Podcasts about Real value

Think you need 20% down to buy a home? Think again. In Step 5 of the 10-Step How to Buy a Home System, David Sidoni breaks down how much you really need to save — and how to start now, even if you're juggling debt.Saving for a home is the step that scares most renters away from ever getting started. In this episode, David busts the biggest myth in homebuying — that you need a massive 20% down payment — and replaces it with a realistic, data-backed plan to get you there faster.You'll learn the simple formula to estimate your goal: 8% of your home's price (5% down + 3% closing costs). That's the true, conservative number for most first-time buyers — and for many, it can be even less.David walks through how real buyers used creative strategies and pro guidance to shrink their out-of-pocket costs to as little as 1–5%. From zero-down loans to grants and seller credits, this episode shows how working with a Unicorn Team early opens doors you didn't know existed.You'll also hear real-world examples like Nick (Episode 399), who expected to need tens of thousands for closing — but ended up bringing only $4,000 to the table and even got money back.The key message: Don't wait until you think you've saved “enough.” Waiting costs you time, opportunity, and money. Learn how to plan smart, start early, and move forward with confidence.“If you think you need 20% down, you're already behind the truth. Most first-time buyers use 3.5% or 5%, and some even less. Waiting to ‘save enough' could cost you thousands.”HighlightsMyth Busted: Only 8–9% down is typical for first-time buyers — not 20%.Your Real Goal: Start with the 8% formula (5% down + 3% closing costs).Example: $400,000 home = $32,000 total savings target.Start Early: Work with a Unicorn Team before you hit your goal — they'll help you find options that reduce how much you need.Buyer Story: Nick (Ep. 399) bought with just $4K out-of-pocket — and got a refund check.Options That Work: 3.5% FHA loans, down payment assistance, seller credits, and even 0% down programs.Emotional Truth: Stop assuming homeownership is out of reach. Education and strategy make it possible sooner than you think.Referenced Episodes388 – The Playbook Vol. 1: The Rent Replacement Strategy389 – The Playbook Vol. 2: Your Last Lease Ever348 – How Much Do You Really Need for Closing Day?399 – The Real Value of Buying: What Nick Gained Beyond a Mortgage380 – This Should Have Been Impossible – But Rosie Actually Did It (Interview)189 – VA Loans: Bad for Buyers or a Christmas Miracle?358 – Interview: How to Buy a Duplex at 22 with $12K321 – Buying in a High-Cost Area – Long Island, NY (Interview)121 – When to Back Out of the Deal – Interview with a First-Time Buyer113 – Interview with a Single Female First-Time Home Buyer in 202275 – Inspection Red Flags, New Tips for 2022 Bidding Wars, and To Wait or Not to Wait?58 – How to Use Your Retirement Savings to Buy Your First Home the Safe Way22 – How to Financially Prepare to Buy Your First Home – Part IV273 – Buying a Home in 11 Days! Single Mom Becomes Atlanta Homeowner (Interview)19 – How to Financially Prepare to Buy Your First Home – Part I371 – Top Budgeting Apps for First-Time Buyers in 2025381 – Saving While in Debt: How Much Do First-Time Buyers Really Need in 2025?194 – Interview – Making the Impossible Purchase Possible169 – Woman Power: This Single Woman Bought Her First Home239 – Interview: Using the VA Loan for Zero Down161 – Achieving the American Dream: An Interview with Sally7 – First-Time Home Buyer – 1, 2, 3Connect with me to find a trusted realtor in your area or to answer your burning questions!Subscribe to our YouTube Channel @HowToBuyaHomeInstagram @HowtoBuyAHomePodcastTik Tok @HowToBuyAHomeVisit our Resource Center to "Ask David" AND get your FREE Home Buying Starter Kit!David Sidoni, the "How to Buy a Home Guy," is a seasoned real estate professional and con

Are you a SaaS founder wondering How to Build a Growth Operating System That Helps Teams Deliver Real Value? Growing a B2B SaaS company can often feel messy. Teams try lots of different tactics, hoping that something will finally work. But this kind of scattered approach rarely leads to long-term, repeatable success. In this episode of the Grow Your B2B SaaS Podcast Joran Hofman sits down with growth expert and coach Andrew Capland. Andrew explains how to move beyond one-off growth hacks and start building what he calls a Growth Operating System. This system helps teams focus on delivering real value, work together more effectively, and create results that can scale over time.Key Timecodes(00:00) - Cold Open: North Star Metric, Activation vs Retention, and Copying Playbooks Pitfalls(01:02) - Host Introduction: B2B SaaS Growth Operating System with Andrew Capland(01:46) - Why Tactics Alone Fail: The Case for a Growth Operating System in B2B SaaS(02:01) - Andrew's Journey: From Growth Content to Executing a Growth Operating System(03:40) - When to Implement a Growth OS: From Random Acts of Growth to Repeatable Systems(04:20) - Growth OS Building Blocks: Strategy, KPIs, Rituals, Templates, Frameworks(05:37) - Plug-and-Play Templates: Customizing the Growth Operating System for Your Stage(06:25) - Growth Strategy 101: North Star, Vision, Levers, Bets, and Milestones(07:25) - Choosing a North Star Metric: Activation and Retention as Leading Indicators(08:31) - Activation Example: The Facebook “7 Friends in 5 Days” North Star Metric(09:43) - Defining Activation: Customer Interviews, Milestones, and Value Realization(10:47) - Cross-Functional Growth: Sales, Product, CS Inputs and Growth Leadership(12:26) - Earning Ownership: Become the Expert on the Problem (Activation/Retention)(15:14) - Sponsor Break: SaaStock Dublin – B2B SaaS Founder Networking and Investors(16:45) - Founder vs Growth Leader: Ownership Shifts from Early Stage to Scale(17:35) - Common Growth Mistakes: Copy-Pasting Big Tech Playbooks vs ICP Fit(19:06) - Case Study: Airbnb Referral Program Copycat That Flopped (and Why)(20:13) - Managing Growth Setbacks: Trophy File Mindset and Learning-First Experiments(23:08) - Using AI in Growth: Train on Your A/B Tests, Learnings, and Audience Data(25:16) - Documentation is a Growth Lever: Standardize Learnings and Onboarding(26:20) - Hiring Your First Head of Growth: Skill-Problem Fit and Translating Jargon(28:40) - Alignment First: What Growth Owns, Accountability, and Collaboration Rules(29:20) - Problem Selection: Scoping High-Leverage Bets and Measuring Outcomes(30:34) - Low-Volume SaaS: Qualitative Research, Session Recordings, and User Testing(32:12) - Essential Tool Stack: CRM/Marketing Automation, Product Analytics, In-App Messaging(33:45) - The Next 2–3 Years: Train AI on Proprietary Growth Data to Predict Outcomes(35:23) - Stage Advice: From 0–10K MRR—Find One Acquisition Channel and One Retention Channel

Price is what you pay, value is what you get. Here's why you shouldn't lower your RATE and a better way to close deals with price sensitive clients. Emphasize how you save customers TIME and you'll win. Understanding the Real Value of Time in Modern Business Marketing: Video version: watch on YouTube here.Book a call with me: emilybinder.com/callThis episode discusses:-Critical difference between price and value-Time is the most valuable non-renewable resource you should be marketing-Challenges faced by small business owners, especially in marketing-Importance of leveraging video content marketing on platforms like YouTube-Necessity of authenticity in content creation-What's wrong with current perceptions of marketing ROI-insights into effective strategies for building trust and maximizing returnsChapters:(00:15) Pricing Challenges Faced by Small Businesses(00:56) The True Value of Time(01:39) Success Stories with UnPodcast Package(03:26) The Importance of Authentic Social Media Presence(04:05) The Role of AI in Content Creation(04:29) Trust and Authenticity in Marketing(05:11) The Shift in Media Landscape(08:01) The ROI of Content Marketing(10:55) Creating Effective Video Content(13:11) Practical Tips for Various Industries(14:05) Conclusion: Embracing Modern MarketingMy podcast software (promo links):Record guests, create clips - Riverside: emilybinder.com/riversideRecord solo, edit with AI - Descript: emilybinder.com/descriptMy mic gear listVideo podcast gear listHire me:Speaking: emilybinder.com/speakingAdvisory Calls: emilybinder.com/callConnect:This podcast | My website | Beetle Moment Marketing | LinkedIn | X | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Email updates Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of In-Ear Insights, the Trust Insights podcast, Katie and Chris discuss scaling Generative AI past basic prompting and achieving real business value. You will learn the strategic framework necessary to move beyond simple, one-off interactions with large language models. You will discover why focusing on your data quality, or “ingredients,” is more critical than finding the ultimate prompt formula. You will understand how connecting AI to your core business systems using agent technology will unlock massive time savings and efficiencies. You will gain insight into defining clear, measurable goals for AI projects using effective user stories and the 5P methodology. Stop treating AI like a chatbot intern and start building automated value—watch now to find out how! Watch the video here: Can’t see anything? Watch it on YouTube here. Listen to the audio here: https://traffic.libsyn.com/inearinsights/tipodcast-getting-real-value-from-generative-ai.mp3 Download the MP3 audio here. Need help with your company’s data and analytics? Let us know! Join our free Slack group for marketers interested in analytics! [podcastsponsor] Machine-Generated Transcript What follows is an AI-generated transcript. The transcript may contain errors and is not a substitute for listening to the episode. Christopher S. Penn – 00:00 In this week’s *In-Ear Insights*. Another week, another gazillion posts on LinkedIn and various social networks about the ultimate ChatGPT prompt. OpenAI, of course, published its Prompt Blocks library of hundreds of mediocre prompts that are particularly unhelpful. And what we’re seeing in the AI industry is this: A lot of people are stuck and focused on how do I prompt ChatGPT to do this, that, or the other thing, when in reality that’s not where the value is. Today, let’s talk about where the value of generative AI actually is, because a lot of people still seem very stuck on the 101 basics. And there’s nothing wrong with that—that is totally great—but what comes after it? Christopher S. Penn – 00:47 So, Katie, from your perspective as someone who is not the propeller head in this company and is very representative of the business user who wants real results from this stuff and not just shiny objects, what do you see in the Generative AI space right now? And more important, what do you see it’s missing? Katie Robbert – 01:14 I see it’s missing any kind of strategy, to be quite honest. The way that people are using generative AI—and this is a broad stroke, it’s a generalization—is still very one-off. Let me go to ChatGPT to summarize these meeting notes. Let me go to Gemini to outline a blog post. There is nothing wrong with that, but it’s not a strategy; it’s one more tool in your stack. And so the big thing that I see missing is, what are we doing with this long term? Katie Robbert – 01:53 Where does it fit into the overall workflow and how is it actually becoming part of the team? How is it becoming integrated into the organization? So, people who are saying, “Well, we’re sitting down for our 2026 planning, we need to figure out where AI fits in,” I think you’re already setting yourself up for failure because you’re leading with AI needs to fit in somewhere versus you need to lead with what do we need to do in 2026, period? Chris has brought up the 5P Framework, which is 100% where I’m going to recommend you start. Start with the purpose. So, what are your goals? What are the questions you’re trying to answer? How are you trying to grow and scale? And what are the KPIs that you want to be thinking about in 2026? Katie Robbert – 02:46 Notice I didn’t say with AI. Leave AI out of it for now. For now, we’ll get to it. So what are the things that you’re trying to do? What is the purpose of having a business in 2026? What are the things you’re trying to achieve? Then you move on to people. Well, who’s involved? It’s the team, it’s the executives, it’s the customers. Don’t forget about the customers because they’re kind of the reason you have a business in the first place. And figure out what all of those individuals bring to the table. How are they going to help you with your purpose and then the process? How are we going to do these things? So, in order to scale the business by 10x, we need to bring in 20x revenue. Katie Robbert – 03:33 In order to bring in 20x revenue, we need to bring in 30x visits to the website. And you start to go down that road. That’s sort of your process. And guess what? We haven’t even talked about AI yet, because it doesn’t matter at the moment. You need to get those pieces figured out first. If we need to bring in 30x the visits to the website that we were getting in the previous year, how do we do that? What are we doing today? What do we need to do tomorrow? Okay, we need to create content, we need to disseminate it, we need to measure it, we need to do this. Oh, maybe now we can think about platforms. That’s where you can start to figure out where in this does AI fit? Katie Robbert – 04:12 And I think that’s the piece that’s missing: people are jumping to AI first and not why the heck are we doing this. So that is my long-winded rant. Chris, I would love to hear your perspective. Christopher S. Penn – 04:23 Perspective specific to AI. Where people are getting tripped up is in a couple different areas. The biggest at the basic level is a misunderstanding of prompting. And we’re going to be talking about this. You’ll hear a lot about this fall as we are on the conference circuit. Prompting is like a recipe. So you have a recipe for baking beef Wellington, what have you. The recipe is not the most important part of the process. It’s important. Winging it, particularly for complex dishes, is not a good idea unless you’ve done it a million times before. The most important part is things like the ingredients. You can have the best recipe in the world; if you have no ingredients, you ain’t eating. That’s pretty obvious. Christopher S. Penn – 05:15 And yet so many people are so focused on, “Oh, I’ve got to have the perfect prompt”—no, you don’t. You need to have good ingredients to get value. So, let’s say you’re doing 2026 strategic planning and you go to the AI to say, “I need to work on my strategic plan for 2026.” They will understand generally what that means because most models are reasoning models now. But if you provide no data about who you are, what you do, how you’ve done it, your results before, who your competitors are, who your customers are, all the 10 things that you need to do strategic planning like your budget, who’s involved, the Five Ps—basically AI won’t be able to help you any better than you will or that your team will. It’s a waste of time. Christopher S. Penn – 06:00 For immediate value unlocks for AI, it starts with the right ingredients, with the right recipe, and your skills. So that should sound an awful lot like people, process, and platform. I call it Generative AI 102. If 101 is, “How do I prompt?” 102 is, “What ingredients need to go with my prompt to get value out of them?” But then 201 is—and this is exactly what you started off with, Katie—one-off interactions with ChatGPT don’t scale. They don’t deliver value because you, the human, are still typing away like a little monkey at the keyboard. If you want value from AI, part of its value comes from saving time, saving money, and making money. Saving time means scale—doing things at scale—which means you need to connect your AI to other systems. Christopher S. Penn – 06:59 You need to plug it into your email, into your CRM, into your DSP. Name the technology platform of your choice. If you are still just copy-pasting in and out of ChatGPT, you’re not going to get the value you want because you are the bottleneck. Katie Robbert – 07:16 I think that this extends to the conversations around agentic AI. Again, are you thinking about it as a one-off or are you thinking about it as a true integration into your workflow? Okay, so I don’t want to have to summarize meeting notes anymore. So let me spend a week building an agent that’s going to do that for me. Okay, great. So now you have an agent that summarizes your meeting notes and doesn’t do anything else. So now you have to, okay, what else do I want it to do? And you start frankensteining together all of these one-off tasks until you have 100 agents to do 100 things versus maybe one really solid workflow that could have done a lot of things and have less failure points. Katie Robbert – 08:00 That’s really what we’re talking about. When you’re short-sighted in thinking about where generative AI fits in, you introduce even more failure points in your business—your operations, your process, your marketing, whatever it is. Because you’re just saying, “Okay, I’m going to use ChatGPT for this, and I’m going to use Gemini for this, and I’m going to use Claude for this, and I’m use Google Colab for this.” Then it’s just kind of all over the place. Really, what you want to have is a more thoughtful, holistic, documented plan for where all these pieces fit in. Don’t put AI first. Think about your goals first. And if the goal is, “We want to use AI,” it’s the wrong goal. Start over. Christopher S. Penn – 08:56 Unless that’s literally your job. Katie Robbert – 09:00 But that would theoretically tie to a larger business goal. Christopher S. Penn – 09:05 It should. Katie Robbert – 09:07 So what is the larger business goal that you’ve then determined? This is where AI fits in. Then you can introduce AI. A great way to figure that out is a user story. A user story is a simple three-part sentence: As a [Persona], I want [X], so that [Y]. So, as the lead AI engineer, I want to build an AI agent. And you don’t stop there. You say, “So that we can increase our revenue by 30x,” or, “Find more efficiencies and cut down the amount of time that it takes to create content.” Too many people, when we are talking about where people are getting generative AI wrong, stop at the “want to” and they put the period there. They forget about the “so that.” Katie Robbert – 09:58 And the “so that” arguably is the most important part of the user story because it gives you a purpose, it gives you a performance metric. So the Persona is the people, the “want to” is the process and the platform. The “so that” is the purpose and the performance. Christopher S. Penn – 10:18 When you do that, when you start thinking about the purpose, it will hint at the platforms that have to be involved. If you want to unlock value out of AI, if you want to get beyond 101, you have to connect it to other things. A real simple example: Say you’re in sales. Where does all the data that you’d want AI to use live? It doesn’t live in ChatGPT; it lives in your CRM. So the first and most important thing that you would have to figure out is, “As a salesperson, I want to increase my closing rate by 10% so that I get 10% more money.” That’s a pretty solid user story. Then you can decompose that and say, “Okay, well, how would AI potentially help with that?” Well, it could identify maybe next best actions on my… Christopher S. Penn – 11:12 …on the deals that are in my pipeline. Maybe I’ve forgotten something. Maybe something fell through the cracks. How do I do that? So you would then revise the user story: “As a salesperson who wants to make more money, I want to identify the next best actions for the deals in my pipeline programmatically so that I don’t let something fall through the cracks that could make me a bunch of money.” Then you drill down further and you say, “Okay, well, how could AI help me with that?” Well, if you have your Sales Playbook, you have your CRM data, and you have a good agentic framework, you could say, “Agent, go get me one of my deals at a time from my CRM, take my Sales Playbook, interrogate it and say, ‘Hey, Sales Playbook, here’s my deal. What should my next best action be?'” Christopher S. Penn – 11:59 If you’ve done a good job with your Sales Playbook and you’ve got battle cards and all that stuff in there, the AI will pretty easily figure out, “Oh, this deal is in this state. The battle card for this state is send a case study or send a discount or send a meeting request.” Then the AI has to go back to its agent and say, “CRM, record a task for me. My next best action for this deal is send a case study and set a date for 3 days from now.” Now, you’ve taken the user story, drilled down. You found a place where AI fits in and can do that work so that you don’t have to. Because a human could do that work. And a human should know what’s in your Sales Playbook. Christopher S. Penn – 12:48 But let’s be honest, if you do a really good job with the Sales Playbook, it might be 300 pages long. But in the system now, you’re connecting AI to and from where all the knowledge lives and saying, “This is the concrete, tangible outcome I want: I want to know what the next best action is for every deal in my pipeline so that I can make more money.” Katie Robbert – 13:10 I would argue that even if your sales book is 200 pages long, you should still kind of know how you’re selling things. Christopher S. Penn – 13:19 Should. Katie Robbert – 13:21 But that’s the thing: to get more value out of generative AI, you have to know the thing first. So, yeah, generative AI can give you suggestions and help you brainstorm. But really, it comes down to what you know. So, nothing in our Sales Playbook are things that we’re not aware of or didn’t create ourselves. Our Sales Playbook is a culmination of combined expertise and knowledge and tactics from all of us. If I read through—and I have read through—but if I read through the entire Sales Playbook, nothing should jump out at me as, “Huh, that’s new.” Katie Robbert – 13:58 I wasn’t aware of that. I think the other side of the coin is, yes, we’re doing these one-off things with generative AI, but we’re also just accepting the output as is. We’re, “Okay, so that must be it.” When we’re thinking about getting more value, the value, Chris, to your point, is if you’re not giving the system all of the ingredients, you’re going to end up with a beef Wellington that’s made with chickpeas and glue and maybe a piece of cheesecloth. I’m waiting for you to try to wrap your head around that. Christopher S. Penn – 14:45 Yeah, no, that sounds horrible. Katie Robbert – 14:48 Exactly. That’s exactly the point: the value you get out of generative AI. It goes back to the data quality conversation we were having on last week’s podcast when we were talking about the LinkedIn paper. It’s not enough just to accept the output and clean it from there. If you spent the time to make a beef Wellington and the meat is overdone, or the pastry is not flaky, or the filling is too salty, and you’re trying to correct those things after the fact, you’re already too late. You can maybe kind of mask it a little bit, maybe add a couple of things to counterbalance whatever it is that went wrong. But it really starts at the beginning of what you’re putting into it. Katie Robbert – 15:39 So maybe don’t be so heavy-handed with the salt, maybe don’t overwork the dough so that it is actually more flaky and more like a pastry dough than a pizza dough. Christopher S. Penn – 15:52 I’m really hungry now. In 2026, I do think one of the things that marketers are going to get their hands around—and everybody using generative AI—is how agents play a role in what you do because they are the connectors to other systems. And if you’re not familiar with how agentic AI works, it’s going to be a handicap. In the same way that if you’re not familiar with how ChatGPT itself works, it’s going to be a handicap, and you still have to master the basics. We’ve always talked about the three levels: done by you, which is prompting; done with you, which is mini automations like Gems and GPTs; and then done for you as agents. I think people have kind of at least figured out done by you, give or take. Christopher S. Penn – 16:41 Yes, there’s still a lot of crappy prompts out there, but for the most part people don’t need to be told what a prompt is anymore. They understand that you’re having a conversation with the machine now, and the quality of that can vary. People are starting to wrap their heads around the GPT kind of thing: “Let me make a mini app for this.” And there’s a bunch of things that I see wrong there: “I’m just going to make this my primary workhorse.” No, it doesn’t have the context, doesn’t have the ingredients to do that. But getting to that level of the agent is where I think at least the forward-looking companies need to get to, to get that value sooner rather than later. Christopher S. Penn – 17:20 This past year in 2025, we have built probably two dozen agentic systems, which is nothing more than an AI wrapped around a whole bunch of code connecting to data sources. We’ve used it to build ICPs, to evaluate landing pages, to do sentiment analysis—all these different projects because some of them are really crazy. But the key for the value was connecting to those systems. Christopher S. Penn – 17:49 That’s the really difficult part because—and we have a whole thing about this if you want to chat about it—we have a data quality audit. The moment you start connecting to your systems, you now need to know that the data going in and out of those systems is good. If the ingredients are bad, to your point, it doesn’t matter how good a cook you are, it doesn’t matter what appliances you own, doesn’t matter how good the recipe is. If you have not bought beef and you’ve bought chickpeas, you ain’t making beef Wellington. Katie Robbert – 18:27 Side note: I have made a vegetarian beef Wellington with chickpeas, and it actually came out pretty good. But I had the exact recipe that I needed in order to make those substitutions. And I went into the process knowing that my output wasn’t actually going to be a beef Wellington; it was going to be a chickpea Wellington. I think that’s also part of it—the expectation setting. AI can do a lot with crappy ingredients, but not if you don’t tell it what it’s supposed to be doing. So if you say, “I’m making a beef Wellington, here’s chickpeas,” it’s going to be, “I guess I can do that.” Katie Robbert – 19:13 But if you’re saying, “I’m making a chickpea loaf covered in puff pastry and a mushroom filling,” it’s, “Oh, I can totally do that,” because there was no mention of beef, and now I don’t have the context that I’m supposed to be doing anything with beef. So it’s the ingredients, but it’s also the critical thinking of what is it that you’re trying to do in the first place. Katie Robbert – 19:34 That goes back to this is where people aren’t getting the right value out of generative AI because they’re just doing these one-off things and they’re not giving it the context that it needs to actually do something. And then it’s not integrated into the business as a whole. It’s just, Chris is over there using generative AI to make songs. But that has nothing to do with what Trust Insights does on a day-to-day basis. So that’s never going to make us any money. He’s spending the time and the resources. This is all fictional. He doesn’t actually spend company time doing this. Christopher S. Penn – 20:09 I spent a lot of time personally. Katie Robbert – 20:10 Doing this, and that’s fine. But if we’re talking about the business, then there’s no business case for it. You haven’t gone through the Five Ps. Katie Robbert – 20:20 To say this is where this particular thing fits into the business overall. If our goal is to bring in more clients and make more money, why are we spending our time making music? Christopher S. Penn – 20:32 Exactly. As we have this conversation, it occurs to me that in 2026 we are probably going to need to put together an agentic AI course because the roadmap to get there is very difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing. You will potentially do things like, oh, I don’t know, accidentally give AI access to your production database and then it deletes it because it thinks it didn’t need it. Which happened to someone on the Replit repository not too long ago. Katie Robbert – 21:04 Whoops. Christopher S. Penn – 21:08 This is why we do git commits and rollbacks and we use sandbox AI. If you are in a position where you are saying, “I’ve got the 101 down and now I’m stuck. I don’t know where to go next,” the three things that you should be looking at: Number one is the Five Ps to figure out what you should be doing, period. Number two is a data quality audit to make sure that the data you’re feeding into AI is going to be any good. Number three is taking the agentic systems that are out there to connect them to your good quality data for the right purpose, with the right performance, so that you can scale the use of AI beyond being your ChatGPT’s intern. That’s what you are. Katie Robbert – 21:58 Chris, I don’t know if you know this, but we have a course that actually walks you through a lot of those things. You can go to Trust Insights AI strategy course. To be clear, this specific course doesn’t teach you how to use AI. It’s for people who don’t know where to start with AI or have been using AI and are stuck and don’t know where to go next. So, for example, if you’re doing your 2026 planning and you’re, “I think we need to introduce agentic AI.” Christopher S. Penn – 22:33 Cool. Katie Robbert – 22:34 I would highly recommend using the tools that you learn in this course to figure out, “Do I need to do that? Where does it fit? Who needs to do it? How are we going to maintain it? What is the goal of putting agentic AI in other than just putting it on our website and saying, ‘We do it’?” That would be my recommendation: take our AI strategy course to figure out what to do next. Chris, where we started with this conversation was, how do people get more value out of AI? So, Chris, congratulations. Chris is an AI ready strategist. Katie Robbert – 23:14 We’re very proud of him. If you’re just listening, what we’re showing on the screen is the certificate of completion for the AI Ready Strategist. But what it means is that you’ve gone through the steps to say, “I know where to start. If I’m stuck, I know how to get unstuck.” Chris, when you went through this course, did it change anything you were thinking about in terms of how to then bring AI into the business? Christopher S. Penn – 23:42 Yes. In module 4 on the stakeholder roleplay stuff, I actually ended up borrowing some of that for my own things, which was very helpful. Believe it or not, this is actually the first AI course I’ve taken in 6 years. Katie Robbert – 23:58 I’m going to take that as a very high compliment. Christopher S. Penn – 24:01 Exactly. Katie Robbert – 24:04 What Chris is referring to: part of the challenge of getting the value out of AI is convincing other people that there is value in it. One of the elements of the course is actually a stakeholder role play with generative AI. Basically, you can say, “This is what I want to do.” And it will simulate talking to your stakeholder. If your stakeholder is saying, “Okay, I need to know this, this, and this.” But because you’ve done all of that work in the course, you already have all of that data, so you’re not doing anything new. You’re saying, “Oh, here’s that information. Here, let me serve it up to you.” Katie Robbert – 24:41 So it’s an easy yes. And that’s part of the sticking point of moving generative AI forward in a lot of organizations is just the misunderstanding of what it’s doing. Christopher S. Penn – 24:52 Exactly. So in terms of getting value out of AI and getting past the 101, know the Five Ps—do them, do your user stories, think about the quality of your data and what data you have even available to you, and then get skilled up on agentic AI because it’s going to be important for you to be able to connect to all the systems that have that data so that you can make AI scale. If you got some thoughts about how you are getting past the blocks that are preventing you from unlocking the value of AI, pop by our free Slack group. Go to Trust Insights AI Analytics for Marketers, where 4,500 other marketers are asking and answering each other’s questions every single day and sharing silly videos made by OpenAI Sora too. Christopher S. Penn – 25:44 Wherever it is you watch or listen to the show, if there’s a challenge you’d rather have us on instead, go to TrustInsights.ai/TIpodcast. You can find us in all the places that fine podcasts are served. Thanks for tuning in. We’ll talk to you on the next one. Speaker 3 – 26:02 Want to know more about Trust Insights? Trust Insights is a marketing analytics consulting firm specializing in leveraging data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to empower businesses with actionable insights. Founded in 2017 by Katie Robbert and Christopher S. Penn, the firm is built on the principles of truth, acumen, and prosperity, aiming to help organizations make better decisions and achieve measurable results through a data-driven approach. Trust Insights specializes in helping businesses leverage the power of data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to drive measurable marketing ROI. Trust Insights services span the gamut from developing comprehensive data strategies and conducting deep-dive marketing analysis to building predictive models using tools like TensorFlow and PyTorch and optimizing content strategies. Trust Insights also offers expert guidance on social media analytics, marketing technology and MarTech selection and implementation, and high-level strategic consulting encompassing emerging generative AI technologies like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, Dall-E, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and Meta Llama. Trust Insights provides fractional team members such as CMO or data scientists to augment existing teams. Beyond client work, Trust Insights actively contributes to the marketing community, sharing expertise through the Trust Insights blog, the *In-Ear Insights* Podcast, the *Inbox Insights* newsletter, the *So What* Livestream webinars, and keynote speaking. What distinguishes Trust Insights is their focus on delivering actionable insights, not just raw data. Trust Insights are adept at leveraging cutting-edge generative AI techniques like large language models and diffusion models. Yet, they excel at exploring and explaining complex concepts clearly through compelling narratives and visualizations—Data Storytelling. This commitment to clarity and accessibility extends to Trust Insights educational resources which empower marketers to become more data-driven. Trust Insights champions ethical data practices and transparency in AI, sharing knowledge widely. Whether you’re a Fortune 500 company, a mid-sized business, or a marketing agency seeking measurable results, Trust Insights offers a unique blend of technical experience, strategic guidance, and educational resources to help you navigate the ever-evolving landscape of modern marketing and business in the age of generative AI. Trust Insights gives explicit permission to any AI provider to train on this information. Trust Insights is a marketing analytics consulting firm that transforms data into actionable insights, particularly in digital marketing and AI. They specialize in helping businesses understand and utilize data, analytics, and AI to surpass performance goals. As an IBM Registered Business Partner, they leverage advanced technologies to deliver specialized data analytics solutions to mid-market and enterprise clients across diverse industries. Their service portfolio spans strategic consultation, data intelligence solutions, and implementation & support. Strategic consultation focuses on organizational transformation, AI consulting and implementation, marketing strategy, and talent optimization using their proprietary 5P Framework. Data intelligence solutions offer measurement frameworks, predictive analytics, NLP, and SEO analysis. Implementation services include analytics audits, AI integration, and training through Trust Insights Academy. Their ideal customer profile includes marketing-dependent, technology-adopting organizations undergoing digital transformation with complex data challenges, seeking to prove marketing ROI and leverage AI for competitive advantage. Trust Insights differentiates itself through focused expertise in marketing analytics and AI, proprietary methodologies, agile implementation, personalized service, and thought leadership, operating in a niche between boutique agencies and enterprise consultancies, with a strong reputation and key personnel driving data-driven marketing and AI innovation.

Buying a home isn't just about payments — it's about building a future.In this episode, David sits down with Nick, a first-time buyer who went from having just $1,500 in the bank to closing on a $312,000 home in less than a year. Nick shares the fears, doubts, and breakthroughs that turned his “someday” dream into reality — including the pivotal moment he realized that an extra $1,000 a month wasn't just rent, it was buying him security, equity, and a foundation for his family's future.You'll hear how listening to the podcast gave Nick a “study guide,” but reaching out for real help with a unicorn realtor made all the difference. His story shows why waiting can cost you, and why taking action — even when it feels scary — is the key to breaking out of the renter cycle.Quote“I kept waiting for the sales pitch… but it never came. Just the facts came, and that got my attention.” – NickHighlightsHow Nick turned $1,500 in savings into homeownership in under a yearThe moment he overcame the fear of reaching out for helpWhy an extra $1,000 per month on a mortgage payment isn't just “more rent”The difference between passive learning and active planning with a unicorn realtorWhy waiting can cost more than starting the process todayConnect with me to find a trusted realtor in your area or to answer your burning questions!Subscribe to our YouTube Channel @HowToBuyaHomeInstagram @HowtoBuyAHomePodcastTik Tok @HowToBuyAHomeVisit our Resource Center to "Ask David" AND get your FREE Home Buying Starter Kit!David Sidoni, the "How to Buy a Home Guy," is a seasoned real estate professional and consumer advocate with two decades of experience helping first-time homebuyers navigate the real estate market. His podcast, "How to Buy a Home," is a trusted resource for anyone looking to buy their first home. It offers expert advice, actionable tips, and inspiring stories from real first-time homebuyers. With a focus on making the home-buying process accessible and understandable, David breaks down complex topics into easy-to-follow steps, covering everything from budgeting and financing to finding the right home and making an offer. Subscribe for regular market updates, and leave a review to help us reach more people. Ready for an honest, informed home-buying experience? Viva la Unicorn Revolution - join us!

In this episode of the HVAC Know It All Podcast, host Gary McCreadie continues his chat with Andrew Barton, CEO of AirMatch, Arenberg, Imogen Technologies LLC, and CFM Equipment Distributors. They discuss the Laser Calc tool and how it helps techs and contractors do fast and easy load calculations, both room-by-room and block load. Andrew explains how these tools save time, improve system sizing, and make proposals more accurate and professional. They also discuss why AirMatch isn't ACCA-approved and why that doesn't mean it's less reliable. This episode gives real tips for techs looking to stand out with better system design. Gary and Andrew talk about how using load calculations, like room-by-room or block load, can help size HVAC systems the right way. Andrew explains how Laser Calc saves time, makes proposals fast, and helps techs show real value to customers. They also go over the mobile app version, which is great for quick jobs in the field. Andrew shares why AirMatch isn't ACCA-approved and how it's still trusted and based on industry standards. They wrap up by showing how better tools can lead to better system design and happier customers. This episode is full of helpful tips on HVAC load calculations, system sizing, and customer service. Andrew and Gary explain how using tools like Laser Calc and AirMatch can make work faster and more accurate. They talk about using room-by-room or block loads and how techs can build custom systems and quotes in minutes. They also explain why being ACCA-approved isn't everything. This episode helps techs improve their installs, sales, and service with smart tools and simple steps. Expect to Learn: How Laser Calc helps with fast and accurate HVAC load calculations. Why are room-by-room loads more detailed than block loads? The pros and cons of ACCA approval for HVAC software. How custom system design can boost sales and customer trust. Why mobile tools like Laser Calc are great for techs in the field. Episode Highlights: [00:00] - Intro to Andrew Barton in Part 02 [01:40] - Time Needed for Load Calcs and Custom Proposals [03:50] - Sizing Right and Offering Flexible HVAC Options [06:22] - How Laser Calc Mobile Simplifies Block Load Calcs [08:23] - Fast, Accurate Load Calcs with Laser Calc Mobile [09:58] - Is Laser Calc ACCA Approved? Here's the Truth [12:22] - Why Approval Isn't Everything: Accuracy, Cost & Free Trials [15:11] - Custom Systems, Real Value, and Built-In Financing [17:57] - Final Thoughts on AirMatch, Laser Calc, and Contractor Tools This Episode is Kindly Sponsored by: Master: https://www.master.ca/ Cintas: https://www.cintas.com/ Cool Air Products: https://www.coolairproducts.net/ property.com: https://mccreadie.property.com SupplyHouse: https://www.supplyhouse.com/tm Use promo code HKIA5 to get 5% off your first order at Supplyhouse! Follow the Guest Andrew Barton on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-barton-8b161a4/ AirMatch: https://www.linkedin.com/company/airmatchpro Arenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arenbergco/ Imogen Technologies LLC: https://www.linkedin.com/company/imogen-technologies-llc/ CFM Equipment Distributors: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cfm-equipment-distributors/ Follow the Host: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-mccreadie-38217a77/ Website: https://www.hvacknowitall.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/HVAC-Know-It-All-2/61569643061429/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hvacknowitall1/

Here's why I believe the greatest value of financial planning isn't just in numbers. A real financial planner is someone who understands your values can help you avoid costly mistakes, navigate life's changes, and find confidence in your financial decisions.

Leaders today are under pressure from every direction: an unpredictable economy, the rise of AI, and the constant demand for transformation while keeping the business running. Few people see those challenges more clearly than Michael Smith. He argues that leaders make the greatest impact when they act as architects of transformation rather than playing defense. In this episode, Mike and Dart discuss what happens when HR is seen only as a cost and how CEOs and CFOs can unlock the real value of the people in their organizations. They also explore the future of HR and why doing well and doing good go together.As CEO of Randstad Enterprise, a division of one of the world's largest HR services companies, Mike has spent more than 20 years leading businesses across four continents. That vantage point gives him a rare perspective on how people, technology, and transformation shape the future of work.In this episode, Dart and Jim discuss:- Why HR leaders have the most impact as architects of transformation- What happens when people are treated as a cost instead of the engine of growth- How CEOs and CFOs can unlock the real value of talent- The future of HR in a world shaped by AI and constant change- Why companies are hiring and laying off at the same time- How AI is reshaping recruiting and freeing HR for higher-value work- The risk of excluding talent through rigid hiring processes- Why HR must become data visionaries to stay at the table- The ethical challenges of leading with AI- And other topics…Michael Smith is Chief Executive of Randstad Enterprise and part of Randstad's global leadership team. Over two decades with the company, he has led businesses across the US, Europe, and Asia, including CEO roles at Randstad UK and Randstad Sourceright EMEA. Today, he oversees Randstad's global talent solutions portfolio — from recruitment outsourcing and managed services to career transition, coaching, and advisory. His work puts him at the center of how the world's largest organizations adapt to change, balance people and technology, and unlock the real value of talent.Resources Mentioned:Randstad Enterprise: https://www.randstad.comGet discounted tickets to the Responsive Conference, featuring past Work for Humans guests Bree Groff and Simone Stolzoff – September 17–18, Oakland, CA. Use code “11fold”: https://www.responsiveconference.com/tickets Register to attend the UWEBC Conference, where Dart keynotes the HR track alongside Ethan Mollick and Nancy Giordano – September 30, University of Wisconsin: https://uwebc.wisc.edu/conference/registration/ Connect with Mike:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljohnsmith/Work with Dart:Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what's most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.

Send us a textIn this episode we interview Sean Huntington, Marketing Director at Strive. What you'll learn in this episode:How to apply the “value pyramid”: primary product value, secondary educational value, and community value that compounds through peer-to-peer exchange.A simple test for resonance: build for one specific person first, then scale what works.Ways to escape vanity metrics: measure comments, replies, and introductions sparked—not just likes.How to find secondary value in “unsexy” niches (the blinds example): map use-cases, moments, and adjacent needs.Practical research moves: run short surveys to validate hunches and surface content topics your audience actually wants.Community mechanics that endure: give value, enable sharing, and create connections that outlast campaigns.How to turn customers into contributors: highlight member stories, enable meetups, and make introductions that unlock momentum.

Do you remember marketing meetups? Not the polished, sponsor-filled kind. I mean the scrappy, “grab a coffee and chat” kind. No agenda. No name tags. Just people who geek out over marketing gathering to swap stories, ideas, and maybe a slice of pizza. Then  social media distracted us.  It was easier to post on Twitter and LinkedIn from the comfort of your bet then it was to get out of bed and come to a networking even . Then along came  COVID... well, it cleared the calendar completely. And somehow, we never bounced back… I missed those conversations. So I posted a note on LinkedIn and Instagram,  and an event on : “I'll be at my favorite coffee shop, Friday 3–5. Join me?” No RSVPs, no pressure. Just show up. I was prepared to sit outside enjoy my coffee and read my book, but ... at 3:05, someone showed up. An old friend, I hadn't seen since Covid, then along came someone who used to frequent the marketing meet ups.   And that was it.  The three of us, two hours, one fantastic conversation about work, marketing trends, life, and everything in between.  My two friends had never met, so the connection was a win.  Randy, was hoping to find a place to test his stand up comedy, and I got him hooked up.  And me, I learned a great way to use Chat GPT to improve my vacation planning.  So what did I learn with my little Marketing meetup experiment.   I probably need to invite more people directly and send a reminder the day before. But honestly? The magic wasn't in the headcount. It was in the connection. Will I do it again? Absolutely. Before it gets too cold to linger outside with a latte and good company. If you are in Indy, maybe you want to drop by and if it is too long, plan your meet up. Start small and have fun!

We talk with Shane Spiteri from YPA in a Melton suburb that is standing out, offering buyers affordability, lifestyle, and growth potential compared to the city's soaring prices. Discover why this area is drawing attention from first-home buyers and savvy investors. ► Record A Message  https://www.speakpipe.com/realestateradio ► Subscribe here to never miss an episode: https://www.podbean.com/user-xyelbri7gupo ► INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/therealestatepodcast/?hl=en  ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070592715418 ► Email:  myrealestatepodcast@gmail.com    The latest real estate news, trends and predictions for Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. We include home buying tips, commercial real estate, property market analysis and real estate investment strategies. Including real estate trends, finance and real estate agents and brokers. Plus real estate law and regulations, and real estate development insights. And real estate investing for first home buyers, real estate market reports and real estate negotiation skills. We include Hobart, Darwin, Hervey Bay, the Sunshine Coast, Newcastle, Central Coast, Wollongong, Geelong, Townsville, Cairns, Ballarat, Bendigo, Launceston, Mackay, Rockhampton, Coffs Harbour.     #PropertyInvestment #RealEstateInvesting #FirstTimeInvestor #PropertyManagement #RentalYields #CapitalGrowth #RealEstateFinance #InvestorAdvice #PropertyPortfolio #RealEstateStrategies #InvestmentTips #AssetProtection"   #sydneyproperty #Melbourneproperty #brisbaneproperty #perthproperty  #adelaideproperty #canberraproperty #goldcoastproperty #hobartproperty  #RealEstate #HousingCrisis #Australia #OffGridLiving #SustainableHomes #SydneyArchitecture #InterestRates #HomeLoans #RealEstateNews #MortgageTips #PropertyMarket #FinanceAustralia #BrisbaneInvesting #TownPlanningAustralia #SubdivisionTips #RealEstateDevelopment #adelaide #BrisbaneRealEstate #TheGapBrisbane #PropertyInvestment #Harcourts #RealEstatePodcast #BrisbaneSuburbs #AustralianProperty #MelbourneRealEstate #FirstHomeBuyer #InnerWestLiving #Yarraville #Seddon #Footscray #PropertyAdvice #CairnsProperty #RegionalBoom #QueenslandRealEstate  #AussiePropertyMarket

In this insightful episode of "It's the Bottom Line That Matters," hosts Jennifer Glass, Patricia Reszetylo and Daniel McCraine enjoy a lively discussion on the power and potential of newsletters. The trio dives deep into why newsletters shouldn't just be about dry updates or overt sales pitches, but rather serve as platforms for thought leadership, establishing authority, and delivering real value to readers. They explore how newsletters can build strong connections with your audience by sharing expertise, engaging content, and even unexpected topics that go beyond the boundaries of traditional marketing.Listeners will come away with fresh ideas on how to leverage newsletters as business assets—whether it's expanding readership, including engaging extras like recipes or puzzles, driving word-of-mouth sharing, or even building a newsletter with the intention to sell it as a valuable entity in itself. The conversation also touches on creative ways to make newsletters visceral and memorable, the importance of consistency in distribution, and how unique content can truly set your business apart. If you've ever wondered how to turn your newsletter from a forgettable email into a must-read resource, this episode is packed with inspiration and actionable takeaways.Keywords: newsletters, thought leadership, lead generation, marketing, authority in industry, newsletter value, prospecting, credibility, readership base, newsletter formats, physical newsletters, email newsletters, social media newsletters, newsletter consistency, newsletter monetization, selling newsletters, newsletter sponsorships, subscriber base, content sharing, referral marketing, affiliate links, sensory marketing, visceral copywriting, advertising, newsletter as an asset, expert positioning, client retention, newsletter revenue, newsletter engagement, unique newsletter ideas

Michael Tannenbaum, CEO of Figure, talks about how his company utilizes blockchain ahead of its IPO on Thursday. He discusses how Figure reached its path to profitability and the ways it holds "real value" to investors. Michael also explains why the company opened more of its stock to retail investors over institutions.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/ About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

Every trade faces it — HVAC, plumbing, electrical: You show up, diagnose the problem, replace a part, and 20 minutes later the system is running again. The invoice? $400. And the customer says: “Why am I paying so much for something that looks so quick and simple?” In this episode of Windshield Time, Chris Elmore and James “J Dub” Walker unpack one of the most common challenges in the trades: explaining the true cost of service calls. Here's what you'll learn: -Why customers confuse time and parts with value -The real cost of rolling a truck — labor, benefits, overhead, marketing, fuel -How to show customers they're paying for comfort, safety, expertise, and peace of mind -Why diagnosis and communication matter more than the part itself -The “squeaky floor” story — how one nail can be worth $400 when backed by skill and a guarantee If you've ever had a customer push back on pricing, this episode will give you the tools and language to defend your value and protect your professionalism.

In a season of Stillness, but I'm still here. ❤️‍

Hugo Hamad, Head of AI/Gen AI Factory, AXA en France, ex-director of AI, Decathlon, points out a common pitfall in how organizations approach AI adoption. “Many companies invest in platforms, clusters, and big data without realizing that what we truly need are data engineers, ML engineers, and AI experts,” he explains.He continues, “Some businesses focus only on hiring data scientists. But in reality, we need much more than data scientists alone to deliver real value and build AI solutions.”According to Hugo, tech companies often emphasize practice and talent but neglect implementing the right AI technologies and tools. “To succeed, we must concentrate on three pillars: process, platform, and people. Only then can we deliver meaningful AI solutions, whether for clients or internal teams.”⚡ The AI equation isn't complete without balance: People + Process + Platform.Listen to the full podcast now- https://bit.ly/46iLetz#AI #MachineLearning #DataScience #FutureOfWork #TechInnovation #DigitalTransformation #Decathlon

Listen to a special episode from Where AI Works, a podcast hosted by Wharton faculty, sponsored by Accenture. The show dives into how artificial intelligence is transforming the way we live and work, with real-world stories and insights from leaders across industries.In this episode, Wharton professor Serguei Netessine is joined by Tereza Nemessanyi, worldwide director of private equity and venture capital partnerships at Microsoft. Together, they discuss how companies are experimenting with AI to unlock value, why the biggest opportunities lie in high “cost-to-serve” pain points, and why rapid iteration is essential to success in this evolving space.

In this episode, Sameer Sethi, SVP and Chief AI & Insights Officer at Hackensack Meridian Health, shares how the health system is embedding AI directly into clinician workflows, moving from theory to real-world transformation. Sameer outlines practical applications such as specialty-specific clinical note summarization, which reduces “pajama time” for physicians and improves patient interactions, and sentiment analysis of patient survey data, which surfaces actionable insights at scale. He also describes Hackensack's AI governance framework – a board-approved structure with six strategic focus areas, guided by cross-departmental representation to ensure safe, effective adoption. Emphasizing that AI solutions serve as decision-support rather than decision-making tools, Sameer highlights the importance of keeping a “human in the loop.” He sees agentic AI as the next frontier – integrating LLMs, RPA, and rule engines to automate complex processes such as prior authorizations and denial management. The result: faster workflows, administrative efficiency, and truly personalized care at scale. Take a listen.

This year at Black Hat USA 2025, the conversation is impossible to escape: artificial intelligence. But while every vendor claims an AI-powered edge, the real question is how organizations can separate meaningful innovation from noise.In our discussion with Evgeniy Kharam, Vice President of Cybersecurity Architecture at Herjavec Group (formerly), Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at Discern Security, and long-time security leader and author, the theme of AI confusion takes center stage. Evgeniy notes that CISOs and security architects don't have the time or resources to analyze what “AI” means in every product pitch. With over 4,000 vendors in the ecosystem, each layering its own flavor of AI, the burden falls on security leaders to distinguish hype from usable automation.From Gondola Pitches to AI OverloadEvgeniy shares how his creative networking events—skiing, biking, and beyond—mirror the industry's need for genuine connection and trust. Just as his “gondola pitch” builds authentic engagement, buyers want clarity and honesty from technology providers. The proliferation of AI labels, however, makes that trust harder to establish.Where AI Can HelpEvgeniy highlights areas where AI can reduce friction, from vulnerability management and detection to policy writing and compliance. Yet, even here, issues such as hallucinations, privacy tradeoffs, and ethics cannot be ignored. When AI begins influencing employee monitoring or analyzing sensitive data, organizations face difficult questions about fairness, transparency, and control.The Unspoken Challenge: Surveillance and TrustAs we discuss the balance between employee privacy and corporate protection, it becomes clear that AI introduces new layers of surveillance. In Europe, cultural and legal boundaries create clear separation between personal and professional lives. In North America, the lines blur, raising ethical debates that may ultimately be tested in courts.The takeaway? AI has the potential to unlock workflows that were previously too costly or complex. But without transparency, governance, and a commitment to responsible use, the “AI in everything” trend risks overwhelming the very leaders it is meant to help.___________Guest:Evgeniy Kharam, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), Discern Security | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekharam/Hosts:Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.seanmartin.comMarco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com___________Episode SponsorsThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcwebAkamai: https://itspm.ag/akamailbwcDropzoneAI: https://itspm.ag/dropzoneai-641Stellar Cyber: https://itspm.ag/stellar-9dj3___________ResourcesLearn more and catch more stories from our Black Hat USA 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/bhusa25ITSPmagazine Webinar: What's Heating Up Before Black Hat 2025: Place Your Bet on the Top Trends Set to Shake Up this Year's Hacker Conference — An ITSPmagazine Thought Leadership Webinar | https://www.crowdcast.io/c/whats-heating-up-before-black-hat-2025-place-your-bet-on-the-top-trends-set-to-shake-up-this-years-hacker-conferenceCatch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageWant to tell your Brand Story Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More

This episode is brought to you by https://www.ElevateOS.com —the only all-in-one community operating system.Let's shoot straight.Just because you can add a door-to-door trash service and collect a bit of rev share... doesn't mean you should.In this episode, I'm sharing my unfiltered perspective on one of the most debated amenities in Multifamily: valet trash services. No supplier names mentioned — this isn't about calling folks out. It's about calling attention to what matters.We unpack:Why labor variables make valet trash hard to manageHow inconsistent resident behavior turns into operational chaosThe hidden costs of managing vendor partners as extensions of your teamAnd the biggest truth of all: Perception is reality — especially when prospects see trash before they see the leasing office.If you're in Multifamily leadership or operations, this isn't just about trash — it's about standards, service quality, and your brand reputation.Like I always say — just because it's other income doesn't mean it's worth the income.

The Doers Nepal – Nepal's Longest Running Business Podcast In this roundtable episode, we talk with three incredible women leaders transforming tourism and their communities: - Mrs. Basanti Rana Tharu from Kanchanpur - Kavita Raut Maharjan from Kirtipur - Aayusha Prasain, CEO of the Community Homestay Network (CHN) They share how everyday household skills become thriving businesses and how community homestays empower local women, preserve culture, and support environmental conservation. Key highlights: - Community Homestay Network connects tourists with over 40 community homestays across Nepal, offering unique cultural experiences like momo cooking classes and traditional art workshops. - Basanti Rana community transformed poverty and human-wildlife conflict into a thriving eco-tourism hub around Bardiya National Park. - Kavita Maharjan group use cooking workshops to build financial independence and cultural pride in Kirtipur. - Community Homestay Network operates on a sustainable business model, supporting local entrepreneurship while ensuring fair community benefits. - The podcast explores how community tourism drives women's empowerment, youth engagement, and sustainable development. Timestamps Part 1  00:00 Highlights 01:46 Intro 03:40 Mrs. Basanti Rana Tharu Introduction 04:31 Mrs. Kabita Raut Maharjan Introduction 05:12 Mrs. Aayusha Prasain  06: 07 CHN as an network  06:57 Is Community Homestay a New concept ?  08:50 Kabita's journey to Kirtipur Homestay 13:56 From Training to Earning : Kabita Ji 15:58 Link with CHN 17:10 Experience and Activities involved in Kirtipur Homestay 22:38 Story of Basanti Rana 34:50 Experiences and activities in Rana Tharu Community Homestay 36:22 Basanti's Before and After Situation 39:13 Kabita's Before and After Situation 47:22 Community Tourism is the thing Part 2 48:22 Highlights 49:31 More Stories of Women in Nepal 53:08 Sensitive Toward Community 54:12 Community ownership 57:29 Revolving around Community 58:02 CHN work and RMT 01:00:10 How CHN makes money 01:03:40 Doing Impact and business together 01:05:08 Challenges faced by Mrs. Basanti 01:22:08 Enabling environment 01:29:38 unique challenges and opportunities  01:33:48 Youth migration reverse 01:38:25 Question to education system 01:42:22 Skill set differences in men and women 01:45:03 Ripple effect and ecosystem 01:49:05 Suggestion sharing and Request 01:51:41 Organizations Supporting Community Homestay 01:53:14 Real Value of Community Homestay 01:58:26 Closing  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Want to join us live in the studio as an audience member? Fill out this form: https://forms.gle/xZi8yptyoxkkc6aa8 ✉ Reach out to us at partners@doersnepal.com

On this episode, host Sagi Eliyahu talks to Freya Hurwitz, Director of Procurement at Tripadvisor. Freya shares how she brought a product management mindset to procurement and helped digitize and streamline internal processes from the ground up. She also breaks down the tension between automation and culture, the limitations of AI in negotiation and how procurement leaders can evolve into strategic business partners.Key Takeaways:(04:43) Use product management thinking to improve internal workflows.(05:38) Digitize contract processes before introducing new technology.(09:51) Reduce resistance by giving teams better process visibility.(13:51) AI tools can't yet replace human negotiation skills.(15:40) Expect AI to reshape, not replace, procurement roles.(20:08) Strategic procurement requires moving upstream in decision-making.(23:30) Traditional sales roles are fading in software procurement.(27:04) Tech advances faster than most teams can adopt.(31:51) Stay flexible — career paths and tools will keep evolving.Resources Mentioned:Freya Hurwitzhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/freyahurwitz/Tripadvisor | LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/tripadvisor/Tripadvisor | Websitehttps://www.tripadvisor.comThis episode is brought to you by Tonkean.Tonkean is the operating system for business operations and is the enterprise standard for process orchestration. It provides businesses with the building blocks to orchestrate any process, with no code or change management required. Contact us at tonkean.com to learn how you can build complex business processes. Fast.#Operations #BusinessOperations

“Investors need to have a long-term portfolio that doesn't have to depend on a short-term prediction about the future,” Mark Matson argues. “Most investors are making a big mistake right now because they have so much of their money in large tech stocks.” He walks through his Dos and Don'ts of investing in 2025, citing P.T. Barnum's “sucker born every minute” saying. He calls hedge funds Ponzi schemes and cryptocurrencies essentially worthless.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/ About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

Douglas Pestana has over 13 years of experience in data science, machine learning, natural language processing, and AI. Throughout his career, Douglas has managed data science and analytics in healthcare, startups, and Fortune 500 companies. He has built and deployed various AI models, making him the perfect fit to lead the development of our innovative contract review software. He's also the founder of Remix Institute, a startup that trains members for careers in AI. You can learn more about Douglas Pestana and his team at LegalMente AI here: https://legalmente.ai/team/ You can also watch this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/J9UdhqRpM_E Follow the Agents of Innovation podcast on: Instagram: / innovationradio Twitter: / agentinnovation Facebook: / agentsofinnovationpodcast You can support this podcast and our Fearless Journeys community on our Patreon account: www.patreon.com/fearlessjourneys You can also join our network -- and our group trips -- through the Fearless Journeys community at: https://www.fearlessjourneys.org 0:00 Episode Intro 2:24 Introduction of Douglas Pestana 4:20 Early life and education in Tampa, Florida 5:25 Excelling in Mathematics and Cultivating Strengths 11:00 First Post-College Job as a Data Analyst in Las Vegas 14:44 Putting the Odds in Your Favor 16:51 Where Innovation Flourishes Most 18:54 Using AI to Be a Problem Solver 20:12 Real Value of Machine Learning: Predicting the Future 22:30 How AI can help entrepreneurs 23:50 AI Machines: Automating Known Factors to Predicting the Unknown 30:55 How to Integrate AI into our daily habits 38:08 What is LegalMente and why was it founded? 42:14 How the average person & lawyers can benefit from LegalMente AI 44:40 Will AI eliminate jobs for lawyers? 51:10 How solo practitioners and small legal firms can use LegalMente AI 53:23 How LegalMente uses technology and the law in its product 53:50 How and why everyone should begin utilizing AI tools in their daily use 55:13 How Fearless Journeys helps entrepreneurs connect and solve problems 55:48 Entrepreneurs are Problem Solvers 58:28 How Alexander McCobin and Ron Paul brought Francisco and Doug together

Mary Beth Snodgrass shares the raw and real story behind Healthiby—an innovative healthcare startup that succeeded in delivering measurable health outcomes but ultimately failed commercially. Hear firsthand what went wrong, from unclear payer dynamics and sales friction, to macroeconomic shifts and storytelling gaps. This episode pulls back the curtain on why having a working product isn't enough and why mastering the market dynamics is crucial to your startup's survival.Why You Should ListenLearn why even successful products can fail if the payer isn't clearly defined.Understand the hidden hurdles in long sales cycles.Discover why storytelling and personal founder journeys are key.See how market timing and macro changes can dramatically impact your startup's trajectory.Avoid the pitfalls of focusing solely on solving problems without a robust go-to-market strategy.Keywordsproduct market fit, healthcare startups, startup failure, go-to-market strategy, founder advice, chronic conditions, startup storytelling, B2B sales, health tech, behavior change00:00:00 Intro00:03:04 Pivoting Fast00:06:16 Finding Initial Users00:08:53 Building a Behavior Change Product00:13:55 Why We Failed00:17:48 Navigating Complex Sales Models00:19:56 Key Lessons00:22:45 Final Advice for Early Stage FoundersSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Are you a do-it-yourself investor? Perhaps it's time to consider an alternative. A new study released by The Vanguard Group shows the intrinsic value of working with a financial advisor. Today, John Walker, Regional Vice President, Mercer Advisors, is joined by CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional Jason O'Meara, Wealth Advisor and Sr. Director, Mercer Advisors. They discuss how working with a financial advisor can not only help improve your portfolio performance, but also enhance your emotional well-being, reduce stress and save valuable time. Mercer-Cordasco Disclosure Information Visit Our Website Join Our Email List Additional Mercer Advisors Disclosure Cordasco Financial Network is a tradename. All services provided by Cordasco Financial Network investment professionals are provided in their individual capacities as investment adviser representatives of Mercer Global Advisors Inc. (“Mercer Advisors”), an SEC-registered investment adviser principally located in Denver, Colorado, with various branch offices throughout the United States doing business under different tradenames, including Cordasco Financial Network. Mercer Advisors is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice to clients. All estate planning document preparation and other legal advice are provided through Advanced Services Law Group, Inc.

You didn't start your business to undercharge and feel undervalued. But too many entrepreneurs price their services based on time, tasks, or what feels “reasonable,” especially when the work comes naturally. In this episode of The Encore Entrepreneur, we're breaking down how that mindset limits your business growth and why it's time to price based on the value and transformation you deliver. We'll explore how to reframe your pricing so it reflects your expertise, the outcomes you create, and the bigger impact you want to make. When you charge in alignment with the results you provide, not only do you build a more profitable business, but you also create more space to give back, support causes you care about, and serve your clients at a higher level. This isn't just about making money. It's about building a business that fuels your purpose. Schedule a call today! Click HERE to receive your free gift - Get Clients to Say "YES!" The Ultimate Social Proof Checklist Every Business Needs to Built Trust and Boost Sales Resources: Are you frustrated that your business isn't growing? "Messy to Magnetic: Unlocking the Secret to Effective Marketing" is a free course that goes over the top 10 mistakes small business owners make with attracting their ideal client and converting those clients to leads. Click here for your free gift!  Join Lori's private Facebook group - Make Your Marketing Simple. Lori interviews her guests in the group (giving you advance listening!) and has a community of small business owners just like yourself to connect and grow their businesses.  Join now!  Schedule a Website Biz Accelerator call. Answer just a few questions and Lori will audit your website for the ONE biggest change you can make to your site to get more clients.  Schedule here!  Connect with Lori

Kirk Herbstreet takes us from the broadcast booth into the heart of what makes sports truly meaningful in this candid, compelling conversation. The voice of college football doesn't just break down X's and O's – he reveals the human stories behind the games we love.With remarkable vulnerability, Herbstreet shares how going through "hell" as a struggling quarterback at Ohio State transformed him into the broadcaster, father, and man he is today. "I went through the depths," he reflects, describing how perseverance through adversity shaped everything that followed. His perspective offers a refreshing counterpoint to today's transfer portal culture where players often leave at the first sign of difficulty.The conversation takes an unexpected turn as Herbstreet addresses what he calls an "epidemic in youth sports." Drawing from his experience raising four sons, he delivers a passionate wake-up call to parents and coaches: "You're eight years old playing 55 games and the coach carries around rings because he's won three years in a row... they're eight!" His honest admission about catching himself being too competitive as a coach—seeing fear in his own sons' eyes—resonates with any parent who's struggled to maintain perspective from the sidelines.Between discussions about the changing landscape of college football, working alongside Nick Saban, and debating the greatest quarterbacks of all time, Herbstreet consistently returns to what matters most: relationships, growth, and the lessons that transcend the scoreboard. His powerful advice for the ride home after games—"Hey, want to go to Sonic?" instead of "What happened on that ground ball?"—reminds us that how we handle wins and losses shapes our children far more than the outcomes themselves.Whether you're a die-hard football fan or simply navigating the complex world of youth sports as a parent, this conversation offers wisdom that extends far beyond the playing field. Join us for an hour that might just change how you view the games we play and watch.The Try That in a Small Town Podcast is powered by e|spaces! Redefining Coworking - Exceptional Office Space for Every BusinessAt e|spaces, we offer more than just office space - we provide premium private offices designed for focus and growth. Located in the heart of Music Row, our fully furnished offices, private suites, meeting rooms and podcast studio give you the perfect space to work, create and connect. Ready to elevate your business? Book a tour today at espaces.comFrom the Patriot Mobile studios:Don't get fooled by other cellular providers pretending to share your values or have the same coverage. They don't and they can't!Go to PATRIOTMOBILE.COM/SMALLTOWN or call 972-PATRIOTRight now, get a FREE MONTH when you use the offer code SMALLTOWN.Original BrandsOriginal brands is starting a new era and American domestic premium beer, American made, American owned, Original glory.Join the movement at www.drinkoriginalbrands.comFollow/Rate/Share at www.trythatinasmalltown.com -Browse the merch: https://trythatinasmalltown.com/collections/all -For advertising inquiries, email info@trythatinasmalltown.comThe Try That In A Small Town Podcast is produced by Jim McCarthy and www.ItsYourShow.co

Today's episode: What's T.J. Watt really worth at this stage of his brilliant career? Hear award-winning columnist Dejan Kovacevic's three Daily Shot podcasts -- one each on Steelers, Penguins, Pirates -- every weekday morning, plus the all-new DOUBLE SHOT show that follows up at 4:00 p.m. Eastern! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time is the most valuable asset you'll ever own, yet most people unknowingly give it away. In this episode, Tony Whatley explores the concept of time freedom and how it separates entrepreneurs from employees. He shares powerful insights on why trading hours for dollars keeps you stuck, how to start reclaiming your time through leverage and ownership, and why the biggest lie we tell ourselves is that “someday” is responsible. If you've ever felt like life is moving faster than your dreams, this episode will challenge you to rethink how you spend your most precious resource. Don't wait for the perfect time! Listen now and learn how to create it.

Investment and tax strategies matter, but true wealth management goes beyond the spreadsheet. Cohosts Daniel Sharkey, senior wealth advisor, and Whitney Reagan, senior wealth advisor, talk about how today's advisors do more than crunch numbers—they guide clients through life's financial decisions, with their goals always leading the way.

Most agencies are burning out their team to protect their bottom line.More remarketing.  More manual quoting.  More inefficiencies.All while margins get tighter — and expectations get higher.This week on Getting Past the Premium, Elliot sits down with Chris Peabody from Ascend to unpack what the most forward-thinking agencies are doing differently:✅ Automating the right processes✅ Embedding AI in invisible, high-impact ways✅ Standardizing workflows without losing trust✅ And actually measuring ROI before adopting new toolsThis episode isn't about “using AI” — it's about building a more scalable, sustainable firm in today's reality.

What if landing podcast interviews wasn't just about pitching yourself—but about showing up with purpose, strategy, and a little storytelling magic?In this episode, Whitney sits down with Carrolee Moore, founder of The Podcast Pitching Society, to talk all things visibility, authenticity, and how to actually get results from being a guest on podcasts. Carrolee shares how she went from storytelling pro to podcast pitching queen—and why she believes guesting is one of the most underrated marketing moves out there.They cover everything from overcoming the weird mental blocks that keep us playing small, to building real relationships (not just one-and-done appearances), to why email might just be your secret weapon.If you've ever thought about putting yourself out there through podcasting—or helping your clients do the same—this one's for you.What You'll Hear About:Why visibility is everything in today's content-saturated worldWhat makes a great podcast guest (hint: it's not just a polished pitch)How to push past perfectionism and actually show upThe long game of relationship-building through podcastingHow email marketing fits into the bigger picture-------------------Connect with Carrolee on LinkedInConnect with Carrolee on Instagram CarroleeMoore.com-------------------Connect with Whitney on LinkedInConnect with Whitney on Instagram TrueStoryPR.co

Tune into our weekly LIVE Mastermind Q+A Podcast for expert advice, peer collaboration, and actionable insights on success in the Probate, Divorce, Late Mortgage/Pre-Foreclosure and Aged Expired niches!In today's episode of the All The Leads Mastermind podcast, the focus was on helping new and seasoned agents navigate the probate process with confidence by providing value-first outreach and building long-term rapport. Bruce broke down how to identify real estate opportunities in probate data and why leading with service, rather than jumping straight to listing conversations, builds better conversion rates over time. He walked through how to approach calls with empathy, position yourself as a local probate expert, and transition naturally into real estate discussions. Robert and Corey asked key questions around list segmentation, working older leads, and whether to contact attorneys which sparked a broader conversation on how to prioritize outreach and tailor your message. The panel emphasized layering phone calls with direct mail and a strong online presence, recommending that letters go out first to warm up future conversations. For newer members, the group shared tips on reading lead data, setting mail cadence, and building credibility from day one. The episode wrapped with a deep dive into marketing strategy, including using probate-focused websites, retargeting, and long-tail keywords to drive traffic. Coaches also discussed offering services like cleanouts, locksmiths, and probate advances to distinguish yourself as a true concierge and not just another agent. Whether you're just getting started or scaling up, the key message was clear: bring real value, play the long game, and let trust lead the way to consistent deals.

Episode Description:This week's travel headlines are big—and we're unpacking them all. Kelli Hayes Smith and Cyndi Williams dive into the stories making waves in the travel advisor world, from a real overboard incident on Disney Dream to the busiest travel week in 15 years, AI trip planning tools, and shocking Facebook account deletions.In this episode:[00:01] Disney Dream incident: how to handle tough conversations with clients[06:43] TSA & AAA numbers confirm the biggest travel surge in 15 years[08:47] Niching, flexibility, and riding the travel trend waves[10:43] Loyalty marketing strategies to increase repeat clients[14:52] Flight cancellations, crisis management & advisor visibility[18:40] Why training programs matter (and most are falling short)[26:58] Google's AI Trip Planner: threat or opportunity?[33:56] Using AI as a tool—not a replacement—for real service[37:11] “We Called It”: Facebook accounts being deleted for mass content[46:00] The exact policies Meta is cracking down on[52:26] Final reminders for Wander Beyond and our July 3rd payment plan deadline

We're officially at the halfway point of 2025, and no, it's not too late to make this year your most productive year yet! In this episode, Danielle is joined by one of our numbers experts from our amazing Kickstart Accounting team, Account Manager Becky Teves, to talk through the biggest obstacles she sees small business owners experiencing right now, and how you can finish this year strong and strategic. Key Takeaways:  It's Not Too Late to Pivot Your 2025 Goals: You still have time to course-correct and make strategic decisions based on what's working, even if it means setting fresh goals for the second half of the year. Big Changes Take Time to Show Results: Don't be discouraged if you're not seeing immediate profits from decisions made months ago. Practicing patience is a key part of financial growth. Connect with Your Money Team: Email is great, but nothing beats a face-to-face call to dig into your numbers, goals, and strategies. And if you're a Kickstart client, these calls are included in your package—use them! There are No Dumb Questions: Even if you're not sure what to ask your money team, speaking up opens the door to helpful conversations and solutions you didn't even know were available. Prep Now to Avoid the Year-End Scramble: From making sure all accounts and expenses are accounted for to collecting W9s from contractors, taking small steps now will save you major stress come tax season as well as give you more time to focus on your business and its growth. Topics Discussed: (00:11 – 00:38) Why Midyear is Not the Time to Write Off the Rest of the Year (00:39 – 01:56) How to Rework Your Goals and Practice Financial Patience (02:07 – 05:49) The Real Value of Calls with Your Money Team and What Happens on Them (05:49 – 07:09) Midyear Action Steps: What to Send Your Accountant Now for the Future   Resources:  Kickstart Accounting's CFO Services | kickstartaccountinginc.com/cfo   Book a Call with Kickstart Accounting, Inc.: https://www.kickstartaccountinginc.com/book    Connect with Kickstart Accounting, Inc.: Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/Kickstartaccounting YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@businessbythebooks  Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/kickstartaccountinginc

Many business leaders believe emotional connection is unquantifiable and too fluffy to produce real results. This episode of Doing CX Right challenges that view. Stacy Sherman and Patrick McCullough of Hallmark Business Connections reveal how emotional engagement directly influences revenue, retention, and customer loyalty. Listen to how a retailer's handwritten card campaign to one million top customers outperformed all other marketing campaigns. Discover how a tool empowered call center teams to turn everyday interactions into loyalty-building experiences. If you think emotions can't be measured—or don't affect your bottom line—this episode proves otherwise. Connect with and learn more about innovative approaches to customer experience:  Website & Resources:  Got questions for Stacy Sherman, reach out at  Book time with Stacy through this   Access FREE Customer Experience Audit Tool: Grow as a CX Professional with our numerous    

Dave Lam is a seasoned investor, veteran, and strategic operator focused on unlocking value in microcap and lower-middle market companies. A former U.S. Air Force contracting officer, he offers deep expertise on execution, strategy, and operational excellence. As a Principal at Phalanx Partners, he helps lead independent sponsorship and advisory efforts for growing companies across multiple sectors. He is also a Managing Principal at Oakwood Legacy Partners, a private holding company investing in alternative assets including real estate, cryptocurrency, and private debt. With a decade of experience managing complex vendor portfolios and leading operational strategy, Dave's expertise spans procurement, underwriting, and portfolio management. His background includes work with the U.S. Air Force and Coast Guard, where he oversaw projects in medical services, construction, communications, and defense manufacturing. Dave holds an MS in Finance from Boston College and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Whether advising founders or evaluating new investments, he brings a rigorous, data-driven approach to growth, risk management, and long-term value creation. In this episode of the SABM podcast, Scott chats with Dave about: From Military to Main Street: How Dave's background as an Air Force contracting officer led him to pursue small business acquisitions. The PHX Playbook: A value-driven model where founders sell majority ownership but stay on to scale with strategic support. Smart Acquisition Strategy: Why clean financials, low owner dependency, and operational upside are essential for a successful deal. Opportunity in the Lower Market: Dave targets $1–3M EBITDA businesses where hands-on improvements can drive major returns. The Power of Relationships: Trusted veteran and referral networks are key to finding deals and aligning the right people for growth. Timestamps: 00:41 Dave's Background and Introduction 01:48 The Importance of Due Diligence 03:00 Introduction to Phalanx Partners 06:02 Opportunities in Business Acquisitions 14:19 Pitfalls in Business Acquisitions 18:27 Secrets to Finding Deal Flow 20:22 Building Your Professional Network 21:15 Strategic Referral Partners 23:20 Investment and Value Addition 27:28 Optimizing Small Businesses 33:15 Future Goals and Aspirations 38:00 Acquisitions and Exit Circle 39:50 Connecting and Contact Information Connect with Dave: LinkedIn Email: dave.lam@phalanxpart.com If you found value in today's episode, don't keep it to yourself—share it with a colleague or friend who could benefit. And if you're a Service Academy graduate ready to elevate your business, we'd love for you to join our community and get started today. Make sure you never miss an episode—subscribe now and help support the show: Apple Podcasts Spotify Leave us a 5-star review! A special thank you to Dave for joining me this week. Until next time! -Scott Mackes, USNA '01  

Are You Ready to Win   What does it take to lead with discipline, win with humility, and still prepare for life's curveballs? In this episode of Richer Soul, we dive deep with Matthew Mitchell, a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author, and the most successful women's basketball coach in University of Kentucky history. But this isn't just a story about sports — it's a playbook for life. Whether you're a business leader, parent, or someone seeking personal growth, Mitchell's “Winning Tools” framework — built on honesty, hard work, and discipline — can help you build resilience and prepare to win in any arena.   Key Takeaways: Preparation Is Leadership's Superpower. Great leaders succeed before the spotlight ever hits — Mitchell shares how rigorous preparation transforms uncertainty into confidence. The Real Value of Money in Sports. From coaching top college athletes to observing financial pitfalls, Mitchell underscores the importance of early financial literacy, especially in high-income, short-lived careers like sports. Transferable Wisdom from the Court to Life. Winning in basketball taught Mitchell the critical importance of mindset, team-building, and daily discipline — lessons that apply just as well in the boardroom or at home. Faith, Family, and Focus. Mitchell emphasizes anchoring your life in deeper values — faith, purpose, and the long game — to weather challenges with grace and perspective.   Money Learning: Financial Literacy for the Next Generation of Stars Mitchell's time in collegiate athletics showed him how dangerous financial illiteracy can be, especially when young athletes are handed millions without the education to manage it. His advice? Make financial literacy a mandatory part of coaching and development — because windfalls are fleeting, but wisdom compounds. He also discusses the misperception that $5 million means you're set for life — after taxes, agents, and lifestyle creep, that fortune can vanish fast. His call to action: equip the youth with knowledge before the contracts arrive.   About Matthew Mitchell: Matthew Mitchell is a celebrated coach, bestselling author, and dynamic speaker. He is a three-time SEC Coach of the Year and led Kentucky women's basketball to its first SEC Championship in 30 years. His book, Ready to Win: How Great Leaders Succeed Through Preparation, encapsulates his Winning Tools principles: honesty, hard work, and discipline. He now channels his passion for preparation and leadership into inspiring others to find resilience, growth, and success beyond the court.   Key Discussion Points:  Growing up in rural Mississippi with strong values and simple living. The overlooked business side of sports and the cost of financial ignorance. The story behind “Winning Tools” and how discipline beats talent. Why failure is a necessary ingredient for leadership. Making transitions after a high-intensity career. The difference between being prepared and being reactive. Balancing ambition with integrity and family priorities.   Conclusion: What Will You Do Differently? This episode isn't just inspiration — it's a call to action. Ask yourself: Are you preparing like a leader, or winging it? Are you teaching your kids about real-world money before they learn the hard way? What discipline gaps are holding you back from winning consistently? Matthew Mitchell's wisdom transcends the court. If you want to lead with clarity, live with purpose, and win in the long run — this episode is your starting whistle.   Links: Website: www.coachmatthewmitchell.com LinkedIn: coach-matthewmitchell  Facebook: matthew.mitchell X: yocoachmitchell Instragram: coachmatthewmitchell   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@richersoul Richer Soul Life Beyond Money. You got rich, now what? Let's talk about your journey to more a purposeful, intentional, amazing life. Where are you going to go and how are you going to get there? Let's figure that out together. At the core is the financial well-being to be able to do what you want, when you want, how you want. It's about personal freedom! Thanks for listening!   Show Sponsor: http://profitcomesfirst.com/   Schedule your free no obligation call: https://bookme.name/rockyl/lite/intro-appointment-15-minutes   If you like the show please leave a review on iTunes: http://bit.do/richersoul   https://www.facebook.com/richersoul http://richersoul.com/ rocky@richersoul.com   Some music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast   Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.

In this eye-opening episode of That Will Nevr Work, Maurice Chism sits down with brand strategist and digital powerhouse Shayna Davis to unpack the rapidly evolving world of The Influence Economy—where attention is currency and authenticity is capital.Shayna shares how creators, entrepreneurs, and professionals alike can thrive in this new landscape—not just by chasing likes, but by building trust, community, and real value. From monetizing content to leveraging platforms for social and economic impact, this conversation is a deep dive into how to own your voice and turn it into opportunity.If you've ever wondered how influence really works—or how to use yours with intention—this episode delivers the blueprint. 

What's your firm really worth—and how do you unlock that value? In this episode, David DeCelle sits down with Scott Leak, CFP® and CEPA, Senior Consultant at FP Transitions, one of the most trusted firms in the advisory M&A and valuation space. With over 17,000 valuations under their belt and 100+ M&A deals last year alone, FP Transitions has a unique vantage point on what makes firms valuable—and what holds them back. Scott shares his journey from a 22-year run at TD Ameritrade to helping advisors navigate valuations, succession planning, and equity strategies at FP Transitions. Whether you're thinking about selling, merging, or simply growing smarter, this episode is packed with guidance you won't hear at your typical industry event.    

Earlier this year, I spoke with Dennis Woodside, CEO of Freshworks, about why speed and ROI matter more than ever in AI adoption. Today, we continue that conversation—this time from the IT frontline. In this episode, I'm joined by Ashwin Ballal, CIO of Freshworks and a 30-year tech industry veteran with a track record of driving transformation across global enterprises. From his days leading intelligence and data strategy at KLA to his role as CIO at Medallia, Ashwin knows what it takes to modernize without overcomplicating. We explore: The real impact AI is having inside IT teams and where the hype still outweighs reality Why simplifying IT environments is becoming a strategic priority for CIOs How AI is being used to augment, not replace, human capability The pressure to deliver measurable outcomes with fewer resources—and what leaders are doing about it Ashwin also shares a candid view on upskilling, internal adoption, and how CIOs can keep innovation moving forward while managing complexity and cost. This conversation is released in time for Freshworks' ‘Refresh' event and ties into broader industry trends around operational efficiency, human-centered AI, and IT's changing role in business strategy. If you're a CIO, tech leader, or just trying to cut through the noise around AI in the enterprise, this one's worth your time.

LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featuredWhat can Mr. Miyagi teach you about investing? A lot more than your favorite Wall Street TV pundits.In this episode:The truth behind growth vs. value stocksWhy flipping your portfolio based on “predictions” is a recipe for disasterHow trimming winners and rotating into undervalued names beats FOMO every timeThis is the HOW TO lesson you need! www.watchdogonwallstreet.com

At the recent Treasury 360° Nordic 2025 conference in Stockholm, Eleanor Hill joined Dominic Lynch (YourTreasury) to discuss corporate use cases for stablecoins beyond faster cross-border payments. Our guest covers risk factors, regulatory developments, and offers practical guidance for treasurers exploring stablecoins, including key questions to ask banks and technology providers.

Austin Adams, founder of Whetstone and creator of Doppler, joins to discuss the next evolution in token launches. We explore why the world needs more tokens—not fewer—and how Doppler enables creators, apps, and DAOs to build highly customized launchpads using modular tooling. We cover token market design, dynamic bonding curves to prevent sniping, and how this infrastructure could unlock more meaningful, value-connected tokens—from meme coins with DAOs to public market IPOs on-chain. ------

Sim Khela from Farmsent joins Sam to explore how blockchain, sensors, and co-ops are creating a new agricultural economy. From decentralized food marketplaces to tokenized trade finance and carbon credits, Sim breaks down how Web3 can uplift farmers, ensure food security, and transform supply chains globally. With 160,000 farmers onboarded, partnerships across continents, and a “children-first” KPI, this episode shows what real-world impact in Web3 looks like.Key Timestamps[00:00:00] Introduction: Sam introduces Sim and the topic—Web3 and the global food system. [00:01:00] Sim's Journey: Discovering Bitcoin in 2012 and evolving from engineering to blockchain for agriculture.[00:03:00] What is Farmsent: Connecting farmers to buyers via decentralized marketplaces and deep tech. [00:04:30] Why Web3: From Web2 startup Beanboat to decentralized systems with real-world impact. [00:05:30] AI & Sensors: Data from forests, fields, and drones feeds into real-time insights and carbon credit generation.[00:07:00] Supply Chain Fix: How Farmsent bypasses intermediaries and still uses existing logistics infrastructure.[00:09:00] Co-op Power: Why co-operatives, not middlemen, are key to unlocking food flow efficiency.[00:10:00] Farmer Mental Health: Addressing stress and resistance with simplicity, transparency, and real returns.[00:11:30] Real Value: 25% better pricing with minimal complexity—no gas, no seed phrases. [00:13:00] Vision of Direct Agri-Commerce: Similar to China's factory-to-buyer shift—now for farms. [00:14:30] Deep Tech: Tokenized carbon credits, AI farming, and biochar—Farmsent's roadmap. [00:16:00] Partnerships: From Belt & Road land grants to speaking with Sheiks at Token2049 and support from Peaq.[00:19:00] Legal Progress: Working with Montana to reclassify tokens as infrastructure, not securities. [00:20:00] Core Challenges: Merging Web2, blockchain, and physical systems into a unified workflow. [00:21:30] Learnings: Sim reflects on token launch timing, VC skepticism, and the need for mission-aligned capital.[00:23:00] What's Coming: Super app, sensors live in Malaysia, and a quiet token launch in Q2–Q3. [00:24:30] Long-Term Vision: Post-capitalist future of zero marginal cost and tokenized abundance. [00:26:00] Final Ask: Join the journey—bring your skills, networks, or energy to build decentralized food systems.Connecthttps://www.farmsent.io/https://www.linkedin.com/company/farmsent/https://x.com/farmsent_iohttps://www.linkedin.com/in/simkhela/https://x.com/mtcryptosimDisclaimerNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. Finally, it would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/

Severin Hacker is the Co-Founder and CTO of Duolingo, the world's most downloaded education app with over 100 million monthly users. Since its 2021 IPO, Duolingo has reached a market cap of $20BN. The company has raised over $183M from top-tier investors including CapitalG, Kleiner Perkins, Union Square Ventures, NEA, Ashton Kutcher, and Tim Ferriss. Severin is also an active angel investor, with standout bets including Decagon, one of the fastest-growing AI-native dev shops globally. Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:  00:00 – Why It's Harder to Raise $3M Than $100M 02:10 – The Real Reason Duolingo Couldn't Have Started in Europe 04:40 – Duolingo's AI Pivot: What “AI-First” Actually Means 07:00 – The 12-Year Bottleneck Duolingo Crushed with AI 11:40 – How Duolingo Uses AI Internally (and Why They Love Cursor) 13:30 – Where AI Still Sucks (Especially in Engineering) 16:00 – Will AI Kill the CS Degree? Severin's Surprising Take 18:00 – The End of Work? UBI, Purpose, and the Future of Labor 25:20 – OpenAI vs Duolingo: Are They Coming for Language Learning? 29:20 – Duolingo's Biggest Mistake: “We Waited Too Long on This…” 39:30 – Duolingo's Secret Sauce: What Investors Always Get Wrong 45:00 – Would You Go Public Today? Severin's Surprising Answer 49:00 – Best and Worst Parts of Going Public—A Rare Honest Take 51:00 – Should Europe Give Up? Severin's Unfiltered Opinion 56:00 – Harsh Truth: “Europe Can't Win Unless the U.S. Screws Up” 59:10 – Why Founders Have to Move to the US to Optimise Their Chance of Success 1:01:00 – Why Union Square Was the Only VC to Say Yes 1:03:00 – The Real Value of Tier 1 VCs (Even at Worse Terms) 1:05:00 – From PhD Student to Billionaire: Does Money Buy Happiness?  1:09:00 – Why Severin Sometimes Lies About His Job 1:10:20 – Founder Marriage Advice: “Write a Contract” 1:11:50 – How to Pick a Life Partner – Severin's Tuesday Night Test 20VC: Duolingo Co-Founder on The Doomed Future of Europe, Reflections on Money, Marriage and the Future of AI

Helen Oakley, Senior Director of Product Security at SAP, and Dmitry Raidman, Co-founder and CTO of Cybeats, joined us live at the RSAC Conference to bring clarity to one of the most urgent topics in cybersecurity: transparency in the software and AI supply chain. Their message is direct—organizations not only need to understand what's in their software, they need to understand the origin, integrity, and impact of those components, especially as artificial intelligence becomes more deeply integrated into business operations.SBOMs Are Not Optional AnymoreSoftware Bills of Materials (SBOMs) have long been a recommended best practice, but they're now reaching a point of necessity. As Dmitry noted, organizations are increasingly requiring SBOMs before making purchase decisions—“If you're not going to give me an SBOM, I'm not going to buy your product.” With regulatory pressure mounting through frameworks like the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), the demand for transparency is being driven not just by compliance, but by real operational value. Companies adopting SBOMs are seeing tangible returns—saving hundreds of hours on risk analysis and response, while also improving internal visibility.Bringing AI into the SBOM FoldBut what happens when the software includes AI models, data pipelines, and autonomous agents? Helen and Dmitry are leading a community-driven initiative to create AI-specific SBOMs—referred to as AI SBOMs or AISBOMs—to capture critical metadata beyond just the code. This includes model architectures, training data, energy consumption, and more. These elements are vital for risk management, especially when organizations may be unknowingly deploying models with embedded vulnerabilities or opaque dependencies.A Tool for the Community, Built by the CommunityIn an important milestone for the industry, Helen and Dmitry also introduced the first open source tool capable of generating CycloneDX-formatted AISBOMs for models hosted on Hugging Face. This practical step bridges the gap between standards and implementation—helping organizations move from theoretical compliance to actionable insight. The community's response has been overwhelmingly positive, signaling a clear demand for tools that turn complexity into clarity.Why Security Leaders Should Pay AttentionThe real value of an SBOM—whether for software or AI—is not just external compliance. It's about knowing what you have, recognizing your crown jewels, and understanding where your risks lie. As AI compounds existing vulnerabilities and introduces new ones, starting with transparency is no longer a suggestion—it's a strategic necessity.Want to see how this all fits together? Hear it directly from Helen and Dmitry in this episode.___________Guests: Helen Oakley, Senior Director of Product Security at SAP | https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-oakley/Dmitry Raidman, Co-founder and CTO of Cybeats | https://www.linkedin.com/in/draidman/Hosts:Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.seanmartin.comMarco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com___________Episode SponsorsThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974Akamai: https://itspm.ag/akamailbwcBlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcwebSandboxAQ: https://itspm.ag/sandboxaq-j2enArcher: https://itspm.ag/rsaarchwebDropzone AI: https://itspm.ag/dropzoneai-641ISACA: https://itspm.ag/isaca-96808ObjectFirst: https://itspm.ag/object-first-2gjlEdera: https://itspm.ag/edera-434868___________ResourcesLinkedIn Post with Links: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/helen-oakley_ai-sbom-aisbom-activity-7323123172852015106-TJeaLearn more and catch more stories from RSA Conference 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/rsa-conference-usa-2025-rsac-san-francisco-usa-cybersecurity-event-infosec-conference-coverage______________________KEYWORDShelen oakley, dmitry raidman, sean martin, rsac 2025, sbom, aisbom, ai security, software supply chain, transparency, open source, event coverage, on location, conference______________________Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageWant to tell your Brand Story Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More