Podcast appearances and mentions of Steve Jobs

Stanford, Loopt, and Y Combinator. Guest Author: Keach Hagey. Altman's career accelerated at Stanford, where he dropped out to co-found Loopt, a pioneering location-tracking startup. Although Loopt achieved visibility—including a famous appearance at an Apple event alongside Steve Jobs—it was financially a disappointment, selling for parts after the 2008 crisis. Following a period of global "backpacking" and self-reflection, Altman discovered his "superpower" in investing, mentored by Peter Thiel. By 2014, he became the president of Y Combinator, overseeing massive successes like Airbnb and Stripe. Influenced by a visit to SpaceX, Altman adopted Elon Musk's "missionary" approach, viewing startups as world-changing missions rather than mere businesses. During this time, he also championed radical social concepts like Georgism and Universal Basic Income (UBI), writing extensively on how mass AI equity could eventually be shared to restructure society. 3JANUARY 1941

Patrick opens the hour reflecting on the impact of simply asking for help, sparked by a story about Steve Jobs at twelve, then shifts seamlessly from questions about Catholic college choices to the moral considerations of AI tools like ChatGPT. He answers a listener wrestling with where to find hope in a world full of suffering, explores purgatory and eternal life in a memorable call, and weaves in practical insights for faith, whether at home or behind bars. Audio: Steve Jobs on the power of asking for help - https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/2056784257431785744?s=46 (00:33) Rosendo (email) – Can our kids attend Christian colleges because my daughter wants to get her degree in nursing (06:08) Lena (email) - Is using ChatGPT a sin? (10:41) Tracy - In Purgatory, could the holy souls actually be floating around among us as people and we just don't understand or are they in a different dimension? (19:51) Matthew - My nephew is in prison. Are there any books that I could recommend to him? He doesn't know much about religion. (31:27) David (email) - In a country that is increasingly skeptical of helping people where do you see Him? In a country that only rewards brutality in spirit, money, and power where do you find Jesus? (39:20) Michael (email) – Where’s your movie list? (45:45) (Originally aired 5/20/26)

Story of the Week (DR):JP Morgan's news weekThe Lurid Lawsuit, Salami Scandal and Trash-Can Thief Vexing JPMorgan's PR Department AND Meme of 'JPMorgan's HR Department in 2026' Has People in Stitches Amid Sex Scandal and Knicks Bin IncidentShe Stole a Knicks Trash Can Off the Street and Lost Her Job at JPMorganThe Trash Bin That Cost Her Career: Who Is Angie Báez? JPMorgan DEI Executive Fired After Viral Knicks Parade VideoThe Trash-Can Thief: Angie Báez, an Executive Director of Community and Industry Engagement at the bank, was captured on a viral video during the New York Knicks championship parade emptying a public trash bin onto a Manhattan sidewalk so she could steal the limited-edition, blue-and-orange Knicks-themed container.The Resolution: JPMorgan quickly terminated her employment after the video went viral. Báez eventually returned the trash bin and was issued $175 in sanitation fines.But what kinds of thing DON'T get you fired and get you fined?In 2023, JPMorgan Chase agreed to a $290 million (1,657,143x) settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit from survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. The bank was accused of actively ignoring glaring red flags and helping bankroll Epstein's sex-trafficking operation for 15 years.Internal documents and later congressional probes revealed that the bank processed roughly 4,700 suspicious transactions totaling $1.1 billion for Epstein. They failed to file a single Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) until after his death.Who Kept Their Job? Mary Erdoes: The Head of Asset & Wealth Management was fully aware of Epstein's status as a high-risk sex offender, reviewed his account, and was directly implicated in internal communications regarding his status. She faced zero professional demotions and remains one of the top candidates to eventually succeed Jamie Dimon as CEO.In 2020, JPMorgan Chase entered a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to pay a record $920 million (5,257,143x) to settle federal charges of market manipulation.For nearly a decade, traders on JPMorgan's precious metals and U.S. Treasuries desks engaged in "spoofing"—placing tens of thousands of fake, deceptive orders to artificially move market prices and maximize their own profits. The FBI stated that traders "openly disregarded U.S. laws."While a couple of mid-to-high-level traders (like Michael Nowak and Gregg Smith) were later criminally convicted and sentenced to prison, the executive leadership team responsible for supervising them and implementing compliance programs suffered no casualties. Top management stayed perfectly secure, chalking the multi-million dollar fraud up as the work of a few "bad apples."The Salami Scandal: Veteran wealth manager Brent Bodner was fired by JPMorgan in 2024 after he expensed a $642.50 deli platter (containing wings, sandwiches, and salads) for a Super Bowl gathering at his Beverly Hills home. The bank accused him of intentionally misclassifying a personal party as a pre-approved business meeting.Bodner counter-sued, jokingly dubbing the controversy the "salami incident." He argued that the event was a legitimate client-acquisition dinner that only two prospects ended up attending, and that the minor coding error was used as a pretext to push him out.The Resolution: A FINRA arbitration panel sided heavily with Bodner, ruling that JPMorgan acted preemptively out of paranoia that brokers were leaving for rivals. The panel ordered JPMorgan to pay Bodner $4.25 million in damages.The Lurid Lawsuit: Chirayu Rana, a former vice president on JPMorgan's leveraged finance team, leveled highly salacious allegations against his female supervisor, Executive Director Lorna Hajdini. Rana's lawsuit alleges he was subjected to a campaign of racial discrimination, severe harassment, and forced sexual relations under the threat of having his career sabotaged.The Resolution: Rana rejected a $1M settlement offer, countering with a demand for up to $22 million before escalating the fight to court. Both Hajdini and JPMorgan strongly deny the allegations as entirely fabricated, and the legal battle is moving toward a highly publicized trial.JPMorgan Chase promotes Petno, Rohrbaugh to copresidents, setting up two more successors for DimonThe Wait to Replace Jamie Dimon Keeps Getting Longer: Another potential successor, Marianne Lake, is leaving JPMorgan, as the longstanding chief executive enters his third decade atop the bank.How JPMorgan went from 3 female CEO contenders to an all-male succession raceJPMorgan named Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh, current co-heads of the bank's commercial and investment bank, as co-presidents, setting them up as the frontrunners to succeed longtime CEO Jamie Dimon. Their promotions, the bank said in a press release, "are part of the Board's ongoing succession planning process."Petno and Rohrbaugh were among a handful of powerhouse candidates poised to succeed Dimon, including Jennifer Piepszak, chief operating officer, Marianne Lake, CEO of the commercial bank, and Mary Erdoes, CEO of asset and wealth management.Marianne Lake, a Potential Dimon Successor, Leaves JPMorganOne-time Retention and Continuity equity awards to the following Operating Committee members:Doug Petno, Co-President and CEO of the Commercial & Investment Bank, and Troy Rohrbaugh, Co-President and CEO of Consumer & Community Banking, in the amount of $30M each;Mary Erdoes, CEO of Asset & Wealth Management, and Jennifer Piepszak, Chief Operating Officer, in the amount of $20M each.JPMorgan Chase unveils $50 billion buyback, Goldman Sachs raises dividend after Fed stress testA 6 year study shows which CEOs are pushing RTO mandates: The ones with the biggest egosFortune 500 bosses demanding staff return to the office share one trait: narcissism, research findsA six-year study tracking corporate executives revealed that strict return-to-office (RTO) mandates are heavily driven by narcissism and executive ego, rather than actual employee productivityWharton organizational psychologist Adam Grant noted that researchers used reliable corporate proxies to quantify CEO narcissism, including the oversized scale of their compensation packages, the size of their signatures, and the prominence of their photos in company annual reports.The data showed that leaders with highly inflated self-opinions consistently coveted maximum power and status, making them the most aggressive opponents of remote work.Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan pushed hard for a 5-day-a-week return to the office. Why they're now letting employees work from homeGameStop CEO Cohen spurns $35 billion pay plan to focus on plan to buy eBayGameStop CEO on His eBay Pursuit: ‘I'm Not Going to Stop, I'm Not Going to Go Away'GameStop unveiled a compensation package worth roughly $35B for Ryan Cohen ​in January, hinging on a turnaround that requires him to lift the struggling company's market value more than tenfold and sharply boost its profit.In May, Cohen surprised Wall Street with an unsolicited offer to buy eBay for roughly $56 billion in cash and stock to ‌turn the e-commerce company into ⁠a bigger competitor to Amazon.EBay's board rejected the proposal, calling the offer "neither credible nor attractive."Cohen argued that he doesn't want the package ⁠so that GameStop's leadership can fully focus on its operating performance and the planned acquisition.SpaceX handed lowest possible ESG rating by MSCI: Triple C score puts Elon Musk's company on par with Russia after 2022 invasion of UkraineMusk 'most obvious risk' following SpaceX's lowest possible ESG rating“Board of Directors: The SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES board currently has an independent majority, which enables it to more effectively fulfill its critical function of overseeing management on behalf of shareholders. The company has failed to split the roles of CEO and chairman, which may limit the board's independence from current management interests. Split CEO and chairman roles are characteristic of 67% of companies in this market.”Welltower CFO's $167 million pay package sets new recordWelltower's Tim McHugh is the new highest-paid finance chief among the biggest U.S. companies. His $167 million pay package in 2025 not only dwarfs that of his CFO peers but also outpaces the compensation of many CEOs.McHugh's pay at Welltower, a real-estate investment trust focused on rental housing for seniors, surpasses the $139 million compensation package received by Tesla's Vaibhav Taneja in 2024. This puts him more than $135 million above Alphabet's Anat Ashkenazi, the next highest-paid CFO in 2025. And it secures him a spot in the club of executives making $100 million or more, a group that remains rare.Here's what the article DID NOT MENTION: CEO Shankh Mitra: $821MGoodliest of the Week (MM/DR):DR: Scientists Say New Method Turns Coffee Grounds Into High-Potency Renewable FuelAccording to a press release from South Korea's National Research Council of Science and Technology, a team of researchers at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) have developed a method to convert spent coffee waste into high-quality charcoal, known as biochar.While that's a feat in and of itself, the kicker is the method's blistering speed: it takes just 90 seconds from start to finish, with no drawn-out drying process or oil separation required. According to the release, the new technique solves a major issue in extracting the latent energy potential of spent coffee beans.DR: Bill to raise minimum wage to $25 an hour will be introduced in Senate DR MMThe bill would incrementally increase the minimum wage from its current rate of $7.25, with the first jump to $12 an hour in the first year of enactment. Major corporations would have six years to work up to a $25 minimum wage, while smaller employers would have a 13-year runway. The legislation would also do away with subminimum wages for tipped workers, such as restaurant servers, youth workers and workers with disabilities. Nearly half of the American workforce makes less than $25 an hour.DR: Federal judge blocks new law aimed at ESG, DEI investing decisionsA federal judge has blocked Kansas from enforcing a new law that requires institutional investment advisers to make certain disclosures when recommending against company management on issues, including environmental, social and governance principles.U.S. District Judge Holly Teeter on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of law enacted last session that two major national institutional investment advisers said was unconstitutional because it discriminated based on speech.MM: MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last yearAssholiest of the Week (MM):CEO SPEED ROUND - ONE HEADLINE, ONE CEO, ONE LINERTim Cook - It's pretty sweet to quit your job and let the new guy fight the union: Apple closed America's first unionized store and blocked workers from transfers — now the union is fighting backJamie Dimon - It was easy - we just pointed to the ones with boobs and said “Not you”: How JPMorgan went from 3 female CEO contenders to an all-male succession raceZuck - The best thing about being a little man king with no accountability is I can randomly change and unchange and rechange my mind… about people's lives: Meta pauses an AI training program that tracks employees' keystrokes after an internal leakLarry Fink - Have you SEEN the size of my signature??? Fucking come to work: A 6 year study shows which CEOs are pushing RTO mandates: The ones with the biggest egos“In the six-year study, researchers collected data on Fortune 500 CEOs, using behavioral proxies—signature size, photo size in annual reports, pay gap relative to peers—to construct narcissism scores. The higher the score, the more likely a CEO was to publicly oppose remote and hybrid work and seek additional status (like a board chairmanship). In a separate experiment, CEOs whose egos were primed—by reflecting on the assertive leadership styles of Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison—showed significantly greater opposition to working from home than a control group”Andy Jassy - Now we know EXACTLY when you're wasting our time peeing in a bottle instead of working: Amazon is on a mission to optimize warehouse work. Its latest test puts wearable devices on support staff.Nikesh Arora - If you just said, “Who?”, you better pay attention because I have important things to say: Palo Alto Networks CEO: We're in 'a Darwinian moment' where employees have to prove their AI skills - BRONZE ASSHOLESatya Nadella - If I complain about how everyone TALKS about AI, does that make me sound more sympathetic?: Microsoft's CEO Takes Aim At AI Companies: 'We Have To Walk The Walk' To Convince The Public - GOLDEN ASSHOLEJeff Bezos - I mean, if I'm honest, everyone is terrible and should be laid off: Jeff Bezos Called Washington Post His Worst Investment and Staff He Laid Off ‘Terrible' People - SILVER ASSHOLEBrian Moynihan - I mean, or your kid was late to school because they forgot to make their card for teacher appreciation day, you didn't eat breakfast, and you rushed in to work from the office as fast as you could because working from home isn't allowed anymore: By 7 a.m., Bank of America's CEO has already read 5 newspapers, his email inbox, and hit the gym—he says if you're late to meetings, you're ‘selfish'Dave Ramsey - 0.0001% of Musk's worst day could end hunger ON EARTH, but sure, take away Halloween and pets from the rest of us: Dave Ramsey Says 20% of Americans' Halloween and Pet Budgets Could End Hunger: 'There'd Be No Hungry Kids'Headliniest of the WeekDR: Beloved Grandmother Was Standing in Her Own House When a Tesla, Allegedly on Autopilot, Smashed Through the Wall and Killed Her in Grandchildren's PlayroomA popular password manager was hit by a hack. What you need to know—and how to keep your data safeMM: Ryanair says it will reluctantly not charge parents to sit next to childrenMM: Elon Musk will get a billion shares of SpaceX if he can settle a million humans on MarsJust make it 10 trillion shares if he can safely land Gus who sleeps at the bus station on NeptuneWho Won the Week?DR: The MotherS(C)hIpMM: ESG RatingsPredictionsDR: Symbolically giving up your $35 billion CEO pay package becomes the new $1 salary: proxy statements will say: “Our CEO generously waived his $35 billion pay package as a gesture of sacrifice to lead by example, preserve corporate cash, and show solidarity with displaced workers and stressed stakeholders.”MM: Ryanair announces a new fee children can pay to sit AWAY from their parents

Todd Graves built a $22 billion company and approves every single social media post. Steve Jobs reviewed every ad. Elon Musk personally interviewed the first 3,000 SpaceX employees. In this episode of DarrenDaily On-Demand, Darren Hardy names the obsession principle that separates the world's most successful builders from everyone else, and exposes the delegation advice most business experts preach as a lie that reliably produces average results. Darren also lays out the two distinct paths to building something extraordinary and the one question that tells you which path is actually yours. Find the ONE HIRE your business needs next ==> https://darrenhardy.com/hire    Get more personal mentoring from Darren each day. Go to DarrenDaily at http://darrendaily.com/join  to learn more.

In today's episode, I sit down for a candid conversation about the reality of entrepreneurial freedom and why it's far different from what most people imagine. I share lessons from losing more than $100 million, rebuilding my life, and redefining success beyond money, titles, and comparisons to people like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. We discuss the difference between owning a business and owning a job, the importance of understanding your timing and risk tolerance, and why true freedom comes from aligning your life with your values. I also explain my daily non-negotiables, the power of sleep, faith, family, and consistent habits that create lasting progress over time.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 16:00:00 GMT http://relay.fm/upgrade/625 http://relay.fm/upgrade/625 Road to the Apple II: Computer Faire (Part 4) 625 Jason Snell and Myke Hurley The Apple II makes its public debut at a landmark event in the history of personal computers, and Steve Jobs truly comes into his own. The Apple II makes its public debut at a landmark event in the history of personal computers, and Steve Jobs truly comes into his own. clean 1999 Subtitle: Designed in CaliforniaThe Apple II makes its public debut at a landmark event in the history of personal computers, and Steve Jobs truly comes into his own. This episode of Upgrade is sponsored by: Designed in California on Kickstarter: If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting us! Links and Show Notes: Written by Jason Snell. Designed in California theme by Christopher Breen. Get Upgrade+. More content, no ads. Check out Upgrade merch! Submit Feedback

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 16:00:00 GMT http://relay.fm/upgrade/625 http://relay.fm/upgrade/625 Jason Snell and Myke Hurley The Apple II makes its public debut at a landmark event in the history of personal computers, and Steve Jobs truly comes into his own. The Apple II makes its public debut at a landmark event in the history of personal computers, and Steve Jobs truly comes into his own. clean 1999 Subtitle: Designed in CaliforniaThe Apple II makes its public debut at a landmark event in the history of personal computers, and Steve Jobs truly comes into his own. This episode of Upgrade is sponsored by: Designed in California on Kickstarter: If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting us! Links and Show Notes: Written by Jason Snell. Designed in California theme by Christopher Breen. Get Upgrade+. More content, no ads. Check out Upgrade merch! Submit Feedback

The clip breaks down Steve Jobs' advice to Kevin O'Leary that every 18‑hour workday really comes down to three essential tasks, the “signal,” and everything else that tries to block them is just “noise,” which must be pushed aside until those three are finished.

Original text by Guy Kawasaki, Macworld, November 1994. Who should be the next CEO of Apple? Acquire NeXT and let it be Steve Jobs, obviously. This was intended as satire but became a case of “truth is stranger than fiction” when it actually happened two years later! Gary Davidian on Michael Spindler's product visionary status. Steve Jobs: “Tim [Cook] is not a product person per se” at 2m22s. Both Canon and Ross Perot were major investors in NeXT.

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPod, he didn't say “now you can fit fifty songs on a CD instead of ten.” He said CDs are dead — and pulled a thousand songs out of his pocket. That's not a better product. That's a new category. And it's the single idea that changed my business more than almost anything else I've ever learned. Welcome back to the vault. Today I'm opening up an actual course from my mentor Dan Kennedy — the one course, out of the forty or fifty I got when I bought his company, that radically changed my life. It's called Opportunity Concepts, and it taught me the difference between three kinds of offers… and why the one almost nobody leads with is the one that out-converts everything else. I'll show you exactly how I used it to launch ClickFunnels, and how to weave it into your own value ladder. Key Highlights: ◼️The three offer types — “Repair, Improvement, and New Opportunity” — and why 95% of businesses stay stuck competing on the weakest two ◼️The “-er” test — if you can only describe your offer with a word ending in -er (“faster,” “better,” “cheaper”), you're selling an improvement… and improvements always lose to new opportunities ◼️How I positioned ClickFunnels as a “new opportunity” — not a better MailChimp or Infusionsoft, but a brand-new thing called a sales funnel — to become a “category of one” ◼️The Steve Jobs move — why “CDs are dead, here's an iPod” beats “fit more songs on a CD” every single time, and how to run the same play on what you already sell ◼️The value-ladder twist — where new opportunity, improvement, and repair each belong in your funnel (lead with the new opportunity, sell the other two higher up) Here's what I want you to sit with: most people spend their whole careers trying to be a slightly better version of everyone else — faster, cheaper, smarter — and then wonder why it's so hard to stand out. The shift isn't building a better mousetrap. It's deciding you're not in the mousetrap business at all. Dan Kennedy charged $1,500 for this one idea, and I bought his entire company to own it, because it's worth every penny. So before your next launch, ask yourself the only question that really moves the needle: what's the new opportunity only you can offer — and what would it take to become the category of one? ◼️SELLING OPPORTUNITY: This whole episode comes from a $1,500 Dan Kennedy course Russell bought an entire company to own — now rebuilt as a multimedia book you can read, scan, and watch Dan teach. If you want to position your offer as a new opportunity instead of a “better” version of everyone else, this is the playbook. → https://www.SellingOpportunity.com ◼️If you've got a product, offer, service… or idea… I'll show you how to sell it (the RIGHT way) Register for my next event → https://sellingonline.com/podcast ◼️Still don't have a funnel? ClickFunnels gives you the exact tools (and templates) to launch TODAY → https://clickfunnels.com/podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10 NLT) Benjamin Franklin wrote, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Many people have devised strategies to avoid the second. No one has yet devised a strategy for avoiding the first—and no one ever will. The Bible is very clear about the fact that there will come a time for every person when life on earth will end. The author of Ecclesiastes wrote, “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest” (Ecclesiastes 3:1–2 NLT). The author of Hebrews wrote, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27 NKJV). Most people assume (or, at least, hope) that their appointed time will come after a long life here on earth. But the Bible makes no such promises. For some people, the time to die comes much sooner than expected. For others, it comes much later. Statisticians have estimated that two people die every second. One hundred and twenty people die every minute. Over seven thousand people die every hour. That’s why the words of the psalmist still resonate: “Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10 NLT). A historical legend tells us that Philip II of Macedon commanded his servant to stand in his presence every day and repeat something like, “Remember Philip, one day you will die.” The ruler wanted to be reminded of his mortality. When Steve Jobs gave a commencement speech at Stanford University, he said, “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it.” Death is the great equalizer. It’s no respecter of persons. It comes to everyone. And that reality is what gives our Harvest Crusade its urgency and importance every year. People need to hear about the life beyond this one before this one ends. According to the Bible, after death there are two destinations. Every person decides now—not later, not after death—which destination it will be. Every person decides where they will spend eternity. Those two options are Heaven or Hell. The apostle Paul wrote, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 NLT). That’s how you decide to go to Heaven—to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. To do anything else is to choose to go to Hell. This is our urgent message. Two people who were alive just one second ago won’t have a chance to hear it again. Reflection question: What causes you to feel a sense of urgency about sharing your faith? Harvest Crusade tickets are fully claimed—but it’s not too late to participate and witness what God does on July 11. Invite your loved ones to watch online with you and make sure you join the waitlist in case more tickets become available. — The audio production of the podcast "Greg Laurie: Daily Devotions" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known." All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest Partner Support the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Could answering 5 simple questions really change the entire trajectory of your life? For people like Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, and Mother Teresa, it did. So if these questions are good enough for them, why can't we benefit from them... Enjoy.

David Senra: Read the notes at at podcastnotes.org. Don't forget to subscribe for free to our newsletter, the top 10 ideas of the week, every Monday --------- Ed Catmull is the co-founder of Pixar and the former president of Disney Animation. He grew up in 1950s Utah wanting to animate for Disney. Convinced he couldn't draw well enough, he studied physics and computer science at the University of Utah instead, landing in one of the great talent incubators in computing history. In 1972, he animated his own left hand—one of the first 3D computer renderings ever made. Since childhood he had carried a single ambition: to make the first feature film animated entirely by computer. Reaching it took more than 20 years. George Lucas hired Catmull in 1979 to build a computer division at Lucasfilm. When Lucas needed cash, Steve Jobs bought that division in 1986 for $5 million and spun it out as Pixar. For years it sold imaging computers and lost money while Catmull and John Lasseter made short films to keep the dream alive. Jobs sank roughly $50 million of his own money into it. In 1995, Pixar released Toy Story, the first feature animated entirely by computer, and went public days later. Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, WALL-E, and Up followed. Disney bought Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion and put Catmull in charge of both studios; he revived a faltering Disney Animation with films like Frozen. Catmull cared about the conditions that let creative work survive its own fragility. Every original idea, he argues, starts out ugly and broken, and management exists to protect it long enough to get good. At Pixar that meant the Braintrust: a room where directors got blunt feedback with no authority attached and the conversation stayed on the problem, never on who was right. He laid it all out in Creativity, Inc. Show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/ed-catmull Made possible by Ramp: ⁠https://ramp.com AppLovin: https://axon.ai/senra Deel: https://deel.com/senra Chapters (00:00:00) Most Companies Are Full Of Shit (00:04:28) The Brain Trust Mechanism (00:10:13) Why Steve Jobs Was Banned From The Braintrust (00:17:48) Your Job Is To Manage The Dynamics (00:23:27) Betting The Company On Toy Story (00:24:35) Engineering Eisner's Worst Nightmare (00:36:51) Bob Iger's Crappy Hand (00:38:44) Why Disney Never Asked What Pixar Was Doing (00:43:48) Take The Hard Problem (00:44:38) The Director Can't Lose The Team (00:48:48) Quality Is The Best Business Plan (00:52:32) What Walt Disney Taught Him (00:59:25) George Lucas And The Motion Blur Problem (01:08:48) Now What's The Point Of My Life (01:13:31) How Much Of This Was Me (01:16:10) George Lucas Wanted The Whole Industry Healthy (01:25:11) Refusing To Let Anyone Feel Second Class (01:32:38) The Truck In The Building Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Senra Intro Check out the episode pageRead the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgEd Catmull is the co-founder of Pixar and the former president of Disney Animation. He grew up in 1950s Utah wanting to animate for Disney. Convinced he couldn't draw well enough, he studied physics and computer science at the University of Utah instead, landing in one of the great talent incubators in computing history. In 1972, he animated his own left hand—one of the first 3D computer renderings ever made. Since childhood he had carried a single ambition: to make the first feature film animated entirely by computer. Reaching it took more than 20 years. George Lucas hired Catmull in 1979 to build a computer division at Lucasfilm. When Lucas needed cash, Steve Jobs bought that division in 1986 for $5 million and spun it out as Pixar. For years it sold imaging computers and lost money while Catmull and John Lasseter made short films to keep the dream alive. Jobs sank roughly $50 million of his own money into it. In 1995, Pixar released Toy Story, the first feature animated entirely by computer, and went public days later. Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, WALL-E, and Up followed. Disney bought Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion and put Catmull in charge of both studios; he revived a faltering Disney Animation with films like Frozen. Catmull cared about the conditions that let creative work survive its own fragility. Every original idea, he argues, starts out ugly and broken, and management exists to protect it long enough to get good. At Pixar that meant the Braintrust: a room where directors got blunt feedback with no authority attached and the conversation stayed on the problem, never on who was right. He laid it all out in Creativity, Inc. Show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/ed-catmull Made possible by Ramp: ⁠https://ramp.com AppLovin: https://axon.ai/senra Deel: https://deel.com/senra Chapters (00:00:00) Most Companies Are Full Of Shit (00:04:28) The Brain Trust Mechanism (00:10:13) Why Steve Jobs Was Banned From The Braintrust (00:17:48) Your Job Is To Manage The Dynamics (00:23:27) Betting The Company On Toy Story (00:24:35) Engineering Eisner's Worst Nightmare (00:36:51) Bob Iger's Crappy Hand (00:38:44) Why Disney Never Asked What Pixar Was Doing (00:43:48) Take The Hard Problem (00:44:38) The Director Can't Lose The Team (00:48:48) Quality Is The Best Business Plan (00:52:32) What Walt Disney Taught Him (00:59:25) George Lucas And The Motion Blur Problem (01:08:48) Now What's The Point Of My Life (01:13:31) How Much Of This Was Me (01:16:10) George Lucas Wanted The Whole Industry Healthy (01:25:11) Refusing To Let Anyone Feel Second Class (01:32:38) The Truck In The Building Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You work hard to make good decisions.You gather the data. Review the strategy. Listen to the experts.And yet sometimes something still feels off.The numbers say yes.The process says yes.The presentation is flawless.But your gut says no.That's because the leadership skill that matters most in an AI-powered world isn't another framework, productivity system, or communication technique.It's taste.Not aesthetic taste.Discernment.The ability to recognize what is genuinely excellent versus what is merely competent.The ability to see what will compound over time versus what simply looks good today.And in a world where AI can generate competent everything, that distinction may become the most valuable leadership asset you possess.In this episode, Fernanda explores why taste is actually a neurological capacity, how it's built through genuine encounters with excellence, and why leaders who develop discernment will hold an advantage that no technology can replicate. If you've ever found yourself: Feeling that something is wrong before you can explain why  Struggling to separate quality from noise  Wondering what human advantage remains in the AI era  Craving deeper thinking in a culture obsessed with speed  Making decisions that require judgment beyond data This episode will change how you think about leadership development.What You'll Learn Why taste is not preference, talent, or opinion  The leadership lesson Steve Jobs understood better than most executives  Why AI makes discernment more valuable, not less  How the brain develops taste through long-range neural connectivity  The surprising connection between novels, music, art, and executive judgment  Why expertise and taste are not the same thing  The neuroscience behind aesthetic judgment and leadership discernment  How passive consumption weakens your ability to recognize excellence  A practical way to begin building taste immediately  Why judgment, not skills, may become the defining leadership advantage of the next decadeYour Next Steps:Watch the Free MasterclassIf success still feels heavier than it should… this masterclass will help you understand why.Watch The Rewired Method™ in action How we help women executives end burnout and build sustainable success in less than 90 days...I recorded a step-by-step training for you here: The Sustainable Success Plan for Executive Women LeadersExplore The Rewired Woman™https://therewiredwoman.com/Follow on InstagramConnect on LinkedInCorporate Partnerships & Leadership Programshttps://rewiredglobal.com/corporates/

Most people walking confidently through a room are quietly hoping someone else will start the conversation first. In this episode of DarrenDaily On-Demand, Darren Hardy reveals that many of the most successful leaders in the world, including Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Jim Rohn, are naturally introverted. The difference between those who light up a room and those who don't often comes down to one small move. Darren also shares what changed for him after testing this approach all day for several days, and why the people who seem most unapproachable are often the most relieved when you make the first move. Download the free Missing Multiplier Diagnostic at http://DarrenHardy.com/hire  Get more personal mentoring from Darren each day. Go to DarrenDaily at http://darrendaily.com/join to learn more.

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:00:00 GMT http://relay.fm/upgrade/623 http://relay.fm/upgrade/623 Road to the Apple II: A Complete Computer (Part 3) 623 Jason Snell and Myke Hurley Under the watchful eye of Steve Jobs, the Apple II takes form at last. It's an integrated color computer created by Steve Wozniak, powered by a groundbreaking power supply designed by Rod Holt, and wrapped in a plastic shell designed by Jerry Manock. Under the watchful eye of Steve Jobs, the Apple II takes form at last. It's an integrated color computer created by Steve Wozniak, powered by a groundbreaking power supply designed by Rod Holt, and wrapped in a plastic shell designed by Jerry Manock. clean 2163 Subtitle: Designed in CaliforniaUnder the watchful eye of Steve Jobs, the Apple II takes form at last. It's an integrated color computer created by Steve Wozniak, powered by a groundbreaking power supply designed by Rod Holt, and wrapped in a plastic shell designed by Jerry Manock. This episode of Upgrade is sponsored by: Designed in California on Kickstarter: If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting us! Links and Show Notes: Written by Jason Snell. Designed in California theme by Christopher Breen. Key sources: Infinite Loop (1999) by Michael S. Malone Apple: The First 50 Years (2026) by David Pogue (Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books) Steve Jobs (2011) by Walter Isaacson (Amazon, Used) Get Upgrade+. More content, no ads. Check out Upgrade merch! Submit Feedback

Artificial intelligence is changing business faster than most people realize. In this episode, Peter Swain shares what he's learned from working with companies like Apple and Google, challenging Steve Jobs in a meeting that changed his career, and helping entrepreneurs understand how AI, automation, and emerging technology are reshaping the future of business. Peter has spent decades building software, consulting with major organizations, and helping companies navigate some of the biggest technology shifts of our time. Today, he believes AI represents an even bigger opportunity than the internet itself. In this episode, Peter joins Chris Cameron and Dante Torelli to discuss what most people still don't understand about AI, why entrepreneurs have more leverage today than ever before, and how the next generation of businesses will be built. You'll learn: • Why AI is much bigger than most people realize  • The story of how Peter challenged Steve Jobs—and what happened next  • Why Apple and Google trusted him with high-level projects  • How AI agents are already replacing entire workflows  • Why Peter believes we'll see one-person billion-dollar companies  • The future of jobs, careers, and entrepreneurship  • How business owners should think about AI right now  • The difference between using AI as a tool and building an AI-first business  • Why curiosity and adaptability matter more than technical expertise  • How to create leverage in your business using artificial intelligence Peter also shares lessons from decades of consulting, software development, innovation, and working alongside some of the world's most influential technology leaders. Whether you're a business owner, entrepreneur, marketer, consultant, creator, executive, or simply trying to understand where technology is heading, this conversation offers a practical look at the opportunities—and risks—created by the AI revolution. One of Peter's biggest takeaways: "There is never going to be a greater change in your life than this." If you're trying to understand what AI means for your future, your business, and your career, this episode is a must-watch. Guest: Peter Swain Subscribe for more conversations with entrepreneurs, innovators, marketers, creators, and ClickFunnels users building extraordinary businesses.

https://youtu.be/xkCGHOYkdC0 Grant McKinstrie, CEO of Digital Position, is passionate about helping eCommerce brands grow by combining customer insights, data-driven marketing, and emerging technology. With more than two decades of experience in digital marketing, Grant has built a team that helps brands increase revenue through SEO, paid media, conversion optimization, and customer-focused growth strategies. We explore Grant’s DP Growth System: Ask AI where consumers congregate, Immerse yourself in their communities, Create content they crave, Engage them on Reddit and Quora, Have influencers create videos, and Turn craved content into ads. Grant explains why understanding customer conversations is more valuable than relying on assumptions, how online communities reveal unmet needs and buying signals, and how businesses can transform those insights into content, influencer partnerships, and advertising campaigns that drive measurable growth. He also shares how AI is changing marketing, the challenges of scaling an agency, and why innovation remains one of the most important drivers of long-term business success. — Build Yourself a Growth System with Grant McKinstrie  Good day. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast, and today my guest is Grant McKinstrie, the CEO of Digital Position, a full-stack agency that builds a growth system for e-commerce brands. Grant, welcome to the show.  Thank you so much for having me. Good to be here.  Well, it’s great to have you here. And I’d like to start by asking you: What is your personal ‘Why’, and what are you doing to manifest it at Digital Position?  Well, specifically when we think about the eCommerce space, there’s so much crap being sold out there. And also, in terms of what AI has done to the industry, it has allowed a lot of people to start a lot of different businesses, sell a lot of stuff, do a lot of dropshipping, and all these different things. It’s about trying to find the gems. It’s about finding the good people to work with and the businesses that are worth growing at the end of the day. There’s so much good stuff out there that gets pushed down because either they haven’t worked with a good agency or they just don’t know how to market themselves well enough.  And I think the drive behind trying to find those people who are genuinely nice to work with and brands that are absolutely worth promoting and bringing out into the world is awesome and very rewarding. Being able to do that is incredibly fulfilling. That’s not to say that we’re perfect in every way, shape, or form. And it’s not like every single business we work with is perfect either. We do what we can. But all in all, I want to be able to help market products, people, and businesses that are absolutely worth getting out into the world and getting more people to know about.  Yeah. That’s so interesting that you say that because I had a client in this space where you are, and they were a little conflicted because some of the brands they represented, they were not really proud of. And I think it really impacted their culture in turn. They felt that they were not operating with integrity with all of their clients, and that created internal friction. And it kind of held them back to some degree. So that’s fascinating that you talk about this. And I also noted on your website that your average client tenure is over four years, which I think bears testament to this. Yeah. In a large majority of cases, I mean, we’ve had certain clients for six years and, in some cases, even eight years. So when you have tenures like that, they certainly last a long time. And sometimes it just doesn’t work, and we’re also very willing to openly admit that. I don’t want anyone to think, “Oh, if we sign up with you, it’s four years, and then we’re just constantly paying you for, I don’t know, whatever reason it might be.” But genuinely, we’re here to see how we can legitimately grow the business and actually bring you profit dollars that you weren’t seeing otherwise.  Because so many businesses that we come across are just not able to allocate their marketing spend efficiently. And they’re just… I don’t know. Not to get too much into the nitty-gritty of things, but in a general sense, 95% of the businesses we talk to are essentially burning money. And in most cases, they’re being worked through an agency churn-and-burn system. And it hurts to see. Literally, I had a pitch two hours ago before this call where every single platform they were on was just burning money. They were trying to remarket to people who already knew about the brand and spending money on people who already knew about them and were already going to purchase from them.  And the agency was trying to tell them, “Hey, all of our metrics are great.” But the business is suffering because of it. It happens all the time. It generally results in tough conversations for us because agencies have such a bad reputation. And we’re always trying to pick up the pieces and revitalize that relationship. Which has its highs and lows in many ways. But we’re out here doing the best we can. Okay, so that’s a great segue because this podcast is all about frameworks—how to do something that maybe other entrepreneurs are trying to do, don’t know how to do, but you figured out. So do you have some kind of framework? Maybe it’s about getting an eCommerce company up and running on advertising and advertising profitably. Maybe it’s some other area in your business that is easy to explain in three to five steps. Does anything come to mind?  The biggest thing that we have realized lately is what we have deemed community engagement. One, because of AI, you can scrape information so easily across the internet, and you can get fed so much crap that AI is just going to automatically generate for you. But what really matters at the end of the day is: who is your audience, where the heck do they hang out, and what are they talking about?  So we are constantly looking to inject ourselves into Reddit threads, Facebook threads, YouTube comments, Quora—wherever those people possibly are. Get into the subreddits. Get into those Facebook communities. Get into the comments of influencers or whoever is relevant within that space, and talk to them. See what they’re talking about within those threads. Engage with them. Have a conversation so that you can understand what actually makes this person tick. What do they truly care about? What do they call things? What are they talking about on a daily basis?  So that when you start creating content that resonates with those people, you know exactly how to connect with them. Because, as I mentioned earlier, so many people are creating commoditized products and content because of AI, because it’s making it that much easier to do. Nobody is truly trying to connect with the consumer at the end of the day. And therefore, you’re going to have so many people who become numb to anything being thrown in their face unless they actually feel like they’re being spoken to.  So the biggest thing is to get to know the person on the other side of the screen. Go to where they hang out. Go to where they’re engaging. And listen to them. I think a lot of people forget that and want to go straight into data, metrics, spreadsheets, and all this stuff. When there is a human-to-human interaction happening within marketing every single day. And that is what you need to continue to focus on. Okay, so maybe that’s the beginning of the framework. So get to know the person—or the customer—or both.  Yeah. And it sounds really simple. It’s funny, when you put it that way, it’s just: listen to the person you’re trying to sell to. But it’s incredible how infrequently that actually happens. Because a lot of people will talk about, “My product is the best. My product is so good because it does this cool little thing that nobody else does.” But who really cares unless it’s actually solving a problem that somebody has? And unless they’re able to understand exactly how it’s going to make them feel in that moment when that problem is solved or how it connects to their core persona or whatever it might be. It’s a very simple framework. But it is the most important thing that a lot of people tend to neglect.  No, I love it. I love it. So what does the actual framework look like? I understand you go to Reddit, you go to Quora, and you listen. But what is the process? How do you even know which part of Reddit you should go to, what you should listen to, and who the customers are? Give me the rundown. What do you do when a new customer walks through the door and you want to figure out how to make them successful?  Yeah, of course. So I think Reddit is just the easiest example. I think it’s what a lot of people are familiar with, but it also provides value because it’s related to all the LLMs and what they like to cite as sources as well. Funny enough, one of the best ways to start is if you have a brand, a service, or something that you’re looking to build. Feed that into AI—Claude, ChatGPT, whatever works for you—and have it help you understand: “Hey, what subreddits should I be participating in?” If I want to sell vegetable seeds, for example—and that’s an example from a client we’ve worked with—or if I want to get more into gardening, where should I go?  It will point you to gardening, DIY gardening, seasonal gardening, and all these different places that have communities of people who are very specific when it comes to anything you want to know about gardening. Then you jump in there and see people talking about: “When should I start planting my tomatoes?” Or: “When should I do any transplanting?” Or: “How do I need to handle my watering schedule?” And then you have layers and layers of threads, topics, and information that you can gather from. People are giving it to you for free and telling you exactly how they handle those things.  And that turns into content. That turns into ways for you to engage with those people. It turns into ads because if you’re able to understand what their pain point is, then you can make an ad out of that. At the same time, you can pull a lot of that information using AI. But the biggest impact still comes from truly engaging with those people. So you said that when you figure out what those communities are talking about in their Quora or Reddit communities, then you can engage with them. You can create content, you can create ads, and you can engage. And I’m just wondering, are there other forms of engaging with customers other than through content and ads? Good question. So yeah, that’s the main part. You can directly comment within those Reddit threads, or you can start creating your own content within those Reddit communities. If you start to see a trend of multiple people asking, “How do I start planting my tomato seeds?” Or, “Where do I even start with this?” Then you can create an entire guide on your website. Build a blog post around it. Or you can get together with an influencer who’s able to make a video around it and show the entire process through a visual element as well. So you’re not just doing written content, but video too. And then you can even run ads around that.  Because one of the biggest things, for example, with this brand that I’m kind of alluding to, is that every single ad and every single piece of content they were putting out beforehand was very disconnected from the true gardener at the end of the day, or the true DIY gardener. Because everything they showed was a picture of this beautiful, perfect pepper or tomato that nobody ever experiences unless you’re operating a commercialized system with all of the technology they have access to. But somebody in their backyard is not going to have a perfectly round tomato or a perfectly formed pepper. And therefore, no one knows how to get there. So you have to show them the step-by-step process.  What soil do you need to buy? What seeds should you buy? And then you become part of that system because: “Oh, I need to buy seeds. Okay, I’m going to go to this company and buy seeds from them.” And they also helped me throughout this entire process by becoming the subject matter expert on what to do with tomato seeds. It becomes this kind of system that you naturally inject yourself into as you create content that connects with that person. Because the biggest thing was recognizing that all of the content they were putting out beforehand made people think: “Well, my food is never going to look like that if I plant it in my backyard.” Yeah. “But how can I get there so that I feel a lot less stressed about even starting?” And you’re providing this entire guide for me to follow so that I can become a better DIY gardener.  Yeah. I love it. It’s a great approach to basically figure out where to go, talk to the people, and then communicate with them and create helpful guides for them. And the influencer video—that’s also very clever. So that’s how you help drive growth for your clients. But how do you drive growth in your own business?  Yeah, good question. Funny enough, man, it is so much harder to do it for yourself when you are so focused on other people. Reflecting inward is always tough. But what we have recognized lately is that you have to have a good freaking offer. Because so many agencies in this space say the same stuff. I sat on Instagram for two hours one day and rifled through every single ad from marketing agencies in the space.  And everybody says the same thing: “You’re doing your ads wrong.” Or: “You have no idea what’s happening with your attribution.” Or: “Google Ads is making you lose money.” Or: “Meta Ads sucks.” And all these different things. And everyone is saying: “You should let us do a free audit for you.” Or: “Come talk to us and we’ll help show you what’s wrong.” It’s like, okay, there’s a pretty big gap there. I have to spend all this time talking to you just to figure out whether you’re a legitimate business and whether you’re actually going to solve my problem. And you’re not really offering anything other than: “Hey, let’s sit down and talk about it.” When everybody else is doing the exact same thing. So the offer across the industry is generally weak.  There are a few agencies that have well-built offers. What we personally figured out through A/B testing is that we don’t even try to lead with the marketing conversation. Because in some cases, businesses find it difficult to admit: “Hey, our marketing sucks.” Or: “Marketing is our problem.” But a lot of people can identify whether their website sucks. They can look at it and say it’s old or that it’s not converting well. It’s generally easier for people to make that connection than the marketing connection.  So we’ve built an offer around A/B testing. For just about any eCommerce business doing over $1 million in annual revenue, we’d love to do a free A/B test for them. We will build a landing page of their choosing. It could be their homepage. It could be a product page. It could be whatever. We will create a mock-up ourselves and come to the call with it. We’ll show them our version alongside theirs. They can decide whether it seems better or not. And if they want to move forward, we’ll implement it on their site for free. Then we’ll run an A/B test until we reach statistical significance and can determine whether our page or their page performs better.  Either way, there’s no cost to them. We just want to show that we’re capable of providing value. We want to demonstrate that we can create something better than what they currently have. If it works out, awesome. Let’s continue the conversation. If not, no harm, no foul. We weren’t able to improve it for them, and it doesn’t make sense to continue the conversation.  Yeah. That is impressive. So you’re actually building a competing site, and you show them that you could do a better job than they are, essentially. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And it’s… I don’t know. There’s somebody that I interact with who always says, “There are no sacred cows. There’s no ego in all of this.” It’s just, “We genuinely want to show that we can provide value in any way, shape, or form here.” It has garnered a lot of interest because it’s low friction. It’s, “Hey, at the very least, when we come to the call, we are going to show you something, and hopefully you like it.” And 100% of the time we’ve done this, everybody has loved it.  So it’s been a great source of driving more leads, more conversations, and more at-bats for the business. Simply by having an offer that people want to see value from, as opposed to: “Hey, we’re going to do an audit. There’s going to be a long turnaround time. Then we have to figure out the next steps. Then there’s going to be this big price tag,” or whatever it is. Whereas we’re just going to do something for you for free. If it works, great. If not, you didn’t lose any sleep over it.  Yeah. Love it. That’s pretty cool. And I think what’s really cool about it is that you do it without disrupting their existing business. Exactly. So they don’t feel like, “Okay, maybe it’s at no cost to me. Maybe it’s a marketing thing.” But at the same time, if you’re interfering with my customers, that’s actually a negative. Because it can create damage. That’s my reservation about people who offer to drive business for me. Yeah. But then they want to use my LinkedIn profile, and they can spoil my reputation online. And I’m never going to allow it. Because it interferes with my business. So I love that you found a way around that. That’s pretty cool.  Absolutely. Yeah, and we’re hoping that it just continues to grow. Fortunately, AI has allowed us to move a lot faster with this because I think that historically would have been a major holdup. Mocking up a page is not a very easy task. But because we’re able to understand the business and generate something relatively quickly through our experience and understanding of how a page should be structured, it works out really well. Yeah. Love it. So switching gears here, let me ask you this: What is something that you’re actively trying to figure out in your business?  Ooh, boy. Scale. I think the ability to scale something like this is where I’m trying to figure out what is going to break next. Historically, we’ve struggled to figure out things like: “Oh, we need a really good offer to drive cold outbound leads.” We have historically been a referral-only business. And while that’s worked, it certainly isn’t as sustainable long term as building a proper, predictable cold outbound system.  Now that we have something that is starting to work, and we’re seeing more leads come in, the question becomes: How do we scale this without the business breaking if we suddenly see a significant increase in leads? Because realistically, in the past, it’s been rare that we’ve had so many leads in the pipeline that we didn’t know how to handle them. But we’ve also recognized that the type of service we provide is elevated. We consider ourselves a boutique service. We know we’re not the cheapest in the market. But what we do know is that we can absolutely drive additional profit dollars to your business. Because we’re looking at the full marketing picture.  We’re not just focusing on PPC. We’re not just focusing on SEO. We’re not just focusing on organic social. We’re looking at how all of those things work together. And then we’re looking at the business as a whole and trying to drive an actual P&L impact. Not just say: “Oh, ROAS in Google Ads is good, so everything must be great.” No. That’s not always the case. As I mentioned earlier, that can happen while you’re still burning money because you’re simply retargeting people who already know about your business.  So the goal is understanding that we provide an elevated service and finding the right talent to help deliver it. So that as we continue to scale, we’re able to maintain the level of service that we know we’re capable of providing. And making sure that the people leading those client conversations are able to deliver on that promise every single time as well. Hopefully that answers the question, for the most part.  So if you have the deals coming through, the cold outreach is working, and your offer is working, is it just a question of finding the talent, or are there other things that could break?  Yeah. I think it’s hiring and talent for sure. And then the other piece is continuing to maintain the operational speed behind it as well. Because expectations in the industry are changing dramatically. We went from bi-monthly reporting to weekly reporting, and now people want to know how things are moving every single day. AI has sped things up to the point where people’s expectations are changing at a rate that we need to keep up with. And that is certainly one of the more difficult things to navigate.  Especially when there are 30 to 1,000 new AI tools coming out every single day. Then you need to figure out: “What’s the best one that I’m going to be able to utilize long term, instead of just dumping it and moving to a new one next week?” So yeah, the operational piece has been very interesting over the past couple of years. It went from everybody using ChatGPT, to all of these different AI transcription tools. We moved into Notion. Now we’re using Vector, which is popping off right now. Claude has obviously made a lot of strides as well. And it’s about figuring out how we continue to pivot across all of these different tools. And I’m barely scratching the surface with those examples.  We also have to make sure that the entire team is able to adapt to these changes over time. Because for so long, you could stick with a single tech stack and a handful of tools for years, and not much would change. But now, because of AI, things are adapting, changing, and improving incredibly quickly. And the expectations of the client are moving just as fast. So you need to be able to keep up with that. I’ve always wondered about this thing that Steve Jobs said: The two primary functions of a business are marketing and innovation. And you are doing one of the two primary parts of the business. You could even argue that marketing is innovation as well. So the two things converge. How is it possible for an agency to innovate for multiple clients on a continual basis?  Yeah. That just comes down to trusting the team and having the right people in the right place. And that’s why I think hiring is one of the biggest things that we need to focus on. Because AI has raised the floor for so many people. But it has also really shined a light on the people who are able to work alongside it efficiently, speed up their processes, and use their experience to make decisions really fast. It is more powerful than ever to have a creative mindset and the experience of seeing how things impact multiple different clients. And to understand how you can shift strategy at any point in time. It also requires having that childlike curiosity mindset.  Being willing not to accept everything as fact. Being willing to pivot at any point in time. It’s truly about making sure that the people around you are willing to adapt and accept that they are not going to be right all the time. But they’re willing to keep trying, keep learning, and keep figuring out what the next step is. And not fall into complacency. Because if you do, AI has probably already rocked your world at this point. So the biggest thing is having people around you, a support system, procedures, and training that allow that to happen naturally. And trusting that they will be able to follow that and see the vision—or at least try.  That’s fascinating. If there’s a company trying to figure out what to do, how to make sense of all these different platforms, SEO moving to GEO, AI, Reddit, Quora, rising advertising costs, TikTok, and all these other platforms coming online—and their head is spinning—what do you recommend they do? How do they select an agency? Of course, they should go to you. But how should they select an agency? What criteria should they use to select someone, whether that’s you or somebody else?  Yeah. I mean, really, it just comes down to being growth-minded. And maybe I’m not fully understanding the question, but if you have any passion or drive to grow what you’re doing, you need to surround yourself with people who are constantly looking to push the envelope. Whether that be an agency or an in-house team. And in some cases, it might not make sense for you to have an agency. That really depends on your brand guidelines and how closely you hold them to your chest. Because sometimes bringing in an outside agency can be very difficult.  It takes time to get them up to speed. If you’re looking to develop your own internal style of content because you have a lot of protection around the brand, then building that internally is going to make a heck of a lot more sense. Because they’re constantly going to be able to talk in your language. As opposed to an agency that wants to be an arm of your business, but at the end of the day, it’s difficult for that to always be the case. We try to live and breathe that as much as we can, but we also understand there are limitations. So I would say if you are a brand with extremely tight brand guidelines, then you need to train internally and make sure that is built into the culture and into the marketing team.  Otherwise, everything you put out from that point forward is going to be disjointed from what the brand actually means or is trying to stand for. Therefore, you need to have that in-house and you need more control over it. Otherwise, if you understand that other people have great ideas, and you want to leverage that, and you appreciate that they’re looking at hundreds, if not thousands, of brands and seeing how they succeed in the market, then an agency can be a beautiful way to go. And it’s generally more cost-effective in most cases. You’re going to have an agency with maybe three to five people—sometimes even more—overseeing your account.  And in many cases, that’s for the same cost as a single internal employee. So being able to leverage the minds of five different people with five different viewpoints of the world, and five different pairs of eyes looking at your website, versus just one… In my opinion, you’re going to win every time. Assuming you have the right team behind you. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. So essentially, you’re outsourcing your marketing function to an expert team. This is all they do. And they’re held to a high standard because they work with a lot of companies in a fast-moving environment. It’s similar to having an internal attorney versus using a law firm with high-flying attorneys who operate at the cutting edge. You can never really replicate that cutting-edge environment, which helps nurture those people on the other side. Yeah. Love it. So if you’re listening to this and you want to take your marketing to the next level, and you want an expert team at your service to figure out how to grow your brand across multiple channels—content, advertising, customer engagement, and all that stuff—then reach out to Grant. But where can they find you, Grant?  You can reach out to us through digitalposition.com. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. I’m happy to chat with anybody. I’m more than happy to share anything I’ve learned along the way, whether you’re another agency, a brand, or whatever it might be. I firmly hold the belief that there is a massive sea of people out there to reach. And I’m happy to share any learnings that I’ve had. Because, boy, there’s so much to digest in this world, and I’m happy to share whatever I know. But yeah, digitalposition.com for anyone who would possibly want to work with us or chat. Otherwise, I’m on LinkedIn and happy to connect there as well.  Well, Grant McKinstrie, CEO of Digital Position, a full-stack agency that builds growth systems for eCommerce brands. Thanks for coming and sharing your experience and your view of the world. And if you enjoyed listening, make sure you follow us on YouTube and Apple Podcasts because every week I come with an exciting entrepreneur who is sharing the best of what they know. So thanks for coming, Grant, and thanks for listening.  Thank you so much for having me. Important Links: Grant’s LinkedIn Grant’s website

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:00:00 GMT http://relay.fm/upgrade/623 http://relay.fm/upgrade/623 Jason Snell and Myke Hurley Under the watchful eye of Steve Jobs, the Apple II takes form at last. It's an integrated color computer created by Steve Wozniak, powered by a groundbreaking power supply designed by Rod Holt, and wrapped in a plastic shell designed by Jerry Manock. Under the watchful eye of Steve Jobs, the Apple II takes form at last. It's an integrated color computer created by Steve Wozniak, powered by a groundbreaking power supply designed by Rod Holt, and wrapped in a plastic shell designed by Jerry Manock. clean 2163 Subtitle: Designed in CaliforniaUnder the watchful eye of Steve Jobs, the Apple II takes form at last. It's an integrated color computer created by Steve Wozniak, powered by a groundbreaking power supply designed by Rod Holt, and wrapped in a plastic shell designed by Jerry Manock. This episode of Upgrade is sponsored by: Designed in California on Kickstarter: If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting us! Links and Show Notes: Written by Jason Snell. Designed in California theme by Christopher Breen. Key sources: Infinite Loop (1999) by Michael S. Malone Apple: The First 50 Years (2026) by David Pogue (Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books) Steve Jobs (2011) by Walter Isaacson (Amazon, Used) Get Upgrade+. More content, no ads. Check out Upgrade merch! Submit Feedback

In this episode, Lisette Zounon explores an often-overlooked leadership tool: strategic darkness. Far from being about loneliness or isolation, it's a purposeful technique to foster innovation, clarity, and problem-solving by intentionally withdrawing from noise and distraction. Discover how leaders and creators can harness silence to elevate their thinking, decision-making, and creativity.In this episode:The true meaning of strategic darkness and how it differs from isolationThe science behind silence and how it promotes deep thinking and pattern recognitionPersonal stories of retreats, hotel stays, and other strategies to implement strategic darknessHow top leaders like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and monks utilize silence for innovationPractical steps to create your own strategic darkness routineThe surprising connection between fasting and enhanced mental clarityTips on how to protect your thinking time amidst constant distractionThe importance of staying with a problem longer for meaningful solutionsThe myth of leadership as nonstop activity and the emphasis on deliberate retreat

Today, we're joined by Tony Fadell, the inventor of the iPod and co-inventor of the iPhone. Tony is the founder of Nest (the smart thermostat acquired by Google) and the New York Times best-selling author of Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making.In this second episode, Tommy Stadlen talks to Tony about his years working alongside Steve Jobs and what he's learned about building a career, why he thinks saying "no" is the most underrated skill in product, and why giving credit away is the thing most leaders get wrong.He speaks about:what Steve Jobs was truly great at, and the one thing he was bad atthe two types of assholes, and how to tell ego from missionwhy giving credit to your team is the most joyful part of leadinghustling his way into General Magic with seven months of letters and cold callschasing heroes instead of brands early in your careerwhy the best mentors (like Bill Campbell) know people, not techthe General Magic crash at 25 that taught him to stay groundedBuilding a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING.Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

1985年被逐出蘋果後，賈伯斯陷入一段荒野歲月，他失去了權力、地位與方向，但這次流放也迫使他重塑再造。After being pushed out of Apple in 1985, Jobs entered what felt like professional wilderness. He lost power, status, and direction. Yet exile forced him into reinvention. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn

My guest today is Kareem Amin, co-founder and CEO of Clay. Clay has become one of the fastest-growing software companies of the last few years, valued at over four billion dollars. It helps companies find their best customers and reach them at scale. But this conversation is about a lot more than Clay. Kareem is one of the most original thinkers I know.  We talk about the statues he keeps at the center of how he runs Clay — truth, justice, and courage — and what those words demand of him in practice. We talk about risk, ambition, and what he learned about both on a ten-day silent meditation retreat.  I've had a lot of conversations with Kareem over the years. This is one I'll remember. Please enjoy this unique conversation with Kareem Amin. 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. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit 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 (00:02:29) Kareem Amin (00:03:07) Clay's Origin (00:10:50) Truth, Courage and Justice (00:16:09) Adulation (00:18:28) Risk, Courage & Self-Respect (00:21:14) Jony Ive & Steve Jobs (00:21:42) Role of Introspection (00:23:08) Lack to Wholeness (00:27:27) The Day Five Insight (00:29:57) Running a Startup Unusually (00:34:41) Learning from Magicians (00:36:27) Music's Role in Your Life (00:39:38) Making People Feel Something New (00:41:20) Vision in Company Building (00:44:29) Wealth & What It's Taught You (00:47:40) All Problems Are Communication Problems (00:52:14) Death Doula & Scaling (00:55:06) The Kindest Thing

On this episode of The Strategerist, Walter Isaacson, known as one of America's pre-eminent biographies joins host Andrew Kaufmann to discuss some of the world's greatest innovators: Steve Jobs. Elon Musk. Benjamin Franklin. Jennifer Doudna. Albert Einstein. Even Leonardo DaVinci. His most recent work takes a look not at a person, but at a turning point in history: The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, a small but inspiring book that analyzes the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence.

Most people think their biggest weakness is the problem. It's not. It's that they're only using half of themselves. George Washington won a war by being the world's most honest man — and its most convincing liar. Steve Jobs built the future by dreaming like a child and obsessing like an engineer. These aren't contradictions. They're the formula behind the psychology of excellence. The most powerful thing you can do isn't fix every flaw — it's finding the one opposing trait that supercharges what you're already great at. Why "cognitive entrenchment" is quietly capping your potential, even if you're highly experienced How to identify the single trait pairing that will unlock your next level Why urgency without patience isn't drive — it's just anxiety with a to-do list Stop trying to be well-rounded. Find your lethal combination. SPONSORS ☺️ ⁠⁠NOCD⁠⁠ Struggling with OCD or unrelenting intrusive thoughts, NOCD can help Book a free 15 min call ⁠⁠https://learn.nocd.com/growthmindset⁠ NEW SHOW - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How to Change the World: The History and Future of Innovation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn about the evolving story of the human species and our ideas told in chronological order. The podcast is full of fun facts, surprising stories and philosophical insights. Found on all major podcast players: Spotify - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/1Fj3eFjEoAEKF5lWQxPJyT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Apple - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-change-the-world-the-history-of-innovation/id1815282649⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HowToChangeTheWorldPodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- UPGRADE to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Premium⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠:

Meher Patel is a serial entrepreneur with exits across hospitality, healthcare, and digital media — each in a completely different industry, each built from the ground up. He founded Neon Digital, a performance-first advertising agency, and then built what very few agencies ever achieve: a SaaS platform that outgrew the agency itself. Hector AI now processes over $350 million in ad spend across Amazon and marketplace advertising, with 1,000+ users on the platform — and in under 18 months, has earned 3 global recognitions including the Amazon Ads Innovation Award, the Amazon Partner Award, and a Top 20 Global Amazon Ads Advanced Partner ranking. Today, Meher is building what he believes will become the foundational intelligence layer of the agentic ecommerce era — Hector MCP: the most advanced, context-rich, token-optimized model context protocol purpose-built for Amazon advertising, designed so that every serious AI agent, every autonomous workflow, and every future-ready brand that wants to win on Amazon will have no choice but to be powered by it.Highlight Bullets> Here's a glimpse of what you would learn…. The rapid evolution of Amazon's advertising features driven by AI technology.Limitations of current SaaS platforms for Amazon sellers and the potential of MCP (Model Context Protocol) technology.The significance of context in AI-driven advertising optimization.Challenges associated with using raw data without contextual understanding in advertising.Practical strategies for Amazon sellers to optimize their ad campaigns.The importance of documenting ad optimization processes for effective AI integration.The role of custom AI workflows in enhancing advertising strategies.The necessity of continuous refinement and learning in building effective AI agents.The decision-making process for sellers regarding whether to rent AI tools or develop their own solutions.The use of connectors like Make.com and Knit for creating automated workflows with AI integration.In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast, host Josh Hadley speaks with Meher Patel, founder of Neon Digital and Hector AI, about the future of Amazon advertising. Meher explains how AI and MCP (Model Context Protocol) technology are transforming ad optimization by providing crucial context to raw Amazon data. He emphasizes that sellers should document their ad processes, learn to communicate effectively with AI, and decide whether to build custom AI workflows or use existing tools. The key takeaway: success with AI-driven advertising requires continuous refinement and treating AI as a knowledgeable, context-aware team member.Here are the 3 action items that Josh identified from this episode:Turn your workflow into SOPs Record how you optimize campaigns, explain your decisions, and convert that into SOPs—this becomes the foundation for training AI agents. Never feed AI raw data without context Structure and enrich your Amazon data first (or use MCP-powered tools) so AI can generate accurate, actionable insights. Start small with AI automation, then scale Begin with simple rules (e.g., budget increases for winning campaigns), then gradually build more advanced, custom workflows as you learn.Timestamps:00:00:58 Introduction to the Future of Amazon AdsThe host introduces the topic: autonomous, AI-powered decision-making for Amazon advertising, moving beyond simple optimization.00:01:13 Guest Introduction: Meher PatelThe host introduces Meher Patel, detailing his entrepreneurial background, his agency Neon Digital, and his SaaS platform, Hector AI.00:02:49 The Problem with Early AI Ad ToolsDiscussion on how early AI advertising tools often failed sellers, contrasting with the positive results from newer, more advanced software.00:04:10 Prediction for Amazon AdvertisingMeher predicts Amazon will rapidly release new AI-powered features, but sellers must learn how to properly utilize this infrastructure.00:08:46 The Importance of Context in AIAI is only as good as the context it's given; without it, AI recommendations are generic and potentially harmful.00:10:04 How Smart Sellers Should Prepare for AISellers must learn to ask the right questions and feed AI the right data with the proper context to get valuable results.00:12:07 Why Raw Data Isn't EnoughUploading raw Amazon reports to an AI lacks the necessary context, leading to "garbage out" optimization strategies.00:12:42 The Role of an MCP (Model Context Protocol)An MCP provides the necessary context and data connections, acting as an intelligent layer between raw data and the AI model.00:18:57 Amazon's MCP API LimitationsAmazon's own MCP is just an API, requiring sellers to build their own infrastructure, which is inefficient and token-heavy.00:21:48 Top Strategies: Building Custom AI AgentsThe best strategy is for brands to build their own custom AI agents and workflows based on their unique strategies.00:24:32 Unlocking Custom Workflows with AI AgentsAI agent workflows allow sellers to build bespoke optimization systems, unlike one-size-fits-all SaaS platforms.00:27:10 How to Create an AI Agent WorkflowRecord your optimization process, use an LLM to create an SOP, and then build an AI agent to execute it.00:28:06 The Reality of AI ImplementationBuilding a reliable AI agent is a gradual process of refinement and setting up guardrails, not a weekend project.00:29:21 Automating Agent CreationUsing connectors like Make.com within an LLM allows you to create and schedule automated workflows by simply describing them.00:31:08 The Timeframe for Building an AI SystemBuilding a truly autonomous system is a long-term journey of refinement; the key skill to learn is communicating with AI.00:33:57 Becoming an AI OrchestratorSellers must become orchestrators, designing and managing multiple small, independent AI agents to perform specific, connected tasks.00:35:56 The Future: Loaning vs. Building AI AgentsSellers will choose between "renting" cookie-cutter AI agents or "building" custom ones that act as a competitive moat.00:38:29 Are You a Brand Owner or a SaaS Provider?A warning for sellers: building your own AI tools means you are entering the SaaS business, which requires significant technical resources.00:41:13 The Shift from Prompt to Context EngineeringThe new challenge is context engineering: ensuring the right data and tools are used efficiently to avoid token exhaustion and errors.00:42:55 Three Actionable TakeawaysThe host summarizes three key actions: document processes with video, use an MCP for context, and decide your role (brand/SaaS).00:47:25 Most Influential BookMeher shares that the biography of Steve Jobs has been his most influential book due to its lessons on focus.00:48:25 Favorite AI ToolMeher recommends WhisperFlow for voice-to-text communication with AI, which has eliminated his need to type when using Claude.00:49:23 Most Respected Person in E-commerceMeher names Jeff Cohen as someone he admires for his deep, hands-on knowledge of the Amazon and retail media ecosystem.Resources mentioned in this episode:Josh Hadley on LinkedIneComm Breakthrough ConsultingeComm Breakthrough Podcast

I've dined with Steve Jobs, gotten drunk with Phil Knight, followed GaryVee to a speech, been to the Ashram with Jay Shetty, swam with Dolphins in Mauritius alongside Robin Sharma all because I read books

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference happened this week, and there was enough going on that we wanted to unpack the whole thing, primarily due to the company's uncharacteristic backpedaling on its... controversial Liquid Glass UI language, not to mention the unusual focus on CPU scheduling and numerous other performance refinements across the board in this year's OS updates, rather than the more typical long list of new features. It was enough to get us saying the words "Snow Leopard," which is always a good feeling. We also consider new broader parental controls, the apparently final state of Apple Intelligence and Siri AI features, and more. Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

Previo a nuestro primer episodio por estrellas de la Gordo Party, repasamos lo mas importante del mundo de los videojuegos:007, Mina the hollower, y el misterio de pq chaju se ve igual que Steve Jobs. 

O que Steve Jobs, Senna e o Peru (sim, o país) tem em comum?Sobre EFEITO ORNA Somos uma instituição de ensino dedicada a formar profissionais e empresas na criação e gestão de marcas icônicas. Oferecemos cursos livres e multidisciplinares que combinam teoria e prática para ensinar estratégias de branding eficazes, preparando nossos alunos para deixar uma marca duradoura no mundo. Desde 2016, com mais de 30 mil alunos, somos a Escola de Marcas. Instagram: @efeitoorna Sobre DÉBORA ALCÂNTARADébora Alcântara é uma comunicadora premiada, líder em inovação no mercado digital e branding. Reconhecida como Profissional do Ano pela ABRADI em 2020 e como Top Voice no LinkedIn, Débora é uma referência em estratégias de marca. Graduada em Comunicação Social pela PUCPR, ela começou sua carreira em 2010 ao fundar o blog Tudo Orna, que se tornou um case de sucesso digital. Além disso, é autora dos livros Instagram Skills, Deixe sua Marca, Marketing de Influência e Seja Um Pato e continua impactando o mercado por meio de palestras e mentorias. Instagram: @deboralcantara

Mark's Birthday Surprise at the Ballpark Mark celebrates a milestone birthday with a surprise family reunion organized by his wife Karen. The whole family attended a Tampa Bay Rays vs. Miami Marlins game at LoanDepot Park (Marlins Park), where Mark got a "Grand Slam" scoreboard shoutout, a birthday button, and a slice of chocolate cake delivered to his seat  behind the dugout. Special thanks to Lou Schiff for his help with this nightTampa Bay Rays RecapThe Rays are 5-5 in their last 10 games but have swept all AL East opponents.Drew Rasmussen delivered back-to-back dominant starts: 9 Ks in 7 innings (87 pitches) vs. the Marlins, followed by 13 Ks in 7 innings (97 pitches) vs. the Red Sox  - 22 strikeouts over two games.The Rays beat Boston 7 - 5, overcoming a shaky eighth inning.Yandy Díaz is on fire in June: .444 AVG, .475 OBP, 1.058 OPS -  the hosts discuss Yandy's impact on younger hitters like Junior CamineroAaron Judge's injury opens a window for the Rays to take the AL East division crown outright, potentially reducing playoff risk.Mat breaks down how the Yankees' and Blue Jays' health issues shift the competitive landscape.Mike Trout's FutureWill Trout pull a "Ray Bourque" & join a contender to chase a World Series ring?Mat predicts he lands with the Dodgers; Mark dreams of Trout joining Randy Arozarena and Julio Rodríguez on the Seattle Mariners.Softball's "River" Rule Mark shares a curiosity from John Boy Media's YouTube channel: a women's softball rule where a batter crowding the plate in a certain zone (the "river") is NOT awarded first base after being hit by a pitch.Ken Babby & the Rays in the Community Mark attended an Embarc Tampa quarterly leadership meeting featuring Rays CEO Ken Babby. Highlights include Babby's background at The Washington Post's digital division (working alongside Steve Jobs on iPad rollout), his ownership of the Akron RubberDucks and Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, and his commitment to diversity - the Jumbo Shrimp were the only minor league team with a black general manager. That GM is now joining the Rays organization. The team also has upcoming community events including an Evan Longoria tribute night and a Juneteenth celebration.Sports, Community & Belonging Mat reflects on how championship runs — like the Blue Jays' World Series wins and the Montreal Canadiens' recent playoff run — unite cities across all cultures and backgrounds. The hosts discuss the undervalued economic and social impact of sports franchises on their communities.Women's Baseball in the SpotlightThe hosts preview a busy summer for women's baseball in Illinois.Women's Baseball World Cup Group Stage — Coming to Rivet Stadium in Rockford, IL (capacity ~4,000). Six teams, three games per day, USA plays the night game. Finals are set for 2027, also in Rockford.All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) reunion events.Baseball For All (founded by Dr. Justine Siegel) — grassroots tournaments and camps that have become pipelines to the Women's Pro Baseball League.Women's Pro Baseball League — launching in August in Springfield, IL.Guest interview with Ryan Woodward of the International Women's Baseball Center, discussing the Women's Baseball Heritage Trail (historic stops across the US and Canada) and the World Cup group stage.Tampa-Area Baseball ShoutoutsSt. Leo University wins the NCAA Division II Softball Championship.University of Tampa Spartans win the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship — a three-peat! Mark gives a special tribute to the late Tony Saladino, whose grandson Nico Saladino played on the previous UT championship team.Remember to like and subscribe to BaseballBiz On Deck. You may also find BaseballBiz on Deck, on YouTube at iHeart Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and at baseball biz on deck dot com. Also you can find Mat @matgermain.bsky.social  or Mark at baseballbizondeck@gmail.com and BaseballBiz On Deck with Facebook social 

VOV1 - Nếu những ngày qua lướt mạng xã hội, có lẽ nhiều người sẽ có chung một cảm giác khá thú vị: Kỳ thi tốt nghiệp THPT năm 2026 đã kết thúc. Nhưng môn Ngữ văn thì dường như vẫn chưa… hết giờ.Sau buổi thi, đề Ngữ văn nhanh chóng trở thành một trong những chủ đề được bàn luận sôi nổi nhất trên các diễn đàn. Người khen đề hay, gần gũi với cuộc sống. Người cho rằng đề mở, khuyến khích tư duy độc lập. Nhưng cũng có những ý kiến băn khoăn liệu đề thi như vậy có quá xa lạ với một bộ phận học sinh hay không, có bảo đảm công bằng trong đánh giá hay không? Đặc biệt, ngữ liệu đọc hiểu liên quan đến Steve Jobs đã tạo nên hàng loạt cuộc tranh luận. Điều thú vị là cuộc tranh luận năm nay không chỉ xoay quanh chuyện đề khó hay dễ. Mà còn là những câu hỏi lớn hơn: Môn Văn nên kiểm tra điều gì? Học Văn là để thuộc kiến thức hay để hình thành tư duy? Một học sinh không biết Steve Jobs là ai có làm được bài hay không? Và chúng ta đang chờ đợi điều gì ở môn Ngữ văn trong nhà trường hiện nay?Khách mời tham gia chương trình

- Tổng Bí thư, Chủ tịch nước Tô Lâm chủ trì Hội nghị quán triệt và triển khai thực hiện Nghị quyết số 06 về triển khai đường lối đối ngoại Đại hội XIV của Đảng. - Tỉnh Lào Cai lựa chọn xã Trấn Yên và phường Lào Cai, để thí điểm mô hình "xã, phường Xã hội Chủ nghĩa".- Thí sinh cả nước hoàn thành môn thi đầu tiên, môn Ngữ Văn trong kì thi tốt nghiệp THPT 2026. Steve Jobs, người đồng sáng lập Apple, nhân vật có ảnh hưởng lớn nhất đến ngành công nghệ hiện đại, được đưa vào phần nghị luận xã hội trong đề thi.- Cộng đồng quốc tế đồng loạt lên tiếng cảnh báo về những hệ lụy khó lường nếu vòng xoáy Mỹ - Iran đối đầu tiếp tục leo thang.- Khai mạc sự kiện hàng đầu thế giới về công nghệ hàng không, vũ trụ và quốc phòng

Long before Steve Jobs was the unstoppable force of nature atop Apple, shipping hit product after hit product, he was practically run out of the company after a series of bad product and management decisions. But as Geoffrey Cain argues in his new book, Steve Jobs in Exile: The Untold Story of NeXT and the Remaking of an American Visionary, the 12 years Jobs spent outside of Apple turned him into the leader the world came to know. Cain joins the show to talk about Jobs' experiences at NeXT and Pixar, how Jobs learned to be a successful leader, and the true power — and danger — of the reality distortion field. Further reading: Steve Jobs in Exile Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. (Timestamps are approximate.) 00:01:30 Intro 00:01:56 90 Seconds on The Verge 00:03:46 Interview with Geoffrey Cain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Topics: -This week we welcome Dave Hamilton of Mac Geek Gab! -Dave actually grew up a street away from our very own Joe Saponare. -Dave has some knowledge on the music history in the area. -Dave has known his co-host, John Braun since they were 15 years old. -He remembers the days of NCSA Mosaic. -The Mac Observer and BackBeat Media are just some of Dave's major accomplishments. -Wasn't 2001 just a few years ago? -Dave takes us down memory lane in the early days of The Mac Observer. -His original plan was not to continue hosting Mac Geek Gab. -Being persistent paid off as he reached out to Steve Jobs himself to be included in their new Podcast Directory. -In both Texas and the northeast, Dave has a quite a technical background. -Quick Tip from Joe - If the minimum brightness is too bright on your iPhone, you can Reduce White Point under Accessibility>Display & Text Size. -We talk about listener burnout in the podcast world. -Mac Geek Gab is on episode 941! -A tip that Jerry heard on Dave's show was about Tailscale, which makes a virtual network out of your devices, no matter where you are. -Sam talks about some tips he learned on recent episodes of Mac Geek Gab. -The simple stuff is why you get paid the "big bucks". -Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast is another show Dave co-hosts with Shannon Jean. -The 20 minute rule - keeping clients engaged every 20 minutes along the way. -Besides his podcasts, you can find Dave at https://www.davethenerd.com or on Twitter @davehamilton

Richard Gearhart and Elizabeth Gearhart, co-hosts of the Passage to Profit Show interview Robert Tuchman from Amaze Media Labs and Giuseppe Gramatico from The Franchise Guide. Most entrepreneurs focus on growing bigger audiences, but Robert Tuchman believes they're asking the wrong question. In this episode, Robert Tuchman, Founder and CEO of Amaze Media Labs, explains why successful podcasts and content strategies aren't about reaching millions of people—they're about reaching the right people. Drawing from his experience building and selling companies to major entertainment firms and helping brands grow their podcasts, Robert shares how niche audiences generate higher-value customers, why discoverability is the biggest challenge in podcasting today, and how AI search engines like ChatGPT and Gemini are changing content marketing. Learn why thought leadership content outperforms self-promotion, how podcasts can improve AI visibility, and what businesses must do to win the increasingly competitive battle for attention. Read more at: https://amazemedialabs.com/ Thinking about owning a business but unsure where to start? In this interview, franchise consultant Giuseppe Gramatico, founder of The Franchise Guide, reveals how franchising can provide a proven path to entrepreneurship without building a business from scratch. He explains what makes a successful franchisee, why coachability and following systems matter, and how aspiring business owners can evaluate opportunities based on their lifestyle, financial goals, and skill sets. Giuseppe also shares insights on emerging franchise trends, including low-employee and semi-passive business models, franchise startup costs, scaling to multiple locations, and the realities of balancing business ownership with a full-time job. Whether you're looking to leave the corporate world, build wealth through business ownership, or simply explore your options, this episode delivers practical guidance for making smarter entrepreneurial decisions. Read more at: https://www.ggthefranchiseguide.com/ Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur, startup founder, inventor, or small business owner, the Passage to Profit Show is a leading podcast for insights on entrepreneurship, innovation, intellectual property and business strategy. Hosted by Richard Gearhart and Elizabeth Gearhart, the show features industry leaders, investors, and founders who share real-world lessons on scaling companies, protecting ideas, building generational wealth, and navigating today's evolving business landscape. Visit https://passagetoprofitshow.com/ for the latest episodes, expert interviews, and resources designed to help you grow, protect, and profit from your ideas. Chapters (00:00:00) - Pushing Yourself to Profits(00:00:21) - The US Government Releases Files About Aliens(00:01:54) - Louis Vuitton's Construction Facade(00:03:06) - National Receptionist Day(00:03:52) - Richard Simmons in the Documentary(00:05:31) - Decisions that Changed the Direction of My Business(00:10:25) - What Changed The Direction of Your Business?(00:12:48) - What is a decision that changes the trajectory of your business?(00:14:40) - Steve Jobs' Morning Routine(00:15:47) - Small Business: The Battle for Attention(00:20:26) - Should You Post Educational Content on YouTube or on a Podcast?(00:27:06) - How To Elevate Your Podcasts(00:31:20) - Car Shield(00:32:19) - Better Health Insurance for You(00:33:19) - How to grow your podcast with Audience Lift(00:38:49) - How to Make a Podcast Trailers(00:41:10) - Real-World AI Uses(00:44:11) - How to Optimize Your YouTube Shorts(00:46:54) - Debt Relief Hotline(00:49:16) - Intellectual Property News: Google Uses Voices to Train AI(00:52:10) - Gigi the Franchise Guy(00:53:05) - What Makes a Good Franchisee?(00:53:57) - Are McDonald's and Barber Jobs Hot Franchises?(00:56:58) - How Long Does it Take for a Franchise to Start Making Money?(00:58:13) - Do You Need a Franchise to Start a Business?(00:59:16) - Who Really Owns The Real Estate For Franchises?(00:59:52) - How To Have A Good Work-Life Balance(01:01:35) - How a Franchise Brand Catches a Potential Owner(01:03:22) - How Did You Get Out of Work?(01:04:16) - Startups and the Franchise Process(01:05:37) - Gigi Franchise: The Money(01:08:00) - What Keeps You From Crashing(01:11:06) - How to Manage a Personal Calendar(01:16:37) - How to Get Out of Stuck on Your Business Plans(01:19:09) - Secret to Success in AI

Send us Fan MailGeoffrey Cain, author of Steve Jobs in Exile, joins Joe to explore one of the most overlooked chapters in Steve Jobs' life: the twelve years between his fall from Apple and his return to build one of the most influential companies in the world.This episode looks beyond the familiar story of the iPhone, iPod, and Apple's second act to examine the wilderness years that shaped Jobs into the leader we remember today. After being pushed out of Apple in 1985, Jobs was forced to confront failure, ego, rejection, and the limits of vision without discipline. What followed was a long and painful period of experimentation, mistakes, personal transformation, and eventual renewal through NeXT and Pixar.Geoffrey explains why the Steve Jobs who founded Apple was not the same Steve Jobs who returned in 1997. As a young leader, Jobs was brilliant but difficult, convinced of his own vision but often unable to listen to the people around him. At NeXT, that ego led to missed opportunities, broken relationships, and expensive failure. But over time, those same failures began to teach him the lessons he needed most: focus, discipline, humility, execution, and the ability to work within the limits of reality.Joe and Geoffrey also discuss:Why Steve Jobs' time away from Apple was not wasted, but formativeHow NeXT helped lay the foundation for the Apple products we use todayWhy genius without discipline can end in expensive failureHow Jobs' ego hurt NeXT and nearly destroyed his second actWhat Pixar taught Jobs about trust, creative restraint, and letting talented people do their workWhy failure can become the foundation for future successHow the “wilderness years” shape leaders before they return strongerWhy Jobs came back to Apple quieter, more focused, and more willing to listenWhat leaders can learn from Jobs' journey through failure, reinvention, and returnThis episode is for anyone who has ever gone through a hard season and wondered whether it was wasted. It's also for leaders, builders, creatives, and entrepreneurs who want to better understand how failure, if we are willing to learn from it, can become the preparation for our most important work.A special thanks to this week's sponsors!Dunedain Systems is a veteran-founded defense technology company building Warmind, an AI platform that accelerates military planning, operations, and document generation. Warmind connects to your unit's data and learns how your warfighting function operates, delivering outputs tailored to your SOPs and operational context rather than generic AI responses. Whether your team is building OPORDs, running intel workflows, or generating CONOPs, Warmind handles the heavy lift so your staff can focus on decisions, not paperwork. Built by combat veterans who lived the problem firsthand, Warmind is already in use across SOCOM and the broader DoD. The beta is free for anyone with a .mil or .edu email at dunedainsystems.com.Veteran-founded Adyton. Step into the next generation of equipment management with Log-E by Adyton. Whether you are doing monthly inventories or preparing for deployment, Log-E is your pocket property book, giving real-time visibility into equipment status and mission readiness. Learn more about how Log-E can revolutionize your property tracking process here!Meet ROGER Bank—a modern, digital bank built for military members, by military members. With early payday, no fees, high-yield accounts, and real support, it's banking that gets you. Funds are FDIC insured through Citizens Bank of Edmond, so you can bank with confidence and peace of mind. 

Welcome to episode #1039 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation). I believe that communication has always been one of the most valuable skills in business. But in an era of AI-generated content, algorithmic feeds, podcasts, newsletters, keynote stages, short-form video and endless digital noise, it may be becoming even more important. Few people have spent more time studying what makes ideas resonate than Carmine Gallo. A communication coach, author, and instructor in executive education at Harvard, Carmine is best known for bestselling books including Talk Like TED, The Storyteller's Secret, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs and many more. His latest project, Viral Voices - From TED Talks To TikTok, Persuasive Communication Skills For The Digital Age, is an audio-original experience that explores what great communicators can teach us about influence, storytelling, and audience engagement in a rapidly changing media landscape. In this conversation, Carmine argues that while the tools of communication have evolved dramatically, the human brain has not. Drawing on research from neuroscience, psychology, evolutionary biology, and his conversations with communicators ranging from business leaders to digital creators, he explains why storytelling remains one of humanity's most powerful technologies. The discussion explores why movement captures attention, why narrative structures continue to dominate modern platforms, and why great communicators are made through deliberate practice rather than born with natural talent. Carmine also shares his AMP framework for communication improvement: Ability, Message, and Practice. Along the way, the conversation examines the opportunities and challenges created by AI, including the growing tension between polished machine-generated content and authentic human expression. At a moment when everyone has access to powerful communication tools, Carmine makes a compelling case that imagination, personal experience, and genuine human insight are becoming the ultimate differentiators. Enjoy the conversation… Running time: 1:00:47. Hello from beautiful Montreal. Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts. Listen and subscribe over at Spotify. Please visit and leave comments on the blog - Thinking With Mitch Joel. Feel free to connect to me directly on LinkedIn. Check out ThinkersOne. Here is my conversation with Carmine Gallo. Viral Voices - From TED Talks To TikTok, Persuasive Communication Skills For The Digital Age. Talk Like TED. The Storyteller's Secret. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs. Carmine's other books. Follow Carmine on X. Follow Carmine on Instagram. Follow Carmine on LinkedIn. Chapters: (00:00) - Introduction to Communication and Influence. (03:11) - The Evolution of Communication Tools. (05:56) - The Power of Storytelling. (08:48) - Understanding Audience Engagement. (11:48) - The Role of Movement in Communication. (14:59) - The Hero's Journey in Storytelling. (18:08) - The Nature vs. Nurture Debate in Communication. (21:02) - The AMP Model for Effective Communication. (24:05) - The Impact of AI on Communication. (26:58) - The Challenge of Authenticity in AI-Generated Content. (29:48) - Attention Spans and Content Consumption. (33:05) - The Future of Communication in the Age of AI.

Als Kind wuchs er in einfachsten Verhältnissen auf, später diskutierte er mit Apple-Gründer Steve Jobs die Zukunft: René Obermann hat eine der außergewöhnlichsten Karrieren der deutschen Wirtschaft hingelegt – und dabei immer wieder überraschende Wechsel vollzogen. Sein Studium brach er ab, um ein Startup zu gründen und zu dreistelligen Millionen-Umsätzen zu führen. Nach dem Exit wechselte er ausgerechnet zum ehemaligen Staatskonzern Telekom.  Wie er es dort in wenigen Jahren zum jüngsten CEO eines DAX-Konzerns schaffte, welche Idee er dem Apple-Chef bei einem Treffen pitchte und wie er den legendären früheren T-Mobile-US-Chef John Legere mit einem Besuch in Berlin „austrickste“, erzählt René Obermann im OMR Podcast.  Und natürlich geht es auch um die Zukunft Europas – denn der Verwaltungsratschef von Airbus und künftige Chefaufseher von SAP fürchtet um die Zukunft des Kontinents. Im OMR Podcast schlägt René Obermann Alarm: Europa schadet sich mit dem AI-Act selbst, warnt Obermann – und enthüllt, wieso er wegen Elon Musks Weltraum-Monopol sogar persönlich bei Frankreichs Präsident Emmanuel Macron vorstellig wurde.

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:00:00 GMT http://relay.fm/upgrade/619 http://relay.fm/upgrade/619 Road to the Apple II: Apple for Sale (Part 1) 619 Jason Snell and Myke Hurley In a preview of our new Designed in California podcast, we take you back to 1976 and recount Steve Jobs's numerous attempts to sell Apple or, at the very least, get someone to make an investment in the fledgling company. In a preview of our new Designed in California podcast, we take you back to 1976 and recount Steve Jobs's numerous attempts to sell Apple or, at the very least, get someone to make an investment in the fledgling company. clean 1985 Subtitle: Designed in CaliforniaIn a preview of our new Designed in California podcast, we take you back to 1976 and recount Steve Jobs's numerous attempts to sell Apple or, at the very least, get someone to make an investment in the fledgling company. This episode of Upgrade is sponsored by: Designed in California on Kickstarter: If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting us! Links and Show Notes: Written by Jason Snell. Designed in California theme by Christopher Breen. Key sources: Infinite Loop (1999) by Michael S. Malone Apple: The First 50 Years (2026) by David Pogue (Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books) Steve Jobs (2011) by Walter Isaacson (Amazon, Used) Get Upgrade+. More content, no ads. Check out Upgrade merch! Submit Feedback Designed in California – Kickstarter

What I learned from reading Steve Jobs in Exile: The Untold Story of NeXT and the Remaking of an American Visionary by Geoffrey Cain. Made possible by: Ramp: https://ramp.com Axon by Applovin: https://axon.ai/founders Vanta: https://vanta.com/founders

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:00:00 GMT http://relay.fm/upgrade/619 http://relay.fm/upgrade/619 Jason Snell and Myke Hurley In a preview of our new Designed in California podcast, we take you back to 1976 and recount Steve Jobs's numerous attempts to sell Apple or, at the very least, get someone to make an investment in the fledgling company. In a preview of our new Designed in California podcast, we take you back to 1976 and recount Steve Jobs's numerous attempts to sell Apple or, at the very least, get someone to make an investment in the fledgling company. clean 1985 Subtitle: Designed in CaliforniaIn a preview of our new Designed in California podcast, we take you back to 1976 and recount Steve Jobs's numerous attempts to sell Apple or, at the very least, get someone to make an investment in the fledgling company. This episode of Upgrade is sponsored by: Designed in California on Kickstarter: If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting us! Links and Show Notes: Written by Jason Snell. Designed in California theme by Christopher Breen. Key sources: Infinite Loop (1999) by Michael S. Malone Apple: The First 50 Years (2026) by David Pogue (Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books) Steve Jobs (2011) by Walter Isaacson (Amazon, Used) Get Upgrade+. More content, no ads. Check out Upgrade merch! Submit Feedback Designed in California – Kickstarter

Why taste, touch, composition, and wisdom may become the most valuable leadership skills in the age of AI. Summary  In this episode of The Customer Service Revolution Podcast, John DiJulius interviews bestselling author Daniel Pink about the human skills that artificial intelligence cannot replace. Pink explains why AI may be powerful at generating options, but humans still need taste to know what is good, touch to create real connection, composition to allocate people and technology wisely, and wisdom to ask better questions, show humility, and lead with integrity. John and Daniel also discuss the danger of relying on AI to do the hard thinking for us, the future of soft skills, whether empathy and curiosity can be trained, why leaders need to stop managing time and start allocating talent, and how younger professionals can think about AI without fear. This conversation is a practical guide for leaders who want to use AI without losing the human edge that drives trust, service, creativity, and customer loyalty. Takeaways AI can generate options, but humans need taste. AI can produce ideas quickly, but leaders still need discernment to know what is good, relevant, beautiful, useful, and aligned with the audience. Taste is built by creating, not consuming. Daniel Pink argues that people build judgment by making things, testing ideas, receiving feedback, and learning what works. "Good enough" is a dangerous standard. AI can make average work easier. The competitive advantage belongs to people and companies who keep refining beyond good enough. Touch matters more in a digital world. Physical presence, empathy, listening, comfort, and connection become more valuable as technology handles more transactional tasks. Leaders must become composers. Future leaders will need to combine human talent, machine intelligence, and resources into something greater than the pieces alone. Wisdom is different from intelligence. Wisdom includes humility, integrity, compassion, curiosity, and the ability to ask better questions. Great questions create credibility. John and Daniel agree that credibility does not come only from having answers. It often comes from asking questions no one else has asked. AI should not replace the learning process. When people use AI to skip the first draft, the hard thinking disappears. That creates what Daniel calls the risk of "intellectual obesity." Service aptitude skills are still critical. Empathy, curiosity, connection, listening, problem-solving, and energy remain essential for customer-facing teams. AI will reconfigure jobs, not simply erase them overnight. Daniel pushes back on doom-and-gloom thinking and encourages leaders to help people identify what they can do with machines that neither humans nor machines can do alone. Quotes "AI is incredibly good at generating options. What it is less good at is figuring out what's good and what's not." — Daniel Pink "The best way to build taste is by creating stuff, not by consuming stuff." — Daniel Pink "The barrier isn't execution. The barrier is discernment." — Daniel Pink "Taste requires the courage to say no." — Daniel Pink "Good enough is the enemy." — John DiJulius "I fear AI could create a kind of intellectual obesity problem, where no one is exerting intellectual effort." — Daniel Pink "Wisdom is more valuable when intelligence is abundant." — Daniel Pink "Right answers still matter, but smart questions now matter a hell of a lot more." — Daniel Pink "It's not in the answers you give. It's in the questions you ask." — John DiJulius "Strong points of view, loosely held." — Daniel Pink "You shouldn't be booing AI. That's like booing electricity." — Daniel Pink "When something becomes plentiful, it becomes cheap." — Daniel Pink Chapters List 00:00 – Introduction to Daniel Pink John introduces Daniel Pink, bestselling author of Drive, To Sell Is Human, When, The Power of Regret, and more. 02:00 – The Human Skills AI Can't Replace John opens the conversation around AI, service aptitude, and the relationship skills younger generations need to develop. 03:19 – Skill #1: Taste Daniel explains why AI can generate ideas, but humans need judgment to know what is actually good. 04:40 – Why Taste Is Built by Creating Daniel shares why passive consumption does not build discernment and why creating work matters. 06:27 – Taste, Courage, and Saying No John and Daniel discuss Steve Jobs, leadership standards, and the courage to reject ideas that are not good enough. 07:35 – The Danger of "Good Enough" AI Work John reflects on how AI can make people lazy, and Daniel explains why no company wants people who settle for average. 08:30 – AI and Intellectual Obesity Daniel shares the risk of letting AI do the first draft and removing the learning process. 10:03 – Skill #2: Touch Daniel explains why physical presence, empathy, healthcare, trades, and human comfort still matter. 11:37 – Skill #3: Composition Daniel describes composition as the ability to combine people, machines, ideas, and resources into something better. 13:09 – The Allocation Economy John and Daniel discuss the shift from managing knowledge to allocating intelligence. 14:14 – Audit Your Calendar Daniel explains why leaders should review where human talent is being wasted on work AI could handle. 15:41 – Skill #4: Wisdom Daniel defines wisdom through humility, integrity, curiosity, compassion, and better questions. 18:02 – Why Questions Matter More Now John and Daniel discuss answer engines, credibility, and the leadership power of asking questions no one else asks. 19:26 – The Five Whys and Better Listening Daniel references the importance of questioning techniques and how questions work with taste, composition, and wisdom. 20:55 – Iteration, Speeches, and Creative Work John talks about how books and keynotes are never truly finished until the deadline arrives. 21:49 – Listen Like You're Wrong John and Daniel discuss humility, intellectual flexibility, and exploring ideas instead of defending them. 23:53 – John's 10 Service Aptitude Skills John shares TDG's core service aptitude skills and asks Daniel which ones are trainable. 27:06 – Can Empathy, Curiosity, and Energy Be Trained? Daniel explains that many human traits live on a spectrum between innate and learnable. 29:12 – Why Young People Are Booing AI John asks how leaders can help younger professionals approach AI with less fear. 29:51 – The Realistic Promise of AI Daniel explains why AI will disrupt work, but likely reconfigure jobs rather than eliminate them instantly. 32:35 – What Daniel Pink Is Working On Daniel shares his interest in YouTube and how new tools are turning more people into creators. 34:46 – Will AI Water Down the Value of Books? John and Daniel discuss AI-generated books, quality decline, and whether books still carry the same authority. 37:11 – Can You Be an Expert Without Writing a Book? Daniel explains how influence now comes through many formats, including podcasts, video, and online platforms. 39:14 – Closing John thanks Daniel Pink and closes the episode. Links: DanielPinkTV :  https://www.youtube.com/@danielpinktv The DiJulius Group Methdology: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/x-commandment-methodology/ Company Service Aptitude Test:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/c-sat-forms/individual-c-sat/ Schedule a Complimentary Call with one of our advisors:  tdg.click/claudia Ask John!  Submit your questions for John, to be aired on future episode:  tdg.click/ask Customer Experience Executive Academy: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/project/cx-executive-academy/ Experience Revolution Membership:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/ Books:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/shop/ Contacts:  Lindsey@thedijuliusgroup.com , Claudia@thedijuliusgroup.com If you want to learn how world-class organizations build cultures customers cannot live without, explore The Experience Revolution Membership. Inside the membership you'll gain access to livestream workshops, practical frameworks, and proven strategies used by organizations around the world. Learn more at https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/ Learn More If your organization is working to improve customer experience but struggling to connect it to measurable business outcomes, The DiJulius Group can help. Visit: https://thedijuliusgroup.com Listen to more episodes: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/the-customer-service-revolution-podcast/ Subscribe We talk about topics like this each week; be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode.

Mark Pincus is the creator behind Farmville and Words with Friends. He built Zynga into one of the biggest gaming companies in the world and helped shape the early era of social products on the internet. In this conversation, he breaks down how great founders spot winning ideas early, why most startups build the wrong thing, and how products become part of people's daily lives. He shares lessons from building Zynga, missing the opportunity behind social networking before Facebook took off, navigating platform risk during Zynga's explosive growth, and rebuilding his confidence after major failures. You'll learn how to test ideas faster, what separates products people try from products people love, how to avoid “death by compromise” as a founder, and why the best builders stay obsessed with what users actually want. + Members get the longer, extended version of this conversation, with additional content not included in the public release. Join Now. + +Pre-order Life at the Speed of Play: Launch Products People Love! ------ Timestamps: (00:00) The Principles of Great Products (01:34) How to Test if Your Idea Has "Heat" (04:02) Falling Out with His Father (06:14) Early Career Fails (09:27) The Presentation that Kicked him out of Bain (12:04) The Book of Life System for Making Strategic Decisions (17:56) Why Your Instincts are Good and Your Ideas are Bad (22:29) Copying is the Key to Great Product Design (23:22) System for Building Great Products (24:05) How to Use "Proven Better New" to Build Ideas (27:39) Why Deconstruction Leads to Better Products (29:33) All Founders Go Through This (35:14) How Zynga Changed Social Gaming (37:25) Pitching Zynga to Steve Jobs (40:36) The Fatal Mistake Founders Make (41:24) The Fight Between Peter Thiel and Sequoia (43:03) The Explosion of Farmville (45:45) Zynga's Near-Death Experience on Facebook (48:36) Why Failure Machines Reveal Your Best Ideas (49:28) The Thing that Almost Killed Words with Friends (53:05) Why the Minimum Viable Product Approach is Hurting You (54:03) Building Fast is More Important than Building Right (56:19) How Zynga Missed Their Instagram Moment (58:50) Your Company Should Be a Democratic Dictatorship (1:02:25) How to Build a Meritocracy in Your Company (1:03:44) Jeff Bezos' Invaluable Management Trick (1:05:25) Bezos Hack: Scaling Leadership with Tech Assistants ------ Newsletter: The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it's completely free. Learn more and sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------ Follow Shane Parrish: X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/shaneparrish⁠ Insta: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/farnamstreet/⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-parrish-050a2183/⁠ Follow Mark Pincus LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markpincus/ X: https://x.com/markpinc ------ Thank you to the sponsors for this episode: +CoinShares: Delivering Reason to Digital Asset Investing. ⁠https://coinshares.com/⁠ +Granola AI, The AI notepad for people in back-to-back meetings: https://www.granola.ai/shane Check out the Granola Notes HeyGen is a message-first AI video platform that helps people and AI agents turn ideas into professional video in minutes. Try for free at https://www.heygen.com/ Join the salty rebellion: https://drinklmnt.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dillon Okner is the Founder & Partner of SiteRise, a retail development and construction platform helping brands streamline site selection, store development, and portfolio expansion. With more than 15 years of experience in retail construction and operations, Dillon previously helped support the expansion of major brands including Apple and Tesla. Today, he focuses on helping retailers, restaurants, and franchise operators eliminate development bottlenecks and open locations faster through better data, workflow management, and portfolio visibility.(01:13) - How Retail Openings Break(03:36) - Retail Innovation Edge (05:00) - Store development with SiteRise(07:38) - Apple & Tesla Lessons (09:26) - Proprietary Data (14:07) - Construction Influence on Deals(15:27) - Working with Brokers(16:33) - SiteRise's Clients(17:44) - Getting Buy-in From Stakeholders(20:50) - Collaboration superpower: Dillon's father and grandfather

EPISODE 446: Something feels off in your construction business but you can't pinpoint it. Sales are slipping, the team's out of sync, or projects feel chaotic, and your instinct is to add more meetings, more software, more hours. In this episode, Todd Dawalt breaks down why throwing action at the problem usually makes it worse, and walks through four diagnostic questions that help you find the real issue before you spend energy in the wrong place. If you've been running with your feet in quicksand and can't figure out what's really wrong, this episode gives you a simple way to diagnose it before you waste another month.

Most people have something they really want at work, in their business, in their personal life. They think about it. They hope for it. They wait for the perfect moment. Darren Hardy challenges that pattern by exposing the simple, almost embarrassingly obvious habit that separates those who actually get what they want from those who don't. This one skill, outlined in this episode, decides whether your next big want stays a daydream or becomes the thing you actually land. And it's learnable. Get more personal mentoring from Darren each day. Go to DarrenDaily at http://darrendaily.com/join to learn more.

Keach Hagey details Altman's trajectory from a Stanford dropout to a central figure in Silicon Valley. After launching the app Loopt, Altman used his masterful storytelling skills to impress investors and Steve Jobs, despite the company's eventual commercial failure. Recognizing investing as his "superpower," Altman became the president of Y Combinatorin 2014, leading successes like Airbnb and Stripe. The source also explores Altman's relationship with Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, noting how he adopted Musk's "mission-driven" philosophy. Furthermore, Altman's interest in Georgism and universal basic income shaped his vision. (3/4)DECEMBER 1954