The Victory Podcast with Travis Cody

Walter Clements on Commercial Real Estate Investing & Building Long-Term Wealth

Travis Cody — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 09:49:30 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, host Travis Cody sits down with commercial real estate expert Walter Clements to discuss the realities of building wealth through real estate investing and entrepreneurship.

Walter shares insights from his experience in commercial real estate, investment strategy, and business growth, explaining how entrepreneurs and investors can think strategically about property, deals, and long-term value creation.

The conversation explores the mindset required to succeed in business and investing, the lessons learned from scaling companies, and the key decisions that shape financial success.

Brian Cassady on Business Turnarounds, AI & Leading Through Change

Travis Cody — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 09:02:00 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody sits down with Brian Cassady, CEO of Live Comfortably, the largest manufacturer of bed pillows in North America.

Brian is a five-time transformational CEO with a career spanning consulting, private equity, and executive leadership. Over the years, he has helped drive more than $500 million in EBITDA improvements across the companies he has led, with a clear focus on operational rigor, disciplined execution, and transformation at scale.

In this conversation, Brian breaks down what really causes companies to get into trouble, why fast growth can be just as dangerous as stagnation, and how strong leaders create cultures that can adapt, improve, and win over time.

Long Doan (Realty Group) on Scaling 1,000+ Deals, Leadership & Mindset

Travis Cody — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 08:59:05 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody sits down with Long Doan, founder of Realty Group, LPT’s largest Minnesota team, to unpack the real playbook behind scaling a business, leading people, and building lasting success.

Long’s story is extraordinary. He fled Vietnam on a fishing boat at age 13, survived a refugee camp, and went on to build one of the most respected real estate organizations in Minnesota. After transitioning from the mortgage industry into real estate during the 2007–2009 market shift, he positioned himself ahead of the crash, built the right systems, and closed over 1,000 transactions in his first four years.

But this conversation goes far beyond real estate.

Long shares the mindset shifts, leadership lessons, and business frameworks that helped him grow—from learning how to automate, delegate, and eliminate, to identifying why most entrepreneurs stay stuck doing everything themselves.

Tomas Milar on Investing in Hard Assets & Long-Term Wealth Building

Travis Cody — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 15:17:12 +0000

In this episode, we sit down with Tomas Milar to explore a powerful perspective on investing, wealth building, and financial security.

Tomas breaks down why hard assets—like real estate, commodities, and tangible investments—can provide more stability and stronger long-term returns compared to traditional market-based investments.

He explains how emotional decision-making often hurts investors in volatile markets, and why hard assets offer a more grounded, resilient approach to building wealth.

Michael Mazzeo on Private Lending, Risk vs Reward & Building True Wealth

Travis Cody — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:07:00 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody sits down with real estate investor Michael Mazzeo to discuss the difference between being rich and being truly wealthy. Michael breaks down how private lending works, why lenders often get paid before equity investors, and how understanding risk versus reward is critical in any investment. He also shares insights on navigating real estate deals, protecting capital, and thinking like an advantage player in today’s market. If you're looking to grow wealth strategically rather than just trade time for money, this episode delivers valuable lessons.

Roy Dequina on Founder Identity, Brand Systems & Scaling Ideas That Actually Last

Travis Cody — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 12:02:57 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody sits down with serial entrepreneur Roy Dequina to explore the deeper side of entrepreneurship—where culture, technology, and design intersect. Roy shares how founders can move beyond chasing product-market fit and instead build a clear point of view that scales. He explains the importance of systems thinking, founder identity, and creating brands and backends that still work when the spotlight fades. If you're building a company and navigating the messy middle of growth, this conversation delivers practical insight and hard-earned wisdom.

Alan Rudolph on Scaling SaaS Operations, Data-Driven Execution & Achieving a 21x Exit Growth Guide!!

Travis Cody — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 13:00:00 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody sits down with Alan Rudolph, a veteran C-suite operator with over 25 years of experience scaling enterprise SaaS companies and executing world-class exits. Alan breaks down what actually drove a 21x EBITDA exit—and it wasn’t hype or luck. It was disciplined execution across people, process, automation, and data. He shares why gross and net retention are the most important operating metrics in SaaS, how real-time dashboards outperform stale monthly reports, and why listening to customers is the most undervalued growth lever in modern companies. This conversation dives deep into operator-level thinking: putting the right leaders in the right seats, using one-page SWOT analyses to drive clarity, balancing AI with human judgment, and why the best executives aren’t afraid to change decisions fast when the data changes. If you’re building, operating, or scaling a SaaS business—and want exit-level outcomes—this episode is required listening.

Walney Legal Group Founder on Estate Planning, Community Leadership & AI

Travis Cody — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 13:00:00 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody sits down with Eido Walny, founder of Walny Legal Group, to unpack what it really means to build a values-driven law firm that lasts.

Eido shares how he discovered his niche in estate planning and business succession—not by chasing trends, but by eliminating what didn’t align with his long-term vision. With over 25 years in the industry, he reflects on the evolution of law from pre-internet days to AI-powered workflows, and how technology is reshaping client relationships and legacy planning.

Beyond his legal practice, Eido serves as President of the Village of Bayside and leads within his local fire department board—bringing a unique lens on leadership, civic responsibility, and decision-making under pressure. This conversation dives into trust, long-term thinking, generational wealth, and what it takes to lead both in business and in community.

If you’re building something meant to outlast you, this episode is your playbook.

#TheVictoryShow #TravisCody #EstatePlanning #BusinessSuccession #LegacyPlanning #EntrepreneurLeadership #SevenFigureFounder #LawFirmGrowth #WealthStrategy #CommunityLeadership

Solving Real Problems in Healthcare: Business Lessons with John Montague

Travis Cody — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 13:00:00 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody interviews John Montague, a mission-driven healthcare entrepreneur and serial founder focused on improving healthcare systems for patients and providers. John shares how his entrepreneurial journey began out of necessity after his mother’s illness created financial hardship for his family, pushing him to develop early side businesses and solve real-world problems from a young age.

He discusses building businesses by identifying unmet needs, starting ventures in high school, and later partnering with major institutions like the Mayo Clinic to develop scalable healthcare solutions. John also shares insights on innovation in healthcare, scaling companies, and leading organizations toward meaningful impact — including successfully guiding companies through acquisition by UnitedHealthcare.

The conversation highlights resilience, purpose-driven entrepreneurship, and the importance of building businesses that create measurable impact in healthcare.

#HealthcareLeadership #StartupLife #BusinessStrategy #EntrepreneurLife #GrowthMindset #HealthcareSolutions #Founders

Protecting the Digital World: Cybersecurity Insights from My-Ngoc “Menop” Nguyen

Travis Cody — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 16:00:00 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody interviews My-Ngoc “Menop” Nguyen, CEO of Secured IT Solutions and a cybersecurity leader with over 25 years of experience. She shares her journey from starting in IT before cybersecurity was widely recognized to becoming a trusted expert helping government agencies, businesses, and nonprofits manage digital risk.

Menop discusses how effective cybersecurity is both a technical and human challenge, emphasizing strategic decision-making, resilience, and leadership in an evolving threat landscape. She also highlights her work mentoring future professionals as a principal instructor at the SANS Institute and stresses the importance of discipline, clarity, and adaptability in protecting organizations from growing cyber threats. The conversation explores career growth, industry evolution, and the mindset needed to succeed in cybersecurity leadership.

#InformationSecurity #WomenInTech #CyberDefense #LeadershipLessons #StartupLeadership #CareerGrowth #CyberStrategy

From Army to Innovation: Leadership Lessons with Sanjog Patel

Travis Cody — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 16:11:27 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody sits down with Sanjog Patel, Director of Product Management for Casualty Solutions Group at Enlight, to explore his journey from the U.S. Army to leading product innovation in the insurance technology space. Sanjog shares insights on his leadership philosophy, emphasizing empathy, people-first thinking, and the importance of earning trust from your team. He also discusses fostering growth through stretch assignments, embracing failure as part of learning, and hiring for hunger and motivation over experience. The conversation dives into his role at Enlight, driving product-led growth in a highly regulated insurance industry, and his advice for young professionals: focus on human skills like empathy and vision—qualities that AI can’t replace.

#LeadershipLessons #ProductManagement #TheVictoryShow #CareerGrowth #TechLeadership #PeopleFirst #Innovation #AIProofSkills

Lenovo’s Ed Soo Hoo on Asymmetrical Thinking, Innovation, and Leading Through the Gaps

Travis Cody — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 08:06:55 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, host Rachel League sits down with Ed Soo Hoo—Lenovo Field C-Suite business alliances lead, former teamster, startup operator (seed to IPO to buyout), and UC Berkeley CET industry fellow—to explore what it really means to lead transformation at the intersection of technology, business models, and human behavior. Ed unpacks why he calls himself a connector, catalyst, and storyteller, and how “fortune telling” is really about reading people, shaping behavior, and laying out opportunity landscapes others don’t see. He shares vivid lessons from blue-collar work, startups, enterprise ecosystems, and advisory roles—then translates them into practical frameworks for leaders: asking the right left-brain vs right-brain questions, spotting the tiny “gaps” that cripple performance, balancing effectiveness vs efficiency, and building teams that think “two up, two down, two left, two right.”

Fresh River.AI’s Joti Balani on Agentic AI, Ethical Design, and Contracting for Business Outcomes

Travis Cody — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 03:34:06 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, host Rachel League sits down with Joti Balani, founder and managing director of Fresh River.AI, to unpack what it really takes to deliver mission-critical results with generative AI—long before “GenAI” became mainstream. With 25+ years across engineering, product, and systems thinking, Joti shares why AI isn’t like traditional software, why deterministic thinking breaks in this era, and why emotionally, ethically, and economically intelligent AI requires the same kind of humans building it. Joti walks through the early days of Fresh River.AI as a team of one—taking hundreds of executive calls, educating leaders who didn’t yet have a vocabulary for AI, and learning firsthand why many chatbot pilots produced little value. That learning became a repeatable framework: extract the right use cases, design with human-centered guardrails, and deploy enterprise-grade solutions that respect security, privacy, and regulation. After ChatGPT shifted the market, Joti and her co-founder built an agentic AI platform focused on owned intelligence—precision tools trained to specific business problems instead of “one giant model for everything.” Today, Fresh River.AI contracts for outcomes, delivers in 90 days, and helps enterprises identify the few high-leverage use cases that create cascading value downstream—reducing costs, increasing affordability, and unlocking measurable impact.

Woden’s Ed Lynes on Story as Strategy, Turning Noise Into Demand, and Scaling a Productized Agency

Travis Cody — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 02:01:08 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, host Rachel League sits down with Ed Lynes, managing partner at Woden, to explore how strategic storytelling becomes the real engine of growth—especially when markets get noisy and products start to feel commoditized. Ed shares his “fail forward” path from bouncing between college majors to building and selling multiple businesses, and the moment he realized something shocking: the difference between struggling and scaling wasn’t the product—it was the story. Ed explains how a customer-centric narrative can erase pricing objections, tighten the buying journey, and pull the “95%” of buyers who aren’t actively shopping into a decision. He breaks down Woden’s evolution from a churn-heavy digital marketing model into a productized storytelling consultancy built around Story Kernel, plus a suite of offerings that help leaders align messaging across marketing, sales, product, and customer experience. You’ll also hear Ed’s practical view of scaling services: productize everything, sell outcomes (not hours), refuse price negotiation, and build a team that can deliver the work without the founder being the bottleneck. Ultimately, Ed defines victory as watching the brand—and the team—win independently of him.

Dauntless XR’s Laura Lee Elliot on Bootstrapping to $1M ARR, SBIR Wins, and Mixed Reality for AI

Travis Cody — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 01:52:27 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, host Rachel League sits down with Laura Lee Elliot—journalist turned tech entrepreneur and founder of Dauntless XR—to explore how storytelling, grit, and smart execution can build real traction in frontier tech without raising venture capital. Laura shares how her journalism career led her into technical writing on multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects, where she discovered a brutal truth: cutting-edge engineering was still run on paper, binders, and shipping containers full of printed documentation. That firsthand pain became the catalyst for Dauntless XR. Laura breaks down the scrappy early days—crafting a pitch deck, pitching everywhere (including a “ladies coloring night” that accidentally produced her co-founder), grinding through startup events and accelerators, and landing an equity-free commercialization grant through Magic Leap’s independent creator program. Instead of getting trapped on one platform, her team built with portability in mind—then faced the pandemic right as commercial construction pilots were ramping up. Rather than stall, Dauntless XR pivoted into government innovation programs, winning two SBIR/STTR contracts on their first submission and using contract funding to bring the founding team full-time—without diluting ownership. Laura also shares how they think about hiring in cyclical contract environments, the reality of splitting time before payroll, and what’s next: expanding dual-use tech into commercial markets (including a pilot training app), continuing high-leverage project work, and exploring M&A of legacy businesses where modern tech can unlock new growth.

Lincode Labs’ Rajesh Iyengar on Scaling AI, Smart Factories and Solving Manufacturing’s Hardest Gaps

Travis Cody — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 01:49:54 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, host Rachel Lee sits down with Rajesh Iyengar, Founder and CEO of Lincode Labs, to unpack how AI and machine learning can transform traditional manufacturing into truly intelligent factory floors. Rajesh shares his journey from data centers and cybersecurity into building multiple AI startups—and how a handful of conversations with manufacturers revealed a massive, underserved opportunity in surface defect detection. He explains why manufacturing is fundamentally different from healthcare or retail, why one-size-fits-all AI models fail on factory floors, and how Linode Labs built a repeatable platform that adapts to unique environments without sacrificing scale. From retrofitting AI into live production lines to balancing hardware, software, and human inspection, this conversation dives deep into what it really takes to productize deep tech, build teams across disciplines, bootstrap before raising capital, and define victory as a series of hard-earned breakthroughs—not overnight wins.

Naz Quadri on Pragmatic AI, LLM Pitfalls & Scaling Decision-Making in Private Equity

Travis Cody — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 01:42:24 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody sits down with Naz Quadri—CTO and Partner at Princeton Equity Group—to unpack what “pragmatic AI” actually means in the real world (and why most companies are using the wrong tools). Naz shares his journey from mathematician to early voice-recognition pioneer in 2000, to building enterprise AI/data infrastructure across Goldman Sachs, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg, and JP Morgan. He explains why LLMs don’t “think,” why they’re dangerously convincing, and how executives keep asking, “Why can’t ChatGPT just do it?”—even when it’s the wrong hammer for the job. They also break down the AI adoption curve (and why it’ll be slower than the hype), how token pricing quietly blows up costs, why “piecemeal AI” becomes a trap, and the frameworks Naz uses to help investors and operators move faster without getting snookered by buzzwords.

Stukent’s Stuart Draper on Building Inc. 5000 Companies, Product-Market Fit, and Real Victory

Travis Cody — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 01:38:48 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, host Rachel Lee sits down with Stuart Draper—serial entrepreneur, educator, angel investor, and founder of Stukent—to unpack what it really takes to build companies that last. With ventures that have landed on the Inc. 5000 list 10 times and an edtech platform used by 1M+ students across 80+ countries, Stuart shares the behind-the-scenes reality of growth: the job failures, the layoffs, the hard lessons, and the turning points that shaped his leadership. Stuart walks through how a recession-era pivot led him to bootstrap a digital marketing agency, why contracts matter more than assumptions, and how one opportunity can unlock the next. He also breaks down the leap from service business to scalable product—using real market research, direct professor interviews, and clear demand signals to validate product-market fit before building. But the deepest takeaway isn’t about revenue or exits. Stuart reframes victory as building a life where the people you love actually want to share the wins with you—and having the courage to pursue what you believe you were put on earth to do, even when the journey gets brutally uncertain.

Vikas Sharma on Scaling Ops, Speed Over Perfection & Leading Genpact’s Applied Advisory with AI

Travis Cody — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 01:36:19 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody sits down with Vikas Sharma, Global COO of Genpact Applied Advisory business, to unpack what it really takes to lead transformation at scale—across industries, functions, and fast-moving technology shifts. V shares how his “entrepreneurial ownership mindset” became the real engine behind his rise, even inside a global enterprise. He breaks down the last 7–8 years of nonstop pivots—especially during COVID—when clients’ priorities changed overnight and Genpact had to move with “speed over perfection” to deliver point solutions quickly, then iterate with real-world feedback. From an operations lens, V explains how disciplined execution stays simple even in chaos: focus on process, control the controllables, and break massive strategic pivots into smaller, achievable shifts instead of ripping everything apart. He also reveals how Genpact approaches AI through “Client Zero”—deploying solutions internally first—while keeping a firm belief that technology alone doesn’t transform anything unless you fix processes and use cases first. Finally, V shares his view that 5-year visions are outdated in a world where technology cycles compress from years to months—and why the future belongs to outcome-based models, agentic operations, and leaders who can drive adoption across different employee “personas,” from early adopters to change-resistant teams.

Ryan Alvarez on Viva’s Free Data, Telco-as-Ads Model & Scaling in Latin America with Data

Travis Cody — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 01:34:55 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody sits down with Ryan Alvarez—CEO of Viva (Nuevatel PCS Bolivia)—to unpack a bold telecom disruption: giving customers free internet access and monetizing through advertising instead of traditional telco ARPU. Ryan shares why Latin America is a rare “crystal ball” market—where internet connectivity exists, but usage is still dramatically underdeveloped, creating massive upside for builders who know what’s coming next. He breaks down how his team took a struggling telecom with ~800 employees, stabilized it, rebuilt it to 1,200+, and launched a super-app offering free daily browsing, social media access, and even a mobile crypto token—all powered by an in-house family-led tech team. They also dive into Ryan’s earlier venture, iWolf Enterprises, where he and his partners scaled from scrappy ecom experiments to a $78M/year machine by using direct-response discipline: product-specific funnels, relentless testing, and turning cost centers (ads, fulfillment, call center) into profit centers. Ryan closes by revealing his long-term vision: build Viva into an advertising powerhouse that helps local businesses sell more efficiently, expand the model into new countries, and license the platform to other operators through a zero-upfront-cost rev-share partnership.

John Fly III on FirmPilot AI, Agentic SEO Systems & Turning Service Agencies Into $100M SaaS!!!

Travis Cody — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 04:43:26 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody sits down with Dr. John Fly III—CTO of FirmPilot AI and a self-described “pademic” who blends doctoral-level systems thinking with hands-on building. John shares how he transformed a traditional service agency into a high-margin AI SaaS platform valued near $100M by replacing “more people” thinking with defensible IP, agent pipelines, and measurable output. They unpack John’s origin story (coding at 7, writing mortgage software at 15), why “impossible problems just take longer,” and how continuous improvement isn’t a feel-good slogan—it’s a leadership requirement. John also breaks down how FirmPilot’s multi-agent content pipeline differs from “just using ChatGPT,” why focus and positioning make AI adoption defensible, and what it takes to scale from a handful of customers to triple-digit growth without breaking culture.

David Coates on Nuclear Power, Micro Reactors, AI Data Centers & America’s Next Energy Renaissance

Travis Cody — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 04:02:20 +0000

In this episode of The Victory Show, Travis Cody sits down with David "David" Coates—Navy nuclear propulsion veteran, longtime commercial nuclear leader, and COO of the Materials & Fuels Complex at Idaho National Laboratory—to demystify the “most misunderstood” energy source on Earth: nuclear power. Dave breaks down why nuclear is back in the spotlight (especially with AI-driven data center demand), what micro reactors and small modular reactors actually are, and why mobile, factory-built reactors may be the fastest near-term win. He also walks through the real history behind nuclear fear—from Three Mile Island and Chernobyl to The China Syndrome—and explains what’s changed: safer passive designs, better operating discipline, and a growing push to rebuild domestic uranium supply chains. Finally, Dave tackles the hardest question: spent fuel. He explains why on-site storage has been safe, why recycling capability existed decades ago, and what it would actually take—politically and operationally—to unlock a true nuclear renaissance by the 2030s.