What The Funk?

Plymouth roots, Detroit suburbs, and a water ski club team romance somehow turn into running a huge Eagle Ford production machine, plus parenting, hockey nights, and still finding time to chase a 14er. Matt Vivian from bpx energy shares how he went from Shell training to startup chaos to leading 1400 plus wells, why bottom up daily habits beat top down chaos, and how LinkedIn went from lurking to...

RegretShield isn’t your typical OT consulting shop, it’s a crew built on service, straight talk, and actually fixing the messy stuff that slows operators down. Will Dotson walked us through how he went from the military to building a company that’s obsessed with modernizing well pads, tightening up workflows, and giving clients the kind of communication they wish every vendor had. He opened up abo...

Jeremy’s story is straight out of the “bet on yourself” playbook. From growing up in tough circumstances to building a $14M powerhouse with Encore Search Partners, he’s turned every obstacle into fuel for growth. We get into how he built his executive search firm from scratch, the marketing smarts that gave him an edge, and the leadership lessons that helped him scale through downturns and even CO...

Two Martins. Two worlds. One wild conversation. Scotland meets Mexico as Jeremy Funk sits down with Martín Luna Rivera and Martin MacRae from James Fisher AIS for a hilarious, heartfelt chat about life, culture, and tech. From Aberdeen pubs to Mexico City traffic, they swap stories about growing up worlds apart, navigating careers in oil and gas, and finding common ground in family, food, and Form...

Kinetics Controls & Innovation Limited isn’t your average oil and gas maintenance company, they’re the guys quietly rewriting the playbook. Kevin Watt and Graham Steele stopped by to talk about how their Scotland-based team is bringing some seriously smart well integrity solutions to the U.S. oilfields. With over 20 years in the game, they’ve seen it all, wellhead problems, aging assets, safet...

Reed’s story is one of those classic oil patch tales with a modern twist, starting out fixing wells on a tight budget and somehow turning that grind into building his own company. He grew up around oil, gas, and cattle, and instead of running from it, he leaned all the way in, carving out his own path with Jaybird Resources. What makes him stand out isn’t just his business chops, but the way he re...

Justin’s story is all about turning struggle into strength. After racking up over 1,400 days of sobriety, he’s faced the heavy loss of both parents and some huge life shifts, yet somehow, he’s managed to carve out a sense of peace and purpose in the middle of it all. Growing up as an athlete and later working in management consulting, Justin learned discipline, resilience, and how to channel energ...

From Spring, Texas to the helm of his own startup, Tyler’s journey is all about turning big ideas into real change for oil and gas. He cut his teeth at LSU, sharpened his skills leading innovative projects at EOG Resources, and now with CT Evolution, he’s tackling downhole logistics in a way that’s shaking up how operators and service companies work together. We got into the grit of launching a bu...

What happens when a Chico kid with a dream and a serious work ethic decides to shake up the local bar scene? You get Sebastian Tamarelle, owner of The Banshee and B Street Public House and the kind of guy who didn’t set out to lead but ended up becoming a community pillar anyway. Jeremy sits down with his childhood buddy to swap stories, talk shop, and dig into everything from ditching the corpora...

Relationships are at the heart of everything Mary does, from building out tech solutions in oil and gas to swapping baking tips and golf stories. We got into how she went from Baltimore to becoming the face of Welland, the consulting firm making data reporting way less painful with tools like Unidata and SQL (but don't worry, she keeps it human). Mary’s one of those people who makes remote work lo...

Running a company that’s shaking up oil and gas with AI is wild enough, but try doing that on zero sleep with a newborn in the house. That’s life for Josh Politte, who somehow manages to lead ACT Solutions & Consulting while changing diapers and dodging spit-up. He shares stories from a globe-spanning career (50+ countries!), the year Egypt cracked open his worldview, and how he went from petr...

Steve Cooper went from mining rocks in the UK to mining insights in the oil and gas world, building and eventually selling EnergyIQ, a company that tackled the chaos of industry data before COVID flipped the world upside down. He breaks down how a background in computer science and a bit of stubborn problem-solving turned into a business that stood out by actually giving a damn about data quality....

What happens when two sharp minds from the oilfield and IT world team up to fix the clunky data problems plaguing oil and gas? You get Rivitt, an AI-powered game-changer that’s tackling inefficiencies, boosting safety, and making ops smoother than a fresh cup of frac fluid. Jeremy sits down with the brains behind it, Steven and Clay, to talk about scrappy beginnings, bold ideas, and how a little b...

Turning a sketch on a napkin into a $20 million energy tech company? That’s exactly what happened and the story’s wild. From navigating the chaos of startup life to hitting pause after a major health scare, this convo pulls back the curtain on the real grit behind building Westgen Technologies. We’re talking leadership lessons, coaching that actually worked, and a whole lot of figuring things out...

Alzheimer’s is tough, but this episode is all about the people fighting back in the most unexpected ways, like hopping on a bike and riding for something bigger. We sat down with Brian from the Alzheimer’s Association and Steve, a cyclist whose mom’s diagnosis lit a fire in him to make a difference. From emotional stories to groundbreaking updates (think blood tests and FDA-approved meds), we cove...

Vendor management in oil and gas is usually a mess of outdated systems and constant compliance headaches, but VenLink is flipping the script. We’re talking boots-on-the-ground experience turned into a sleek platform that’s using automation and AI to cut out the inefficiencies, slash risk, and give operators real-time visibility into their vendors. Joshua Owens, who’s been in the trenches with comp...

What do you get when a lifelong pilot and a fashion industry pro team up? Skycam Aviation, that’s what, an aerial imaging company that’s flipping the script on how we track methane leaks and monitor the world from above. They’re strapping HD video systems onto planes, zipping through the skies at 15,000 feet, and collecting jaw-dropping footage packed with data that actually matters. From detectin...

From radio rigs in Army tents to running IT for a major oil and gas consulting firm, Curtis has had one hell of a ride, and he’s got the stories to prove it. He talks about swapping camo for keyboards, how military comms set the stage for his tech leadership style, and why he’s not sold on jumping on every shiny new AI trend. It’s a refreshingly no-BS look at what it really takes to lead tech team...

From growing up in Oklahoma with two teachers for parents to making waves in the oil and gas world, Drew Hopkins has built a career on reputation, relationships, and a whole lot of hustle. He went from Chesapeake Energy to co-founding LIS and now leading business development at Novus, and along the way, he’s picked up some hard-earned wisdom about building a winning culture, driving responsible gr...

From climbing the ranks at BP to betting on himself with Adaptive Edge, Danny Falligant has one hell of a story. He walked away from a cushy oil and gas career to shake things up in digital transformation, and now he’s redefining how land departments handle AI, document management, and data. Jeremy gets into the why and how of Danny’s big leap, the real challenges of running a tech startup while j...

Sales engineering isn’t just about numbers and tech, it’s about people, problem-solving, and, surprisingly, a little bit of soul. This episode of *What the Funk?* brings in Darnell Franco from Detechtion Technologies, a guy who knows his way around compressor fleets *and* the complexities of being human. From breaking down digital twins and edge computing in oil and gas to sharing why mental healt...

From cutting Halo montages to crafting high-impact content for the energy and tech world, Jacob Stiller’s story is one of passion, hustle, and a whole lot of creative grit. What started as DIY GoPro edits turned into a career that’s taken him around the world, co-founding Creator House Media and shaping Digital Wildcatters’ signature style. He opens up about the wild ride, from freelancing through...

Real-time data is changing the game in oil and gas, and SigmaStream is leading the charge. Jeremy and Hari Koduru talk about how their high-frequency data tech is shaking up drilling operations, making things faster, smarter, and way more efficient. Hari shares his journey from India to engineering to founding SigmaStream, breaking down the wild ride of building a company that thrives on precision...

From sniper scopes to startup hustle, this episode’s got it all. Asher Fink went from Camp Ramah to the U.S. Army, serving as a sniper in Iraq, before pivoting into the tech world and landing as Chief Commercial Officer at HT Vista. We talk about how military discipline shaped his leadership, why being a generalist is underrated in startups, and how he’s shaking things up in veterinary health. Plu...

Collecting fossils in Nebraska as a kid kicked off a lifelong passion for geology that took Jason Eleson from exploring for oil and gas with Exxon to championing carbon capture, hydrogen storage, and geothermal projects in his current role at Sproule. With a knack for nonlinear thinking and over two decades of experience, he’s navigated the ups and downs of both massive corporations and nimble sta...