Value Creators
Business & Economics Podcasts
Welcome to the Value Creators podcast, the ultimate destination for business enthusiasts seeking to unlock the secrets of success through the lens of Austrian economics. Join Hunter Hastings and a variety of insightful guests as they delve into engaging conversations with business owners and esteemed practitioners from leading business schools.
In each episode, the Value Creators podcast goes beyond the surface-level discussions of traditional business strategies and explores the profound impact of Austrian economics on the world of entrepreneurship. Drawing upon the rich principles and theories of this school of thought, our host uncovers hidden gems and actionable insights to help listeners improve their businesses.
With a keen focus on value creation, this podcast aims to inspire and empower listeners to elevate their businesses to new heights. By exploring the ideas of Austrian economics, which emphasize individual decision-making, market dynamics, and the importance of entrepreneurship, our interviews shed light on innovative strategies and approaches to succeed in today's dynamic business landscape.
We'll present a diverse range of guests, including successful business owners who have effectively applied Austrian economics principles to their enterprises. Listeners will gain invaluable knowledge about strategic decision-making, market-driven innovation, and the importance of understanding human action in business contexts.
Additionally, the podcast features discussions with esteemed practitioners from renowned business schools. These experts provide listeners with a broader perspective on how Austrian economics can be effectively integrated into business curriculums, enabling aspiring entrepreneurs to sharpen their skills and gain a competitive edge.
Whether you're a seasoned business owner, an aspiring entrepreneur, or a curious mind intrigued by the intersection of Austrian economics and business, the Value Creators podcast is your go-to resource. Tune in to each episode to explore thought-provoking discussions, actionable advice, and captivating stories that will inspire you to unleash your full business potential.
Are you ready to uncover the secrets of successful businesses through the principles of Austrian economics? Join us on the Value Creators podcast and embark on an enlightening journey that will revolutionize the way you approach entrepreneurship.
Location:
United States
Description:
Welcome to the Value Creators podcast, the ultimate destination for business enthusiasts seeking to unlock the secrets of success through the lens of Austrian economics. Join Hunter Hastings and a variety of insightful guests as they delve into engaging conversations with business owners and esteemed practitioners from leading business schools. In each episode, the Value Creators podcast goes beyond the surface-level discussions of traditional business strategies and explores the profound impact of Austrian economics on the world of entrepreneurship. Drawing upon the rich principles and theories of this school of thought, our host uncovers hidden gems and actionable insights to help listeners improve their businesses. With a keen focus on value creation, this podcast aims to inspire and empower listeners to elevate their businesses to new heights. By exploring the ideas of Austrian economics, which emphasize individual decision-making, market dynamics, and the importance of entrepreneurship, our interviews shed light on innovative strategies and approaches to succeed in today's dynamic business landscape. We'll present a diverse range of guests, including successful business owners who have effectively applied Austrian economics principles to their enterprises. Listeners will gain invaluable knowledge about strategic decision-making, market-driven innovation, and the importance of understanding human action in business contexts. Additionally, the podcast features discussions with esteemed practitioners from renowned business schools. These experts provide listeners with a broader perspective on how Austrian economics can be effectively integrated into business curriculums, enabling aspiring entrepreneurs to sharpen their skills and gain a competitive edge. Whether you're a seasoned business owner, an aspiring entrepreneur, or a curious mind intrigued by the intersection of Austrian economics and business, the Value Creators podcast is your go-to resource. Tune in to each episode to explore thought-provoking discussions, actionable advice, and captivating stories that will inspire you to unleash your full business potential. Are you ready to uncover the secrets of successful businesses through the principles of Austrian economics? Join us on the Value Creators podcast and embark on an enlightening journey that will revolutionize the way you approach entrepreneurship.
Language:
English
Episodes
Episode #23 Moshik Temkin on Leadership By Warriors, Rebels, and Saints - Leadership Wisdom from the Pages of History
11/29/2023
Moshik Temkin is a historian who offers an alternative perspective on leadership. He asks, do leaders make history or does history make leaders? Those two forces can’t be separated. While leaders contribute to shaping history, they are also molded by powerful historical forces. This nuanced perspective is evident in analyses of historical figures like FDR, Margaret Thatcher, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X, emphasizing the role of circumstances in leadership's response to complex historical challenges, ultimately leading to significant changes in their respective nations. The conversation explores moral leadership in the civil rights movement, comparing the approaches of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Despite their distinct styles, both leaders shared a commitment to collective progress and justice, challenging the prevailing emphasis on individual success. Temkin addresses the ethical dilemmas leaders encounter during crises, prompting reflection on the justifiability of extreme measures for the sake of victory.
How does this discussion contribute to the question of leadership in business? Leadership is subjective. We look to those who we feel can guide us, whether in politics or business. There are principles that cross both fields.
Resources: https://www.moshiktemkin.com/warriors-rebels-saints
https://www.moshiktemkin.com/
Shownotes:
0:00 | Intro
02:03 | Leadership and Its Impact On History
07:04 | Leadership in Japanese Decision-Making During WWII
11:34 | Leadership Decisions During World War II
17:39 | Atomic Bomb Decision-Making During WWII
20:45 | Core Assumptions in Decision-Making
23:23 | Machine Making Decisions VS Individual Making Decisions
26:04 | Abysmal Leadership and The Cuban Missile Crisis
30:14 | Individual Leadership Defined With Examples
45:08 | Wrap up: Conclusion
Duration:00:50:28
Episode #22. Cynthia Kay on Small Business, Big Success
11/22/2023
We live in a video age, which opens up a vast array of entrepreneurial pathways. Video is a field for open-ended free creative expression, as well as for tightly managed business tools built for ROI. It’s the ideal field for creative entrepreneurial small business innovators. Cynthia Kay of CK and CO is both a business founder and CEO of a video production business and a consultant and advisor to small businesses. She shared some of her insights and a preview of her 2024 book Small Business Big Success.
Resources:
CK’s business resources site: https://cynthiakaybiz.com/
Books you can buy now: https://cynthiakaybiz.com/books/
Cynthia Kay’s upcoming 2024 Book - Small Business, Big Success:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CFWFZQTS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1700618573&sr=8-3
Shownotes:
0:00 | Intro
02:37 | CK's Business Backstory: Inception to Present
04:41 | Started with Cold Calls and Big Capital Investment
06:39 | Tech Evolution Every Two Months
07:14 | Business Growth: Gradual OR Leaps
09:00 | Understanding the Big Business Perspective
11:58 | Education's Video Evolution: A Rapidly Changing Business Tool.
16:47 | Clients' Perception of Video Costs
18:30 | Functional knowledge: Educating Clients on Video Value and ROI
19:56 | Defining 'Best' in Video Production
22:39 | CK’s Advice: Solving Common Small Business Problems
25:08 | Excel as a Small Business Owner, Embrace Big-Thinking Strategies.
27:27 | From Expensive Equipment to iPhone Editing
29:17 | Small Customers Can Evolve into Major Assets
32:29 | Key Areas for Small Business Growth through Strategic Partnerships
35:58 | Can Small Businesses Outshine Big Corporations?
38:11 | Automating Operations: Essential or Optional?
40:55 | Wrap Up: Cynthia’s Upcoming Books Overview
Duration:00:45:58
Episode #21 - Forging New Relationships Between Entrepreneurs and Capital with LaSean Smith
11/17/2023
LaSean Smith outlines a business investment partnership built on permanent capital, emphasizing long-term commitment and trust-building between an investor/source of capital and a business. The discussion covers disciplined methodologies, leadership transitions, and a unique compensation approach using Phantom Stock Shares. LaSean predicts a rise in smaller, values-based companies, and underscores the significance of audience and automation in acquiring and revitalizing brands.
There can be a shift towards stable, smaller businesses connected to communities, challenging the trend ofdominance by larger and parger corporations.
Resources: https://cagr.com/
Duration:00:44:52
Episode #20. Julie Kantor and Felice Ekelman on How To Thrive With A Hybrid Workplace
11/10/2023
The nature of work has changed, so how we manage it must change, too.
As businesses barrel along into the fast-changing digital age, we find that the very nature of work has changed. The new name for the office or the factory is the hybrid workplace. Not only where we do work, but how we do work has changed, and how we synchronize work with each other has changed the most. For the firm, productivity is at risk. And all the standard approaches to business that we’ve been taught are outdated. Take management as an example. How do you manage a hybrid workplace and workforce. Our point of view at The Value Creators is that management is an old-fashioned concept we have to discard. We need something new.
The Value Creators podcast hosted two of the best experts to address the challenges of the hybrid workplace, Julie Kantor and Felice Ekelman. They are co-authors of the book that will provide the background to our discussion today: Thrive With A Hybrid Workplace: Step-by-Step Guidance from the Experts.
Shownotes:
0:00 | Intro
03:06 | Old System VS New System: Work-life Balance & Remote Work During the Pandemic
09:55 | Hybrid Work and Leadership in a Post-Pandemic World
14:02 | Hybrid Model: Nine to Five Model is Gone
16:42 | Hybrid Workplace: Seven Seas Framework
22:53 | Hybrid Policy: How Are We Managing Change?
24:50 | Culture of change: Importance of Face-to-Face Connection
28:07 | Communication, Collaboration, and Leadership in a Hybrid Work Environment
34:46 | Coaching as a Fundamental Part of the Hybrid
37:27 | Smart Goals: Well-Being in the Workplace
38:48 | Productivity in the Hybrid Workspace
41:34 | Hybrid Workspace: Compliance Load
46:12| Wrap up: Where are we heading?
Duration:00:50:51
Episode #19. Trini Amador on The Theory of Talkability
11/1/2023
Trini Amador is the Value Creators’ go-to guru for all things marketing. He has a long career as CEO of a global branding consultancy, BHC Consulting, and he is also the founder and proprietor of Gracianna, an estate winery that has established a portfolio of greatly acclaimed, gold medal winning prestige wines from its home in the heart of Sonoma County wine country, on the banks of the Russian River.
Trini joined the Value Creators podcast to discuss his latest thinking distilled from his extensive brand-building experience: his theory of walkability.
Shownotes:
0:00 | Intro
03:17 | Understanding Talk Ability Theory: Basics, Floaters and Swimmers
07:20 | Three Areas of Talk Ability Theory
09:06 | Is Managing Expectations and Feelings a Brand's Duty?
11:11 | How digital marketing is typically described and the Traditional Funnel Approach
16:45 | Modern Marketing Innovation: Returns Policies and Proactive Issue Resolution
20:54 | Roger Martin's habit-driven brand strategy is outdated
22:39 | Concept Trini of Expectations
24:41 | Fundamental Elements of the Brand Blueprint and Speed Change
27:56 | Optimizing Social Media for Brand Talkability
28:50 | Heineken Double Zero Strategy
31:24 | Importance of Valuable Feedback in Business
33:18 | Trini’s Business Insights and Lessons Learned
38:46| Wrap up: Find Trini Amador and His Team at Gracianna.com
Duration:00:39:45
Episode #18. Anthony Iannarino on The Negativity Fast
10/25/2023
We all suffer from negativity. That’s a business risk for entrepreneurs, since we are in the business of running lots of experiments, some of which will work and some of which won’t. If we process the learning negatively (“I should never have tried that” versus “One more useful piece of knowledge”) we open ourselves up to unproductive disappointment instead of the energizing excitement of discovery.
Anthony Iannarino knows the problem, and knows the solution: take a negativity fast. Just like cutting bad food choices from your diet to improve your metabolic health, you can cut negative thinking to improve your emotional health. He discussed his book, titled The Negativity Fast, and shared his insights with The Value Creators podcast.
Resources: The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques To Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear And Boost Success.
Shownotes:
0:00 | Intro
02:30 | Dangers of Negativity in Entrepreneurship and Evolutionary Biology
07:06 | Major Triggers: Stress and Optimism Bias
10:44 | Exploring Internal Dialogue in Anthony Iannarino's 'Negativity Fast'
14:09 | Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
16:28 | Empathy as a Key Exit from Negativity
19:35 | Detailed Insights on Empathy by Anthony Iannarino
23:44 | Idea of Radical Acceptance
27:04 | Value of Feedback and Solutions in Entrepreneurship
30:47 | Practice Gratitude in detail by Anthony
34:25 | Emotional and Metabolic Health: Keys to Overcoming Negativity
37:38 Positivity and Negativity: A Matter of Choice
39:26 | Does Positive and Optimistic Approach Link to Better Performance?
41:36| Wrap up: Practical Advice and Mind Hack by Anthony Lannarino
Duration:00:47:43
Episode #17. Jeremy Vesta: Curally, Nurse-Coaching, and Medicine 3.0
10/16/2023
Jeremy Vesta is a Value Creator in a field where value creation is intensely focused on the experiences of individual consumers: health care. He’s CFO of Curally, an innovative services company designed to help individuals in a highly distinctive and intensely focused manner: helping every individual to be healthier today than they were yesterday. Curally is bringing a fresh new kind of innovation to an industry with a traditionally closed structure.
Resources
https://curally.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-vesta-b967505/
Shownotes:
0:00 | Intro
02:14 | A Conversation with Jeremy Vashta: How He Surveyed the Healthcare Field
06:00 | Discussing Healthcare Economics in Detail
10:22 | Defining Nurse Coaching
12:31 | Initiating Relationships with High-Risk Individuals
14:35 | Training Nurses as Coaches
16:24 | The Key Variable in Engagement
18:08 | Jeremy’s Unique Corporate Value Proposition: Promoting Wellness and Building a Cohesive Culture
21:57 | Discussing Measurable ROI in Detail
23:53 | Sedentary Lifestyles and Obesity: Discussing the Biggest Healthcare Problem
26:40 | Embracing Long-Term Health and Behavior Modification
31:34 | Creating a Hospitable Environment Can Prevent Diseases
36:12 | Coaching Definition Beyond the Medical Field By Jeremy
39:01 | Can AI Help With Coaching in the Future?
41:30 | Wrap Up: Reach out to Jeremy at curally.com
Duration:00:43:09
Episode #16. Beverlee Rasmussen On Systems For Organized And Profitable Small Business
10/4/2023
A breakthrough technique for Small Business: Don’t manage, build systems.
Many small business owners experience frustration in trying to manage their businesses. So many things can get in the way of organized and profitable implementation. Management is hard, especially when it involves managing other people. Beverlee Rasmussen has interviewed and coached thousands of small business owners all over the world, and spent 10,000 hours developing her small business system of systems.
Systems are how things get done. If you build systems, you don’t have to manage people. Beverlee offers systems for every facet of small business: Leadership Systems, Operations Systems, Financial Systems, Team Systems, and Marketing Systems. Those titles might seem like something for big businesses only. But they’re not. Every business owner can design and implement their own systems - and doing so will bring back all the joy and freedom and success that you expected from becoming an entrepreneur.
Don’t manage, build systems.
Resources:
Beverlee’s latest book: Small Business, Big Opportunity: Systematize Your Business.
Small Business Coach Training
Small Business Field Guide: Organized and Profitable
The Small Business Coach Gameboard
Duration:00:38:22
Episode #15. Damon Lembi: The Learn-It-All Leader
9/20/2023
Damon Lembi is the CEO of LearnIt, a service company dedicated to helping all firms become learning organizations. He is the go-to expert on learning, change, and people development. He shared some of his 25+ years of experience with The Value Creators podcast.
Duration:00:39:08
Episode #14. Josefine Campbell on The Personal Energy Of Agile
9/12/2023
In this episode, Josefine Campbell shares how being agile is the most important and impactful management innovation of the 21st century.
How we need to strip away all bureaucratic and processual obstacles to create a fast delivery of superior customer experiences, how its principles can apply at the individual level as well as the organizational level, and how being agile comes down to self-awareness and self-management.
Duration:00:37:09
Episode #13. Ben Johnson On The Evolution of Software Entrepreneurship
8/30/2023
It is evident that in today's economy, AI & software are extremely powerful tools in business, creative pursuits, and innovation.
In this episode, Ben Johnson, co-founder of Particle41 and other successful software companies, joins to discuss the integration of AI from enhancing customer support to aiding software development, the ethical considerations of AI usage, and its simulation of empathy.
For the full show notes visit: thevaluecreators.com
Duration:00:44:01
Episode #12. Mark McGrath On Adaptive Entrepreneurial Management
8/25/2023
Mark McGrath of AGLX has developed a management approach he calls The Adaptive Entrepreneurial Method. He combines the insights of John Boyd and the entrepreneurial principles of Austrian economics.
Boyd was a prolific writer on strategy, particularly famous for his development of the OODA Loop model of decision-making under uncertainty, feedback, and responsive re-orientation, as well as the author of a vast body of work on strategy.
Austrian economics overlaps in the area of entrepreneurial judgment, which is purposeful action under uncertainty, and dynamic responsiveness to the resultant marketplace signals (ie. feedback loops) that action generates.
He joined The Value Creators podcast to explore the intersection of John Boyd and Austrian economics.
For full show notes visit: thevaluecreators.com
Duration:00:44:46
Episode #11. James Burstall On The Flexible Method
8/20/2023
There’s a considerable debate among consultants and academics regarding the definition of management: what is it? Is it a science, is it a process, is it a set of tools that business schools teach us how to use?
In this episode, James Burstall comes on to explain his perspective on management as a mindset (the interacting mindsets of many different people in many different circumstances in fact) as proposed in his new book titled The Flexible Method: Prepare To Prosper In the Next Global Crisis.
Duration:00:47:01
Episode #10. John Tamny Entrepreneurs Don't Meet Needs, They Lead Them
8/14/2023
Entrepreneurs aren't just about meeting needs; they're all about setting trends and leading the way. Think of the big names like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Sam Altman. They don't just follow the usual business rules; they rewrite them. So, how do they actually pull it off?
In this episode, John Tamny, the Vice President at FreedomWorks, editor of RealClearMarkets, and Senior Economic Adviser to mutual fund firm Applied Finance Group, will take us on a journey to see how entrepreneurs, the minds that redefine industries, shake things up by tackling needs that haven't been addressed yet. He's all about those game-changers who see opportunities where others don't.
For full show notes visit, thevaluecreators.com
Duration:00:37:35
Episode #9. Mark Packard on Subjectivism
8/2/2023
At the Value Creators, we favor a much different business model than the one that’s traditionally taught in business school. Our model focuses on value, understanding that value is experienced by customers, and that it’s entirely subjective. You can’t put numbers on it, you can’t capture it in a plan, it’s not something that can be distributed to shareholders. It’s not a thing of any kind.
We build the Value Creators system on the firm foundation of economics. In this episode, we’re going to explore the basis of sound economic theory and a sound understanding of value. A key word is subjectivism, which may sound very wonky, but it’s the gateway to understanding value.
To talk about value and subjectivism, our guest today is Professor Mark Packard. He’s the Research Director at the Madden Center for Value Creation, part of the College Of Business Management at Florida Atlantic University. He’s the author He’s the author of Entrepreneurial Valuation, An Entrepreneur’s Guide To Getting Into The Minds Of Customers.
Duration:00:41:14
Episode #8. Peter Lewin on Capital Value
7/27/2023
What is capital? Capital is value.
And since all value is subjective, capital can be understood as the value subjectively attributed to any resources available to a business for production. That means it includes capital goods like machines and offices, intangibles like brands and lines of code, and people and their skills and knowledge, both tacit and explicit, accumulated and
evolving.
In this episode, Peter Lewin, Professor of Economics in the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas, talks about capital, defining it, understanding it, optimizing it, identifying its role in business, and how it becomes valuable.
0:00 | Introduction to capital value
0:45 | Introducing guest: Peter Lewin
2:46 | Capital and Flow of value
10:52 | Inbound & outbound flow thru time
14:28 | Net Present Value
15:52 | Free cash flow vs. EVA.
22:51 | Value drivers
25:43 | Advertising campaigns
27:20 | Interest elasticity of present value
31:24 | About business advice
33:16 | Connecting EVA. with value drivers
38:15 | Sports analogy
Duration:00:40:49
Episode #7. Hermann Simon: Hidden Champions Of Value Creation
7/19/2023
The vast majority of businesses – the very backbone of the economic system – are derogatorily defined as small and medium enterprises by government statisticians. A better mental model is that they are the champions of value creation.
Hermann Simon is a renowned management thinker and author, chairman of the consulting firm Simon-Kucher and the founder and leader of the research project he calls Hidden Champions. Hidden Champions uncovered the data demonstrating that – compared to the larger and more publicized companies of the major stock indexes like the S&P 500 - small and medium businesses are typically more profitable, more efficient (higher revenue per employee), faster growing, better at investing in and producing innovation, and better at making a return on that innovation, i.e. creating new value.
For full show notes visit, thevaluecreators.com
Duration:00:42:36
Episode #6. Kevin Roy: How To Stay In The Lead In The Adaptive System Of Digital Marketing
7/12/2023
Continuous change is a feature of the adaptive entrepreneurial model of value creation. Digital marketing is a perfect illustration. By definition, it’s a field characterized by feedback loops and the only way to stay ahead is fast response and a willingness to learn and change.
Kevin Roy, CEO of the digital marketing agency Green Banana has been a pioneer in this field and stayed ahead as a leader.
For full show notes visit, thevaluecreators.com
Duration:00:29:34
Episode #5. Adam Bryant on Leadership In Business: It’s More Than Just Business School Contrivance.
7/6/2023
Is there such a thing as leadership in business? Or is it a manufactured concept to sell books and executive education courses from big-name business schools?
To shed some light, we talked to Adam Bryant, who has made leadership into his own field of expert knowledge and professional practice. He did so by interviewing over 1000 business leaders, both CEO’s and other senior executives, in multiple industries and stages of business growth and at every scale. He’s published his findings on LinkedIn and in the “Corner Office” column he created for The New York Times. His latest book on the subject is The Leap To Leader: How Ambitious Managers Make The Jump To Leadership. He is the senior managing director and a partner at the Exco Group, an executive leadership development firm.
For full show notes visit, thevaluecreators.com
Duration:00:38:34
Episode #4. Reza Farhani: Navigating the Future of Work: Insights on Culture, Communication, and Entrepreneurship
7/4/2023
Successful innovation is a combination of deep customer knowledge and deep technical knowledge. Both are critical, and it is the unique combination of them that becomes a marketplace advantage by serving customers by solving an important problem for them with a differentiated, preferred, and technically superior approach.
Reza Farahani, the founder of WFHomie, is a data scientist who, working at top global companies in tech and consulting, developed great insights into the way data can reveal human motivations and patterns in customer behavior.
Equipped with deep technical knowledge in data science and analytics as well as deep customer knowledge, he speaks on how we can apply this to startups to solve new problems for our customers, create healthy and productive teams, and create real innovation.
For full show notes, visit: https://thevaluecreators.com
Duration:00:34:07