The Phil Bak Podcast

Darren Riley joins the show to talk about all areas of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, including his work at Endeavor Detroit, his entrepreneurial journey at Rapids Air Quality and his new VC fund, Commune Angels.

Phil sits down with Vince Vitale, President of the CFA Society of Detroit and Director of Equity and Alternative Strategy Research at Advance Capital Management for a conversation about the markets and about giving back. They discuss selecting active managers, factor based portfolios and US equity valuations, and then talk about giving back to the community and creating a legacy. Vince announces the stock market challenge - sponsored by the CFA Society of Detroit - and about Junior Achievement of SE Michigan, who the challenge is raising money for. Finally, they talk about persistence and grit and how that drives Vince's career. Register for the stock market challenge here: https://www.jamichigan.org/stock-market-challenge

Patrick Kelly, CEO/co-founder of Signal Advisors, joins the show to discuss fintech for financial advisors - including his new launch and how to advisors can seamlessly onboard annuities for their clients. The conversation then goes on to discuss entrepreneurship, early doubters, stoicism and more.

Phil is joined by Doug Drouillard, Co-Founder/CEO of Shrine Development, for a conversation about technology, app development, startups, and how social media and digital distractions impact our energy and focus.

John Bartlett, President of Reaves Asset Management, joins the podcast for a deep dive into investing in infrastructure and utilities. They explore the state of infrastructure in the US, why infrastructure matters, what factors drive the sector’s performance and more.

Phil sits down with Melissa Joy, founder of Pearl Planning, to discuss how Melissa launched her firm, gender gaps in the wealth management industry, personal finance tips and more.

Phil talks to Jared Dillian about creating and monetizing content across various mediums. They also discuss asset managers blinded by their anger at the Federal Reserve, Robinhood traders, inflation, and Jared's DJ career.

Ranjan Roy, Founder & CEO of The Edge Group and author of The Margins on Substack, joins Phil to tell the story of how he arbitraged pizza prices on Doordash and to discuss content creation, antitrust issues, Silicon Valley "platform" business economics, Robinhood and the game-ification of trading, and more.

Phil is joined by legendary ETF pioneer Jim Ross to reflect on his career, the state of the asset management industry and a fresh start in M&A as he launches a new SPAC targeting asset managers.

David Nadig joins Phil to explore the rapidly changing landscape in the Asset Management industry. They discuss ETFs, ESG, commoditization of financial products, whether you should trust this market, how to look great on a Zoom call, and more.