Podcasts about Saas

My guests today are Alex Behring and Daniel Schwartz, Co-Managing Partners of 3G Capital. 3G has built one of the most distinctive firms in investing around a simple idea: there are only a handful of truly great businesses and even fewer great CEOs. Their model is to raise capital with the intention of making just one investment per fund, commit meaningful amounts of their own money alongside their partners, and focus all of their time and best people on that single opportunity.  Their approach has produced a series of iconic deals, including Burger King, Tim Hortons, Hunter Douglas, and Skechers. They have also become known for developing talent early, giving young leaders real responsibility and ownership, and holding an unusually high bar. Once you've heard from Alex and Daniel, I highly recommend you read our in-depth profile on them and 3G Capital. They gave our managing editor Dom Cooke unprecedented access and the outcome is an excellent profile about the fifty year history of 3G and how the model began with Jorge Paulo Lemann in Brazil. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠Ramp's⁠ mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- ⁠WorkOS⁠ is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit⁠⁠ ⁠WorkOS.com⁠⁠⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- ⁠Rogo⁠ is an AI-powered platform that automates accounts payable workflows, enabling finance teams to process invoices faster and with greater accuracy. Learn more at ⁠Rogo.ai/invest⁠. ----- ⁠Ridgeline⁠ has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:02:43) Episode Intro: Daniel Schwartz & Alex Behring (00:04:03) The “One Investment Per Fund” Model (00:08:22) Great Businesses Own the Relationship With Their Customers (00:11:23) The Unique Structure of 3G Capital (00:13:36) How a Transaction Takes Shape (00:17:04) Why Hunter Douglas Was Appealing (00:21:34) The Advantages of Staying Small (00:23:58) Alex's Railroad Story (00:26:36) Ownership is Key (00:30:26) Centralize the What, Decentralize the How (00:31:55) The “Burger King is Run by Children” Story (00:34:21) Negotiating with Tim Hortons (00:40:39) Never Compromise on Quality (00:42:01) Talent Over Tenure (00:50:26) 3G's Operating System (00:57:14) When a Brand is Bigger than the Business (01:00:17) Why Burger King Was Undervalued (01:03:15) The Beauty of the Franchise Model (01:06:24) Kraft Heinz: A Case Study in Concentration Risk (01:09:07) Skechers: Great Product Meets Great Distribution (01:16:07) Finding Forever Businesses (01:17:52) Zero-Based Budgeting & When It Works (01:21:10) The Current State of Capital Markets (01:25:23) Misconceptions About 3G (01:32:01) The Power of Patience (01:33:39) The Kindest Thing

This episode I am reading from Holly Porter's book 'Near Death Shift : What Dying Taught Me About Life, Business, and Purpose'.When everything fell apart, grace held her together.After seventy days in the hospital—including two intubations, a coma, and a near-death experience—Holly Porter awoke to a life forever changed. Near Death Shift is her breathtaking true story of survival, spiritual awakening, and divine purpose.When Holly entered the hospital, she had no idea her world was about to stop breathing. Fighting for her life through sepsis, paralysis, and weeks on a ventilator, she experienced what few ever have—a journey beyond the veil. In that sacred realm, she found herself surrounded by a radiant stadium of light, angelic choirs, and divine messages that would reshape everything she believed about life, leadership, and love.What she brought back was more than hope—it was a blueprint for transformation. Through her signature SHIFT framework—Surrender, Hope, Intuition, Faith, and Transformation—Holly reveals how pain can become purpose and how surrender can lead to strength. Each lesson offers spiritual and practical guidance for anyone navigating loss, trauma, or the longing to live a more purposeful life.As Holly learned to walk, breathe, and live again, she also learned how to listen—how to trust the quiet voice of divine intuition and follow the signs that would lead her to rebuild not just her body, but her mission. Her near-death experience became a new beginning, inspiring the creation of Retreat RnR, a platform for transformational retreats, and the Adventure Bucket Wish Foundation, dedicated to helping women lead with purpose, passion, and presence.Blending powerful storytelling with timeless spiritual truths, Near Death Shift invites readers to see their own challenges through the lens of grace. It's a reminder that the hardest seasons often carry the seeds of our greatest callings—and that even in the darkest nights, love and light remain.Whether you've faced illness, loss, burnout, or a crisis of faith, this book will meet you where you are and guide you toward healing and hope. With honesty, humor, and hard-won wisdom, Holly shows that no matter what you've endured, your story isn't over—it's shifting you toward the person you were always meant to become.Readers will discover:✨ How to find divine meaning in life's hardest moments✨ The healing power of faith, surrender, and intuition✨ Tools to rebuild life after loss or trauma✨ Ways to transform adversity into abundance✨ Hope, strength, and renewed connection with what truly mattersIf you've ever wondered why you're still here—or what your pain is trying to teach you—Near Death Shift will help you uncover the light hidden within your own story.“I didn't come back to who I was—I came back to who I was created to be.”BioHolly Porter, Hon. Ph.D., is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker, podcast host, and humanitarian who turned the fight for her life into a global mission of purpose and transformation. During a seventy-day hospitalization, Holly had a near-death experience and several other profound spiritual experiences. These led to the development of her SHIFT framework—Surrender, Hope, Intuition, Faith, and Transformation—a model that guides individuals to find meaning in adversity and to live with greater purpose. Holly is a best-selling author and the founder of multiple ventures, including the PropTech and SaaS platform Retreat RnR, and the Adventure Bucket Wish Foundation. She inspires audiences worldwide with her keynote speeches and her All Things Retreat Podcast. She received the President's Lifetime Achievement Award and an honorary doctorate in Global Humanitarianism. Holly and her husband, Scott, live in Southern Utah, where they enjoy their large blended family of eight adult children and nearly nineteen grandchildren.https://neardeathshift.com/https://hollyporterinternational.com/https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G1J9PCBY https://www.pastliveshypnosis.co.uk/https://www.patreon.com/ourparanormalafterlifeMy book 'Verified Near Death Experiences' https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DXKRGDFP Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Join our Patreon for extra-long episodes and ad-free content: https://www.patreon.com/techishThis week on Techish, Michael and Abadesi break down the stock market chaos sparked by Anthropic's new AI tool, what it could mean for SaaS pricing and why enterprise software is so hard to kill. They also get into Bitcoin, Sam Altman's meltdown over Claude's Super Bowl ad, layoff transparency (or the lack thereof), the Epstein file fallout, Glorilla and the pressure that comes with money, family, and expectations when you “make it.”Chapters00:22 Anthropic's Claude Wipes Out Software Stocks07:36 Bitcoin and the Power of VC Hype12:49 Sam Altman Panics over Claude's Super Bowl Ad25:34 Pinterest and Corporate Transparency In Layoffs30:18 Epstein Files and Public Interest [Patreon-Only]39:31 Glorilla and the Black Tax  [Patreon-Only]This episode is sponsored by DeleteMe. Get 20% of DeleteMe at joindeleteme.com/techish with code TECHISH.Extra Reading & ResourcesWhy one Anthropic update wiped billions off software stocks [Fast Company]Sam Altman got exceptionally testy over Claude Super Bowl ads [TechCrunch]Empire of AI by Karen Hao [Penguin]Pinterest sacks engineers for tracking staff job cuts [BBC]Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AICan't keep up with AI? We've got you. Everyday AI helps you keep up and get ahead.Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show————————————————————Join our Patreon for extra-long episodes and ad-free content: https://www.patreon.com/techish Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@techishpod/Advertise on Techish: https://goo.gl/forms/MY0F79gkRG6Jp8dJ2———————————————————— Stay in touch with the hashtag #Techishhttps://www.instagram.com/techishpod/https://www.instagram.com/abadesi/https://www.instagram.com/michaelberhane_/ https://www.instagram.com/hustlecrewlive/https://www.instagram.com/pocintech/Email us at techishpod@gmail.com

Ghazenfer Mansoor is the Founder and CEO of Technology Rivers, a software company developing HIPAA-compliant web, mobile, and cloud-based healthcare software applications. As a seasoned advisor and investor in technology and healthcare, he has fulfilled roles as an architect, programmer, software engineer, user experience specialist, product developer, growth hacker, and chief technology officer. In this episode… Ever wondered why some apps become part of your daily routine while others disappear after a single use? Creating technology people truly love requires mastering retention, trust, and thoughtful AI integration. So what separates indispensable apps from the rest? According to Ghazenfer Mansoor, a seasoned healthcare SaaS builder and author, the apps that endure are those designed around a single, essential user need and built with security and trust at their core. He highlights the importance of protecting sensitive data through privacy-first AI approaches such as retrieval-augmented generation and zero-retention language models. The impact is clear: when users feel safe and understood, they stay. He also stresses avoiding feature bloat, embedding feedback loops early, and iterating continuously based on real user behavior.  In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with Ghazenfer Mansoor, Founder and CEO of Technology Rivers, to discuss building secure, user-loved apps in healthcare and SaaS. They dive into designing for retention, avoiding common product pitfalls, and selecting the right tech stack to scale effectively. Ghazenfer also shares how AI tools and book recommendations shape his productivity and decision-making.

Dan Nathan, Guy Adami, Kristen Kelly and Jen Saarbach discuss the recent happenings in the stock market, with a focus on the significant shift in sentiment towards SaaS companies. They explore how AI investments and the ensuing financial implications are affecting market valuations. The conversation touches on several key areas, including Microsoft's fluctuating performance, the role of rising interest rates, and the broader impact on the credit markets, especially in private equity and private credit. Additionally, the panel discusses the recent volatility in the cryptocurrency market, questioning Bitcoin's role as digital gold and the structural issues within the crypto ecosystem. They also examine the intriguing financial strategies and market maneuvers of Elon Musk's companies, particularly the recent merger between SpaceX and xAI. The episode concludes with a look at potential market rotations into sectors like financials and energy, as well as the upcoming challenges posed by macroeconomic conditions and the new Federal Reserve chair. Article Mentioned Hedge Fund's Bet on Liquidity Over Private Credit Is Paying Off (Bloomberg) —FOLLOW USYouTube: @RiskReversalMediaInstagram: @riskreversalmediaTwitter: @RiskReversalLinkedIn: RiskReversal Media

This week I'm talking to Holly Porter about her book 'Near Death Shift : What Dying Taught Me About Life, Business, and Purpose'.When everything fell apart, grace held her together.After seventy days in the hospital—including two intubations, a coma, and a near-death experience—Holly Porter awoke to a life forever changed. Near Death Shift is her breathtaking true story of survival, spiritual awakening, and divine purpose.When Holly entered the hospital, she had no idea her world was about to stop breathing. Fighting for her life through sepsis, paralysis, and weeks on a ventilator, she experienced what few ever have—a journey beyond the veil. In that sacred realm, she found herself surrounded by a radiant stadium of light, angelic choirs, and divine messages that would reshape everything she believed about life, leadership, and love.What she brought back was more than hope—it was a blueprint for transformation. Through her signature SHIFT framework—Surrender, Hope, Intuition, Faith, and Transformation—Holly reveals how pain can become purpose and how surrender can lead to strength. Each lesson offers spiritual and practical guidance for anyone navigating loss, trauma, or the longing to live a more purposeful life.As Holly learned to walk, breathe, and live again, she also learned how to listen—how to trust the quiet voice of divine intuition and follow the signs that would lead her to rebuild not just her body, but her mission. Her near-death experience became a new beginning, inspiring the creation of Retreat RnR, a platform for transformational retreats, and the Adventure Bucket Wish Foundation, dedicated to helping women lead with purpose, passion, and presence.Blending powerful storytelling with timeless spiritual truths, Near Death Shift invites readers to see their own challenges through the lens of grace. It's a reminder that the hardest seasons often carry the seeds of our greatest callings—and that even in the darkest nights, love and light remain.Whether you've faced illness, loss, burnout, or a crisis of faith, this book will meet you where you are and guide you toward healing and hope. With honesty, humor, and hard-won wisdom, Holly shows that no matter what you've endured, your story isn't over—it's shifting you toward the person you were always meant to become.Readers will discover:✨ How to find divine meaning in life's hardest moments✨ The healing power of faith, surrender, and intuition✨ Tools to rebuild life after loss or trauma✨ Ways to transform adversity into abundance✨ Hope, strength, and renewed connection with what truly mattersIf you've ever wondered why you're still here—or what your pain is trying to teach you—Near Death Shift will help you uncover the light hidden within your own story.“I didn't come back to who I was—I came back to who I was created to be.”BioHolly Porter, Hon. Ph.D., is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker, podcast host, and humanitarian who turned the fight for her life into a global mission of purpose and transformation. During a seventy-day hospitalization, Holly had a near-death experience and several other profound spiritual experiences. These led to the development of her SHIFT framework—Surrender, Hope, Intuition, Faith, and Transformation—a model that guides individuals to find meaning in adversity and to live with greater purpose. Holly is a best-selling author and the founder of multiple ventures, including the PropTech and SaaS platform Retreat RnR, and the Adventure Bucket Wish Foundation. She inspires audiences worldwide with her keynote speeches and her All Things Retreat Podcast. She received the President's Lifetime Achievement Award and an honorary doctorate in Global Humanitarianism. Holly and her husband, Scott, live in Southern Utah, where they enjoy their large blended family of eight adult children and nearly nineteen grandchildren.https://neardeathshift.com/https://hollyporterinternational.com/https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G1J9PCBY https://www.pastliveshypnosis.co.uk/https://www.patreon.com/ourparanormalafterlifeMy book 'Verified Near Death Experiences' https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DXKRGDFP Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A look at whether this year's Super Bowl ads from OpenAI, Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Anthropic, and a wave of smaller AI startups actually shifted public perception of AI, or just reinforced existing fears and hype. Drawing on audience reaction data, ad rankings, and the broader context of American skepticism toward AI, this episode breaks down which spots connected, which backfired, and why advertising AI is fundamentally different from advertising soda or trucks. In the headlines: the SaaS selloff deepens, software valuations compress, and investors grapple with what the agent era means for legacy tech Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rackspace AI Launchpad - Build, test and scale intelligent workloads faster - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://rackspace.com/ailaunchpad⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Zencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://zencoder.ai/zenflow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Optimizely Agents in Action - Join the virtual event (with me!) free March 4 - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.optimizely.com/insights/agents-in-action/⁠⁠⁠AssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.assemblyai.com/brief⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Section - Build an AI workforce at scale - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.sectionai.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://robotsandpencils.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://besuper.ai/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://pod.link/1680633614⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai

Anish Acharya is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where he leads consumer and fintech investing at Series A. He serves on the boards of standout portfolio companies including Deel, Mosaic, Clutch, Titan, and HappyRobot and has led early bets in companies like Runway and Carbonated. Before a16z, he founded and exited two startups—Snowball (acquired by Credit Karma) and SocialDeck (acquired by Google) and scaled Credit Karma's U.S. Card business to over 100 million members. AGENDA: 00:03 - Why building an AI company today requires being in San Francisco 06:58 - The "SaaS Apocalypse" myth: Why "vibe coding" everything is a lie 09:11 - How AI agents are finally breaking the lock-in of legacy software providers 10:13 - Incumbents vs. Startups: Who actually wins the AI distribution war? 14:39 - Why the developer tool market looks more like Cloud than Uber and Lyft 22:43 - The death of the Chatbox? Why browse-based interfaces are still preferable 27:14 - Why power users are 10x more valuable in the age of AI consumption 28:36 - Do margins matter in a world of AI? 34:46 - Why we are definitively not in an AI bubble right now 38:58 - Why the Legal and Customer Support industries will have dozens of winners 39:44 - Lessons from Marc Andreessen: Why the "quality of being right" supersedes process 44:51 - Is "Triple, Triple, Double, Double" dead? The new physics of growth 01:10:41 - The a16z Playbook: How to win 100% of the deals you chase    

In this episode, I speak with Kirsten Baker, CEO of Jeenie, Inc. (ranked No. 271 in 2025), a platform dedicated to breaking down language barriers through live interpretation. We explore the powerful intersection of AI innovation and the irreplaceable human element required for meaningful communication. Kirsten shares her perspective on building a culture of innovation, highlighting collaboration, embracing failure as a learning tool, and leading with purpose. We also discuss Jeenie's mission-driven approach to leadership, the importance of hiring for values alignment, and the successes of managing a diverse, fully remote team. Our conversation offers a compelling look at the future of Jeenie and underscores how effective leadership empowers people, nurtures creativity, and drives collective innovation. Episode Highlights & Time Stamps 2:08 Leading Innovation 10:23 Core Leadership Principles 16:35 Embracing AI in Business 17:35 Creating a Culture of Innovation 23:20 Wrapping Up Insights Follow me on Twitter @genehammett Website: www.genehammett.com About Kirsten Baker Kirsten Brecht Baker is CEO & Co-Founder of Jeenie, an AI+Human multilingual and multicultural platform powering the next generation of smart-tech and AI for more inclusive communication. A Wharton MBA and serial entrepreneur, she has built and scaled ventures across SaaS, tech, and global market development. She is an Ernst & Young 2025 Entrepreneur of the Year, and made the top lists of Forbes, Inc., and Fast Company for leading in equity, innovation, and human connection. She is also a member of YPO, the SAFE-AI Task Force, INC. Leadership Forum, and Fast Company's Impact Council. How to Connect with Kirsten Baker: LinkedIn: Kirsten Baker  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsten-brecht-baker/ Company Website: Jeenie, Inc. https://jeenie.com/ Resources & Next Steps Ready to take your leadership energy to the next level? Explore free training and resources at training.coreelevation.com to help you identify energy leaks, strengthen your leadership presence, and elevate your team's performance.

What happens when you're an expert… but nobody in your new industry knows who you are?In this episode of LinkedIn Riches, I sit down with Eric Ward, a former SaaS founder and CTO who exited after 24 years and decided to build an entirely new consulting business from scratch - in an industry where he had zero LinkedIn connections.Eric didn't try to “look busy” on LinkedIn. He didn't spray cold pitches. And he didn't rely on hope.Instead, we used a focused LinkedIn strategy to help him build credibility, start real conversations, and land his first client in under 60 days - all while learning exactly what his new market wanted.If you're a consultant, coach, or small business owner trying to break into a new niche (or feeling invisible on LinkedIn), this conversation will hit close to home.WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER:03:20 - Why Eric chose to niche down after exiting a SaaS company10:12 - The 19-hour airport delay that changed his business direction15:34 - How we positioned Eric's LinkedIn profile to attract his ideal prospects18:22 - Why story-driven content builds trust faster than authority posts22:52 - What Eric learned from his first booked LinkedIn sales calls26:48 - How continuous improvement beats "set-it-and-forget-it" outreach29:34 - Why LinkedIn success feels like pushing a snowball at firstThis episode is a real-world LinkedIn case study - not theory, not hype - showing how patient, intentional LinkedIn lead generation actually works when you're starting from zero.(Note: You can also watch this episode as a video here.

Send us a textKristen and Jen are joined by Guy Adami and Dan Nathan of CNBC's Fast Money for the fifth installment of "He Said, She Said." The conversation kicks off with the so-called "SaaS Apocalypse" — the brutal selloff across software stocks — and unpacks how the market narrative shifted in just one week from "when will AI spending pay off?" to "what happens when AI destroys your core business?" The group debates whether the repricing is justified or overdone, digs into the credit market spillover with $17.7 billion in SaaS-related loans hitting distressed levels, and discusses what it all means for private credit exposure.From there, the panel takes on Bitcoin's collapse to $60,000 — roughly half its all-time high — and asks whether the "digital gold" thesis is officially dead now that crypto fell apart while precious metals hit records. They also break down the equity rotation into financials and energy, the irony of banks rallying on AI-driven deal flow while AI-adjacent companies crater, and what enterprise adoption of AI could mean for the hyperscalers longer term.The episode wraps with a look at Elon Musk's latest consolidation play, SpaceX acquiring xAI ahead of a rumored mega-IPO, and a macro check-in covering weak seasonals, a deteriorating jobs picture, rising 10-year yields, and the historical pattern of markets testing every new Fed chair.For a 14 day FREE Trial of Macabacus, click HEREShop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HEREFixed Income Sales & Trading HERE Wealthfront.com/wss. This is a paid endorsement for Wealthfront. May not reflect others' experiences. Similar outcomes not guaranteed. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. Rate subject to change. Promo terms apply. If eligible for the boosted rate of 4.15% offered in connection with this promo, the boosted rate is also subject to change if base rate decreases during the 3 month promo period.The Cash Account, which is not a deposit account, is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC ("Wealthfront Brokerage"), Member FINRA/SIPC. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. The Annual Percentage Yield ("APY") on cash deposits as of 11/7/25, is representative, requires no minimum, and may change at any time. The APY reflects the weighted average of deposit balances at participating Program Banks, which are not allocated equally. Wealthfront Brokerage sweeps cash balances to Program Banks, where they earn the variable APY. Sources HERE.

Jess and Jason catchup on recent events and explore the intersection of AI, the job market, and the evolving landscape of the SaaS industry. Including: personal updates, the implications of the K-shaped economy, and the necessity for individuals and organizations to adapt to technological advancements. They emphasize the importance of community engagement and the need for continuous learning to remain relevant in a rapidly changing environment.

Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://theultimatepartner.com/ebook-subscribe/ Check Out UPX: https://theultimatepartner.com/experience/ https://youtu.be/-flNeKF6CxQ?si=xIIQ4LUl7oraQjkg Microsoft’s Cyril Belikoff joins Vince Menzione to reveal the seismic shift occurring within the newly reimagined Microsoft Marketplace. As the industry moves toward a predicted $300 billion partner opportunity by 2030, this discussion deconstructs the evolution of the “Frontier” vision, the launch of the AI apps and agents category, and the critical “Resale Enabled Offer” (REO) that is currently doubling deal sizes for early adopters. Whether you are a software company looking to scale globally or a reseller aiming to stitch together complex AI solutions, the message is clear: the flywheel is already spinning, and those who wait for a “perfect strategy” risk being permanently displaced by more agile competitors who are getting their feet wet today. Key Takeaways The Microsoft Marketplace has been reimagined into a single destination for discovering, buying, and deploying AI apps and agents. Analysts predict a staggering $300 billion opportunity for partners within the Microsoft Marketplace by 2030. The new Resale Enabled Offer (REO) allows software companies to authorize channel partners to resell on their behalf across specific geographies with minimal overhead. Cloud migration is far from over, as massive amounts of on-premise data and ISV apps still need to be modernized for the AI era. Marketplace deal sizes are doubling as customers use Azure commitments to retire their marketplace acquisition costs. Successful partners are moving away from “boiling the ocean” strategies and instead focusing on transacting one or two deals to learn the ecosystem’s mechanics. If you're ready to lead through change, elevate your business, and achieve extraordinary outcomes through the power of partnership—this is your community. At Ultimate Partner® we want leaders like you to join us in the Ultimate Partner Experience – where transformation begins. Key Tags: Microsoft Marketplace, AI apps and agents, Resale Enabled Offer, REO, Cyril Belikoff, Azure Marketplace, AppSource, cloud solutions, software companies, digital transformation, AI strategy, channel led sales, ISV solutions, cloud migration, Azure commitments, Microsoft Cloud, Frontier vision, MSP opportunity, marketplace transacting, AI monetization, global scale, procurement, IT deployment, technical modernization, partner ecosystem, business applications. Opening Lines: [00:00:00] Cyril Belikoff: Marketplace is really the extension of our vision for Frontier, uh, and the Microsoft Cloud. You know, the, the Microsoft technology takes a customer a long way, but in many ways to complete the thought. If you’re in football terms, you want to cross over the line and score touchdown. You can’t just get, uh, to the red zone. [00:00:20] Cyril Belikoff: You actually need partner solutions. [00:00:26] Vince Menzione: So let’s, let’s kick off to Marketplace a little bit right, too, because, uh, it’s been a big year for Marketplace, or 20, the first half of 2026 fiscal year 2026 has been a big year. A lot of announcements, a lot of things going on in the world, in marketplace. Where do we wanna start there? Let’s recap some of it. [00:00:44] Cyril Belikoff: Yeah. Um, so, um. It feels like a long time ago, but in, at the end of September, [00:00:51] Vince Menzione: yeah. [00:00:52] Cyril Belikoff: Um, at the AR tour, uh, in Chicago, we announced a new Microsoft marketplace. We reimagined that experience. It’s a new customer experience, single destination for customers to. You know, discover, find, try, buy, and deploy cloud solutions, AI apps and agents all in one place. [00:01:11] Cyril Belikoff: And so historically, we’ve had a little bit, uh, of decentralization. We had this thing called the Azure Marketplace and AppSource for different experiences. AppSource was more for teams and, and copilot. Um, and, and office, Azure Marketplace. Of course, that was for Azure. We brought all of that into one place. [00:01:30] Cyril Belikoff: So customers, whether they are looking for a SaaS solution running on Azure, an agent that snaps into copilot, an experience that runs in our security store, now they can go to one place. Um. marketplace.microsoft.com. It’s one, it’s the new Microsoft marketplace. And we have an, of course, we have a, we had, we launched a brand new category, AI apps and agents, and we launched that category in September. [00:01:54] Cyril Belikoff: Uh, bringing together numerous, uh, uh, partner offerings. Yeah. And today we have the largest catalog, um, probably in the mid four thousands of AI and agents. Wow. Available to customer. So fantastic. There was, there was quite a big moment in September. Um, and then fast forward a little bit to November, we announced a resale enabled offer, um, at Ignite [00:02:15] Vince Menzione: eo. [00:02:16] Vince Menzione: Eo [00:02:16] Cyril Belikoff: eo. I, [00:02:17] Vince Menzione: I like EO reminds me of the band back in the day. [00:02:19] Cyril Belikoff: Yeah. R Speedwagon. There you go. Uh, well, and it’s, it’s not that far from it because Oreo accelerates. Yeah. Um, what partners can do, uh, with the marketplace and really connects. Software companies and resellers, which I’m sure we’ll talk about in a second. [00:02:34] Cyril Belikoff: But that’s really the recap, um, of, uh, you know, the new Microsoft marketplace, how we enabling it for, uh, for partners through the the resell enable offer. [00:02:45] Vince Menzione: So, I know we talked on this a little bit, but I wanna maybe just expand on it. What does the frontier push and the marketplace evolution mean for partners? [00:02:53] Vince Menzione: Because I, I think it’s huge for both, for these partners to really monetize and accelerate their success working with you. [00:03:00] Cyril Belikoff: Yeah. So, um. Marketplace is really the extension of our vision for Frontier, uh, and the Microsoft Cloud. You know, the, the Microsoft technology takes a customer a long way, but in many ways to complete the thought and to, you know, uh, uh. [00:03:20] Cyril Belikoff: If you’re in football terms, you wanna cross over the line and score a touchdown, you can’t just get, uh, to the red zone. You actually need partner solutions. [00:03:28] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:03:29] Cyril Belikoff: Uh, and so that’s where the partner solutions, combined with Microsoft’s first party offerings become a really, really. Great offering and powerful offering for our customers to, to become Frontier. [00:03:40] Cyril Belikoff: So we have obviously a ton of AI experiences, our own co-pilot experiences, uh, Microsoft Foundry, which is a platform for ai, but in, in many ways, we need those industry solutions. We need those AI apps and agents from partners to complete that offering. And that’s really. How it comes together and, uh, you know, uh, I heard you from o was just on before me. [00:04:01] Cyril Belikoff: They actually predict that the Microsoft marketplace, uh, is a 300 billion partner opportunity by 2030. Yeah, they’re talking about, I think, mid eighties growth. We have literally seen our business for the last three years, and we are in the middle of our, uh, you know, third year doubling. And so when you get three or four years of doubling every year, that’s compounded doubling. [00:04:24] Cyril Belikoff: Um, so, uh, we have seen lots of momentum from customers, lots of interest. We’ve made it, you know. Interesting for customers. Um, and incentivize our customers with their Azure commitments that can retire their marketplace, uh, acquisitions that way. We’ve made it, we’ve put incentives for partners and for our own sellers. [00:04:44] Cyril Belikoff: So we really creating the flywheel for everybody in the market to see value from, uh, the marketplace. So. Like, like, like you mentioned, like m the, uh, you know, suggested [00:04:55] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:04:55] Cyril Belikoff: It’s only exploding the opportunity on marketplace. [00:04:58] Vince Menzione: Well, and you both touched on the fact that the data is not in the cloud yet. [00:05:02] Vince Menzione: Not all the data that needs to be in the cloud in order to drive the future of where we wanna go from a society. Mm-hmm. And from a business application perspective needs to be in the cloud. So huge opportunities for partners around data states, around securing that data, governing that data, and so on, on top of all the business applications, [00:05:19] Cyril Belikoff: right? [00:05:19] Vince Menzione: As promise. So incredible. Yep. So let’s [00:05:22] Cyril Belikoff: talk about, yeah. The call migration. The call migration, people think that is over and it’s long from over because customers have plenty, uh, on premise, uh, not only Microsoft technology, but the, the, the, the software company or the ISV app that sits on top of it. Yeah. [00:05:36] Cyril Belikoff: And that needs to be migrated, managed, modernized, um, and marketplace is a big part of that too. Um, but there’s so many services and, um, opportunities around it. [00:05:45] Vince Menzione: Incredible opportunity. Let’s talk about the channel and the channel opportunity. You, you touched on this earlier, right? So this really lighting up the channel. [00:05:53] Vince Menzione: I saw this loud and clear when we were at Ignite. Like this is a huge opportunity for the Es, for the resellers, for all the partners. And as part of REO, you’ve got huge opportunities you’re laying out for them for the 500,000 part partners. You know, we talk about the Bill Gates moment down here in Boca. [00:06:09] Vince Menzione: This is where it all started. Uh, yep. How, how do you think about marketplace in the channel today? [00:06:16] Cyril Belikoff: Yeah. You know, it’s, um, it’s vital. You know, we have a customer need, um, from. The smallest is small business all the way to enterprise. And the really, the only way we serve that, the only way we know how to serve that is with our partners from the largest of partners that serve our top enterprises down through, um, what we call small and medium and then down to our small business. [00:06:41] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:06:41] Cyril Belikoff: Um, and so, you know, we have seen our. You know, while our, we’ve seen a doubling of our business, we’ve seen three, three and a half to four x doubling of our channel led sales. [00:06:53] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:06:54] Cyril Belikoff: Um, over the last year. And so while our overall business is doubling, channel is accelerating even, you know, even more. [00:07:02] Cyril Belikoff: And so there, there’s a need from our customers because they buy from our channel and there’s obviously a need from the channel. And so we created this resale enabled offer. As you mentioned, we, um. We announced private preview in September and launched GA at Ignite. So, you know, uh, November, just before Thanksgiving holiday and retail Enable offer is all about scale and how we connect a, a, an independent software vendor or a software company. [00:07:27] Cyril Belikoff: To authorize a channel partner to resell on their behalf on a particular geography. And then that allows software companies to expand into new markets with very little overhead. And it allows the channel partners to create a set of offerings, not only from one partner, but you might have multiple software companies or applications that you stitch that are together to create an end-to-end customer offering or experience. [00:07:51] Cyril Belikoff: And so we are seeing, we are seeing many to many relationships. So software companies might authorize many resellers, many markets they’re in, for example. Yep. And then resellers, um, they’re, they’re becoming authorized resellers from many software companies so that they can really stitch together, end into end solution. [00:08:09] Cyril Belikoff: And it, we’re loving it and we are getting great feedback. It is early days for our global availability for, uh, re office, which. But we had partners that were literally waiting, um, uh, and waiting for deals. And within the first week there was, they were, uh, processing the, the Oreo deals at, at, at quite large scale already. [00:08:31] Cyril Belikoff: So. We are excited about the feedback that we’re getting. We, as you know, we, we stay close to that feedback and we listen well, um, and adjust from it. So we got more work to do, but, um, it’s a great opportunity for, to connect our, our multiple types of partners, software companies, and resellers. [00:08:48] Vince Menzione: Yeah, I agree. [00:08:49] Vince Menzione: And you know, I talk to a lot of these organizations myself, and there is palpable excitement. In the channel from Distees that were sort of disengaged a couple of years ago, maybe, trying to figure out where they were gonna monetize. And the other way area that’s aligned to this as well is the Ms. P community. [00:09:06] Vince Menzione: So these MSPs are getting bigger and bigger, and organizations like Accenture, Avanade, and ndl. Or becoming MSPs or creating Ms. P practices within their own firms. But there’s even these smaller MSPs, but many of ’em are getting to a billion dollars or more. These were little mom and pop companies years ago, but the customer so needs to have, you know, especially with ai, right? [00:09:27] Vince Menzione: Because we’re in a constant state of evolution right now. I need somebody that can help me on the tooling and then also help me on, you know, getting the tooling to work. And so, uh, we’re seeing a lot of excitement from that. Community, which wasn’t really as engaged with Microsoft the way they that they are now. [00:09:43] Vince Menzione: They’re really getting engaged in a big way. [00:09:46] Cyril Belikoff: Yeah, it’s promising. Like you say, you know, the, the, we’re all learning this new AI world and obviously marketplace has taken off. We’ve had the classic SaaS solutions or cloud solutions on marketplace for a while, but really un having the local partner that’s close to the customer, what the customer’s trying to need to do and be able to connect the, the traditional. [00:10:07] Cyril Belikoff: Software as a service applications with these new AI experiences and really, uh, stitch them together and help them operationalize, you know, in their own, you know, cus in their own terms and what they’re trying to, uh, do is so important. You know, um, and to your point there, there are large, they’re the large ones that are seeing opportunity on the marketplace. [00:10:27] Cyril Belikoff: But the, you know, when you get down to, uh, medium and smaller businesses, they really need their local friendly resetter to help them. [00:10:35] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:10:35] Cyril Belikoff: Uh, so you’re right. We are seeing an, a new en energy engagement from not only our existing 500,000 partners, but a bunch of those new ones. [00:10:44] Vince Menzione: So, uh, again, second week of 2026, and people are really just starting to wake up from the holidays. [00:10:50] Vince Menzione: Now they’re getting ready for their s ks. All these partners are lining up and getting their teams aligned. Uh, you’re in front of them. Let’s have a conversation like what should they be doing better and differently? What do they need to go do now? It’s 2026. [00:11:06] Cyril Belikoff: Yeah. Um, you know, first of all, if you’re a software company, you know, understand what the, the Microsoft marketplace can help you with, uh, can help you scale to global markets, remove burdens like tax, um, a processing, engaging with customers. [00:11:21] Cyril Belikoff: Um, we’re seeing an acceleration and doubling of, uh, not an acceleration deals, but doubling of deal sizes, as you know, through the marketplace. Uh, and there. It helps with engagement at different types of companies, whether it’s, or different types of, uh, roles in a company, whether it’s a, a procurement person or an IT person or a business person. [00:11:42] Cyril Belikoff: So, you know, get onto the marketplace, create offerings, um, and give us feedback. And then on the reseller side, um, also lots of opportunities, you know, register as, as a reseller, um, you know, understand the benefits and. The, the Azure sponsorships that we have available for you, that you can close deals with their, their, their credits and, and incentives that we provide to you. [00:12:06] Cyril Belikoff: And then figure out how you do your first deal with a software company. Um, yeah. You know, a lot of people will say like, should I have a big strategy? And Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if you want to, that’s okay, but just getting into. Uh, the marketplace, figuring out one or two deals, transacting and seeing the opportunity is many ways the best way to do it and to learn it yourself. [00:12:28] Cyril Belikoff: And then you figure out, okay, where, where’s the opportunity for me in this deal? Am I in the transaction? Uh, am I in the services around the transaction or combination? Um, and just getting your feet wet will get you going and, and, uh, get you learning. [00:12:42] Vince Menzione: You know, I think about this in the, the time the partners are, they have this huge opportunity with Microsoft around marketplace and then thinking about how they build their own ecosystem. [00:12:52] Vince Menzione: And like you said, don’t, don’t try and boil the ocean, right. Don’t try and do it all at once. Mm-hmm. But start out small, but understand, you know, work with the Microsoft teams, understand how, how co-selling works, how to engage with the, with the Microsoft organization. How to, how to be up on marketplace, how to situationally. [00:13:09] Vince Menzione: You know, Jay and I were talking about this 28 moments and he talked about a deal that started out as an AWS deal, but it wound up a Microsoft deal because NTT and Software one were involved in the in the deal and influencing the customer’s decision process. Right working with Microsoft. And so we just need to be smarter, I think. [00:13:28] Vince Menzione: I think today it’s a very different model than it was 20 years ago when you and I got started in this business. Uh, yeah. And people just really need to go think about this more strategically in how they build this. [00:13:39] Cyril Belikoff: It’s great. I totally agree. Um, like I said, getting your feet wet, understanding the co-sell to your point and, and, and how Microsoft sells. [00:13:48] Cyril Belikoff: Um, and then understand what customers are trying to, you know, get, get, get out of it with their, their Azure commitments and how they can retire their Azure commitments through purchases on marketplace, which in sense them, um, to also work on the marketplace. So you, I think partners will find Microsoft sellers. [00:14:04] Cyril Belikoff: Own compensation, um, incentive to work. We’ll find that customers are incentive to transact on the marketplace. And so just enter that, you know, triangle and, and get engaged and, uh, and learn and then give us feedback. Like, like I’ve mentioned many times with you, we, uh, we take feedback every month from customers and partners in, in forums like this, um, in other forums, and then we evolve and, you know, build out, uh, stronger experiences. [00:14:31] Vince Menzione: Yeah. Cyril, I want to thank you again. So great to have you join us today and, uh, so excited to continue our, our mutual relationship and our beneficial relationship in 2026. So thank you again for everything you do and supporting us. [00:14:45] Cyril Belikoff: Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Happy New Year to yourself and uh, and your community and, uh, thanks so much again. [00:14:50] Cyril Belikoff: Appreciate it. [00:14:50] Vince Menzione: Thank you, Cyril. The Ultimate Partner Winter Retreat is gonna be here in the Boca Studio. This is the third year that we’re gonna be here in Boca. This is always a favorite of our community members, our executive members, our sponsors and speakers. We’ll all be here in the studio, which is a really intimate setting. [00:15:12] Vince Menzione: We can see upwards of 40, 50 people. Uh, we’ll be hosting an incredible dinner at the Boca Resort overlooking the golf course. That’s an incredible property and, uh, we’d love to have you join us. Thank you for being part of the ultimate Partner community, and I hope to see you this year at one of our events. [00:15:30] Vince Menzione: Thank you.

If someone walked into your office today and asked you to build a framework for how to value software development, what would you think about it? SHOW: 1000SHOW TRANSCRIPT: The Cloudcast #1000 TranscriptSHOW VIDEO: https://youtube.com/@TheCloudcastNET NEW TO CLOUD? CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS" SHOW NOTES:Chainguard introduces Factory 2.0On running a startup of Claude Code agentsAgentic Product Development and the Theory of ConstraintsSoftware AbundanceHOW SHOULD SOMEONE THINK ABOUT THE ECONOMICS OF SW DEV IN 2026?If someone walked into your office today and asked you to build a framework for how to value software development, how would you think about it? FEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netBluesky: @cloudcastpod.bsky.socialTwitter/X: @cloudcastpodInstagram: @cloudcastpodTikTok: @cloudcastpod

AI pilot programs are consistently failing to deliver measurable business value, with a primary cause identified as a lack of clearly defined problem statements guiding these initiatives. Ashwin Mehta, an AI strategist with experience leading enterprise transformations, emphasized that many organizations initiate AI pilots without specific objectives, resulting in projects that struggle to demonstrate impact or justify further investment. This lack of focus often leads to stalled initiatives, rather than progress into scalable production environments.The discussion outlined how mid-market and small businesses typically implement AI by acquiring SaaS tools with embedded AI features, rather than building bespoke solutions. Ashwin Mehta observed that while “build versus buy” considerations have shifted as orchestration and database platforms become more accessible, custom development still brings additional risk, skill requirements, and long-term maintenance burden. Even as technical barriers decrease, organizations are cautioned to weigh lifecycle costs and operational support needs before pursuing custom builds.Data management was highlighted as a recurrent challenge, both from an organizational readiness perspective and regarding regulatory risk. Ashwin Mehta underscored the importance of establishing a single source of truth for business-critical data and classifying information by its regulatory sensitivity. Without such data discipline, adoption of AI tools—especially in regulated sectors—becomes a source of uncertainty, with organizations defaulting to restrictive or prohibitive AI policies due to inadequate risk visibility.For MSPs and technology leaders, the operational implications are clear: pilots without rigorous scoping and problem definition are unlikely to progress, and sustainable AI adoption requires purposeful data governance and clear frameworks for project prioritization. With the complexity of AI implementations extending beyond technical issues to include cost volatility, compliance, change management, and skills gaps, providers must approach each initiative with a structured, risk-aware mindset and ensure ongoing oversight as both technology and regulatory landscapes evolve.Sponsored by:  ScalePad

Mark Roberge is calling it now: we are about to witness the highest failure rate for a single cohort of startups in the history of tech. As author of Science of Scaling, and co-founder of Stage 2 Capital, Mark joins the pod to dismantle the "growth at all costs" mindset that still plagues founders. He explains why the assembly-line sales model is dead and how AI will force a return to the full-cycle "rainmaker" rep. **Key moments:** The AI Bubble: Why the index fund of the last two years of AI investments is likely doomed. Fixing Your ICP: And how optimizing for CAC or inbound volume without ICP fundamentals in place is a recipe for disaster The 80% Rule: How AI moves reps from 25% selling time to 80%, and what that means for the future of SDR, AE, and CS functions LIR - What it is and Why It Matters: Why every board deck needs a a LIR slide to predict product-market fit before revenue numbers hit **Note:** Mark is donating 100% of the proceeds from his new book to mental health causes. Grab a copy of *The Science of Scaling* on Amazon!   Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast!   Chapters: 00:00 Introduction: Mark Roberge and The Science of Scaling 03:44 Founder Turnover and Loyalty in the AI Era 06:18 Navigating Founder Burnout and Strategic Pivots 16:30 Predicting High Failure Rates for AI-Native Startups 18:57 The Origin Story Behind The Science of Scaling 24:51 Why Most Companies Define Their ICP Wrong 28:34 The Leading Indicator of Retention (LIR) Framework 32:30 Real-World Example: Shifting ICP Based on Retention 37:22 Who Should Own Product-Market Fit? 43:23 Transitioning GTM Strategies from SaaS to AI 47:29 The End of Specialization: Collapsing GTM Roles 51:12 Solving GTM Inefficiency by Increasing Selling Time 56:50 How to Pilot the Consolidated "Ninja AE" Role 01:04:29 Designing Organizations for Rainmakers vs. Average Reps 01:08:01 Mental Health, Gratitude, and Closing Thoughts  

This week: Anthropic released an update that seems to have tipped the scales against Software as a Service companies, erasing billions in market value. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck, unpack why there was such a massive market response to such a small AI plugin, and what it says about the future of tech investment. Then, Disney has finally named a new CEO in Josh D'Amaro. The hosts get what it says about the future of the company that they chose the head Disney Experiences, including their super-profitable theme parks, instead of its Hollywood division. And then, a report has claimed users lose money on prediction markets faster than on traditional gambling apps which Kalshi claimed was an extortion tactic before walking back its statement. The hosts get into the differences between how users interact with the two kinds of apps and what the data says about losses on each. In the Slate Plus episode: Epstein and the business of luxury gifting.Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(0:00) Besties intros: Brad Gerstner joins the show (3:16) Epstein Files (15:45) SaaS stocks crash out (35:11) Moltbook panic (47:37) Trump selects Kevin Warsh as new Fed Chair, replacing Jerome Powell (1:00:50) SpaceX and xAI merge (1:10:45) Brad's major win with Trump Accounts Follow Brad: https://x.com/altcap Follow the besties: https://x.com/chamath https://x.com/Jason https://x.com/DavidSacks https://x.com/friedberg Follow on X: https://x.com/theallinpod Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theallinpod Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theallinpod Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allinpod Intro Music Credit: https://rb.gy/tppkzl https://x.com/yung_spielburg Intro Video Credit: https://x.com/TheZachEffect Referenced in the show: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/business/epstein-investments-palantir-coinbase-thiel.html https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article214210674.html https://nypost.com/2026/01/31/us-news/linkedin-founder-reid-hoffmans-emails-with-jeffrey-epstein-revealed-in-doj-docs https://freebeacon.com/democrats/skype-sushi-and-a-phone-date-democratic-megadonor-reid-hoffman-maintained-jeffrey-epstein-relationship-years-after-he-said-it-ended https://nypost.com/2026/02/02/business/jeffrey-epstein-boasted-about-wild-dinner-with-mark-zuckerberg-reid-hoffman-in-unsealed-2015-email https://x.com/stockpickerspb/status/2009363916573290715 https://www.moltbook.com https://x.com/galnagli/status/2017573842051334286 https://x.com/balajis/status/1937517664907460980 https://www.reuters.com/world/india/gold-rises-over-1-geopolitical-economic-tensions-lift-precious-metals-2026-02-05 https://x.com/truflation/status/2019409671212396815 https://www.challengergray.com/blog/challenger-report-january-job-cuts-surge-lowest-january-hiring-on-record https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/ups-amazon-boost-us-planned-layoffs-january-challenger-survey-shows-2026-02-05 https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/03/musk-xai-spacex-biggest-merger-ever.html https://polymarket.com/event/spacex-ipo-closing-market-cap-above

This week: Anthropic released an update that seems to have tipped the scales against Software as a Service companies, erasing billions in market value. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck, unpack why there was such a massive market response to such a small AI plugin, and what it says about the future of tech investment. Then, Disney has finally named a new CEO in Josh D'Amaro. The hosts get what it says about the future of the company that they chose the head Disney Experiences, including their super-profitable theme parks, instead of its Hollywood division. And then, a report has claimed users lose money on prediction markets faster than on traditional gambling apps which Kalshi claimed was an extortion tactic before walking back its statement. The hosts get into the differences between how users interact with the two kinds of apps and what the data says about losses on each. In the Slate Plus episode: Epstein and the business of luxury gifting.Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week: Anthropic released an update that seems to have tipped the scales against Software as a Service companies, erasing billions in market value. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck, unpack why there was such a massive market response to such a small AI plugin, and what it says about the future of tech investment. Then, Disney has finally named a new CEO in Josh D'Amaro. The hosts get what it says about the future of the company that they chose the head Disney Experiences, including their super-profitable theme parks, instead of its Hollywood division. And then, a report has claimed users lose money on prediction markets faster than on traditional gambling apps which Kalshi claimed was an extortion tactic before walking back its statement. The hosts get into the differences between how users interact with the two kinds of apps and what the data says about losses on each. In the Slate Plus episode: Epstein and the business of luxury gifting.Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is the browser quietly becoming the most powerful and dangerous interface in modern work? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sat down with Karim Toubba, CEO of LastPass, to unpack a shift that many people feel every day but rarely stop to question. The browser is no longer just a window to the internet. It has become the place where work happens, where SaaS lives, and increasingly, where humans and AI agents meet data, credentials, and decisions. From AI-native browsers to prompt-based navigation and headless agents acting on our behalf, the way we access information is changing fast, and so are the risks. Karim shares why this moment feels different from earlier waves like SaaS adoption or remote work. Today, more than ever, productivity, identity, and security collide inside the browser.  Shadow AI is spreading faster than most organizations can track, personal accounts are being used to access powerful AI tools, and sensitive data is being uploaded with little visibility or control. At the same time, attackers have noticed that the browser has become the soft underbelly of the enterprise, with a growing share of malware and breaches originating there. We also explore the rise of agentic AI and what happens when software, not people, starts logging into systems. When an agent books travel, pulls data, or completes workflows on a user's behalf, traditional authentication and access models start to break down. Karim explains why identity, visibility, and control must evolve together, and why secure browser extensions are emerging as a practical foundation for this next phase of computing. The conversation goes deep into what users do not see when AI browsers ask for access to email, calendars, and internal apps, and why convenience often masks long-term exposure. Throughout the discussion, Karim brings a grounded perspective shaped by decades in cybersecurity, from risk-based vulnerability management to enterprise threat intelligence. Rather than pushing fear, he focuses on realistic steps organizations and individuals can take, from understanding what data is being shared, to treating security teams as partners, to using tools that bring passwords, passkeys, and authentication into one trusted place as browsing evolves. As AI reshapes how we search, work, and make decisions, the question is no longer whether the browser matters. It is whether we are ready for it to act as the front door to both our productivity and our risk, so are you securing your browser for the future you are already using today? Connect with Karim Toubba LastPass Threat Intelligence, Mitigation, and Escalation (TIME) team page Phish Bowl Podcast    

Is this the beginning of the end for SaaS as we know it?In a single week, AI announcements erased hundreds of billions of dollars in market value from the world's largest software companies. Anthropic, OpenAI, and a new generation of autonomous AI agents didn't just release updates — they exposed a structural shift in how work gets done.In this episode, Isar Meitis breaks down why this moment isn't just another hype cycle. AI agents can now code, reason, coordinate, schedule tasks, browse the web, and run workflows in parallel — without constant human supervision. That changes the economics of software, labor, and entire business models.The takeaway is uncomfortable but clear: large enterprises may survive — but smaller, single-purpose SaaS products are already being replaced. Business leaders who don't adapt quickly risk being left behind by companies that can now move 10x faster with fewer people.In this session, you'll discover:Why the so-called “SaaS Apocalypse” wiped out over $300B in market value in daysHow AI agents are replacing entire categories of software — not just automating tasksWhat Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6 and OpenAI's Codex reveal about the future of workWhy multi-agent systems change productivity economics foreverThe difference between enterprise infrastructure SaaS and vulnerable niche toolsWhy hallucinations, autonomy, and speed create new operational risksWhat business leaders must do now to stay competitive in an agent-driven worldAbout Leveraging AI The Ultimate AI Course for Business People: https://multiplai.ai/ai-course/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Multiplai_AI/ Connect with Isar Meitis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isarmeitis/ Join our Live Sessions, AI Hangouts and newsletter: https://services.multiplai.ai/events If you've enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, leave us a five-star review on your favorite podcast platform, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!

What's a few hundred billion dollars in capex spending among friends? When it comes to big tech, the numbers have gotten astronomical and there's both enthusiasm and fear about this much spending, so we try to make sense of what's going on. Travis Hoium, Lou Whiteman, and Jon Quast discuss: - Big tech's $650 billion bet on AI - This week's SaaS-pocalypse - We play Gold, Silver, and Bronze - Stocks on our radar Companies discussed: Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META), Coupang (CPNG), Cava (CAVA), Chipotle (CMG), Starbucks (SBUX), Portillo's (PTLO), Texas Roadhouse (TXRH), Markel (MKL). Host: Travis Hoium Guests: Lou Whiteman, Jon Quast Engineer: Dan Boyd Disclosure: Advertisements are sponsored content and provided for informational purposes only. The Motley Fool and its affiliates (collectively, “TMF”) do not endorse, recommend, or verify the accuracy or completeness of the statements made within advertisements. TMF is not involved in the offer, sale, or solicitation of any securities advertised herein and makes no representations regarding the suitability, or risks associated with any investment opportunity presented. Investors should conduct their own due diligence and consult with legal, tax, and financial advisors before making any investment decisions. TMF assumes no responsibility for any losses or damages arising from this advertisement. We're committed to transparency: All personal opinions in advertisements from Fools are their own. The product advertised in this episode was loaned to TMF and was returned after a test period or the product advertised in this episode was purchased by TMF. Advertiser has paid for the sponsorship of this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie and Matt discuss the SpaceX/xAI merger, the Kardashev scale, Twitter debt, index fast-tracking, people not being worried about SpaceX liquidity, closed-end fund activism, DAT discounts, the Bitcoin crash, Strategy, the week that software died, SaaS private equity, AI disruption and private credit funding stability.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben and Andrew react to a bloodbath for public Saas companies with thoughts on the future of software in the AI era, beginning with why companies choose to outsource solutions to Saas companies today, and why those moats may be more durable than skeptics think. Then: Why SaaS skepticism remains fair, including an analogy to the newspapers in the '90s, the absence of anti-fragility, a variety of headwinds that will impact pricing power, start-ups with superior cost structures, and looming consolidation and layoff questions. At the end: The biggest SaaS company of them all and what Microsoft's roadmap should look like, a response to data center skepticism, supply and demand for hyperscalers, why Ben hated the Anthropic Super Bowl ads, should AI hallucinations be good case law?, and a Vision Pro announcement.

Big Tech just had one of its worst weeks in years. Earnings were mixed, expectations were impossible, and the market punished everyone from AI spenders to chipmakers to SaaS. Today on Dumb Money: Our Worst Market Week Ever — How We Make It Back x2

In this episode of Around the Desk, Sean Emory, Founder and Chief Investment Officer at Avory & Co., steps back from the AI noise to focus on what actually matters right now.Using recent earnings from Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta, this conversation breaks down what the massive AI CapEx buildout really signals, how different business models monetize AI very differently, and why many of the fears around software disruption may be overstated.This episode explores AI through a capital allocation lens, separating defensive spending from offensive opportunity, and what Big Tech behavior tells us about the true health of the underlying economy.Topics covered include:• The scale of Big Tech AI CapEx and why it matters more than feature launches • Defensive vs offensive AI spending and how to think about moats • Why AI CapEx is also an economic confidence signal • Different monetization paths at Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google • Why Meta may be the cleanest AI beneficiary • The narrative vs data gap around Google Search and AI disruption • Why the “AI breaks software” panic may be overdone • Enterprise security, governance, and why AI rollout feels fast and slow at the same time • Platforms vs single-purpose tools and where risk actually sits • What recent software earnings say about demand, renewals, and long-term contracts • How AI likely becomes embedded inside platforms rather than replacing themThis conversation is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Avory & Co. may hold positions in some of the companies discussed. Please do your own research before making any investment decisions._____DisclaimerAvory is not an investor in either company mentioned. .Avory & Co. is a Registered Investment Adviser. This platform is solely for informational purposes. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Avory & Co. and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital. No advice may be rendered by Avory & Co. unless a client service agreement is in place.Listeners and viewers are encouraged to seek advice from a qualified tax, legal, or investment adviser to determine whether any information presented may be suitable for their specific situation. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.“Likes” are not intended to be endorsements of our firm, our advisors, or our services. While we monitor comments and “likes,” we do not endorse or necessarily share the opinions expressed by site users. Any form of testimony from current or past clients about their experience with our firm is strictly forbidden under current securities laws. Please limit posts to industry-related educational information and comments.Third-party rankings and recognitions are no guarantee of future investment success and do not ensure that a client or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance or results. These ratings should not be construed as an endorsement of the advisor by any client nor are they representative of any one client's evaluation.Please reach out to Houston Hess, our Head of Compliance and Operations, for any further details.

SaaS stocks are selling off hard as investors start pricing in AI agents as a direct threat to software's growth, margins, and seat-based business models. This episode unpacks why markets suddenly believe something fundamental has shifted — and why claims of a full software apocalypse are overstated but directionally real. In the headlines, a rare public fight breaks out after Anthropic uses its first Super Bowl ads to attack AI advertising itself, prompting an unusually sharp response from OpenAI and exposing growing tension over how the AI industry wants to be seen.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rackspace AI Launchpad - Build, test and scale intelligent workloads faster - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://rackspace.com/ailaunchpad⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Zencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://zencoder.ai/zenflow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Optimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybrief⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.assemblyai.com/brief⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Section - Build an AI workforce at scale - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.sectionai.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://robotsandpencils.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://besuper.ai/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://pod.link/1680633614⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai

AGENDA: 00:00 - SpaceX Completes Acquisition of xAI in $1.25 Trillion Merger 08:44 - The Rehabilitation of the IPO and the End of "State Private Forever" 15:53 - The 2026 SaaS Massacre: Public Market Collapse  31:20 - Next-Gen CRM War: Hubspot Down 50%+ vs Next Gen Heavily Funded 45:30 - Microsoft's $360 Billion Market Cap Loss and the Shift in AI Narrative 52:45 - Nvidia's Strategic Retreat: The Dispute Over the $100 Billion OpenAI Investment 01:03:30 - Waymo Raises $16 Billion at a $110 Billion Valuation 01:17:30 - The Launch of OpenClaw and Moltbook: 1.5 Million Agents Join a Social Network    

Feb 5, 2026: Are software vendors in trouble? Why are employees suddenly complying with return-to-office mandates? And what happens when leaders are afraid to ask their own teams for feedback? In today's episode of Future-Ready Today, we unpack five stories that together reveal a major reset happening inside organizations: Why Workday is cutting jobs — and what falling enterprise software stocks (including ServiceNow) signal about how AI is disrupting traditional SaaS business models. New data showing workers backing down on return-to-office demands as employers reclaim leverage. A leadership study revealing that senior executives want feedback — but fear appearing weak if they ask. Layoffs surging to the highest January level since 2009, driven in part by restructuring at UPS following shifts in volume from Amazon. And research from Bain & Company showing a massive disconnect between leaders who think change is working and employees who say it isn't.  

Markets have been chaotic over the past few sessions, so we pivot to a mostly-news episode to unpack what’s really driving the volatility. We start with “SaaSmageddon” — the sharp selloff across software stocks following rapid advances in AI, including Claude’s new capabilities. We discuss why investors are suddenly questioning data-driven moats, seat-based subscription models, and whether traditional SaaS businesses can defend their margins in a world where AI agents can replace large portions of knowledge work. From there, we connect the dots to private credit and private equity. With software making up a major portion of many private portfolios, we explore the growing risks around payment-in-kind lending, potential default cycles, and why business development companies (BDCs) could be the next pressure point if AI disruption accelerates. We also cover the historic gold and silver flush — a classic leveraged shakeout driven by forced liquidations, stop-loss cascades, and thin liquidity — and why ETF volumes exploded during the move. Finally, we touch on broader market weakness, AMD’s earnings reaction, and how Bitcoin continues to trade like a high-beta risk asset. Tickers of Stocks Discussed: TRI.TO, ADBE, CRM, SHOP.TO, SPGI, MCO, ARCC, OWL, OBDC, BXSL, MAIN, FSK, SLV, GLD, SPY, AMD Watch the full video on Our New Youtube Channel! Check out our portfolio by going to Jointci.com Our Website Canadian Investor Podcast Network Twitter: @cdn_investing Simon’s twitter: @Fiat_Iceberg Braden’s twitter: @BradoCapital Dan’s Twitter: @stocktrades_ca Want to learn more about Real Estate Investing? Check out the Canadian Real Estate Investor Podcast! Apple Podcast - The Canadian Real Estate Investor Spotify - The Canadian Real Estate Investor Web player - The Canadian Real Estate Investor Asset Allocation ETFs | BMO Global Asset Management Sign up for Fiscal.ai for free to get easy access to global stock coverage and powerful AI investing tools. Register for EQ Bank, the seamless digital banking experience with better rates and no nonsense.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Retreat Leaders Podcast, Shannon sits down with Dan Berger to talk about something the retreat industry doesn't discuss nearly enough: belonging. Dan shares his personal journey—from selling his event-planning software company for $100M, to grappling with his own sense of belonging, to ultimately creating Assemble Boise, a retreat and gathering space intentionally designed for human connection. Together, Shannon and Dan dive into: Why men are facing a serious belonging and mental health crisis How retreats can act as temporary communities that create lasting impact Why small, intimate spaces outperform big, flashy experiences How retreat leaders can design environments that feel safe, connective, and meaningful And why belonging—not content—is what people are actually paying for This is a grounded, honest conversation about the responsibility retreat leaders hold and the opportunity they have to create spaces that genuinely change lives.   What You'll Learn in This Episode Why people aren't craving more content—they're craving connection How Dan's "belonging tank" framework applies directly to retreat design The four belonging personas every retreat leader should understand Why men's retreats and men's groups are more needed now than ever How intentional hospitality creates trust, safety, and transformation What post-COVID human connection really looks like (and why retreats are booming)   Notable Concepts Discussed The "Belonging Crisis," especially among men Retreats as containers for community, not just experiences Small-group power vs. large-scale events Ethical considerations around AI and preserving human-made experiences Designing spaces that do the emotional work before the programming begins Email Dan to get a free copy of his book, or to book his amazing retreat center and get a 3rd night free: dan@assemblehospitality.com Buy Dan's Book here: https://amzn.to/4qvuyts  About Dan Berger Dan J. Berger is the author of The Quest: The Definitive Guide to Finding Belonging, and the CEO of Assemble Hospitality Group. He previously sold his SaaS company, Social Tables, for $100M. He lives in Boise, ID with his wife and daughter.   Connect with Dan here: https://assembleboise.com/    The Retreat Leaders Podcast Resources and Links: Learn to Host Retreats Join our private Facebook Group Top 5 Marketing Tools Free Guide Get your legal docs for retreats Join Shannon in Denver at the Retreat Industry Forum  Join our LinkedIn Group Apply to be a guest on our show   Thanks for tuning into the Retreat Leaders Podcast. Remember to subscribe for more insightful episodes, and visit our website for additional resources. Let's create a vibrant retreat community together!   Subscribe:  Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Spotify ------- TIMESTAMPS Dan's Background and Journey (00:01:22) Dan shares his personal history, adoption, move from Israel, hospitality career, and founding a software company. Writing the Book on Belonging (00:02:01) Dan discusses writing his book about belonging and its self-help/academic approach. Importance of Belonging in Retreats (00:03:01) Shannon and Dan explore why belonging is central to retreats and how retreats foster community. Men's Groups and Community Building (00:04:10) Dan describes his men's group, its structure, and how it builds ongoing relationships. Men's Belonging Crisis (00:05:53) Dan addresses the challenges men face with belonging, emotional expression, and the need for safe spaces. Retreats as Solutions for Men (00:08:13) Discussion on how retreats can help men, and Dan's hesitation about hosting men's retreats. Benefits of Extended Retreats (00:09:10) Shannon explains the deeper impact of multi-day retreats versus short meetings. Belonging Frameworks for Retreats (00:09:48) Dan introduces two frameworks from his book: the "belonging tank" and four belonging personas. Book Offer and Belonging Differences (00:12:09) Dan offers a free book to listeners and discusses gender differences in belonging. Motivation for Opening a Retreat Center (00:13:59) Dan explains his shift from corporate retreats to opening a dedicated retreat facility. Design and Features of The Symbol Boise (00:17:25) Dan details the layout, amenities, and unique aspects of his Boise retreat center. Transparency and Marketing for Retreat Leaders (00:18:40) Shannon praises the clarity and marketing of Dan's facility for retreat organizers. Special Offer for Retreat Leaders (00:19:41) Dan shares a booking discount and explains the profitability and versatility of his space. Closing and Resources (00:21:00) Shannon wraps up, shares links to Dan's resources, and thanks him for joining.

Jim McDonald is joined by Jeff Margolies, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Saviynt, to discuss the intersection of artificial intelligence and identity security. Jeff shares his decades of experience in the industry, from building the IAM practice at Accenture to his current leadership role at Saviynt. The conversation covers how AI is making manually intensive identity tasks more efficient, the emergence of Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM), and the critical need to govern identities for AI agents. Jeff also provides his perspective on the future of the identity practitioner and why he remains an optimist in a rapidly changing technological landscape.Connect with Jeff Margolies on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmargolies/Connect with us on LinkedIn:Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.comTimestamps:00:00:00 - Introduction and Gartner Identity Conference Recap00:02:11 - Jeff Margolies' Career Journey in Identity and Security00:04:36 - Returning to Identity and Joining Saviynt00:06:13 - How AI is Impacting Identity Security and Governance00:09:56 - The Future of Identity Services in an AI World00:13:58 - Will AI Disrupt the SaaS Model for Identity?00:19:50 - The Impact of AI on the Identity Practitioner Job Market00:26:16 - Identity for AI: Governing Agents and Delegated Authority00:32:00 - Combating Deepfakes and Proving What is Real00:34:40 - The Rise of Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM)00:41:46 - Comparing Posture Management and ITDR00:44:17 - Advice for CISOs: Why Posture Should Come First00:49:35 - The Secret to Saviynt's Success and Future Outlook00:52:19 - Lighter Note: Why Jeff Chose a Tesla for His DaughterKeywords:IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Jeff Margolies, Saviynt, IAM, Identity and Access Management, AI, Artificial Intelligence, ISPM, ITDR, Cybersecurity, Identity Governance, SaaS, IGA

Episode 510   00:00 Q4 Earnings & GDP 01:02 Silver down 30% from its recent high 02:12 2026 long term trends 02:52 Stocks starting out the year on a strong footing 04:41 Lam Research up over 150% past year 05:17 Ciena up 200% past year 05:27 Stupid ads on YouTube 07:25 SAAS software companies too beat up 07:50 Regional Banks are the early warning signal of the economy Sign up for free ALERTs & Market Commentary at:  https://www.investablewealth.com/subscribe/ ——————————————————

Andrew, Ben, and Tom discuss software companies getting smashed by AI, Fed policy, and Texas Instruments buying Silicon Labs. Join our live YouTube stream Monday through Friday at 8:30 AM EST:http://www.youtube.com/@TheMorningMarketBriefingPlease see disclosures:https://www.narwhal.com/disclosure

On the podcast we talk with Tanmay and Jack about how earned media can drive paid performance, building features that make for good tweets, and why stripping out your onboarding quiz might beat optimizing it.Top Takeaways:

Are we ready to move into an era of wild predictions about where the future of Enterprise software is headed in 2026 and beyond? SHOW: 999SHOW TRANSCRIPT: The Cloudcast #999 TranscriptSHOW VIDEO: https://youtube.com/@TheCloudcastNET CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK: http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST: "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW NOTESThe SPAC-king is going to fix legacy software All Enterprise software is dead Microsoft and Software Survival (Stratechery)WHAT HAPPENS TO ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE NEXT?How much do enterprises want to write their own software? How much do enterprises wish they could write more software?How much do enterprises not understand the economics of owning their own software?How much does “big SaaS” or just “big Enterprise software” actually help because people already know it?Is it possible that this new Agentic-driven software could create a type of new software community? Are “open” software communities prepared for the emerging economics of AI-created software? FEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netTwitter/X: @cloudcastpodBlueSky: @cloudcastpod.bsky.socialInstagram: @cloudcastpodTikTok: @cloudcastpod

For more thoughts, clips, and updates, follow Avetis Antaplyan on Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/avetisantaplyan⁠In this episode of The Tech Leader's Playbook, Avetis Antaplyan sits down with Alex Shartsis, serial founder, former corporate development lead, and current CEO of Skyp.ai—to unpack the real cost of “growth at all costs.” With scars and exits to back his views, Alex offers a candid breakdown of what founders get wrong about product-market fit, fundraising traps, and the often-misunderstood economics of scaling.Together, they explore why bootstrapping is back in vogue, how over-raising can kill flexibility, and how AI is redefining what it means to be a lean operator. Alex draws from his time at Perfect Price and now Skyp.ai to expose the hidden “footwork” behind successful GTM strategies and why most SaaS founders underprice out of insecurity. The conversation is loaded with tactical advice—from navigating platform creep to testing pricing thresholds—and peppered with war stories from the front lines of both venture-backed and bootstrapped journeys.Whether you're scaling an AI startup or building quietly with customer revenue, this episode challenges conventional wisdom and lays out what durable, customer-obsessed growth looks like in 2026.TakeawaysMany founders mistake a short burst of sales or demand for true product-market fit, leading to premature scaling and churn.Financial acquirers focus on cash flows; strategic acquirers pay for fit. Most founders don't deeply understand either.Venture capital often creates misaligned incentives. Founders lose control over exits and may be pushed to chase unsustainable valuations.Bootstrapping forces discipline: every dollar must generate near-term return, every decision must align with customer need.Raising too early or too much reduces urgency, increases burn, and often leads to wasteful bets and bloated teams.SaaS buyers increasingly value smaller vendors who prioritize service over scale.Advice is context-dependent: founders must be careful not to blindly copy tactics that worked in a different market or macro.AI tools enable hands-on execution and eliminate layers of communication, especially for lean teams.Founders often “hide their footwork”—the unseen details that actually drive GTM success.Customer proximity and rapid iteration beat slide decks and assumptions every time.Chapters00:00 Growth at All Costs Is Dead01:07 What Acquirers Really Care About02:35 The Mirage of Product-Market Fit05:10 Amazon vs. Realistic Unit Economics06:44 When Losing Money Is Okay—And When It's Not08:01 The Advice Trap: When Playbooks Expire10:01 The SurveyMonkey Blueprint (And Its Limits)13:06 How Bootstrapping Forces Better Decision-Making17:34 Owning the Downside: Founders vs. VCs20:13 Building a $5M Business Without Needing a Billion-Dollar Exit22:30 Platform Creep and Product Dilution27:53 Customer Success Is the Real Differentiator29:49 Jiu-Jitsu and GTM Footwork36:39 How AI Changes How Work Gets Done44:43 Prototyping, Building, and Speed with AI Tools46:41 Pricing Insecurity and Willingness to Pay51:01 You Are Not Your Customer: Pricing Psychology53:48 Cheap Gym Memberships, Expensive LessonsAlex Shartsis's Social Media Link:https://www.linkedin.com/in/shartsis/Resources and Links:⁠⁠https://www.hireclout.com⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.podcast.hireclout.com⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/hirefasthireright⁠

My guest today is Ben Horowitz, the co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz. Since its founding in 2009, a16z has grown into one of the most influential firms in venture capital, reshaping how technology companies are funded and how power and ideas move through Silicon Valley and around the world. This conversation focuses on sides of Ben's story you don't often hear. Ben reflects on the people who shaped him, including Nas, Andy Grove, and his father, and shares why he chose to personally fund new technology for the Las Vegas Police Department. We also talk about how he thinks about a16z's responsibility in shaping the trajectory of America, the scale of his ambition for the firm, and what he sees as the biggest risk facing the country. Please enjoy this great and unique conversation with Ben Horowitz. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Ramp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Ramp's mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Vanta. Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit vanta.com/invest.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Rogo. Rogo is an AI-powered platform that automates accounts payable workflows, enabling finance teams to process invoices faster and with greater accuracy. Learn more at Rogo.ai/invest. ----- This episode is brought to you by ⁠WorkOS⁠. WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit ⁠WorkOS.com⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ridgeline⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:02:43) Episode Intro: Ben Horowitz (00:03:27) The State of America Right Now (00:06:06) How Policy Could Destroy America (00:08:29) AI Changes the Laws of Company Building and Investing (00:11:40) Why AI Researchers are Paid $100M (00:13:16) Thoughts on Growing Inequality (00:18:07) Societal Challenges Due to AI (00:19:56) Ben's Scope of Ambition for the Next 20 Years (00:22:48) Andy Grove's Influence on Ben (00:27:44) Starting Andreessen Horowitz (00:32:53) Early Mistakes (00:36:17) What Capital Markets Are Missing (00:37:44) Why VC and Not PE (00:40:03) Tradeoffs with Scale (00:41:10) A Culture is Not a Set of Ideas, it's a Set of Actions (00:43:05) Lessons from His Father (00:45:03) Exciting Use Cases of AI (00:46:46) Ben's Friendship with Nas (00:50:05) Funding New Technology for the Las Vegas Police Department (00:54:07) The Kindest Thing

Josh Mohrer is the model of the kind of company that can be built with AI. He's not a developer, but he vibe coded Wave AI into a $7 million / year note taking company. This is how he did it. Josh Mohrer is the founder of Wave AI, an AI-powered audio note-taking app that records, transcribes, and summarizes conversations across meetings, phone calls, and real-world settings. Before Wave AI, Josh was an early leader at Uber, where he served as New York General Manager during the company's rapid expansion. Today, he runs Wave AI as a highly profitable, one-person SaaS business, using AI to replace entire teams while staying deeply hands-on with product and customers. Sponsored byZapier More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Today I'm joined by Brian Hoang, CEO of Mia. We dive into why dealerships are moving beyond fragmented SaaS tools toward AI-native platforms that automate real work, not just conversations. Brian explains why consolidation is inevitable, and how dealers are already driving real revenue by offloading high-volume service tasks. We also get into where most dealers go wrong with AI adoption—and what separates winners from noise heading into 2026. This episode is brought to you by: 1. Uber for Business - If you're headed to NADA, you already know that dealership operations are complex. Uber for Business helps make them simple by streamlining operations, improving CSI scores and keeping parts moving—all while delivering a better customer experience. Visit Uber for Business at NADA at Booth #7944N and get started @ https://businesses.uber.com/CDG. 2. CNA National - CNA National is the premier F&I provider for dealerships nationwide. With more than four decades in the industry, we've earned a reputation for service excellence. Plus, we are backed by one of the largest insurers in the U.S. If you are looking for stability, consistency and experience, look no further than CNA National. Register for your commitment-free F&I profitability analysis by visiting @ https://www.cnanational.com/NADA. 3. Mia - Your 24/7 AI receptionist who speaks like a human, not a robot. No more "press 1" - just natural conversations for sales, service, and support. She handles everything from car shopping to appointment scheduling in multiple languages, while integrating with your systems. Never miss another lead. Learn more @ https://www.mia.inc Check out Car Dealership Guy's stuff: For dealers: CDG Circles ➤ ⁠⁠⁠https://cdgcircles.com/⁠⁠⁠ Industry job board ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://jobs.dealershipguy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dealership recruiting ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.cdgrecruiting.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Fix your dealership's social media ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.trynomad.co⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Request to be a podcast guest ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.cdgguest.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For industry vendors: Advertise with Car Dealership Guy ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.cdgpartner.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Industry job board ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://jobs.dealershipguy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Request to be a podcast guest ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.cdgguest.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Topics: 03:19 Why was "Mia" created? 05:35 How can dealership tech be simpler? 08:26 How does AI help dealerships? 13:33 What are "Mia's" plans? 27:01 What are some success stories? 33:27 What is the future for "Mia"? Car Dealership Guy Socials: X ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠x.com/GuyDealership⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/cardealershipguy/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tiktok.com/@guydealership⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/company/cardealershipguy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Threads ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠threads.net/@cardealershipguy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077402857683⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Everything else ➤ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠dealershipguy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Recorded live at the NTL Summit in Miami, this episode features Cara Rosenthal, co-founder and Chief Legal & Strategy Officer of Expert Radiology, a Puerto Rico–based teleradiology group with a national presence. Cara breaks down their proprietary, patient-first MRI reporting system—featuring colorized key images, side-by-side comparisons, and detailed medical illustrations designed to make injuries instantly understandable. She shares why comprehension leads to better patient compliance, how these reports become powerful built-in demonstratives for injury cases, and what's next as their patent and new SaaS feature expand visual reporting to any radiologist's report.

AppAdvice has officially shut down — so what does that mean for Apps Gone Free campaigns and lifetime free promos?In this video, Steve breaks down what really happened, why Apple is paying closer attention to these campaigns, and whether Apps Gone Free strategies still work in 2026.He'll share real data, real case studies, and hard-earned lessons from running these campaigns for years, including what triggered Apple's crackdown, what mistakes to avoid, and how app founders can still use promotions to kickstart downloads without risking app rejection or review removals.If you're struggling with app discoverability, ASO, or early traction, this video will help you understand the dos and don'ts of Apps Gone Free campaigns in today's crowded App Store.You'll learn:✅ Why AppAdvice shut down and what it means for app marketing✅ Real case studies showing 2,000–6,000 downloads in days (post-AppAdvice)✅How Apps Gone Free campaigns can still boost ASO and organic installs✅ The right and wrong way to ask for App Store reviews✅ How Indie App Santa fits into the future of app distributionKey takeaway:Apps Gone Free campaigns aren't dead, but the rules have changed. If you run them the wrong way, you risk Apple intervention. If you run them the right way, they can still be one of the fastest ways to jumpstart app growth.

If it's growing exponentially, what will happen to the SaaS model? Today, we're talking to Rob Woollen, Co-founder at Sigma Computing, and Marwan Mattar, VP of AI at Sigma. We discuss whether AI will kill the SaaS industry, why the demo-to-production gap is AI's biggest challenge, and how the cost of building custom applications is approaching zero. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!  To learn more about Sigma, check out their website here.

For episode 672 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Michael Berman, Co-CEO of Tectonic Labs. Michael Berman is co-CEO of Tectonic Labs, where he drives operations and go-to-market strategy for the company's post-quantum cryptography solutions. With nearly two decades in enterprise software and SaaS, he specializes in building repeatable revenue engines, sharpening operational execution, and translating deep technical products into compelling commercial outcomes. Berman was an early team member at Eventbrite, where he scaled sales through the company's high-growth phase leading to its IPO. He later led strategic accounts at Salesforce, managing enterprise relationships and supporting expansion initiatives. He's also a serial entrepreneur with two successful exits, including the sale of a venture-backed company to a publicly traded acquirer. A graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder's Leeds School of Business, Berman is recognized for operational rigor, M&A execution, and scaling growth in regulated, security-critical markets.

What if the thing that helps you stand out in a digital world… isn't more digital?In this episode, I sit down with my longtime friend Mark Stern, founder of Custom Box Agency, to unpack how physical products are making a serious comeback in business. From flipping Furbies as a teenager to building immersive onboarding experiences for lawyers, authors, and SaaS companies, Mark shares how analog experiences are becoming the secret weapon in a world flooded with AI and digital noise.We talk about the lessons he learned in corporate America at Deloitte, why being a generalist can hold entrepreneurs back, and how stepping into your zone of genius unlocks true growth. Mark also walks through how physical products like card decks, game boards, and custom boxes can increase acquisition, retention, and lifetime value.If you're building a brand and want to create deeper connection, stronger engagement, and real-world impact, this conversation will stretch how you think.What You'll LearnHow corporate structure can actually prepare you for entrepreneurshipWhy physical products are gaining power in the age of AIThe mistake most entrepreneurs make when scaling their businessHow to use physical experiences for customer acquisition and retentionWhy gamifying onboarding increases results and engagementThe power of dynamic QR codes and hyper-personalizationHow a simple card deck can become a powerful front-end offerWhy analog experiences create emotional connection and memorability

Stop losing the AI revenue multiplier game. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://theultimatepartner.com/ebook-subscribe/ Check Out UPX: https://theultimatepartner.com/experience/ In this episode, Jay McBain reveals why focusing solely on consumer AI hype is a massive mistake that causes businesses to miss the real opportunity: the 99% of business data currently sitting in cold storage. We discuss the critical shift toward “Agentic AI” and integrations, where the real money lies for partners—moving from a standard transaction to a $3 to $7 multiplier effect. Jay also issues a stark warning about the “book of failure” waiting for companies that refuse to adopt a platform mindset, explaining why you can’t hire your way out of the talent shortage and must embrace the seven-partner ecosystem to survive the next decade. https://youtu.be/RXRJW027Qz8 https://youtu.be/RXRJW027Qz8 Key Takeaways Partners can unlock a $3 to $7 multiplier on every dollar of Microsoft revenue by focusing on the full customer journey. 99% of the world’s business data is not yet trained into models, representing the massive “Agentic AI” opportunity. The talent shortage is forcing end customers to outsource because they cannot compete with hyperscalers for AI skills. Integration is now the number one buying criteria for modern customers, necessitating a platform approach. We are overestimating the AI change in two years but vastly underestimating the transformation coming in ten years. Your visible pipeline may be less than 10% of your total addressable market because you aren’t seeing the 28 moments before a sale. If you're ready to lead through change, elevate your business, and achieve extraordinary outcomes through the power of partnership—this is your community. At Ultimate Partner® we want leaders like you to join us in the Ultimate Partner Experience – where transformation begins. Key Tags Agentic AI, AI Multiplier, Cold Storage Data, Business Integration, Jay McBain, Platform Economy, Ecosystem Strategy, Managed Services, Co-selling, Hyperscaler Partnerships, Talent Shortage, Magnificent Seven, Digital Transformation, 28 Moments, AI Governance. Transcript: [00:00:00] Jay McBain: And getting from one to two to $3 a multiplier. So if Microsoft wins a hundred thousand dollars, I win $300,000 at 75% margin. And a sticky customer that’s gonna continue to enrich every 30 days forever. [00:00:16] Vince Menzione: I want to double click here. You talked about ag agentic technology and ai. I just wanna go back in on this. [00:00:21] Vince Menzione: So where is the money? Where’s the real money for the partners that are, that are participating? Microsoft? We’ll talk to Microsoft about Frontier Firm in a little while, but is it on advisory? Is it on build? Is it on managed services or ongoing optimization? Of the, of the stack. Where, where is it? [00:00:36] Jay McBain: Yeah. All the above. [00:00:37] Vince Menzione: All of the above. [00:00:38] Jay McBain: So Microsoft is famous for, you know, $8 and 45 cents of multiplier. We’ve written probably three dozen of these reports. Just this year. So whether you’re in a cyber platform, whether you’re in a hyperscaler platform, big SaaS platform, the first thing the CEO does when they get on CNBC or they get, uh, on their keynote in Vegas is say, Hey, you know, you can make $7 and 5 cents. [00:01:01] Jay McBain: You can make $7 and 13 cents, and here’s where it’s. This percentage of it is in consulting advisory. This percentage is in design and architecture, implementation, integration, managed services. This is how much, it’s a small little slice in procurement. If you wanna resell, that’s fine, but here is the opportunity and there’s no customer on the planet that’s gonna outsource seven to one. [00:01:23] Vince Menzione: Right? [00:01:23] Jay McBain: You know, it’s not advisable that anyone hands over the keys. You have to have some insourced talent Absolutely. To keep the thing running. But what would’ve been in the past, maybe one to one, or you know, two to one, is quickly becoming three to one to say that I can’t find, as an end customer, the AI talent to do this. [00:01:43] Jay McBain: I can’t find the cyber talent. I can’t find the infrastructure talent. I, I can’t find the talent. Even if I did, I can’t compete with these magnificent seven. I can’t compete with these big partners in terms of what they can pay. So now my ability, and now a younger buyer, majority buyer, now being a millennial loves a team sport. [00:02:02] Jay McBain: So they don’t mind this outsourcing of talent where they need it, and that’s why there’s seven partners around the table. But in this multiplier effect, the biggest opportunity for partners is not a specific skill or not a specific part of the journey. It’s actually understanding this multiplier and better serving the customer. [00:02:20] Jay McBain: Through before, during, and after the transaction and getting from one to two to $3 a multiplier. So if Microsoft wins a hundred thousand dollars, I win $300,000 at 75% margin. And a sticky customer that’s gonna continue to enrich every 30 days forever. [00:02:38] Vince Menzione: I love that. Uh, we can talk all day about ai. There’s a couple things specifically though, but what is the one missed? [00:02:45] Vince Menzione: Conception that partners have about Agen, AI’s impact on go-to market? [00:02:50] Jay McBain: Well, the misconception I can broadly at this point is that all of the hype cycle in the first, you know, two to three years of build out has been all consumer. [00:02:58] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:02:59] Jay McBain: So, Nvidia being the richest company and you know, Elon Musk becoming the richest person and all the changes that are happening and you know, how, how the world’s mostly it’s a consumer story. [00:03:08] Vince Menzione: It is. [00:03:09] Jay McBain: You know, Chachi PT became the fastest growing product in history. And you know, to the point of having 850 million, you know, daily users. Crazy. You know, just in a couple of years we’ve all changed our behavior from going to do a search and getting a bunch of links and then clicking the links to try to find the answer to answer first. [00:03:25] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:03:26] Jay McBain: And you start to think now through the business side of it, 99% of world’s business data has yet to be trained or tuned into models. 83% of it sits in cold storage at the edge. So I, I always tell the story. I mean, probably the most likely story in our industry is when you get your flight canceled and now you’ve got this chat bot [00:03:45] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:03:45] Jay McBain: You know, that comes and cancels your flight and is very empathetic, you know, feels really bad for you, but it can’t do anything. [00:03:52] Vince Menzione: No. [00:03:53] Jay McBain: So what I would like as a consumer when you do that, is to go download my 53 years of flying and understand what kind of flyer I am. ’cause I could be the, you know, we’re sorry we canceled your flight. [00:04:05] Jay McBain: We’ve already got a Marriott night for you and an Uber waiting at the curb and we’ll have you back here at 5:00 AM for the next available flight. Or you happen to be like me. We’re gonna get you on a flight. You gotta run across the airport. But we got a flight, you know, waiting to go and that’ll get you about six hours away from your home and your kids. [00:04:24] Jay McBain: We already have a hertz rental waiting. Yeah. And you’re gonna drive that six hours, but you’re gonna be home, you know, to take your kids to school tomorrow. Exactly. So that’s the business data. And that goes to finance, that goes to pharmaceutical. I mean, it goes into every industry, but if that chat bot got access to the business data and being able to act on a richer set of data about you personally, and then became AG agentic. [00:04:46] Jay McBain: Again, I don’t want to go to Marriott. I don’t wanna go to Uber. I don’t wanna go to Hertz. There’s a thousand permutations in a canceled flight and I, and I, you know, wanna notify my family and there’s so many things going on that age Agentic work becomes everything, which I love it, by the way, in our partnership term is called integrations. [00:05:03] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:05:04] Jay McBain: Our buyers now in integration, first buyer, it’s their number one criteria and every company thinking through their adjacencies. Including technology companies have to be the most integrated of their set of competitors. [00:05:17] Vince Menzione: So we need to get this part right. [00:05:19] Jay McBain: We have to get this part right. [00:05:20] Vince Menzione: What do you think, what do you think the time horizon is for that? [00:05:23] Vince Menzione: When are we gonna, when are we gonna see that chat bot that comes back and says, Jay, I’ve rebooked your flight. I’ve got the Hertz rental car ready for you. I’ve notified Michelle and the kids, and here you go. [00:05:33] Jay McBain: Yeah. Well for me that’s a 10 year horizon. [00:05:36] Vince Menzione: Okay. [00:05:37] Jay McBain: I mean, the biggest problem is no airline right now. [00:05:39] Jay McBain: No company right now wants to open up their cold storage and, you know, forklift it up into. You know, a consumer level, large language model. Yeah. So the security isn’t set yet. The governance, the compliance, the risk, all the different things. Nobody wants to be first, uh, in, in that area. So we’re running little pilots. [00:05:59] Jay McBain: The pilots, you know, aren’t converting into production at the level we want. But that, that, that goes back to the Bill Gates quote. You know, we tended to overestimate what would happen in two years. Two years, but we’re absolutely underestimating what’s gonna happen in 10. [00:06:12] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:06:13] Jay McBain: This has been the fastest growing industry for 50. [00:06:15] Jay McBain: It’s going to be for the next 10 guaranteed, but probably for the next 20 to 50 as well. And, and this is that stage of how do you start to make these integrations? If you go to the platform slide, this is the, you know, I, I tried to think through the, what would the book read when, when 53% of companies that we know and love today fail. [00:06:36] Jay McBain: Somebody writes the book, you know, they invented the thing that killed them or they, you know, as mismanagement or whatever, it’s, you know, the book always starts, you blame the CEO for the first chapter. You blame the board fiduciary responsibility in the second chapter, but now you got like eight more chapters to write. [00:06:51] Jay McBain: I think the answer is here. [00:06:53] Vince Menzione: I [00:06:53] Jay McBain: agree. Winning in the AI era is platforms. Big platforms working with other platforms up on the upper right, the integrations. Yep. That’s the number one criteria. It’s the airline working with all the different pieces. It’s the real estate agent working with all the different pieces the bank working with. [00:07:11] Jay McBain: All our lives all become interconnected, and these agents start working side doors and back doors on our behalf. Before we ever know we need them before the flight’s even canceled. [00:07:20] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:07:21] Jay McBain: And then the seven partnerships, the services and channel partnerships. If you’re in cybersecurity, 91.6% of it goes through the channel. [00:07:30] Jay McBain: That’s how it’s transacted. You need channel partnerships, but you also need partnerships with the other six partners around the table. You’re not just gonna win without one reseller. You are gonna have to build the other partnerships. So to get to the two or three, that’s the services and channels you have to win In alliances, this is a big part of ultimate partnerships. [00:07:47] Vince Menzione: Yes. [00:07:47] Jay McBain: Is winning with the hyperscalers, winning with the SaaS companies, winning on these marketplaces, winning with the big cyber platforms, distribution platforms. These bigger platforms are starting to take shape and this is what they look like working well. And you could compete tooth and nail in the morning. [00:08:03] Jay McBain: And be best friends by the afternoon. [00:08:04] Vince Menzione: Your frenemies. [00:08:05] Jay McBain: Your frenemies. Yeah. And then finally it all comes to go to market. You got these 28 moments before a sale and somebody is earning and winning those moments. And in the majority of cases, you’re never gonna see these moments. And that’s why your pipeline is less than half of your TAM and maybe less than 10% of your tam. [00:08:23] Jay McBain: ’cause you just don’t have visibility to where your buyers are. But the more partners, the seven partners that you connect to. You’re gonna start to see them and the more technology and more agentic technology that you connect, you don’t want humans filling out deal registration forms. You don’t want humans calling other humans. [00:08:40] Jay McBain: You want all of this being shared. The more of this you do in go to market, the co-selling, the co-marketing, co-innovation, all of this comes together. This is the rest of the book. If the companies today in every industry aren’t driving a platform in their own industry. They’re going to probably fail. [00:08:58] Vince Menzione: Absolutely. You know, we talk about situational awareness in an account. You talk about the seven seats at the table. The customer is talking to all these companies. You may not know about it. You think you’re, you’re dominant in the account, and they’re relying on all these decision makers that I think you said 6.3 is the actual number, right? [00:09:13] Vince Menzione: Yeah. Uh, analysis wise, how many. Organizations are part of that trusted group. You need to go influence all of those. You need to build the co-develop co, co-create with those organizations as well. And you need to be thinking about the whole ecosystem. This ties into this conversation about the decade of the ecosystem. [00:09:30] Vince Menzione: You know, you’ve been talking about it since 2020, maybe a little bit before. I think you might’ve even in this podcast studio. It might have been one of the first times we talked about the decade of the ecosystem. It really feels like this is the moment that all of this comes together. Maybe this slide defines why organizations need to think ecosystem and not vendor channel, if you [00:09:49] Jay McBain: agree. [00:09:50] Jay McBain: Yeah. And there’s a couple of, you know, companies and more than a couple that kind of have this slide posted in the CEO’s office. [00:09:58] Vince Menzione: Yeah. Should be. [00:09:59] Jay McBain: Every [00:09:59] Vince Menzione: CEO should be, and uh, every CEO should see this. The Ultimate Partner Winter Retreat is gonna be here in the Boca Studio. This is the third year that we’re gonna be here in Boca. [00:10:10] Vince Menzione: This is always a favorite of our community members, our executive members, our sponsors and speakers. We’ll all be here in the studio, which is a really intimate. Setting, we can see upwards of 40, 50 people. Uh, we’ll be hosting an incredible dinner at the Boca Resort overlooking the golf course. That’s an incredible property. [00:10:32] Vince Menzione: And, uh, we’d love to have you join us. Thank you for being part of the ultimate Partner community, and I hope to see you this year at one of our events. Thank you.

Join Sifu Rafael as he welcomes Jeremy B. Shapiro, a successful serial entrepreneur specializing in SaaS, technology, and information marketing. Jeremy has guided countless entrepreneurs in transitioning from “solopreneur” to “business owner,” helping them work more strategically on their businesses rather than getting lost in day-to-day operations.Since 1998, Jeremy has enabled business owners to leverage their core strengths, identify hidden opportunities, and maximize profits through structured masterminding, one-on-one coaching, and consulting. His expert opinions on the real estate market and business have made him a sought-after media guest. He has been featured on NPR, Fox News, ABC, NBC, PBS, and many other reputable outlets.Beyond his professional achievements, Jeremy enjoys exploring new cultures and languages with his family, as well as engaging in activities like mountain climbing, long-distance cycling, running, and culinary adventures.Don't miss this insightful episode where Sifu Rafael and Jeremy B. Shapiro uncover valuable strategies for entrepreneurs striving for greater business success and personal freedom.

  Why do small business leaders keep buying more software yet still feel like they are drowning in logins, dashboards, and unfinished work? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sit down with Jesse Lipson, founder and CEO of Levitate, to unpack a frustration I hear from business owners almost daily. After years of being pitched yet another tool, many leaders now spend hours each week troubleshooting software instead of serving customers. Jesse brings a grounded perspective shaped by decades of building SaaS companies, including bootstrapping ShareFile before its acquisition by Citrix, and what stood out to me immediately was how clearly he articulates where the current software model has broken down for small businesses. We talk about why adding more apps has not translated into better outcomes, especially for teams without dedicated specialists in marketing, finance, or sales. Jesse explains how traditional software often solves only part of the problem, leaving owners to become accidental experts in accounting, marketing strategy, or customer communications just to make the tools usable. From there, our conversation shifts toward what he believes will actually matter as AI adoption matures. Rather than chasing full automation or shiny new dashboards, Jesse argues that the real opportunity lies in blending intelligence with human guidance, allowing AI to work quietly behind the scenes while people remain the face of authentic relationships. A big part of our discussion centers on trust and connection in an AI-saturated world. Jesse shares why customers have become incredibly good at spotting automated communication and why relationship-based businesses cannot afford to lose the human element. We explore how AI can act as a second brain, helping business owners remember details, follow up at the right moments, and show up more thoughtfully, without crossing the line into impersonal automation that turns customers away. His examples, from marketing emails to customer support, make it clear that technology should support better relationships rather than replace them. We also look ahead to what small businesses should realistically focus on as AI evolves. Jesse offers practical guidance on getting started, from everyday use of conversational AI, to building internal documentation that allows systems to work more effectively, and eventually moving toward agent-based workflows that can take on real operational tasks. Throughout the conversation, he keeps returning to the same idea, that AI works best when it helps people become the kind of business leaders they already want to be, more present, more consistent, and more human. If you are a founder, operator, or small business leader feeling overwhelmed by tools that promise productivity but deliver friction, this episode offers a refreshing reset. As AI becomes more capable and more embedded in daily work, the real question is not how many systems you deploy, but whether they help you build stronger, more genuine relationships, so how are you choosing to use AI to support the human side of your business rather than bury it? Useful Links Connect with Jesse Lipson Connect with Jesse on X Learn more about Levitate    

My guest today is ⁠Gokul Rajaram⁠, Founding Partner at Marathon Management. Gokul is one of the most prolific product builders and investors of the last twenty years. He has built the core ad and product businesses at Google, Facebook, Square, and DoorDash, working at each company during its most formative scaling periods. Alongside his operating career, Gokul has invested in more than 700 companies, giving him an unusually broad view into how products are built and scaled. This conversation is about how product building is changing with AI. We discuss the one thing Gokul believes is truly future-proof in AI, why companies like Zendesk and Slack are more exposed than Salesforce or NetSuite, and the only sources of defensibility.  We also talk about everything Gokul has learned from helping build the most important ads businesses, including the only three ways an ad business can make money, how those constraints shape product decisions, and what consumer behavior change threatens every major platform. Gokul shares lessons from working closely with Larry and Sergey, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Tony Xu. Please enjoy my conversation with Gokul Rajaram. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Ramp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Ramp's mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Vanta⁠. Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- This episode is brought to you by ⁠Rogo⁠. Rogo is an AI-powered platform that automates accounts payable workflows, enabling finance teams to process invoices faster and with greater accuracy. Learn more at ⁠Rogo.ai/invest⁠. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠ ⁠WorkOS⁠⁠. WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit⁠ ⁠WorkOS.com⁠⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ridgeline⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:00:53) Meet Gokul Rajaram (00:02:05) How Product Development is Changing with AI (00:07:32) Philosophy of Product Management (00:10:19) What is Future-Proof in AI Era (00:11:25) Building AI Applications Today (00:15:03) Systems of Record vs Agent Companies (00:16:58) Which Legacy Software Companies Are Most Exposed (00:22:15) Stickiness in the AI Era (00:24:10) Learning from Larry Page and Sergey Brin (00:28:15) Learning from Mark Zuckerberg (00:31:31) Learning from Jack Dorsey (00:35:40) The Art of Great Product Design (00:36:49) Weekly CEO Communication (00:40:27) Three Ways to Succeed in Advertising (00:44:27) What Should Scare Major Ad Platforms (00:48:24) North Star Metrics (00:50:09) Self-Serve Products (00:54:50) Careers in the AI Era (00:59:03) Stay Long Enough to Have Impact (01:00:10) Founder Authenticity and Superpowers (01:02:21) Navigating the Idea Maze (01:03:42) Role of Boards (01:06:31) Excellence in Customer Acquisition  (01:09:11) The Kindest Thing