Episodes

On this week's episode Ron and Ed welcome Colin Grabow of the CATO Institute's Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies to talk about the Jones Act (aka Merchant Marine Act of 1920) which regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters and between U.S. ports, oh, and, makes stuff more expensive for all of us while benefitting a select few. You will learn the main reason why food and other sundry items are more expensive in Hawaii and Puerto Rice; why the Northeast US imports natural gas fro...

What does it mean to say I have a right to something? In this thought-provoking episode, Ron and Ed will delve into the distinct realms of negative and positive rights, exploring how they shape our understanding of individual liberties and societal obligations. Join us as we unravel the philosophical, practical, and even business implications of these two concepts, challenging preconceptions and fostering a deeper appreciation for the complexities of rights discourse.

In the second of our annual beginning of the year episodes, Ron and Ed will recap their best books of 2023. Many listeners considers this the most expensive episode of the year as their anti-libraries tend to grow while listening. If you have a best book to share, please email us at asktsoe@verasage.com or hit us up with a X post @asktsoe.

During this annual favorite Ron and Ed will look back on the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2023 including there favorite episodes, news events, pop-culture, business trends, and in memorium.

Waaay back in Episode 22, Ron and Ed detailed the ideas behind Joel Waldfogel's book, Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays. Waldfogel makes the case that the deadweight loss to the economy from gift giving, in 2007, totaled $12 billion, out of approximately $66.5 Billion spent (about 12%) and that we should all give cash rather than presents. In this episode, we will speak with Professor Tony Gill about his ideas around Rethinking Scroogencomics and some of his other wr...

For their last show of the 2023, Ron and Ed will clean out their stacks of (business and economic related) stuff. It promises to be a fast-paced conversation that will make it hard to listen on double speed. If you have anything to add, send your email to asktsoe@verasage.com or tag us on X using @asktsoe or #asktsoe.

This is Greg's fifth appearance with Ron and Ed. Some of them incognito. (We'll let you try to figure which is which.) The topics are not scripted, but we assure you jocularity will ensue.

This week Ron and Ed welcome Chelsea Follett to talk about her book, Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World. From the book: Where does progress happen? The story of civilization is the story of the city. It is cities that have created and defined the modern world by acting as the sites of pivotal advances in culture, politics, science, technology, and more. There is no question that certain places, at certain times in history, have contributed disproportionately toward making the ...

We can't believe it has been since February of 2022 that we have done a subscription-economy update. (Check it out at http://thesoulofenterprise.com/378.) We are glad to be sneaking this one in just under the wire for 2023. Ron and Ed will share their latest thinking on the progress (or regression) of subscription pricing both in the professions and in the broader market including both business and consumer. As usual they will come loaded for bear. It will be a challenge to listen to this one at...

Ron and Ed are delighted to welcome Steve Goreham to The Soul of Enterprise. He is the author of four books on climatism and green energy, and we will be discussing his most recent book: Green Breakdown: The Coming Renewable Energy Failure, published this year. We will dive into the physics and engineering issues involved in the transition to renewable energy, and why it won’t be as easy as a lot people claim. Join us for what will be an enlightening and informative discussion.

This week Ron and Ed will explore Goldratt's Rules of Flow by Efrat Goldratt-Ashlag, daughter of Daughter of Eliyahu M. Goldratt whose seminal work, The Goal has been read by millions. Interestingly enough, this topic was suggested by Ron who usually falls asleep when Ed gets rolling on project management topic, so you know this episode will be one to remember.

This week Ron and Ed will continue their conversation on Mark Andreessen's The Techo-Optimists Manifesto. In addition to finishing their analysis, they will talk through some responses that other have had to the document. In addition, Ron and Ed will be joined in the conversation by Greg Tirico of TSOE Bonus episode fame and knower-of-many-techno-things himself.

This week Ron and Ed travel to Miami to attend the Hector Garcia's Creative Business Models for Accountants Conference where they will share their thought about Day 1 of the conference live with the audience. Then they will take questions from the attendees in classic Ask Us Anything style.

Ed and Ron will explore Marc Andresseen's The Techno-Optimist Manifesto. It's a thought-provoking piece that we largely agree with. You can find the Manifesto at: https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/

Ron and Ed welcome Hitendra Patil, President of the Global Finance and Accounting Outsourcing Services of Datamatics Business Solutions, Inc. and author of Rise of The Aiccountants: The What, Why, and How of Artificial Intelligence for Accountants. AI is way more than an amusement gimmick. At its core, AI is a powerful tool that can make accounting firm operations, analytics, decision-making, and client services more efficient, impactful, and insightful resulting in clients getting more delighte...

Ron and Ed once again share entries from their One Thing journals, so this episode is a bit random, but contains nugget after nugget on curated wisdom for the reading and listening habits of the hosts. As you listen, please feel free to share your One Thing from the past day or week. Don't forget to take #asktsoe or @asktsoe.

This week Ron and Ed welcome Mathew Kerbis, aka The Subscription Attorney to talk about, you guessed it, subscription-based lawyering. His firm, Subscription Attorney LLC was founded in 2022 and is a modern law firm offering legal advice starting at $19.99/month, to help provide affordable access to legal advice for small business owners, freelancers, and everyday people. As usual the conversation with be mind-bending.

Ed and Ron can’t wait to interview Kathryn Mayer and Greg Glasgow and discuss their brand new book, Disneyland on the Mountain, released September 13, 2023. If you are a Disney fan, you won’t want to miss this episode!

This week Ron and Ed welcome William Donaldson, author of Simple_Complexity to the show. Every business leader knows a business is a system, yet very few have studied systems thinking or system dynamics. This is a critical oversight, one that Simple_Complexity remedies. Simple_Complexity reveals the fundamental system archetype at work in your enterprise and prescribes new and exciting ways to reinvigorate your management thinking.

This week, Ron and Ed welcome accounting thought leader Max Emma, CEO and Chief Bookkeeping Officer of Booxkeeping Franchise. BooXkeeping is a nationwide provider of affordable outsourced bookkeeping services to small and medium-sized businesses. We will talk to Max about his business model and why outsource bookkeeping will continue to grow. Booxkeeping Franchise is a low-cost and easy-to-operate bookkeeping business solution for aspiring entrepreneurs. As the CEO of BooXkeeping Franchise, Inc....

This week Ron and Ed return to the work of literature for some inspiration. They will delve into the page of the Roald Dahl short story, The Great Automatic Grammatizor and Robert R. Updegraff's Obvious Adams: The Story of a Successful Businessman. Both are available on the website that rhymes with Shamazon if you want to read them ahead of the broadcast. Send your questions and comments to asktsoe@verasage.com or tag us on X @asktsoe.

This week Ron and Ed literally explore the boundaries of AI by conducting an interview with an AI incarnation of Peter Drucker. Using ChatGPT and Speech Synthesis from ElevenLabs, Ron and Ed ask the questions and ChatGPeterD provides the answers. Topic range from knowledge workers, to annual appraisals, to AARs, to consulting in a hot tub.

Ron and Ed welcome Seth David from Nerd Enterprises, Inc to talk about his work with accounting professionals and customers. Seth's superpower is communicating complex financial concepts in easy-to-understand terms. Going beyond accounting, he delves into the intersection of business and technology, recently authoring a piece on why the internet browser experience is long overdue for an overhaul. If you have any questions that you would like us to ask Seth, please hit us up on X at @asktsoe.

Ron and Ed usually wait six months before having a previous Guest reappear on the show. This is one of the exceptions. Our conversation today focuses on a new conference that Hector and his team are developing, Business Models of the Future Knowledge Worker. Hector will share his thoughts and we will have a live brainstorming event around topic for conversation at the conference. Participate live by posting on X to @asktsoe.