owners to create and distribute given the less # of eyeballs.  Yes, it sounds counter intuitive, but that translates into higher bills for consumers, through different bills but when you add it all up, it has to be more expensive, no way around it.  The positive is more content and innovation for sure.  You can definitely find more quality content.  But I foresee more partnerships coming to allow the industry to benefit from economies of scale and be able to distribute the cost of expensive content through more subscribers / viewers.  Or they will have to continue to increase our subscription bills.  I listened to an interview recently with a Hollywood producer detailing how cost efficient they have to be nowadays to be able to turn a profit on content produced given the lower number of ultimate viewers. This is a good thing, do not get me wrong.  But my point is we are coming full circle and a lot of inefficiencies have been introduced in the content value chain and made the experience more time consuming and difficult for viewers in the process.  I think the industry has shot itself on the foot.  Content that used to be free over the air is now behind a paywall and ALSO with commercials.   Apologies from my broken record Long live my DVR! Jorge What is Automatic Content Recognition (ACR)? Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) is built into most smart TVs (Samsung, LG, Vizio, Roku, Fire TV) and silently identifies everything you watch via your smart TV or any attached device via HDMI. It monitors your streaming, cable, and physical media.  It will even identify any ads you watch. It grabs screen samples, sends them online, and feeds data to manufacturers, streamers, and advertisers for recommendations, targeted ads, and ratings.  Usually on by default, it needs the internet to work. Privacy groups like the EFF warn it tracks your habits without clear ongoing notice. How Does ACR Collect Data from Your TV Viewing? ACR operates passively and continuously (or at set intervals) while the TV is on and tuned to a channel or app.  Here's a step-by-step breakdown of the process: Content Sampling: The TV's built-in software periodically "grabs" a short clip or snapshot of the audio, video, or both from what's currently displayed on the screen. This could be every few seconds or minutes, creating a digital "fingerprint" rather than storing full video. For example: Video fingerprinting: Analyzes pixels, colors, or scene changes (similar to how Shazam identifies songs). Audio fingerprinting: Listens for sound patterns in the broadcast. Watermarking: Detects invisible digital markers embedded in content by broadcasters or studios. This sampling works even for non-smart inputs, like cable or gaming consoles, because it captures whatever is output to the screen. Local Processing: The TV processes the sample on-device to generate a compact fingerprint. Raw clips aren't stored long-term on the TV itself—the data is anonymized to protect bandwidth and privacy (though critics argue these can still be re-identified when combined with other data like your location or device ID). Database Matching: The fingerprint is sent to the manufacturer's cloud servers where it's compared against a massive reference database. This database is built by: Monitoring live TV broadcasts in real-time via data centers. Cataloging known content like shows, movies, ads, and even timestamps for commercials. Matches reveal details such as the program title, channel, duration watched, and ad exposures. Data Aggregation and Transmission: Matched data is aggregated with metadata like your TV's IP address, viewing time, and household size. It's then used or shared: Internally for features like "fewer repetitive ads" or recommendations. With third parties like advertisers and Nielsen for ratings and for cross-device targeting which means you'll see the same ad on your phone after TV exposure. The entire process is designed to be invisible and efficient, running without impacting TV performance noticeably. Why Is This Data Collected? Personalization: To suggest shows/movies based on what you've watched. Advertising: Measures ad views for pricing, retargets viewers across devices, and optimizes campaigns. Measurement: Provides device-specific viewership stats, replacing outdated panel-based surveys. TV Manufacturers Using Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) for Data Collection Manufacturer ACR Usage Details How to Disable (General Steps) Samsung Uses built-in ACR on Tizen OS smart TVs to track viewing behavior, including programs, ads, OTT apps, and gaming. Data supports ad retargeting and is used internally for recommendations. Go to Settings > General > System Manager > Samsung Account > Privacy > Viewing Information Services > Toggle off. (10-37 clicks; also opt out via Samsung account online.) LG Integrates ACR on webOS TVs to fingerprint video/audio for viewing history and ad targeting. Captures screenshots every 10 milliseconds in some models. Settings > All Settings > General > System > Additional Settings > Live Plus > Toggle off. (Buried in menus; check privacy controls.) Vizio Owns Inscape, which licenses ACR data from its SmartCast TVs. Historically sold data to third parties; now requires opt-in after 2017 FTC settlement. Settings > Privacy & Security > Smart Home > Viewing Data > Limit Ad Track > Toggle off. (Opt out during setup or later.) Sony Employs ACR on Google TV/Android TV models to collect viewing data for personalization and ads, often via third-party integrations like Samba TV. Settings > Privacy > Automatic Content Recognition > Toggle off. (Varies by model; check Google account privacy if linked.) Roku (powers TVs from TCL, Hisense, Philips, Sharp) "Smart TV Experience" feature uses ACR on Roku OS to track content across linear TV, streaming, and devices. Data shared for ads and measurement. Settings > Privacy > Advertising > Smart TV Experience > Toggle off. (11-24 clicks; not on Roku sticks, only TVs.)  

The path to progressing as a leader isn't always linear. SUMMARY Col. (Ret.) Mike Ott shows how a childhood dream can evolve into a lifetime of impact—from commanding in uniform to leading innovation in healthcare and national defense. Hear more on Long Blue Leadership. Listen now!   SHARE THIS PODCAST LINKEDIN  |  FACEBOOK   MIKE'S LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS A leader worth his or her salt should be comfortable not being the smartest person in the room. Striving for a lack of hubris is essential in leadership. Setting a clear vision is a fundamental leadership skill. Moving people without authority is crucial for effective leadership. Resource management is key to achieving organizational goals. Acknowledging what you don't know is a strength in leadership. Effective leaders focus on guiding their teams rather than asserting dominance. Leadership is about influencing and inspiring others. A successful mission requires collaboration and shared vision. True leadership is about empowering others to succeed.   CHAPTERS 00:00: Early Inspiration 06:32: Academy Years 13:17: Military Career Transition 21:33: Financial Services Journey 31:29: MOBE and Healthcare Innovation 40:12: Defense Innovation Unit 48:42: Philanthropy and Community Impact 58:11: Personal Growth and Leadership Lessons   ABOUT MIKE OTT BIO Mike Ott is the Chief Executive Officer of MOBĒ, a U.S.-based company focused on whole-person health and care-management solutions. He became CEO in April 2022, taking the helm to lead the company through growth and operational excellence following a distinguished career in both the military and corporate sectors.  A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Mike served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves before shifting into financial services and healthcare leadership roles including private wealth management at U.S. Bank and executive positions with UnitedHealth Group/Optum. His leadership ethos emphasizes alignment, acceleration, and human potential, building cultures where teams can thrive and leveraging data-driven models to improve health outcomes.   CONNECT WITH MIKE LinkedIn MOBE CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@usafa.org Ted Robertson | Producer:  Ted.Robertson@USAFA.org    Ryan Hall | Director:  Ryan.Hall@USAFA.org  Bryan Grossman | Copy Editor:  Bryan.Grossman@USAFA.org Wyatt Hornsby | Executive Producer:  Wyatt.Hornsby@USAFA.org      ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS     OUR SPEAKERS Guest, Col. (Ret.) Mike Ott '85  |  Host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99   FULL TRANSCRIPT Naviere Walkewicz 0:00 A quick programming note before we begin this episode of Long Blue Leadership: This episode will be audio-only, so sit back and enjoy the listen. Welcome to Long Blue Leadership, the podcast where we share insights on leadership through the lives and experiences of Air Force Academy graduates. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99. Today, on Long Blue Leadership, we welcome Col. (Ret.) Mike Ott, Class of 1985, a leader whose vision was sparked at just 9 years old during a family road trip past the Air Force Academy. That childhood dream carried him through a 24-year Air Force career, culminating in retirement as a colonel and into a life of leadership across business, innovation and philanthropy. Mike is the CEO of MOBE, a groundbreaking company that uses data analytics and a revolutionary pay-for-results model to improve health outcomes while reducing costs. He also serves as a senior adviser to the Defense Innovation Unit, supporting the secretary of defense in accelerating commercial innovation for national security. A member of the Forbes Councils, Mike shares his expertise with leaders around the world. A former Falcon Foundation trustee and longtime supporter of the Academy, Mike has given generously his time, talents and resources to strengthen the Long Blue Line. His story is one of innovation and service in uniform, in the marketplace and in his community. Mike, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. We're so glad to have you here.   Mike Ott 1:29 Naviere, thanks a ton. I'm glad to be here. Naviere Walkewicz 1:31 Yes, yes. Well, we're really excited. I mean, you're here for your 40th reunion.   Mike Ott 1:35 Yeah, it's crazy.   Naviere Walkewicz1:37 You came right in, and we're so pleased that you would join us here first for this podcast.   Mike Ott 1:39 Right on. Thanks for the time.   Naviere Walkewicz 1:41 Absolutely. Well, let's jump right in, because not many people can say at 9 years old they know what they want to do when they grew up, but you did. Mike Ott 1:48 Yeah. I guess some people can say it; might not be true, but for me, it's true, good or bad. And goodness gracious, right? Here for my 40th reunion, do the math team, and as a 9-year-old, that was 1972, And a lot was going on in the world in 1972 whether it was political unrest, Vietnam and all of that, and the Academy was in the thick of it. And so we had gone — It was our first significant family vacation. My father was a Chicago policeman. We drove in the 1968 Buick LaSabre, almost straight through. Stopped, stayed at a Holiday Inn, destination Colorado, simply, just because nobody had ever seen the mountains before. That was why. And we my parents, mom, mom and dad took myself. I have two younger sisters, Pikes Peak, Academy, Garden of the Gods, Royal Gorge. And I remember noon meal formation, and the bell going off. Guys at the time — we hadn't had women as cadets at that point in time — running out in their flight suits as I recall lining up ready to go. And for me, it was the energy, right, the sense of, “Wow, this is something important.” I didn't know exactly how important it was, but I knew it was important, and I could envision even at that age, there was they were doing good, Naviere Walkewicz 3:21 Wow. Nine years old, your family went on vacation, and it just struck you as this is important and something that I want to do. So what did that conversation look like after that experience that you had as a 9-year-old and kind of manifest this in yourself? How did that go with your parents? Mike Ott 3:36 Well, I didn't say too much about it, as I was in grammar school, but as high school hit, you know, I let my folks know what my plans were, and I had mom and dad — my mother's still alive, my father passed about a year ago. Very, very good, hard-working, ethical people, but hadn't gone to college, and we had been told, “Look, you know, you need to get an education.” They couldn't. I wish they had. They were both very, very, very bright, and so I knew college was a plan. I also knew there wasn't a lot of money to pay for it. So I'm certain that that helped bake in a few things. But as I got into high school, I set my sights. I went to public high school in Chicago, and I remember freshman year walking into my counselor's office, and said, “I want to go to the Air Force Academy,” and he kind of laughed.   Naviere Walkewicz 3:21 Really?   Mike Ott 3:22 Well, we had 700 kids in my class, and maybe 40% went on to college, right? And the bulk of them went to community college or a state school. I can count on one hand the number of folks that went to an academy or an Ivy League school or something of that. So it was it was around exposure. It had nothing to do with intelligence. It was exposure and just what these communities were accustomed to. A lot of folks went into the trades and pieces like that. So my counselor's reaction wasn't one of shock or surprise insofar as that's impossible. It was, “We haven't had a lot of people make that commitment this early on, and I'm glad to help.”   Naviere Walkewicz 5:18 Oh, I love that.   Mike Ott 5:19 Which is wonderful, and what I had known at the time, Mr. Needham...   Naviere Walkewicz 5:23 You Remember his name?   Mike Ott 5:24 Yeah, he was in the Navy Reserves. He was an officer, so he got the joke. He got the joke and helped me work through what classes to take, how to push myself. I didn't need too much guidance there. I determined, “Well, I've got to distinguish myself.” And I like to lean in. I like a headwind, and I don't mind a little bit of an uphill battle, because once you get up there, you feel great. I owe an awful lot to him. And, not the superintendent, but the principal of our school was a gentleman named Sam Ozaki, and Sam was Japanese American interned during World War II as a young man, got to of service age and volunteered and became a lieutenant in the Army and served in World War II in Europe, right, not in Asia. So he saw something in me. He too became an advocate. He too became someone that sought to endorse, support or otherwise guide me. Once I made that claim that I was going to go to the Academy. Naviere Walkewicz 6:30 Wow. So you mentioned something that really stuck with me. You said, you know, you didn't mind kind of putting yourself out there and doing the hard things, because you knew when you got to the top it was going to feel really great. Was that something you saw from your father? Was that something, there are key leaders in your life that emulated that? Or is that just something that you always had in yourself? Mike Ott 6:51 I would say there's certainly an environmental element to it — how I was raised, what I was exposed to, and then juxtaposition as to what I observed with other family members or other parts of the community where things didn't work out very well, right? And, you know, I put two and two together. y father demonstrated, throughout his entire career what it means to have a great work ethic. As did mom and, you know, big, tough Chicago cop for 37 years. But the other thing that I learned was kindness, and you wouldn't expect to learn that from the big, tough Chicago cop, but I think it was environment, observing what didn't occur very often and how hard work, if I apply myself, can create outcomes that are going to be more fulfilling for me. Naviere Walkewicz 7:48 Wow, you talked about kindness. How did you see kindness show up in your journey as a cadet at the Air Force Academy? Or did you? Mike Ott 7:58 Yeah, gosh, so I remember, started in June of 1981, OK, and still connected with many of the guys and women that with whom I went to basic training and all that. The first moment of kindness that I experienced that it was a mutual expression, but one where I recognized, “Wow, every one of us is new here. None of us has a real clue.” We might have some idea because we had somebody had a sibling or a mother that was in the military or father that went to the academy at the time, but none of us really knew, right? We were knuckleheads, right? Eighteen years old. Maybe there were a couple of prior-enlisted folks. I don't recall much of that, but I having gone to a public high school in Chicago, where we had a variety of different ethnicities. I learned how to just understand people for who they are, meet them for who they are, and respect every individual. That's how I was raised, and that's how I exhibited myself, I sought to conduct myself in high school. So I get to the Academy, and you're assigned, you know, the first couple three nights, the first few weeks before you go to Jacks Valley, you're assigned. It was all a alphabetical, and my roommate was an African American fellow named Kevin Nixon. All right, my God, Kevin Nixon, and this guy, he was built. I mean, he was rock solid, right? And he had that 1000-yard stare, right? Very intimidating. And I'm this, like, 6-foot-tall, 148-pound runner, like, holy dork, right? And I'm assigned — we're roommates, and he just had a very stoicism, or a stoic nature about him. And I remember, it was our second night at the Academy, maybe first night, I don't quite recall, and we're in bed, and it's an hour after lights out, and I hear him crying, and like, well, what do you do? Like, we're in this together. It was that moment, like we're both alone, but we're not right. He needs to know that he's not alone. So I walked around and went over his bed, and I said, “Hey, man, I miss my mom and dad too. Let's talk. And we both cried, right? And I'll tell you what, he and I were pals forever. It was really quite beautiful. And what didn't happen is he accepted my outreach, right? And he came from a very difficult environment, one where I'm certain there was far more racial strife than I had experienced in Chicago. He came from Norfolk, Virginia, and he came from — his father worked in the shipyards and really, really tough, tough, tough background. He deserved to be the Academy. He was a great guy, very bright, and so we became friends, and I tried to be kind. He accepted that kindness and reciprocated in ways where he created a pretty beautiful friendship. Naviere Walkewicz 7:48 Oh, my goodness. Thank you for sharing that story. And you got me in the feels a little bit, because I remember those nights, even you know me having family members that went through the Academy. There's just something about when you're in it yourself, and in that moment, it's raw.   Mike Ott 11:13 Raw is a good word. Naviere Walkewicz 11:15 Oh, thank you for that. So you're at the Academy and you end up doing 24 years. I don't mean to, like, mash all that into one sentence, but let's talk… Mike Ott 11:22 I didn't do very much. It was the same year repeated 24 times over. Like, not a very good learner, right? Not a very good learner. Naviere Walkewicz 11:30 Yeah, I was gonna ask, you know, in that journey, because, had you planned to do a career in the Air Force? Mike Ott 11:36 Well, I didn't know, right? I went in, eyes wide open, and my cumulative time in the Air Force is over 24 but it was only it was just shy of seven active duty, and then 22, 23, in the Reserves, right? I hadn't thought about the Reserves, but I had concluded, probably at the, oh, maybe three-year mark that I wanted to do other things. It had nothing to do with disdain, a sense of frustration or any indignation, having gone to the Academy, which I'm very, very proud of, and it meant an awful lot to who I am. But it was, “Wait, this is, this is my shot, and I'm going to go try other things.” I love ambiguity, I'm very curious. Have a growth mindset and have a perhaps paradoxical mix of being self-assured, but perhaps early on, a bit too, a bit too, what's the word I was thinking of? I wrote this down — a bit too measured, OK, in other words, risk taking. And there were a few instances where I realized, “Hey, man, dude, take some risk. What's the downside? And if it isn't you, who else?” So it was that mindset that helped me muscle through and determine that, coupled with the fact that the Air Force paid for me to go to graduate school, they had programs in Boston, and so I got an MBA, and I did that at night. I had a great commander who let me take classes during the day when I wasn't traveling. It was wonderful. It was there that I was exposed to elements of business and in financial services, which ultimately drew me into financial services when I separated from active duty. Naviere Walkewicz 13:17 Well, I love that, because first you talked about a commander that saw, “How can I help you be your best version of yourself?” And I think the other piece of financial service, because I had to dabble in that as well — the second word is service. And so you've never stopped serving in all the things that you've done. So you took that leap, that risk. Is that something that you felt developed while you're at the Academy, or it's just part of your ethos. Mike Ott 13:41 It developed. It matured. I learned how to apply it more meaningfully at the Academy after a couple, three moments, where I realized that I can talk a little bit about mentoring and then I can come back to that, but mentoring — I don't know, I don't recall having heard that term as a mechanism for helping someone develop. I'm sure we used it when I was a cadet at the Academy and out of the Academy, and having been gone through different programs and banking and different graduate programs, the term comes up an awful lot. You realize, wow, there's something there helping the next generation, but also the reciprocity of learning from that generation yourself. I didn't really understand the whole mentoring concept coming out of Chicago and getting here, and just thought things were very hierarchical, very, very command structure, and it was hit the standards or else. And that that's not a bad mindset, right? But it took me a little while to figure out that there's a goodness factor that comes with the values that we have at the Academy, and it's imbued in each one of you know, service excellence, all of those pieces. But for the most part, fellow cadets and airmen and women want to help others. I mean, it's in service. It's in our DNA. Man that blew right past me. I had no idea, and I remember at one point I was entering sophomore year, and I was asked to be a glider instructor. I'd done the soaring and jumping program over the summer, and like, “Hey, you know you're not too bad at glider. You want to be an instructor?” At the time, that was pretty big deal, yeah, glider instructors. Like, “Yeah, no, I'm not going to do that, you know? I've got to study. Like, look at my GPA.” That didn't really matter. “And I'm going to go up to Boulder and go chase women.” Like, I was going to meet women, right? So, like, but I didn't understand that, that that mechanism, that mentoring mechanism, isn't always bestowed upon a moment or a coupling of individuals. There are just good people out there that see goodness in others that want to help them through that. I had no clue, but that was a turning point for me.   Naviere Walkewicz 15:56 Because you said no.   Mike Ott 15:58 I said no, right? And it was like what, you know, a couple months later, I remember talking with somebody like, “Yep, swing and a miss,” right? But after that, it changed how I was going to apply this self-assuredness, not bravado, but willingness to try new things, but with a willingness to be less measured. Why not? Trust the system. Trust the environment that you're in, the environment that we're in, you were in, I was in, that we're representing right now, it is a trusted environment. I didn't know that. And there were a lot of environments when I was being raised, they weren't trusted environments. And so you have a sort of mental callous mindset in many ways, and that that vigilance, that sense of sentinel is a good protection piece, but it prevents, it prevents... It doesn't allow for the membrane to be permeated, right? And so that trust piece is a big deal. I broke through after that, and I figured it out, and it helped me, and it helped me connect a sense of self-assuredness to perhaps being less measured, more willing to take ambiguity. You can be self-assured but not have complete belief in yourself, OK? And it helped me believe in myself more. I still wish I'd have been glider instructor. What a knucklehead. My roommate wound up becoming one. Like, “You, son of a rat, you.”   Naviere Walkewicz 17:29 So tell me, when did the next opportunity come up where you said yes, and what did that look like in your journey? Mike Ott 17:36 I was a lieutenant. I was a lieutenant, and I was looking for a new role. I was stationed at Hanscom Field, and I was working at one program office, and I bumped — I was the athletic officer for the base with some other folks, and one of the colonels was running a different program, and he had gotten to know me and understand how I operated, what I did, and he said, “Hey, Ott, I want you to come over to my program.” And I didn't know what the program was, but I trusted him, and I did it blindly. I remember his name, Col. Holy Cross. And really good guy. And yeah, I got the tap on the shoulder. Didn't blink. Didn't blink. So that was just finishing up second lieutenant. Naviere Walkewicz 18:26 What a lesson. I mean, something that stuck with you as a cadet, and not that it manifested in regret, but you realized that you missed that opportunity to grow and experience and so when it came around again, what a different… So would you say that as you progress, then you know, because at this point you're a lieutenant, you know, you took on this new role, what did you learn about yourself? And then how did that translate to the decision to move from active duty to the Reserve and into… Mike Ott 18:56 You'll note what I didn't do when I left active duty was stay in the defense, acquisition, defense engineering space. I made a hard left turn…   Naviere Walkewicz 19:13 Intentionally.   Mike Ott 19:14 Intentionally. And went into financial services. And that is a hard left turn away from whether it's military DOD, military industrial complex, working for one of the primes, or something like that. And my mindset was, “If I'm not the guy in the military making the decision, setting strategy and policy…” Like I was an O-3. Like, what kind of policy am I setting? Right? But my point was, if I'm not going to, if I may, if I decided to not stay in the military, I wasn't going to do anything that was related to the military, right, like, “Let's go to green pastures. Set myself apart. Find ways to compete…” Not against other people. I don't think I need to beat the hell out of somebody. I just need to make myself better every day. And that's the competition that I just love, and I love it  it's greenfield unknown. And why not apply my skills in an area where they haven't been applied and I can learn? So as an active-duty person — to come back and answer your question — I had worked some great bosses, great bosses, and they would have career counseling discussions with me, and I was asked twice to go to SOS in-residence. I turned it down, you know, as I knew. And then the third time my boss came to me. He's like, “OK, what are you doing? Idiot. Like, what are you doing?” That was at Year 5. And I just said, “Hey, sir, I think I'm going to do something different.” Naviere Walkewicz 20:47 Didn't want to take the slot from somebody else.   Mike Ott 20:49 That's right. Right. And so then it was five months, six months later, where I put in my papers. I had to do a little more time because of the grad school thing, which is great. And his commander, this was a two-star that I knew as well, interviewed me and like, one final, like, “What are you doing?” He's like, “You could have gone so far in the Air Force.” And I looked at the general — he was a super-good dude. I said, “What makes you think I'm not going to do well outside of the Air Force?” And he smiled. He's like, “Go get it.” So we stayed in touch. Great guy. So it had nothing to do with lack of fulfillment or lack of satisfaction. It had more to do with newness, curiosity, a challenge in a different vein. Naviere Walkewicz 21:30 So let's walk into that vein. You entered into this green pasture. What was that experience like? Because you've just been in something so structured. And I mean, would you say it was just structured in a different way? Mike Ott 21:48 No, not structured. The industry… So, I separated, tried an engineering job for about eight months. Hated it. I was, I was development engineer at Ford Motor Company, great firm. Love the organization, bored stiff, right? Just not what I wanted to do, and that's where I just quit. Moved back to Chicago, where I'm from, and started networking and found a role with an investment bank, ABN AMRO, which is a large Dutch investment bank that had begun to establish itself in the United States. So their headquarters in Chicago and I talked fast enough where somebody took a bet on me and was brought into the investment banking arm where I was on the capital markets team and institutional equities. So think of capital markets, and think of taking companies public and distributing those shares to large institutions, pensions funds, mutual funds, family offices.   Naviere Walkewicz 22:48 So a lot of learning and excitement for you.   Mike Ott 22:51 Super fun. And so the industry is very structured. How capital is established, capital flows, very regulated. We've got the SEC, we've got the FDIC, a lot of complex regulations and compliance matters. That's very, very, very structured. But there was a free-wheelingness in the marketplace. And if you've seen Wolf of Wall Street and things like that, some of that stuff happened. Crazy! And I realized that with my attitude, sense of placing trust in people before I really knew them, figuring that, “OK, what's the downside? I get nipped in the fan once, once or twice. But if I can thrust trust on somebody and create a relationship where they're surprised that I've trusted them, it's probably going to build something reciprocal. So learn how to do that.” And as a young fellow on the desk, wound up being given more responsibility because I was able to apply some of the basic tenets of leadership that you learned and I learned at the Academy. And face it, many of the men and women that work on Wall Street or financial services simply haven't gone to the Academy. It's just, it's the nature of numbers — and don't have that experience. They have other experiences. They have great leadership experiences, but they don't have this. And you and I may take it for granted because we were just four years of just living through it. It oozed in every moment, every breath, every interaction, every dialog, it was there.But we didn't know it was being poured in, sprinkled across as being showered. We were being showered in it. But I learned how to apply that in the relationships that I built, knowing that the relationships that I built and the reputation that I built would be lasting and impactful and would be appropriate investments for the future endeavors, because there's always a future, right? So it wasn't… again, lot of compliance, lot of regulations, but just the personalities. You know, I did it for the challenge, right? I did it because I was curious. I did it because I wanted to see if I could succeed at it. There were other folks that did it simply because it was for the money. And many, some of them made it. They might have sold their soul to get there. Some didn't make it. Maybe it wasn't the right pursuit for them in the first place. And if I go back to mentoring, which we talked about a little bit, and I help young men and women, cadets or maybe even recent grads, my guidance to them is, don't chase the money, chase the environment, right? And chase the environment that allows you to find your flow and contribute to that environment. The money will come. But I saw it — I've seen it with grads. I've seen it with many of the folks that didn't make it in these roles in financial services, because I thought, “Hey, this is where the money is.” It might be. But you have to go back to the basis of all this. How are you complected? What are your values? Do they align with the environment that you're in? And can you flow in a way where your strengths are going to allow success to happen and not sell your soul? Naviere Walkewicz 26:26 Yeah, you said two things that really stood out to me in that —the first one was, you know, trusting, just starting from a place of trust and respect, because the opportunity to build a relationship faster, and also there's that potential for future something. And then the second thing is the environment and making sure it aligns with your values. Is that how you got to MOBE? Mike Ott 26:50 Yeah, I would say how I got to MOBE, that certainly was a factor. Good question.   Naviere Walkewicz 26:57 The environment, I feel, is very much aligned Mike Ott 27:00 Very much so and then… But there's an element of reputation and relationship that allowed me to get there. So now I'm lucky to be a part of this firm. We're 250 people. We will do $50 million of revenue. We're growing nicely. I've been in health care for four years. Now, we are we're more than just healthcare. I mean, it's deep data. We can get into some of that later, but I had this financial services background. I was drawn to MOBE, but I had established a set of relationships with people at different investment banks, with other families that had successfully built businesses and just had relationships. And I was asked to come on to the board because MOBE, at the time, great capabilities, but struggled with leadership during COVID. Lot of companies did. It's not an indictment as to the prior CEO, but he and the team struggled to get through COVID. So initially I was approached to come on to the board, and that was through the founders of the firm who had known me for 20 years and knew my reputation, because I'd done different things at the investment bank, I'd run businesses at US Bank, which is a large commercial bank within the country, and they needed someone that… They cared very little about health care experience, which is good for me, and it was more around a sense of leadership. They knew my values. They trusted me. So initially I was asked to come onto the board, and that evolved into, “No, let's just do a whole reset and bring you on as the CEO.” Well, let's go back to like, what makes me tick. I love ambiguity. I love a challenge. And this has been a bit of a turnaround in that great capabilities, but lost its way in COVID, because leadership lost its way. So there's a lot of resetting that needed to occur. Corpus of the firm, great technology, great capabilities, but business model adaptation, go to market mechanisms and, frankly, environment. Environment. But I was drawn to the environment because of the people that had founded the organization. The firm was incubated within a large pharmaceutical firm. This firm called Upsher-Smith, was a Minnesota firm, the largest private and generic pharmaceutical company in the country, and sold for an awful lot of money, had been built by this family, sold in 2017 and the assets that are MOBE, mostly data, claims, analysis capabilities stayed separate, and so they incubated that, had a little bit of a data sandbox, and then it matriculated to, “Hey, we've got a real business here.” But that family has a reputation, and the individuals that founded it, and then ultimately found MOBE have a reputation. So I was very comfortable with the ambiguity of maybe not knowing health care as much as the next guy or gal, but the environment I was going into was one where I knew this family and these investors lived to high ethical standards, and there's many stories as to how I know that, but I knew that, and that gave me a ton of comfort. And then it was, “We trust you make it happen. So I got lucky. Naviere Walkewicz 30:33 Well, you're, I think, just the way that you're wired and the fact that you come from a place of trust, obviously, you know, OK, I don't have the, you know, like the medical background, but there are a lot of experts here that I'm going to trust to bring that expertise to me. And I'm going to help create an environment that they can really thrive in. Mike Ott 30:47 I'm certain many of our fellow alum have been in this experience, had these experiences where a leader worth his or her salt should be comfortable not being the smartest gal or guy in the room. In fact, you should strive for that to be the case and have a sense of lack of hubris and proudly acknowledge what you don't know. But what I do know is how to set vision. What I do know is how to move people without authority. What I do know is how to resource. And that's what you do if you want to move a mission, whether it's in the military, small firm like us that's getting bigger, or, you know, a big organization. You can't know it all. Naviere Walkewicz 31:30 So something you just mentioned that I think a lot of our listeners would really like, would love a little bit to peel us back a little bit. You said, “I know how to set a vision. I know how to…” I think it was move…   Mike Ott 31:45 Move people without authority and prioritize.   Naviere Walkewicz 31:47 But can we talk a little bit about that? Because I think that is really a challenge that some of our you know younger leaders, or those early in their leadership roles struggle with. Maybe, can you talk a little bit about that? Mike Ott 32:01 For sure, I had some — again, I tried to do my best to apply all the moments I had at the Academy and the long list of just like, “What were you thinking?” But the kindness piece comes through and… Think as a civilian outside looking in. They look at the military. It's very, very, very structured, OK, but the best leaders the men and women for whom you and I have served underneath or supported, never once barked an order, OK? They expressed intent, right? And you and I and all the other men and women in uniform, if we were paying attention, right, sought to execute the mission and satisfaction of that intent and make our bosses' bosses' jobs easier. That's really simple. And many outsiders looking in, we get back to just leadership that are civilians. They think, “Oh my gosh, these men and women that are in the military, they just can't assimilate. They can't make it in the civilian world.” And they think, because we come from this very, very hierarchical organization, yes, it is very hierarchical — that's a command structure that's necessary for mission execution — but the human part, right? I think military men and women leaders are among the best leaders, because guess what? We're motivating men and women — maybe they get a pat on the back. You didn't get a ribbon, right? Nobody's getting a year-end bonus, nobody's getting a spot bonus, nobody's getting equity in the Air Force, and it's gonna go public, right? It's just not that. So the best men and women that I for whom I've worked with have been those that have been able to get me to buy in and move and step up, and want to demonstrate my skills in coordination with others, cross functionally in the organization to get stuff done. And I think if there's anything we can remind emerging graduates, you know, out of the Academy, is: Don't rely on rank ever. Don't rely on rank. I had a moment: I was a dorky second lieutenant engineer, and we were launching a new system. It was a joint system for Marines, Navy and Air Force, and I had to go from Boston to Langley quite often because it was a TAC-related system, Tactical Air Force-related system. And the I was the program manager, multi-million dollar program for an interesting radio concept. And we were putting it into F-15s, so in some ground-based situations. And there was this E-8, crusty E-8, smoked, Vietnam, all these things, and he was a comms dude, and one of the systems was glitching. It just wasn't working, right? And we were getting ready to take this thing over somewhere overseas. And he pulls alongside me, and it's rather insubordinate, but it was a test, right? He's looking at me, Academy guy, you know, second lieutenant. He was a master sergeant, and he's like, “Well, son, what are we going to do now?” In other words, like, “We're in a pickle. What are we going to do now?” But calling me son. Yeah, it's not appropriate, right? If I'd have been hierarchical and I'd relied on rank, I probably would have been justified to let him have it. Like, that's playing short ball, right? I just thought for a second, and I just put my arm around him. I said, “Gee, Dad, I was hoping you're gonna help me.” And mother rat, we figured it out, and after that, he was eating out of my hand. So it was a test, right? Don't be afraid to be tested but don't take the bait. Naviere Walkewicz 35:46 So many good just lessons in each of these examples. Can you share a time at MOBE when you've seen someone that has been on your team that has demonstrated that because of the environment you've created? Mike Ott 35:57 For sure. So I've been running the firm now for about three and a half years. Again, have adapted and enhanced our capabilities, changed the business model a bit, yet functioning in our approach to the marketplace remains the same. We help people get better, and we get paid based on the less spend they have in the system. Part of some of our principles at MOBE are pretty simple, like, eat, sleep, move, smile, all right. And then be thoughtful with your medication. We think that medicine is an aid, not a cure. Your body's self-healing and your mind controls your body.   Naviere Walkewicz 36:32 Eat, sleep, move, smile. Love that.   Mike Ott 36:35 So what's happening with MOBE, and what I've seen is the same is true with how I've altered our leadership team. I've got some amazing leaders — very, very, very accomplished. But there are some new leaders because others just didn't fit in. There wasn't the sense of communal trust that I expected. There was too much, know-it-all'ing going on, right? And I just won't have that. So the easiest way to diffuse that isn't about changing head count, but it's around exhibiting vulnerability in front of all these folks and saying, “Look, I don't know that, but my lead pharmacist here, my lead clinician here, helped me get through those things.” But I do have one leader right, who is our head of vice president of HR, a woman who grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota, who has come to myself and our president and shared that she feels liberated at MOBE because, though this firm is larger than one that she served as a director of HR, previously, she's never had to look — check her six, look right, look left and seek alignment to ensure she's harmonizing with people. Naviere Walkewicz 37:49 Can you imagine being in an environment like that? Mike Ott 38:51 It's terrible, it's toxic, and it's wrong. Leaders, within the organization, I think you're judged more by what you don't do and the actions that you don't take. You can establish trust, and you will fortify that trust when you share with the team as best you can, so long as it's nothing inappropriate, where you made a mistake, where we went wrong. What did we learn from that? Where are we going to pivot? How we're going to apply that learning to make it better, as opposed to finding blame, pointing the finger or not even acknowledging? That happens all the time, and that toxicity erodes. And regretfully, my VP of HR in prior roles experienced that, and I don't have time. Good teams shouldn't have time to rehearse the basic values of the firm. We don't have time the speed of business is like this [snaps]. So if I can build the team of men and women that trust one another, can stay in their lanes, but also recognize that they're responsible for helping run the business, and look over at the other lanes and help their fellow leaders make adjustments without the indictful comment or without sort of belittling or shaming. That's what good teams, do. You, and I did that in the Air Force, but it is not as common as you would think. Naviere Walkewicz 39:11 20 we've been talking about MOBE, and you know, the environment you're creating there, and just the way that you're working through innovation. Let's talk a little bit how you're involved with DIU, the Defense Innovation Unit. Mike Ott 39:21 Again, it's reputation in relationships. And it was probably 2010, I get a call from a fellow grad, '87 grad who was living in the Beltway, still in uniform. He was an O-5 I was an O-5. Just doing the Academy liaison work, helping good young men and women that wanted to go to the Academy get in. And that was super satisfying, thought that would be the end of my Reserve career and super fun. And this is right when the first Obama administration came in, and one of his edicts and his admin edicts was, we've got to find ways to embrace industry more, right? We can't rely on the primes, just the primes. So those were just some seeds, and along with a couple other grads, created what is now called Joint Reserve Directorate, which was spawned DIUX, which was DIU Experimental, is spawned from. So I was the owner for JRD, and DIUX as a reserve officer. And that's how we all made colonel is we were working for the chief technology officer of the Defense Department, the Hon. Zach Lemnios, wonderful fellow. Civilian, didn't have much military experience, but boy, the guy knew tech — semiconductors and areas like that. But this was the beginning of the United States recognizing that our R&D output, OK, in the aggregate, as a fund, as a percentage of GDP, whether it's coming out of the commercial marketplace or the military DoD complex, needs to be harnessed against the big fight that we have with China. We can see, you know, we've known about that for 30 years. So this is back 14 years ago. And the idea was, let's bring in men and women — there was a woman in our group too that started this area — and was like, “How do we create essential boundary span, boundary spanners, or dual-literacy people that are experiences in capital markets, finance, how capital is accumulated, innovation occurs, but then also how that applies into supporting the warfighter. So we were given a sandbox. We were given a blank slate.   Naviere Walkewicz 41:37 It's your happy place.   Mike Ott 41:38 Oh, super awesome. And began to build out relationships at Silicon Valley with commercial entities, and developed some concepts that are now being deployed with DIU and many other people came in and brought them all to life. But I was lucky enough after I retired from the Reserves as a colonel to be asked to come back as an adviser, because of that background and that experience, the genesis of the organization. So today I'm an unpaid SGE — special government employee — to help DIU look across a variety of different domains. And so I'm sure many of our listeners know it's key areas that we've got to harness the commercial marketplace. We know that if you go back into the '70s, ‘60s and ‘70s, and creation of the internet, GPS, precision munitions and all of that, the R&D dollars spent in the aggregate for the country, 95% came out of DOD is completely flip flopped today. Completely flipped. We happen to live in an open, free society. We hope to have capital markets and access a lot of that technology isn't burdened like it might be in China. And so that's the good and bad of this open society that we have. We've got to find ways. So we, the team does a lot of great work, and I just help them think about capital markets, money flows, threat finance. How you use financial markets to interdict, listen, see signals, but then also different technologies across cyberspace, autonomy, AI. Goodness gracious, I'm sure there's a few others. There's just so much. So I'm just an interloper that helps them think about that, and it's super fun that they think that I can be helpful. Naviere Walkewicz 43:29 Well, I think I was curious on how, because you love the ambiguity, and that's just something that fills your bucket — so while you're leading MOBE and you're creating something very stable, it sounds like DIU and being that kind of special employee, government employee, helps you to fill that need for your ambiguous side.   Mike Ott 43:48 You're right. You're right.   Naviere Walkewicz 43:49 Yeah, I thought that's really fascinating. Well, I think it's wonderful that you get to create that and you just said, the speed of business is this [snaps]. How do you find time in your life to balance what you also put your values around — your health — when you have such an important job and taking care of so many people? Mike Ott 44:06 I think we're all pretty disciplined at the Academy, right? I remain that way, and I'm very, very — I'm spring loaded to ‘no,' right? “Hey, do you want to go do this?” Yeah, I want to try do, I want to do a lot of things, but I'm spring loaded. So like, “Hey, you want to go out and stay, stay up late and have a drink?” “No,” right? “Do you want to do those things?” So I'm very, very regimented in that I get eight hours of sleep, right? And even somebody, even as a cadet, one of the nicknames my buddies gave me was Rip Van Ott, right? Because I'm like, “This is it.” I was a civil engineer. One of my roommates was an astro guy, and I think he pulled an all-nighter once a week.   Naviere Walkewicz 45:46 Oh, my goodness, yeah.   Mike Ott 45:50 Like, “Dude, what are you doing?” And it wasn't like he was straight As. I was clearly not straight As, but I'm like, “What are you doing? That's not helpful. Do the work ahead of time.” I think I maybe pulled three or four all-nighters my entire four years. Now, it's reflected in my GPA. I get that, but I finished the engineering degree. But sleep matters, right? And some things are just nonnegotiable, and that is, you know, exercise, sleep and be kind to yourself, right? Don't compare. If you're going to compare, compare yourself to yesterday, but don't look at somebody who is an F-15 pilot, and you're not. Like, I'm not. My roommate, my best man at my wedding, F-15 pilot, Test Pilot School, all these things, amazing, amazing, awesome, and super, really, really, happy and proud for him, but that's his mojo; that's his flow, right? If you're gonna do any comparison, compare yourself to the man or woman you were yesterday and “Am I better?”. Naviere Walkewicz 44:48 The power of “no” and having those nonnegotiables is really important. Mike Ott 45:53 Yeah, no, I'm not doing that. Naviere Walkewicz 45:56 I think sometimes we're wired for a “we can take on… we can take it on, we can take it on, we can take it on. We got this.” Mike Ott 46:03 For sure. Oh, my goodness. And I have that discussion with people on my team from time to time as well, and it's most often as it relates to an individual on the team that's struggling in his or her role, or whether it's by you know, if it's by omission and they're in the wrong role, that's one thing. If it's by commission, well, be a leader and execute and get that person out of there, right? That's wrong, but from time to time, it's by omission, and somebody is just not well placed. And I've seen managers, I can repatriate this person. I can get him or her there, and you have to stop for a second and tell that leader, “Yeah, I know you can. I'm certain that the only thing you were responsible for was to help that person fulfill the roles of the job that they're assigned. You could do it.” But guess what? You've got 90% of your team that needs care, nurturing and feeding. They're delivering in their function, neglect, there destroys careers, and it's going to destroy the business. So don't, don't get caught up in that. Yeah. Pack it on. Pack it on. Pack it on. You're right. When someone's in the crosshairs, I want to be in the crosshairs with you, Naviere, and Ted, and all the people that you and I affiliate with, but on the day-to-day, sustained basis, right to live, you know, to execute and be fulfilled, both in the mission, the work and stay fit, to fight and do it again. You can't. You can't. And a lot of a little bit of no goes a long way. Naviere Walkewicz 47:40 That is really good to hear. I think that's something that a lot of leaders really don't share. And I think that's really wonderful that you did. I'd like to take a little time and pivot into another area that you're heavily involved, philanthropy side. You know, you've been with the Falcon Foundation. Where did you find that intent inside of you? I mean, you always said the Academy's been part of you, but you found your way back in that space in other ways. Let's talk about that. Mike Ott 48:05 Sure. Thank you. I don't know. I felt that service is a part of me, right? And it is for all of us, whether you stay in the military or not. Part of my financial services jobs have been in wealth management. I was lucky enough to run that business for US Bank in one of my capacities, and here I am now in health care, health care of service. That aligns with wanting things to be better across any other angle. And the philanthropic, philanthropic side of things — I probably couldn't say that word when I was a cadet, but then, you know, I got out and we did different volunteer efforts. We were at Hanscom Field raising money for different organizations, and stayed with it, and always found ways to have fun with it. But recognized I couldn't… It was inefficient if I was going to be philanthropic around something that I didn't have a personal interest in. And as a senior executive at US Bank, we were all… It was tacit to the role you had roles in local foundations or community efforts. And I remember sitting down with my boss, the CFO of the bank, and then the CEO, and they'd asked me to go on to a board, and it had to do with a museum that I had no interest in, right? And I had a good enough relationship with these, with these guys, to say, “Look, I'm a good dude. I'm going to be helpful in supporting the bank. And if this is a have to, all right, I'll do it, but you got the wrong guy. Like, you want me to represent the bank passionately, you know, philanthropically, let me do this. And they're like, “OK, great.” So we pivoted, and I did other things. And the philanthropic piece of things is it's doing good. It's of service for people, entities, organizations, communities or moments that can use it. And I it's just very, very satisfying to me. So my wife and I are pretty involved that way, whether it's locally, with different organizations, lot of military support. The Academy, we're very fond of. It just kind of became a staple. Naviere Walkewicz 50:35 Did you find yourself also gravitating toward making better your community where you grew up? Mike Ott 50:41 Yeah, yeah, yeah. One of my dear friends that grew up in the same neighborhood, he wound up going to the Naval Academy, and so we're we've been friends for 50 years. Seventh grade.   Naviere Walkewicz 50:53 Same counselor? Mike Ott50:54 Yeah, no. Different counselor, different high school. His parents had a little bit of money, and they, he wound up going to a Catholic school nearby. But great guy, and so he and I, he runs a business that serves the VA in Chicago, and I'm on the board, and we do an awful lot of work. And one of the schools we support is a school on the south side, largely African American students and helping them with different STEM projects. It's not going to hit above the fold of a newspaper, but I could give a rat, doesn't matter to me, seeing a difference, seeing these young men and women. One of them, one of these boys, it's eye watering, but he just found out that he was picked for, he's applying to the Naval Academy, and he just found out that he got a nomination.   Naviere Walkewicz 51:44 Oh my goodness, I just got chills.   Mike Ott 51:46 And so, yeah, yeah, right, right. But it's wonderful. And his parents had no idea anything like that even existed. So that's one that it's not terribly formal, but boy, it looks great when you see the smile on that kid and the impact on that individual, but then the impact it leaves on the community, because it's clear opportunity for people to aspire because they know this young man or this young woman, “I can do that too.” Naviere Walkewicz 52:22 Wow. So he got his nomination, and so he would start technically making class of 2030?   Mike Ott 52:27 That's right. Naviere Walkewicz 52:28 Oh, how exciting. OK Well, that's a wonderful…   Mike Ott 52:27 I hope, I hope, yeah, he's a great kid. Naviere Walkewicz 52:33 Oh, that is wonderful. So you talk about, you know that spirit of giving — how have you seen, I guess, in your journey, because it hasn't been linear. We talked about how you know progression is not linear. How have you grown throughout these different experiences? Because you kind of go into a very ambiguous area, and you bring yourself, and you grow in it and you make it better. But how have you grown? What does that look like for you? Mike Ott 53:02 After having done it several times, right, i.e. entering the fray of an ambiguous environment business situation, I developed a better system and understanding of what do I really need to do out of the gates? And I've grown that way and learn to not be too decisive too soon. Decisiveness is a great gift. It's really, really it's important. It lacks. It lacks because there are too many people, less so in the military, that want to be known for having made… don't want to be known for having made a bad decision, so they don't take that risk. Right, right, right. And so that creates just sort of the static friction, and you've just got to have faith and so, but I've learned how to balance just exactly when to be decisive. And the other thing that I know about me is I am drawn to ambiguity. I am drawn… Very, very curious. Love to learn, try new things, have a range of interests and not very good at any one thing, but that range helps me in critical thinking. So I've learned to, depending on the situation, right, listen, listen, and then go. It isn't a formula. It's a flow, but it's not a formula. And instinct matters when to be decisive. Nature of the people with whom you're working, nature of the mission, evolution, phase of the organization or the unit that you're in. Now is the time, right? So balancing fostering decisiveness is something that that's worth a separate discussion. Naviere Walkewicz 54:59 Right. Wow. So all of these things that you've experienced and the growth that you've had personally — do you think about is this? Is this important to you at all, the idea of, what is your legacy, or is that not? Mike Ott 55:13 We talked a little bit about this beforehand, and I thought I've got to come up with something pithy, right? And I really, I really don't.   Naviere Walkewicz 55:18 Yeah, you don't.   Mike Ott 55:19 I don't think of myself as that. I'm very proud of who I am and what I've done in the reputation that I have built. I don't need my name up in lights. I know the life that I'm living and the life that I hope to live for a lot longer. My legacy is just my family, my children, the mark that I've left in the organizations that I have been a part of.   Naviere Walkewicz 55:58 And the communities that you've touched, like that gentleman going and getting his nomination. I'm sure.   Mike Ott 56:04 Yeah, I don't… having been a senior leader, and even at MOBE, I'm interviewed by different newspapers and all that. Like I do it because I'm in this role, and it's important for MOBE, but I'm not that full of myself, where I got to be up in lights. So I just want to be known as a man that was trustworthy, fun, tried to meet people where they are really had flaws, and sought to overcome them with the few strengths that he had, and moved everything forward. Naviere Walkewicz 56:33 Those are the kind of leaders that people will run through fire for. That's amazing. I think that's a wonderful I mean that in itself, it's like a living legacy you do every day. How can I be better than I was yesterday? And that in itself, is a bit of your living and that's really cool. Well, one of the things we like to ask is, “What is something you're doing every day to be better as a leader?” And you've covered a lot, so I mean, you could probably go back to one of those things, but is there something that you could share with our listeners that you do personally every day, to be better? Mike Ott 57:05 Exercise and read every day, every day, and except Fridays. Fridays I take… that's like, I'll stretch or just kind of go for a walk. But every day I make it a moment, you know, 45 minutes to an hour, something and better for my head, good for my body, right? That's the process in the hierarchy of way I think about it. And then read. Gen. Mattis. And I supported Gen. Mattis as a lieutenant colonel before I wanted to and stuff at the Pentagon. And he I supported him as an innovation guy for JFCOM, where he was the commander. And even back then, he was always talking about reading is leading none of us as military leaders… And I can't hold the candle to the guy, but I learned an awful lot, and I love his mindset, and that none of us can live a life long enough to take In all the leadership lessons necessary to help us drive impact. So you better be reading about it all the time. And so I read probably an hour every night, every day.   Naviere Walkewicz 58:14 What are you reading right now?   Mike Ott 58:15 Oh, man, I left it on the plane! I was so bummed. Naviere Walkewicz 58:17 Oh, that's the worst. You're going to have to get another copy. Mike Ott 58:22 Before I came here, I ordered it from Barnes & Noble so to me at my house when I get home. Love history and reading a book by this wonderful British author named Anne Reid. And it's, I forget the title exactly, but it's how the allies at the end of World War I sought to influence Russia and overcome the Bolsheviks. They were called the interventionalists, and it was an alliance of 15 different countries, including the U.S., Britain, France, U.K., Japan, Australia, India, trying to thwart, you know, the Bolshevik Revolution — trying to thwart its being cemented. Fascinating, fascinating. So that's what I was reading until I left it on the plane today. Naviere Walkewicz 59:07 How do you choose what to read? Mike Ott 59:10 Listen, write, love history. Love to read Air Force stuff too. Just talk to friends, right? You know, they've learned how to read like me. So we get to talk and have fun with that. Naviere Walkewicz 59:22 That's great. Yeah, that's wonderful. Well, the last question I'd like to ask you, before I want to make sure you have an opportunity to cover anything we didn't, is what is something you would share with others that they can do to become better leaders? Maybe they start doing it now, so in the future, they're even stronger as a leader. Mike Ott 59:42 Two things I would say, and try to have these exist in the same breath in the same moment, is have the courage to make it try and make it better every day, all right, and be kind to yourself, be forgiving. Naviere Walkewicz 59:59 That's really powerful. Can you share an example? And I know I that's we could just leave it there, but being courageous and then being kind to yourself, they're almost on two opposite sides. Have you had, can you share an example where I guess you've done that right? You had to be you were courageous and making something better, and maybe it didn't go that way, so you have to be kind to yourself. Mike Ott 1:00:23 Yeah, happy to and I think any cadet will hear this story and go like, “Huh, wow, that's interesting.” And it also plays with the arc of progress isn't linear. I graduated in '85 went to flight school, got halfway through flight school, and there was a RIF, reduction in force. And our class, our flight class, I was flying jets, I was soloing. I was academically — super easy, flying average, right? You know, I like to joke that I've got the fine motor skills of a ham sandwich, right? You know, but, but I didn't finish flight school. And you think about this, here it is. I started in 1981 there were still vestiges of Vietnam. Everyone's going to be a fighter pilot. Kill, kill, kill. Blood makes the grass grow. All of that was there. And I remember when this happened, it was very frustrating for me. It was mostly the major root of frustration wasn't that I wasn't finishing flight school. It was the nature by which the determination that I wasn't finishing was made. And it was, it was a financial decision. We had too many guys and gals, and they were just finding, you know, average folks and then kicking them out. So our class graduated a lower percent than, I think, in that era, it was late '85, '86, maybe '87, but you can look at outflows, and it was interesting, they were making budget cuts. So there was a shaming part there, having gone to the Academy.   Naviere Walkewicz 1:02:02 And knowing since 9 years old. Mike Ott 1:20:04 Right, right, right, and I knew I wanted to go the Academy. I'd like to fly, let's check it out and see if it's for me. I would much rather have been not for me, had I made the decision I don't want to do this or that I was just unsafe and didn't want to do it. The way it turned out is, and this is where I learned a little bit about politics as well. In my class, again, I was very average. Like, nobody's ever going to say, like, yeah, I was going to go fly the Space Shuttle. Like, no way, right? Very, very average, but doing just fine. And a lot of guys and gals wanted to go be navigators, and that's great. I looked in the regs, and I learned this as a cadet, and it's helped me in business, too. If there's a rule, there's a waiver. Like, let me understand the regs, and I asked to go to a board. Instead of just submitting a letter to appeal, I asked to go to a board. And so I went to a board of an O-5 five, couple of threes O-4 four, and ultimately shared the essence of why I shouldn't be terminated in the program. And son of a gun, they agreed, and I still have the letter. The letter says, “Recommend Lt. Ott for reinstatement.” Nobody in my class has that letter, nobody makes the appeal. And I'm like, I'm going downstream. I'm going downstream. And that's the Chicago in me, and that's the piece about… but also move forward, but forgive yourself, and I'll get to that. And so I, I was thrilled, My goodness, and the argument I had is, like, look, you're just not keeping me current. You put me in the sim, and then you're waiting too long to put me in the jet. The regs don't allow for that. And like, you're right. So I'm assigned to go back to the jet. My pals are thrilled. I'm going to stay in the same class. I don't have to wash back. And then I get a call from the DO's office — director of operations — and it was from some civilian person so the DO overrode the board's decision. Heartbreaking. Heartbreaking.   Naviere Walkewicz 1:04:12 You were so high, you did all of your work. And then… Mike Ott 1:04:15 Yeah, and then heartbreaking and frustrating, and I guess the word is indignant: anger aroused through frustration. In that I figured it out. I knew exactly what's happening. I made the appeal and I won. And it wasn't I was expecting to be assigned to fly a fighter. It was like, “Just let me, let me express the merits of my capabilities. It's how the system is designed.” The son of a gun, I jumped in my car and I ran to base and I waited and reported in. He didn't really know who I was. That's because he didn't make a decision. It was just it was that decision, and that's how life comes at you. That's just how it is. It isn't linear. So how do you take that and then say, “Well, I'm going to be kind to myself and make something out of it.” And he went through, you know, a dissertation as to why, and I asked him if I could share my views, and it's pretty candid, and I just said, If my dad were something other than the Chicago policeman, and maybe if he was a senator or general officer, I wouldn't be sitting here. That lit him up, right? That lit him up. But I had to state my views. So I knew I was out of the program. Very, very frustrating. Could have had the mayor of Chicago call. Didn't do that, right? Like, OK, I understand where this is it. That was very frustrating and somewhat shaming. But where the forgiveness comes in and be kind to yourself, is that I ran into ground. I ran into ground and drove an outcome where I still… It's a moment of integrity. I drove an outcome like, there you go. But then what do you do? Forgive yourself, right? Because you didn't do anything wrong, OK? And you pivot. And I turned that into a moment where I started cold calling instructors at the Academy. Because, hey, now I owe the Air Force five years, Air Force is looking for, you know, things that I don't want to do. And thank goodness I had an engineering degree, and I cold called a guy at a base in Hanscom. And this is another tap on the shoulder.   Naviere Walkewicz 1:06:24 That's how you got to Hanscom. Gotcha.   Mike Ott 1:06:27 There was a friend who was Class of '83, a woman who was in my squadron, who was there. Great egg. And she's like, “Hey, I was at the O Club.” Called her. I said, “Hey, help me out. I got this engineering degree. I want to go to one of these bases. Called Lt. Col. Davis, right? I met him at the O Club. I called a guy, and he's like, “Yeah, let's do this.”   Naviere Walkewicz 1:06:44 Wow, I love that..   Mike Ott 1:06:46 It was fantastic So it's a long winded way, but progress isn't linear. And progressing through that and not being a victim, right, recognizing the conditions and the environment that I could control and those that I can't. Anything that I could control, I took advantage of and I sought to influence as best possible. Ran into ground and I feel great about it, and it turns out to be a testament of one of my best successes. Naviere Walkewicz 1:07:17 Wow. Thank you for sharing

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we're joined by Jerjees Seja, CEO of ARY Digital Network, one of Pakistan's most iconic media leaders. From shaping the country's TV and drama landscape to building ARY into a powerhouse of entertainment, Jerjees shares his journey of transforming Pakistan's media industry.We discuss:How Pakistan's private TV revolution beganThe economics behind news, dramas, and entertainment ProductionWhy premium Pakistani content is now free on YouTubeWhy global giants like Netflix don't invest in PakistanThe future of OTT and local streaming platformsWhy filmmaking still isn't profitable hereThe evolving audience behavior and the road to 2050Socials:TBT's Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/thoughtbehindthings/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TBT's TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@tbtbymuzamil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TBT's Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/thoughtbehindthings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TBT Clips: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@tbtpodcastclips⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Muzamil's Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/muzamilhasan/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Muzamil's LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/muzamilhasan/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jerjees's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerjeesseja/Special thanks to Daftarkhwan for providing us with the studio space.You can find out more about them at: ⁠⁠https://www.daftarkhwan.com/⁠⁠Credits:Executive Producer: Syed Muzamil Hasan ZaidiAssociate Producer: Saad ShehryarPublisher: Talha ShaikhEditor: Jawad Sajid

At the Crexendo UGM, Manny Christophidis (Carrier Sales Manager) and Rohan Milne (CEO) of Switch Connect joined Technology Reseller News Publisher Doug Green to explore how customer communications are shifting from “phone-number centric” to outcome-driven collaboration. The team described a market where many businesses now operate across Teams, chat, apps, and social channels—sometimes needing a phone number only for regulatory or edge cases—pushing providers to evolve beyond DID/minutes into higher-value digital transformation. Switch Connect recounted its own pivot: after a legacy UCaaS platform exited Australia, the company rapidly migrated to the NetSapiens stack and now helps carriers move from TDM to IP and launch modern offers across Asia and beyond. COVID accelerated the mindset shift from voice to collaboration and hybrid work; meetings, screen share, and asynchronous channels increasingly ride OTT rather than PSTN. “We've moved from the age of voice to the age of collaboration—success now starts with the workflow, not the dial tone,” said Christophidis. That evolution opens both risk and opportunity for partners. The duo emphasized consultative selling, measuring success the way customers do, and weaving AI, cloud services, and integrations into business processes—rather than leading with a single product. “We're not just a technology company—we're a digital-transformation partner, using AI and cloud to help clients do more with what they already have,” noted Milne. They also highlighted practical realities: shifting budget authority (often toward marketing), managing shadow IT, and even running internal hackathons to turn IT from a cost center into a profit center. For providers wondering where to begin, Switch Connect's advice is straightforward: deepen discovery around the customer's revenue model, align collaboration and AI to those outcomes, and accept that UCaaS is now a component—not the whole story. Learn more at https://www.switchconnect.com.au/.

The Phoenix Suns lost a heartbreaker at home to Memphis, falling 114-113, and the new "gritty" culture hit a massive snag. On today's episode of The Valley Verdict, we dive into a loss defined by self-destruction and star frustration.In this episode:The Turnover Toll: We break down the crippling 22 turnovers that Memphis turned into 37 decisive points, analyzing how poor spacing and bad decisions are sinking the new offense.Booker's Silence: We discuss the dramatic conclusion of the game, with Devin Booker walking straight to the locker room and declining post-game comments. We analyze the big question raised by Bickley and Marotta on 98.7 FM: What does this visible frustration say about the team's leadership?Coach Ott's Scrutiny: We review Head Coach Jordan Ott and Collin Gillespie's comments on the epidemic of turnovers, and discuss the urgency in Ott's voice after Thursday's practice.The Silver Linings: We look at the strong performances from other players (like Mark Williams and Collin Gillespie) that kept the Suns in the game, and whether these positives are enough to sustain the "culture" in the face of losses.Don't miss our final verdict on the state of the Suns! Subscribe to The Valley Verdict and follow us on Facebook [@thevalleyverdict], Instagram [@thevalleyverdictpodcast], and YouTube [@thevalleyverdict] for more analysis.

This week's episode is a special cross-over with CMDA's Voice of Advocacy podcast, hosted by Dr. Brick Lantz, CMDA's Vice President of Advocacy and Bioethics. Joined by Dr. Gary Ott, a renowned cardiac transplant surgeon at Providence Heart and Vascular Clinic, they explore the ethical boundaries of life, death, and medical innovation – examining how we define death in the ICU era, the differences between brain death and donation after circulatory death (DCD), and how emerging technologies like “heart-in-a-box” systems and normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) are reshaping transplant medicine. With decades of experience and deep faith, Dr. Ott challenges us to uphold the sanctity of life and reflects on the Gospel image at the heart of transplantation – one life given so another may live.

2025-ben október 27-re esett az egyenlő díjazás napja. Magyarán mire ez az adás megjelenik, mi, nők már szimbolikusan ingyen dolgozunk, egészen az év végéig. Jöhet ebben változás? És ha igen, mi kell hozzá? Kell-e egyáltalán tudnunk, mennyit keres a másik? Ezekről a kérdésekről beszélgetünk meghívott vendégünkkel, Csernus Fannival, az Amnesty International Magyarország nemek közötti egyenlőség szakértőjével. Bővebben: 00:01:00 - Gratulálunk, mostantól december 31-éig ingyen dolgozunk! 00:01:34 - Csernus Fannival ünneplünk 00:02:20 - Gyorstalpaló: hogyan is számoljuk ki, hogy mikor van egy évben az egyenlő díjazás napja? 00:04:21 - Mi befolyásolja, hogy a nők kevesebbet keresnek, mint a férfiak? 00:05:54 - Luxemburg papíron nagyon jól fest, de pontosan mit is árul el ez a grafikon Európáról? 00:09:12 - Ott jó, ahol a foglalkoztatottsági arányban kicsi a különbség és mégis kicsi a bérszakadék. 00:10:46 - Vannak olyan szektorok, amikben akár 30 százalék fölötti a bérkülönbség. 00:12:48 - Az állami szektorban az üvegmozgólépcső repíti magasra a férfiakat még a nők uralta szakmákban is. 00:16:54 - A bértárgyalás már az óvodában tanult sztereotípiákkal kezdődik. 00:20:36 - Az állásinterjún és a bértárgyaláson pont fordítva kellene működnie egy nőnek, mint amire egyébként kondicionálja a társadalom. 00:26:12 - A bérsáv megadásának is csak akkor lesz értelme, ha nem túl nagy sávokat határoznak meg. 00:29:48 - A tapasztalat biztos, hogy a legjobb mutatószám? 00:33:06 - A feszültség sokszor az azonos szinten dolgozók között alakul ki feszültség. 00:37:16 - Már gyerekkorunkban sem szabad nemet mondani, úgyhogy felnőtt korunkra is megtartjuk általában ezt a jó szokásunkat. 00:38:32 - Hogyan is számoljuk a láthatatlan munka mennyiségét és értékét? Mi tartozik ide? 00:42:40 - Nem is a láthatatlan munka pillanatnyi mennyisége a durva, hanem az, ha egy nő egész életére vetítve nézzük meg ennek a következményeit. 00:44:32 - Hogy segít az, ha ismertek lesznek a bérsávok? 00:52:16 - Munkavállalóként hogy lehet fellépni a diszkrimináció ellen? 00:59:44 - A rendszer versengésbe nyomja a nőket, de nagyon fontos, hogy megismerjük, hogy ez kinek az érdeke, és változtassunk rajta. 01:02:40 - Optimisták vagyunk, jövőre nézzük meg, mennyit haladtunk! Olvasnivalók: Minden, amit az egyenlő díjazás napjáról tudni érdemes Bérszakadék petíció. Apró szépséghiba nemi egyenlőség tekintetében. Friss EU-s statisztika. Kereseti rés a KSH adatai alapján 2020-ig. Mellékszál: kevés a nő a döntéshozatalban és a felsővezetésben Magyarországon: A nők nem is mernek annyit kérni, mint a férfiak? 2017-ben sereghajtók voltunk, Izland már akkor is vezetett: Ha mindenki tudja, ki mennyit keres, az csökkenti az egyenlőtlenséget? Majd most kiderül. Némi láthatatlan munka. Podcastunk kéthetente jelentkezik új adással, meghallgatható a 444 Spotify- és Apple-csatornáján is. Korábbi adásaink itt találhatók. Javaslataid, ötleteid, meglátásaid a tyukol@444.hu címre várjuk. Illusztráció: Kiss Bence/444See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Crexendo UGM, Dave Michels, Principal Analyst & Founder of TalkingPointz, sat down with Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, to unpack “UCaaS Mobility 3” — a pragmatic, mobile-first model that moves enterprise calling from over-the-top apps to the cellular layer itself. Michels framed three generations of UCaaS mobility. Mobility 1 (find-me/follow-me) forwarded calls but split voicemail and caller ID. Mobility 2 (OTT softphone apps) worked well on strong internet — but faltered in truly mobile conditions (highway handoffs, variable coverage), pushing users back to personal cell numbers. Mobility 3 fixes this by placing the enterprise line on the SIM/eSIM: users choose business or personal at dial time, and enterprise calls ride native cellular voice for reliability, with full logging, recording, and policy control. The result: intuitive smartphone use (native dialer/contacts), optional UCaaS app, and clean work/personal separation without MDM intrusiveness. Michels highlighted why this matters now: Reliability on the move: Native cellular voice eliminates OTT fragility in transit. Compliance & CX: Enterprise calls and texts are captured and governed (finance, healthcare, education), and contact centers can transfer to subject-matter experts without losing recording/analytics. Frontline & deskless workers: Mobility-first roles (e.g., field services) can finally get enterprise-grade mobile that “just works.” Simplicity for IT & MSPs: One number can move across hard phone, soft client, and smartphone; less training and fewer behavior changes. Carrier convergence: With MVNO models (e.g., Crexendo's newly announced Xtend approach), service providers can bundle meetings, UCaaS, messaging, calling, and cellular — even globally — under a single brand and bill. Looking forward, Michels envisions “no more softphones” for many roles: users keep one phone, one dialer, two identities (business/personal), and enterprises preserve governance and data for AI-assisted analytics. For MSPs and resellers at UGM, the message was clear: Mobility 3 is a near-term, standard approach that elevates UCaaS into true mobile telephony, expands deal size and stickiness, and opens regulated and frontline segments. Explore more of Michels' analysis at TalkingPointz.

Find out more about Endeavor: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://pakistan.endeavor.org⁠⁠In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we're joined by Umair Masoom Usmani, the Founder of Myco, a rapidly growing OTT and creator-monetization platform redefining how people consume, fund, and earn from content across emerging markets.After leaving Dubai's corporate comfort, Umair built one of Pakistan's fastest-scaling digital ventures with 30M+ registered users, exclusive Premier League streaming rights, and operations across Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt.We explore:Why Umair left “too-good-to-be-true” job in Dubai to start MycoHow the global media system is broken and what Myco is fixingThe $25 million raised in equity & debt fundingWhy creators don't make money and how Myco plans to change thatThe future of sports, digital content, and monetization in PakistanSocials:TBT's Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/thoughtbehindthings/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TBT's TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@tbtbymuzamil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TBT's Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/thoughtbehindthings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TBT Clips: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@tbtpodcastclips⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Muzamil's Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/muzamilhasan/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Muzamil's LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/muzamilhasan/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Umair's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/umair-masoom-usmani-b12ab025/Special thanks to Kickstart for providing us with the studio space.You can find out more about them at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://kickstart.pk/⁠⁠⁠⁠Credits:Executive Producer: Syed Muzamil Hasan ZaidiAssociate Producer: Saad ShehryarPublisher: Talha ShaikhEditor: Jawad Sajid

In this episode of the Good Days podcast, hosts Eddy and Charlie welcome Reverend Dr. John Ott, a pivotal figure in their lives and ministry. The conversation delves into Dr. Ott's journey from teaching basketball to leading churches, his impactful evangelism efforts, and the challenges and triumphs of ministry. They discuss the importance of preparation, presentation, and perseverance in faith, sharing inspiring stories of transformation and revival. The episode highlights the enduring hope and passion of the younger generation in the church.

INTELLIGEMSIntelligems brings A/B testing to business decisions beyond copy and design. Test your pricing, shipping charges, free shipping thresholds, offers, SaaS tools, and more by clicking here: https://bit.ly/42DcmFl. Get 20% off the first 3 months with code FARIS20.RICHPANELCut your support costs by 30% and reduce tickets by 30%—guaranteed—with Richpanel's AI-first Customer Service Platform that will reduce costs, improve agent productivity & delight customers at http://www.richpanel.com/partners/ajf?utm_source=spotify.//Sunil Agrawal is the founder and CEO of VGL Group, a $400 million holding company that includes Shop LC, a $240 million/year brand. Reach out to Sunil at sunil@vglgroup.com if you want to work with him.//How do you scale a publicly traded, $400M holding company while keeping margins healthy and brand trust intact? Sunil Agrawal (CEO, VGL Group / Shop LC) breaks down the real playbook: a “deep discount” value strategy that doesn't nuke brand equity, a vertical advantage with 60% in-house manufacturing in India, and a TV-first engine transitioning to DTC with disciplined Meta and OTT investment. We get specific on pricing architecture (e.g., “everything under $10” days), how value perception feeds LTV, and when a premium assortment can coexist with promotion without eroding positioning.For operators, this episode is a masterclass in scale mechanics and leadership: setting a goal of $500k–$1M/month per brand on Meta (and how to learn enough to hire well), allocating ~$250k/month to OTT while TV still performs, and building an org that executes—RSUs for 250 leaders, formal training hours, succession planning, and a bureaucracy-free culture built on continual learning. If you're wrestling with profitable growth, discount anxiety, or the TV to DTC bridge, this is an hour that will sharpen your roadmap.//CHAPTER TITLES:00:01:47 - Breaking Down Shop LC00:05:45 - Setting The Right Expectations For A $400M Holding Company00:08:24 - Significance of a “TV First” Brand00:09:36 - Deep Discount Model00:17:05 - Marketing Strategy For All Shop LC Brands00:24:28 - Importance of Owning The Manufacturing & Sourcing00:25:57 - Sunil Pinpoints This Key To Success00:36:55 - Learning Opportunities & Work Conferences00:39:35 - Importance of Learning & Information00:42:16 - Goal Setting For Each Brand00:45:41 - Why DTC Didn't Work At First00:47:02 - Successful Team = Successful Business//SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL FOR 2X/WEEKLY UPLOADS!//ADMISSIONGet the best media buying training on the Internet + a free coaching call with Common Thread Collective's media buyers when you sign up for ADmission here: ⁠⁠https://www.youradmission.co/andrew-faris-podcast⁠//FOLLOW UP WITH ANDREW X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/andrewjfaris ⁠Email: podcast@ajfgrowth.comWork with Andrew: ⁠https://ajfgrowth.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

00:00 Four-Minute Offense 8:00 Ouch 12:00 I'm a Loser 21:00 Doug's Big One = High School NIL? 34:30 CARDINALS: JG's QB Went to Jail 1:07:19 SUNS: It's Ott's Army! 1:37:40 ASU: Sam is Probable...for now 1:48:42 Vs Vegas

Ott and Drew talk about their week in South Africa.