The Breakfast Club - Money & Wealth: Rebuilding the World with AI

Episode Date: November 22, 2025

The Black Effect Presents... Money & Wealth with John Hope Bryant! In this episode, John takes listeners on a journey through the past, present, and future of innovation—showing how artificial intelligence is reshaping every corner of our lives. From the horse-and-buggy era to the dawn of AI, John breaks down what this moment means for workers, entrepreneurs, and dreamers alike. He shares practical, real-world examples of how anyone can turn AI into income—from revamping small business websites to launching AI-powered tutoring and consulting services. This isn’t a tech lecture—it’s a masterclass in empowerment. John reminds us that AI won’t replace your job; someone using AI will. Tune in for a crash course on how to rebuild your future, your business, and your community with the tools of tomorrow—today.YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting. Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than adds supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, IHearts twice as large as the next two combined. Learn how podcasting can help your business. Call 844-8-44-I-Hart.

Hi, Kyle. Could you draw up a quick document with the basic business plan? Just one page as a Google Doc. And send me the link. Thanks. Hey, just finished drawing up that quick one-page business plan for you. Here's the link. But there was no link.

There was no business plan. I hadn't programmed Kyle to be able to do that yet. I'm Evan Ratliff here with a story of entrepreneurship in the AI age. Listen as I attempt to build a real startup run by fake people. Check out the second season of my podcast, Shell Game, on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. On this week's episode of next chapter, I, TDJ, sit down with Denzel Washington, a two-time Academy Award. winning actor and cultural icon.

I don't take any credit for it. I just didn't put me first. I just put God first and he's carrying me. Listen to the next chapter podcast on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. New

episodes drop weekly. I'm Robert Smith and this is Jacob Goldstein and we used to host a show called Planet Money. And now we're back making this new podcast called Business History about the best ideas and people and businesses in history. And some of the worst people, horrible ideas and destructive companies in the history of

business. First episode, how Southwest Airlines use cheap seats and free whiskey to fight its way into the airline is. The most Texas story ever. Listen to business history on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What do you get when you mix 1950s Hollywood, a Cuban musician with a dream, and one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time?

You get Desi Arness on the podcast starring Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderama. I'll take you in a journey to Desi's life, how he redefined American television and what that meant for all of us watching from the sidelines, waiting for a face like hours on screen. Listen to starring Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome to Money and Wealth with John Ho Bryant, a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network and IHeart Radio. Hey, hey, it's John Hope Bryant, and this is Money and Wealth. And an exciting episode, I am talking about artificial intelligence once again. One of my very important focus areas for 2025 and 26. We're doing it as a whole series.

So buckle up. So I'm in my office downtown. Atlanta, the offices for the global corporation. It was a time where everything happened here or it didn't happen at all. If you weren't sitting behind one of these computers, if you were not sitting in one of these cubicles, if you're not in an office meeting, then nothing mattered. It didn't record. It didn't happen. You needed the infrastructure. You needed this system. And before this, there was another system. And now we're about to experience a whole new way of life through AI. And it doesn't require you to sit in this office building. Now, we gather here for a different

reason. It's building culture. I think culture is cool. I like making smart sexy, as you know, one of my phrases. And I think that by getting people together and gathering, it matters. But For you to benefit from the power of artificial intelligence, you don't necessarily need all this infrastructure that I have. And then we've paid millions of dollars for. You can do this right from where you sit. I don't want you to be afraid of AI. I don't want you to be pushing away from the table

because you're afraid that artificial intelligence is going to take your job. I'm thinking about people who occupy the seats of my company. I've told them, and I'm telling you what I told them. Your job's not going to be replaced by AI. Your job is going to be replaced by someone who can use AI. And I hope it's you, as in them. But one thing is absolutely the case.

Everybody's got to become comfortable with artificial intelligence very quickly. This is not optional. It's not the cassette tape. This is not the DVD. This is not a movement to digital music or something. This is not even the Internet, which was quite powerful. You had an option whether you wanted to use it or not.

This is not that. There are no options. This is the new world. And I want to teach you. I want to inspire you to participate. in it. So let me explain first where we came from so that you understand how powerful this moment is and what it compares to. I've told you it doesn't compare to, you know, any other sort of transformations in American society. So we have to go back a hundred years. We have to

come back 125 years. We have to go back all the almost 200 years to give you a snapshot of what this moment looks like. Think about 1850, the horse and buggy. Think about 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900. Those periods were defined by the horse and buggy. It was defined by the horse. The horse was machinery. The horse was luxury.

the horse, the horse was wealth, the horse was transportation, the horse was flossing, right? Think about the Mercedes of this day. That was your horse. Think about your Louis Vuitton. Whatever it is that you think is flossing, that was a horse. Whatever you believe is wealth, that was horse. However you brought in your crops, that was led by the horse. In fact, one out of ten jobs in 18, 1970-ish, one of our ten jobs was a farrier. A ferrier is somebody who changes horseshoes. And my guess is a number of other jobs were tied to folks tied to the ferrier.

So the folks who gave the metal for the horseshoes or the iron, the folks who gave the staples. or the mini nails, the tacks, the horseshoe hammer, all of the pieces, the medicines, the case there was an infection, a lot of industries ground up around a ferrier. This was everything. We got the phrase, horse power, from the horse being the center of our universe. But by 1901, you had a surge of automobile companies. This new invention that showed up. But by 1910, you had 100 automobile companies.

A lot of them failed, by the way. But by 1910, one thing was absolutely sure. The most valuable use of the horse. I'm sorry to hurt the feelings of horse lovers. I don't mean this intentional. It's not personal. I'm just telling you what history says. The most valuable thing for a horse by 1920 or 1910-ish was glue, as in horse glue or horse as glue.

The automobile changed everything. So we're going to go, that took 60 years, ladies and gentlemen. We're going to go from the horse being the center of the universe to the automobile. That was 60 years to labor of human beings with the beginning of industrialization. We're going to go from being labor-centric to technology-centric in six years. Between 2025, 2024, I really believe, is when it started, in 2030. By 2030, you won't recognize the world as we know it today. But don't be afraid, right?

I want you to be empowered. I want you to embrace this. So I'm here to talk to you today. If you've got limited times and you want your friends to listen to this episode, I want you to tell them to start around marker 7, minute 7, where John Bryant gets into this. So the title of this podcast today is rebuilding the world with AI. Millionaire opportunities hiding in plain sight. Get out your pen or your pencil or your iPad or your iPhone or Android, whatever it is you take notes on.

Let's time. It's time to take the time to write. the future of time for yourself. So start writing your business plan because if you're not writing it, it's not real. What's the difference between a hustler and a businessman or a businesswoman? Paperwork, details, documentation. I want you to document this because this just might be one of the most important conversations in your life because it's going to help you to pivot.

Let me tell you what AI is not very quickly. It's not checking sports results. You can do that with an internet search. This is not a fancy internet search, right? This is the beginning of everything. Artificial intelligence. I use AI as my co-creator in my life. That's right.

I use artificial intelligence as a co-creator in my life. So as I'm doing something, I turn to artificial intelligence to help me make up time. to quicken things, to cut through the haze. But I know what I want to get to. I know what I'm trying to solve. I use this global machine of artificial intelligence to help me get there. That's just, that's my purposes. Now let me tell you in a practical way.

You, I'm talking to you now, somebody who's not in an office building, not running a multimillion dollar corporation, not saying you're not. I'm saying this is the average person. What can you do? So let me tell you this quick story about a young man. and I want to give Gary Vee credit for inspiring me to do this as an example. It's a young man or a young woman who's 14 or 15 years of age. And they have mastered artificial intelligence.

They have gotten this down. They are a techno geek like I grew up being a techno geek. They're in a small town or a medium-sized city. and they're going to start calling around to small businesses and saying, Mr. and Mr. and Mr. Small Business, you have a website that you paid $4,000, $5,000, maybe $20,000 for. Let's just pick a middle range, $5,000 for that website five years ago, eight years ago.

It's outdated. I can, I will, with the help of artificial intelligence, and plugging you into e-commerce like Shopify, et cetera, I'm going to redo your whole website and update it for $500. So it costs you $5,000. I'm willing to update it for $500. How many takers do you think that young man or young woman would get on that little idea? I'm going to let you think about that for a moment.

because if somebody had called me with that offer as a hustling small business owner, I don't have time to change my mind. I don't have time to check my website. I don't understand artificial intelligence. I'm trying to meet payroll. I got too much money at the end of my money. I'm hustling from can't see in the morning and can't see at night. I would say yes, sure, particularly if he sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

If that young man, if that kid using AI tools like ChatGBT, GBT, my favorite, I'm co-chair of the AI Ethics Council with my friend Sam Altman, or Wix AI, WI-X, or Shopify Magic, right? Or all the other tools, Google and everybody else has their own tools now, right? I would charge $500 if I was this kid, and I would see the business immediately lift. And if the kid does 10 of these a month, that's $5,000. Do it for a year, that's $60,000. This is middle-class income now. Add some strategy, you've got a six-figure business.

At a team, you've got a million-dollar agency. Let me be very specifically. As you know, I like math because it doesn't have an opinion. That's a Melody Hobson quote that I have. co-opted, and I give her credit for it. She's a friend. If you did, if this young man or young woman in a medium-sized city targeted this strategy on dominating this area of AI upgrading of software and did over the course of a year, 2,000 contracts

for $500 each, which, again, these are not. crazy numbers, that young man or young woman, right, would be a millionaire on paper. In other words, they'd have a million-dollar revenue business at 2,000 contracts, and that's 160 contracts, give or take, a month. It's not unreasonable. 160 contracts a month is about five new contracts. contracts, six new contracts a day. Now, you'd be really assertive to do that as a person as an individual. But think if you had a team of three or four people doing this, three or four young people

with endless, boundless energy, just walk in door to door, knock it on door, saying, can I upgrade your website, can I upgrade your website, sign here, this new contract, can I upgrade your website, sign here, we'll schedule you. And then once you got three or four of these signed up, then you use that as credibility to go get some others signed up because you say, look, I've got Joe, Jack, and Schmoe around the corner who've already signed a contract with me. You couldn't show the contract, privacy rules, but you could tell the new client, the new prospective client, who the other clients were that have signed up to your business. And now the new ones want to sign up because the, oh, because the risk is already rung out of

this model. You've gotten other people to take the risk on you. So they say, yes, I'll do it too. This is not a very complicated example, is it? What have I told you that everything around you, literally everything, is about to be rebuilt with artificial intelligence, with AI, and you can be the one to do it? Now, I just gave you, again, that was inspired by Gary V.

But there's so many examples that you can now Imagine for yourself, and I'm going to help you with some of those. Let's now think about the great AI rebuild. Every industry, every tool, every process is being completely reimagined. Right now, the fear is out front in everybody's minds, because if you're a corporate leader today, racing with your competitors, these are big companies now, to invest in AI. Essentially, what you're doing is trying to become what they call it efficient.

And there's a guess of it now that artificial intelligence will increase businesses of efficiency by about 30%. That means in the short term extraction. It means anything that can be processed, remove it, repetitive process, remove it, replace it with automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, technology, etc. That means people in the short term. So the fear in everybody's mind is, oh, I'm going to lose my job. And if you're in customer service or some of these low-level fields, that might be actually the case. If you're making six figures in the business that you're in can be processed, then in time, if you're working for somebody else, that might mean you to. Yes.

What did I say to you earlier? You're not going to lose your job because of AI or to AI. You're going to lose your job to somebody who can use AI. I want to teach you now how to use AI so you can make money and build wealth. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting, think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad-supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, IHearts twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message.

Plus, only IHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business. Think IHeart. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Call 844-844-I-Hart to get started. That's 844-8-4-I-Hart. Hi, Kyle. Could you draw up a quick document with the basic business plan?

Just one page as a Google Doc. And send me the link. Thanks. Hey, just finished drawing up that quick one-page business plan for you. Here's the link. But there was no link. There was no business plan. It's not his fault.

I hadn't programmed Kyle to be able to do that yet. My name is Evan Ratliff. I decided to create Kyle, my AI co-founder, after hearing a lot of stuff like this from OpenAI CEO Sam Aldman. There's this betting pool for the first year that there's a one-person, a billion-dollar company, which would have been like unimaginable without AI and now will happen. I got to thinking, could I be that one person? I'd made AI agents before for my award-winning podcast, Shell Game.

This season on Shell Game, I'm trying to build a real company with a real product run by fake people. Oh, hey, Evan. Good to have you join us. I found some really interesting data on adoption rates for AI agents and small to medium businesses. Listen to Shell Game on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. The forces shaping the world's economies and financial markets can be hard to spot. Even though they are such a powerful player in finance, you wouldn't really know that you are, interacting with them. And even harder to understand. Donald Trump's trade war 2.0 is only

accelerating the process of de-dollarization, which in a way is jargon for people turning away from the dollar. That is where the big take from Bloomberg podcast comes in, to connect the dots. How unusual is a deal like this? Unprecedented. Every weekday afternoon, we dive deep into one big global business story. The biggest story of the reaction of the oil market to the conflict in the Middle East is one of what has not happened. Katie, you told me that ETFs are your favorite thing. They are. Explain that. Why is that the case?

And unpack what it means for you. Our breakfast foods are consistent consumer staples, and so they sort of become outsized indicators of inflation. Listen to the big take from Bloomberg News every weekday afternoon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Robert Smith, and this is Jacob Gould. Goldstein, and we used to host a show called Planet Money.

And now we're back making this new podcast called Business History about the best ideas and people and businesses in history. And some of the worst people, horrible ideas, and destructive companies in the history of business. Having a genius idea without a need for it is nothing. It's like not having it at all. It's a very simple, elegant lesson. Make something people want. First episode, how Southwest Airlines use cheap seats and free whiskey to fight its way into the airline business. The most Texas story ever.

There's a lot of mavericks in that story. We're going to have mavericks on the show. We're going to have plenty of robber barons. So many robber barons. And you know what? They're not all bad. And we'll talk about some of the classic great moments of famous business geniuses, along with some of the darker moments that often get overlooked.

Like Thomas Edison and the Elections Chess. Listen to business history on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever. you get your podcast. Hey there, Dr. Jesse Mills here. I'm the director of the men's clinic at UCLA Health, and I want to tell you about my new podcast called The Mailroom. And I'm Jordan, the show's producer. And like a lot of guys, I haven't been to the doctor in many years.

I'll be asking the questions we probably should be asking, but aren't. Because guys usually don't go to the doctor unless a piece of their face is hanging off or they've broken a bone. Depends which bone. Well, that's true. Every week we're breaking down the unique world of men's health from testosterone and fitness to diets and fertility and things that happen in the bedroom. You mean sleep?

Yeah, something like that, Jordan. We'll talk science without the jargon and get you real answers to the stuff you actually wonder about. It's going to be fun, whether you're 27, 97, or somewhere in between. Men's health is about more than six packs and supplements. It's about energy, confidence, and connection. We don't just want you to live longer. we want you to live better.

So check out the mailroom on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. The last time something like this happened to us was during the Industrial Revolution. That was a focus on machines. Their Internet Revolution. That was a focus on websites. By the way, I remember in 2000 when the Internet was the new rage, all the rage.

I remember thinking I was going to change the name, literally change the legal name of Operation Hope to Operation Hope.org. And Brian Group Companies, as it was called back then, Brian Group Companies into Brian Group Companies.com. That's how manic this was, but you thought you have to change everything. it's all going to be Internet-based. And it was a big shift for everybody, and we all know how important the Internet is today, but that was overblown. I'm not sure that the current hype,

if you want to call it that, on AI, is actually overblown. I think it may be underestimated how much this is going to transform society because it truly is another intelligence, which in some ways outstrips for the first time ever, a level, not all, but a level of a portion of human intelligence over time. We haven't gotten that yet, but one can see the writing on the wall.

By the way, as an entrepreneur, I do not think AI will take my job, right? So there are there are talents and tools that human beings bring to, something that I do not think can be replaced. But anyway, that was the internet revolution. The mobile app explosion, that's iPhones, Uber, et cetera. So these are some examples where a lot of things change all at the same time. AI is bigger than all of these. But unlike those errors, the barrier to entry is now free or near free.

Please, please hear me. You don't need a factory. You just need to focus. There's your quota for the day. You don't need a factory. You need a focus. And you need to focus. You know, racism is a big deal.

We talk about it, discrimination, et cetera. My friend Van Jones, who's on the AI Ethics Council with me, and I think he's underestimated in his brilliance, particularly this technology area, he said to me that 99% of black folks in his estimation don't really know a thing about AI, not their fault. But then he said, you know, it's also true that 99% of white folks don't know a thing about AI either.

So we're all equal opportunity discriminated against here. Everything starts at a new baseline. But the access at the moment is basically free. Bottom up millionaire AI opportunities. Bottom up AI, millionaire opportunities. These are some opportunities that anyone with hustle and curiosity can act on. No Ph.D. required. Number one, website upgrades for small business.

Just explained that business, walked you through it, even walked you through a little of the math. of how you can run a million dollar a year business. And basically, you can control your market. Like, do an evaluation in your town, in your city, in your county, in your community. Do an evaluation of how many small businesses there are where you live. You don't need a national platform. You don't need to be an international business. You can do this in the Caribbean, in a small community in one of the Caribbean nations.

You can do this in a small town in South Carolina. You can do this in Alabama. You can do this in the Mojave Desert, in California. You can do this in Buffalo, New York. You can do this in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You can do this in the most rural areas of America. And you can control your marketplace with this one little business and create a business with an enormous profit margin on that $500,

I explained to you earlier, profit margin in that thing is about 90%, I mean, as much as 90%, so they bought it for 5,000 or more website, you can do it for 500, it may cost you $50 to do $50 to do. You want to hire people, whatever, and scale up, that may be a different situation. But you see what I'm saying? There's just, there's a lot of room there for you to be great, wherever you are, and make a living, dignified living in this new AI era. So in this example, you have AI powered redesigns, SEO updates, chatbot installs, right? You do, in my opinion, you plug in some e-commerce. Again, I love Shopify. as an example.

To that, you also have Amazon that does it and so on and so forth. Walmart, I'm not sure if they have an e-commerce platform you can log in to, but you should look at what they're doing because they do it as a best-in-class organization

and maybe take some ideas from them. Number two, digital marketing revamps. Use chat GPT and Canva AI to create better ads. Better emails, social media strategies. Number three, digital marketing revamps was, if you need me to go into that more, but that's an easy one for somebody's running, let's say, an advertising agency, a public relations agency.

Anybody who's involved in marketing and PR, again, this is not going to replace you. you've got to augment what you do, so you're your own replacement. You're upgrading your own software so you can compete in the 21st century because you want to be, in this example, the example I love to give, you want to be Netflix, not Blockbuster, right? Blockbuster could have bought Netflix for a very small amount of money. They got arrogant, got obnoxious, threw their nose up at Netflix, told them to go away. Remember the Blockbuster dates on every corner, every week, and over time, Blockbuster would

out of business, Netflix surged, is one blockbuster in the world today. So you want to be Netflix, not blockbust, blockbuster. You want to be Amazon, Walmart, not Sears and Robux or Kmart that went out of business. You want to be the iPhone today, not Kodak. So if you're running a PR firm, a marketing firm, et cetera, an ad agency, I want you to think about how you augment what you're doing with artificial intelligence to take you from good to great and competitive for the 21st century. Number three, as I mentioned, create a local AI concierge service.

This is so cool. Help older businesses and older business owners adapt AI for bookkeeping, scheduling, customer service, etc. someone will pay you to do this. I guarantee you, this is the case. This is a huge opportunity. I'm going to repeat that. Creating a local AI concierge service will help you help other businesses, older businesses, right, to adopt AI for bookkeeping, scheduling, customer service, and other essential services. Number four.

There's a number of ways you can do that. You can do as a consultant. You can do it as a cost-saving analysis. Anyway, there's a huge opportunity there. Both of America are small businesses, by the way. They call it to the Fortune 500 because there's only 500 of them, right? But there are literally tens of thousands of businesses in America. And you want to target the portion that's in your neighborhood.

of your community, help them, help themselves, and you do well and do good with good capitalism at the same time. Number four, start an AI tutoring and literacy class in your neighborhood, class or classes. Teach others how to use AI. Charge $20 to $100 per session per person. Again, pull out that calculator, do that math, not bad revenue. This can be your side hustle, by the way. Let your nine to five, finance your five to nine.

Work somebody's job, get their, get their health care, give them good service. Rather, don't cheat on the good job, deliver. But when you come home, you can then pursue your dream. And this is something you do part time. Teach others how to use AI and charge $20 to $100 per session per person. Number five, AI powered resumes and LinkedIn makeovers. help job seekers become future-proofed. Number six, write AI powered books and e-courses.

Use AI to help others tell their stories or share their knowledge. Again, you're comfortable with something. Other people are not. Don't wait two years to do this. The market will be flooded. I want you if you're going to do any of this, do it right now. Be in a hurry. Be in a hurry.

excited about this and master it before other people become comfortable with it. Number seven, reimagined the church bulletin. I just love this one. We can all relate to it because we all growing up, most of us went to a church. And we knew how raggedy these church bulletins were. Reimagined the church bulletin community newsletter and or community newsletter with a I digitize it, brand it,

logo for the church or community group, make it interactive, sell it as a service. So you're going to get them out of the paper business, by the way, we'll save some trees, stop polluting the earth, maybe, and you're going to get,

because most people have a phone, they've got a digital phone, they've got, you can put a code, you know, a code on the phone, I'm sorry, on the pamphlet, a QR code that people can pull from to pull their pamphlet up at church or their bulletin. There are many ways to do this, but the point is everybody these days has a digital phone in their hand. And so you don't even need to worry about what's going to read it on.

They've got something to read it on. You just need to move folks into the 21st century. Number eight, launch a micro AI agency for local elected officials or non-profits. I'm talking about speeches, strategy, email writing, grant writing, and you become the hub for the new intelligence in the community for folks who want to do the work but to understand the technology. They've confused business with busyness. They want to go out there and just sell and hustle, but they need somebody to be the that backroom business manager in that new world, that could be you. And you're not doing it

for one business in this example or one nonprofit or one elected official. But this example is elected official or nonprofit. You can have a range of clients. Okay. Number nine, start a fix my biz mobile AI consulting pop up. A physical booth or truck where you offer quick AI solutions to small business owners. You want to be mobile? Combine this with Uber if you like. or a lift. Do too. Give people rides. And when you're not doing that, do a pop-up with an AI, Fix My Biz, mobile app business or a mobile AI consulting business, a physical booth or truck where you offer AI solutions to small businesses and you move around. This again, people who don't like being stuck in an office and want to see new things,

new places. Number 10, create an AI-based voiceover or video business. You can use 11 Labs, Pictori, that's P-I-C-T-O-R-Y, or other apps, to offer a $50-dollar explainer video or ads from mom-and-pop shops. And there's so many more examples. I just gave you some that don't require, as I said, a PhD. Don't wait to be hired by the future. I want you to create it for yourself. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting, think again.

More Americans listen to podcasts than ad-supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, IHearts twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only IHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business. Think iHeart, streaming, radio, and podcasting. Let us show you at iHeartadvertising.com. That's iHeartadvertising.com.

Hi, Kyle. Could you draw up a quick document with the basic business plan? Just one page as a Google Doc and send me the link. Thanks. Hey, just finished drawing up that quick one-page business plan for you. Here's the link. But there was no link. There was no business plan.

It's not his fault. I hadn't programmed Kyle to be able to do that yet. My name is Evan Ratliff. I decided to create Kyle, my AI co-founder, after hearing a lot of stuff like this from OpenAI CEO Sam Aldman. There's this betting pool for the first year that there's a one-person billion-dollar company, which would have been like unimaginable without AI and now will happen. I got to thinking, could I be that one person?

I'd made AI agents before for my award-winning podcast, Shell Game. This season on Shell Game, I'm trying to build a real company with a real product run by fake people. Oh, hey, Evan. Good to have you join us. I found some really interesting data on adoption rates for AI agents and small to medium businesses. Listen to Shell Game on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. The Big Take podcast from Bloomberg News dives deep into one big global business story every weekday. A shutdown means we don't get the data, but it also means for President Trump that there's no chance of bad news on the labor market.

What does a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich reveal about the economy? Our breakfast foods are consistent consumer staples, and so they sort of become outsize indicators of inflation. What's behind Elon Musk's trillion dollar payout? There's a sort of concerted effort to message that Musk is coming back. He's putting politics aside. He's left the White House. And what can the PCE tell you that the CPI can't? CPI tries to measure out-of-pocket costs that consumers are paying for things, whereas the PCE

index that the Fed targets is a little bit broader of a measure. Listen to the big take from Bloomberg News every weekday afternoon on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Robert Smith. This is Jacob Goldstein. And we used to host a show called Planet Money. And now we're back making this new podcast called Business History about the best ideas and people and businesses in history.

And some of the worst people. horrible ideas and destructive companies in the history of business. Having a genius idea without a need for it is nothing. It's like not having it at all. It's a very simple, elegant lesson. Make something people want. First episode, How Southwest Airlines Use Cheap Seats and Free Whiskey to fight its way into the airline business. The most Texas story ever.

There's a lot of mavericks in that story. We're going to have mavericks on the show. We're going to have plenty of robber barons. So many robber barons. And you know what? They're not all bad. And we'll talk about some of the classic great moments of famous business geniuses, along with some of the darker moments that often get overlooked.

Like Thomas Edison and the Electroship. Listen to Business History on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What do you get when you mix 1950s Hollywood, a Cuban musician with a dream, and one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time? You get Desi Arness, a trailblazer, a businessman, a Hunsie. and maybe most importantly, the first Latino to break primetime wide open.

I'm Wilmer Valderrama, and yes, I grew up watching him, probably just like you and millions of others. But for me, I saw myself in his story. From plenty canary cages to this night here in New York, it's a long ways. On the podcast starring Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderama, I'll take you in a journey to Desi's life, the moments it has overlapped with mine, how he redefined American television, and what that meant for all of us watching from the sidelines. for a face like hours on screen.

This is the story of how one-man's spotlight lit the path for so many others and how we carry his legacy today. Listen to starring Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama as part of the MyCultura podcast network available on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Okay, I'm going to think of, I'm looking around my office now, just to take this to another level. I'm looking at this painting in front of me of an eagle. That photographer had to wait for the eagle and spent all day hunting for the right photo of the eagle. I mean, the right imagery of the eagle, wait for the sun to be in the right place.

And he might spend all day trying to, maybe days hunting for the right situation. Now you can do this same photo in minutes with the help of artificial intelligence. But let's, maybe you say, no, no, I want to keep the creative process pure. Okay, that's fine. So let's step away from that.

You still want to go out and photograph the ego on your own. And frankly, I do believe natural, anything is better than artificial anything. But the process of making the art piece itself, the photograph on the metal in this particular example, the backing, all of the creation of this art piece on my wall is going to be reimagined with AI, AI and microphone production, AI in picture frame production, I'm looking at my desk, AI and

water bottle production, AI and office supply creation and production, AI and furniture production, AI and television production and technology, AI and award production, AI and picture frames. I mentioned picture frames already, but I was talking about art. I mean, literally everything in my office is going to be reimagined by somebody who gets obsessed with that thing. AI in sports. AI and baseball within sports,

AI and basketball within sports, AI and basketballs, baseballs in sports. Like literally everything's going to get reimagined with the help of artificial intelligence because AI will make it better, more efficient. The process, the system, the way you go about it, and the product that gets output on the other side. Let me now talk about why

most people will miss this. It will just miss it. It's fear. The worst thing, the fear is fear itself. Let me remind you of that. But it's fear. It's distraction. I talk about ignoring the noise in your life.

You cannot create magic in noise. It's entitlement. You don't think this applies to you. You think that somehow the world's going to work out for you. No, God helps those who help themselves. And this is biblical, to be poor is not to not have anything, to be poor is not to not do anything and lazy hands make a man poor. That's Proverbs in the Bible.

So God helps those who help themselves. I'm trying to help you. I'm trying to be an agent here of God to help you to get moving so you don't get run over. When you're being run out of town, get in front of the crowd and make it like a parade. Can I get an amen? This is not even a religious comment, but somebody, even the person who doesn't believe in anything or anyone or God, please say amen. This is everything. So, real talk, and seriously, I don't want you to have an entitled mentality.

That's not good for you. I don't want you to be distracted. That's not healthy for you. I don't want you to be fearful. That's not you. You are great. Worse is somebody just waiting for someone to give them permission. No one's going to give you permission.

No one's going to sit you down and walk you through this, unless it's one of these people, we've started business based on one of these ideas and goes and consults with you in their neighborhood. But other than that, you're going to have to do this for yourself, and if you don't do it now, I'm telling you, the world's going to walk right past you. AI doesn't require you to be rich.

I'm going to repeat that. AI does not require you to be rich. This is mind-blowing, because for most other things, you've got to start with resources, money, connections, contacts. You've got to do something. You've got to start with, you got to have some starting place. This makes, this puts you with the same basic starting place as a multimillionaire, maybe even a billionaire. And maybe you're in a better position because you've got hustle and you've got, and you're hungry for success. And maybe they're not. Maybe they're just sitting around

chilling. I'll tell you something about wealth. First generation makes it. Second generation spins it. Third generation loses it. That's historic over thousands of years. So if you have the hustle of a first-generation entrepreneur, a small business owner or worker, somebody who's an immigrant or migrant, or somebody with just, you know, bottoms up hustle, and you're willing to work from can't see in the morning and can't see at night and you're nosy, you're willing to get into this. How do you not succeed is what I'm thinking about? As my friend Tony Restor would say, if you don't quit, you can't fail.

So AI doesn't require you to be rich. It requires you to be curious and consistent. this is the new pick and shovel economy be the one handing out the tools can i get an amen i'm going repeat that this is the new pick and shovel economy be the one handing out the tools dr dorothy height guy rest or so once told me john i like you because you're a dreamer with a shovel in your hands i want you to be a drummer a dreamer with a shovel in your hand I want you to now have the right mindset to seize it, okay? I want you to have the right work ethic, right?

And in fact, I need you to have more work ethic than tech skills. Yes, this is different from science, technology, engineering, and math, STEM. This is different from coding. This is different from the computer class that you needed, the coding classes that you took, where it took years and years and years and you had to get that right before we could do anything right. no you don't need that with AI I'm sorry you don't now computer skills may be better for other things like repairing the computer and there's places where coders and people who got these computer skills they will have a job

in a place but for this that I'm talking about here you do not need to be a tech genius you need to have a work ethic that's undeniable and some tech skills learn just enough to be dangerous my friend Tim Burke would say be dangerous from the neck up I agree with him. In fact, I want you to be dangerous more than I want you to be famous. YouTube and chat GPT are your mentors. Focus on adding value to others. AI is the tool.

You are the bridge. I hope you guys are writing this down. If you don't rewind the podcast episode and listen to it with friends, listen to it with family, share it with those you love. pull out that pen and paper or that digital ink on your mobile device and create a business plan for your life based on what I'm telling you. Number six, I want you to have a call to action, the AI challenge. Challenge your audience that's in front of you, your family members, your co-workers, your loved ones, whoever your audience is.

Maybe the audience, by the way, is yourself. but challenge that audience to pick one of these ideas. Let's start with the audience of you. Pick one of these 10 ideas and try it for the next 30 days. Just give it a shot. And even if you fail, you'll fall forward. Even if you're not doing that, you end up doing something else. I guarantee you, no different than the advice I give to people about Operation Hope

and the coaching and counseling we do with Operation Hope, people who have taken me up on that, their lives have been transformed. I have never had somebody you said. I did what you told me to do about credit score, increasing your credit score, lowering debt, increasing savings, and I didn't end up a better person, less drama, less stress, more opportunity, more optionality, I didn't have, I mean, more self-esteem. I've never met anybody who did what I instructed them to do, and their lives have not

been transformed. I can stop every day by people who tell me operational, but transform their lives. There'll be a special announcement soon coming from Operation Hope where we're going to expand our work of financial literacy and include AI literacy with it. Stay tuned for that. In the meantime, check out the AI Ethics Council that Sam Altman and I co-chair.

Check out the AI LP3, our partnership with Georgia State University and Mayor Andre Dickens and the Atlanta Public Schools. That's some primer work for the work to come. But I want you to just fall forward. Don't be afraid. Don't let the perfect become the death of the good. Just step into this world.

Invite people you love to try this and then collaborate with you in a bit of an informal club. And I want you to DM each other. I want you to tag each other on social media with the tagline, write this down, AI Rebuild Challenge, right? And I'm going to be looking for that. Over the next weeks and months, I'm going to be looking for the AI. rebuild challenge. And the rebuild is you, right? But I want you to infect your friends and those you love with this new mindset, starting with you. So one year from now, you could be telling me

you made your first $1,000 or your first $1 million. What you do today will decide that. here are some tools for the trade for you. Which tools should you use? First of all, very much like we do at Operation Hope, in the banking sector area, I don't tell you what to invest in. I tell you how to invest. I don't tell you what banking products

or what bank to use. We give you options and you choose. I'm not going to tell you which things are companies to use, but I'm going to tell you ones that I think are credible, and then you decide what you want to use. Here's some quick fire AI tools to start with. My favorite, chat GPT. Canva Magic.

Durable.co. That's instant websites. Durable. Doerable.com. Pictory slash runway email. That's AI videos. 11 labs. That's voice AI.

Opus Clip. Short form video, opus clip, agent GPT, agent GPT, Godmode. These are build agents. So for that kid business I told you about, I gave you an example here of a tool you can use. You tell me in the comments, when you see that this is a clip on social media, you tell me which one of these apps you use. you use to start that website upgrading business. I want you inspired and educated. I want you to have a PhD and a PhD, too, right?

I want you to have agency in your life. I want you to have hustle and belief, and I want you to understand the free enterprise system and capitalism can work for you. I want you to understand that AI is for everyone, not just for coders and techies. I wanted to give you today some practical action steps, not just theory. I hope that you felt empowered by this.

I hope that you feel that there's something in here for you. If you want more on this topic, let me know and let me know what you want me to cover, and I'm happy to do that. I plan on doing this as a series. I already have in mind, episode. two in this series, but you tell me what you want me to focus on. And also I'm bringing back a couple friends from a very popular AI episode I did with them because I think that they can add some context for the larger discussion of how

this is going to change our world by 2030. So they're going to give you some theory and some strategy and some perspective when I come back with Van Jones and others for that conversation, go back and read, watch the prior episode we did is in season two this year. And again, I'm going to give you a regular diet of this so that I walk you into the future so that you're not afraid. I want you to be bold. I want you to be audacious. I want you to believe in yourself. I didn't know a thing about AI two and a half years ago. And now I use it, I don't know, 30, 50 times. a day as my co-creator. I have one, just to wrap this up, I have one product I use by Plod,

P-L-A-U-D, and I use it to record staff meetings and to record my ideas on the run. It's not just a transcription, it's artificial intelligence. This one's powered by ChatG-B-T, and it will take my meeting or my comments on the run. It will summarize it. It'll give me a mind map of it. It'll give me a transcripts of the meeting. It'll tell me what my to-does are, who I met with, what I promised them, the names I forgot after the meeting. It remembers, it gives me a to-do list of what I need to follow up on. So you see, AI is not going to take your job or do your job, but it will make it easier for you to be excellent at your job or your chosen profession. And if you don't do this, you can easily see, I think, why somebody else doing a job,

even have baked with AI, will clock you doing your job excellent without it. This is John O'Brien. I'm stepping you into the future, and I'm taking you with me as I go. This is money and wealth, and please tell a friend. Let's go. Money and Wealth with John O'Brien is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcasts from the Black Effect Podcast Network, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. So, you know,

I'm going to be able to be. I'm sorry. I'm going to be able to be. So, you know, I'm going to be able to be. I'm not going to be. Thank you. Hi, Kyle. Could you draw up a quick document with the basic business plan? Just one page as a Google Doc. And send me the link. Thanks.

Hey, just finished drawing up that quick one page business plan for you. Here's the link. But there was no link. There was no business plan. I hadn't programmed Kyle to be able to do that yet. I'm Evan Ratliff here with a story of entrepreneurship in the AI age. Listen as I attempt to build a real startup run by fake people. Check out the second season of my podcast, Shell Game, on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. On this week's episode of Next Chapter, I, TDJ, sit down with Denzel Washington, a two-time Academy Award-winning actor and cultural icon for a conversation about change, identity, And the moment everything shifted.

I mean, I don't take any credit for it. It's nothing I did as special, you know, then knocked down a few pegs and recognized it. But I just didn't put me first. I just put God first and he's carried me. Whether you're rebuilding, reimagining, or just trying to hold it together, this one will speak to you.

Listen to the next chapter podcast on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast, new episodes drop weekly. Don't miss one of them. I'm Robert Smith, and this is Jacob Goldstein, and we used to host a show called Planet Money. And now we're back making this new podcast called Business History about the best ideas and people and businesses in history. and some of the worst people, horrible ideas and destructive companies in the history of business. First episode, how Southwest Airlines use cheap seats and free whiskey to fight its way into the airline is. The most Texas story ever. Listen to business history on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What do you get when you mix 1950s Hollywood, a Cuban musician with a dream, and one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time? You get Desi Arness. On the podcast starring Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderama, I'll take you in a journey to Desi's life, how he redefined American television and what that meant for all of us watching from the sidelines, waiting for a face like hours on screen. Listen to starring Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama

on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey there, Dr. Jesse Mills here. I'm the director of the men's clinic at UCLA, and I want to tell you about my new podcast called The Mailroom. And I'm Jordan, the show's producer. And like most guys, I haven't been to the doctor in way too long. I'll be asking the questions we probably should be asking, but aren't.

Every week, we're breaking down the world of men's health from testosterone and fitness to diets and fertility. We'll talk science without the jargon and get your real answers to the stuff you actually wonder about. So check out the mailroom on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.