The Chris Yeh Podcast

Scott Johnson returns to discuss venture deals announced in March. Specific startups covered are:

Scott Johnson returns to discuss blitzscalable venture deals announced in February, 2023. We discuss the slow recovery in venture financing, the potential impact of the Silicon Valley Bank run, and how the drought in venture fundraising might affect our strategy. We also discuss the following companies:

Scott Johnson returns to discuss the state of the venture world and help score four deals:

Scott Johnson and Jeff Abbott join me to discuss three venture deals announced in October 2022:

Scott Johnson and Jeff Abbott join me to discuss a number of deals announced in November 2022.  Deals discussed include:

Scott Johnson returns to discuss a fresh crop of venture deals.  Companies covered in this episode include:

The entire Blitzscaling Ventures team assembles to discuss the venture downturn of summer 2022 and a few specific deals:

My friend Jeff Pfeffer, legendary Stanford professor and management thinker, joins me to discuss his new book, The Seven Rules of Power.  We actually discuss all seven rules through the lens of how I live my own life!

Scott Johnson and I discuss the current venture market and cover three deals from June 2022:

Dre and I discuss her life, how she ended up working for Playboy, and share our love of Ted Lasso, Star Trek, and especially Strange New Worlds Season 1.

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures returns to score and discuss a fresh crop of five deals:

Scott Johnson joins me to discuss blitzscalable venture deals for April 2022.  We also touch on the collapse of Terra/Luna/UST.  Companies discussed are:

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures returns to discuss a new crop of venture-backed deals.  This month's podcast covers:

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures returns for another edition of our popular deal reviews.  February 2022 was a record month, with 190 deals overall, and eight blitzscalable deals!

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures stops by for another round of blitzscalable venture deal analysis.  January's deals include:

Scott Johnson returns to discuss a crop of six blitzscalable venture deals that were announced in December of 2021:

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures returns to discuss a new crop of venture deals.  November deals discussed include:

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures is back to discuss another crop of blitzscalable venture deals.  This is a particularly controversial month, with a heated debate about WorldCoin.  Enjoy!

Scott Johnson returns for another Blitzscalable Venture Deals podcast!

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures returns to assess another crop of blitzscalable venture deals.  This months deals are:

The John Madden of Mental Samurai, Dr. Ken Franklin, returns to discuss matters of love and faith.  I've long admired Dr. Ken's ability to be loving, even in the challenging environment of Facebook, and he tells the story of how he developed his faith, how it was tested, and why he won't ever stop trying to love others.  And if you like the wisdom of Dr. Ken, you can get it on tap in his book, "Spit Out That Apple," which is available on Amazon as a paperback, on Audible (free with your free trial), and via Kindle Unlimited: https://www.amazon.com/Spit-Out-Apple-embrace-rejecting-ebook/dp/B07XNL86MD

Scott Johnson returns to discuss another crop of blitzscalable startups.  The companies covered in this episode are:

I'm pleased to welcome my first Season 2 Mental Samurai to the show (check the archives to listen to my interviews with the three other Season 1 Mental Samurai--with a slightly different definition: Nathan Gonzalez, Dr. Jackie Boehme, and Ben Bergstrom), the purple fauxhawk himself, Wesley Chang.

Wesley and I discuss the origin of his trademark look, why his dog has a similar purple fauxhawk, and where he and his fiancee plan on going for their honeymoon.  Wesley also talks about strategy and how he prepared for the show.  It's a great conversation, and I hope you listen in!

Scott Johnson returns to discuss five blitzscalable deals from June 2021.  This episode discusses:

Dr. Ken Franklin returns to help me recap and break down the season finale of Mental Samurai.  We discuss the individual competitors, Caroline Glymph's mental game, and reflect on the patterns we saw for the entire season.  Competitors:

Dr. Ken Franklin returns to help me recap and analyze the action from Episode 6 of Season 2 of Mental Samurai.  For the first time ever, Fox aired Mental Samurai twice in the same week, likely to avoid running into the Tokyo Olympics, so Dr. Ken and I pulled a double shift to cover the action.  Competitors this week:

Dr. Ken Franklin returns to break down Episode 5 of Season 2.  Scott Perry tries to extend his reign as Mental Samurai for yet another episode, but he has some strong competitors standing in his way.  Not only do we break down the action, we also hear Dr. Ken's technique for acing the Memory tower.

This week's competitors:

Dr. Ken dials in from his road trip to analyze the events of Episode 4, with a focus on defending champion Scott Perry.  We discuss the various contestants, my desire for a Wikipedia page, and where Dr. Ken and his wife have been.

Competititors:

Scott Johnson returns for a joint analysis of venture deals announced in May 2021.  This month's companies include:

I'm joined by Season 1 competitor Becky Eldridge, who joins me to recap Episode 3 of Season 2 of Mental Samurai.  We discuss how Becky's life has changed since Mental Samurai, and what she likes and doesn't like about the new format.  Then we recap the action, leading up to the amazing perfection of the newest Mental Samurai reigning champion, Scott Perry.

Contestants:

I'm joined by Episode 2's Peter Freyer, a former entrepreneur and finance executive who was also a one-time professional magician.  Tune in to learn about how I know his childhood BFF, how he earned so much money doing magic, and hear the story of how being unemployed led to appearing on 11 different game shows, including both Wheel of Fortune and The Price Is Right.

Scott Johnson is back to help me analyze a fresh crop of VC deals.  The deals we feature this month are:

With bonus discussion of:

Dr. Ken returns to help me break down Episode 2 of Season 2 of Mental Samurai.  We discuss the runs of Ben Hockman, his fiancee Dr. Laura Kerber (note that Ben has a Ph.D too), Ryan Shyng, Bianca Harris, Peter Freyer, and Reigning Samurai Gleb Golfin.  Tune in for our analysis, and to learn whether $30,000 is more than $0.

To supplement my Episode 1 recap, I'm joined by Dr. Ken Franklin, critically-acclaimed game designer and fellow Mental Samural Season 1 competitor.  We talk about Dr. Ken's game design career, and he breaks down the specific changes made between Season 1 and Season 2, and what they imply (e.g. Sequence questions are now easier, because they are all 3-item questions, rather than including 4-item questions; how Ava is moving differently).

I'm hoping that Dr. Ken will come back later on in the season, so show him some love!

Season 1 Mental Samurai Chris Yeh recaps the Season 2 premiere.

I discuss the changes to the show's format, and discuss the events of S2E1, including the right way to approach Gridlock puzzles.

Competitors:

I'm joined by Mona Mourshed, the founder of Generation, which helps thousands of people find meaningful careers in countries around the world.  Mona and I talk about her remarkable life, her work at Generation, how the pandemic has made this work even more urgent, and how blitzscaling differs for organizations in the social sector.

Scott Johnson returns to analyze another set of blitzscalable venture deals.  This time, we cover the month of March 2021, including three collectibles-focused deals:

Scott Johnson returns to analyze another set of blitzscalable venture deals.  This time, we cover the month of February 2021:

Happy Holidays!  I'm joined by Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures to discuss the blitzscalability of some selected VC deals from the month of November.  In this month's podcast, we look at Ankorstore, Fittr, and Strava.  We also discuss Push Party (which is a practical joke from Founders Fund) and the likely post-IPO futures of DoorDash and Airbnb.

My old friend Ray Conley returns to explain why his Bayesian analysis leads him to calculate that Donald Trump has a 66% chance of being reinaugurated on January 20, 2021, and why December 10 will determine the outcome of the election.  We explore the motivations of the Supreme Court and state legislatures, and why he and I disagree so much on the odds.  We conclude with some of Ray's thoughts on trades you could make to bet on a Trump victory.

Ray Conley returns, after his move to Nashville, to discuss how the concept of "The Genius of Dumb" applies to the upcoming election.  You'll hear about how Ken Wilber's integral theory applies to our current divided electorate, and what he expects to happen after the election, including the chilling reasons why he believes Donald Trump will eventually be able to use the levers of power to retain the presidency.

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures returns to the podcast to discuss the bumper crop of potentially blitzscalable deals from September.  In this episode, we discuss and score three companies: Bunch, Ledger Investing, and Manticore Games.  As an added bonus, we discuss a non-blitzscalable but noteworth deal, the Fan-Controlled Football League.

Scott Johnson returns to discuss two VC deals from August 2020.  The companies we discuss in this episode are Crossbeam and Steno.  We also discuss the broader market trends, and whether or not the market will rebound to pre-pandemic levels before a working vaccine arrives.

My friend Tim Taylor joins me for a wide-ranging discussion covering topics from what it was like being named Tim Taylor when "Home Improvement" was the #1 show on television, to the transformative moment when Tim realized that he needed to get help and work on himself, thanks to his daughter.  Hopefully this will be the first of many episodes in this series.

Scott Johnson returns to discuss four VC deals from July 2020.  The companies we discuss in this episode are Bond Financial Technologies, Cityblock Health, Zetwerk, and Cover.

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures returns to discuss another set of venture deals.  This month's deals are Pinwheel, Postman, Alkemics, and Clubhouse.  Scott and I disagree and debate quite a bit in this episode, especially when it comes to Postman and Clubhouse.

I sit down with my old friend Ray Conley to discuss his journey from Appalachia to high finance and entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley, and we detail our upcoming book project, "The Genius of Dumb."

I'm joined by my classmate Michele Korfin, who discusses her life growing up in working-class New Jersey, her love of Bruce Springsteen, and the importance of mentors during her distinguished career in pharma and biotech.  You'll also hear one of the most unique answers to the "what superpower do you wish you had" question.  All Superfriends fans will want to tune in!

Many people have heard that former Secretary of Defense James Mattis wrote an editorial criticizing the actions of President Donald Trump. But I fear that very few have read his letter in its entirety.  In this special mini-episode, I provide my own reading of this document.

Renowned historian (and my former Harvard Business School professor) Richard Tedlow returns for the latest installment in our series of conversations exploring the lives and lessons of charismatic business leaders.  This time, we consider the story of Henry Ford, the legendary entrepreneur who put American on wheels, but whose later years were marked by a declining business and virulent anti-Semitism.  We explore the question of how such successful entrepreneur, who appeared invincible, can fall from grace.

I will be collaborating with my old friend and former professor, historian Richard Tedlow, on a series of episodes where we discuss some of the most charismatic business leaders in history.  We kick off the series with a conversation about Steve Jobs, how his status as an out-of-wedlock adopted child may have affected his path, and how his guiding principles made both using his products and working at Apple an emotionally compelling experience.

Note that at one point in time Richard mentions meeting with Phil Schiller; he misspoke. He actually met with Ron Johnson.

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures returns to talk about three interesting VC deals from April.  We discuss mega-success Square, loyalty currency Props, and the brilliantly-named Trash Warrior.  We also discuss the continuing impact of Covid-19 on the venture business.

This is an experimental short episode to test whether you, my loyal listeners, want me to turn my blog posts into podcast content.

My guest in this episode is my classmate Kurt Daniel, who talks about his long career in high tech, what it's like to be an entrepreneur for the first time, and some of his interactions with Bill Gates during their time at Microsoft.  A fun bit of behind-the-scenes trivia: our recording was interrupted by a major Comcast internet outage which took down my home internet connection for two whole days, forcing us to split our recording into two sessions.  Can you guess where the audio switches from session 1 to session 2?

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures drops by for another round of blitzscaling investment analysis.  In this episode, we discuss two venture deals from November 2019, Guild Education and ACV Auctions.  As with our October deals episode, we cover the analysis we produced last year, then discuss how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected their businesses.

My old friend Patty McCord returns, this time to discuss the future of work and corporate culture post-Covid-19.   We discuss how the pandemic will not only affect how people think about work, but offers a once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity.  Now is the time to ask yourself, "What are we doing better because of the pandemic (so that we don't go back to the old ways)?  What have we learned doesn't really matter (so we can never do it again)?"

Join Lindsey Mead and I for a very special podcast episode.  We catch up with Sejal Shah Gulati, who discusses her life growing up on Long Island and how her life turned out so different than she expected while she was at HBS.  Sej also tells the story of how her beloved, completely healthy father contracted Covid-19, and went from minor symptoms to organ failure in just a few days, how a caring doctor allowed Sej's mother to hold her father's hand as he passed away, and how she, her sister, and her mother have mourned his death.  None of us is safe from this terrible disease; the best we can do is to try to draw what lessons we can from its seemingly senseless impact.  We also ask our usual lightning round questions, and find out the very specific reason Sej would want the power of invisibility.  Tune in, and bring your tissues.

Wondering how to lead your team during the Covid-19 crisis? I persuaded my old friend Patty McCord to come on the podcast and share her wisdom. Patty is the world's leading practitioner of building high-performance cultures, and is also a lot of fun to talk with. Patty and I discuss her book, her career, and her advice for CEOs navigating the crisis.   Patty also comes up with a brilliant podcast/book idea during the interview...if we end up pursuing it, this episode will mark where it all began!

Frantz Alphonse, fresh off the birth of his second child this week, stops by to chat with Lindsey Mead and I about his post-HBS life, how he changed his diet and lifestyle for the better, and how a single chance remark changed the trajectory of his career.

Lindsey Mead and I are joined by our classmate and my old friend, Kwame Jackson.  We discuss Kwame's unique career path (from Goldman Sachs to The Apprentice to entrepreneur and TV news stalwart) as well as how he and the rest of us deal with shocks like the Dot Com bust, 9/11, and the current Covid-19 pandemic.  We also reminisce about our HBS days, and the time that Kwame was the headliner for a political fundraiser for an obscure Illinois State Senator named Barack Obama.

In this episode, I'm joined by classmate Greg Pal.  We discuss his many years in Boston, how he used an RFP process to choose a religion to join, and how his very first comment in Aldrich Hall was the highlight of his HBS career!

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures returns for another round of blitzscalability analysis.  We look at deals done in October of 2019, sharing the assessment we produced then, as well as an update on how those companies are doing during the Covid-19 pandemic.  This months companies are e-commerce enabled Faire, oil and gas services marketplace RigUp, and lending platform PeerStreet.

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures joins me to review three March venture deals: AllSet, Proxy, and Lyra Health.  We also discuss how Covid-19 has negatively impacted many startups, even "bits-based" businesses like software and marketplaces.

I'm joined by special guest Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures to review three hot ventures from February 2020.  Scott and I walk through three different deals: Roblox, Maven Clinic, and Iora Health.

My friend and HBS classmate Lindsey Mead and I preview our upcoming series of interviews with our business school classmates.  Since our in-person reunion has been cancelled (current plans are to replace it with a "blackjack" reunion in 2021), we're filling the gap with a series of interviews to allow our classmates to catch up on what their old friends have been up to.

In this introductory double episode, Lindsey and I interview each other, previewing the set of questions we'll be asking our classmates.

In this special episode, I'm joined by Scott Johnson and Jeff Abbott of Blitzscaling Ventures to discuss the merits of Pestachio, a new startup with a focus on sustainable, eco-friendly pest control.

I'm joined by Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures to discuss OfferUp, the local marketplace company that recently bought its rival LetGo and raised $120 million.  We discuss the history of OfferUp, my own usage of the service as a substitute for hauling goods to the garbage dump, and run through a blitzscalability analysis of the company before congratulating my friend Josh Breinlinger of Jackson Square Ventures, who led the company's Series A round in 2013.

I'm joined by special guest Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures to review three hot ventures from January 2020.  Scott and I explain our blitzscaling analysis and walk through three different deals: Security.ai, Launch Darkly, and Roof Stock.

Dr. Jackie took time out of her incredibly busy schedule (she just had time to squeeze me in between 28-hour shifts) to record this interview.  Think of it as an appetizer, allowing you to learn about her incredible family, how trying beauty pageants in college helped turn her from a shy nerd into the amazing, born-to-the-stage nerd we know and love, and her other television in a famous singing competition.  Start thinking of follow-up questions you'd like me to ask when Jackie returns!

I hope you enjoy this super-sized interview with Ryan "Mr. Fabulous" Jones.  We discuss Ryan's life, including the impact of Hurricane Katrina on his family.  Ryan then reveals that he is actually a second-generation game show contestant, following in the footsteps of his mom and dad, who both won big on Wheel of Fortune.  He was literally raised to be on TV, which he proved on Wheel of Fortune, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, and Mental Samurai.  We also talk about his passion, Soulcycle, and how his first session literally changed his life.  Finally, we do a deep dive into the behind-the-scenes machinations of Mental Samurai, which explained a number of things that I had been wondering about, and conclude with some suggestions for how we might return to your living rooms in the future.  Enjoy!

In this special episode, Season 1 competitor, seasoned game show guy, and litigator extraordinaire Joey Gutmann interviews me about the Mental Samurai finale, my April 30 run, and my future in the game show world.  We do discuss the results of the finale, so if you haven't watched it yet, this is your spoiler alert.  Stick around for the end, where Joey makes a surprise announcement to share some incredible news.

In this episode, I interview fellow Mental Samurai Ben Bergstrom, whose run appeared in Episode 9 of Season 1.  In this extended interview, Ben and I discuss his amazing life story (he is the biological son of a famous actress, his adopted parents are actors, and he thought he might want to become a lawyer before ultimately moving to Hollywood to become an actor), the dramatic events of his run, and why his birth mom was so animated during the show.  This is the longest interview yet, so enjoy!

My recap of the final regular season episode of Mental Samurai, Season 1.  I discuss the runs of Boris Chernin (the emergency consultant), Marlie Clarke (the flight attendant), Courtney Courter (the model), Miles Nye (the game maker), Eric Schroeder (the tennis pro), Josh Kronz (the math teacher) and Ben Bergstrom (the bartender).  In particular, I discuss how Ben's approach helped him become a Mental Samurai (don't rush!) and fill people in on the story behind his surprisingly young and attractive mom, Amy!

I'm joined by my old friend Pascal Finette as we discuss his career, what brought him to Silicon Valley, and how important it is to encourage entrepreneurs to be thoughtful about how they are changing the world.

Chris Yeh is back with another Mental Samurai episode recap!  This week's competitors were Alex Goines (the adventure racer), Marissa Willman (the woman gamer), Arius George (the trick shot cop), Zach Engel (Tom Selleck meets Billy Ray Cyrus), Kristy Agamegwa (the late-in-life graduate), and Dylan Gentile (the classical pianist).  This week's episode features two winners who are going on to the May 21 season finale!

It's a banner day--two episodes in a single afternoon.  Can we go for three?

In this episode, I interview my fellow Tuesday competitor Stella Zawistowski.  We get to learn all about her eclectic life, including how she got into crosswords, and how "revenge dating" after breaking off an engagement allowed her to find true love with her husband.  Tune in and hear about her upcoming performance at Carnegie Hall!

In this episode, I interview former Marine Corps intelligence officer and current stay-at-home dad Adam Thomas about his life journey, and his run on Mental Samurai.  I think you'll enjoy hearing the details on how he and his wife met in Iraq without ever seeing each other face-to-face, how he ended up on the show (hint: Once again, it was MENSA), and why the circumstances of his run may have contributed to his going too quickly.

In this extra-special recap, I discuss the action of Episode 7 of Mental Samurai, including my own run which led to my being crowned the third Mental Samurai (after Nathan Gonzalez and Dr. Jackie).  I also talk a little bit about the experience of hosting my own Mental Samurai watch party.  Competitors covered include Nick Bremner (the Accountant), Matthew Schultz (the Handsome Pastor), La Tawnya Robinson (the 3rd-Grade Teacher), Kenyatta Smith (the Firefighter), Roz Paul (the 74-year-young Retiree), and Adam Thomas (the Marine turned Stay-at-Home Dad).  This episode features some extensive discussion of the pros and cons of taking your time.

In today's episode, I recap the action from Episode 6 of this season of Mental Samurai.  The theme of today's show was the Memory tower, as contestant after contestant--including two memory champions, Ron White and Luis Angel--lost on Memory questions.  Today's competitors were Hannah Cussen (Stanford freshman and tae kwon do black belt), Steve Kaye (Las Vegas entertainment executive), Chad Poist (farmboy, dad, and supply chain manager), Stella Zawistowski (crossword champion), and the night's big winner, Ryan "Mr. Fun" Jones (soulcycle instructor, fabulous).

I hope you enjoy this extended interview with America's first Mental Samurai, Nathan Gonzalez!  We dig deep into his life, including how he ended up carrying on the family tradition in the hospital, his days as a football star, before a devastating injury ended his dreams of a Division 1 scholarship, and what he has planned for the future.  We also discuss some of the crazy things he encountered backstage, which make his amazing run even more impressive.

In this episode, I interview Mental Samurai competitor Matt Potts, a Marine and Mensa member who came up just one question short of perfection.  Matt and I discuss his life and journey, and his very cool plans for after he retires from the Marine Corps.

In this episode, I recap the action that took place in Episode 5 of Mental Samurai (Tuesday, April 16).  I discuss the runs of Glenn Hetrick (the black-belt pilot), Ed Moses (the Olympic Gold medalist), Jack Vomacka (the USC freshman and aspiring fantasy novelist), Nancy Jo Perdue (the retired journalist), and Dr. Jackie Boheme (the anesthesiologist).  I also spend some extra time discussing Dr. Jackie's amazing story, which I think the show edited down simply because it is so unbelievable that a single person could be so accomplished.  I hope you enjoy the episode!

My old friend and co-author, Reid Hoffman, stops by to discuss how you should make the decision to blitzscale.

In this episode, I interview the first pair of spouses to tackle Mental Samurai, Stephanie and Jameson Thornton.  We talk about how they met (Mensa), what they do for fun (Mensa), and re-live their thrilling pair of runs, which ended up giving Jameson the family bragging rights.

Greetings from Unreasonable FUTURE!  I sit down with entrepreneur Emil Hewage, who is building the technology to treat illness and enhance health and performance using neural stimulation.

I recap the action in Episode 4.  Stephanie and Jameson Thornton became the first husband and wife couple to compete on Mental Samurai, and while Stephanie might win most of their matchups, Jameson came out on top, though neither finished the course.  Matt Potts, the Marine intelligence officer completed the course and nearly became a Mental Samurai, missing only the final question, but still won $75,000, and will be back for the season finale on May 21.  Leah Khoury and Marlena Gasper both had good runs, but may have been tripped up by time pressure.  And finally, Andrew Ames set a new record by taking all five minutes and failing to answer Question 1.  Hey, he still got on TV!

In this episode, I interview Episode 3 competitor Marie Criddle.  We discuss her upbringing and family, how she ended up going on Mental Samurai, and what it felt like to sit across from Rob Lowe.  I think you'll enjoy Marie's story, and I hope we see her on television again soon.

Join me for an interview with Episode 3's "Queen" Jaimi Alexander.  We discuss her eventful life, how she got into show business, and of course, whether or not she listens to Neil Young or has been to Albany.  Enjoy!

Chris Yeh discusses the runs of Kevin Hays, Marie Criddle, Bam Bam Bloise, Jaimi Alexander, and Nathan Gonzalez.  Lock it in!

Greetings from Unreasonable FUTURE, the first social impact accelerator focused on the future of work.  I sit down with Unreasonable Group Founder and CEO Daniel Epstein for a conversation about the past and present of the Unreasonable Group.  We even swear at one point!

Hey Mental Samurai fans!  I hope you enjoy these interviews with two more competitors from the season premiere, Jorden Halvorsen, one of America's only female bull riders, and writer and performer Becky Eldridge, who came oh so close to completing the course.  Thanks to both of these wonderful ladies for making time to record these interviews!

I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Ken Franklin after his run on Mental Samurai, and I hope you'll enjoy the conversation as much as I did!

I provide a recap with color commentary on Mental Samurai Episode 2 (airdate March 26, 2019).  One of the in-depth topics I discuss is the dichotomy between the "all business" and "dramatic" approaches to running the course, illustrated by Heather and Mitch's respective runs.

Want the inside scoop on Fox's Mental Samurai? Season 1 competitor Chris Yeh (that's me!) talks about the show and interviews his fellow competitors.  In this episode, hear from Clay Anderson (the astronaut), Joey Guttman (the lawyer), and Episode 1's big winner, Sam Durbin (the drag queen).

A quick hello from Chris and Jeff Abbott of the Global Scaling Academy (http://www.globalscalingacademy.com/)