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CEO Bros - After Hours

CEO Bros - After Hours

By: CEO Bros
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Summary

 CEO Bros is an entertaining weekly podcast hosted by the Balduf Brothers and Matt Croke. Brian and Brad Balduf are successful entrepreneurs and CEOs with hundreds of engaging and insightful stories from the trenches. They talk about everything from the challenges of starting a business, to the exhilaration of growing the business, to the ultimate satisfaction of selling a business. They share real-life stories and lessons in an engaging and candid 'after hours' conversation moderated by Matt Croke, an international entertainer, comedian, and author. Join the guys every Friday afternoon for a new episode. Hear some rants, some ideas, some lessons learned, and some funny anecdotes about the world of running your own company.2025 Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Customer Feedback the good the bad and the ugly

    Customer Feedback the good the bad and the ugly
    Apr 25 2026

    *Customer Feedback Is Screaming at You (You're Just Not Listening) S2 Ep 12*

    Brian Balduf spent years building a feedback machine at VHT Studios. Same seven questions every year, sliced by geography, rep, product, and brand. Forty ways to Sunday. Then he stayed at a hotel, got a generic email survey, and ignored it. He had five complaints. They'll never get them. His window is shut. This is episode 62. What your customers aren't telling you, and why it's your fault.

    *YOU'LL DISCOVER* • Why the guy who built a feedback empire refused to fill out a hotel survey • The $500 Starbucks math that could shape your next five years • Why your survey asks questions that matter to you, not your customers • The "close the loop" rule that turns one-time responders into repeat ones • Why no complaints doesn't mean everything is fine

    *WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS* • Ask in person while they're still there, not days later in a generic email • Tie every survey to something small that shows you value their time • Ask the same questions every year so you can track if you're improving • Close the loop. Tell clients what changed. Or they stop responding.

    *WHO THESE GUYS ARE* Brian Balduf built and sold VHT Studios. Brad Balduf scaled By Your Side Autism to 11 centers and 550+ employees. Matt Croke hosts and asks the questions nobody else will.

    *THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH* "We offered you feedback. You said no. That guy flamed us online." Your customers have opinions. Are you making it worth their time to share them?

    👇 SUBSCRIBE for new episodes every Friday. Real stories, real disasters, no LinkedIn energy.

    *TIMESTAMPS*

    0:00 - The Hotel Survey Brian Deleted

    2:35 - Where Does Feedback Actually Rank?

    5:29 - How Brian Built VHT's Feedback Machine 6:31 - The Same Seven Questions Every Year

    9:42 - The $500 Starbucks Math 11:13 - The Close the Loop Rule 13:06 - Boulder Ridge Does It Right

    14:19 - Brian Gets Called Out Live 19:34 - What Would Get Brian's Feedback

    22:04 - Why JD Power Gets Timing Wrong

    26:32 - The Bathroom Button Nobody Will Touch

    *ABOUT CEO BROS AFTER HOURS* CEO BROS: After Hours is raw business talk from CEO brothers Brian Balduf (VHT Studios) and Brad Balduf (By Your Side Autism Therapy) with host Matt Croke. Every Friday they share what actually happens building companies: brutal failures, scaling disasters, and the messy truth about leadership. No corporate polish. No LinkedIn energy. Just honest stories from the trenches.

    🍸 *WIND DOWN WITH THE BROS: THIS WEEK'S COCKTAILS* Three drinks for three takes on feedback. Pick the one that matches how you handle it.

    🍸 *THE FORTY WAYS TO SUNDAY* Brian Balduf - Built the feedback machine, then deleted the hotel survey Recipe: • 2 oz blended Scotch whisky • ¾ oz lemon juice • ½ oz honey syrup • 2 dashes Angostura bitters • Lemon twist • Shake with ice, strain into rocks glass The Vibe: Brian sliced VHT's annual survey by geography, rep, and brand. Same seven questions every year, forty ways to Sunday. Then the hotel sent a generic email and his window slammed shut. Meticulous, complex, worth far more than anyone expects.

    🍸 *THE CLOSED LOOP* Brad Balduf - The operator who built 11 centers on following up Recipe: • 2 oz blanco tequila • ¾ oz fresh lime juice • ½ oz agave syrup • 1 oz fresh grapefruit juice • Pinch of salt • Shake with ice, strain into coupe The Vibe: You ask. They answer. You tell them what changed. No kale on the burger. Brad closes the loop because if you don't, they stop filling out the next one. Sharp start, clean finish, just like a feedback cycle that actually works.

    🍸 *THE BATHROOM BUTTON* Matt Croke - Watching Brian's window slam shut in real time Recipe: • 1.5 oz gin • ¾ oz elderflower liqueur • ¾ oz lemon juice • Club soda • Lemon wheel • Shake first three with ice, strain, top with soda The Vibe: Someone thought bathroom feedback buttons were genius. Easy, on your way out. Then reality: the last button you want to touch in a bathroom is one everyone else has touched. Matt's watched Brian argue against surveys for twenty minutes. This drink is his only comfort. Make all three. Building empires you won't use? Closing your loops? Just surviving the chaos? Tag us.

    *JOIN THE CONVERSATION* https://x.com/CeoBrosAH https://www.instagram.com/ceobrosah/ https://www.facebook.com/CEOBrosAH https://www.linkedin.com/company/ceo-bros

    #CustomerFeedback #Entrepreneurship #CEOLife #BusinessPodcast #StartupLife #Leadership #ClientExperience
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    29 mins
  • The business of sports and how it relates to your business ep 2-61

    The business of sports and how it relates to your business ep 2-61
    Apr 17 2026
    *The PGA Didn't Pay Their Best Players (Then Watched Them All Leave)* The Business of $ports and your business. Throw out the complacency playbook. The PGA had the best players in the world. Instead of paying them what they were worth, they held the line. Saudi money came in, LIV Golf launched, and the biggest names on tour walked out the door. Now the PGA is losing viewership, losing sponsors, and negotiating a merger they never saw coming. This is episode 61. What the PGA, Sears, and Blockbuster can teach you about the competitor you never saw coming. *YOU'LL DISCOVER* * Why the PGA's best players left and what every business owner can learn from it * Sears invented what Amazon does and still went completely bankrupt * Brian's honest admission: even VHT became a legacy company and felt it * Why the Florida lacrosse tournament circuit is a racket (Brad learned the hard way) * Brian's four-year prediction for college sports *WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS* * Never forget who the customer is. The leagues forgot it was the fan. * New entrants are always hungrier, faster, and not tied to your legacy systems. * Complacency doesn't feel dangerous until it's already too late. *WHO THESE GUYS ARE* Brian Balduf co-founded and sold VHT Studios. Brad Balduf built By Your Side Autism Therapy to 550+ employees across 11 centers. Matt Croke hosts and asks the questions nobody else will. *THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH* "If you sit around too long and don't evolve, somebody comes along and cuts your feet out from underneath you. And you go: where did that competitor come from? That's because you weren't paying attention." Which business in your industry is the PGA right now? 👇 SUBSCRIBE for new episodes every Friday. Real stories, no LinkedIn energy. ———————————— *TIMESTAMPS* 0:00 - Is curling a sport? (Important debate) 1:43 - The case for a sports business podcast 3:25 - Baseball's 2027 lockout: they forgot who the customer is 7:04 - PGA vs. LIV: the business lesson hiding in golf 9:34 - Blockbuster said "eh" when Netflix came knocking 10:16 - Brian admits: we became a legacy company 18:04 - Sears invented what Amazon does (then disappeared) 21:36 - Brad flew his daughter to Florida (someone else cashed in) *ABOUT CEO BROS AFTER HOURS* CEO BROS: After Hours is raw business talk from CEO brothers Brian Balduf (VHT Studios) and Brad Balduf (By Your Side Autism Therapy) with host Matt Croke. Every Friday they share what actually happens building companies: brutal failures, scaling disasters, and the messy truth about leadership. No corporate polish. No LinkedIn energy. Just honest stories from the trenches. ———————————— 🍸 *WIND DOWN WITH THE BROS: THIS WEEK'S COCKTAILS* Three drinks for three ways to lose your lead. Which one is your business? 🍸 THE MULLIGAN Brian Balduf - The guy who admitted his company got complacent Recipe: * 2 oz bourbon * ¾ oz lemon juice * ½ oz honey syrup * 2 dashes Angostura bitters * Lemon twist * Shake with ice, strain into rocks glass The Vibe: A mulligan is golf's version of "we should have handled that differently." Brian built VHT into a legacy company and felt the weight of systems too set in their ways to move fast. This drink is for every business owner who needs a do-over they're honest enough to admit. 🍸 THE LIV WIRE Brad Balduf - The operator who gets up every day asking what has to change Recipe: * 2 oz mezcal * ¾ oz lime juice * ½ oz agave syrup * ½ oz Aperol * Lime wheel * Shake with ice, strain into coupe The Vibe: LIV didn't ask permission. They just showed up with Saudi money and a better offer. Brad's been running By Your Side for 16 years and still gets up every morning asking what has to change. This drink doesn't wait to be invited. 🍸 THE EMPTY STANDS Matt Croke - The host reminding everyone who actually pays the bills Recipe: * 1.5 oz gin * ¾ oz elderflower liqueur * ¾ oz grapefruit juice * ½ oz simple syrup * Club soda * Grapefruit peel * Shake first four with ice, strain, top with soda The Vibe: The leagues forgot the fan. The PGA forgot the fan. The baseball owners forgot the fan. Matt keeps asking the one question nobody wants to answer: who's actually paying for all of this? This drink is clean, easy to like, and completely ignored until it's gone. Make all three. Mulligan business needing a do-over? LIV Wire that saw it coming? Managing Empty Stands after everyone left? Tag us. ———————————— *JOIN THE CONVERSATION* https://x.com/CeoBrosAH https://www.instagram.com/ceobrosah/ https://www.facebook.com/CEOBrosAH https://www.linkedin.com/company/ceo-bros ———————————— #entrepreneurship #businessstrategy #startuplife #leadership #sportsandbusiness #bestbusinesspodcast #leadership #entrepreneurs #startups #pga #livgolf #mlb #ncaa
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    24 mins
  • AI - Artificial Intelligence - get ahead of it or be trampled by it ep 2-60

    AI - Artificial Intelligence - get ahead of it or be trampled by it ep 2-60
    Apr 10 2026

    *Take the AI Red Pill (Your Competitor Already Did)* Brad was a skeptic. Now he's all in. Brad was the skeptic in the room. Brian said AI was for everybody. Brad looked at him and said it plainly: "That ain't going to happen. The world is full of foolish and ignorant people." He said it with full conviction. Now he runs multiple AI platforms and laughs that he's leading the foolish and ignorant people himself. This is episode 60. The AI red pill most business owners are still refusing to take.

    *YOU'LL DISCOVER* * Why Brad thought AI would never work for regular people and what flipped him * Operation Star Trek: how Brad rolled AI out across his entire leadership team * Why Matt needed Brad's explicit permission before he'd open a single tool * The three stages of AI: search, answer, and full agent mode * Brian's warning about the guy in a basement building your business right now

    *WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS* * Search "top 20 AI tools for [your industry]" before anything else * Use platforms together, not separately. They don't get jealous. * Find the task you think is "stupid." That's your starting point with AI.

    *WHO THESE GUYS ARE* Brian Balduf co-founded and sold VHT Studios. Brad Balduf built By Your Side Autism Therapy to 550+ employees across 11 centers. Matt Croke hosts and asks the questions nobody else will. *THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH* "You can either use AI or compete against it. Someone's in their basement right now. Bam website. Bam e-commerce. Bam product. Twenty agents, zero employees." Have you taken the red pill yet? What are you actually using?

    #bestbusinesspodcast #AI #artificialIntelligence #leadership #businessgrowth # startups # entrepreneurs
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    26 mins
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