Killer Growth

What should you actually do when your vehicle reaches 100,000 miles — keep driving it or trade it before something expensive breaks?

In Episode 83 of the KillerGrowth Podcast, Samuel sits down with Mike Dorrell, founder and owner of Superior Auto Care, to talk about cars, entrepreneurship, customer service, and how dramatically the automotive industry has changed.

Mike never planned on owning an auto repair shop. After working in aircraft and spending years with Safelite AutoGlass, he decided to take a risk and start his own business in 2015.

Superior Auto Care began with just two bays, a tiny office, auto glass, and truck accessories.

Then Mike’s dad — a mechanic for more than 50 years known as “Merlin the Magician” — retired and came to help three days a week. By the first week, he was already working Monday through Friday.

Mechanical work took off, more technicians followed, and Superior eventually grew into the full-service operation it is today.

Mike shares what he’s learned about scaling a service business, knowing when to expand, eliminating services that distract from what you do best, and why taking care of employees is critical to taking care of customers.

Then they get into cars.

Mike explains why modern vehicles are increasingly difficult to diagnose, which repairs can become nightmares, whether 100,000 miles should scare you, what brands he trusts, and why buying a different vehicle often just means buying a different set of problems.

They also talk EVs, hybrids, expensive batteries, autonomous driving, and what the future could mean for independent repair shops.

In this episode:

• How Superior Auto Care started in 2015
• Mike’s dad, “Merlin the Magician”
• Knowing when to stop offering a service
• Scaling without sacrificing customer service
• Why modern cars are harder to diagnose
• The truth about the 100,000-mile mark
• Which vehicle brands Mike trusts
• EVs, hybrids and battery replacement costs
• Autonomous driving and the future of cars
• Building a business around your community 

If you own a vehicle, run a service business, or have ever wondered whether that repair bill means it’s finally time to trade your car, there’s plenty in this conversation for you.

Learn more at https://killergrowth.com

What does it actually take to chase the dream of becoming a PGA Tour golfer?

In Episode 82 of the KillerGrowth Podcast, Samuel sits down with professional golfer Patrick Adler to talk about the long, uncertain, and sometimes brutal road toward playing golf at the highest level.

Patrick grew up outside Chicago and didn’t become serious about golf until he was around 11 or 12, when watching Rory McIlroy inspired him to start playing competitively.

He was never the most highly recruited junior golfer. Instead, a coach took a chance on him and Patrick walked onto the golf team at Marquette University.

For years, he hovered around the edge of the starting lineup. But while other students were sleeping, Patrick and a small group of teammates were getting up at 5:00 or 5:30 in the morning to practice.

Eventually, the work started paying off.

Patrick won the South of Ireland Amateur, won twice during his senior season, turned professional, and began navigating the complicated world of Q School, mini tours, Monday qualifiers, and PGA Tour status.

Then came one of the wildest stretches of his career.

After opening a tournament with a 65, Patrick followed it with a 77. Frustrated by his results, he drove away crying and wondering what he was doing with his career.

Days later, he won a Monday qualifier and earned his first PGA Tour start at the John Deere Classic.

Patrick shares what it felt like teeing off around PGA Tour players, hearing the crowds following Jordan Spieth, handling nerves, dealing with failure, and continuing to believe he belongs at that level.

In this episode:

• Going from an overlooked junior golfer to Marquette• Practicing at 5 AM to gain an edge• Winning the South of Ireland Amateur• How professional golf and Q School actually work• Monday qualifying for the John Deere Classic• Handling nerves in his first PGA Tour start• Going from a 77 and tears to the PGA Tour days later• Staying motivated through professional golf’s lows• Why Patrick believes his game can reach the highest level• What separates PGA Tour players from everyone else• Why improving your “bad golf” matters• Patrick’s advice for recreational golfers• Balancing professional golf with music and creativity

Patrick is still in the middle of the story. He’s chasing tour status, traveling, competing, improving, and betting on himself — which makes this a fascinating chance to hear from an athlete before we know how the story ends.

Learn more at https://killergrowth.com

What happens when you stop prompting ChatGPT to do something — and start interviewing it?

In Episode 81 of the KillerGrowth Podcast, Samuel sits down with an unusual guest: ChatGPT.

Instead of asking it to write an email, analyze data, or solve a problem, Samuel asks ChatGPT questions about itself: how it works, why it can sound so human, what people misunderstand about AI, when its answers should be trusted, and what happens when it confidently gets something wrong.

Then the conversation gets considerably more serious.

Samuel asks about AI safety, incidents involving AI systems bypassing safeguards, and warnings from researchers who believe advanced AI could pose catastrophic — potentially even existential — risks to humanity.

ChatGPT explains why a specific percentage shouldn’t be treated as settled fact, but also argues that the potential consequences are serious enough to warrant independent testing, enforceable safeguards, and meaningful human oversight.

They also dig into one of the biggest frustrations people have with AI: its tendency to sound confident even when the evidence doesn’t support the answer.

ChatGPT explains how prompts can steer an answer, why it can become overly agreeable, what decisions should never be handed completely to AI, and one surprisingly useful question users can ask:

“What assumptions are you making right now?”

Samuel even asks ChatGPT to become more sarcastic halfway through the interview — which goes about as you’d expect.

Finally, they turn to data centers and how big technology companies should work with smaller communities considering major infrastructure projects.

In this episode:

• How ChatGPT actually works

• Why AI can seem self-aware

• Why ChatGPT’s tone can change

• When you should and shouldn’t trust AI

• Why ChatGPT can confidently give a wrong answer

• AI safety and catastrophic-risk concerns

• Decisions that should always remain human

• How prompting can unintentionally steer an answer

• The question ChatGPT wishes people asked more often

• Making ChatGPT sarcastic

• AI accountability and human oversight

• Data centers, communities, and big tech

• Which AI Samuel should interview next  

This is the first in an experiment: Samuel plans to ask multiple major AI models the same questions, then compare their answers to see where they agree, where they differ, and how each handles trust, safety, evidence, and accountability.

Learn more at https://killergrowth.com

What if social media was designed to make your life better instead of simply keeping you scrolling?

In Episode 80 of the KillerGrowth Podcast, Samuel sits down with Jason Toevs, CTO of Up, to talk about entrepreneurship, technology, algorithms, and an ambitious question: can we build a healthier version of social media?

Jason’s path to Up started long before social media. A lifelong tinkerer with a mathematics background, he began experimenting with computers and programming in school before launching his first web design company while still in college.

That started a winding entrepreneurial journey through web development, distributed teams, video analytics, automated captions, SaaS, crypto, gaming, startups, accelerators, pivots, and failed companies — all of which eventually prepared him for what he’s building today.

At Up, Jason and the team are developing Scroll Happy, a short-form content platform built around a fundamentally different incentive system.

Instead of asking how an algorithm can keep someone on the platform longer, they’re asking what happens if you optimize around uplifting content, creators, and healthier consumption.

That leads Samuel and Jason into a much bigger conversation about the algorithms shaping what we see every day.

Jason explains what can happen when a brand-new social account begins learning about a young user, why engagement-driven algorithms can amplify unhealthy content, and how hyper-personalized feeds may be changing not only what we consume — but what we have in common with one another.

They also dig into the difficult business questions behind building an alternative. How do you monetize without recreating the same incentives? Who decides what “good” content is? Can users have more control over their algorithm? And can creators still get a fair shot without chasing outrage, controversy, or whatever generates the most engagement?

In this episode:

• Jason’s early experiments with programming

• Starting a web company in college

• Building and managing distributed teams

• Video analytics, automated captions and SaaS

• Lessons from startup pivots and failures

• Building a crypto-based game

• How Jason became CTO of Up

• The mission behind Scroll Happy

• How engagement algorithms shape behavior

• Social media’s impact on young people

• Creating healthier incentives for creators

• Monetizing without maximizing screen time

• Giving users more control over algorithms

• The danger of hyper-personalized feeds

• Building technology around a mission

If you’ve ever wondered why your feed shows you what it does — or whether social media could be designed differently — this conversation offers a fascinating look at what it takes to build an alternative from the ground up.

Learn more at https://killergrowth.com

In Episode 79 of the KillerGrowth Podcast, Samuel sits down with Steven Werner, co-founder and CEO of Lawn Buddy, to talk about building a software company, raising capital, finding product-market fit, and the lessons that come from nearly a decade of startup life.

Steven grew up in Wyoming, joined the Marine Corps after high school, deployed to Afghanistan, and eventually landed in Wichita — where Lawn Buddy began as a college entrepreneurship project inspired by his own frustration trying to hire someone for lawn care.

The original idea was essentially Uber for lawn care: connect homeowners with contractors and facilitate the transaction. But Steven and his team eventually realized they were solving the wrong problem.

The real opportunity was helping lawn and landscape business owners run their companies.

That pivot turned Lawn Buddy into an industry-specific software platform handling scheduling, estimates, equipment, invoicing, payments, AutoPay, and more.

Steven breaks down the economics behind a SaaS company, how Lawn Buddy monetizes payments while keeping subscriptions affordable, why influencer marketing became one of their most effective acquisition channels, and the challenge of retention in a highly seasonal industry.

They also dig into AI and vibe coding. Steven believes today’s tools give non-technical founders incredible power to build software — but warns that generating code and operating a real software company are two very different things.

And then they get into fundraising.

After raising significant outside capital himself, Steven explains why founders should be able to answer two questions before taking someone else’s money: Why? And for what?

In this episode:

• Going from the Marine Corps to entrepreneurship

• How Lawn Buddy started as a college project

• Why Steven left college to pursue the business

• Pivoting from a marketplace to SaaS

• Finding the customer with the biggest problem

• How Lawn Buddy makes money on payments

• Influencer marketing vs. traditional advertising

• Customer retention in seasonal businesses

• AI and vibe coding for non-technical founders

• Why founders still need technical expertise

• The real cost of customer acquisition

• When raising capital actually makes sense

• Why money can hide problems instead of fixing them

• Using partnerships to lower acquisition costs

• Building a business around customer lifetime value

If you’re building a startup, considering raising money, or trying to figure out how to turn a product into a sustainable business, Steven’s decade of lessons is worth hearing.

Learn more at https://killergrowth.com

What if the biggest thing holding your business back isn’t revenue, marketing, or strategy — but your own capacity?

In Episode 78 of the KillerGrowth Podcast, Samuel sits down with Dani Martin, founder of The Financial Alchemist, for a conversation about money, entrepreneurship, neurodivergence, and building a business around the way your brain actually works.

Dani’s path into accounting was anything but conventional. She joined the Oklahoma National Guard, worked in chemical detection, managed portions of a massive wastewater infrastructure budget at just 19, and eventually found her way into accounting.

But traditional accounting taught her something important: business problems rarely exist only on a spreadsheet.

Behind the numbers are people dealing with stress, shame around money, ADHD, limited capacity, family dynamics, and processes that simply don’t fit the way they think.

Dani explains why so many entrepreneurs avoid their financials, how cash flow tells a different story than a P&L, and why accounting should help owners make decisions instead of simply telling them what happened last month.

They also explore neurodivergent entrepreneurship, accountability, imposter syndrome, verbal processing, and why being good at something doesn’t necessarily mean you should keep doing it.

In this episode:

• Dani’s unconventional path into accounting

• Managing a massive budget at just 19

• Bookkeeping vs. accounting vs. fractional CFO work

• Why shame around money keeps owners stuck

• ADHD and neurodivergent entrepreneurship

• Why capacity can look like a discipline problem

• Turning financial data into useful decisions

• Why cash flow matters beyond your P&L

• How often to review your financials

• Building processes around how people actually think

• How to determine your next hire

• The “love it vs. good at it” exercise

If you’ve ever wondered why you should be able to handle everything in your business but still feel exhausted or overwhelmed, this conversation may change how you look at the problem.

Learn more at https://killergrowth.com

What’s really happening inside public education — beyond the headlines, politics, and social media arguments?

In Episode 77 of the KillerGrowth Podcast, Samuel sits down with Dr. Chad Higgins, longtime Kansas educator, former superintendent, and outgoing executive director of ESSDACK, for a candid conversation about the challenges facing public schools.

Chad’s career has taken him through nearly every level of education, from science teacher and football coach to principal and superintendent of districts ranging from roughly 400 to nearly 8,000 students.

They dig into declining enrollment and birth rates, teacher shortages and burnout, school funding, private-school alternatives, special education, and the growing political pressure surrounding education.

Chad also explains why comparing public and private schools isn’t as simple as comparing spending per student, how Kansas school funding actually works, and why he wishes policymakers would spend more time inside schools before making decisions about them.

And there are lessons here that go far beyond education — including Chad’s simple leadership rule: never send the second email. If the first email doesn’t solve the problem, pick up the phone or meet face-to-face.

In this episode:

• Chad’s journey from teacher to superintendent

• What ESSDACK does for Kansas schools

• Why school enrollment is declining

• Teacher shortages and burnout

• School closures and consolidation

• Social media’s impact on school culture

• Chad’s “never send the second email” rule

• Public vs. private education

• How Kansas school funding works

• Special education funding

• What Chad would change about education

• How businesses can support local schools

If you’re a parent, teacher, business owner, taxpayer, or simply curious about what’s actually happening inside public education, this conversation offers the perspective of someone who has spent decades working inside the system.

Learn more at https://killergrowth.com

What happens when you spend more than 50 years fixing appliances? Eventually, people start calling you the Appliance Whisperer.

In Episode 76 of the KillerGrowth Podcast, Samuel sits down with Charley Green, the original founder of Charlie’s Appliance Service and a longtime El Dorado fixture whose career in the appliance industry stretches all the way back to the 1970s.

Charley’s story started after high school with a summer job at Yellowstone National Park before he returned home, enrolled at Butler, and landed a job working for Charlie Young at Young’s Appliance. What followed was a career that gave him a front-row seat to more than five decades of change in the appliance business.

He shares stories from the days when El Dorado had more than half a dozen places selling appliances, customers would call a local store and buy something over the phone based purely on trust, and a repair technician could diagnose most problems without needing to understand computer boards, sensors, and software.

And yes — they get into why so many appliance brands that appear to be competitors are actually made by the same handful of manufacturers.

Charley also talks about going out on his own around 2000 with nothing more than a van and decades of experience, building an incredibly loyal customer base, and eventually joining Samuel and the team as they expanded Charlie’s Appliance into appliance sales, mattresses, furniture, and a much larger service operation.

They dig into how dramatically appliance repair has changed, why today’s technicians need to understand electronics and computers, the challenges of finding and training great service technicians, and the relationships that made Charlie’s Appliance such an important local business.

But this episode goes well beyond appliances.

Charley talks about retirement, mission trips to Alaska and Tanzania, working near Old Faithful at Yellowstone in the 1970s, his lifelong obsession with birding, the wild turkey that decided to move into his yard, and why his family now has another nickname for him: the Bird Whisperer.

In this episode:

• How Charley got into appliance repair in the 1970s

• Working for the legendary Young’s Appliance in El Dorado

• What the appliance business looked like 50 years ago

• Why many competing appliance brands are actually made by the same manufacturers

• How Maytag, Whirlpool, Kenmore, Amana and other brands have changed over the years

• Leaving an established company to start Charlie’s Appliance Service

• Building a loyal customer base from one service van

• Why trust and reputation mattered more than advertising

• How Samuel and Charley eventually partnered to expand Charlie’s Appliance

• Growing from appliance repair into retail, mattresses and furniture

• Why modern appliance repair requires computer and electronics knowledge

• The challenge of finding and training great appliance technicians

• Charley’s experience with factory service training

• Retirement and mission trips to Alaska and Tanzania

• Working a summer at Yellowstone National Park in 1974

• The grizzly bear encounter he narrowly missed

• How Charley became obsessed with birding

• The wild turkey that took over his yard

• Why he’s known as both the Appliance Whisperer and the Bird Whisperer

If you’ve ever wondered why appliances aren’t built the way they used to be, what actually goes into repairing them, or how someone builds a reputation strong enough that generations of customers refuse to call anyone else, you’ll enjoy this conversation.

Learn more at killergrowth.com

What if you could build an entire building digitally, find the problems, fix them, and coordinate every system — before construction ever begins?

In Episode 75 of the KillerGrowth Podcast, Samuel sits down with Roy Aniruddha, founder of TechnoStruct, to talk about the technology quietly transforming one of the world’s oldest industries: construction.

Roy has spent decades working at the intersection of architecture, engineering, construction, and technology. He explains how Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Virtual Design & Construction allow teams to essentially construct a project digitally before breaking ground — identifying conflicts between structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and other systems before those problems become expensive mistakes in the field.

And TechnoStruct has worked on some incredible projects.

Roy shares how his company earned opportunities to work on projects including Apple Park and Google Bay View, what makes projects at that scale so challenging, and why relationships, reputation, and consistently delivering good work have been far more important to TechnoStruct’s growth than building an aggressive sales organization.

They also dig into Roy’s entrepreneurial journey: leaving the corporate world, recognizing where he could create more value on his own, building a global company, and learning when instinct matters more than having every answer figured out in advance.

And, of course, they talk about AI.

Roy explains how artificial intelligence is beginning to change BIM, architecture, engineering, construction, training, and client communication — while also making the case that technology won’t simply eliminate the need for talented people.

The conversation eventually turns to TechnoStruct Academy, which Roy created to address the enormous skills gap he saw in the industry. What began as a way to train BIM professionals evolved through COVID into a much larger educational platform and another piece of Roy’s mission to build something that creates value beyond simply making money.

In this episode:

• What BIM and Virtual Design & Construction actually are

• Digitally constructing a building before construction begins

• Why Roy left corporate life to start TechnoStruct

• What aspiring entrepreneurs should consider before making the leap

• How TechnoStruct landed work on Apple Park and Google Bay View

• Why major construction projects become incredibly complex

• Building a global company through reputation and relationships

• Why TechnoStruct doesn’t rely on an aggressive sales organization

• How AI is changing architecture, engineering, and construction

• Whether AI will actually eliminate jobs in the construction industry

• The skills gap that led Roy to create TechnoStruct Academy

• How COVID transformed the education side of the business

• Using AI to improve training and client communication

• Finding purpose beyond simply making money

• Roy’s approach to building long-term business relationships

• Why trying too hard to sell can actually hurt the sale

• Honesty, trust, and knowing when to walk away from a project

If you’re an entrepreneur, work in construction or technology, or are interested in how AI is changing industries that have operated the same way for decades, this conversation offers a fascinating look at what happens when technology, experience, and entrepreneurship come together.

Learn more at https://killergrowth.com

What if upgrading your business’s lighting could pay for itself — and an energy company covered roughly half the upfront cost?

In Episode 74 of the KillerGrowth Podcast, Samuel sits down with Brandon McLey, founder of Titan Lighting, to talk about the surprisingly complex business behind something most of us barely think about: light.

After nearly two decades in the electrical distribution industry, Brandon left the corporate world in 2023 to build Titan Lighting. He shares what pushed him to make the jump, the inefficiencies he saw in the traditional construction and lighting industry, and how Titan helps contractors, developers, architects, and business owners find better lighting solutions without overpaying.

They also dig into Evergy’s commercial lighting rebate program, which can cover roughly 50% of qualifying LED retrofit projects, why billions of fluorescent bulbs are still in use, and how dramatically LEDs can reduce energy and maintenance costs.

And then things get nerdy.

Brandon explains why some streetlights suddenly turn purple, how LED color temperature actually works, why lighting affects your circadian rhythm, how the wrong light can completely change the appearance of a room, and why some people can actually see fluorescent lights flickering.

They also talk about the realities of entrepreneurship: cash flow, competitors, hiring, building relationships, and Brandon’s vision for growing Titan Lighting into a $10M+ regional business.

In this episode:

• Leaving a billion-dollar company to start Titan Lighting

• Why commercial lighting projects are often over-designed

• How value engineering can save building owners money

• How Evergy’s LED rebate program works

• The real ROI of replacing fluorescent and metal-halide lighting

• Why some LED streetlights turn purple

• Color temperature and the science behind LED lighting

• How lighting affects sleep and circadian rhythm

• The challenges Brandon didn’t expect when starting a business

• Building a company around relationships instead of transactions

• Brandon’s plan to grow Titan Lighting to $10M+ and multiple locations

If you own a business, work in construction, or have ever wondered why the lighting around you looks the way it does, this conversation will make you look at light completely differently.

Learn more at https://killergrowth.com