ROI Podcast™ — the #1 Entrepreneurial Business meets Comedy podcast hosted by Law Smith + Eric Readinger

What happens when the people you manage make more money than you do? ROI Podcast® #516 puts Eric Readinger and Law Smith into one of the stranger management problems created by the new economics of college sports. John Calipari says some college basketball players now make more than assistant coaches. That sends Eric and Law into NCAA NIL compensation, college athlete pay, coaching economics, player leverage and the practical problem of leading talented people whose financial power may exceed that of the people technically managing them. It is a college sports problem that looks a lot like a business problem. Compensation does not automatically create authority. Job titles do not automatically create leverage. And managing high-value talent gets considerably more complicated when the traditional economic hierarchy gets flipped upside down. Then, because this is ROI Podcast®, they wander directly into everything else. Law explains how he is using Claude and other AI tools for research, administrative work and business grunt work. Eric tries to figure out what data centers actually do. They get into data overload, the physical infrastructure behind digital information, generic AI-generated advertising and why giving machines unlimited creative capacity has already produced an impressive amount of extremely mediocre creative. The back half gets stranger. Eric and Law react to David Grusch's appearance on Joe Rogan and discuss his UAP allegations, intelligence versus counterintelligence, government secrecy, remote viewing, consciousness, alleged non-human intelligence, underwater bases, reptilian claims, ancient civilizations and the possibility that AI could eventually help researchers process enormous amounts of information humans cannot realistically analyze themselves. Nobody proves aliens exist. Nobody fixes college sports. Nobody becomes an endocrinologist. Pretty productive 69 minutes. Also discussed: testosterone testing, Sober October, golf, John Calipari, NCAA video games, virtual currencies, money laundering, Jameis Winston, Joe Rogan, The Abyss and Southland Tales. ROI Podcast® #516 is a host-only episode with Eric Readinger and Law Smith. Business, management, technology, economics and comedy without pretending every conversation needs seven actionable takeaways and a downloadable PDF.

Most people do not hate sales. They hate being sold at by somebody who has been waiting for them to inhale so the 47-slide deck can resume. In ROI Podcast® #515, Law Smith and Eric Readinger talk with Cam Tolman, founder of PitchDown™ and the Non-Sales Sales Coach, about what happens when you stop treating sales like a performance and start treating it like guided discovery. Cam's argument is simple: stop talking about yourself. Ask better questions. Listen closely. Help the buyer recognize the real gap between where they think they are and where they actually are. If the problem is real, the buyer can own it, understand what doing nothing costs, and decide whether movement makes sense. If the problem is not real, do not force a close just because somebody wrote a quota on a whiteboard. The guys break down why prospects say yes and still do nothing, why agreement is not the same thing as commitment, and why traditional discovery calls too often become sellers collecting information for themselves rather than helping buyers discover something useful about their own situation. They also get into why every employee influences revenue. Sales may be somebody's title, but support, marketing, product, operations, accounting, leadership, and every other customer-impacting function can improve or wreck the buying experience. Then it is AI vs. human intelligence. Cam uses AI for efficiency, but argues that important sales conversations still rely on empathy, human connection, curiosity, judgment, tone, facial expressions, pauses, body language, and the willingness to tell somebody the truth instead of whatever gets the signature fastest. Along the way: entrepreneurship, bad sales calls, buyer psychology, body-language tells, why "always be curious" beats "always be closing," and enough lightning-round nonsense to make sure nobody accidentally mistakes this for corporate sales enablement. Listen if you are a founder, salesperson, account manager, customer success leader, marketer, operator, consultant, executive, agency owner, or anybody whose paycheck eventually requires another human to agree, decide, approve, renew, buy, or move. Topics include how to sell without being salesy, sales psychology, buyer psychology, discovery selling, ethical sales, better sales questions, buyer self-discovery, sales without pressure, B2B sales, founder-led sales, AI in sales, human intelligence, empathy, active listening, customer experience, sales leadership, revenue growth, PitchDown™, and Cam Tolman.  

You were probably told to save money, build good credit, contribute to retirement accounts, work for several decades and eventually retire somewhere with a Costco membership and surprisingly strong opinions about thermostat settings. Mark Quann thinks that entire playbook deserves cross-examination. In ROI Podcast® #513, Law Smith and Eric Readinger talk with Mark Quann, founder of The Perfect Portfolio and author of Be Smart Pay Zero Taxes, about the wealth strategy known as Buy, Borrow, Die. Mark explains the basic idea: buy appreciating assets, avoid unnecessarily selling those assets, and potentially use loans secured by those investments to access liquidity instead. The conversation gets into margin loans, stocks and ETFs, real estate, life insurance, precious metals, Bitcoin, inflation, capital gains, financial education and why Mark believes wealthy investors think about debt differently. Law naturally stress-tests the strategy by asking how somebody should finance a cocaine habit. Somebody had to. Mark also explains why he's bullish on Bitcoin but considerably less affectionate toward the rest of crypto, why he questions conventional retirement and banking advice, and why he's teaching investment concepts to homeschool students young enough to still require permission to operate the toaster. His road into finance wasn't exactly Wharton-to-Goldman. Mark talks about dropping out of school, growing up poor, becoming a private investigator in Los Angeles, conducting workers' compensation surveillance, meeting Patrick Bet-David early in his career, becoming a financial advisor, writing books and eventually building The Perfect Portfolio. It's personal finance, investing, entrepreneurship, tax strategy, childhood LSD, private-investigator urine bottles and Eric somehow getting accused of racism. So, basically, Bloomberg with worse adult supervision. Guest: Mark Quann, The Perfect Portfolio Hosts: Law Smith, @LawSmithWorks, LawSmithWorks.com | Eric Readinger, @EricReadinger ROI Podcast®: @ROIshow, ROIshow.com Tocobaga: SolvingHow.com The description reflects subjects and claims actually discussed in the provided transcript and audio and not financial advice. Law Smith Instagram: @lawsmithworks. ROI's own posts consistently tag that account. X: @LawSmithWorks. YouTube: @LawSmithWorks. Facebook: Law Smith Works / @LawSmithWorks. LinkedIn: Law Smith / lawsmithworks. Eric Readinger Instagram: @ericreadinger. Facebook: Eric Readinger / ericreadinger. LinkedIn: Eric Readinger / eric-readinger. I found third-party indexing suggesting @ericreadinger on TikTok, but I could not first-party verify that account, so I would not put it in the episode metadata yet. ROI Podcast® Instagram: @roishow. YouTube: @roishow. Facebook: ROI Podcast / girthyroi. The URL still carries the old brand handle. LinkedIn: ROI Podcast®. The public company page still uses the legacy /company/sweatequity slug. Tocobaga Instagram: @solvinghow. Facebook: Tocobaga / TocobagaWorks. LinkedIn: Tocobaga, company page currently indexed at /company/toco-works. Mark Quann His own website explicitly identifies these as official accounts: Instagram: @markjquann. X: @markjquann. LinkedIn: Mark Quann / mark-quann-author. The Perfect Portfolio Instagram: @theperfectportfolio. YouTube: @P2Wealth. X: @P2Wealth. LinkedIn: The Perfect Portfolio. Facebook: Mark Quann, The Perfect Portfolio.

Ruperi Shah of Sacred Becoming is a Certified Hypnotherapist and can be found on Instagram @ruperoo In this episode of The Incremental Podcast, Eric sits down with Ruperi Shah for a wide-ranging conversation about the mind, the body, and the beliefs that shape how we live. They explore Ruperi's experiences with hypnotherapy, what it can reveal about our subconscious patterns, and the role spirituality can play in personal growth and self-understanding. The conversation also dives into vegetarianism, the choices and values behind it, and how our relationship with food can connect to a broader philosophy of life. It's a thoughtful discussion about questioning assumptions, becoming more conscious, and finding your own path.

Your website can rank on Google and still be completely invisible to the increasingly judgmental robot deciding which companies deserve to exist in an AI-generated answer. In ROI Podcast® episode 512, Law Smith and Eric Readinger explain how businesses can improve their visibility in AI search, Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and other LLM-driven research tools. The practical answer is not "add AI to the strategy deck" and charge the client another $4,000. Law breaks down why businesses need answer-first content built around actual buyer questions. He explains how schema markup, structured FAQs, search intent, and clear service explanations help machines understand what a company does and when it should appear in an AI-generated response. Eric and Law also discuss why changing an established business name or domain can become a technical migraine, why unaccepted calendar invitations should be treated as a warning from the universe, and how companies can stop writing website copy that sounds impressive while communicating absolutely nothing. Because this is a host-only episode, the business discussion is surrounded by the usual ROI Podcast® educational curriculum: awkward comedian encounters, bad AirPod audio, compulsory TikTok dancing, China's population math, Patreon procrastination, run-club purgatory, captain hats, artificial intelligence, and ley lines beneath ancient structures. Basically, Harvard Business Review after somebody slips something into the Keurig. Listen if you are a founder, marketer, consultant, SEO professional, agency owner, content strategist, or small business operator trying to make your website understandable to both prospective customers and the machines now helping them make buying decisions. Topics include AI search optimization, generative engine optimization, LLM SEO, Google AI Overviews, schema markup, FAQ schema, structured data, search intent, content marketing, website rebranding, domain authority, small business marketing, podcast monetization, entrepreneurship, and business comedy. ROI Podcast® is hosted by: Law Smith @LawSmithWorks LawSmithWorks.com Eric Readinger @EricReadinger Powered by Tocobaga SolvingHow.com Tocoba.ga

Chris Hallberg, CEO and Founder of Business Sergeant and President and Founder of GoExpand, joins ROI Podcast® #511 to talk EOS, business operating systems, military leadership, veteran-powered recruiting, accountability, execution, and the small-business disease known as "we're agile," which is sometimes just Latin for "we made a new excuse every two weeks." Chris is an Expert EOS Implementer who helps leadership teams stop winging the business like a drunk magician at a sales conference. He explains EOS in plain English: vision, people, data, issues, process, and traction. Or, as we prefer to call it, "the six things that keep your company from turning into a group project where Todd from sales has opinions and no follow-through." Law and Chris get into why most meetings are lawless little hostage situations, how scorecards make accountability less emotional, why "right people, right seats" is not a motivational poster, and why energy vampires and brilliant jerks need to be traded to another team like a locker-room problem with a LinkedIn Premium account. They also hit veteran leadership, Business Sergeant's mission, GoExpand's agentic AI platform, project management, critical thinking, UFOs, control being an illusion, and why you should not be the smartest person in the room unless you are teaching kindergarten or holding court at a Chili's bar after one weird Tuesday. Hosted by Law Smith and Eric Readinger, ROI Podcast® is the #1 entrepreneurial-business-meets-comedy podcast for founders, operators, marketers, and executives who want useful business thinking without the corporate anesthesia. Guest: Chris Hallberg CEO & Founder, Business Sergeant President & Founder, GoExpand Expert EOS Implementer Hosts: Law Smith - @LawSmithWorks - www.LawSmithWorks.com  Eric Readinger - @EricReadinger Tocobaga Consulting - www.SolvingHow.com 

Running is already punishment with better shoes. In ROI Podcast® #509, Law Smith and Eric Readinger talk with Josh Sprague, owner/operator and founder of Orange Mud, the endurance gear company making hydration packs, running vests, biking packs, transition wraps, and outdoor gear for runners, cyclists, triathletes, mountain bikers, gravel riders, ultra runners, and other people who hear "24-hour race" and somehow do not immediately fake a hamstring injury. Josh built Orange Mud because the hydration packs he used were too tight, bounced around, caused chafing, and made running feel like a backpack had filed a workplace grievance against his torso. So he made his own. Fourteen years later, Orange Mud is still solving that same core problem: helping athletes carry fluid, gear, phones, calories, and post-race beer-garden money without turning their upper body into a friction crime scene. This one starts with practical product design, then takes the scenic route through SEC football smuggling economics, premium floppy flasks, Raiders fan brawls, secret backpack wine compartments, fake casts full of booze, organic street nuts, nicotine pouches, and the kind of R&D conversation that should probably be notarized. Then Josh drops the business stuff that actually matters. Founders confuse activity with ROI. Busy is not a metric. Busy is a haunted LinkedIn carousel with a calendar invite. Josh's cleanest example: the best account he ever landed took five years of follow-up, then turned into $5 million in the first year. Most people quit after two polite emails and a sad CRM note. Josh kept showing up. The bigger lesson is marketing infrastructure. Josh explains why companies chase platforms like Facebook ads before they understand the full pipeline. If your website is bad, your tracking is broken, your CRM is decorative, your follow-up is asleep, and your customer problem is defined with the clarity of a gas station bathroom mirror, the ad platform is not the problem. You are just paying Meta to make the fire look warm. Listen if you are a founder, ecommerce operator, product builder, endurance athlete, marketer, salesperson, agency owner, or anyone who has ever said "we need Facebook ads" before knowing who the customer is, what problem they have, and what happens after the lead comes in. Hosted by Law Smith, @LawSmithWorks, LawSmithWorks.com, and Eric Readinger, @EricReadinger. Powered by Tocobaga Consulting, Tocoba.ga. ROI Podcast® is the business show for people who want the math, the mess, and the occasional product idea that belongs in a stadium parking lot. Topics: Josh Sprague, Orange Mud, hydration packs, running gear, cycling gear, endurance racing, 24-hour races, trail running, gravel cycling, product design, customer pain, marketing ROI, sales follow-up, CRM, Facebook ads, Meta attribution, ecommerce marketing, founder story

Small business ownership is sold like freedom, then quietly turns into  a group project where you're somehow every group member AND the  substitute teacher. In ROI Podcast® episode 508, Law Smith and Eric Readinger sit down with  Andy Clark — creator of The Whole PIE System™ and author of Getting  The Whole PIE — to talk about how to build a business that's actually  profitable, actually impactful, and (radically) actually enjoyable.  Wild concept. Apparently the goal is not to create a company that  prints money while slowly turning your soul into printer toner. Andy works with small business owners stuck in the messy gap between  "owner-operator" and "actual owner." They have customers, employees,  revenue, meetings, and that special founder disease where every problem  mysteriously circles back to their inbox. Andy walks through how to  get out of the weeds, build real systems, install accountability, and  focus on the metrics that actually drive results. The guys dig into why owners say they want better results but resist  the behavior changes needed to get there, why law firms and  professional services partnerships are uniquely chaotic to run, and  why running a business should at least occasionally feel enjoyable  instead of like a hostage situation with recurring invoices. Andy also shares a real case study from an automatic car wash chain  that grew from 10 to 22 locations and tripled revenue by leaning hard  into customer service — in an industry literally designed to avoid  human contact. Yes. Customer service. In car washes. The bar is on  the floor and somehow still full of opportunity. They also cover Moneyball-style metrics, the Golden State Warriors, AI  readiness for small business, owner bottlenecks, Costa Rica, Canadian  geography, hockey trauma, guitar guys at parties, and whether cake or  pie is the superior food and/or business framework. Listen if you're a small business owner, consultant, professional  services leader, agency founder, lawyer, operator, or anyone who has  ever whispered "I need better systems" while opening another tab and  making the problem worse. ROI Podcast® is hosted by Law Smith and Eric Readinger. Business,  comedy, and enough operational truth to make your Google Calendar  blink twice. Topics: small business growth, business coaching, business strategy,  The Whole PIE System, Andy Clark, Getting The Whole PIE, profit impact  enjoyment, business operations, scaling a small business, owner- operator bottleneck, business systems, customer service strategy, AI  for small business, entrepreneur podcast, business podcast.

Getting rich isn't about working harder. It's about playing a different game entirely. In this episode of ROI Podcast™, Chris Van Dusen, Senior Partner at Solyco Capital, breaks down how wealth is actually built behind the curtain… not the version you see on TikTok. We talk about: What private equity really does (without the jargon) Why most founders fail before they ever had a chance The difference between wealth preservation and wealth creation How high-net-worth investors think about risk and returns Why doing hard things on purpose is the only real edge Chris went from getting laid off 75 days into a new life… to building and selling multiple companies and now deploying capital at scale. This episode is part strategy, part reality check, and part "you're not working as hard as you think you are." If you want to understand money, business, and how deals actually happen… press play.     Chris Van Dusen isn't your typical finance guy who memorized a few buzzwords and now cosplays as an investor on LinkedIn. He's the guy who got punched in the face by real life, got back up, and decided to start building instead of complaining. After graduating from the College of William & Mary with a degree in economics, Chris entered the world of finance through real estate investment banking. Then the market did what markets do best… and nuked his job. Just 75 days after moving to California, he was unemployed. That's not a pivot. That's a shove. Instead of retreating, he became what he calls an "accidental entrepreneur." Over the next decade, he built, scaled, and exited multiple companies, including selling three businesses across 2019 and 2021. He also raised funds in emerging sectors like cannabis, helped grow media companies, and worked directly with founders trying to not implode under pressure. Today, Chris is a Senior Partner at Solyco Capital, a vertically integrated private investment firm focused on capital solutions for growth-stage companies. His role is simple to explain but hard to execute: find great companies, structure capital around them, and deliver meaningful returns for investors. Translation: he's betting on jockeys, not just horses. Chris works closely with high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and institutional investors, helping them deploy capital into alternative assets and private deals with asymmetric upside potential. The kind of deals most people don't even know exist. Beyond finance, Chris brings a discipline-first mindset shaped by his background as a former Division I pitcher and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. His philosophy is blunt: do hard things on purpose, or life will pick hard things for you anyway.  Whether it's grinding through entrepreneurship, surviving market cycles, or getting choked out on a mat for 10 years straight, Chris has built a reputation for embracing discomfort instead of avoiding it. And that mindset shows up in everything he does. Episode sponsored...  💦 by ZUPYAK - The first search optimized AI writer. https://www.Zupyak.com → promo code → SWEAT  💦  Flodesk email marketing - you get 50% off by hitting this link https://flodesk.com/c/AL83FF 💦  Incogni remove you personal data from public websites 50% off https://get.incogni.io/SH3ve 💦  by SQUARESPACE website builder → https://squarespacecircleus.pxf.io/sweatequity 💦  by CALL RAIL call tracking → https://bit.ly/sweatequitycallrail 💦  by LINKEDIN PREMIUM - 2 months free! → https://bit.ly/sweatequity-linkedin-premium 💦  by OTTER.ai → https://otter.ai/referrals/AVPIT85N Hosts' Eric Readinger & Law Smith 🔗s - https://www.LawSmithWorks.com - https://www.Tocoba.ga Getting fired might be the best thing that ever happens to you. Not emotionally. Financially. In Episode 507 of ROI Podcast™, we sit down with Chris Van Dusen, Senior Partner at Solyco Capital, to break down what actually separates people who build wealth… from people who just talk about it on Instagram. We get into: - Why most startups fail (hint: it's not the idea)  - How private equity actually evaluates founders  - The real difference between rich people and everyone else  - Why "sitting in the suck" is the only competitive advantage that matters  - How to invest like someone who already has money  Chris also explains how ultra-wealthy investors think about risk, why alternative assets exist, and how normal people misunderstand capital allocation entirely. Plus: - NIL deals and why most athletes won't see real money  - Jiu-jitsu as the ultimate ego killer  - Burnout, seasons of life, and why balance is a myth  If you've ever wondered how deals actually get done behind the scenes… this is the episode. 🎯 Watch. Learn. Then go do something uncomfortable. ---

Think of this episode as your comedy‑infused blueprint for escaping the founder prison."  Host Law Smith sits down with serial entrepreneur George Rivera, the man behind the Buy Back Time Formula, who built multiple seven‑, eight‑ and nine‑figure companies before realizing he'd accidentally locked himself in a golden cage. He recounts how his father's dying words ("don't miss Leo's games") forced him to tear down a $200M business that looked great on paper but left him exhausted and absent. Together they shred hustle culture, debate whether a hot dog is a sandwich and unpack why most productivity porn is just that—porn. Rivera explains the four‑burner theory and shares how a simple daily scorecard can calm your nerves and keep profits up while you take a two‑week vacation. He also invites listeners to his Founder Dad Dinners and reminds us we only get 18 summers with our kids. This episode blends practical tactics (delegate, automate, build systems) with laugh‑out‑loud moments and heartfelt stories. If you're a cash‑rich, time‑poor founder who hates glossy bro‑marketing, this irreverent chat will show you how to reclaim your time, scale your business and be present for what truly matters.   George Rivera is the founder of the Buy Back Time Formula, a movement designed to help overworked founders reclaim their lives by creating leverage in their businesses. After three decades as an entrepreneur, Rivera knows what it's like to build companies that look like success but feel like a prison. In the mid‑1990s he started a direct‑response business while still in high school and over the next 30 years he built multiple 7‑, 8‑ and 9‑figure ventures, including a supplement brand that surpassed $200 million in sales. With offices, teams and sales numbers most entrepreneurs dream about, Rivera appeared to "have it all." Yet he was miserable, overloaded and on the verge of walking away. The turning point came when his father, dying of cancer, told him: "Don't miss Leo's games – I missed too many of yours." Those words hit Rivera like a punch in the gut and pushed him to rebuild his business and personal life around what really matters. Rivera recognized that his success had cost him quality time with his family and joy with his son Leo. He stepped out from behind the scenes of his companies and began teaching other entrepreneurs how to eliminate, automate and delegate the work that keeps them chained to their desks. Today he guides high‑performing founders to escape the "job with overhead" trap, reclaim 15‑30+ hours per week and design businesses that run without them. His philosophy is simple: freedom comes from structure, not stamina. Instead of hustling 100‑hour weeks, he teaches systems like the daily scorecard that give owners a snapshot of the metrics that matter so they can make data‑driven decisions and sleep better. Rivera also hosts Founder Dad Dinners in Austin and online roundtables to help "cash‑rich, time‑poor" entrepreneurs build community and be present with their children, because, as he reminds us, we only get 18 summers with our kids. By helping leaders build structure, hire proactively and document processes, he shows that you can scale profits and show up for the moments that matter most. Rivera's story resonates because he's walked through founder prison and lived to tell the tale.   https://buybacktimeformula.com/ https://buybacktimeformula.com/media https://buybacktimeformula.com/book-266179 https://buybacktimeformula.com/ytbook https://buybacktimeformula.com/speaking https://18summersroundtable.com/ https://founderdaddinners.com/ https://www.georgerivera.com/ https://www.facebook.com/georgerivera77/ https://www.instagram.com/georgerivera1977/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-rivera-53b3296/ https://x.com/GeorgeR76991 https://www.youtube.com/@buybacktimeformula https://www.tiktok.com/@buybacktimeformula https://leointerviews.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@Leo_interviews