Recorded June 13, 2025

I chat with Tony Wu (former Ivey HBA and finishing his MBA/MPA at Wharton) about how he navigated the pressures and intense competition as an undergraduate at Ivey, and what motivated his different career choices so far. Tony also shares how a personal loss during his time at Ivey shaped his values and perspective on life.

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Amazon link to my book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5N6F1FV

---01:48 -- Overview of Tony's path

07:37 -- How Ivey locks students in

11:27 -- How Ivey helped, and how it didn't

15:03 -- B-school: A world of seemingly few choices

16:27 -- What Tony would change about it

19:42 -- Getting away from the "one track mind"

30:47 -- How he would change education

37:12 -- Why he's choosing climate over education

44:47 -- What would a world of purpose look like?

47:57 -- Asia has much less freedom

49:49 -- Is there a generational shift?

52:38 -- How do we deal with lack of purpose in the collective?

58:17 -- The "other" Tony's path

1:00:47 -- How Tony thinks about his path

1:09:22 -- Would any path have been fine?

1:12:13 -- How to decide your path?

1:14:44 -- How Tony makes his pivotal decisions

Recorded May 7, 2025

Will Christodoulou (former Ivey MSc and one of the founders of Cyder) and I connect again to finish our conversation. In this second part of our chat, Will talks about what he did and didn't like about his experience at Ivey, why more of his classmates didn't pursue entrepreneurship, and the diminishing returns of money.

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Learn more about Will's startup here: https://www.getcyder.com/

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Amazon link to my book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5N6F1FV

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00:21 -- Why weren't Will's classmates more interested in entrepreneurship?

04:31 -- B-school recruiting is biased to big corporate paths

05:27 -- Not knowing what's out there breeds apprehension

06:48 -- School is nothing like the real world

07:40 -- We train students to be addicted to structure

08:49 -- Community helps us deal with self-doubt

12:53 -- Will's path may not be for everyone

13:41 -- What Will liked and didn't like about Ivey

17:36 -- What surprised Bryan about Wall Street

21:04 -- What if more people did what Will did?

24:18 -- The diminishing returns of money

25:51 -- Financial constraints can be in the mind of the beholder

26:40 -- Most people are too risk averse

28:51 -- Advice Will would give his younger self

33:27 -- Does success mean a life of extreme highs and lows?

33:02 -- Does spirituality help manage the lows?

35:46 -- What Will would be doing if not Cyder

37:39 -- What Bryan learned about the importance of culture

40:18 -- Good leadership is more than using a stick

Recorded on May 2, 2025

Can you really do what you love without sacrificing the money? I chat with Will Christodoulou, a former Ivey MSc student and one of the founders of Cyder, a loyalty platform for credit unions. Will tells the story of his path, which is a great story of how vision, staying true to your values when making a decision at each crossroads in life, and faith in passion can create the life you want--even if you don't know how you'll get there at the outset.

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Learn more about Will's startup here: https://www.getcyder.com/

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Amazon link to my book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5N6F1FV

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00:30 -- Bryan discovers Will read his book

03:08 -- Why aren't profs talking to former students about their education?

04:51 -- Will tells his story

09:32 -- What Cyder does

11:56 -- What guided Will's career decisions

15:31 -- Do what you love, and the money will come

17:00 -- Weighing money vs passion

20:32 -- Favoring generalist vs specialist training

21:48 -- When Will knew Cyder was what he wanted

22:22 -- What Bryan loves about Will's story

23:44 -- Parallels to Rivian

25:37 -- Comparing to legal or medical career paths

27:02 -- Competing for a limited menu at Ivey