Episodes

In this episode, Chris sits down with Riley Meik, co-founder and CEO of The American Housing Corporation, a company building factory-made row homes for the kind of city lots we've stopped building on.For 70 years we got great at putting single-family homes on the outskirts and basically quit building family-sized housing in the places people actually want to live.Riley's bet is that you fix that the way you'd fix any hard manufacturing problem: own the whole stack, design every part from fir...

In this episode, Chris Powers sits down with Chris Koerner, a serial entrepreneur and host of The Koerner Office - one of the fastest-growing business podcasts in the world.Koerner has gone all-in on media: 1.4M on Instagram, a 270k newsletter, and a YouTube channel he grew to 600k subscribers in a year. They get into how he cracked short-form, why he thinks attention is the only moat left once AI makes any business easy to build, and the filters he uses to decide what's actually worth startin...

In this episode, Chris sits down with Ben Nowack, co-founder and CEO of Reflect Orbital, one of the first companies building satellites that redirect sunlight from orbit to specific spots on Earth - with the goal of delivering sunlight on demand, 24/7. Why would you want sunlight 24/7? Agriculture and farming, construction projects, rescue missions, military operations, powering solar panels closer to 100% of the time instead of ~30%, etc. Ben started Reflect in 2021. He spent the first year in ...

In this episode, Chris sits down with John Owen, President and CEO of Airshare, one of the largest private jet operators in the country. Airshare started in 2000 and spent over twenty years as a regional Midwest operator before going national in 2023 by acquiring Wheels Up's aircraft management business. They get into how the business actually works, where operators make and lose money, and where the industry is headed. They discuss: - Why fractional is the one part of the industry growing - How...

In this episode, Chris sits down with Josh Zegen, Co-Founder & Managing Principal of Madison Realty Capital, a $25 billion real estate private credit firm he started with his college roommate in 2004. They dig into how he built one of the largest private lenders in the country starting from a desk in his dad's law office - and why he still thinks of himself as a businessman first and a real estate guy second. Josh got into lending almost by accident. Laid off from a VC firm at 26 when the dot-co...

In this episode, Chris sits down with John McQueeney, State Representative for House District 97 in Tarrant County, Texas and member of the State Affairs Committee covering power grid and electric policy. In the last six weeks alone, John's committee has run three interim data center hearings. He is also drafting the Data Center Responsibility Act for the January 2027 session - the bill that will set the framework for how Texas handles the data center build-out for a generation. Texas has 440 gi...

In this episode, Chris sits down with Bryan Perkins, Founder & CEO of Novaria Group, a Fort Worth-based aerospace manufacturer he started in 2011 and sold to Arcline last November for $2.2 billion. Bryan didn't set out to be in aerospace. He needed a job. But once he was in, he saw a niche nobody else wanted - high-mix, low-volume, esoteric parts that go under the radar - and spent 15 years rolling up 27 companies into one of the biggest businesses most people have never heard of. His North Star...

In this episode, Chris sits down with Rex Glendenning, founder of REX Real Estate and the man known across North Texas as the "King of Dirt." Rex is a fourth-generation Celina native whose great-grandfather homesteaded 160 acres in 1887. Over the last four decades he's brokered billions in DFW land deals - including the $130M public-private partnership that brought the Cowboys to Frisco - while quietly running a 4-broker shop out of his hometown. Chris and Rex unpack his patience-and-dirt playbo...

In this episode, Chris sits down with James Beshara - founder of Magic Mind, angel investor in 150+ companies (Mercury, Alchemy, Gusto, Halo Top), and a Dallas native who built Tilt and sold it to Airbnb.James spent two years tinkering with Magic Mind before he ever called it a business. Today it's a $100M CPG brand and the #1 health shot in natural retail - run with 10 employees, no Slack, almost no meetings, and a founder-CEO split he calls the Palmer Lucky lane. He is also one of the more t...

In this episode, Chris sits down with Nat Eliason - founder, writer, and now launching Alpha High, a new entrepreneur high school in New York City.Tuition is $150K a year. The promise: every student hits a million dollars in gross profit by graduation, or the family gets their tuition refunded. The first class is around 20 freshmen. The day is split between AI-driven academics in the morning and business building the rest of the day.This is also the same Nat Eliason who in his spare time bui...

In this episode, Chris sits down with Matthew Ogle, Co-founder & CEO of Legacy Knight, a $2.8B multi-family office in Dallas, TX that he co-founded in 2019. We dig into how you build a world-class multi-family office from scratch - and why so many wealthy families out there don't actually have one yet. Matthew's path into wealth management didn't start in a boardroom - it started on a tennis court. A summer teaching tennis to a CIO's family at Cape Cod opened the first door, which led him to Cre...

In this episode, Chris sits down with Austin Tunnell, founder of Building Culture - a real estate development and design-build company based in Oklahoma City specializing in structural masonry construction and walkable, mixed-use urban infill. Austin's path to real estate is one of the more unusual ones we've had on the show. He grew up a football player in the suburbs of Houston, went to work at KPMG out of college, hated it, and joined the Peace Corps. A chance meeting with a master mason in P...

Today I sit down with Jason McCann, Co-Founder and CEO of Vari - a company that started when his business partner stood at a cardboard box complaining of back pain and turned that moment into a brand that has shipped millions of desks and transformed over a thousand offices. Jason built Vari direct-to-consumer in an industry that had never seen it. He bootstrapped the company while every instinct in the market said raise capital and burn cash. He became the fastest-growing company in Dallas, sur...

In this episode, I sit down with Jordan Levi to explore how he’s built a unique edge in the cattle industry by combining deep analytical thinking with real-world market experience. Jordan walks me through how he approaches cattle trading, the key biological and financial variables that ultimately determine profit and loss, and how he developed his framework without growing up in the business. We spend time unpacking how the cattle market actually works, where volatility comes from, and how opera...

In this episode, I sit down with JB Mauney to unpack the mindset, discipline, and resilience required to become one of the greatest bull riders in the world. We talk through the realities of competing at the highest level while constantly dealing with injuries, and how mental toughness separates the best from the rest. JB shares how he approached his career with a singular focus, what it meant to fully commit without a backup plan, and how he navigated the abrupt transition out of the sport. Thi...

In this episode, I sit down with NASCAR legend Carl Edwards to explore the unlikely journey that took him from a dirt track in Missouri to the highest levels of professional racing. Carl shares how a childhood fascination with his father’s racing career sparked a relentless pursuit that eventually led to NASCAR success. Along the way, we unpack the strategy behind racing, the persistence it took for Carl to break into the sport, and the pivotal moments that defined his career. We also discuss th...

Today I sit down with Christopher Zook to explore how he built and scaled CAZ Investments into an $11B alternative investment platform. Christopher shares the early vision behind launching his firm at age 31 and the philosophy of investing his own capital first before inviting others to participate alongside him. We discuss how a chance confrontation in a country club locker room ultimately forced him to rethink capital formation and marketing, transforming the trajectory of the business. Christ...

Today’s episode is with a great friend of mine, Chris Huckabee, Founder @ MORE Group. We unpack his company's remarkable private equity journey and why it was so successful. Chris shares how the unexpected loss of his business partner pushed him to rethink the future of his company, leading to a strategic shift, a private equity partnership, and rapid national expansion. We talk candidly about valuation surprises, building trust with employees during major transitions, and what makes a great pr...

I sit down with my friend Todd Peterson to unpack some of the most meaningful conversations we have had over the years about faith, leadership, marriage, and the hidden risks that come with success. We talk candidly about why so many men fall at the peak of their influence and how isolation, pride, and lack of accountability quietly take hold. Todd shares hard-earned perspective from his own life, including lessons from his NFL career, his walk with Jesus, and decades of mentoring men through se...

Today I sit down with two of my best friends, Moses Kagan and Rhett Bennett to reflect on how ReSeed has evolved since their first appearance (ep. 278) on the show three years ago. ReSeed is on a mission to back the next generation of elite real estate operators. We unpacked what has actually happened since launch, how their original vision has held up in practice, and what they have learned by deploying real capital across multiple markets and operators. We also dug into how they think about un...

In today’s episode, I sit down with Ryan Heath, Founder of Trustpoint Legal, to explore what a modern “Family Office 2.0” actually looks like and why the old models are falling short. We talk about how family offices are evolving from static wealth preservation vehicles into operating businesses built around people, purpose, and multi-generational decision making. Ryan shares lessons from working closely with families navigating liquidity events, succession, and generational transitions, and why...

Today, I sit down with Steve Gatena, Co-Founder & CEO of PRAY, for a conversation about faith, leadership, and building a company with long-term purpose. Steve shares his journey from growing up in Los Angeles and playing college football at USC to founding Pray.com and thinking deeply about stewardship, culture, and responsibility. We talk about what it means to lead in moments of tragedy, why community matters more than ever, and how faith intersects with modern business and technology. Throug...

Today, my good friend Colt McCoy joins me for a deep and personal discussion about his path from small-town Texas to 14 seasons in the NFL, the mentors and moments that shaped him, and the intentional process of stepping away from the game. We talk through his early years growing up on the sidelines, the day he went from being a complete unknown to over 100 Division 1 offers, and the mindset he built while earning the starting job and leading Texas to the National Championship. Colt reflects on ...

Today's guest, Cody Campbell, digs into the forces reshaping college athletics and his plan to ensure a solution that works for every stakeholder. We discuss: • How changing laws and court decisions created a brief window for Tech to act boldly • Why Texas Tech’s culture, alumni base, and momentum made the strategy work • How court rulings displaced the NCAA and fueled today’s chaotic environment • The financial strain on athletic departments and the risk posed to Olympic and women’s sports • Th...