The Liquid Lunch Project

Are ADUs the next real estate gold rush… or just another permit-powered headache? Accessory Dwelling Units are moving from California trend to national real estate play. Gil Vaisman of Go ADU breaks down why homeowners are turning garages, basements, and backyards into rental income, family housing, and long-term property value. But this is not just about tiny houses with cute countertops. It is a...

Voice AI is moving fast, and small business owners are about to feel it right in the face. In this episode, Matthew and Luigi sit down with Laurent Cohen, founder of GetOblic, to talk about voice AI, local search, customer trust, SEO, and why your dusty old website from 2014 is not going to save you. This is not another "AI will change everything" snoozefest. Laurent gets into the real stuff: why...

Think delivery is just the boring part after the sale? That's where a lot of businesses screw it up. In this episode, Matthew R. Meehan and Luigi Rosabianca sit down with Randy Vlasic, founder of LIWMI Logistics, to talk about what really happens between "it shipped" and "it showed up."  They get into why trucking gets hit first when the economy gets weird, why chasing the cheapest option can blow...

AI isn't coming. It's already in the room. The real question is whether your business is asleep at the wheel. Michael Finkelstein, founder and CEO of KINETK, joins Matthew and Luigi for a straight-up talk about AI, data, and why most businesses are still thinking way too small. This episode gets into what happens when data stops being static, why hidden relationships matter, and how small business...

What if the life everyone claps for is the one quietly choking you out? Betsy Pepine joins Matt and Lou for a sharp conversation about the boxes people get shoved into by family, culture, work, gender, and plain old habit. This episode gets into what happens when you stop treating other people's expectations like law and start asking a better question: Does this life even fit?   🍸 What you'll hea...

What if the system isn't broken… it's working exactly how it was designed? Dr. Thomas Powell joins us to break down what founders get wrong about capital, why most businesses trap their owners, and how the same patterns show up in government. This is part entrepreneurship, part constitutional reality check…and a little uncomfortable in all the right ways. 🍸 What you'll hear in this episode: Why "...

What if your business is growing... and getting worse at the same time? Most founders think growth means adding more. More offers. More channels. More customers. More moving parts. Yarin says that works early, but somewhere between $2M and $20M in revenue, that same habit starts eating your margin alive. In this episode, Matt and Luigi sit down with Yarin Gaon of Fractional Partners to talk about...

What happens when a grown-up economist says the quiet part out loud: the U.S. is acting like it can break the rules forever? Andrés Velasco joins Matt and Luigi for a sharp, no-spin talk on debt, tariffs, copper, central banks, globalization, and why countries that treat boom times like a Vegas weekend usually end up crying in the shower. From Chile's "save it, don't blow it" playbook to America's...

What if the thing you've been calling "branding" is actually the backbone of your business? Dan Grech joins Matt and Luigi to make the case that a founder's story is not decoration, not nice-to-have, and not something you slap on a homepage after the real work is done. It's the thing that holds the whole machine together. From getting fired out of journalism to building BizHack Academy, Dan breaks...

You think the IRS is scary? Cool. Now imagine TikTok is your tax attorney. Pietro E. Canestrelli (JD, LL.M.) jumps in to kill the "one weird trick" tax myths and explain how people actually get wrecked: audits, missing returns, bad CPA advice, and the quiet fact that you're the one holding the bag. 🍸 What you'll hear in this episode: TikTok "tax hacks" are basically a DIY fraud starter kit. "Regi...

It's March. Everyone's arguing about brackets. So we built one for business. But instead of basketball teams, we're matching up what founders lean on when things get real: Discipline vs. motivation. Vision vs. execution Speed vs. strategy. Branding vs. operations. Because when revenue dips and momentum stalls, you don't get to rely on everything. You lean somewhere. This episode is a pressure test...

Some people are not bad at learning. They were just trained inside the wrong system. Russell Van Brocklen joins Matt and Luigi for a conversation that starts with dyslexia but quickly turns into something much bigger: how highly capable people get mislabeled, misunderstood, and boxed into models that do not match how their brains actually work. If you run a business, manage people, or have ever fe...

Your Website Is Dead. You Just Haven't Checked the Pulse. Contractors love tools. But hate marketing. And that's exactly why they're losing jobs in 2026. If you're an HVAC company, plumber, electrician, or builder still treating your website like a digital brochure… you're invisible. Wes Towers, founder of Uplift 360, joins us to talk contractor marketing, local SEO, and why most trades businesses...

What if the investment you've been ignoring is ignoring recessions, too? Stocks are floating at all-time highs. Everyone's calm. That's usually when things get weird. Matt opens this episode with a blunt take: when the market turns, investors don't get creative. They panic into real estate. The problem? Most people only know one version of it. So we brought on Matthias Gruenwald , a former German...

What happens when politics, credit cards, housing markets, and Florida border tolls all walk into one podcast? 🍸 In this episode, Matthew and Luigi attempt to make sense of: Trump's credit card rate cap Inflation versus liquidity Housing incentives and "portable mortgages" A bizarre Florida "toll tax" Small business tax realities Tell us: Should the government cap interest or shut the hell up? DM...

If your business falls apart when you leave for vacation, congrats. You built a trap, not a company. This episode isn't another cheerleading session for overworked founders. Jake Isaacs joins Matt and Luigi to rip into why most entrepreneurs are exhausted, isolated, and low-key addicted to chaos.  From building real communities to training kids for capitalism early, Jake lays out how Gathering the...

Question: What do you want to do with your life? If your planner doesn't have an answer, you're doing it wrong. This week on The Liquid Lunch Project, Matt & Luigi sit down with Jason VanDevere, founder of Goal Crazy Planners and author of Dream Driven , to talk about time, discipline, and why the old-school paper planner might be the ultimate productivity hack for entrepreneurs. Jason went from t...

Ever heard a data scientist call real estate magic? That's exactly what happens when Silicon Valley smarts collide with multifamily investing, and this episode of The Liquid Lunch Project proves it. We're sitting down with Neal Bawa, the Mad Scientist of Multifamily, to decode how he built a $600M real estate portfolio by treating cities like spreadsheets, and why he believes most investors are lo...

Is AI going to save your business… or make you feel like you're still stuck in the second inning? This week, we bring a real convo about AI (not the buzzword nonsense). Mark Andrews pulls back the curtain on what AI actually is, what most businesses get wrong, and how entrepreneurs can stop being overwhelmed and start using AI for real business growth without selling their souls (or wallets) to te...

Want to invest in real estate without swinging a hammer or begging a bank? Matt and Lou sit down with Alex Martyn of SPG Capital to talk about how smart investors are bypassing Wall Street and making their money work in real estate through private lending. This episode is about the real engine behind flips and rentals: capital. Alex breaks down how his fund operates, why he pays investors monthly,...

Luigi couldn't make it to the mic this time… but don't worry, we had a special guest fresh off his sleigh: Santa Claus. That's right. After delivering toys across the globe, Santa himself dropped by to join Matt and help break down the Top 10 most-listened-to episodes of 2025. What's stuffed in the stocking: How to protect your brand from copycats Why profit isn't just about more revenue The emoti...

🔥 Was 2025 really overwhelming… or did we just scroll WAY too much? Matt and Lou slam through the weirdest year in business and culture, taking stock of inflation noise, AI mania, internet frenzy, hiring headaches, and what the hell actually moved the needle for entrepreneurs.  Part reflection, part roast, 100% Liquid Lunch energy. 🍸 Key Highlights: Inflation still there, but news made it freaki...

What if your future kid could hear from a grandparent who's no longer here? Not in a cheesy, preloaded card, but a real message, made just for them? This week, Matt grabs a digital drink with Jared Emerick, Founder & CEO of Emotiga, the company behind Kapsol, a platform that lets people record heartfelt messages today and deliver them years from now. Think wedding day notes from your late father,...

When was the last time the person approving your business loan picked up their own phone ? In this episode, Matt and Lou sit down with Keith Costello, who built Locality Bank from the ground up, a tech‑forward community bank for real business owners. They dive into his "why," the nuts‑and‑bolts of launching a bank, the future of stable coins, and why the big banks aren't always the best choice for...

What's the real reason your business growth feels like you're carrying bricks uphill? On today's episode, Michael Walsh takes us behind the curtain of business growth, from "we're doing fine" to "we're doing great, but I'm drowning anyway." He walks through the hidden growth blockers (structures, people, manager vs. individual contributor), his "Freedom by Design" framework, and how to shift your...