Leeds Business Insights

On this episode of the Leeds Business Insights podcast, host Claire Stewart speaks with Matt Brady, an award-winning assistant teaching professor in Leeds' Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics department. Matt is also a serial entrepreneur, and his latest startups include Volley Solutions, a decision optimization platform that helps organizations combine data and intuition to make better decisions, and WorksBetter, which makes public records actionable for taxpayers.Matt explains how he treats his gut instinct is an unaudited dataset and recommends using methods like pre-mortems, red teaming, and “disagree and commit,” while seeking input from the silent dissenters in your organizations. He also recommends always keeping a human in the loop with your technology advancements as AI can accelerate both good and wrong answers. He describes how leaders should start with people, use AI to augment rather than replace humans, and avoid automating bad processes. Matt discusses his Human-Centered Technology program and a Japan-based course with Nagoya University where students research hospitals and elder care, building solutions like Anshin Care. His rules of thumb: set decision bars before seeing data and never make a decision you can’t explain.Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.EPISODE QUOTES:Your gut is a data set too02:28: So I've become much more attuned to and respectful of gut and intuition as I've learned more about decision science. I think accomplished leaders, as I work with them, speaking around the country, their instincts are proven. So the way I have taken insights from that exposure is that your gut is a data set too. It's just one that no one has audited. When the two disagree, that's the cheapest research you'll ever get. Keeping a human in the loop04:06: One of the things that I coach executives on is to look for those who are silent and who may have the most insight, where that information is just not being conveyed upward, it's not being escalated. And so the goal is to hear from those folks because they often, at the edges of their organization, have the best feel for what is happening and also have the ability to yield the greatest effect on the projects that are being funded and resourced. Setting the bar before seeing the data29:46: Set the bar before you see the data, and never make a decision that you can't explain. Let me break that down. Set the bar before you see the data, to me, demands that you have to have your own perspective, your own point of view. You open the report or run the model, make note of the result that would change your mind. Say it to your team. "If the number comes in below this line, we walk away." If you wait until after you've seen the data, it quietly move the goalposts, and you'll always find a story that fits what you already wanted to do. That is called confirmation bias.SHOW LINKS:Episode TranscriptMatt Brady | Leeds School of BusinessMatt Brady | LinkedInBuildInJapan.com ColoradoImpactChallenge.orgColoradoWorksBetter.orgVolleySolutions.com

On this episode of the Leeds Business Insights podcast, host Claire Stewart speaks with Spencer Rogers, hospitality entrepreneur, founder/CEO of Third Place Hospitality, and an alumnus of the Leeds School of Business, about entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) and his career path from product management at Apple to a PTSD-recovery app startup, then full-time hospitality.Spencer explains how bartending alongside his tech career led him to Denver and into bar management, prompting him to pursue an MBA at Leeds to build his finance and marketing skills. Spencer found ETA and the search-fund model at a key time through a class and a mentor, leading him to form Third Place Hospitality in 2024, focused on “third places” that build community amid increased loneliness and blurred work/home life. He describes LOIs, due diligence, and ultimately acquiring the establishment Lady Jane in 2025, as well as lessons in ownership, misconceptions about hospitality, shifts in cocktail culture post-COVID, and why ETA is growing in Colorado due to the “Silver Tsunami” of retiring owners and expanding curriculum and events.Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.EPISODE QUOTES:Merging industry intuition with MBA education14:38: My thought and hope, and what I'm betting my career on, is that having that background in hospitality and knowing the space really well, combined with what I learned in the MBA program, a much stronger base in finance, I can find and get myself into deals for bars that perhaps other people in the ETA world wouldn't look at, and perhaps other people who are just purely in the hospitality world wouldn't necessarily have the knowledge to structure those deals. Being an entrepreneur really is how you handle unexpected punches 19:35: Unforeseen things are just always going to happen. You can't foresee everything. Things are going to change. Things are going to shake up. And I think a big part of being an entrepreneur really is how you handle those unexpected punches and how you're able to navigate them, go around them. Sometimes the only way is through them. But it really is just always something different, something new, which is scary and exciting at the same time.Lessons learned through acquisition20:00: Another thing you really don't understand until you're in it with entrepreneurship through acquisition is once you're done with the search process and you close a deal and you buy a business, you're now responsible for all of your employees and their wellbeing. So overnight, you become the person who makes sure the lights stay on, the paychecks get signed. You make payroll every time you need to, all of that. And that's obviously there's pressure with that, but it's really, really fulfilling knowing that you are able to support people in their careers.SHOW LINKS:Episode TranscriptSpencer Rogers | LinkedIn ProfileSpencer Rogers | Lady Jane2026 Rocky Mountain ETA Conference

On this episode of the Leeds Business Insights podcast, host Claire Stewart speaks with Ying Zeng, assistant professor of marketing at the Leeds School of Business, to unpack the hidden biases and mental shortcuts that shape consumer decision-making.Ying explains why tasks feel most exhausting near completion—because people track percentage completed rather than total effort—and suggests batching chores to experience this "end drain" only once. She breaks down common online review biases, revealing how price and platform norms distort ratings, and offers practical strategies for making smarter purchases. The conversation also explores AI as an emerging decision shortcut for complex purchases, the hidden appeal of risky products, and why marketers must simplify their messaging for "lazy" consumers. Finally, Ying outlines a framework for distinguishing short-lived fads from lasting market trends.Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.EPISODE QUOTES:AI as a tool to reduce cognitive burden10:39: If you're very tired with shopping, you probably want to take shortcuts, and that's just human. One shortcut people take is using branding information, brands. People have brands that they trust, and they don't think about other things like price, like other consumer reviews, like the product specifications. There are other shortcuts people use. For example, simply relying on ratings. That's another shortcut that starts when the reputation system establishes. Now we have another shortcut that we can also customize for our own needs, which is AI. So, if you are someone who cares, who has all these principles when you select a product, AI can be a tool to help you reduce these cognitive burdens.On simplifying consumer decisions13:21: Do not overestimate how sophisticated your consumers are. Consumers are lazy. Consumers are not that intelligent. I am lazy. I am stupid. I am a consumer. So, for business and for marketers, the key part for us to design a successful product or to design something that consumers love is to help them simplify their decisions.AI as the next trend20:06: Now I think artificial intelligence is probably the next trend because it has all the features of what we call general-purpose technologies. It has this feature of potentially nurturing new industries, potentially nurturing new ideas, and it has this feature of potentially having this feedback loop of reinforcing itself.SHOW LINKS:Episode TranscriptYing Zeng | Leeds School of Business ProfileYing Zeng | Personal WebsiteGoogle Scholar Page

On this episode of the Leeds Business Insights podcast, host Claire Stewart talks with Dave Allen, the CEO of Pure Fishing for Sycamore Partners as well as a Leeds alumnus and Dean’s Advisory Board member.Dave describes his career path from landing his first job with Unilever to leading turnarounds, emphasizing a strategy of cutting invisible costs, reinvesting in brand building and innovation, strengthening culture, and assessing talent. He cites social media as one seismic consumer-products shift, requiring hyper-local, nimble marketing across platforms. Dave also says AI in business has turned out more to drive efficiency than replace jobs and encourages businesses and students to “just start.” He details a CU internship partnership that paired business and engineering students to solve marketing and efficiency use cases, including YouTube optimization and AI storyboarding, generating major view gains and $1.9M savings that the organization used to hire full-time AI staff to continue these trends. Dave and Claire also discuss the outdoors industry and what makes it unique.Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.EPISODE QUOTES:An advice for people intimidated by AI08:10: [Claire Stewart] Is there any advice that you might give to businesses that are kind of intimidated by AI, and they don't know how it's going to impact things?08:17: [Dave Allen] Start. Just start. You know what? Some things will work, some things won't work. You'll find your own rhythm. I think where we started, you know, it was really around efficiency. How do we go and save money? And I think where we've evolved is, you know, to be able to push it more towards growth. So how can we leverage it to be able to be, you know, drive faster innovation, better innovation, and drive more sales across more channels. So, our journey has sort of taken us through efficiency and now into growth, but I think the most important part is just get started.AI is a real gift07:17: I would encourage people to think about AI as a real gift. So they've grown up with AI in a way that, you know, you and I haven't, right? So they've thought about AI in terms of how they approach everything probably since, even the tail end of high school for the batch of seniors that we have right now. And if you take a look at it, you know, if you're probably over 26 or 27 years old, you might as well be 50, because you really haven't used the tool that often. And so I think their ability to be able to take it, solve problems, but also be able to go and then teach a whole generation of people within an organization how to use it, how to leverage it, will give them a huge competitive advantage in the marketplace.Why CU graduates stands out16:07: Part of the beauty of CU, I think, is not only the in-class experience, but it's all the other things that CU and Boulder has to offer. And so I think that, you know, I find a lot of those students are really high on the EQ side, and that's a huge differentiator and really important, for people in terms of how far they can go in their career.SHOW LINKS:Episode TranscriptDave Allen | Leeds School of Business ProfileTalent Meets Technology: How Students Solved a Problem for a Global Brand | Article

On this episode of the Leeds Business Insights podcast, host Claire Stewart talks with Mallory Decker, a Leeds School of Business doctoral candidate in organizational behavior and former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot who served 11 years on active duty, including tours in the U.S. House of Representatives and at NATO.Mallory explains how being one of the few women in naval aviation and often the only woman in high-level NATO meetings motivated her to study gender and teams at work. She shares research on gender pay gaps showing that not only do individual women face pay-gap challenges in male-dominated workspaces and industries, but women also face a “collaboration penalty,” driven by perceptions that women’s groups threaten the male-dominated status quo. Claire and Mallory discuss implications for organizational transparency and accountability. Mallory outlines her three-paper dissertation and offers valuable advice on why prospective PhD students should pursue programs aligned with their research interests.Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.EPISODE QUOTES:What inspired Mallory to study organizational behavior?03:05: I was very often the only woman in the room where these large international decisions were being made. And it really struck me as being, "Man, I thought we had come so far as women." And I just realized there were still so many structural issues in place that I did not realize when I graduated college and was going off to enter the workforce. So, over the course of these 11 years serving in the military, I realized, "Hey, these are issues that I am always interested in reading about. These are issues that I kind of have an opinion on based off my experience, and these are things that I really think could be improved and that I would be excited to try to help change." And yes, I could see myself studying these things for the rest of my life.Advice for those who want to pursue a PhD16:44: Make sure you really want to do research, because that is what you do in the PhD program. It does require a lot of self-motivation, initiative, drive, and persistence to keep wanting to come back when you are getting negative feedback and being told your paper is not good enough for this journal, and you need to go rerun the experiment another 10 times before maybe it will work or you will find anything interesting. So it does take a lot of dusting yourself off and getting back up from it, and you have to really enjoy the process and not just the outcome if you are going to get into it. What did her research find about how all-women groups are perceived and penalized?11:17: So we found that when women work in exclusively all-women work groups, so teams of all women versus teams of all men, the gender pay gap gets worse. So when men work with all men, their pay increases. When women work with all women, that pay gap gets bigger than if they just worked alone, and their pay was taken into account just as a solo employee. And we found, we tested through some online experiments, that this was because groups of women presented a threat to an existing status quo in male-dominated workplaces that solo women workers did not present, and that male workers, either alone or in the same groups, did not present. So we found that when women work together, they present a threat of competition that they do not present when they work by themselves, and that led to lower pay.SHOW LINKS:Episode TranscriptMallory Decker | Leeds School of Business ProfileMallory Decker | University of Colorado Boulder ArticleMallory Decker | LinkedInMallory Decker | ResearchGate PageMallory Decker | Google Scholar Page

Today on the Leeds Business Insights podcast, our host, Claire Stewart, sits down with Shay Har-Noy, the managing director of Techstars Boulder. Shay’s enthusiasm for entrepreneurship is undeniable, and he is responsible for raising the fund, recruiting companies, and working with the world's best founders.Shay and Claire discuss Shay’s path from his education through founding his first company, having it be acquired, leading Uber’s Colorado tech facility, working at Spire through its NYSE listing, and, most recently, joining Techstars to relaunch in Boulder. He explains Techstars’ return after COVID-era consolidation, the renewed, dedicated Boulder fund, and the accelerator model: hundreds of applicants vying for 8–10 slots, a $220,000 investment, a 12-week program, software perks, and access to a global investor network and a 10,000+ founder network. Shay emphasizes how it’s never been easier to start companies with AI, but many businesses shouldn’t be venture-backed, and he describes the types of businesses he sees being successful and how they can best be ready for the challenges. Shay outlines investability and makes a compelling pitch for Techstar’s upcoming in-person cohort, with applications due June 10 for a September start.Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.EPISODE QUOTES:Why this is the best time to start a company07:09: It's never been easier and more accessible for people who are exceptional founders, who are passionate about their problem space, who understand and empathize with their customers' pain points. There's never been a better time for them to start a company. And so what's interesting now is a lot of the conversations that I have with founders isn't, “Is your company a nice one or not a nice one?” It's, “It can still be something that VCs wouldn't invest in that would still be a great company for you.”Making Colorado the best place in the country to build a company11:57: I think Colorado is a really special place. My goal is to make Colorado, to put it back on the map, and to help contribute to it being on the map, to be the best place in the country to build a company. Okay. There's places with more investors. There's places on the coast with more entrepreneurs. I've lived in both of these places, okay? I think what we have is an amazing ecosystem of business leaders, of mentors, of entrepreneurs, where the culture is such that we are working closely to make these companies successful. And I haven't seen that in many or any other place, where there's just the right density of talent, just the right density of funding, and absolutely the right density of mentorship and support for these companies. And that's unique to where we are now.Techstars Boulder is not just software as a service15:48: Techstars Boulder is not just software as a service, right? It's not just software companies. It's also companies that have solved deep technical problems that are bringing them to market. And so now you're like, "Hey, if you squint really hard, Shay's got three jobs, right? Attract, select, and accelerate," right? One, two, three. And this is how CU can help me with, with the talent pool and with the applicant pool, with the selection, and with the acceleration.SHOW LINKS:Techstars BoulderTechstars Boulder | LinkedInShay Har-Noy | Techstars ProfileShay Har-Noy | LinkedIn

Welcome back to Season 5 of the Leeds Business Insights podcast! This season, we welcome Claire Stewart to the hosting chair as she continues to bring you conversations with some of Leeds and Colorado’s brightest voices.Today, Claire sits down with Tony Kong, professor of organizational leadership and information analytics at the Leeds School of Business. His research examines how we can enable people to take actions intended to benefit others. How can humor factor into today’s workplace productively? How can the effects of appreciation and gratitude multiply in a workplace? How do you identify opportunities in business for creativity and innovation?Tony and Claire discuss Tony’s background and academic journey, as well as his personal journey moving from China to the United States, and navigating the differences between the two cultures. Tony explains how his research has led to his understanding of humor, and how it can function both in and of itself, and within the workplace. Tony also shares his findings on how appreciation can be shown to employees in meaningful ways and lets us in on his musical side, and history with singing, revealing his go-to karaoke songs. Take a listen and join us back here for a new episode every month.Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.EPISODE QUOTES:The role of humor in trust03:34: Humor can build trust between two individuals or build high-quality relationships among people. Humor can also trigger positive emotions. So people actually feel happy. All of that can lead to a range of benefits in the workplace, such as job performance, organizational citizenship behaviors, creativity, commitment, et cetera.On establishing trust in the workplace10:12: One thing managers always assume is, more trust is better. So, my research actually shows that before building trust, people actually need to think about their self-esteem at work. If a manager gives a lot of trust toward an employee, and the employee does not have really high self-esteem at work, then that trust becomes heavy. It can become a psychological burden. It actually disengage the person who received the trust. Humility as a habit for professional growth15:37: One habit I would recommend every professional to have is being humble and expressing humility. Like, express your humility. Listen to other people, appreciate other people's strengths and contributions. Of course, everybody has weaknesses, but let us take a look at other people's bright side, like, what they can do for the organization and then for other folks.SHOW LINKS:Tony Kong | Leeds School of Business ProfileFunny business | CU Boulder Today ArticleSaying ‘thank you’ | CU Boulder Today ArticleWhen trust goes bust | Leeds ArticleTony Kong | Google Scholar Page

What are the societal benefits of whistleblowing? What practical advice is there for those considering speaking up within their own organizations on how to best shed light on an issue without exposing themselves to retaliation? How do people become whistleblowers without even knowing it at the time?Meghan Van Portfliet is an assistant teaching professor at the Leeds School of Business. Her research focuses on whistleblowing and organizational ignorance.In this episode, Meghan starts by defining what organizational ignorance is and what constitutes whistleblowing. Meghan and Maria discuss the spectrum of risk involved in whistleblowing, and Meghan outlines the potential retaliations whistleblowers might face. She also emphasizes the importance of legal and PR support, media coverage, and how organizations can foster a culture where employees feel safe to report wrongdoing. The discussion highlights the societal benefits of whistleblowing and offers practical advice for those considering speaking up.Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.EPISODE QUOTES:Why do societies need whistleblowers?16:09: We, as a society, want whistleblowers to expose the wrongdoing that is happening within organizations because there is information asymmetry between organizations and the public. And that speaks again to organizational ignorance. Some of that is fine. We do not want to know everything that is going on. We do not need to know everything that is going on in organizations. But because organizations can slip — they can cut corners, they can cover things up that they think will damage their reputation — they can be incentivized by the wrong thing or be structured the wrong way and have it very easy for people to be engaging in fraud, things like that. We, as a society, benefit from whistleblowers speaking up about this.How teams can foster a speak-up culture22:38: If you can catch a problem before it goes public, you are saving yourself money, reputation. It is good for organizations to have whistleblowers, right? Like, we want them. And so, just a little award or a recognition or something like that goes a really long way to showing other people, like, "Hey, we care about this. This is something that we want in our organization, and this is something that we celebrate here." And that does set the culture for, "I am not afraid — that something is going to be done."What is strategic organization ignorance?00:45: Strategic organizational ignorance is ignorance that can be produced and sustained deliberately by organizations in ways that serve institutional goals, deflect responsibility, or maintain plausible deniability. So basically, it is the way that organizations use ignorance to achieve their goals, which are sometimes goals that are fine, goals that we are okay with as a society, but oftentimes, goals that are ones that we, as a society, do not want them to be pursuing.SHOW LINKS:Meghan Van Portfliet | Leeds School of Business ProfileMeghan Van Portfliet | LinkedInMeghan Van Portfliet | Google Scholar Page

What implications do consumer business and confidence have on the future of economic growth? How does fear of the unknown come into play with tariffs taking effect, and how will that play into the Federal Reserve’s stance on interest rates?Richard Wobbekind is the Associate Dean for Business and Government Relations at Leeds School of Business, and Brian Lewandowski is the Executive Director of the Business Research Division at Leeds School of Business. In this episode, Maria talks with Richard and Brian about the current state of the economy. Despite the cooling of Colorado's economy after years of robust growth, there are reasons for cautious optimism. They discuss the impacts of national policy changes, tariffs, and inflation on both the U.S. and Colorado locally. Colorado has seen slower growth in key economic metrics and migration rates, impacting sectors like housing and job market dynamics. Nevertheless, resilience in job growth, positive wage trends, and new business formations show bright spots. This conversation was recorded on June 12, 2025 and does not reflect any economic news or developments since that date.Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.EPISODE QUOTES:On Colorado’s current economic conditions predictions28:18: [Richard Wobbekind] We're not in a recession, and we don't think we're going into a recession. We do think a slow growth environment is very likely, but it's a growth environment. When expectations shape the economy16:41: [Brian Lewandowski] I think I am cautiously optimistic. I don't think things are all rosy. I think there's many risks that we're keeping an eye on in the economy right now. And personally, I think there are more risks to the downside right now, especially when we think about Colorado. We have some unique exposures to some of the changes happening right now. We may not be as exposed to the tariffs, but I think we are perhaps more exposed in Colorado to the federal restructuring. We have a high concentration of federal labs in Colorado. We have federal space and defense institutions and Colorado that are perhaps at risk. And then our universities receive a lot of federal funding for early-stage research that is also at risk right now. So, I think there certainly are downside risks that we need to be keenly aware of.Why do tariffs matter?07:19: [Richard Wobbekind] When we think about them from, sort of, broad macro policy, tariffs impact the supply side of the economy. They raise the cost of production in the economy. And supply-side inflationary types of issues that tariffs would fall into are very difficult to address with policy. Looking at Colorado’s slower population growth as a general concern06:17: [Brian Lewandowski] Colorado is a state that, for most of its statehood, has had positive net in migration, meaning that more people are moving to the state than moving away from the state. It's rare for Colorado to have net out migration, but for the past few years, we've had very slow migration to the state.And that's important. And it's a concern because many of those people who are coming to Colorado from other states or even other countries are already trained…[06:56] So, it ended up filling the vacant jobs that we had in the state and fueling a lot of the growth that we've had in Colorado. So, we look at Colorado's slower population growth and slower net migration as a general concern.SHOW LINKS:Richard Wobbekind | LinkedInRichard Wobbekind Leeds School of Business ProfileBrian Lewandowski | LinkedInBrian Lweandowski | Leeds School of Business ProfileColorado’s economic forecast for 2025

AI is everywhere, sparking both excitement and anxiety, especially in education. But what if we shifted our perspective from fear to partnership?Jeremiah Contreras is an assistant teaching professor and the Kala and Shiv Khatri Endowed Faculty Scholar at the Leeds School of Business. Jeremiah is also at the forefront of incorporating the newest AI technologies into business school education across various disciplines. In this episode, Jeremiah shares his journey into AI, his early experiences with OpenAI's GPT, and using AI in the classroom. Jeremiah and Mariah also discuss the Leeds AI initiative and how AI is being integrated into core business courses to prepare students for the future job market. As a daily user of AI technologies for several years, Jeremiah has developed tactics and techniques for using AI openly and transparently with his students to foster trust in it as a powerful tool to help efficiency when used correctly. The conversation also touches on the Colorado AI Act, the future of AI in various industries, and Jeremiah’s advice for newcomers exploring AI technology.Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.EPISODE QUOTES:Why AI literacy is essential for success[04:18] AI isn't necessarily just a topic. It's really embedded in everything we do, and it's becoming more and more so. And so, what we decided to do is we have 15 core business classes, and so we made sure that we're adding AI into every single core class that all of our freshmen and sophomores take.What does it mean to use AI effectively?[06:11] I would say that it's treating it as a partner, more than a doer. And so, it's a collaborative effort. There's a saying that AI could be reversed and you could call it IA or “intelligence augmented.” And so, when we use it to augment our intelligence, not replace our intelligence, I think that's when it's the best partner.On preparing students to lead with technology[16:18] Education oftentimes is a bit lagging. When it comes to incorporating technology. I think we really have an opportunity to help become part of the leadership, as far as predicting and foreseeing what can happen and almost being an incubator space to test some of these business ideas and help students grow these skills so that, when they enter the workforce, they're able to help these companies grow.How AI boosts productivity in business[14:39] What this new AI era is doing is businesses are having to really rethink, where can I use it? I think one obvious place is increasing productivity. So, when it's used as a thought partner for people or to create PowerPoint slides as an example, when it's used to make you more efficient, you still own as an individual, as a worker, as an employee, I would still own the judgment. I would still own the product and the output, but I have an assistant or I have a partner who can help me become that much more efficient.So, in that case, it's definitely changing how people do their jobs.SHOW LINKS:Learn AI Fundamentals with Google AI Essential | Google CourseMCP vs API: Simplifying AI Agent Integration with External Data | YouTube VideoAI Explained - YouTube ChannelJeremiah Contreras | LinkedInJeremiah Contreras | Leeds School of Business Profile