Ethan Monkhouse built AI technology so advanced at psychological profiling that he deemed it "too intense" for public release. As co-founder of Naviro AI, Ethan has created systems that can identify personality traits, psychological patterns, and even childhood trauma from social media behavior alone.

Ethan discovered his technology was becoming immensely powerful. In this fascinating conversation, we explore the cutting edge of AI psychological profiling - technology that can read between the lines of your digital presence to understand who you really are beneath your public persona.

From analyzing posture, object placement, speech patterns to other subtle hints, Ethan’s AI was able to detect his mild OCD, for example. It was something he’d never revealed publicly. 

We dive deep into how this technology works, its applications in marketing and fan identification, and the ethical considerations of building AI that can see through our carefully-crafted online personas.

For Leaders, Strategists and Decision-Makers: Discover how Naviro AI replicated months of marketing strategy work in one hour, identified superfans with 99% accuracy, and helped music labels understand the psychological drivers behind fan behavior. But more importantly, understand what this means for the future of work and human privacy.

This conversation sits at the intersection of technological possibility and human psychology - essential listening for anyone trying to understand where AI is headed and how to navigate its implications responsibly.

Key Moments:

• Real-world case study: How AI identified specific personal details Ethan had never shared publicly 
• Technical deep dive: Fine-tuning models, vector databases, and agent management
• How music artists use AI to identify demographic groups as fans with the greatest lifetime value (LTV)
• Crafting future organizational chart that place AI agents into key decision-making roles 
• Building responsible AI in an age of increasing surveillance

Chapters:
00:00 The Power of AI in Personal Profiling
02:56 Navigating the Edge of Technology
06:07 Understanding Psychological Profiles
08:49 The Process of Fine-Tuning AI Models
11:51 Evaluating AI Responses
14:50 The Role of Trust in Marketing
17:41 Identifying Super Fans in Music
21:05 The Dynamics of Fan Engagement
23:57 The Future of AI in Marketing
26:41 Ethics and Responsibility in AI
29:52 The Evolution of Engineering Roles
33:02 Trust as a Key Factor in Business

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Original Music by Billy Goodrum

Meet Eli Portnoy, a serial entrepreneur who has done what few have: Founded and led two separate tech companies to successful eight-figure exits. He sold his first company, ThinkNear, for $22.5 million and his second, Sense360, for $44 million. This conversation is an insider’s look into his playbook, revealing the specific strategies he uses to build highly acquirable companies from the ground up.

The discussion explores Eli's core philosophies: that companies are bought, not sold, and that influencing an acquirer’s vision is more powerful than chasing it. He details his strategy of building relationships with potential buyers years before a sale and unpacks the vital role of founder-led sales in building a truly valuable company.

Beyond tactics, the conversation delves into the emotional reality of the startup journey, from the difficult lows and "moments of just absolute shit" to the incredible highs that provide the motivation to do it again.

These lessons led to his latest venture, Back Engine AI, which was built to solve a core problem he faced: losing the "founder superpower" of deep customer connection as a company grows. It is his favorite company yet.

Chapters:
00:00 The Mindset of Acquirers
02:16 Building Valuable Companies
08:06 The Importance of Relationships
16:16 Timing and Market Conditions
18:15 Valuation in Illiquid Markets
23:30 The Importance of Founder-Led Sales
26:04 Scaling Sales Efforts
28:11 Navigating Pivots in Startups
31:20 The Emotional Roller Coaster of Entrepreneurship
32:41 The Draw of Entrepreneurship
35:31 Adapting to Rapid Market Changes
38:20 The Role of Venture Capital in Startups
41:07 Building Back Engine AI: A New Venture

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Original Music by Billy Goodrum

In this conversation, Chris Mailander and Ryan Davis explore the evolution and current state of influencer marketing, its impact on political campaigns, and the future of media strategy. They discuss how influencer marketing has shifted from traditional celebrity endorsements to a more decentralized approach, where authenticity and audience engagement are key. The conversation also touches on the role of AI in personalizing campaign messaging and the importance of navigating the new media landscape for candidates. In this conversation, Chris Mailander and Ryan Davis explore the dynamics of the creator economy, discussing the economics of influencer marketing, the intersection of political and commercial content, the perspective of a digital nomad, the role of technology and AI in marketing, and the potential abuses within the creator economy. They delve into how audience engagement varies with creator size, the evolving expectations of CEOs as influencers, and the implications of AI on content creation and authenticity. It is a broad ranging conversation, spanning President Trump’s media-first strategy, to Elon Musk, Gavin Newsome, Mayor Pete, Corey Booker, and political upstarts, all seeking to capture the moment with the right message on an rapidly evolving medium.

Chapters:
00:00 The Evolution of Influencer Marketing
03:10 Understanding Influencer Marketing Today
10:10 The Impact of the Attention Economy
12:40 Navigating the New Media Landscape
19:40 Emerging Candidates and Strategies for 2028
22:40 The Role of AI in Future Campaigns
25:43 The Economics of the Creator Economy
28:50 Navigating Political and Commercial Content
34:52 The Digital Nomad Perspective
38:25 Leveraging Technology and AI in Marketing
41:41 Addressing Potential Abuses in the Creator Economy

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Original Music by Billy Goodrum

Step into the private studio of Hollywood composer Billy Goodrum as he shares the creative secrets behind some of comedy's most iconic films. 
From crafting the memorable music for “Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary,” and countless other Farrelly Brothers classics to collaborating with Sophia Loren’s son on award-winning international projects, Goodrum offers a rare glimpse into the collaborative genius of film composition.
In this intimate conversation, discover:
• How a chance meeting and “Two Foot of Butt Crack” launched Goodrum’s Hollywood career
• The subtle art of film scoring and how he helps create compelling experiences for his audiences
• His transition from composer to screenwriter with “How to Die in the South” and other screenplays in development
• The stark differences collaborating with American comedy directors versus European auteurs
This episode delivers fascinating insights into how sound is used to create the experiences that make us laugh, cry, and feel. There’s even an ‘easter egg’ towards the end that helps demonstrate how Billy translates abstract concepts into tangible compositions that shape how we engage with an experience. Enjoy!  

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Original Music by Billy Goodrum

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Original Music by Billy Goodrum

In an era where AI giants like Palantir, Google, Microsoft, and NVIDIA battle for supremacy, a new frontier is emerging: the race to predict Earth's future. Josh Gilbert and Gopal Erinjippurath, co-founders of Sust Global, reveal how geospatial AI is becoming the next critical battleground in the global tech war. Drawing parallels to the nuclear arms race, they explore how major tech players, defense contractors, and financial institutions are competing to harness vast satellite and environmental datasets to predict everything from hurricane paths to economic shockwaves. This episode pulls back the curtain on how AI is revolutionizing climate risk prediction and reshaping global power dynamics. Josh and Gopal share insider insights on which tech giants might win or lose in this trillion-dollar race, and how geospatial AI is giving decision-makers unprecedented ability to anticipate and respond to environmental and economic threats. Learn how this technological arms race is transforming not just how we understand our planet, but how nations and corporations will compete in an AI-driven future.

Key takeaways
Geospatial AI is the next frontier: Just like language models transformed text, geospatial AI will revolutionize how we understand and interact with the physical world.
Data is the new oil, but spatial context is the refinery: Raw data is abundant, but
extracting meaningful insights requires understanding the spatial relationships within that data.
The race is on: Companies like Palantir are already dominating this space, but there's still room for innovative startups to carve out niches and disrupt the market.
The future is multimodal: Combining geospatial data with other data sources like financial, social, and climate data will unlock unprecedented levels of insight.
Human-in-the-loop is evolving: The future of geospatial AI involves intelligent agents that can autonomously analyze data and generate actionable insights, minimizing the need for human intervention.

Visit Sust Global here: https://www.sustglobal.com/

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Original Music by Billy Goodrum

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Original Music by Billy Goodrum

Andrew Jones is one of the foremost experts on the use of simulation modeling to improve decision-making for our most pressing global challenges, including the socio-economic and geopolitical ramifications of climate change. He is Co-Founder and CEO of Climate Interactive, and creator of the En-ROADS simulation model which has been used by an estimated 1.4 million people in over 170 countries, including by global negotiators, U.S. Senators and more than 178 Members of Congress, and multinational corporations. In this episode, filmed in Asheville, North Carolina, following the devastation of Hurricane Helene, we explore how system dynamics modeling, simulations, and synthetic experiences can be used to help policymakers and decision-makers to better conceptualize and understand the myriad dimensions of complex problems. Jones reveals methods and strategies for overcoming the challenges of time and space in order to visual future outcomes within milliseconds, creating non-judgmental environments for exploring alternative options, and avoiding reliance on ‘black box’ modeling to instead use methodologies which transparently reveal the dynamic cross-correlations at play within complex systems.

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You too can directly work with the simulation model discussed in this podcast (available for free and in 20 languages) by going to https://www.climateinteractive.org/en-roads/ . 

You can connect with Andrew Jones here:  https://www.climateinteractive.org/about/staff/andrew-p-jones/ .
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Original Music by Billy Goodrum

Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/6VaJ9xhvEG0

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Original Music by Billy Goodrum

Jan Jensen is the new head coach for women’s basketball at the University of Iowa. Jensen takes over an elite program that developed generational phenom, Caitlin Clark (WNBA Rookie of the Year with the Indiana Fever), and reached the NCAA Championship game the last two years. Previously named NCAA Assistant Coach of the Year, Jensen has been instrumental in recruiting and developing such athletes as Kate Martin (now with the Las Vegas Aces) and Megan Gustafson (also with the Las Vegas Aces, who recently competed for Spain in the 2024 Paris Olympics, and was NCAA Player of the Year while at Iowa). Our conversation discussed Jensen’s succession path following Lisa Bluder; her vision for the team under her leadership; building and curating a team culture; recruiting the right players to fit the Iowa program; creating the conditions for developing confidence and trust; the changing realities of college athletics with NIL, the portal, and revenue sharing; the Iowa ‘brand’; and a few memories of growing up in Iowa’s small farm communities.

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Original Music by Billy Goodrum

Tech entrepreneur Eliot Puplett shares his vision for democratizing global finance through blockchain technology. As founder of Medici, he's building a decentralized financial system that could do for money what the internet did for information. Puplett discusses the challenges of disrupting entrenched financial institutions, navigating regulatory hurdles, and building new infrastructure from scratch. He explains how blockchain can dramatically reduce costs and complexity in international investments by eliminating middlemen and creating transparent, immutable transactions. Beyond the technology, Puplett reveals his deeper mission: enabling thousands of people who've been excluded from traditional finance to build wealth, start companies, and access capital markets. It's a raw, candid conversation about fighting the status quo while trying to become part of it – and the messy reality of building a financial revolution from the ground up.

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Original Music by Billy Goodrum

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Original Music by Billy Goodrum

Are you giving your greatest decisions the time they deserve? Short-term decisions are easy—they fit into neat timelines with clear metrics. But when it comes to the decisions that will most significantly impact your company's long-term future, you need to be willing to think differently, break the rules, and allow ideas to evolve. The best leaders know that patience and a bit of chaos have the greatest benefit. If you’re ready to rethink how you plan for the future, I’ll show you how to intentionally curate your company’s decision architecture to create the greatest long-term value. Let’s go to work. 

Key Takeaways:

1. Patience is Key: Long-term decision-making requires patience, allowing ideas to develop and evolve without the pressure of immediate results.
2. Embrace Cognitive Friction: Introducing and managing cognitive friction—deliberately challenging and deconstructing ideas—enhances decision-making and prepares teams for real-world challenges.
3. Flexible Decision Architecture: Successful long-term strategies are built on a flexible, less rigid decision-making process that encourages creativity, experimentation, and non-linear thinking.
4. Intentional Curation of Ideas: Curating ideas with intention, even when they seem illogical or irrational, can lead to innovative solutions that redefine your organization’s future.
5. Avoid Over-Transparency: In long-term planning, being too transparent about desired outcomes can stifle creativity and lead to groupthink. Instead, allow space for new pathways and ideas to emerge organically.

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Original Music by Billy Goodrum

What do card games with Grandma and corporate strategy have in common? They're both high-stakes games of deception and decoding how the other player thinks. Beneath the surface lies a battle of wits, where every move is calculated to win. But how do you decipher the moves of your competitors and partners? Join me to learn how to outsmart Grandma and apply the same techniques to your corporate strategy. By decoding the DNA of decision-making, you'll gain a strategic advantage and pave the way for success in your leadership journey.

Put yourself into position to play a winning hand?

Key takeaways:

• Decoding Decision-Making: Just like reading Grandma's moves in a card game, understanding the conscious and unconscious decisions of competitors and partners is crucial in corporate strategy. By deciphering these patterns, leaders can anticipate future moves and gain a strategic advantage.
• Uncovering Subconscious Biases: It’s important to recognize not only the overt decisions but also the hidden biases and blind spots that influence behavior. Identifying these subconscious patterns allows leaders to make more informed decisions and navigate complex business environments with confidence.
• Enhancing Accuracy and Competitive Advantage: Improving the accuracy of decoding decision-making processes is essential for success in a competitive landscape. Through methods to enhance accuracy and minimize guesswork, leaders can better position themselves to capitalize on opportunities and navigate challenges effectively. Doing so is how a CEO plays at the highest levels of ’the game’.

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Original Music by Billy Goodrum