How To Joy Success Cycle | Kevin Surace | ROI Podcast™ ep. 501 | Law Smith & Eric Readinger
Release Date: 01/09/2026
ROI Podcast™ — the #1 Entrepreneurial Business meets Comedy podcast hosted by Law Smith + Eric Readinger
Chris Hallberg, CEO and Founder of Business Sergeant and President and Founder of GoExpand, joins ROI Podcast® #511 to talk EOS, business operating systems, military leadership, veteran-powered recruiting, accountability, execution, and the small-business disease known as “we’re agile,” which is sometimes just Latin for “we made a new excuse every two weeks.” Chris is an Expert EOS Implementer who helps leadership teams stop winging the business like a drunk magician at a sales conference. He explains EOS in plain English: vision, people, data, issues, process, and traction. Or, as...
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Running is already punishment with better shoes. In ROI Podcast® #509, Law Smith and Eric Readinger talk with Josh Sprague, owner/operator and founder of Orange Mud, the endurance gear company making hydration packs, running vests, biking packs, transition wraps, and outdoor gear for runners, cyclists, triathletes, mountain bikers, gravel riders, ultra runners, and other people who hear “24-hour race” and somehow do not immediately fake a hamstring injury. Josh built Orange Mud because the hydration packs he used were too tight, bounced around, caused chafing, and made running feel like a...
info_outlineROI Podcast™ — the #1 Entrepreneurial Business meets Comedy podcast hosted by Law Smith + Eric Readinger
Small business ownership is sold like freedom, then quietly turns into a group project where you're somehow every group member AND the substitute teacher. In ROI Podcast® episode 508, Law Smith and Eric Readinger sit down with Andy Clark — creator of The Whole PIE System™ and author of Getting The Whole PIE — to talk about how to build a business that's actually profitable, actually impactful, and (radically) actually enjoyable. Wild concept. Apparently the goal is not to create a company that prints money while slowly turning your soul into...
info_outlineROI Podcast™ — the #1 Entrepreneurial Business meets Comedy podcast hosted by Law Smith + Eric Readinger
Getting rich isn’t about working harder. It’s about playing a different game entirely. In this episode of ROI Podcast™, Chris Van Dusen, Senior Partner at Solyco Capital, breaks down how wealth is actually built behind the curtain… not the version you see on TikTok. We talk about: What private equity really does (without the jargon) Why most founders fail before they ever had a chance The difference between wealth preservation and wealth creation How high-net-worth investors think about risk and returns Why doing hard things on purpose is the only real edge Chris went from...
info_outlineROI Podcast™ — the #1 Entrepreneurial Business meets Comedy podcast hosted by Law Smith + Eric Readinger
Think of this episode as your comedy‑infused blueprint for escaping the founder prison.” Host Law Smith sits down with serial entrepreneur George Rivera, the man behind the Buy Back Time Formula, who built multiple seven‑, eight‑ and nine‑figure companies before realizing he’d accidentally locked himself in a golden cage. He recounts how his father’s dying words (“don’t miss Leo’s games”) forced him to tear down a $200M business that looked great on paper but left him exhausted and absent. Together they shred hustle culture, debate whether a...
info_outlineROI Podcast™ — the #1 Entrepreneurial Business meets Comedy podcast hosted by Law Smith + Eric Readinger
Law Smith and Eric Readinger turn ROI Podcast® episode 505 into a very stupid, very specific, very competitive Scrabble-adjacent bloodsport. After confessing that his viral Iron Cross video was a high-tech fake, Law pulls out the Auburn business school alumni magazine and sends the conversation into full Scrabble challenge mode. Not because Auburn deserves shade, because Auburn gave the boys something smart, polished, and weirdly irresistible to obsess over. Harbert Magazine becomes the launch point for a lovingly unhinged breakdown of racks, bingos, bonus squares, tile counts, point...
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John Krotec is a U.S. Army veteran, visionary entrepreneur and founder of NeoMasculinity Solutions—a movement that helps men and women reclaim purpose, live through truth and lead with clarity. After surviving a traumatic brain injury and confronting long‑buried trauma, he transformed adversity into a mission by founding The Brainary and writing The Sentinel Handbook, a practical tool for self‑leadership. He delivers riveting keynotes and workshops on leadership, critical thinking, emotional resilience and self‑agency. With over 40 years in business, his journey spans high‑altitude...
info_outlineROI Podcast™ — the #1 Entrepreneurial Business meets Comedy podcast hosted by Law Smith + Eric Readinger
Jodi Scott is the CEO and co‑founder of Green Goo by Spry Life, a plant‑based first aid company that started the way a lot of real businesses do: out of necessity, frustration, and a kitchen that slowly turned into a production facility. What began with homemade remedies and mason jars eventually grew into a nationally distributed brand, but not without detours, hard lessons, and a few moments where the easy path would have cost the company its soul. Jodi’s story is not a clean, linear founder arc. She built Green Goo from the ground up, sold the company, and then made the rare and...
info_outlineROI Podcast™ — the #1 Entrepreneurial Business meets Comedy podcast hosted by Law Smith + Eric Readinger
ROI Podcast™ — the No. 1 business‑comedy podcast on Earth — welcomes Kevin Surace, Silicon‑Valley innovator, futurist and author of The Joy Success Cycle, for an energizing conversation about AI, joy and success. Surace, a technology innovator with 93 patents and the CTO of Appvance, is best known as the father of the virtual assistant. He helped develop the first large‑scale voice interface at General Magic and led the team that created the OnStar Virtual Advisor. Inc. Magazine named him Entrepreneur of the Year (2009), and he invented QuietRock soundproof drywall. Surace...
info_outlineROI Podcast™ — the #1 Entrepreneurial Business meets Comedy podcast hosted by Law Smith + Eric Readinger
Episode 500 of ROI Podcast®! Who better than the CEO and Owner of Dugout Mugs®, Kris Dehnert, the entrepreneur behind a wildly successful physical product brand built on craftsmanship, storytelling, and relentless customer focus. Kris breaks down how he scaled a novelty idea into tens of millions in revenue without relying on a traditional sales team, why product quality is still the most underrated growth lever, and how listening to customers drives smarter product expansion. We get into licensing strategy, corporate gifting, surviving hypergrowth, and the mental frameworks required to...
info_outlineROI Podcast™ — the No. 1 business‑comedy podcast on Earth — welcomes Kevin Surace, Silicon‑Valley innovator, futurist and author of The Joy Success Cycle, for an energizing conversation about AI, joy and success.
Surace, a technology innovator with 93 patents and the CTO of Appvance, is best known as the father of the virtual assistant. He helped develop the first large‑scale voice interface at General Magic and led the team that created the OnStar Virtual Advisor. Inc. Magazine named him Entrepreneur of the Year (2009), and he invented QuietRock soundproof drywall. Surace explains the difference between real AI and simple automation, shares stories of building the first virtual assistant, and demonstrates how large language models can transform business operations and even compose music. But this episode isn’t just about technology. Surace introduces his Joy Success Cycle philosophy and shows how joy fuels sustainable success. He explains why reframing daily tasks with joy leads to better outcomes, how to move the success marker to avoid the hedonistic treadmill, and how to find a sense of purpose by limiting complaints and focusing on meaningful goals. He also offers practical advice on removing toxic influences, getting out of ruts and not worrying about AI “taking over”.
Join Law Smith, Eric Readinger and our guest for an upbeat, hilarious and actionable discussion that blends comedy with deep insight. Subscribe to ROI Podcast on YouTube, leave a comment (good or bad — we’ll read it on air), and check out the links below for sponsor deals and to get Kevin Surace’s book. Ready to unlock joy and success? Hit play to hear about Kevin Surace, ROI Podcast, Joy Success Cycle, AI podcast, artificial intelligence, generative AI, virtual assistant, machine learning, patents, business comedy, motivation, productivity, sense of purpose, overcoming ruts, keynote speaker, music and AI, large language models, entrepreneurship, innovation, QuietRock and more!
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