Episodes

Project management is critical for any business, since it allocates resources into the future. Many businesses, especially professional firms, are beginning to recognize one of the gaps in their competencies, in addition to pricing, is project management. In this episode, project management expert Ed Kless will define what a project is, the difference between goals and objectives, The Triangle of Truth, what is Quality and who defines it, the elements of a scope document, and the elements of a C...

The last Friday of every month Ed and Ron will do “Free-Rider Friday.” Most of our shows are “topic” driven, where we dive deep into one subject. Free-Rider Fridays are designed to be “event” driven, whatever issues are in the news that we (or you) find worthy of commentary. In economics, free riding means reaping the benefits from the actions of others and consequently refusing to bear the full costs of those actions. This means Ed and Ron will free ride off of the news, and each other, with no...

By its very nature, cost accounting is a historical function, but what is important for pricing are planned costs, not past costs. As Henry Ford pointed out, no one knows what a cost should be. Yet, cost accounting has held hegemony for far too long over the pricing strategies of businesses everywhere, embedding the conventional wisdom that costs determine price. Cost accounting does not deserve to be the apotheosis of pricing, let alone running a business. No doubt, it has its role in any organ...

Many business owners lament they sell a commodity, or the “market” sets their price. Yet empirical evidence proves otherwise. Most customers have a range of acceptable prices they’re willing to pay. How do you search that range? What’s the most effective pricing strategy to capture the value from the high-end, and the low-end, of that range? Ed and Ron will discuss two specific strategies on this show: Peter van Westendorp’s Price Sensitivity Meter, and the Barron Joseph von Neinbach Model.

Clarence Darrow once said, I have never killed anybody, but I have read many obituaries with delight! With that schadenfreude in mind, join us for a look at some of the funniest, poignant, and insightful last words spoken by famous, and infamous, people throughout history.

They say you can’t turn back the clock and go back to the good old days. Yet this is precisely what is happening with the total quality service movement, the customer loyalty movement, CRM, and other philosophies that put the customer at the center of the business organization. Millions of dollars are being spent on consultants to relearn what was once common sense, practiced by the great entrepreneurs from the turn of the century to the mid-1950s. In this episode of our Entrepreneur Heaven Seri...

The last Friday of every month Ed and Ron will do “Free-Rider Friday.” Most of our shows are “topic” driven, where we dive deep into one subject. Free-Rider Fridays are designed to be “event” driven, whatever issues are in the news that we (or you) find worthy of commentary. In economics, free riding means reaping the benefits from the actions of others and consequently refusing to bear the full costs of those actions. This means Ed and Ron will free ride off of the news, and each other, with no...

Ron and Ed will discuss ten factors of price sensitivity that all pricers should consider before establishing a price. Price sensitivity is far more predictive than demand elasticity studies, which simply show changes in overall revenue in response to various price changes. Price sensitivity is far more granular, allowing pricers to analyze the particular drivers of value at the customer level. Analyzing price sensitivity is an important exercise for any business that wants to capture more of th...

We are honored to have the opportunity to interview George Gilder, writer, economist, technology advocate, and co-founder of the Discovery Institute. Mr. Gilder released a monograph entitled: The 21st Century Case for Gold: A New Information Theory of Money. His 1981 international bestseller, Wealth and Poverty, advanced a practical and moral case for supply-side economics and capitalism during the early months of the Reagan Administration and made him President Reagan's most quoted living autho...

Thousands of business books are published each year. Some are worthless, others have merit, fewer still have lasting value, but a handful possess the ability to transform your business (and possibly, your life). Yet with today’s busy and demanding schedules, do you feel you don’t devote enough time to reading and absorbing new ideas? Then this show is for you. Ed and Ron will explore the best business books ever written, selecting their favorite all-time business books. If you want to share your...

Welcome to Free-Rider Friday. Most of our shows are topic driven, where we dive deep into one subject. Free-Rider Fridays are designed to be “event” driven, whatever issues are in the news that we (or you) find worthy of commentary. In economics, free riding means reaping the benefits from the actions of others and consequently refusing to bear the full costs of those actions. This means Ed and Ron will free ride off of the news, and each other, with no advanced knowledge of the events either wi...

Innovation and creativity always take us by surprise. Experts rarely understand this, which is why so many have made false predictions throughout history. Join Ed and Ron as they take a humorous and fascinating journey through some of the most mistaken predictions ever made, all by the experts.

Ron and Ed interview Jennifer Warawa, Vice President and General Manager for Sage Accountant Solutions. Jennifer's passion is to partner with consultants, accountants and bookkeepers to provide solutions that make a difference in their business or firm, and support them in delivering an extraordinary experience to their clients. Prior to working with Sage, Jennifer owned her own firm for 12 years providing accounting, bookkeeping, and consulting services, software training, as well as business/ ...

They say you can’t turn back the clock and go back to the good old days. Yet this is precisely what is happening with the total quality service movement, the customer loyalty movement, CRM, and other philosophies that put the customer at the center of the business organization. Millions of dollars are being spent on consultants to relearn what was once common sense, practiced by the great entrepreneurs from the turn of the century to the mid-1950s. This episode of our Entrepreneur Heaven Series,...

NOTE - This episode was missing from the catalogue. It is eleven years old. We are posting it only in the interest of completeness. You can safely ignore unless you want to enjoy the trip to the past. Ed's Topics Uber delivers a passport and launches a "De Blasio Feature" in New York City, which shows what your wait would be in the absence of Uber. How about Uber for flights? Cato Institute: One idea for how states could effectively end the federal income tax: Texas could refund everyone's fed...

Over the years, many fellows at VeraSage Institute have coined various laws, such as Baker's Law: Bad customers drive out good customers. In this show, Ed and Ron will explore this law and some other infamous VeraSage Laws.

Ron and Ed interview Greg Tirico who is responsible for Advocacy Solutions and Services at Sprout Social. He has spent the majority of his career leading digital marketing initiatives in Fortune 500 organizations. Today we will speak to him about Mary Meeker's annual Internet Trends report. Greg's insight when added to Mary's will guide your social strategy for the next 12 months. Personal note on Greg: When not espousing the benefits of employee advocacy, he can be found searching for the perfe...

Thousands of business books are published each year. Some are worthless, others have merit, fewer still have lasting value, but a handful possess the ability to transform your business (and possibly, your life). Yet with today’s busy and demanding schedules, do you feel you don’t devote enough time to reading and absorbing new ideas? Then this show is for you. Ed and Ron will explore the best business books ever written, selecting their favorite all-time business books. If you want to share your...

Welcome to “Free-Rider Friday.” Most of our shows are “topic” driven, where we dive deep into one subject. Free-Rider Fridays are designed to be “event” driven: whatever issues are in the news that we (or you) find worthy of commentary. In economics, free riding means reaping the benefits from the actions of others and consequently refusing to bear the full costs of those actions. This means Ed and Ron will free ride off of the news, and each other, with no advanced knowledge of the events eithe...

Ed and I are big Disney fans, so we are thrilled to be able to interview Lee Cockerell, former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World® Resort. One of Lee's major and lasting legacies was the creation of Disney Great Leader Strategies which was used to train and develop the 7000 leaders at Walt Disney World. Lee has held various executive positions in the hospitality and entertainment business with Hilton Hotels for 8 years and the Marriott Corporation for 17 years befor...

We are thrilled to have as or guest, Kevin Mitchell, president of the Professional Pricing Society. Kevin is also the Publisher of The Pricing Advisor monthly newsletter and the quarterly Journal of Professional Pricing. Kevin is a frequent speaker at pricing conferences and events in North America and Europe where he often discusses trends and demographic changes within the pricing discipline. Before joining PPS in 2007, he worked for 11 years in various Financial Management fields with Colgate...

They say you can’t turn back the clock and go back to the good old days. Yet this is precisely what is happening with the total quality service movement, the customer loyalty movement, CRM, and other philosophies that put the customer at the center of the business organization. Millions of dollars are being spent on consultants to relearn what was once common sense, practiced by the great entrepreneurs from the turn of the century to the mid-1950s. This show, the second in our Entrepreneur Heave...

The last Friday of every month Ed and Ron will do “Free-Rider Friday.” Most of our shows are “topic” driven, where we dive deep into one subject. Free-Rider Fridays are designed to be “event” driven; whatever issues are in the news that we (or you) find worthy of commentary. In economics, free riding means reaping the benefits from the actions of others and consequently refusing to bear the full costs of those actions. This means Ed and Ron will free ride off of the news, and each other, with no...

Ed and Ron will interview Brad Smith, Global EVP of Customer Experience at Sage. Brad is the executive vice president of customer experience, responsible for developing all aspects of the Sage customer experience, from product design to the invoice experience and all points in between. He has nearly 20 years of leadership in web consumer, enterprise software, and communication service provider industries. Brad is on the board of the Consortium for Service Innovation and loves talking about custo...