It's Never Just A Game

NJ and Greg have a lightning round where they discuss the fact that you are never too old.  If you have the right mindset, you enjoy what you are doing, or you want to learn something new.  Business topics include; Pac 12 TV deal, value of NBA teams, PGA tour purse money going up because of the LIV Golf Tour and Anthony Volpe is going to be the Yankee’s starting shortstop!

Greg and NJ have a wonderful interview with PureCycle CEO, Dustin Olson. Dustin shares the innovative work PureCycle is doing in the arena of plastic recycling as well as what he did in his career along the way.  It is a great story of working hard, building on successes and reaching to always do more.

NJ and Greg spend the episode talking about the approach to, and the pitfalls of, CEO succession planning.  An alarming number of boards get it wrong and not enough time is spent on preparing the successors.  Firms will either keep the CEO too long or bring them back once the successor fails.  The impact of a leadership change is felt throughout the organization, it is better to get it right the f...

Greg and NJ cover the LAFC in the MLS that has a valuation of $1billion, and how it compares to other professional sports teams.  Then the conversation turns to FinTech and the pressure FinTech companies are under to make money or to get funding in the market today.  They cover AI brands that are competing for your attention as well as AI that is paying attention to you as you work.  Finally, a do...

NJ and Greg take a look at premium performance apparel, Vuori and how it dominates.  Vuori’s founder Joe Kudla took a circuitous route to starting and building Vuori into a brand that has a $4 billion valuation.  He was a model, then an accountant and finally a recruiter before he started Vuori.  Then the brothers cover the Super Bowl.

Greg and NJ cover the cost of having an elite QB for the play-offs and super bowl, you might be surprised at the how little some teams are paying.  Then the discussion moves to the topic of the workplace.  Recent WSJ article says that Bosses are back in charge.  The labor market has changed, and CEOs are no longer doing everything they can to attract and retain people.  Jobs are being cut, pay rai...

NJ and Greg talk about Artificial Intelligence, the company Open AI and its product ChatGPT.  What is ChatGPT, why does it matter, how can you access it, what can it be used for and what are some of the concerns people might have with artificial intelligence?  The brothers then cover a few examples of what ChatGPT generated for them and how it will impact sports.  And finally, music time with a tw...

The Pesci brothers focus on innovation as a way of separating from the pack.  The conversation then moves to the fact that, by definition, everyone can’t be better than average.  While best practices can make you better, they are not going to make you great, you’re just trying to copy and catch-up to someone else.  Sport’s focus is on the America men in the Australian open, Sebastian Korda is maki...

NJ and Greg get back at it this week with a lightening round that includes:  The Jets missing the playoffs, Gonzaga got away, NFL playoffs are starting, Mario Andretti and Cadillac want to put an all-USA team in Formula 1, and the daughter of the richest man in the world takes over Christian Dior Couture and the stock jumps up!  Formula 1, also known as F1 or Formula One, is the highest class of s...

Greg and NJ discuss Zach Wilson’s short career to date, and the long history of talent mismanagement by the NY Jets. Wilson could certainly have played better but he had no chance with the Jets, nobody does!  P. S. The Jets missed the playoffs again this year making it 12 straight years without a playoff appearance, the longest current streak in the NFL!

NJ and Greg cover the Forbes list of the highest earning celebrities, who just happen to be dead.  Then they cover several layoffs and some of the reactions of those involved.  And finally, the fact that bowl games are no longer the same since NIL and the transfer portal is open to athletes starting on December 5th.  Teams are forced to start their 4th string QB!

Alan Ying is the brother’s guest for the episode.  NJ and Greg talk to Alan about his new book, The Risk Paradox.  They discuss the cost of taking and not taking a risk.  Alan then tells the story of his career that goes from being the top intern in Duke’s thoracic surgery department, to starting up a tech company with no idea how you raise money or make a spreadsheet!  Great lessons and perspecti...

The brothers cover the upsets in college football, who will go to the playoffs?  They compare the salaries of MLB players to Formula 1 and soccer.  A list of all of the topics we have discussed on the show and how we decide on those topics.  And, we finish with Music Time, it’s been a while after all……

Greg and NJ start with a discussion about the changes at Twitter, no free meals and you have to work “hard core.”  Then Mike joins to talk about how the College Football committee doesn’t want certain teams to make it to the playoffs and how TCU is driving them crazy.  The World Cup started and team USA plays its first game on Monday!

The Pesci brothers take this episode to talk about the importance of Emotional Intelligence, often called EI or EQ.  They cover the characteristics, the components of EQ, as well as the signs of EQ.  Then they discuss how you might improve your EQ and not fall into any EQ traps.  Sports and the election are also mentioned, go figure! 

The Pesci brothers have an honest and unedited conversation about change.  Change can be a hard thing for people to face, work through and accept.  It can also be a wonderful thing, a fun thing, a thing of hope and promise.  Take time to reflect and ask yourself, is there something I should change in my life, will it make me happy?  If so, don’t wait, just do it.

NJ and Greg take a look at female owners in the NFL with both majority and minority interests.  Ten of the 32 NFL franchises have women as majority owners with another eight as minority owners.  And then the brothers review a Forbes article about the top self-made entrepreneur in the U.S., Diane Hendricks, her net worth is $12.2 billion.

Greg and NJ discuss where the Forbes’ Wealthiest 400 went to school for their undergraduate degrees.  We cover the schools in rank order and share some of the names of their alumni and the charitable gifts a number of these graduates gave back to their schools.  Only a couple are West of the Mississippi River and there is but one Public School in the lot.   

NJ and Greg have a great time talking with Mark Henness about his work as an NFL Agent and his firm, Leverage Football.  Mark has been a practicing attorney for 28 years and a licensed NFL agent for nearly a decade.  Mark entered the athlete representation world because he recognized that effective representation can make an actual difference in the trajectory of an athlete’s career. 

The Pesci brothers discuss what happens when you make a strategic decision to invest or focus on something that makes for a good news headline.  Beyond Meat goes from a valuation of $19 billion to just over $1 billion.  People liked to hear about it but when a product appeals to less than 5% of the population, you are going to have some issues.  Going back to work is picking up steam and may help...

NJ and Greg discuss a recent Forbes Magazine article that references a global Gallop poll where records for anger, stress, worry, and sadness were set in 2021.  The trend is ten years in the making.  Listen as the brothers talk about the impact these factors have on people and organizations and then some of the things you can do to combat them.  The show ends with a longer than normal, “music time...

Greg and NJ have Mike in Middle America on the show from the start to discuss College Football and Conference Alignment.  Then the conversation shifts to a recent event at a BYU Women’s Volleyball match that has garnered national attention.   And we end with talk of rule changes in baseball including the elimination of the shift!

NJ and Greg cover Forbes Magazine’s Top 20 Richest Heirs in the U.S.  There are a few lessons in there on what it means to be an owner and how ownership can make all the difference in the world if you are willing to work hard and stick with it.  With College Football underway the brothers cover future changes in the College Football Playoff system.  The Yankees are in trouble and the show ends wit...

The Pesci brothers cover Student Loan forgiveness, Apple, of all companies, wants their employees to come back to work three days a week, LIV golf and PGA changes, past guests making good and Music Time!

The Pesci brothers are back and take this week to talk all things BYU with long-time voice of the BYU Cougars, Greg Wrubell.  With just a few weeks to kick-off, Greg takes the brothers through his assessment of the season, players, NIL, and super conferences.  And the brothers finish with Music Time once again.