Harvey

Personable

A Entrepreneurship and Business podcast Explicit

#77 in Entrepreneurship · 🇸🇬

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About the show

Learning from the World's best to become the best you can be

Newest episodes

Hedge Fund Manager: "The Goal Isn't to be Right, It's to Make Money" | Alix Pasquet

Nov 11, 2026 1 hr 35 min

Alix Pasquet, Managing Partner of Prime Macaya Capital Management and former backgammon player, joins Personable to explain why investing is a very predatory business, why the goal is not to be right but to make money, and why you should only ever play against weaker players.In this episode, Alix goes back to learning from the first backgammon neural nets in college, landing his first job at a family office through a wealthy businessman he used to gamble with, why intelligence can multiply your biases, how he manages risk with "Mrs. Market," how his team finds ideas through their network and field work, why you should ask "how do I fail?" instead of "how do I succeed?", whether great portfolio managers are born or made, how CEOs profited from spin-offs, why stress and personal overhead are the silent killers of hedge funds, and the six forms of leverage every person should build.This is an essential listen for anyone interested in investing, hedge funds, poker and game theory, behavioral psychology, risk management, and building an edge in any competitive field.Chapters:00:00 Intro00:34 How Alix got into investing03:06 What poker teaches you about investing07:38 Why smart people lose money11:33 Risk management and Mrs. Market19:52 From idea to position34:54 Mistakes and lessons learned the hard way40:43 How he spends his time49:00 Are great investors born or made?54:16 Analyst thinking vs. PM thinking1:00:51 Only play weaker players1:11:51 Managing stress and avoiding burnout1:26:08 The six forms of leverageAlix Pasquet:◽️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/alixpasquet◽️ https://x.com/alixpasquetPrime Macaya Capital Management:https://nextgeninvestors.substack.com/p/meet-the-investor-prime-macaya-capitalHarvey Bracken-Smith:◽️ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/harveybracken-smith◽️ Instagram: https://instagram.com/harveybsmith◽️ X (Twitter): https://x.com/harveybsmith_◽️ Newsletter: https://personable.substack.com/◽️ Website: https://www.personable.media/Personable...

Ex-Motley Fool Analyst: The Simple Math That Turns $100 Into Millions | Brian Feroldi

Nov 2, 2026 52 min

Brian Feroldi, Motley Fool investor, author of Why Does the Stock Market Go Up?, and co-founder of Long-Term Mindset, joins Personable to explain the simple math that turns $100 into millions, why 99% of people should start and stop with index funds, and why the only edge individual investors have over Wall Street is time.In this episode, Brian goes back to the copy of Rich Dad, Poor Dad his dad handed him at graduation, learning more from the Motley Fool discussion boards than from any book, teaching compounding in elementary schools until a kid yelled "You're lying!", holding Netflix through two 80% drawdowns, the five phases every business goes through, how venture capitalists value companies like Anthropic and OpenAI, and the biggest mistake of his career: selling Microsoft at $20.This is an essential listen for anyone interested in investing, the stock market, compounding, long-term thinking, and learning how to ignore the noise and focus on what actually matters.Chapters:00:00 Intro00:33 How Brian got into investing01:51 Why share what you learn online03:11 The power of compounding04:24 Index funds vs. picking stocks05:30 What the Motley Fool boards taught him06:53 GameStop and the rise of retail investors10:15 Why most fund managers underperform13:54 Buffett, Berkshire and the AI trade15:15 Holding conviction under pressure18:13 Holding Netflix through 80% drawdowns20:35 Good decisions vs. good outcomes23:17 Staying level-headed through volatility26:09 The five phases of a business30:43 How to value AI startups36:13 Will America keep winning?39:47 How many stocks to own40:35 Building your investing checklist43:44 Biggest investing mistakes45:11 Advice for young investors48:12 Building wealth vs. keeping it50:15 Legacy and the next ten years51:11 The one thing to take away This episode looks much better in HD. Tap the gear icon and choose the highest quality. Brian Feroldi:◽️ X (Twitter): https://x.com/BrianFeroldi◽️ Newsletter: https://brianferoldi.substa...

Sticky Jams Founder: Why Every Founder Needs to Be a Little Delusional

Oct 27, 2026 1 hr 19 min

Vincent Lee, co-founder of Sticky Jams and a former New Jersey state champion wrestler who wrestled at Duke before medically retiring, joins Personable to explain how a high school project became a sports audio brand with more than 10 million views a month, why the product matters more than the person promoting it, and why you should take the risk while you're young.In this episode, Vincent goes back to reselling shoes he imported from Japan, hand-sewing the first Sticky Jams prototypes in class, posting a joke video that got 40,000 likes, designing a speaker with an engineer at Duke, launching a football version after one comment asking for it got 6,000 likes, and turning an Instagram follow into a 12-month partnership with Adidas Wrestling.This is an essential listen for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, consumer products, social media marketing, sports, and anyone deciding whether to take the traditional path or bet on themselves.He discusses:◽️ How a senior-year school project and a joke video turned into Sticky Jams◽️ How they make viral videos that actually convert to sales, and why the product matters more than the influencer◽️ How an Instagram follow turned into a partnership with Adidas Wrestling◽️ Why running out of stock made more people buy◽️ Why he chose to take the risk while he's young instead of following the banking path00:00 Introduction00:34 What is Sticky Jams03:33 Building the first product and going viral05:16 From reselling shoes to Sticky Jams06:13 Getting the biggest wrestlers on board08:00 How they make viral videos09:29 What keeps him hungry13:16 Patents, new products and coach communication18:29 Leaving the traditional path23:29 Turning views into sales28:56 How a birthday gift landed a Flow Wrestling partnership34:10 Building the team43:53 Biggest mistakes and spending discipline47:11 Fundraising: rich or king?54:42 Working on the business, not in it58:43 Biggest threats and moving first1:05:21 Scarcity, hype and inventory bets...

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All episodes

Hedge Fund Manager: "The Goal Isn't to be Right, It's to Make Money" | Alix Pasquet

Nov 11, 2026 1 hr 35 min

Ex-Motley Fool Analyst: The Simple Math That Turns $100 Into Millions | Brian Feroldi

Nov 2, 2026 52 min

Sticky Jams Founder: Why Every Founder Needs to Be a Little Delusional

Oct 27, 2026 1 hr 19 min

22-Year-Old Hedge Fund Founder: Why I’d Rather Fail on My Own Terms | Noah Kann

Oct 23, 2026 1 hr 14 min

Noah Kann, the 22-year-old co-founder of Venari Asset Management, a licensed multi-strategy hedge fund he runs with his twin brother Ethan while finishing his senior year at Emory University, joins Personable to explain why he'd rather fail on his own terms than succeed on someone else's dreams, why you can't build anything great on your own, and how he researches and picks investments.In this episode, Noah goes back to making his first investment with his mother during the March 2020 crash, starting a financial literacy program at 16, building a crypto trading firm and two tech startups, launching his first fund in 2024, and how years of violin practice, the skill that got him into Emory, taught him the discipline behind everything he does now.This is an essential listen for anyone interested in investing, hedge funds, entrepreneurship, building teams, behavioral finance, and anyone young who wants to start something of their own.He discusses:◽️ Why he started a hedge fund at 22 instead of waiting for decades of experience◽️ Why he doesn't think he's the best, and how he finds and motivates people who are◽️ Why finding a "diamond in the rough" is harder now that anyone can research a stock with AI◽️ The one sector he's most cautious on right now, and why◽️ How he raises money from sophisticated investors despite his age00:00 What is Venari Asset Management01:15 Why he'd rather fail on his own terms02:51 From a financial literacy program at 16 to Venari05:44 Why you can't do it on your own09:25 Finding and motivating great people14:39 Balancing results, hiring and culture19:17 How he researches and picks investments27:16 Managing risk and market shocks33:26 Choosing 10 themes a year41:56 The one sector he'd caution against43:55 Relationships and human psychology49:53 Raising money as a young manager52:04 Violin and the pursuit of excellence1:00:05 Role models, motivation and his North Star1:06:52 Change, legacy and the one thing to take awayNoah Kann:◽️ Linked...

Wall Street Legend Jim Rogers: The Market Is a Cruel Teacher

Oct 20, 2026 1 hr 10 min

Jim Rogers, co-founder of the Quantum Fund with George Soros, which returned 4,200% from 1973 to 1980 while the S&P gained about 47%, joins Personable to explain why the market is a cruel teacher, why the crowd moves prices more than the truth does, and why you should never accept that the sky is blue until you've looked out the window yourself. In this episode, Jim goes back to growing up in a small Alabama town where his phone number was "five," landing a summer job on Wall Street when he thought stocks and bonds were the same thing, getting completely wiped out early in his career, building the Quantum Fund with George Soros, giving Scott Bessent an internship, teaching at Columbia in exchange for lifetime access to the gym, and retiring at 37 to travel the world by motorcycle. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in investing, markets, economic history, geopolitics, contrarian thinking, and finding what you love and having the courage to pursue it. He discusses: ◽️ How losing everything early taught him that markets are driven by millions of people who don't think like you ◽️ Why being right isn't enough if the crowd disagrees, and how to survive until reality catches up ◽️ How he decides whether to stay in a losing trade or cut his losses ◽️ Building the Quantum Fund with George Soros, and why their partnership worked ◽️ Why nearly every stock market hitting new highs at once worries him ◽️ His views on China, agriculture, oil, gold, silver, war and the $40 trillion US debt ◽️ Why he left Wall Street to see the world, and his advice to young people starting out 00:00 Introduction and how Jim got into investing 01:28 From a small town in Alabama to Yale 02:48 The market is a cruel teacher: losing everything 04:09 What changed after he went broke 06:06 When the fundamentals and the crowd disagree 08:28 Fear, greed and human psychology in markets 11:05 Where conviction comes from 11:55 How young people should learn to invest 15:23 When to s...

Williams F1 CTO: Stop Playing It Safe If You Want to Win | Pat Fry

Oct 11, 2026 58 min

Pat Fry, Chief Technical Officer of Williams Racing, with more than 35 years in Formula 1 across Benetton, McLaren, Ferrari, Manor, Alpine and now Williams, joins Personable to explain why you cannot win if people are afraid to fail, and why culture is as important as the car itself. In this episode, Pat goes back to joining Benetton as employee number 72 when electronics barely existed on an F1 car, the active suspension era with Ayrton Senna and Mika Häkkinen, the moment he realised talented people were playing it safe because they were scared, and why the four pillars of people, technology, methodologies and culture decide whether a team can actually get to the front. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in Formula 1, high-performance engineering, building culture, leadership under pressure, incremental gains, and what it actually takes to turn a team around instead of just hoping the next upgrade works. He discusses: ◽️ Why culture is the fourth pillar most teams underinvest in, and why talented people stop speaking up when they are scared ◽️ The front-wing decision at McLaren where almost everyone voted for the safe option and why he chose the risky one anyway ◽️ How he thinks about the four pillars — people, technology, methodologies and culture — and why all four have to be right ◽️ Why there is almost never a golden bullet, only relentless work finding 10 and 20 milliseconds ◽️ How driver communication and car development have changed from the active suspension days with Ayrton to today ◽️ Why he keeps an even keel whether the car is 3rd or 13th, and how he thinks about risk appetite when you are at the front versus further back 00:00 Introduction and how Pat got into Formula One 03:19 What gave him an edge as a young engineer 08:03 From empirical decisions to simulation-led design 11:11 Working with Ayrton Senna, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Mika Häkkinen 15:13 The four pillars of people, technology, methodologies and cultu...

Basketball Legend Tara VanDerveer: You’re Either Coaching It or Allowing It

Sep 30, 2026 33 min

Tara VanDerveer, Hall of Fame Stanford coach, three-time national champion and 1996 Olympic gold medal coach, joins Personable to explain why you are either coaching the standard or you are allowing it, why championships are built in the little things, and why there is no shortcut to becoming great. In this episode, Tara goes back to falling into coaching after Title IX, how she built the Stanford way after taking over programs that were not winning, why buy-in starts with fit, and why the best memory of a 45-year career is a player calling her an hour after giving birth. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in leadership, team culture, high performance, coaching, and what it actually takes to get better every day instead of looking for a shortcut. She discusses: ◽️ Why you are either coaching the standard or you are allowing it ◽️ Why the little things create a winning culture ◽️ Why it is often easier to build a great team than it is to maintain one ◽️ Why she would celebrate more, stress less, and never take the fun out of the game 00:00 Introduction and Tara VanDerveer background 00:42 How she fell into coaching after Title IX 02:14 Building the Idaho, Ohio State and Stanford way 04:21 Holding players accountable 05:21 Why the little things create a winning culture 08:11 How she and her players kept getting better 10:46 Creating buy-in before NIL and the portal 12:29 Advice for young athletes without the right mentors 18:57 When some teammates buy in and others do not 25:36 Why the process matters more than the podium 30:43 Favorite memories, including Olympia Scott 32:33 The one thing she wants listeners to take away Tara VanDerveer: ◽️ Stanford: https://gostanford.com/staff/tara-vanderveer ◽️ X (Twitter): https://x.com/taras_tweets Harvey Bracken-Smith: ◽️ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/harveybracken-smith ◽️ Instagram: https://instagram.com/harveybsmith ◽️ X (Twitter): https://x.com/harveybsmith_ ◽️ Newsletter: https://personab...

Aswath Damodaran: Stop Trying to Beat the Market

Sep 22, 2026 1 hr 2 min

Aswath Damodaran, Professor of Finance at NYU Stern and the Kerschner Family Chair in Finance Education, widely known as the Dean of Valuation, joins Personable to explain why 90 percent of people should stop trying to beat the market, and why he still teaches after more than 40 years. In this episode, Aswath goes back to the first class he walked into as a TA in 1981, why valuation is a craft you learn on simple companies first, why the Fed is the Wizard of Oz, and why your biggest edge as a young investor is your age, not your stock picks. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in investing, valuation, markets, AI businesses, teaching as a craft, and what it actually takes to build wealth over decades instead of trying to get rich quickly. He discusses: ◽️ Why 90 percent of people should be in passive index funds rather than trying to pick winners ◽️ Why he calls himself incredibly selfish, and why almost everything he writes is him working through his own uncertainty ◽️ Why the Fed has far less power than markets think, and why “the Fed did it” became the excuse for underperformance ◽️ Why market timing almost never beats buying and holding, and why your age is a bigger edge than stock picking 00:00 Introduction and Aswath Damodaran background 00:29 The first class in 1981 and why he still teaches 07:42 How to value AI companies, SpaceX and the Mag 7 14:50 US debt, inflation and who actually gets hurt 25:22 The Fed as the Wizard of Oz 29:06 Why 90 percent of people should just buy the index 47:30 Easy returns, bad habits and why he does not sit in cash 53:37 No gurus, no bucket list, and the one thing to take away Aswath Damodaran: ◽️ Website: https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/home.htm ◽️ Blog: https://aswathdamodaran.blogspot.com ◽️ Substack: https://aswathdamodaran.substack.com ◽️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AswathDamodaranonValuation ◽️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aswathdamodaran ◽️ X (Twitter): https...

North America Chair BCG: Why Getting the Right Answer Is Where the Hard Work Starts | Sharon Marcil

May 30, 2026 55 min

Sharon Marcil, Managing Director, Senior Partner and North America Chair of Boston Consulting Group, formerly BCG's Chief Marketing Officer, Board Member of Duke University, named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Consultants by Consulting Magazine, former Goldman Sachs mergers and acquisitions professional, Harvard MBA and Duke economics graduate, joins Personable to reveal why getting the right answer is only where the hard work starts, what the world's biggest CEOs are actually doing with AI right now, and why culture will always eat strategy for lunch. In this episode, Sharon opens up about why 70 percent of CEOs globally are now personally driving the AI agenda, how BCG went from 12 week diagnostic phases to days, and why the companies winning at AI are starting entirely from scratch rather than adding tools to old processes. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in consulting, leadership, AI strategy, building great culture, navigating organisations at scale, and what it really takes to drive change when the hardest part is never the answer itself. She discusses: ◽️ Why 70 percent of CEOs are now personally driving the AI agenda and what that number actually means for every organisation ◽️ Why the companies winning at AI are rebuilding processes from scratch rather than layering tools onto what already exists ◽️ Why engaging the skeptics is the only way to know if change is actually happening and how to do it without losing the room ◽️ How to give honest feedback to the most powerful leaders in the world without damaging the relationship you spent years building ◽️ Why do something you love is the only career advice that has ever really mattered and what it looks like in practice 00:00 Introduction and Sharon Marcil background 02:30 Would she do it all again and what success looked like at 20 versus what it looks like now 07:45 Why consulting is still the right move for ambitious young people in 2026 and what AI is changing about the job...

Former Greenhill CEO: The Market Downturns Were the Best Opportunities of My Life | Scott Bok

May 30, 2026 57 min

Scott Bok, former CEO and Chairman of Greenhill, former Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, senior business advisor to Mizuho, author of Surviving Wall Street, Wharton and Penn Law graduate, and former Chair of the UPenn Board of Trustees, joins Personable to reveal how he scaled from lawyer to CEO of one of Wall Street's most respected independent advisory firms, what it really takes to build a world class culture from scratch, and why every market crisis is actually the biggest career opportunity of your life. In this episode, Scott opens up about turning down buyers for 25 years before selling Greenhill to Mizuho, why the underdog always has to outwork the favourite, and what four decades on Wall Street taught him about judgment that no AI will ever replicate. From the rise of investment banking out of near obscurity to the fall of Lehman Brothers, this conversation is as honest and historically rich as it gets. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in finance, investment banking, dealmaking, building a career from the ground up, and what it really takes to reach the very top of Wall Street. He discusses: ◽️ Why doing exceptional work is always the only marketing strategy you will ever need ◽️ How he built Greenhill from a handful of people into a firm generating 20 times its original revenue ◽️ Why every financial crisis cleared the path for the biggest accelerations of his career ◽️ What AI will and will not replace in investment banking and where human judgment still wins ◽️ Why the career you can imagine at 22 is not the career you should actually want 00:00 Introduction and Scott Bok background 02:30 How he got started and what Wall Street looked like before anyone knew what it was 07:45 Moving from Morgan Stanley to Greenhill and what the brand gap really meant 14:20 Building a world class culture and why ego kills deals 20:45 AI, technology and where human judgment will always have the edge 27:10 Selling Greenhill to Mizuho and why he...

Managing Partner Compound: How He Has 5X Every Fund He Has Run | Michael Dempsey

May 30, 2026 52 min

Michael Dempsey, Managing Partner at Compound, former analyst at Crane Partners and CB Insights, NYU graduate, and one of the most respected research driven investors in frontier technology, joins Personable to reveal how he has 5X every fund he has ever run, why he wrote the first check into Runway ML before anyone knew what it was, and how sitting out the biggest bull run in venture history in 2021 turned out to be one of the best decisions he ever made. In this episode, Michael opens up about why he only makes six to eight investments a year and why that restraint is the entire strategy, how he called AI in 2016 when his LPs thought crypto was just for buying drugs on the internet, and why tech has gone from the coolest industry in the world to one of the most hated. From why pure capitalism is not the answer right now to why writing on the internet is the most important thing he has ever done in his career, this conversation is as intellectually sharp and honest as it gets. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in venture capital, frontier technology, AI, deep tech investing, building conviction in a noisy market, and what it really takes to back the right companies before the rest of the world catches up. He discusses: ◽️ How he wrote the first check into Runway ML and why being early is the only edge that truly compounds over time ◽️ Why he sat out the entire 2021 bull run when every other firm was deploying at record speed and why that was the right call ◽️ How he built a research driven firm that treats thesis building as the first class citizen and why most VCs get that completely wrong ◽️ Why tech went from the coolest industry in the world to one of the most hated and what needs to change ◽️ Why writing on the internet is the most important thing he has ever done and what it has taught him about himself 00:00 Introduction and Michael Dempsey background 02:30 Why investing and how public markets shaped the way he thinks 07:45 Compound...

Fmr Head of Prop Research Point72: I Built a Career on Taking 1000s of At Bats Not 10 | Kirk McKeown

May 30, 2026 53 min

Kirk McKeown, former Head of Proprietary Research at Point72, former Head of Proprietary Research at Glenview Capital, analyst at Tudor Investment Corporation and Hunter Global Advisors, co-founder of Carbon Arc, and holder of degrees from Harvard and MIT, joins Personable to reveal what it actually takes to reach the top of Wall Street, why he never picked a single stock in his entire career, and why taking thousands of at bats is the only thing that separates the elite from everyone else. In this episode, Kirk opens up about getting sober at 26 and rebuilding himself from the ground up, why knowing yourself is the only competitive advantage nobody can take away, and how he went from a chip on his shoulder kid to running proprietary research at one of the most respected hedge funds on the planet. From the democratisation of data to the fourth turning and why a recession is actually good for the world, this conversation is as intellectually sharp and honest as it gets. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in hedge funds, proprietary research, data, building a career in finance, self awareness, and what it really takes to compete at the highest level on Wall Street. He discusses: ◽️ Why he never picked a single stock and still built one of the most respected research careers on Wall Street ◽️ How taking thousands of at bats rather than ten is the only thing that separates elite performers from everyone else ◽️ Why knowing yourself is the single competitive advantage that no technology, no AI and no competitor can ever take away ◽️ How Carbon Arc is democratising data so that small businesses can compete with the giants that have owned it for decades ◽️ Why he believes we are in a bubble right now and says if people are debating whether we are in one that confirms it 00:00 Introduction and Kirk McKeown background 02:30 What it takes to become elite and why the journey never really ends 07:45 Night vision goggles for investors and how he built his...

Fmr FI Head Man Group: AHL Made a Billion When Everyone Thought the World Was Ending | Rob Carver

May 30, 2026 1 hr 20 min

Rob Carver, former Head of Fixed Income at AHL Man Group, independent systematic futures trader, visiting lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, research advisor to Stylus Capital, and author of Systematic Trading, Smart Portfolios and Leveraged Trading, joins Personable to reveal how AHL made a billion dollars in a single day during the 2008 financial crisis without changing a single line of code, why he walked away from managing billions to walk his daughter to school every day, and why almost everyone giving you trading advice online has a financial reason to lie to you. In this episode, Rob opens up about why he trusts his system enough to not check his PNL for an entire month, how human psychology creates the exact conditions that make momentum trading work, and why the best trading decision he ever made was to stop making decisions himself. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in systematic trading, quantitative finance, building robust systems, understanding markets, and what it really takes to compete at the highest level and then walk away from it all. He discusses: ◽️ How AHL made a billion dollars in a single day during the 2008 crisis by doing absolutely nothing and letting its system run ◽️ Why almost everyone giving trading advice online has a financial incentive to make you trade more and lose more ◽️ How human psychology creates the exact market conditions that systematic momentum strategies are designed to exploit ◽️ Why he walked away from managing billions at Man Group and what success actually meant to him by the end ◽️ Why the simplest trading system possible still works and what that says about markets and human nature 00:00 Introduction and Rob Carver background 02:30 What it takes to compete at the highest level of quantitative hedge funds 07:45 High frequency trading versus systematic slow trading and why the two worlds are completely different 14:20 Market manipulation spoofing and where the line between edge an...

Fmr Quant Head Morgan Stanley: AI Can Give You the Answer But Not the Understanding | Joseph Mezrich

May 30, 2026 47 min

Joseph Mezrich, founder of Metafoura, former Managing Director and Head of Quantitative Equity Research at Nomura, former Managing Director and Head of US Quantitative and Derivatives Research at UBS, former Head of Quantitative Strategies at Morgan Stanley, former Deputy Head of Equity Portfolio Analytics at Salomon Brothers, and holder of a PhD in Mathematical Psychology and degrees from Michigan and MIT, joins Personable to reveal why AI can give you the answer but never the understanding, what four decades on Wall Street taught him about uncertainty, and why the models always break eventually and what you do when they do. In this episode, Joe opens up about publishing one of the earliest applications of machine learning in finance in 1994 when nobody else was even thinking about it, what the culture of Salomon Brothers was really like from the inside, and why humility is still the most important tool any quantitative researcher can have. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in quantitative finance, machine learning, AI, Wall Street culture, building edge in markets, and what it really takes to spend four decades at the frontier of financial research. He discusses: ◽️ Why AI can give you the answer but cannot give you the understanding and why that gap will define the next decade of finance ◽️ How he published one of the first machine learning papers in finance in 1994 and what he sees coming now ◽️ Why the models always break eventually and what you need to have in place for when they do ◽️ What the culture of Salomon Brothers was really like and why nothing on Wall Street has been quite like it since ◽️ Why uncertainty is the central feature of life and how quantitative thinking teaches you to navigate it 00:00 Introduction and Joseph Mezrich background 02:30 Why he left science for Wall Street and what he found when he got there 07:45 The culture of Salomon Brothers and what made it unlike anywhere else on Wall Street 14:20 How quant fin...

Fmr SIG Quant: How He Turned a Sports Betting Edge Into a $160M Exit at 28 | Alex Monahan

May 30, 2026 48 min

Alex Monahan, former quantitative trader at Susquehanna International Group, Stanford graduate, and founder of OddsJam, joins Personable to reveal how he walked away from one of the most prestigious quant firms in the world, turned a sports betting edge into the Bloomberg Terminal for sports betting, and sold it for $160M at just 28 years old. In this episode, Alex opens up about what SIG taught him about markets and edge that nobody else was teaching, why sports betting is one of the only remaining markets where an individual can genuinely beat the house, and why risk is almost always overestimated in your head. From bootstrapping OddsJam from zero to why he now visits college campuses and helps the next generation of founders build what he built, this conversation is as honest and practically useful as it gets. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, quant trading, sports betting, building a personal brand, finding product market fit, and what it really takes to go from a corporate job to a nine figure exit before 30. He discusses: ◽️ How he used everything he learned at SIG to turn a sports betting edge into a $160M company ◽️ Why sports betting is one of the only markets left where an individual can genuinely get a mathematical edge ◽️ How he bootstrapped OddsJam from zero to a $160M acquisition in just four years with no outside investment ◽️ Why risk is almost always overestimated in your brain and what that is costing you right now ◽️ Why building a personal brand before you launch your business is no longer optional it is the only edge that scales 00:00 Introduction and Alex Monahan background 02:30 Why he left SIG and what made him bet everything on OddsJam 07:45 The math behind sports betting and why most people lose for the wrong reasons 14:20 Building OddsJam from zero product market fit content and the first customers 20:45 Personal brand social media and why he wishes he had started posting in college 27:10 What...

Co-Founder MyWallSt: If You Like the Business at 100 Dollars You Should Love It at 50 | Emmet Savage

May 30, 2026 59 min

Emmet Savage, Chief Investor and Co-Founder of MyWallSt, joins Personable to reveal the common set of rules he discovered after the dot com crash wiped him out, how he went on to generate returns of 57,000% on Netflix and 250 fold on Tesla, and why the six golden rules shared by every great investor in history are embarrassingly simple and almost nobody follows them. In this episode, Emmet opens up about watching Dell grow 1,600 fold and dedicating his life to finding the next one, why the dot com crash was the best thing that ever happened to him, and how a phone call from Australia in 1963 started a lifelong obsession with stock investing that changed everything. From why inertia is the biggest enemy of every investor to where the returns of the next decade actually lie, this conversation is as honest and practically useful as it gets. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in stock investing, building long term wealth, understanding the stock market, avoiding common mistakes, and what it really takes to generate life changing returns over time. He discusses: ◽️ The six golden rules shared by every consistently successful investor and why most people break all of them ◽️ How the dot com crash wiped him out and sent him on a mission to read every investing book ever written ◽️ Why he has held Netflix for 25 years and is up 57,000% and still has no plans to sell ◽️ The biggest mistakes young investors make and the simple mindset shift that changes everything ◽️ Where the returns of the next 10 years actually lie and what AI means for the future of investing 00:00 Introduction and Emmet Savage background 02:30 A phone call from Australia in 1963 and how a family missed a life changing investment 07:45 The dot com crash, Dell growing 1600 fold and the obsession that followed 14:20 The six golden rules every great investor shares and how to apply them today 20:45 Index funds versus picking stocks and how to know which is right for you 27:10 Buy what...

Global Chairman Horwath HTL: Stop Being Interesting and Start Being Interested | John Fareed

May 30, 2026 1 hr 5 min

John Fareed, Global Chairman of Horwath HTL, former professional magician, former Marine, and author of From Invisible to Icon, joins Personable to reveal how he went from growing up on food stamps in a small town in Georgia to advising some of the wealthiest individuals on the planet, why being interested will always beat being interesting, and what three completely different careers taught him about preparation, recovery and building relationships that last. In this episode, John opens up about performing magic on stage to thousands of people, what the Marines taught him about discipline and commitment, and why your personal brand already exists whether you manage it or not. From working with billionaires to recovering from a dead bird on stage, this conversation is as honest and wide ranging as it gets. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in personal branding, building relationships at the highest level, hospitality and leisure consulting, and what it really takes to reinvent yourself again and again across an entire career. He discusses: ◽️ Why being interested in others will always outperform trying to be the most interesting person in the room ◽️ How he went from food stamps in rural Georgia to advising billionaires across the globe ◽️ Why your personal brand already exists and what happens when you do not manage it yourself ◽️ What the Marines and professional magic taught him about preparation, recovery and reading the room ◽️ Why being open to everything around you is the single greatest competitive advantage you can have 00:00 Introduction and John Fareed background 02:30 Growing up in rural Georgia, the dream of magic and how it all began 07:45 What magic teaches you about preparation, connection and leaving them wanting more 14:20 Reading the room, recovering from mistakes and why entertainment beats perfection 20:45 The Marines, his grandfather and why he made one of the biggest commitments of his life 27:10 Graduate jobs, big dre...

The Secret Footballer: How He Went From Pub Football to the Premier League | Dave Kitson

May 30, 2026 1 hr 9 min

Dave Kitson, former Premier League striker with over 400 professional appearances, anonymous author behind The Secret Footballer, the groundbreaking Guardian column and bestselling books that exposed the realities of elite football, twice named Reading Player of the Year, 5.5 million pound club record signing for Stoke City, and now motivational speaker and manager of Maidenhead United Women, joins Personable to reveal how he went from playing pub football at 18 to the Premier League, what he really saw from inside the dressing room, and why culture is the only thing that truly separates great teams from average ones. In this episode, Dave opens up about why he scored 22 goals for Reading and said he should have stopped right there, what the Secret Footballer column taught him about the realities of elite sport that nobody talks about publicly, and why the average manager lasting 14 months is destroying the culture of English football from the inside out. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in football, elite sport, leadership, building culture, management, mental health in sport, and what it really takes to get the best out of people when the pressure is on. He discusses: ◽️ How he went from a pub team at 18 to a 5.5 million pound Premier League transfer and what it really cost him ◽️ Why over 90 percent of academy players never make it and what nobody tells them before they drop out ◽️ Why the best culture cannot be written down and how you always know it when you see it ◽️ How Brentford are consistently beating clubs with ten times their budget and why most clubs will never understand how ◽️ Why effort always beats talent when the culture gets it right and what that looks like in practice 00:00 Introduction and Dave Kitson background 02:30 From pub football to the Premier League and why the level hit him like a slap in the face 07:45 Reading versus Stoke why culture made all the difference and what he lost when he left 14:20 Why the averag...

500K Creator: You Do Not Want It Bad Enough and That Is the Only Real Answer | Lauren Barnwell

May 30, 2026 1 hr 7 min

Lauren Barnwell, content creator with over 500,000 followers across platforms, filmmaker, former junior and senior class president, state championship volleyball player, and one of the fastest sprinters in her school's history, joins Personable to reveal why most people never reach their potential, how she built a massive audience from a small town where nobody believed in her, and why the only real answer to why you are not where you want to be is that you simply do not want it bad enough. In this episode, Lauren opens up about posting three times a day for four months before anyone cared, how she made a full length film from scratch with nothing but an idea and a camera, and why vision boards are not about wishful thinking but about training your brain to become the person you want to be. From rolling out her own red carpet to building a community that follows her everywhere she goes, this conversation is as honest and energising as it gets. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in social media, content creation, self belief, building something from nothing, and what it really takes to back yourself when nobody else will. She discusses: ◽️ Why most people never reach their potential and the one honest answer nobody wants to hear ◽️ How she grew from 3000 followers with people laughing at her to over 500000 across platforms ◽️ Why vision boards are not wishful thinking and how she uses them to rewire her brain every year ◽️ How she made a full length film from scratch with no budget, no experience and no permission ◽️ Why fake it till you make it is not about lying but about becoming who you were always meant to be 00:00 Introduction and Lauren Barnwell background 02:30 Growing up in a small town and why she was always ready to leave 07:45 Moving around, building identity and developing values without roots 14:20 Social media, authenticity and posting when nobody was watching 20:45 Vision boards, manifestation and training your brain to become...

Koru Kids Founder: The Childcare System Was Broken So She Raised £600k to Fix It | Rachel Carrell

May 18, 2026 38 min

Rachel Carrell, Founder and CEO of Koru Kids, Rhodes Scholar, DPhil from Oxford, former McKinsey consultant, and mother of three, joins Personable to reveal how having a baby exposed a broken childcare system, why she raised £600k before hiring a single engineer, and what it really takes to build a business that keeps five million hours of children safe. In this episode, Rachel opens up about leaving a high flying career to solve a problem nobody else was tackling, how growing up in a small sheep farming town in New Zealand with zero London network did not stop her building one from scratch, and why being a mother made her a better founder and a better leader. From safety systems and AI innovation to balancing boardrooms with bedtimes, this conversation is as honest and practical as it gets. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, parenting, childcare, building a business from nothing, and what it means to solve a problem that actually matters. She discusses: ◽️ Why she left McKinsey and raised £600k with just a PowerPoint and three paying customers ◽️ How Koru Kids delivered five million hours of childcare without a single serious incident ◽️ What corporate life never teaches you about sales, people management and building from scratch ◽️ How she is using AI at every level of Koru Kids including a personalised cookbook for nannies ◽️ Why being a mother of three made her a sharper founder and a more focused leader 00:00 Introduction and Rachel Carrell background 00:21 Why having a baby exposed a broken childcare system 02:20 Taking the leap into entrepreneurship 03:20 Raising £600k before hiring a single engineer 04:43 What McKinsey teaches you and what it absolutely does not 07:20 Focus, product quality and the 1% compound improvement rule 08:46 Entrepreneurship, resilience and the Elon Musk “eating glass” mindset 14:10 Learning, AI and surrounding yourself with smart people 15:48 How AI is transforming every level of Koru Ki...

How Luke Knight (ETN) Built Europe's Fastest Growing Tech Show From Nothing

May 14, 2026 54 min

Luke Knight, co-founder and co-host of ETN, former private client executive at Rockpool Investments, former private client associate at Fisher Investments UK, and University of Nottingham graduate, joins Personable to discuss the rise of new media, entrepreneurship, and why narrative is everything in business. In this episode, Luke explains why he left finance to build ETN full time at 23 years old, how he and his co-founder engineered virality around their launch, and the realities of building a company from scratch. He shares insights on raising investment, landing sponsors, creating momentum, and why consistency and relationships matter far more than most people realize. Luke also discusses why he believes podcasts and creator-led media are changing the way people consume information, how speaking to elite founders and investors every week has changed the way he thinks, and why many of the world’s most successful people are more normal than they first appear. He discusses: ◽️ Why he left finance to build ETN full time at 23 ◽️ How ETN engineered virality and built momentum from day one ◽️ The psychology behind raising capital and landing sponsors ◽️ Why consistency, relationships, and narrative matter in business ◽️ Why podcasts and new media are changing entrepreneurship and investing 00:00 Introduction and Luke Knight background 02:30 Why Luke started ETN and the opportunity behind new media 06:10 Leaving finance to build ETN full time 09:00 Discipline, consistency, and handling social media pressure 13:00 Why ETN’s live show format works 17:20 Learning from elite founders and investors 18:15 Andreas Klinger and the importance of persistence 22:10 How Luke consumes information and filters signal from noise 27:00 Technology, entrepreneurship, and building companies from scratch 28:40 Raising ETN’s first investment round 32:30 Sponsors, media economics, and monetising ETN 34:45 Why successful people are more normal than most think 39:25 Chris Williamson,...

NIL INSIDER Ed Tiryakian: NIL Is So Out of Control Top Programs Can't Afford It

Mar 24, 2026 1 hr 19 min

Ed Tiryakian, NIL insider, Duke University and Fuqua School of Business graduate, former Managing Director at Paine Webber and UBS, Chairman of Legends Sports Group, Managing Director at PE firm Argentum Group, and advisor to NBA and NFL athletes, joins Personable to reveal why NIL has become the biggest financial mess in the history of college sports, what the University of Utah's $500 million private equity deal means for every program in America, and why the system is so out of control that even the richest programs cannot afford it. In this episode, Ed opens up about the Darian Mensah transfer saga and why Duke letting him walk was a missed watershed moment for the entire NIL space, how college athletes are now earning more than NFL draft picks, and why the academic side of the transfer portal is a dirty secret nobody wants to talk about. From billion dollar program valuations to the arms race that nobody can win, this conversation is as honest and as inside as it gets. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in college sports, NIL, private equity, sports business, and what the future of college athletics actually looks like. He discusses: ◽️ Why NIL has become the biggest financial arms race in the history of college sports ◽️ The Darian Mensah story and why Duke should have held him to his contract ◽️ How the University of Utah's $500 million PE deal will change college athletics forever ◽️ Why college athletes are now earning more than NFL draft picks and what that means ◽️ The dirty secret of NIL that nobody on any side of the fence wants to talk about 00:00 Introduction and Ed Tiryakian background 02:30 What is NIL and why it has become a complete mess 07:45 The Darian Mensah story and the legal precedent Duke missed 14:20 The transfer portal, six month free agency and the wild west of college sports 20:45 The picks and shovels of NIL and where the real money is being made 27:10 UNC's $14 million deficit and why even the richest progr...

Former HFT: Tenacity Beats Talent Every Single Time | Annanay Kapila (QFEX Founder)

Mar 17, 2026 1 hr 2 min

Annanay Kapila, former HFT quant at Flow Traders and Tower Research Capital, Cambridge Mathematics graduate, and founder of QFEX, joins Personable to reveal why he walked away from one of the highest paying jobs in finance, what the trading world does not want you to know about how your money is being handled, and why tenacity will always beat talent in the long run. In this episode, Annanay opens up about spotting a $100 billion gap between crypto and traditional exchanges, what Y Combinator taught him about building in public, and why the cultural difference between the UK and the US comes down to one single word. From dark pools and Citadel to the biggest wealth transfer in history, this conversation is as honest and technically sharp as it gets.This is an essential listen for anyone interested in finance, trading, entrepreneurship, building a startup from nothing, and what it really takes to compete in the most cutthroat industry in the world.He discusses: ◽️ Why the smartest graduates in the world are trapped in golden handcuffs and what to do about it ◽️ How he spotted a $100 billion technology gap between crypto and traditional exchanges and built QFEX to fix it ◽️ What Wall Street does not want you to know about dark pools and how your trades are really being handled ◽️ Why the UK and US approach entrepreneurship completely differently and which mindset actually wins ◽️ Why tenacity beats talent every single time and what that means for the next 10 years of your life 00:00 Introduction and Annanay Kapila background 02:30 Why he left HFT and what golden handcuffs really mean 07:45 How he spotted a $100 billion gap and built QFEX 14:20 Building in public, Y Combinator and why your idea is not that special 20:45 UK vs US entrepreneurship and why optimism changes everything 27:10 Trust, credibility and what Coinbase taught him about longevity 34:50 Dark pools, Citadel and the shocking truth about how your money is traded 41:30 Prediction markets, leverag...

Seth Yakatan: I've Raised $1 Billion and I Still Feel Like I've Achieved Nothing

Mar 11, 2026 56 min

Seth Yakatan, Co-Founder of Katan Associates International, serial entrepreneur who has raised over $1 billion and sold 22 businesses, and one of the most distinctive voices in cannabis and capital markets on LinkedIn, joins Personable to challenge everything you think you know about entrepreneurship, raising money, and what success actually looks like. In this episode, Seth reflects on growing up with a father who came from nothing and became a serial entrepreneur, why he walked away from 14 years in institutional investing, and how a single carousel post on LinkedIn changed the trajectory of his career. From the brutal realities of the cannabis industry to the unspoken rules of closing a deal, this conversation cuts through the noise and focuses on what it actually takes to build, sell, and survive in business. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, capital raising, cannabis, LinkedIn growth, and building a career on your own terms. He discusses: ◽️ Why success is less about hustle and more about luck, timing and right place right time ◽️ How he raised over $1 billion and what investors actually look for before writing a cheque ◽️ Why companies are bought not sold and what that means for founders ◽️ The LinkedIn strategy that took him from 20,000 to 38,000 followers and opened unexpected doors ◽️ The future of cannabis in the United States and where the real opportunity lies ◽️ What makes him say no to a deal and how he does due diligence on founders ◽️ Why giving without expectation is the most powerful networking tool you will ever use 00:00 Introduction and Seth Yakatan background 02:15 How he got into entrepreneurship and his father's influence 07:30 Why he stopped believing success is a meritocracy 13:45 How to raise capital and what investors actually want 19:20 Companies are bought not sold, the art of the exit 25:10 How Katan Associates competes with a lean team 32:40 Getting into cannabis and demystify...

Alex Edmans: Top Universities Are Optimised For Everything - Except The Students Paying For Them

Mar 5, 2026 1 hr 4 min

Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School, PhD from MIT as a Fulbright Scholar, and former investment banker at Morgan Stanley, joins Personable to challenge everything you think you know about business, universities, and how to think clearly in a world full of misleading data. In this episode, Alex reflects on losing his father to cancer, being the first in his family to attend university, and how a single day of front page glory at Morgan Stanley convinced him academia could have more lasting impact than any deal. From the broken incentives of the tenure system to the misrepresentation of diversity research, this conversation cuts through the noise and focuses on how to think better, lead better, and live better. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in business, academia, critical thinking, purpose-driven leadership, and building a life that actually matters. He discusses: ◽️ Why he walked away from Morgan Stanley the day after his deal hit the front page of the FT ◽️ The tenure system and why top universities are built to punish their best teachers ◽️ Why the McKinsey diversity research falls apart the moment you actually read it ◽️ Grow the Pie - why purpose and profit are not opposites ◽️ How to think clearly in a post-truth world full of statistics designed to mislead you 00:00 Introduction and Alex Edmans background 02:15 Hyrox, Macmillan and losing a parent to cancer 07:30 First-generation student, St Paul's and the scholarship that changed everything 13:45 Morgan Stanley, the front page moment and why it wasn't enough 19:20 Why academia offers something finance never could 25:10 The tenure system and how universities punish great teachers 32:40 Diversity, performance and why correlation is not causation 39:15 Grow the Pie — purpose, profit and the business case for doing good 45:30 May Contain Lies — how to think in a post-truth world 51:20 Confirmation bias, contrary evidence and seeking the truth 57:00 What still dr...

Head of Prime at Coinbase: How Crypto Becomes Institutional (Rick Schonberg)

Feb 10, 2026 1 hr 0 min

Send a text Rick Schonberg, Head of Prime at Coinbase and former executive at Goldman Sachs, State Street, LCH, and Tagomi, joins Personable to unpack how crypto becomes institutional, what trust really means in modern finance, and why careers rarely follow a straight line. In this episode, Rick reflects on graduating into a recession with no job, being fired twice, and how serendipity shaped a career spanning traditional finance, clearing houses, and digital assets. From institutional custody and regulation to stablecoins, trust, and the future of money, this conversation cuts through crypto hype and focuses on how financial systems actually evolve. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in finance, crypto, careers, institutional trust, and navigating long-term success in volatile industries. He discusses: ◽️ Graduating into a tough job market and building a career without a linear plan ◽️ Why early “unimpressive” jobs can be the most valuable ◽️ From Goldman Sachs to Coinbase and what drove the transition into crypto ◽️ Institutional custody, regulation, and why trust is the real asset ◽️ Stablecoins, payments, and how crypto reshapes the financial system ◽️ Lessons from being fired, taking risks, and sustaining long-term careers 00:00 Introduction and Rick Schonberg background 02:30 Graduating into recession and early career lessons 07:45 Getting fired, serendipity, and career pivots 14:20 From traditional finance to crypto 20:45 Institutional custody and trust at Coinbase 27:10 Regulation, bad actors, and building credibility 34:50 Stablecoins and the future of payments 41:30 Careers, success, and rejecting influencer mythology 47:55 The future of finance and crypto adoption 54:10 Final advice for graduates and long-term thinking Rick Schonberg: ◽️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickschonberg/ Harvey Bracken-Smith: ◽️ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/harveybracken-smith ◽️ Instagram: https://instagram.com/harveybsmith ◽️ X (Twi...

Moonpig Founder: How I took it from a Near Failure to a £120M Exit | Nick Jenkins (Dragon's Den)

Feb 10, 2026 46 min

Send a text Nick Jenkins, founder of Moonpig and former Dragon’s Den investor, joins Personable to unpack the darkest moments behind building Moonpig, how close the business came to failure, and what it really takes to keep going after a major exit. In this episode, Nick reflects on his early career trading commodities in post Soviet Russia, the unlikely origins of Moonpig, and the period when even his own investors warned him to stop putting money into the business. From personalization as a competitive moat to the realities of organic growth, fundraising pressure, and selling a company, this conversation cuts through startup mythology and focuses on what actually sustains a business over decades. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, surviving near failure, building real businesses, and finding purpose after success. He discusses: ◽️ The early years in post Soviet Russia and lessons from trading ◽️ How Moonpig was born and the period it nearly failed ◽️ Why personalization and organic growth built a defensible business ◽️ Lessons from Dragon’s Den and common founder mistakes ◽️ Selling Moonpig for £120M and finding purpose after the exit 00:00 Introduction and Nick Jenkins background 02:16 Studying Russian and early career in Russia 08:45 Trading, culture, and competitive advantage 13:54 Choosing entrepreneurship over traditional careers 17:09 Organic growth vs venture capital 23:59 Lessons from Dragon’s Den investing 29:25 Distribution, media, and owning the customer 39:49 The origins of Moonpig and near failure 42:49 Selling Moonpig and finding purpose after exit 45:24 Final advice on entrepreneurship as a career Nick Jenkins: ◽️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-jenkins1/ Harvey Bracken-Smith: ◽️ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/harveybracken-smith ◽️ Instagram: https://instagram.com/harveybsmith ◽️ X (Twitter): https://x.com/harveybsmith_ ◽️ Newsletter: https://personable.substack.com/ ◽️ Website: htt...

Why Investors Panic: Investor Psychology with Robert Karas (CIO, Bank Gutmann)

Feb 4, 2026 1 hr 7 min

Send a text Robert Karas, Chief Investment Officer at Bank Gutmann with over 30 years of investing experience, joins Personable to unpack why investors panic, how emotions quietly destroy returns, and what long term success in markets actually requires. In this episode, Robert shares lessons from living through bubbles, crashes, and severe drawdowns, explaining why investor behavior matters more than intelligence or strategy. From confirmation bias and media noise to portfolio construction and discipline, this conversation focuses on the psychological side of investing that determines outcomes over decades. This is an essential listen for anyone trying to understand investor psychology, market fear, and how to stay rational during periods of uncertainty. He discusses: ◽️ Why investors panic and sell at the worst moments ◽️ How emotions and confirmation bias destroy returns ◽️ Lessons from bubbles, crashes, and major drawdowns ◽️ Long term investing vs short term speculation ◽️ Position sizing, discipline, and staying invested 00:00 Introduction and Robert Karas background 01:47 How Robert first got into investing 04:58 The danger of get rich quick mindsets 08:36 Early losses and learning the hard way 12:14 Long term compounding vs short term trading 16:52 Investor psychology and emotional decision making 21:09 Media noise, headlines, and confirmation bias 26:03 Technology, AI, and investing skepticism 31:41 Portfolio construction and position sizing 37:18 Concentration risk and drawdowns 43:07 Why investors sell at the worst moments 49:26 Managing fear during market crashes 55:42 Advice for young investors and careers 1:01:08 Listening, learning, and long term thinking 1:06:37 Legacy, reflection, and final takeaways Robert Karas: ◽️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertkaras/ Harvey Bracken-Smith: ◽️ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/harveybracken-smith ◽️ Instagram: https://instagram.com/harveybsmith ◽️ X (Twitter): https://x.com/harveybsmith_...

Ali Abdaal’s Former Head of YouTube Explains Why 3,000 Subs Beat 3 Million | Tintin Smith

Feb 2, 2026 59 min

Send a text Tintin Smith, YouTuber, former Head of YouTube for Ali Abdaal, and founder of the $100K YouTuber Academy, joins Personable to unpack what it really takes to build a sustainable business on YouTube, from audience quality and monetisation to systems, consistency, and long-term thinking. In this episode, Tintin explains how he transitioned from consulting into the creator economy, what he learned working inside one of the world’s most successful educational YouTube businesses, and why most creators misunderstand how money is actually made online. He shares insights on audience understanding, email lists, courses, and why a small, focused audience can outperform millions of passive subscribers. This is an essential listen for anyone trying to understand content creation as a serious business, the future of online education, and how creators should think beyond views and virality. He discusses: ◽️ How he became Head of YouTube for Ali Abdaal ◽️ Why audience quality matters more than follower count ◽️ The real business model behind educational YouTube ◽️ Courses, coaching, and owning your monetisation ◽️ Systems, consistency, and sustainable content creation ◽️ The future of YouTube in an AI-driven world 00:00 Introduction and context for the episode 01:40 Tintin’s background and early career path 03:40 Discovering Ali Abdaal and starting YouTube 06:20 Quitting consulting and career uncertainty 09:10 Joining Ali Abdaal’s team 11:30 Growing from writer to Head of YouTube 14:20 Transparency, money, and online education 17:00 Why YouTube is modern-day Hollywood 20:10 Education vs entertainment on YouTube 23:10 AI and the future of content platforms 26:40 Careers in YouTube gaining legitimacy 30:10 Is YouTube a real business 33:00 Inside Ali Abdaal’s business model 36:20 Sponsorships vs owned products 39:40 Email lists and monetisation strategy 43:10 Part-Time YouTuber Academy explained 46:40 Audience understanding over algorithms 50:00 3 million subscri...

Davos, Gold Highs and the New World Order: What’s Really Moving Markets | Lia Forcina

Jan 26, 2026 55 min

Send a text Lia Forcina, Partner and Portfolio Manager at LGR Capital, joins Personable to unpack what is really driving global markets in 2025 and beyond, from geopolitics and government spending to gold, energy, and shifting capital flows. In this episode, Lia explains why markets began the year pricing a Goldilocks scenario, how geopolitical tensions are quietly reshaping risk premiums, and why governments, not markets, now dictate where capital moves. She shares her views on gold, inflation risk, Europe versus the US, and how investors should cut through noise by following policy, not headlines. This is an essential listen for anyone trying to understand macro markets in an era of political shock, fragmented alliances, and policy-driven investing. She discusses: ◽️ Why markets priced Goldilocks and what changed ◽️ How geopolitics and energy are reshaping risk premiums ◽️ Why gold continues to surge ◽️ Governments as the real drivers of capital allocation ◽️ How investors should position for 2025–2026 00:00 Why markets entered the year pricing Goldilocks 03:40 Geopolitics, Venezuela, Iran, and global power shifts 11:50 Gold, energy security, and inflation signals 17:30 Europe, Germany, and defense as a structural trade 23:40 Capital flows, Treasuries, and reserve currency risks 30:10 Banks, deregulation, and financial innovation 37:00 What markets are not pricing yet 43:30 Retail investors, prediction markets, and risk-taking 50:20 Private credit, illiquidity, and systemic risks 56:30 AI, hiring, and the future of hedge funds 1:03:00 The key questions investors should be asking in 2026 1:08:30 Final takeaways: follow the money, ignore the noise Lia Forcina ◽️ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lia-forcina-17352459 Harvey Bracken-Smith: ◽️ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/harveybracken-smith ◽️ Instagram: https://instagram.com/harveybsmith ◽️ X (Twitter): https://x.com/harveybsmith_ ◽️ Newsletter: https://personable.substack.com/ ◽️ Website:...

March Madness Chair: We received death threats for putting UNC in the tournament | Keith Gill

Jan 21, 2026 59 min

Send a text Keith Gill, Chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee and Sun Belt Conference Commissioner, joins Personable for a candid discussion on how March Madness is decided and what happens when those decisions ignite national controversy. In this episode, Keith addresses the backlash surrounding UNC’s inclusion in the tournament and explains how the committee manages conflicts of interest, contingency votes, and public scrutiny. He offers rare insight into why bubble decisions are so polarising, why algorithms cannot replace human judgment, and how leadership changes when decisions affect institutions, careers, and lives. The conversation also explores the broader forces reshaping college sports, including NIL, conference realignment, expansion, AI, and the growing tension between professionalism and education. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in governance, leadership, and high-stakes decision making under pressure. He discusses: ◽️ How March Madness selection decisions are made ◽️ The UNC controversy and its wider implications ◽️ Managing conflicts of interest and maintaining integrity ◽️ Why bubble teams drive outrage every year ◽️ Data vs judgment in selection decisions ◽️ NIL and the economics of college athletics ◽️ Expansion, access, and structural trade-offs ◽️ Leadership under extreme scrutiny 00:00 Why Selection Sunday creates pressure unlike any other day 02:30 The UNC selection decision and the reaction that followed 07:10 How conflicts of interest are handled inside the committee 12:40 Bubble teams, contingency votes, and why outrage is inevitable 18:30 Why a computer still cannot pick March Madness 24:50 NIL and how the economics of college sports are changing 33:10 Expansion debates and whether 68 teams is the right number 41:30 Conference realignment and the Sun Belt’s strategic approach 49:20 Where AI adds value and where human judgment still matters 56:40 Leadership, accountability, and staying groun...

HKUST’s Stephen Shih on why an MBA education still matters in the age of AI

Dec 31, 2025 49 min

Send a text Stephen Shih joins Personable for a wide ranging conversation on consulting, academia, AI, leadership development, ethics, and preparing the next generation of executives for an increasingly complex world. Stephen is the Associate Dean at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, a former Bain partner, and former Executive Vice President of Learning and Development. He has lived and worked across Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai, advising senior executives, building leadership pipelines, and now shaping one of Asia’s leading MBA programs. He discusses: ◽️ What consultants really do and why perspective matters more than jargon ◽️ Leaving Bain for academia and returning twice ◽️ AI, automation, and the future of junior consulting roles ◽️ Why future professionals must think like executives earlier in their careers ◽️ The skills that matter most in an AI driven world 00:00 Stephen’s background and transition from Bain to academia 02:15 Consulting across Asia and leadership development 04:30 What consultants actually do 07:05 Perspective, judgment, and choosing the right mountain to climb 09:15 AI, consulting, and junior talent pipelines 12:15 Preparing for jobs that do not yet exist 13:30 Skills, mindsets, and executive thinking in the AI era 17:50 MBA education and developing future leaders 19:55 Differentiating HKUST and building a global class 23:30 Ethics, values, and responsible leadership 26:55 Making ethical decisions when no one is watching 28:25 Hong Kong, China, and a multipolar world 31:15 Listening, communication, and asking better questions 34:25 Admissions, individuality, and holistic evaluation 38:40 Discipline, values, and professional standards 41:10 Rankings, numbers, and misleading metrics 43:25 Traits of the most successful students 45:05 Networks, trust, and long term relationships 48:10 One key takeaway for listeners Stephen Shih: ◽️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenshih/ Harvey Bracke...

Ismail Radwan WARNS “We Are in Scary Territory”, Why Jobs Matter More Than AI, and Market Prospects

Dec 27, 2025 1 hr 2 min

Send a text Ismail Radwan returns to Personable for a wide ranging conversation on global economics, jobs, AI, geopolitics, and the future of growth. Ismail is a Lead Economist at the World Bank focusing on the GCC and the broader MENAP region. He previously served as Senior Director for Economics and Investment Strategy at Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and spent over two decades at the World Bank. In this episode, Ismail explains why jobs are the single most powerful tool for eradicating poverty, how AI is likely to reshape work without replacing entire economies, and why entrepreneurship matters more than individual projects. He also shares candid views on market cycles, speculative bubbles, youth unemployment, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, and how countries balance values, development, and geopolitics. This conversation is essential listening for anyone interested in economics, policy, investing, global development, and how decisions made today will shape the next generation. He discusses: ◽️ Why jobs are the foundation of prosperity and social stability ◽️ How the World Bank gathers data in fragile and conflict affected countries ◽️ AI, productivity, and why this cycle feels similar to past bubbles ◽️ What Saudi Arabia and the GCC are getting right with diversification ◽️ Entrepreneurship as the true driver of long term economic value ◽️ Youth unemployment, education gaps, and private sector readiness ◽️ Why markets detach from reality and how individuals should prepare ◽️ The role of values, communication, and dialogue in development 00:00 Introduction and Ismail’s background 01:40 Returning to the World Bank and MENAP focus 04:30 Why jobs matter more than any single policy 07:00 Data challenges in fragile states 11:00 AI, automation, and the future of work 18:50 Market cycles, bubbles, and historical parallels 26:00 Vision 2030 and Saudi Arabia’s transformation 31:00 Security, governance, and social stability 36:00 Entrepreneurship and econo...

AmplifyME's Anthony Cheung: How to Break into Finance (From State School to Wall Street)

Dec 26, 2025 42 min

Send a text Anthony Cheung shares an honest account of his journey from a state school to working with some of the world’s largest hedge funds, and why his mission today is focused on access, education, and demystifying finance. Anthony is Chief Content and Culture Officer at AmplifyME and former Head of Markets Analysis at Newsquawk. In this conversation, he reflects on social mobility, imposter syndrome, resilience, and how skills from elite sport translate directly into success in trading and high pressure careers. This episode is a practical guide for students and early professionals who want to break into finance, build real credibility, and focus on what actually matters beyond prestige and perception. He explains: ◽️ How a working class upbringing shaped his mindset and ambition ◽️ Why access to opportunity matters more than raw talent ◽️ Lessons from elite youth basketball that apply to trading and life ◽️ The real skills banks look for beyond grades and technical knowledge ◽️ How AmplifyME helps level the playing field for students globally 00:00 Introduction and Anthony’s background 01:34 From state school to Wall Street 05:57 Why giving back became his mission 10:59 Sport, discipline, and transferable skills 17:35 The founding story of Amplify.me 25:14 Becoming a public voice in finance 33:17 How students should prepare for finance careers 38:32 Would he do it all again 39:16 The questions people should ask more often 40:10 One lesson to take away Anthony Cheung: ◽️ Website: https://amplifyme.com/bio-anthony-cheung ◽️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonycheung10/ Harvey Bracken-Smith: ◽️ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/harveybracken-smith ◽️ Instagram: https://instagram.com/harveybsmith ◽️ X (Twitter): https://x.com/harveybsmith_ ◽️ Newsletter: https://personable.substack.com/ ◽️ Website: https://www.personable.media/ Personable Podcast: ◽️ Instagram: https://instagram.com/personable.podcast ◽️ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.c...

Job EXPERT Peter Wood on The Worst Job Market in 10 Years!! How to Build Online, Upskill & Find work

Dec 24, 2025 1 hr 12 min

Send a text Founder and CEO of The Graduate Guide, Peter Wood returns to Personable to break down how graduate careers are changing, why traditional hiring is broken, and what it really takes to build ambition, confidence, and opportunity in a broken labour market. Since first appearing on the podcast, Peter has scaled The Graduate Guide from a content driven community into a platform tackling the graduate skills gap head on, culminating in its acquisition by The Apprenticeship Group. His work sits at the intersection of education, startups, recruitment, and social mobility, with a clear mission to help people prove what they can do rather than where they come from. In this conversation, Peter shares what he has learned about ambition, careers, community building, LinkedIn growth, venture capital, and why curiosity may be the most undervalued skill of the next decade. He explains: ◽️ Why the graduate job market is fundamentally broken ◽️ How ambition gets lost and how to reignite it ◽️ What companies misunderstand about junior talent and AI ◽️ How The Graduate Guide evolved from content to acquisition ◽️ Why apprenticeships and upskilling are the future of work ◽️ How to use LinkedIn intentionally rather than chasing vanity metrics ◽️ What it really takes to stand out in a hyper competitive world 00:00 Returning to Personable and the Graduate Guide’s evolution 02:10 Solving the graduate career crisis 04:00 Why helping everyone is harder than it sounds 07:54 Building community instead of chasing brands 12:06 AI, skills gaps, and the future of junior roles 18:11 Apprenticeships, upskilling, and long term talent 22:20 Curiosity, boredom, and ambition 27:04 Social media, influence, and responsibility 29:26 Entering the VC and startup ecosystem 33:31 Outlasting competition and building momentum 37:56 What Europe needs to succeed in venture capital 40:12 Helping the average person unlock ambition 47:00 How LinkedIn actually works 53:42 Intentionality behind hig...

Mungo McCosh: Going Off the Beaten Track, Building an Audience, and Living Authentically Online

Dec 23, 2025 1 hr 3 min

Send a text Travel creator Mungo McCosh (70,000 followers) breaks down how living differently, thinking independently, and embracing discomfort can unlock freedom, creativity, and a global audience. Mungo is the founder of Mungo TV, a rapidly growing travel and culture platform known for raw storytelling, sharp humour, and honest perspectives on places most people never see. From Mongolia to China, his work challenges curated travel, mainstream narratives, and algorithm driven thinking. In this conversation, Mungo shares what he has learned about authenticity, social media growth, comedy, censorship, and why doing your own thing is still the most powerful strategy. He explains: ◽️ Why going off the beaten track creates better stories and a better life ◽️ How to grow on social media without chasing followers or trends ◽️ The real mechanics behind viral content and audience growth ◽️ How humour, satire, and risk shape long term reputation ◽️ What living in China is actually like beyond Western media 00:00 Growing Up Across Cultures 02:10 Rejecting Curated Travel 04:00 From School Expectations to Independence 06:43 Starting Mungo TV 10:43 Being Recognised and Staying Grounded 14:11 How Viral Comedy Really Works 21:45 Turning Ideas Into Content 26:54 Making Better Videos 32:46 Why Niches Matter 40:55 Comedy, Free Speech, and Risk 53:52 Living and Creating in China 58:12 Legacy and Meaning 1:00:44 One Lesson to Remember Mungo McCosh: ◽️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcmungo.tv/ ◽️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mungo-mccosh-a81954261/ ◽️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@McMungoTV ◽️ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mcmungotv?_r=1&_t=ZN-91quCiznHni Harvey Bracken-Smith: ◽️ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/harveybracken-smith ◽️ Instagram: https://instagram.com/harveybsmith ◽️ X (Twitter): https://x.com/harveybsmith_ ◽️ Newsletter: https://personable.substack.com/ ◽️ Website: https://www.personable.media/ Personable Podcast: ◽️ Instagra...

Bear Grylls: The Art of Living a Meaningful Life (4K)

Dec 21, 2025 39 min

Send a text World-famous adventurer BEAR GRYLLS reveals the TRUTH about success, failure, grief, and faith, and why resilience, family, and purpose matter far more than fame, money, or achievement. Bear Grylls is a British adventurer, former SAS soldier, Chief Scout, bestselling author, and host of Man vs. Wild and Running Wild. He is one of the most recognisable survivalists in the world, having climbed Mount Everest, broken his back, and worked with presidents, prime ministers, and global leaders. In this conversation, Bear goes far beyond survival and television to share the hardest moments of his life, including losing his father, enduring repeated failures, and how faith and family became his foundation. He explains: ◽️ How losing a parent can become a source of strength ◽️ Why resilience is more important than talent or success ◽️ How repeated failure built his career behind the scenes ◽️ Why fame, money, and status never bring fulfillment ◽️ How faith helps navigate fear, doubt, and grief 00:00 Losing a Parent at a Young Age 02:10 Turning Pain Into Purpose 05:01 Fame, Presidents, and Staying Grounded 07:53 Why Success Never Comes From Things 10:20 The Trap of Validation and Recognition 12:19 Being Put in a Box by the World 15:41 Success as a Journey, Not a Destination 16:44 Why Character Is Built in the Valleys 18:55 The Failures No One Talks About 21:31 Faith, Doubt, and a Divided World 25:23 Family as the Ultimate Foundation 28:13 Why Bear Wrote The Greatest Story Ever Told 31:59 Living Faith Through Action 33:59 The One Lesson Bear Wants You to Remember 35:22 Closing Reflections Follow Bear: ◽️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beargrylls/ ◽️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beargrylls/ ◽️ X: https://x.com/beargrylls ◽️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RealBearGrylls ◽️ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@beargrylls?lang=en ◽️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/beargrylls ◽️ Website: https://www.beargrylls.com/ Harvey Bracken-Smith:...

AI Market Bubble?! Commodities & Banks Surging! Europe & Asia Outperform! Huge Mayoshi Son US Bet!

Dec 6, 2025 55 min

Send a text Stephen Roberts, Founder of Orgueil Capital (an investment vehicle with its North Star to quintuple capital) and former Partner at Horseman Capital, returns to Personable Markets for one of his most information packed conversations yet. From dissecting the disconnect between AI headlines and real market performance to uncovering where the true returns have been hiding this year, Stephen brings decades of global macro experience to help investors separate noise from opportunity. In this episode, he explains why commodities and banks have outperformed while tech dominated the narrative, how the steep yield curve transformed UK and European financials, and why Asia and Europe have quietly delivered standout performance. With sharp analysis across rates, geopolitics, employment trends and the coming wave of AI driven productivity shifts, Stephen breaks down the forces reshaping markets, the risks investors are ignoring and the structural changes likely to define the next decade. In this episode, Stephen Roberts discusses: ◽️ AI hype versus reality and why investors are missing the real trades ◽️ Commodities surging and the return of a global materials cycle ◽️ Banks minting money from the steep yield curve ◽️ Europe and Asia outperforming and why valuations still look attractive ◽️ China tech recovery, Alibaba’s rebound and cloud dominance ◽️ AI’s impact on unemployment and future economic policy ⏱ Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:31 Markets since last episode, volatility, tech noise and real performance 02:12 AI bubble debate and why the narrative is misplaced 04:10 Commodities surge across gold, copper and miners 06:25 Banks, yield curves and earnings doubling across the UK 09:38 Europe and Asia outperform while investors stay fixated on AI 12:14 Alibaba, Tencent and China’s cloud advantage 15:03 How Stephen evaluates winners, losers and sector momentum 22:39 Why interest rates determine everything in markets 26:04 US manufacturing push and Mayoshi Son’...

$170M Founder Yoshi Yokokawa (Alpaca) on 2008 Crash, Diversification Myths, Day Trading and Burnout

Dec 2, 2025 1 hr 8 min

Send a text Yoshi Yokokawa, co-founder and CEO of Alpaca, joins Personable with Harvey Bracken-Smith. Alpaca is a leading brokerage infrastructure and self-clearing fintech powering over 7 million brokerage accounts across 40 countries and backed by more than 170 million dollars in funding. Before building Alpaca, Yoshi began his career at Lehman Brothers, experiencing the rise and fall of one of the most famous investment banks during the 2008 financial crisis. He went on to become a day trader, founded machine learning startups, and ultimately created Alpaca, a company redefining how global investing is built through APIs. In this episode, Yoshi shares how he learned from both the boom and the collapse of global markets. He discusses why every generation forgets financial history, why real diversification fails in downturns, and how to stay grounded while raising hundreds of millions of dollars. Yoshi reflects on founder-market fit, emotional resilience, and what it means to build something that gives others financial freedom, the goal he has chased since childhood. In this episode, Yoshi Yokokawa discusses: ◽️ What it was like working at Lehman Brothers during the 2008 crash ◽️ Why diversification is often a myth in real crises ◽️ Lessons from day trading and "street fighting" in the FX markets ◽️ How machine learning led to the creation of Alpaca ◽️ The realities of raising 170 million dollars in venture capital ⏱ Timestamps 00:00 Intro 05:00 Lehman Brothers culture in Japan 07:30 Early signs of the 2008 crisis 10:00 Bubbles, hedging limits and market behavior 12:30 Retail investors and emotional decision making 15:00 Why hedging depends on local context 17:30 Leaving banking and moving into day trading 22:30 Probability, discipline and trading mindset 25:00 First software attempts and meeting technical friends 30:00 What an API is and why it matters 32:30 Licenses, compliance and protecting customer assets 35:00 Raising 170 million and dealing with dil...

Massive UK Tax Rises!! FED Pause?, US-China Rare Earth Truce, Mag 7 Earnings, AI Bubble?

Nov 8, 2025 1 hr 27 min

Send a text In this episode of Personable Markets, host Harvey Bracken-Smith and guest Luke Sloman analyze a defining week in global finance. Nvidia hits a $5 trillion valuation, the Federal Reserve pauses rate cuts, and Trump and Xi Jinping outline a potential new trade framework that could reshape technology, agriculture, and rare-earth supply chains. They explore the AI-driven surge in earnings from major tech firms, the growing dominance of the “BATMMAAN” stocks, and the UK’s controversial tax proposals ahead of the Autumn Budget. Harvey and Luke also debate whether record market highs represent sustainable growth or the early signs of an overheated AI bubble. In this episode, they discuss: ◽️ Nvidia’s $5 trillion milestone ◽️ Record-breaking Q3 tech earnings ◽️ The rise of “BATMMAAN” in the S&P 500 ◽️ Meta’s drop despite strong results ⏱ Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:35 Market overview and key themes 01:30 Tech earnings recap: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple 04:15 Microsoft and Meta’s AI CapEx spending 06:30 Market reactions and investor focus 08:15 “BATMMAAN” replaces the Magnificent 7 10:00 Nvidia’s $5 trillion valuation 12:10 Blackwell chip demand and revenue pipeline 14:00 Fed cut pause and data blackout 16:20 Powell’s “driving in fog” comment 18:00 Market reaction and inflation outlook 20:00 Trump–Xi meeting breakdown 22:15 Tariff reductions and fentanyl agreement 24:00 Rare-earth exports and semiconductor access 26:30 Nvidia’s China opportunity 28:00 AI market dependence and interconnectivity 30:15 Global markets hit record highs 33:00 Is the AI boom sustainable? 36:00 Comparing investor outlooks: optimism vs caution 38:30 UK Autumn Budget preview 41:00 Labour’s £36B tax hole 43:00 Income freezes, property taxes, ISA reform 45:00 20% exit levy and millionaire migration 47:00 UK inflation and household pressures 49:00 Energy costs and cost-of-living effects 51:00 Brain drain: UK talent moving abroad 54:00 Oxford, Cambridge, and education quotas 56:30 Entreprene...

How Jamil Qureshi Built World Champions in F1, Golf and Cricket!

Nov 2, 2025 1 hr 11 min

Send a text Jamil Qureshi, one of the world’s leading performance psychologists and the first-ever official global psychologist for the European Ryder Cup Team, joins Personable with Harvey Bracken-Smith. Having coached six world number ones and worked with 22 golfers inside the top 50, Jamil has helped shape champions across F1, the English Premier League, and the Ashes-winning England cricket team. Known for unlocking the “mindset behind mastery,” he shares how world-class athletes and leaders think, learn, and perform at their best — and why ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things through consistent habits and purposeful thinking. In this episode, Jamil reveals the mental frameworks that drive elite performance — from how to handle pressure and failure, to cultivating consistency, self-reflection, and purpose. Drawing lessons from sport, business, and life, he explains how to manage energy over time, how learning trumps winning, and why the world’s best stay open-minded no matter how successful they become. In this episode, Jamil Qureshi discusses: ◽️ The psychology of high performance — why mindset beats talent ◽️ Lessons from coaching Ryder Cup golfers, F1 drivers, and Premier League stars ◽️ How to build consistency of mind and control the controllables ◽️ Why failure is “part payment toward success” ◽️ The difference between seeking to impress vs. express ◽️ Purpose, discipline, and the small habits that build greatness ◽️ Open-mindedness and the culture of elite teams ◽️ Internal vs. external success — and how to align the two ⏱ Timestamps 00:00 Intro 02:00 How he became a psychologist after sport 04:00 Spotting real experts vs. self-proclaimed “gurus” 06:30 Learning through experimentation — obstacles instruct 14:00 Learning over winning — how to measure progress 16:30 Praising effort, not outcome 18:30 Ordinary people doing extraordinary things through discipline 30:00 How Jamil keeps learning from top athletes and CEOs 35:00 The minds...

Trump Xi Meeting Expectations, Will the Stock Market Crash?!, Silver Short Squeeze, FED Rate Cut

Oct 27, 2025 1 hr 14 min

Send a text In this episode of Personable Markets, host Harvey Bracken-Smith and Luke dive into surging global markets as the S&P 500 hits record highs. They explore international outperformance, Magnificent 7 earnings, gold and silver rallies, Fed rate cut expectations, and key geopolitical shifts like the Trump-Xi meeting and US-Canada tariffs. Luke Sloman, a third-year Business and Management student at the University of Exeter, joins Personable for his fourth appearance while studying abroad at the University of Sydney. Originally from Tokyo until age 13, he moved to the UK for boarding school, focusing his studies on finance-related modules. Luke shares sharp insights on real-time market trends, analyzing interconnected economies, AI-driven valuations, and trade policies. The duo discusses whether a market crash looms, balancing risks like overvaluation with opportunities in today’s volatile landscape. In this episode, Luke Sloman discusses: ◽️ Global market rallies: S&P 500 vs. KOSPI, DAX, and Nikkei ◽️ AI and tech overvaluation: bubble risks in semiconductors ◽️ Commodity surges: gold at $4,500/oz, silver short squeezes ◽️ Fed rate cuts: employment focus, market impacts ◽️ US-China trade: tariff pauses, agricultural deals ◽️ Trump’s Asia strategy: ASEAN summit, Japan/South Korea talks ⏱ Timestamps 00:00 Intro 04:43 South Korean reforms: trading fee cuts, Lee Jae-myung 05:30 UK FTSE 100: overseas earnings, commodity tailwinds 06:45 Gold at $4,500/oz: hedging, historical highs 07:30 Silver short squeeze: mechanics, leverage impacts 20:00 Market liquidity: VC saturation, government incentives 23:14 Fed rate cut: 98% chance for 25 bps on October 29 26:00 Employment focus: labor softening, inflation trade-offs 27:06 Tariffs as bargaining: US worker benefits, Apple case 28:30 Job market struggles: AI displacing graduates 31:00 Human-AI synergies: workplace collaboration 43:47 Trump-Xi meeting: trade war de-escalation 45:00 Framework agreement: tariff pau...

Havard PHD Dr John Harpham: Why Slavery Existed, Cancel Culture & How We Move Forward

Oct 21, 2025 1 hr 5 min

Send a text Dr. John Harpham, historian, Harvard PhD, Duke graduate, and author of The Intellectual Origins of American Slavery — a book nominated for the History Pulitzer Prize — joins Personable to explore the intellectual and moral foundations of one of history’s greatest wrongs. From growing up in New Orleans to studying at Harvard and teaching across America’s top universities, John shares how a decade-long journey through rare books and political thought reshaped his understanding of human morality, freedom, and the legacy of slavery. In this episode, John explains how he turned from a student of ideas into a scholar of history — and how studying slavery changes the way we understand ourselves. He breaks down why slavery wasn’t just an economic system but an intellectual one, shaped by the moral reasoning, theology, and politics of its time. The conversation explores race, freedom, cancel culture, moral relativism, and the timeless need for critical thinking. In this episode, Dr. John Harpham discusses: ◽️ Falling in love with books and scholarship at a young age ◽️ The leap from consumer to producer of knowledge ◽️ How he researched 16th–17th-century texts to trace slavery’s origins ◽️ Slavery as both an economic and intellectual institution ◽️ How moral “attention” shifts across history — and why that matters ⏱ Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:34 Why John loves books and writing 05:00 Producing knowledge and the discipline of research 11:30 Growing up in New Orleans and confronting history 15:00 Remembering vs. erasing — how to deal with the past 17:00 The moral lessons of slavery and self-reflection 20:20 Monuments, commemoration, and moral complexity 25:00 Cancel culture and freedom of thought 32:00 Race, economics, and the origins of slavery 39:30 The moral logic that justified slavery 43:00 Moral relativism vs. moral absolutism 47:00 Why critical thinking is democracy’s foundation 49:30 How academia can protect reason and open debate 53:00 Lessons le...

How GOAT Tommy Hyland Made Millions Counting Cards, Built the Most Successful Team & Beat Vegas!

Oct 21, 2025 1 hr 16 min

Send a text Tommy Hyland, one of the greatest blackjack players of all time and a 2002 inductee into the Blackjack Hall of Fame, returns for his second appearance on Personable. From decades of professional card counting to a 9–0 legal record defending players’ rights, Tommy has spent over 40 years beating casinos with skill, math, and grit. Known for running one of the longest-standing blackjack teams in history, he shares how he turned card counting from a side hustle into a full-time career — and why he believes professional play is “fighting the good fight.” In this episode, Tommy reveals what it takes to survive and thrive as a professional blackjack player. He explains the math behind card counting, how to manage risk using the Kelly Criterion, and what separates hobbyists from pros. From casino surveillance and legal battles to emotional control and bankroll discipline, Tommy breaks down how to stay ahead of both the cards — and the house. In this episode, Tommy Hyland discusses: ◽️ Card counting vs. casino countermeasures — legal, ethical, and tactical realities ◽️ Building a blackjack network — teams, mentorship, and trust in the industry ◽️ The “brotherhood” of professional players and how new players can break in ◽️ The Kelly Criterion — how much to bet and when to walk away ◽️ How to manage risk, emotion, and long-term swings - ⏱ Timestamps 00:00 Intro / Welcome to Personable 00:33 Life update — golf, blackjack, and staying sharp 02:20 Casino restrictions and playing smart under pressure 07:30 Why most casinos don’t use continuous shufflers 09:30 The blackjack brotherhood — community and shared intel 11:00 How to find mentors, teams, and investors 13:30 The Blackjack Ball and the legends who attend 15:00 Comparing blackjack, poker, and sports betting 26:00 Fighting back: 9–0 legal record against casino bans 31:00 The Kelly Criterion explained — how much to bet per hand 35:00 Emotional control and bankroll management 40:00 Building a team, find...

Trump Imposes 100% Tariffs on China, US-China AI War, Mag 7 Future, Gold Hits $4,000!

Oct 13, 2025 1 hr 4 min

Send a text Stephen Roberts, Founder of Orgueil Capital (an investment vehicle with its North Star to quintuple capital over the next 8–9 years) and former Partner at Horseman Capital, returns to Personable Markets for his third appearance. From navigating hedge fund cycles to founding his own investment vehicle, Stephen brings decades of experience in global macro investing and portfolio construction. In this episode, he breaks down the real-time market volatility, the U.S.–China standoff over rare earths, the AI-driven reshaping of industries, and why he believes we’re entering a new commodities cycle. With deep insights into policy, behavioral investing, and structural shifts across energy, gold, and tech, Stephen shares his framework for surviving volatility and thriving through the next decade of change. In this episode, Stephen Roberts discusses: ◽️ Trump’s rare earths tweet and the latest market sell-off ◽️ AI’s winners and losers — why jobs and society are at risk ◽️ U.S.–China energy economics and rare earth dependencies ◽️ The Magnificent 7, valuations, and whether we’re in a bubble ◽️ Gold, commodities, and the next supercycle ◽️ Why AI could cause the next recession ◽️ Oil prices, defense stocks, and global macro risks ◽️ Portfolio construction for the next 10 years — equities, bonds & gold ⏱ Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:37 Market volatility, Trump’s China tweet & rare earths 03:27 AI, commodities & “mining for AI” 07:01 U.S. vs. China — electricity, chips & competitive edges 09:20 The Magnificent 7: bubble or earnings-backed growth? 13:02 Leadership risk & investor psychology 17:19 AI’s job destruction, social fabric & regulation 24:25 The creator economy & new opportunities 29:17 Spotify, ownership of data & the new AI winners 34:44 Saudi Arabia, sovereign funds & poor investments 36:53 Gold, commodities & portfolio positioning 42:27 Bonds, deficits & a 20-year bear market 45:25 U.S. debt, taxation & political cycles 47:34 Key macro risks: oil...

Episode 100: Losing My Mum To Cancer, Building The Next Big Podcast, and My Life's Mission

Oct 8, 2025 52 min

Send a text Thank you to everyone who has helped me reach this point. I don’t take your support for granted. Every like, comment and subscription genuinely means the world to me. I feel honoured that 100 episodes coincides with reaching 1,000 subscribers, and I’m excited to keep building from here. In this episode, I reflect on the past three years of Personable, the lessons and growth along the way, and what’s next for me and the podcast. I’ll also be focusing on strengthening the show’s narrative and building a closer community for core listeners. - Harvey Bracken-Smith marks a major milestone: 100 episodes of Personable. Instead of hosting a guest, Harvey turns the mic on himself for a deeply personal, unscripted reflection on the journey so far: from the podcast’s origins at a music festival to its growth into a global platform helping listeners become the best they can be. In this special episode, Harvey shares the story behind Personable, the lessons learned across 100 conversations with the world’s best, and the personal experiences: including the loss of his mother, Louise, that shaped his drive, discipline, and mission to spread love, learning, and ambition into the world. In this episode, Harvey discusses: ◽️ The origins of Personable: from a sleepless night at a music festival to a global platform ◽️ Grief, resilience, and how loss shaped his mission ◽️ Lessons from 100 episodes: consistency, courage, and community ◽️ The importance of love, discipline, and applied knowledge ◽️ Goals for the future: building community, growth, and purpose ◽️ What’s next: evolving Personable into a global movement - ⏱ Timestamps 00:00 Intro: Harvey welcomes listeners to episode 100 06:10 Learning his mum’s diagnosis and the shock that followed 08:45 Processing grief and pushing forward instead of pausing 10:55 August 12 2022: the idea for Personable is born 19:55 Hitting milestones: 100 episodes & 1000 subscribers 23:20 Why passion matters more than...

Personable Markets: French PM Resigns (LIVE REACTION!), EA Sports Crazy Buyout & LSE M&A ($250M)!

Oct 6, 2025 1 hr 20 min

Send a text Harvey Bracken-Smith welcomes Luke Sloman back to Personable. Luke is a third-year Business & Management student at the University of Exeter, currently on year abroad at the University of Sydney. He grew up in Tokyo until age 13 before moving to the UK for boarding school. His academic focus is on finance-related modules that complement his broader Business & Management studies. This is Luke’s 3rd time on Personable. In this episode Luke and Harvey unpack the week’s biggest market stories - from the record-breaking EA leveraged buyout to Tesla deliveries, Pfizer policy deals, the UK IPO slump, US fiscal risks and political volatility in France and Japan. Luke brings a student’s curiosity and a global perspective (Tokyo → UK → Sydney) to market structure, sovereign wealth flows, and what everyday investors should watch. In this episode Luke Sloman discusses: ◽️ EA’s $55bn LBO — structure, sovereign wealth involvement, cultural impact ◽️ Saudi sports/“sports-washing” and private equity / Four Seasons style deals ◽️ Tesla Q3 deliveries, EV tax credits, and the longer-term robot/AI narrative ◽️ Pfizer + Trump Rx: pharma, tariffs, and on-shoring manufacturing ◽️ UK IPO & M&A slump — causes, consequences, and what would fix it ⏱ Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:57 Luke returns — background and why he’s back on the show 02:06 EA $55bn LBO — who’s involved and deal anatomy 03:22 Cultural impact: EA Sports, FIFA, and player/community effects 07:21 Sovereign investors & the “fronted” private equity model (Four Seasons analogy) 11:13 Tesla Q3 surprise, US $7,500 EV credit, and the humanoid/robot thesis 22:43 Pfizer + Trump Rx deal: tariffs, manufacturing investment, and consumer impact 30:44 UK IPO & M&A slump — data, causes, and policy implications 37:30 Real-time markets: X, Caoshi, and how instant feedback changes behaviour 42:30 Eurozone & France — political instability, budget fights, and market moves 51:28 US debt downgrade, debt servicing vs defence spendin...

You Must Think In Generations, Not Days, To Be Successful! Raj Setty (Owner Of Setty & Associates)

Oct 6, 2025 1 hr 8 min

Send a text Raj Setty, Owner of Setty & Associates and CEO of Cyclops, joins Personable. From graduating UC Davis in mechanical engineering to teaching physics in the Peace Corps (Namibia), to scaling a family-run MEP engineering firm from a lifestyle business into a national practice - Raj brings a rare blend of field experience, systems thinking, and product-led engineering. He’s built high-performance engineering teams, led complex federal and institutional projects, and created Cyclops, a digital-twin platform that aggregates building data to enable AI-driven operations. In this episode Raj explains how boots-on-the-ground engineering informs product design, why engineers must learn to speak to humans, and how digital twins will transform facility operations. He walks through Peace Corps lessons, construction and commissioning stories, building and scaling a family firm, and the pragmatic near-term role AI plays in buildings In this episode Raj Setty discusses: ◽️ Peace Corps teaching in Namibia: perspective, simplicity, budgeting ◽️ Early career: construction, overseas projects, power plants ◽️ Family business: joining, scaling, and preserving legacy ◽️ Running a full-service MEP firm: federal, institutional, campus work ◽️ Commissioning and hands-on problem solving (boots on the ground) - ⏱ Timestamps 00:00 Intro / Welcome to Personable 00:46 Career start, UC Davis and early market context 02:54 Peace Corps in Namibia: teaching, living on $200/month 05:56 Returning home: transition, priorities, and travel 08:32 Construction and on-site engineering experiences 11:13 Overseas projects: power plant, fiber, and manufacturing lessons 13:38 Joining family company: size, tradeoffs, and ambitions 16:29 Running & scaling Setty & Associates (people, offices) 19:54 Buildings as the major energy sector; resilience lessons 24:07 Differentiation, pricing pressures, and commoditization 26:10 Founding Cyclops (2017): motivation and evolution 27:32 Digital twin concep...

David Esposito (CEO ONL Therapeutics): Why Big Pharma MUST Take Big Risks For A Healthy Society!

Oct 2, 2025 1 hr 9 min

Send a text David Esposito, President & CEO of ONL Therapeutics, joins Personable. From graduating West Point with a BS in Civil Engineering, to leading an infantry platoon in combat with the 101st Airborne Division, David brings a unique perspective from military service to biotech leadership. With experience spanning pharma sales at Merck, diagnostics leadership, and biotech exits (Armune BioScience to Exact Sciences, Phadia to Thermo Fisher), David has navigated high-stakes environments from battlefields to boardrooms. In this episode, David Esposito discusses: ◽️ Military service: calling to serve, leadership in combat, and teamwork lessons ◽️ Transition to civilian life: from infantry to pharma sales and biotech ◽️ Discipline vs. motivation: building endurance in sports, military, and business ◽️ Pharma career path: consistency, exits, and navigating big vs. early-stage companies ◽️ Biotech innovation: pricing, risk, trials, and balancing science with business 00:00 Intro 00:42 Why David joined the Army: calling to serve 01:57 Rallying cries for causes greater than self 03:44 Sports camaraderie parallels military teamwork 05:23 Leadership growth in sports, high-stakes army roles 06:37 Navigating debates, execution in high-pressure environments 08:26 Australia: respect, rules, transitioning to civilian life 10:03 From team environments to solo sales rep 12:52 Military discipline drives corporate hustle, endurance 14:50 Consistency over flash: path to senior roles 16:27 Career journey: Merck sales to biotech CEO 18:55 No overnight successes: grinding, practical realities 19:24 Long-form podcasts reveal successful people’s essence 22:45 Diverse experiences, personal trade-offs in careers 25:24 Pharma marketing, pricing, and staying grounded 28:24 Rewarding innovation: risk capital, vision value 28:54 Boots on the ground: frontline insights matter 30:10 Risk, incentives: why innovation needs rewards 37:32 Holistic health: diet, sleep, nuanced treatments 40...

LIVE REACTION: Hitting 1,000 Subscribers on YouTube!!

Sep 30, 2025 8 min

Send a text I am beyond excited to announce that Personable has hit 1,000 subscribers!!! Thank you to everyone that has supported me up to this point. I am grateful to have been given the platform to create the best conversations with the best guests on the planet to enable my listeners to become the best they can be Onwards & Upwards Subscribe to join the journey Harvey Bracken-Smith Host of Personable 📌 Resources Harvey Bracken-Smith: ◽️ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/harveybracken-smith ◽️ Instagram: https://instagram.com/harveybsmith ◽️ X (Twitter): https://x.com/harveybsmith_ ◽️ Newsletter: https://personable.substack.com/ Personable Podcast: ◽️ Instagram: https://instagram.com/personable.podcast ◽️ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/personablepodcast ◽️ TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@personableclips ◽️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7JOTYDER6m2FDrlhop4api ◽️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/personable/id1671640111 Additional: ◽️ The Draft (Sign up): https://thedraft.io ◽️ Fundraising: https://justgiving.com/crowdfunding/LouLouRacefoiundation?utm_term=PvByaxmdn Personable is a podcast dedicated to helping listeners become the best they can be by learning from the world’s best in their respective fields. This mission is inspired by my mother, Louise, who encouraged me to become the best version of myself before she passed away from cancer in 2023. This content is for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not financial advice. Always consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. Investing involves risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Support the show

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Podcast details

Created by: Harvey
Status: Active
Latest episode: Nov 11, 2026
Episodes: 144
Release period: Weekly
Avg. episode length: 1 hr 1 min
Explicit: Yes
Language: English

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