9B: A Podcast for People Who Run Things

This episode explores "the sage," the film archetype of the old expert (Gandalf, Obi-Wan, Mr. Miyagi, Robert Duvall) whose intuitive judgment comes from experience and time, and asks whether AI can ever replace that kind of earned discernment. The hosts share a story about an unpaid old-timer at a repair shop whose one piece of advice solved a problem a paid mechanic couldn't, then unpack why AI — even used as a "thinking partner" — still lacks the judgment to know what actually matters. They close with a framework on the "three brains" and a Chesterton quote on the difference between right and almost right.


New episodes of the 9B Podcast release every other week.

Subscribe and visit https://fideliscreative.com/ for more.


Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro: the "sage" archetype in film
2:00 – Story: the stranger at Ike's small engine repair shop
8:42 – Why AI-as-thinking-partner gives you a "crowdsourced" answer, not expertise
9:04 – Mr. Beast's advice: hire consultants, don't waste time reinventing the wheel
10:38 – The "three brains" framework: Mind, Notebook, AI
12:34 – Why brain-one judgment is still needed to make sense of AI's output
14:20 – AI as villain in film (2001, The Matrix) vs. Data in Star Trek
16:24 – The generational split: who's actually excited about AI
18:08 – Does AI make specialists faster, or just faster at being wrong?
18:44 – Closing quote: Chesterton on discernment — right vs. almost right

👉 SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN
🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn

#Entrepreneurship #PioneeringSpirit #BusinessPodcast #SmallBusiness #EntrepreneurMindset #TexasBusiness #9BPodcast #StartupMindset #BuildingABusiness #BusinessOwnerLife

This business and BS is hashed over a beer, a bourbon, and a Boulevardier cocktail by our three bombastic, bloviating bros in Bryan, TX — the 9B’s.

🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn

This episode explores a core distinction in client relationships: marketing gets you the meeting, but branding is what earns trust and keeps the account. The team discusses why over 80% of people report negative experiences with marketing agencies, how proactive communication builds long-term loyalty, and why authentic positioning outperforms surface-level polish. They also share why their average client retention is more than double the industry standard. 

New episodes of the 9B Podcast are released bi-monthly — subscribe and visit https://www.fideliscreative.com to learn more.

Key Moments in Episode 04
0:00 – Intro: the "getting the girl" trope as a lens for marketing
1:31 – Why coaching someone toward authenticity beats forcing a persona
4:16 – "Look right, sound great, drive revenue"
5:59 – Marketing opens the door; branding is why clients stay
8:04 – Avoiding "gilding": why authenticity matters more than polish
10:04 – Defining the offer: "transformation and momentum"
11:01 – Why most clients report bad experiences with agencies
13:18 – The "no update update": proactive communication as a retention tool
16:15 – Client retention results vs. industry average
17:32 – The E-Myth: why skill alone doesn't build a scalable business

👉 SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN
🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn

#Entrepreneurship #PioneeringSpirit #BusinessPodcast #SmallBusiness #EntrepreneurMindset #TexasBusiness #9BPodcast #StartupMindset #BuildingABusiness #BusinessOwnerLife

This business and BS is hashed over a beer, a bourbon, and a Boulevardier cocktail by our three bombastic, bloviating bros in Bryan, TX — the 9B’s.

🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn

This episode uses Moneyball to make the case for a specific kind of business value: a trusted expert who brings an outside perspective and challenges conventional wisdom. The guys talk about why that role can't be replaced by AI — even as AI makes basic analysis accessible to everyone — and why trust and credibility ("credence goods") are becoming more valuable as skepticism toward AI-generated work grows. They also share a personal story about choosing a human expert over an AI shortcut for a high-stakes decision, and what that reveals about when "good enough" isn't good enough. 

New episodes of the 9B Podcast are released [weekly] — subscribe and visit https://fideliscreative.com/ for more.

Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro: Moneyball and the 2002 Oakland A's
1:27 – Why this episode is about the value of an outside expert perspective
2:26 – Revisiting Moneyball: Billy Beane, metrics, and betting against conventional wisdom
6:35 – Why a "thinking partner" isn't the same as AI
9:00 – What AI can and can't replicate from the Peter Brand character
10:16 – What people actually resent about relying on AI
11:38 – The math of trust: fast/free AI vs. slower/costlier human expertise
13:28 – Why experts using AI outperform novices using AI
14:28 – "Credence goods": why credibility matters more when AI raises doubt
16:06 – Trust as a premium asset in 2026
17:31 – The human cost in Moneyball: losing the "culture guy"
19:06 – Trust is lost instantly now — a real example from a design agency
20:49 – Personal story: choosing a human attorney over an AI shortcut for an estate plan
24:02 – When "good enough" isn't good enough

👉 SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN
🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn

#Entrepreneurship #PioneeringSpirit #BusinessPodcast #SmallBusiness #EntrepreneurMindset #TexasBusiness #9BPodcast #StartupMindset #BuildingABusiness #BusinessOwnerLife

This business and BS is hashed over a beer, a bourbon, and a Boulevardier cocktail by our three bombastic, bloviating bros in Bryan, TX — the 9B’s.

🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn

We've been to the moon. We've mapped the oceans. So where's the new frontier for the pioneering spirit? On this episode of the 9B Podcast, three bombastic, bloviating bros make the case that business is the last true frontier—and that entrepreneurship demands the same grit, risk tolerance, and pioneering mentality that built the American West.

We dig into Walt Whitman's "Pioneers! O Pioneers!" and Michael Chabon's "Manhood for Amateurs" to unpack what's happened to risk, adventure, and ambition in one generation, and what it means for the next wave of business owners coming out of the Texas Triangle and beyond.

If you're building a business, raising entrepreneurial kids, or just trying to figure out where your own pioneering spirit went — this one's for you.

Key Moments
00:00 – Opening Clip
00:45 – Welcome to 9B Podcast: Beer, Bourbon, Boulevard
01:18 – Is business the new American frontier?
02:11 – The Texas Triangle boom & entrepreneurial growth
02:56 – What % of Americans actually have a pioneering spirit?
04:06 – Entering entrepreneurship out of frustration vs. hope
06:36 – Introducing Whitman's "Pioneers! O Pioneers!"
08:09 – Reading the poem
11:32 – Plymouth Rock, 1620: no unemployment office, but plenty of work
12:38 – America: a nation self-selected for ambition
14:12 – "Little sleep, little slumber" — the discipline behind entrepreneurship
16:22 – The imagery of Whitman's American frontier
16:46 – Michael Chabon's "Manhood for Amateurs"
18:11 – The debate: helicopter parenting or a changed world?
23:16 – Homelessness, safety, and the world kids grow up in now
27:11 – Childhood, imagination & the future of business creativity
29:10 – Closing thoughts & reasons for optimism

🔗 LINKS MENTIONED
📖 "Pioneers! O Pioneers!" by Walt Whitman 
📖 "Manhood for Amateurs" by Michael Chabon 

👉 SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN
🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn



#Entrepreneurship #PioneeringSpirit #BusinessPodcast #SmallBusiness #EntrepreneurMindset #TexasBusiness #9BPodcast #StartupMindset #BuildingABusiness #BusinessOwnerLife

This business and BS is hashed over a beer, a bourbon, and a Boulevardier cocktail by our three bombastic, bloviating bros in Bryan, TX — the 9B’s.

🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn

Forget the elevator pitch. Nobody's giving you 90 seconds anymore. We open Season Two of 9B with our three bombastic, bloviating bros in Bryan, Texas, drinking beer, Bourbon, and a Boulevardier, digging into a LinkedIn post from Cole Schaefer that flips business positioning on its head: the floor pitch, a 3-to-7-word max positioning statement that has to land between floor three and floor four.

We break down why the old-school elevator pitch is dead, what real brand positioning actually means, and why owning a single word in someone's mind (Chick-fil-A = fast food chicken) is harder than it looks. Plus: is Jaws actually about the shark? A McDonald's mission-creep tangent, a Bull Durham rewatch, and Fidelis's own floor pitch.

If you're a founder, marketer, or business owner trying to nail your brand messaging, elevator pitch, or company tagline, this one's for you.

Key Moments

• 0:35 – Cole Schaefer's LinkedIn post on the "floor pitch"
• 2:01 – What is a floor pitch? (7 words or less)
• 3:03 – Aliens' legendary 3-word pitch: "Jaws in space"
• 4:20 – Floor pitch examples: Uber, Amazon, Airbnb, Tesla
• 6:07 – What "positioning" actually means (and why it's hard)
• 7:04 – The McDonald's lesson: discipline vs. mission creep
• 10:19 – Fidelis's own floor pitch: "We make B2B businesses go boom"
• 13:34 – Counterpoint: does long-form content still work?
• 15:09 – Bull Durham then vs. now: storytelling at warp speed

Loved this episode?

Subscribe to 9B for more raw, unfiltered takes on business, branding, and BS.

👉 Read Cole Schaefer's original post

👉 Learn more about Fidelis Creative Agency

👉 Follow us for new episodes every week.

This business and BS is hashed over a beer, a bourbon, and a Boulevardier cocktail by our three bombastic, bloviating bros in Bryan, TX — the 9B’s.

🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn

Grok spits out family odds. In this episode, we query GROK - 'on the statistical odds of outrageous family success,' and the results are surprising!

This business and BS is hashed over a beer, a bourbon, and a Boulevardier cocktail by our three bombastic, bloviating bros in Bryan, TX — the 9B’s.

🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn

We discovered the cheapest, most durable answer to running a household fleet: old Toyotas. We unpack it all right here.

This business and BS is hashed over a beer, a bourbon, and a Boulevardier cocktail by our three bombastic, bloviating bros in Bryan, TX — the 9B’s.

🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn

'What even is a career anymore?' Have we lost the idea of vocation?

Hear our leadership team discuss the importance of business being more than just profit. Have businesses in general, moved away from being about and for their people? 

This business and BS is hashed over a beer, a bourbon, and a Boulevardier cocktail by our three bombastic, bloviating bros in Bryan, TX — the 9B’s.

🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn

In this episode of 9B, we discuss the cultures that used to build cathedrals and now build mini malls. What happened? Could we even imagine what it would look like to build now, knowing that it wouldn't be complete for 150 years in the future?

This business and BS is hashed over a beer, a bourbon, and a Boulevardier cocktail by our three bombastic, bloviating bros in Bryan, TX — the 9B’s.

🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn

In this episode, we discuss DEI and Business. Where did it go? Is it truly gone? How does the culture in the US compare to other cultures, both historically and in modern times? 

This business and BS is hashed over a beer, a bourbon, and a Boulevardier cocktail by our three bombastic, bloviating bros in Bryan, TX — the 9B’s.

🎧 New episodes bi-weekly — Subscribe on YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Spotify |  Apple
🌐 Visit Fidelis Creative Agency
📱 Follow us: Instagram |  LinkedIn