BIO: As Co-Founder & CEO of Mode Mobile, Dan Novaes is leading the transformation of how people interact with technology. His “Earn As You Go” software empowers millions of consumers to turn daily habits into passive income.

STORY: Dan decided to take the bold move of turning his treasury into a long-term crypto strategy. What started as $2 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum ballooned to $30 million, but the 2022 crash and business pressures forced him to liquidate at low prices—missing out on what could have been a $100 million windfall.

LEARNING: Don’t chase aggressive expansion without a clear path to profitability. Stick to your core business. Separate your business from speculative bets.

As Co-Founder & CEO of Mode Mobile, Dan Novaes is leading the transformation of how people interact with technology. His “Earn As You Go” software empowers millions of consumers to turn daily habits into passive income. Under his leadership, Mode achieved 32,481% revenue growth from 2019 to 2022 and ranked #1 in Software on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 in North America.

In today’s rapidly evolving and highly interconnected business world, companies are increasingly relying on external partnerships to drive growth and innovation.

Dan’s story begins in the early days of crypto. His company had raised funds through Bitcoin and Ethereum when Bitcoin was valued at just a few thousand dollars and Ethereum at only a few hundred. This early success in the crypto market was a testament to the potential for significant growth that these investments could bring.

Once the business had a comfortable runway, Dan made a bold move—he turned their treasury, which is the accumulated profits and cash reserves, into a long-term crypto strategy, much like what companies like MicroStrategy would later become known for.

At first, the decision looked genius. That $1–2 million ballooned into $30 million. Dan was on CNBC, celebrating as Bitcoin crossed $10,000, and his company seemed unstoppable. They never had to fundraise again—until the 2022 crash.

In 2022, Bitcoin’s price fell from $63,000 to $18,000, and pressure mounted. Compounding the pain, many of Dan’s advertising partners went bankrupt, leaving unpaid bills. This was a significant blow to the company’s financial stability. To survive, Dan’s company had to liquidate almost the entire treasury at depressed prices.

Had Dan managed his growth and financials more cautiously, that crypto position could have grown to $100 million or more. Instead, he walked away with far less—and a bitter lesson.

• Growth at all costs is dangerous. Chasing aggressive expansion without a clear path to profitability can leave your company vulnerable when market conditions shift.
• Profit-taking matters. Riding the wave without ever securing gains turned paper wealth into a forced liquidation.
• Stick to your core business.
• Discipline is everything. Not letting market euphoria dictate strategy is critical to long-term survival.

• Separate your business from speculative bets. Don’t gamble with your excess cash on foreign exchange trades. Instead, hedge your risks because...

BIO: Dr. Gilbert A. Guzmán is a business strategist and systems thinker. He is the founder of IntraQ AI, a SaaS solution designed to eliminate knowledge gaps within the workplace, and the author of Atomic Impact: Systems for Transformative Productivity.

STORY: In 2012, Gilbert envisioned a portable charger vending system for airports, universities, and theaters—a “Redbox for power.” He over-engineered, over-researched, and waited for “perfect”—while another company launched the same concept. By the time he moved, they dominated airports with a first-mover advantage.

LEARNING: Jump in and get things going. Don’t be afraid to fail. Iterate, and get your product to market.

Dr. Gilbert A. Guzmán is a business strategist and systems thinker. He is the founder of IntraQ AI, a SaaS solution designed to eliminate knowledge gaps within the workplace, and the author of Atomic Impact: Systems for Transformative Productivity, which you can get for free using the code: Stotz.

With a doctorate in business and experience leading large teams, he helps organizations boost productivity through practical systems built for real-world constraints. His work bridges people, data, and technology for lasting operational success.

In 2012, Gilbert envisioned a portable charger vending system for airports, universities, and theaters—a “Redbox for power.” Users would rent charged batteries and return them to kiosks for reuse.

Ironically, Gilbert is a very impatient man, but when it comes to business ideas, he takes his sweet time, sometimes too long. This is exactly what happened with the portable charger idea.

Gilbert over-engineered, over-researched, and waited for “perfect”—while Fuel Rod launched the same concept. By the time he moved, they dominated airports with a first-mover advantage. He invented the wheel but didn’t roll it.

• Jump in, do what you need to do, stay up late, work hard, do the research, and get things going. Ultimately, everything will come to fruition.
• Manage your risks.
• You can earn back cash, but you can’t earn back lost time.
• In startups, a bad launch always beats no launch. Waiting for no flaws means 100% flaw: no product.
• You can’t be a risk-averse leader.

• MVPs beat masterpieces because if you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you launched too late.
• The market doesn’t care who invented a product—it cares who shipped it.

• Don’t be afraid to fail. Iterate, get your product to market, and find out if it makes sense and is relevant.
• Don’t get scared of the big names, the Googles of the world, and think that they will crush you.
• You don’t have to be horizontal. You can go vertical. You can find a niche and dedicate your time to it.

Gilbert recommends his e-book Atomic Impact: Systems for Transformative Productivity (remember to use code Stotz for a free copy).

He also recommends visiting his

In this episode of Enrich Your Future, Andrew and Larry Swedroe discuss Larry’s new book, Enrich Your Future: The Keys to Successful Investing. In this series, they conclude the lessons from the book.

LEARNING: Investing isn’t about chasing the next hot stock—it’s about building a resilient, well-diversified portfolio you can live with in good times and bad.

In this episode of Enrich Your Future, Andrew and Larry Swedroe discuss Larry’s new book, Enrich Your Future: The Keys to Successful Investing. The book is a collection of stories that Larry has developed over 30 years as the head of financial and economic research at Buckingham Wealth Partners to help investors. You can learn more about Larry’s Worst Investment Ever story on Ep645: Beware of Idiosyncratic Risks.

Larry deeply understands the world of academic research and investing, especially risk. In this series, they conclude on the lessons from the book.

If you’ve ever wondered how to cut through the noise of investment hype and build a portfolio that actually works for you, Larry’s Enrich Your Future is the blueprint you’ve been looking for. Here’s a distilled look at the wisdom from his book.

Larry insists there are only a handful of fundamental truths in investing—and if you master them, you’ll avoid most costly mistakes:

• Markets are highly efficient – While not perfect, markets price assets so effectively that consistently beating them on a risk-adjusted basis is near impossible. So don’t engage in individual security selection or market timing.
• All risk assets offer similar risk-adjusted returns – Whether it’s US stocks, Thai stocks, or corporate bonds, the relationship between risk and return holds steady over time. Invest in assets based upon your ability, willingness, and need to take risks. If you’re willing to take more risk and have the ability and maybe the need to, then you can load up on more risky, higher expected-returning assets. It doesn’t mean they’re better assets; rather, they have higher expected returns at the cost of higher risk.
• Diversification is non-negotiable – Since all risk assets have similar risk-adjusted returns, it makes no sense to concentrate all of your risk in one basket. Concentrating your risk in a single asset class or geography is a recipe for trouble.

Forget cookie-cutter solutions—Larry believes the “right” portfolio depends on three factors:

1. Ability to take risk – Your financial capacity to weather market downturns is influenced by factors like investment horizon and job stability.
2. Willingness to take risk – Your psychological comfort level with market volatility.
3. Need to take risk – Whether you require high returns to meet your financial goals.

Larry’s rule? Let the lowest of these three determine your equity exposure. If you don’t need to take big risks, don’t.

A...