Recorded July 5, 2025---09:19 Organizations are terrible at dealing with toxic colleagues12:00 The real cost of toxic colleagues17:00 Does a culture of radical transparency solve this?21:50 Bridgewater might not really be a cult24:36 Most firms don't compete on culture30:26 Do we teach students how to deal with toxic workplaces?34:00 The challenge of explaining why you left a toxic environment36:00 The people who won't leave toxic places40:30 HR management awards don't mean what you think42:00 Organizations never ask about your values47:00 Is Ivey a toxic place?53:20 Jeremy's attempt to give feedback01:03:00 Are NYU and Wharton different?

---I chat with Jeremy DeMello (Ivey HBA) about his experience dealing with a toxic colleague, as well as his thoughts on the the negative aspects of the Ivey experience. This is the first of two separate episodes.

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Amazon link to my book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5N6F1FV

Recorded May 1, 202500:51 -- Was the MBA degree worth it?

04:00 -- Rob reflecting on the road not taken

08:15 -- What percentage of Rob's class would say the MBA was worth it

10:36 -- Why isn't there there more honest conversation from B-school graduates?

12:02 -- Rob: I came to the MBA to explore

12:52 -- B-school isn't Dead Poets Society

14:29 -- Global demand for MBAs is declining

15:41 -- Full-time MBAs: Not the most profitable part of a B-school

17:41 -- B-school don't publicize their satisfaction rate

19:54 -- Satisfaction rates are a better metric to measure B-schools

23:55 -- Rob's framework to finding happiness at work

29:11 -- A lot of organizations aren't intellectually satisfying

30:08 -- Where do intellectuals get to be free in society?

00:47 -- The newest wave of intellectual leadership doesn't come from academia

08:47 -- How far beyond survival can we go?

39:21 -- When we lose our job, how limited are our options?

41:41 -- Why the ability to take on risk matters

46:41 -- Rob's practices to figure out the right next step

50:48 -- Could the education system have helped more?

56:29 -- Things could be worse, but can they also be better?

58:20 -- The voice of the pragmatist vs. another voice

01:00:40 -- Advice Rob would give his younger self

---I chat with Rob, a former MBA student of mine when I taught at NYU Stern. We talk about whether getting the MBA degree was worth it, the challenges of balancing fulfillment with the need for pragmatism, and where intellectuals can thrive in society. ---

Amazon link to my book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5N6F1FV

Recorded June 22, 202505:10 -- Overview of Dave's path

07:50 -- Dave's big decision

13:10 -- How Ivey defined success

22:15 -- ...and then the pandemic came

27:30 -- Dave learning about himself

32:10 -- Challenges relating

35:10 -- On finding a new community

45:00 -- What would the other path have looked like?

53:10 -- London to Barcelona

55:45 -- Finding a new home that feels more like home

1:01:20 -- Did Dave know things would turn out this way?

1:06:45 -- How Ivey's rat race distorts students' goals

1:10:13 -- Dave discovers Bryan's book

1:15:30 -- The declining appeal of universities

----I chat with Dave Tang (former Ivey HBA) about how he managed two major life and career pivots in his 20s after graduation. The last time I spoke to Dave was over a decade ago, and at the time it was already clear the path he was on wasn't the right one. In this episode, he discusses what unfolded next.----Amazon link to my book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5N6F1FV

Recorded June 13, 2025

I chat with Tony Wu (former Ivey HBA and finishing his MBA/MPA at Wharton) about how he navigated the pressures and intense competition as an undergraduate at Ivey, and what motivated his different career choices so far. Tony also shares how a personal loss during his time at Ivey shaped his values and perspective on life.

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Amazon link to my book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5N6F1FV

---01:48 -- Overview of Tony's path

07:37 -- How Ivey locks students in

11:27 -- How Ivey helped, and how it didn't

15:03 -- B-school: A world of seemingly few choices

16:27 -- What Tony would change about it

19:42 -- Getting away from the "one track mind"

30:47 -- How he would change education

37:12 -- Why he's choosing climate over education

44:47 -- What would a world of purpose look like?

47:57 -- Asia has much less freedom

49:49 -- Is there a generational shift?

52:38 -- How do we deal with lack of purpose in the collective?

58:17 -- The "other" Tony's path

1:00:47 -- How Tony thinks about his path

1:09:22 -- Would any path have been fine?

1:12:13 -- How to decide your path?

1:14:44 -- How Tony makes his pivotal decisions

Recorded May 7, 2025

Will Christodoulou (former Ivey MSc and one of the founders of Cyder) and I connect again to finish our conversation. In this second part of our chat, Will talks about what he did and didn't like about his experience at Ivey, why more of his classmates didn't pursue entrepreneurship, and the diminishing returns of money.

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Learn more about Will's startup here: https://www.getcyder.com/

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Amazon link to my book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5N6F1FV

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00:21 -- Why weren't Will's classmates more interested in entrepreneurship?

04:31 -- B-school recruiting is biased to big corporate paths

05:27 -- Not knowing what's out there breeds apprehension

06:48 -- School is nothing like the real world

07:40 -- We train students to be addicted to structure

08:49 -- Community helps us deal with self-doubt

12:53 -- Will's path may not be for everyone

13:41 -- What Will liked and didn't like about Ivey

17:36 -- What surprised Bryan about Wall Street

21:04 -- What if more people did what Will did?

24:18 -- The diminishing returns of money

25:51 -- Financial constraints can be in the mind of the beholder

26:40 -- Most people are too risk averse

28:51 -- Advice Will would give his younger self

33:27 -- Does success mean a life of extreme highs and lows?

33:02 -- Does spirituality help manage the lows?

35:46 -- What Will would be doing if not Cyder

37:39 -- What Bryan learned about the importance of culture

40:18 -- Good leadership is more than using a stick

Recorded on May 2, 2025

Can you really do what you love without sacrificing the money? I chat with Will Christodoulou, a former Ivey MSc student and one of the founders of Cyder, a loyalty platform for credit unions. Will tells the story of his path, which is a great story of how vision, staying true to your values when making a decision at each crossroads in life, and faith in passion can create the life you want--even if you don't know how you'll get there at the outset.

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Learn more about Will's startup here: https://www.getcyder.com/

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Amazon link to my book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5N6F1FV

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00:30 -- Bryan discovers Will read his book

03:08 -- Why aren't profs talking to former students about their education?

04:51 -- Will tells his story

09:32 -- What Cyder does

11:56 -- What guided Will's career decisions

15:31 -- Do what you love, and the money will come

17:00 -- Weighing money vs passion

20:32 -- Favoring generalist vs specialist training

21:48 -- When Will knew Cyder was what he wanted

22:22 -- What Bryan loves about Will's story

23:44 -- Parallels to Rivian

25:37 -- Comparing to legal or medical career paths

27:02 -- Competing for a limited menu at Ivey

Recorded April 30, 2025

Is it worth getting an MBA degree anymore? I chat again with Brian, a former MBA student of mine when I taught at NYU Stern. This was supposed to be a short video focused only on whether the MBA is worth getting anymore, but it ended up turning into another podcast episode, where we also talk about the importance of passion, and how the world may not need as many professors in the future.

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Amazon link to my book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5N6F1FV

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00:35 -- Intro, and the short answer from Brian

07:35 -- Work before getting an MBA

08:45 -- Bryan tries to defend the MBA

10:20 -- One positive of the MBA: Trying new things

12:25 -- Brian doing what "made sense" vs. what he loved

13:35 -- The challenge of getting a crypto job in 2020

15:05 -- How Brian knew what road to take

16:05 -- Bryan tries again to defend the MBA

18:05 -- Brian getting rejected was a blessing

20:05 -- Passion beats any MBA

20:55 -- MBA degrees are a filter

22:23 -- Companies care too much about resumes

25:30 -- Why passion should be THE criterion

27:25 -- Brian never looks at the clock when working

27:46 -- Passionate people will always figure out the answer

29:25 -- Does passion may matter more with emergent phenomena?

31:15 -- Lack of passion cripples organizations

36:15 -- Is expecting passion realistic?

36:35 -- Brian either loves or hates every job

41:05 -- People can make you love a job

42:35 -- Fulfilling work is about community

43:33 -- When is the MBA most valuable?

46:35 -- The jobs that suit MBAs

49:35 -- Declining interest in MBAs

51:08 -- Timing an MBA in the economic cycle

53:35 -- The AI threat to MBAs

55:55 -- NYU Stern is focused on AI

58:35 -- AI might replace white collar jobs

01:00:35 -- MBA is riskier than it used to be

01:03:20 -- How to career pivot without the MBA

01:05:06 -- A more uncertain future

01:08:30 -- The value of going to university

01:10:35 -- The bottom line

01:15:35 -- What the MBA isn't good for

Recorded April 28, 2025

I chat with Brandon Kucera, a former HBA student of mine when I taught at Ivey Business School. We talk about the Canadian reaction to Trump, why school doesn't help one find a fulfilling career, and investing in stocks.

---Amazon link to my book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5N6F1FV

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00:58 -- How Canadians feel about the trade war

09:28 -- Are we better off not knowing when eating meat?

15:13 -- The prophet who foresaw NVDA

18:58 -- The psychology of meme coin investing

20:24 -- Why crypto took off quickly in South Korea

21:58 -- Bryan asks: What did we not teach in school that we should have?

24:58 -- Why don't we ask what brings us joy more often?

29:43 -- Students don't realize what's happening

31:28 -- What Ivey HBA won't help you figure out

33:40 -- Looking back, what would have helped Brandon more?

38:20 -- Is Brandon an outlier among his peers?

44:28 -- Why people have crises

45:38 -- Is a world without insecurity a lazy one?

47:53 -- What if kids were encouraged to do what they love?

51:13 -- We have a cynical societal structure

52:23 -- Brandon explains emergence

54:58 -- We have a positive and negative future, at the same time

58:58 -- The explosion of life coaches

01:00:53 -- Bryan's tech strategy course

01:04:43 -- Most people on financial news don't know much

01:06:58 -- Why studying finance doesn't help you pick stocks

01:09:48 -- Renaissance Technologies

01:11:43 -- Factor models and investing

01:12:35 -- An easy way to beat the stock market indexes?

01:20:23 -- Each style of investing has its camp

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Disclaimer: The content in this video is for entertainment purposes only and nothing we say should be considered financial advice.