Burn The Map

In This Episode:

We talk to Brenda Novak, co-founder of the Connecticut Amputee Network and champion for anyone told they're "too expensive to fix." Brenda breaks down her wild ride from business school grad to accidental activist, gives us the unvarnished scoop on the cutthroat world of prosthetic coverage (hint: it's more 'Shark Tank' than 'Grey's Anatomy'), and shows us that sometimes, you've got to pass whole new laws just to get back on your feet—literally.

What We Cover:

• How Brenda and her fellow "pirates" rallied lawmakers to pass legislation making medically necessary prosthetics actually attainable for humans, not just trust funds.

• The mind-boggling cost (and insurance shenanigans) behind getting a leg that actually lets you walk, run, or—if you're feeling spicy—surf.

• Why living with limb loss means a constant hustle, from learning how to live all over again to fighting to make basic mobility accessible.

• The reality behind "bionic" prosthetic tech, the quiver of legs nobody tells you about, and why peer-support trumps any medical pamphlet.

• Brenda's battle-tested approach to resilience, and what it's really like to lose a limb, find your new balance, and start pulling others up with you.

Guest Bio:

Brenda Novak is the co-founder of Connecticut Amputee Network, a grassroots force behind legislative wins for amputee rights. She's an above-the-knee amputee (thanks to a freak accident), peer-mentor, and eternal realist who figured, "If no one's going to fix the system, I guess I'll have to do it myself." When she's not wrangling politicians or training new peer visitors, she's out living her best life—whether that means kayaking, testing out her newest "water leg," or reading up on trailblazing women like Victoria Woodhull. Brenda's mission? Make sure nobody ever feels like they have to go it alone.

Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Wrench.ai

Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird

Follow Brenda:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan0vak/

Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social

• Brenda Novak's LinkedIn: Connecticut's Own

• CT Amputee Network: ctamputeenetwork.org

• Amputee Coalition: amputee-coalition.org

• So Everybody Can Move legislation: soeveybodycanmove.org

• Brenda Novak

• Herb Kaladny (pirate partner-in-crime)

• Lindy Mitsu, University of Hartford

• Ted Kennedy Jr., American Association of People with Disabilities

• Connecticut Amputee Network

• 00:08 — Brenda vs. Dan: Who's aged worse? (Spoiler alert: Dan owns the gray)

• 03:19 — Why found the Connecticut Amputee Network? The insurance coverage clown show.

• 06:05 — Civics 101, or: How Brenda learned legislative sausage is made

• 07:28 — Getting a law passed when you don't know what you're doing (hint: bring friends)

• 09:10 — Life with $100K legs, "K levels," and sassy insurance denials

• 13:12 — The "quiver" of specialty legs (and why Brenda doesn't name hers—tsk tsk, Brenda)

• 18:05 — There's no map: Navigating drastic life changes with side-eye and stubbornness

• 23:07 — Peer visiting, real talk about loss, and getting "high" on actual connection

• 29:37 — Finding Brenda (and why she won't do another cruise, ever)

"If you're worried your kid hates reading, maybe start by showing them you can sit down with a damn book. Kids do what we do, not what we say." —Rae Foote

In This Episode: We talk to Rae Foote, the unicorn who went from running logistics in military manufacturing (yes, actual missiles) to wrangling the chaos of marketing tech at Hachette Book Group in NYC—all while moonlighting as a champion for children's literacy. Rae's journey is less "lifelong calling" and more "epic faceplant after faceplant, but make it fashion"—falling into publishing, falling for NYC, and now rallying adults to stop outsourcing kids' education to TikTok.

What We Cover:

• How military manufacturing makes you chill in a tech "crisis" (spoiler: it's not that deep, Karen)

• Rae's "accidental" road into publishing and why napalming the five-year plan is sometimes the only way forward

• The literacy crisis no one wants to talk about—adults reading less, kids getting dumber (the stats are brutal, sorry)

• Why your Kindle obsession doesn't count if your kid never sees you with a book—and how Hachette's Raising Readers project is about to call everyone out

• Life lessons from screwing up, not coddling kids, and why "fuck around and find out" is elite parenting

Guest Bio: Rae Foote is Senior Manager, Marketing Technology Ops at Hachette Book Group, where she MacGyvers book-selling systems, translates between marketers and engineers, and leads bold new initiatives like Raising Readers. She's also on the Associate Board for Reading Partners NYC, advocating for kids' literacy because, frankly, someone has to give a damn. A California native turned New Yorker, Rae is allergic to empty platitudes, swears by paperbacks, and has never met a broken process she couldn't fix (or roast).

Enjoy! This episode is brought to you by Wrench.ai.

Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/

X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird

Follow Rae:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rae-foote/

New York Junior League: nyjl.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenyjl/

Reading Partners NYC: https://readingpartners.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rpnewyorkcity/

Hachette Book Group: https://hachettebookgroup.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hachetteus/

Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social

Selected Links From This Episode:

• Rae Foote on LinkedIn

• Reading Partners

• Hachette Book Group

People & Organizations Mentioned:

• Rae Foote

• Dan Baird

• Hachette Book Group

• Reading Partners NYC

• Brett Easton Ellis (author, collector's item in Rae's dating life)

• Andy Weir

• Lois Lowry

• Mark Danielewski

• NY Junior League

Show Notes & Timestamps:

• 00:08 — Welcome, Rae: Dan was a kindergarten teacher in China (no, really)

• 01:13 — Rae's convoluted career: "tripping, falling, and stumbling" into publishing

• 03:37 — How tech "emergencies" are not real emergencies (Military vs. Startup Panic)

• 07:54 — The myth of the business degree—just start doing the work

• 10:11 — Publishing's digital mess, why Rae loves solving problems that shouldn't exist

• 13:20 — Are we actually getting dumber? Declining literacy, social media, and how nobody reads anything longer than a LinkedIn post

• 19:15 — Hachette's Raising Readers initiative: Kids mimic what you do, not what you tell them

• 22:13 — Why men read less, and WTF that means for raising boys

• 23:32 — Book club trauma, lending books to dates, and always getting them back

• 36:55 — It takes a village: Advocating for kids with New York Junior League & Reading Partners

• 41:53 — Parenting, participation trophies, and the fine art of failing well

• 45:46 — Teaching kids they can do hard things and not just whine about it

• 48:34 — Show up, get wet, don't wait for perfect—life advice, or just podcasting as usual

• 50:45 — Links Reading Partners, Hachette Book Group, and yes, go read a book, not just this web page

In This Episode:

We talk to Joel McKay Smith—a guy whose "Rolodex" literally stress-tested the Wrench platform—about why real power isn't in the LinkedIn follower count, but in the relationships you actually maintain. From rural Utah dairy farms to industrial parks, Joel's journey is a hilarious, head-spinning tour straight through the heart of economic disruption and small-town resurrection. You think you're a "super-connector"? Please. Joel remembers your name, your birthday, and probably your lactose intolerance from a conversation in 1997, all while masterminding a carbon-neutral Olympics bid and hustling for tech that lets seniors outsmart scammers.

What We Cover:

• How networking actually works (and why most people still get it so, so wrong)

• The unlikely perks—and headaches—of a memory wired for deep connection

• Building tech that transforms rural economies and gives Main Street a shot at Silicon Valley relevance

• The art (and science) of running unforgettable events—yes, booze helps, but forcing people to talk is the real secret sauce

• What it'll take to make Utah ground zero for the first real carbon-neutral Olympics, and why he's stubborn enough to try

Guest Bio: Joel McKay Smith is that rare breed—equal parts super-connector, entrepreneur, and small-town disruptor. If you're in Utah and don't know Joel, you're probably new here or you just don't get out much. Joel's professional Rolodex is the stuff of urban legend: 125,000 contacts deep and more engaged than half the "thought leaders" on LinkedIn. He's stress-tested new tech, built some of the largest community groups in the region, and still remembers your name, your dog's birthday, and probably what you were wearing at that luncheon in 2009—thanks to a brain wired for deep connection and a dash of neurodivergent genius.

In this interview, we discuss building social capital (and the importance of actually giving a damn), the state of economic development, and why rural communities are one innovation away from rewriting their fate. Joel spills on power grids, nuclear moonshots, masterminding events, and how he's turned his own experiences—as a neurodiverse leader and the child of a swindled senior—into launching tech solutions for the next wave of aging Gen Xers. If you're here for pretty talk, keep scrolling. If you want real talk about legacy, innovation, and how the "give first, get later" philosophy actually pays off, settle in.

Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Wrench.ai.

Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird

Follow Joel:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelmckaysmith/

Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social

Selected Links From This Episode:

• Silverguard: https://silverguard-deck.lovable.app/ , https://silverguard.lovable.app/

People and Organizations Mentioned:

• Joel McKay Smith

• Dan Baird

• Dean Lundberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanlundberg/

• Spencer Cox: https://www.linkedin.com/in/govcox/

• Matthew Webster: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewfischer2018/

• Michael Baghoomian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebags/

• Vance Jackets (Oticon US)

• Utah Port Authority

Show Notes & Timestamps:

• 00:08 — Intro to Joel McKay Smith: Super-connector, Rolodex legend, and stress-tester of all things tech.

• 01:17 – 06:41 — Neurodiversity, accidental savant memory, and networking superpowers.

• 07:36 – 10:05 — Embracing neurodiversity, Oticon, and why Vance Jackets is a Utah tech legend.

• 10:30 – 17:34 — Rural roots, economic disruption, and building communities that don't suck.

• 17:34 – 20:24 — Carbon-neutral moonshot: Utah's Olympic dreams, industrial parks, and advanced nuclear.

• 20:24 – 26:07 — Data centers, clean energy, and the economics of "smart" water.

• 26:07 – 32:14 — Salt domes, micro-politan communities, visionary rural growth, and government shenanigans.

• 32:14 – 33:12 — Main Street lessons, throwing parties worth attending, and why networking is everything.

• 33:12 – 35:04 — Personal story: Elder scams, Silverguard, and fighting for senior safety.

In This Episode: We sit down with Gabi Barragan—strategic advisor, organizational change whisperer, and the go-to for real talk about taming the AI beast in business. Gabi ditches the 'thought leader' theatrics and gets honest about what it really takes for companies to stop talking about AI adoption and actually get their hands dirty—without blowing the lunch budget on useless software.

She walks us through the mess and magic of wrangling data chaos, the power of fierce internal experimenters (yes, she thinks your employees are already using ChatGPT behind your back), and how a little skepticism can save you from a lot of "hot takes" gone sideways. There are plenty of eye-roll-worthy AI promises out there, but Gabi's here to call the bluff and offer a no-nonsense blueprint for culture change, customer engagement, and ROI that doesn't require a PhD (or a fortune teller).

What We Cover:

• How to cut through AI FOMO and focus on what actually works (spoiler: most teams aren't ready for full-blown AI, and that's okay).

• The critical role of curiosity and early adopters—plus how to unleash them without sending the C-suite into cardiac arrest.

• Why your data is probably messier than your kitchen junk drawer, and what to do about it before you "go AI."

• The underrated value of blunt customer feedback, behavior-based personas, and, yes, calling out industry nonsense where you see it.

• Real talk about community, connection, and using AI to get back more of your actual life—not just your inbox.

Guest Bio: Gabi Barragan is the quietly legendary operator behind the scenes of some of tech's sharpest AI rollouts and digital transformations. She specializes in helping companies turn noise into clarity, rally teams around smart experiments, and actually—gasp—listen to their employees and customers. When Gabi isn't advising boards or stirring the LinkedIn pot, you might catch her on Reddit sifting signal from noise or championing tools that make working smarter not just a slogan, but real-life sanity.

Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Wrench.ai

Follow Dan:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird

Follow Gabi:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielabarragan/

Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social

Selected Links From This Episode:

• Gabi Barragan on LinkedIn

• Wrench.ai

People and Organizations Mentioned:

• Gabi Barragan

• Dan Baird

• Wrench.ai

Show Notes & Timestamps:

• 00:02: Lightning round on AI news and the old-school "read, watch, listen" grind

• 00:12: On why AI LinkedIn posts are usually fluff and nobody wants to say it

• 00:20: The good, bad, and ugly of company AI adoption—employee edition

• 00:34: Data silos, dirty secrets from the world of CRMs, and why you should just stop (seriously)

• 00:41: How to actually make your new product launch not suck: the Gabi method

• 00:46: Why behavior-based personas are the only ones that matter (and why your legacy personas aren't cutting it)

In This Episode:

We talk to Timber Barker, founder/CEO of BOOM Interactive, about turning flat floor plans into living, AI-powered digital twins—and the not-so-glamorous reality of building the company that does it. From selling his truck to keep the lights on to landing partnerships with NVIDIA and projects with the NBA, Timber breaks down how CoreSpec3D makes the built world actually usable: chat with your floor plan, drop "sticky notes" that act like tasks, render photorealistic options in seconds, and hand first responders a real-time 3D view when things go sideways. Translation: less guesswork, fewer change orders, more control.

What We Cover:

• How CoreSpec3D converts 2D plans into editable 3D "living floor plans" you can chat with, annotate, and share—on any device

• "Slack in 3D": digital sticky notes, tasks, and context tied to exact spots in a building

• Security design that actually works: auto camera layouts, cable runs, BOMs, OEM catalogs (hello, Hanwha), and first-responder views with live feeds

• Why the next AI frontier is construction data—and how owning the floor plan layer unlocks bids, maintenance, and real ROI

• The founder grind: selling the truck, friends-and-family checks that open doors, and never missing payroll while bootstrapping

• Patents and tech under the hood: 2D-to-3D extrusion, auto-room gen, 3D comms, and "layered diffusion" for consistent photorealistic renders

• The UX hill worth dying on: if you can play Candy Crush, you can use it (no $6,000 workstation required)

Guest Bio:

Timber Barker is the founder and CEO of BOOM Interactive (boominc.ai), creators of CoreSpec3D (cs3d.ai)—an AI platform that transforms flat floor plans into interactive digital twins and a single pane of glass for design, facilities, and security. With 10 patents filed (4 issued) and global trademarks, Timber's team is partnering across industries (including NVIDIA) to democratize 3D, speed up bids and maintenance, and make building data actually useful. He previously launched the DIY-friendly Bubbles (designwithbubbles.com), and he's been bootstrapping BOOM for six years without missing payroll—because teams come first.

Enjoy the episode. This show is brought to you by Wrench.ai.

Follow Dan:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird

Follow Timber:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timber-barker-9660194/

BOOM Interactive: https://boominc.ai

CoreSpec3D: https://cs3d.ai

Bubbles: https://designwithbubbles.com

Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social

Selected Links From This Episode:

• BOOM Interactive: https://boominc.ai

• CoreSpec3D: https://cs3d.ai

• Bubbles (DIY): https://designedwithbubbles.com

• Hanwha Vision (security OEM): https://hanwhavisionamerica.com

• NVIDIA: https://www.nvidia.com

• Autodesk Revit: https://www.autodesk.com/products/revit/

• Matterport: https://matterport.com

• Figma: https://www.figma.com

• Canva: https://www.canva.com

• Trunk Tools: https://www.trunktools.com

People and Organizations Mentioned in this Episode:

• Timber Barker

• Dan Baird

• BOOM Interactive

• CoreSpec3D

• Bubbles

• Co-op Live

• NBA

• Hanwha Vision

• NVIDIA

• Figma

• Canva

• Autodesk Revit

• Matterport

• Trunk Tools

• First responders

Show Notes & Timestamps:

• 00:08 — Why Timber built CoreSpec3D: communication, not just CAD flexing

• 01:29 — The stuff founders never say out loud: lawsuits, bad deals, near-missed payroll

• 03:43 — Selling the truck to pay the team—six years, zero missed payrolls

• 07:48 — The quick demo and how far it's evolved since "Bubbles"

• 08:31 — From point tool to platform: the floor plan as a living system

• 11:43 — Residential pain vs. commercial chaos; speeding both with AI

• 18:38 — Accessibility: runs on any device; "Candy Crush" finger-friendly editing

• 19:30 — 2D photo to editable 3D in seconds (then you finesse it)

• 22:42 — Test-fit an office in 30 minutes vs. a $5K design retainer

• 24:03 — Digital sticky notes, tasks, and chat: Slack, but inside your floor plan

• 26:25 — Security layouts, camera FOVs, and cable paths—materials and costs auto-spit

• 31:06 — First-responder mode: live camera feeds inside the 3D twin

• 34:14 — Data is the moat: every decision, material, and change captured

• 50:24 — The patents: 2D→3D extrusion, 3D comms, auto-room gen, "layered diffusion"

• 53:31 — Consistent, photoreal renders from your own camera angle (no style drift)

• 54:14 — Where to find Timber (LinkedIn) and BOOM Interactive

• 55:02 — CoreSpec3D vs. DIY Bubbles; GTM focus on commercial

"Don't tell me about your fancy martech stack if you can't tell me where your own customer data lives. Spoiler: if your dashboards are a mess, your personalization is, too." —Drew Phillips

In This Episode: We talk to Drew Phillips—part globe-trotting data wrangler, part content whisperer—about what actually moves the needle in enterprise content, data integration, and personalization (hint: it's not a magic vendor pitch or an AI buzzword bingo). Drew reveals the truth behind making content less painful for brands that have more SKUs than most people have socks—and how chaos in digital marketing is just an average Tuesday for him.

What We Cover:

• Why "unified customer profiles" are the table stakes (and why so many big brands still trip over that step).

• The war stories behind data-driven content at mega-brands and scrappy startups (meth cases in Needles, CA included—no, seriously).

• How Contentstack, the so-hip-it-hurts headless CMS, is eating the old guard's lunch by plugging real data into personalized content at scale.

• The myth of the "magic quadrant" and what actually gets you recognized by Gartner and Forrester (spoiler: blood, sweat, scars, and probably a few choice curse words).

• Real talk about content supply chains in highly regulated industries, the AI hype cycle, and why "composable" isn't just another buzzword—it's survival.

Guest Bio: Drew Phillips has done the digital dirty work from law firms to McDonald's, from UFC hardware jewelry startups to top enterprise software firms. Now at Contentstack, he's slinging headless CMS and making waves in data-driven personalization for brands like Air France, KLM, and Mattel. Equal parts design nerd and data geek (with just enough family lawyers to make anyone nervous), Drew's mission is to turn content chaos into streamlined, scalable customer experiences. If you want to find Drew, try LinkedIn (when he's not dodging BDR spam): Drew John Phillips.

Enjoy the episode. This show is brought to you by Wrench.ai.

Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird

Follow Drew:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewjohnphillips/

Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social

Selected Links From This Episode:

• Content Stack

• Wrench.ai

People and Organizations Mentioned in this Episode:

• Drew Phillips

• Dan Baird

• Content Stack

• Adobe

• Ford

• (Unnamed, slightly infamous entertainment firm)

• UFC

• McDonald's

Show Notes & Timestamps:

• 00:04 — Drew's accidental escape from lawyerdom & first website confessions

• 05:30 — The Vegas startup that sold surgical steel jewelry (and why data > gut feeling)

• 11:45 — McDonald's app: global vision, actual execution, and why your data's not as "clean" as you think

• 22:30 — Grocer case study: personalizing content at scale without making your creatives quit

• 35:21 — Change management: why moving a mountain is easier than getting legal, tech, and business leaders to agree

• 43:10 — The right (and wrong) types of problems for AI, and why simple is still sexy

"Building the future is messy—so is your garage, probably. But at least the future will breathe better." —Matt Fischer

In This Episode:

We corral Matt Fischer—startup troublemaker, AI obsessive, and the guy who actually uses data for good (no, seriously)—for a whirlwind tour through everything from hacking the smart home to fighting mold, to upending how businesses actually make decisions. Forget the hype-cycle fluff; Matt is deep in the trenches, building tech that might actually keep your kid out of the ER and your boss in business (but hey, don't get too cozy, bosses: AI's coming for your inbox).

What We Cover:

• Why the "speed of AI" makes your quarterly road map look like it was written in crayon.

• How Matt's Home Health Box idea could save you from a slow, dusty, autoimmune meltdown (Utah's air, I'm side-eyeing you).

• The real behind-the-scenes on launching in stealth mode, running science in your living room, and—just maybe—sticking it to the legacy healthcare system.

• How AI-driven research puts million-dollar "expert" reports to shame, and why sometimes the most game-changing insight comes from sending a free magazine to the neighbors.

• Data privacy, on-prem LLMs, and why your precious trade secrets are one subpoena away from "oops, it's public now."

Guest Bio: Matt Fischer is the founder of AI Revolution Labs, a recovering brand strategist, and the mad scientist behind Home Health Box—his attempt to drag healthcare, home science, and data privacy into the 21st century, preferably before his next ski run at Alta. He's also the kind of guy who rewrites AI textbooks before the ink even dries, obsesses over particle meters (yes, really), and won't shut up about the "speed of AI." Find him at Matt's LinkedIn or his latest project at aiRevolutionLabs.com.

Enjoy the episode. This show is brought to you by Wrench.ai.

Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird

Follow Matt:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewfischer2018/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ai_revolutionlabs/

Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social

Selected Links From This Episode

• AI Revolution Labs

• Home Health Box

• GEO Growth Pro

People and Organizations Mentioned

• Matt Fischer

• Dan Baird

• Wrench.ai

• Home Health Box

• AI Revolution Labs

• GEO Growth Pro

Show Notes & Timestamps

• 01:50 — Getting obsessed with AI (Utah, skiing, and the AI Revolution Labs origin story)

• 03:40 — The big idea: AI implementation for real people and businesses

• 07:00 — Rapid-fire innovation & why visions change every six weeks

• 10:30 — Brand strategy, research, and the power of unexpected insights

• 14:30 — Keeping up with AI and business roadblocks

• 19:00 — Data privacy, security, and "don't trust 'AI Enterprise' marketing"

• 23:30 — Health projects: Home Health Box, asthma, and cleaning up more than just your hard drive

• 29:30 — Utah's air quality nightmare (and how tech can maybe fix it)

• 34:00 — Kids, environments, and why your pipes might be dosing you with heavy metals

• 38:45 — Pharma, business models, and a dash of conspiracy (just for fun)

• 43:00 — Personalized health, medical data, and why your doctor doesn't have the whole story

• 47:00 — GEO: the next era of marketing (because SEO is already collecting dust)

• 53:00 — The Wild West of AI startups and marketing chaos

• 57:00 — Where to find Matt (and his many side hustles)

In This Episode:

We sit down with Gabi Barragan, Wrench.AI's Co-Founder and CMO (and, let's be real, the original "Gabi Filter" for anyone who couldn't write their way out of a Slack thread). Gabi gets brutally honest about the future of work, why most people are totally unprepared for the AI tidal wave, and the one skillset robots still can't fake—being a decent human. She and Dan swap war stories about flattening orgs, surviving existential tech dread, and why soft skills are the new power tools. Plus: why your lawyer's job is toast, how to future-proof your career (hint: meditation and MMA?), and what happens when your kid can assemble IKEA furniture better than you.

What We Cover:

• How AI is eating jobs from the bottom and the top—no one's safe, darling.

• The not-so-secret power of empathy, adaptability, and problem solving (yes, you still need people skills, even if your boss is a bot).

• Why "the grind" is overrated, and how the next wave of work might finally let you catch a damn baseball game.

• The Gabi Filter origin story, and how personalized AI is changing the game for everyone (even the grammar-challenged among us).

• Real talk on burnout, resilience, and why "sitting is the new smoking"—so get up, walk your dog, and try not to panic.

Guest Bio:Gabi Barragan is Co-Founder and CMO at Wrench.AI, where she's made a career out of translating chaos into strategy—and occasionally rescuing colleagues from their own bad grammar. With a background in marketing, startups, and the fine art of not losing your mind in a tech tsunami, Gabi is the go-to voice on surviving (and thriving) as AI rewrites the rules of business. When she's not building the next big thing in personalization, she's lurking on TikTok, plotting the future of work, and reminding everyone that soft skills aren't going out of style.

Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Wrench.ai

Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird

Follow Gabi:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielabarragan/

Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social

Selected Links From This Episode

• Wrench.AI: https://wrench.ai

People and Organizations Mentioned

• Dan Baird

• Gabi Barragan

• Wrench.AI

• Random mutual associate with existential dread (don't worry, Dan won't out you on air)

• The "Gabi Filter" (RIP, but not forgotten)

Show Notes

• Why your job might be toast (and why that's not the end of the world)

• The real value of soft skills in an AI-soaked workplace

• How to avoid burnout when the grind is a myth

• The future of work: lean, mean, and a little bit weird

• Lurking, lurking, and more lurking: why sometimes it's okay to just watch

In This Episode:

We sit down with Steve Eror—skydiver, AI troublemaker, and the guy who'll absolutely call out your nap pod culture for what it is: overhyped and overdue for extinction. Steve walks us through his wild career pivot from Wall Street's soul-sucking grind (hello, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley) to the frontlines of AI at Signals, where he's busy helping companies hire "cloud employees" instead of more warm bodies. Along the way, we get the unvarnished truth about what it's really like to swap financial jargon for code, why automation isn't your enemy (unless you're mediocre), and how building a digital army of agents might just be the ticket to working less and living more. Oh, and did I mention he jumps out of planes for fun?

What We Cover:

• The not-so-glamorous story of leaving a "good" job that was anything but good

• How to build and manage AI "cloud employees" that do the grunt work while you focus on… well, anything else

• The myth (and reality) of Jobmageddon: why the robots aren't coming for your job unless you're already replaceable

• Why skydiving is the ultimate flow state—and way, way safer than arguing with your compliance department

• Behind the scenes of Chad, the AI bro-sales rep you never wanted (but can't look away from)

Guest Bio:

Steve Eror is a tech executive and all-around AI troublemaker. He's got a resume that runs from Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley (where he survived the soul-sucking world of finance) to leadership at InsideSales, Avanti, Zant, and Forethought. These days, he's helping run the show at Signals, building the AI-powered "cloud employees" that will probably automate the boring parts of your job before you even finish reading this sentence. Steve's career is a tour through finance, sales, and AI, with a knack for building tools that get actual results—plus, the man jumps out of airplanes for fun (74 times and counting), so you know he's not just here for the safe bets.

Enjoy!

This episode was brought to you by Wrench.ai

Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird

Follow Steve:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenerorjr/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@getsignals

X: https://x.com/getsignalsai

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realsteveeror/

Follow the Pod: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@burnthemappodcast Twitter/X: https://x.com/BurnTheMapPodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnthemappodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@burnthemappodcast BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/burnthemappodcast.bsky.social

Selected Links From This Episode

• Signals: https://getsignals.ai/

• Wrench.ai: https://wrench.ai/

People and Organizations Mentioned in this Episode

• Steve Eror

• Dan Baird

• Signals

• Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley

• InsideSales, Avanti, Zant, Forethought

• Wrench.ai

Show Notes & Timestamps:

• 00:08 — Why beanbags aren't just beanbags: Lessons from Lovesac

• 04:15 — Argumentation, decision-making, and why everyone thinks they don't argue (spoiler: they do)

• 12:24 — Quitting finance, waking up to tech, and learning what an API is (the hard way)

• 18:23 — AI, job-mageddon, and why real talent doesn't sweat the robots

• 26:04 — Trolling with AI: Building Chad, the world's worst sales bro

• 29:32 — Skydiving, ADD, and finding zen at 10,000 feet

• 38:21 — Moose encounters, Yellowstone survival, and Darwinism at its finest

• 41:49 — Where to find Steve (and why he's not hard to track down)

"Limitations? Please. The only thing that matters now is the idea—because with today's AI, you can create anything. The rest is just noise." —Luka Tisler

In This Episode: We sit down with Luka Tisler, the Slovenian mastermind who treats AI video tools like his personal playground. Luka's journey is a whirlwind of reinvention—from post-production purist to VFX wizard to motion graphics innovator to, well, teaching the rest of us how to keep up. He went from wrangling cameras to breaking generative models, turning every "hobby" into a full-blown career, and building Lighthouse Academy so others could stop floundering and start creating.

What do you get when you mix relentless curiosity, a little Balkan stubbornness, and a refusal to follow creative trends? Apparently, a one-man AI creative studio who's as busy as he is unbothered by the old rules.

What We Cover:

• How AI has nuked creative limitations (and why your dumbest idea is your only real asset now)

• The messy, noisy process behind AI image and video creation—yes, even when the results have six fingers

• Why curation is the new creation, and batch-processing your way to greatness (or at least a good espresso)

• The agony and ecstasy of client "education" when nobody wants to leave their comfort zone

• The birth of Lighthouse Academy and why Luka would rather build something from scratch than explain things twice

• Where to find the world's top AI nerds (Spoiler: Discord, Reddit, and definitely not Facebook)

Guest Bio: Luka Tisler is a Slovenian video virtuoso and co-founder of Lighthouse Academy, known for his deep dives into motion graphics, VFX, and AI-powered animation. Since 2008, Luka's career has spanned from old-school production sets to the wild frontiers of generative AI. He's an unapologetic experimenter, a breaker of tools, and the kind of guy who turns every hobby into a profession—whether the rest of us can keep up or not.

Enjoy! This show was brought to you by Wrench.ai

Follow Dan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbaird/ X: https://x.com/mrdanbaird

Follow Luka:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luka-tisler/

Follow the Pod: YouTubeTwitter/X InstagramTikTok BlueSky

Selected Links From This Episode:

• Lighthouse Academy

• Luka's LinkedIn

• Tools: Midjourney, Weavy, ComfyUI

People and Organizations Mentioned:

• Dave Clark (AI film legend)

• Billy Bowman (AI creative rockstar)

• Kevin the Kid, Metapuppet, Perz, Phil, Kijai, Seb (AI superheroes)

• Lighthouse Academy

Show Notes & Timestamps:

• 00:04 — Luka's journey: From Slovenian VFX to AI wild child

• 02:09 — How video creation is being flipped on its head (and why your ideas matter more than your tools)

• 05:43 — The latest in AI video: Broken tools, creative breakthroughs, and why "good enough" is never enough

• 08:15 — Client education: Herding cats, fighting for sanity, and not letting the comfort zone kill your creativity

• 14:15 — Curation is the new creation (yes, you still have to do the work)

• 17:37 — Building Lighthouse Academy: Zero to one, the joy of teaching, and why community is everything

• 21:17 — Where the real AI nerds hang out (spoiler: it's not Instagram)

• 24:15 — The hardest part? Clients who want 2010 results in 2024

• 28:09 — Who to watch in AI creativity, and why the best don't always come from film school