On this week's episode: how a kid who got kicked out of school for demanding fairness grew up to build a tax firm on the same fight. You'll hear how a PwC internship Mike Pine talked his way into turned him on to partnership tax, why he told every partner he worked for that the CPA model was broken, and what it cost him to build a firm with time for proactive tax planning. Mike also shares the story of buying a bookkeeping firm and amending most of its clients' prior-year returns for free, and the one fact about him nobody knew. The Fight Behind the Firm: 1. Tax is law, not accounting. Mike nearly dropped his accounting major six months before graduating, on his third try at Advanced Accounting. Then PwC's venture capital and private equity group turned him down for his grades, he hounded the managers and a partner until they gave him a three-week shot, and he landed in partnership tax for billion-dollar funds. A 2.87 undergrad became a 3.9 in his master's, once he could see how the law applied. 2. The model is broken, so he built another one. Mike told partner after partner to hire more staff than they needed, so CPAs had time for proactive planning instead of grinding out returns at 70 to 80 hours a week. They laughed him out of the room. He built Revo that way anyway, with no income for four or five years, payroll made on 0% credit card offers and his 401(k) funding the firm. 3. A few hundred returns, most of them amended for free. When Mike bought a bookkeeping firm, its tax returns had been built by running the QuickBooks categories through consumer tax software. So many opportunities had been missed that Revo amended roughly 70 to 80 percent of those clients' prior-year returns at no charge, and a lot of them are still clients today. 4. Fairness was always the fight. Kicked out of elementary school three times, Mike was told life isn't fair. His answer: "No, we're gonna make it fair." Today that's the mission: as long as there's death and taxes, nobody should pay a dollar more than they're legally obligated. Get in touch: https://www.revotaxpayer.com/?utm_source=revo-taxpayer&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep-34-get-to-know-mike&utm_content=show-notes#contact-1 Connect With Us • Website: https://www.revotaxpayer.com/ • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/revotaxpayer/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revotaxpayer/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/revo-taxpayer-advocacy • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HiddenMoneyPodcast Chapters [00:00] Intro, then Kevin puts Mike in the hot seat [02:41] Football scholarships, shin splints and a move to Montana sight unseen [09:43] The accounting major Mike almost dropped, and his grandfather's advice [11:22] Talking his way into PwC's venture capital and private equity group [13:44] "Tax is not accounting" [15:14] Office politics and rebelling against the widget model [17:46] Starting Revo: credit cards, payroll and the excess-capacity bet [22:30] Buying a bookkeeping firm and amending returns for free [26:36] What Mike first thought of Kevin, and what he'd do if Revo disappeared [31:11] Kicked out three times: where the fight for fairness began

Construction prices are climbing, and when budgets tighten, AV is usually the first line cut. On this episode of Wired In: KONTEK Conversations, KONTEK's Marques Manning explains why deferring AV infrastructure can double or triple the price of adding it back later. The episode covers rising cabling, fiber and labor prices across the Research Triangle, what to defer and what to protect during value engineering, how to vet an AV partner in a growing market, and the recurring licensing that platforms like Microsoft Teams Rooms add to the IT budget. Start the conversation with KONTEK. Connect with us Website: https://kontek.com/ Email: info@kontek.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kontek-systems Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/konteksystems/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/konteksystems YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KontekSystemsDurham Chapters [00:00] Why AV gets cut first: Rising material and labor prices are pushing AV to the back burner on construction projects. [01:54] Budgets that age before construction: A budget set in 2023 for a 2027 opening, and price increases of 15 to almost 30 percent. [03:36] The low voltage squeeze: Data centers, tariffs and supply chains drive up cabling and fiber prices. [05:01] The labor gap: Why experienced technicians are scarce, and why the trades make the country work. [07:00] The building that does nothing: What happens when AV is cut and has to be added back. [07:47] Defer the display, not the infrastructure: Rethinking value engineering around what a space needs on day one. [08:40] A growing market: The Triangle's life sciences boom and how to vet an AV partner. [11:40] The long-term investment: Software updates, AI and the licensing that keeps rooms running. [13:23] Where AV stops and IT begins: Budgeting for Microsoft Teams Rooms licenses and IT management. [16:15] Behind the scenes: Meeting routing, geofencing and deployment guides. [17:42] Wrap-up: The easiest experience requires the most planning. #AVBudgeting #ValueEngineering #AVInfrastructure #ConstructionCosts #LowVoltage #ResearchTriangle #LifeSciences #MicrosoftTeamsRooms #AVLicensing #KONTEK

In this episode of "In the Interim…", Dr. Scott Berry and Dr. Kert Viele, Director of Research at Berry Consultants, review the European Medicines Agency's draft reflection paper on methodological aspects in confirmatory platform trials. They walk through the paper's definition of a platform trial and explain why the shared control arm is the source of both the efficiency and the complexity of these designs. Scott and Kert discuss the paper's preference for constant allocation ratios between each arm and control, its position that response adaptive randomization is not supported, two-stage randomization with multiple placebos, and the strong preference given to concurrent controls. They make the case that non-concurrent controls, adjusted for time, are high-quality controls, and welcome the paper's view that they are preferable to external controls. The episode closes with the risk of multiple false positive decisions from a common control, disjunctive and conjunctive power, and when multiplicity adjustment is warranted, with overall praise for a clear and well-constructed paper. Key Highlights The shared control arm as the source of both efficiency and complexity in platform trials. Constant allocation ratios, and the paper's hard no on response adaptive randomization. Two-stage randomization, multiple placebos, and testing whether placebo groups can be pooled. A strong preference for concurrent controls, and the case for time-adjusted non-concurrent controls. Internal non-concurrent controls preferred over external controls. Multiple false positive decisions, and marginal, disjunctive, and conjunctive power. When multiplicity adjustment applies across arms, doses, and related families of hypotheses. For more, visit us at https://www.berryconsultants.com/

What does it take to spot great talent, and what is all the wealth actually for? Justin Dyer sits down with Matt Mazzeo, co-founder and CEO of NOHO Labs and a longtime venture investor at Lowercase Capital and Coatue. Matt traces his path from assistant to an assistant at CAA, sleeping on his mom's couch, to building the agency's bridge to Silicon Valley, until Chris Sacca told him, "You're a VC, you just don't know it." He shares the service habits that still shape how he works, from same-day callbacks to getting on the plane, and Richard Lovett's lesson on listening for what matters most. Matt breaks down the three traits he looks for in every founder, what changed when he moved from seed checks to growth rounds at Coatue, and why the hardest part of venture is holding conviction while everyone thinks you're wrong. Then the turn: at 39, a photo with his first child made him rethink what he'd been chasing, and set him on the path to NOHO Labs. Must be present to win. Get in touch: https://www.athletefamilyoffice.com/talk-to-a-pro?utm_source=awm-capital&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep-276-must-be-present&utm_content=show-notes Listener offer from Matt: use code AWMVIP for half off your first month of NOHO Labs membership: https://noholabs.com/?utm_source=awm-capital&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep-276-must-be-present&utm_content=show-notes Connect with Us • Call or text us: 626-862-0355 • Website: https://www.athletefamilyoffice.com/?utm_source=awm-capital&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep-276-must-be-present&utm_content=show-notes • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc1NxpK21N1vKWEExC45YEA • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/awmcapital/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awmcapital/ • X: https://twitter.com/awmcapital • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awmcapital/ Chapters [00:00] Preview: Holding conviction, a health wake-up call, and why the people who show up are the ones you remember. [00:26] Intro: Justin introduces Matt Mazzeo and his path from CAA to Lowercase Capital, Coatue and NOHO Labs. [01:39] From Harvard To CAA: Meeting at an AGM, Matt's story, and why he took an assistant's desk at CAA over banking and consulting. [06:23] The Startup Agent: Building CAA's bridge to Silicon Valley, from Funny or Die to the earliest YouTubers. [09:00] Performance, The CAA Way: Same-day callbacks, speed as a measure of quality, and getting on the plane. [12:05] Must Be Present To Win: Why the people who show up are the ones you remember, and Richard Lovett's lesson on listening for what matters most. [15:26] "You're A VC, You Just Don't Know It": How Chris Sacca pulled Matt into Lowercase Capital, and the traits he looks for in every founder: integrity, horsepower, agency and curiosity. [22:19] From Seed To Growth: Building Coatue's venture group and learning to underwrite with models. [26:39] How Venture Has Changed: More access and more founders, less alpha, and how long you're willing to look like an idiot. [31:36] Rich, Dead Or Present: The photo that changed Matt's priorities, the path to NOHO Labs and the future of health.

How does a family keep a company for more than 150 years? In part two of my three-part conversation with Tony Simmons, former president and CEO of McIlhenny Company, the makers of Tabasco, his answer starts with a puzzle: feed the family and feed the business, and find the balance between them. From there, Tony takes me inside how his family works in and owns the company together. We talk about a shareholder agreement with an independent call price, how a 129-year-old company with no written business plan built best practice governance, and why a cousin on the board liked to say, "Sunlight is an amazing disinfectant." Tony also tells the story of a phone call about two sets of books, how he stepped away cleanly as CEO, why the family keeps its legacy assets outside the business, and why it chose to stay with pepper sauce. Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bByRu0VzxkA In case you missed it, listen to Part 1 of this conversation: Tony Simmons - Part 1: "Do Not Plan Your Life On It": https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tony-simmons-part-1-do-not-plan-your-life-on-it/id1811403547?i=1000792742072&utm_source=twenty-one-clear&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep-16-sunlight-is-an-amazing-disinfectant&utm_content=show-notes 21C Links Twenty One Clear website: https://www.21clear.com/?utm_source=twenty-one-clear&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep-16-sunlight-is-an-amazing-disinfectant&utm_content=show-notes Adam Hatcher on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamhatcher?utm_source=twenty-one-clear&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep-16-sunlight-is-an-amazing-disinfectant&utm_content=show-notes Subscribe to the Twenty One Clear newsletter: https://21clear.substack.com/?utm_source=twenty-one-clear&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep-16-sunlight-is-an-amazing-disinfectant&utm_content=show-notes Bumper Music Still Hot by Nic D, Connor Price (c) Lossless, 2023 Episode Produced By https://snapmarket.co Chapter Timestamps (00:00) Cold Open: "Sunlight Is an Amazing Disinfectant" (00:22) Welcome to Part Two With Tony Simmons (03:20) Feed the Family, Feed the Business: Solving the Puzzle (06:28) The Shareholder Agreement and the Call Price (09:06) A 129-Year-Old Company With No Business Plan (11:54) Educating the Board and Building Committees (14:34) Why Governance Pays Off: Transparency and Trust (16:52) Board Letters, Shareholder Meetings and a Shareholder Website (17:56) "Two Sets of Books": Stopping a Rumor Early (20:44) Naming the Timeline and Adding Outside Directors (25:54) A Clean Change: Why a Former CEO Can't Be Chair (27:59) Avery Island Inc. and Land Held Together (31:36) Keeping Legacy Assets Separate From Business Assets (32:58) Educating Young Shareholders and Meeting Your Cousins (35:28) Is a Family Council Worth the Lift? (36:25) Defining Greatness: One Product, Five Years (39:39) Common Themes, Your Own Answers (41:42) Coming Up in Part Three: The Tabasco Tasting