Wise Up with OpenWater

AI can answer legal questions, draft contracts and even pass part of the bar exam. But as international legal advisor and tech founder Matti Neustadt explains, good legal counsel starts somewhere else: understanding a client’s business, goals and risks well enough to identify the questions they should be asking, not only answering the ones they bring to the table. In this episode, Matti explores how AI can strengthen that relationship, giving lawyers more time to apply the judgment and experience clients actually need.
We cover topics including:
Why professional judgment matters more in an AI-enabled world, and how an experienced lawyer can uncover risks, priorities and questions a client may not know enough to identify on their own.
How AI can become a relationship accelerator, helping lawyers learn their clients’ businesses faster, maintain that knowledge over time, and focus their attention where their expertise creates the greatest value.
How greater efficiency could reshape the business of law, reducing time spent gathering information and producing routine work while putting greater value on strategy, judgment and trusted counsel.
AI may dramatically change how professional work gets done. But Matti makes the case that its greatest potential may be helping skilled professionals spend less time producing answers and more time understanding which questions really need to be asked.
The Wise Up! Podcast is your regular dose of business wisdom, brought to you by the members of OpenWater.

After 36 years in human resources and decades working with senior leaders, Jeff Jacobs has learned that many of the obstacles holding us back come down to something surprisingly basic: our reluctance to have honest conversations with each other—and ourselves. In this episode, Jeff shares lessons from his corporate career, his own professional setbacks, and a decade working with incarcerated men to explore how we can move beyond seeking approval and build lives around what matters most to us now.
We cover topics including:
Why fear gets in the way of honest feedback—and how curiosity and self-compassion can help us respond more constructively
What it means to “keep coming of age” by moving from external validation toward a more internally defined sense of purpose
How Jeff’s work in maximum-security prisons reinforced powerful lessons about compassion, humility, privilege, and our capacity for change
If you’ve ever found yourself questioning what success means at a new stage of life, this conversation offers a thoughtful framework for pursuing purpose over approval.
The Wise Up! Podcast is your regular dose of business wisdom, brought to you by the members of OpenWater.

What if financial planning isn’t really about money? In this episode, I speak with Certified Financial Planner (CFP), educator, and author Carmen Ortiz about why traditional approaches to wealth often leave people feeling unfulfilled—even when they have more than enough. Drawing on nearly four decades of experience and her own journey beyond conventional financial planning, Carmen introduces her Transcendent Financial Planning System, a framework that connects financial decisions to self-knowledge, purpose, and contribution.
We cover topics including:
Why our sense of self-worth often becomes entangled with our net worth—and how to break that connection
The evolution from traditional financial planning to life-centered planning, and ultimately to a more transcendent approach rooted in purpose and service
Why true wealth extends beyond financial capital to include our relationships, knowledge, experience, and ability to contribute to something larger than ourselves
If you've ever wondered whether financial success alone is enough, this conversation offers a compelling new perspective on what it means to live a truly wealthy life.
The Wise Up! Podcast is your regular dose of business wisdom, brought to you by the members of OpenWater.

Artificial intelligence can make us faster, more productive, and more efficient. But what happens when we start outsourcing not just our work—but our judgment? In this episode, I speak with strategist and creative leader Carl Loeb about the growing risk of "cognitive surrender" and how professionals can use AI without losing the uniquely human capabilities that create real value. Drawing on research, practical examples, and his own experience integrating AI into creative work, Carl offers a framework for staying in control while taking advantage of these powerful new tools.
We cover topics including:
Why deadline pressure, confirmation bias, and AI "sycophancy" can lead people to trust bad answers
The difference between being "in the loop" and "leading the loop" when working with AI
Why originality, judgment, taste, emotional intelligence, and point of view remain uniquely human advantages
If you're trying to figure out how to use AI without becoming dependent on it, this conversation provides a thoughtful and practical roadmap.
The Wise Up! Podcast is your regular dose of business wisdom, brought to you by the members of OpenWater.

What if the biggest threat to your business performance isn't market conditions, competition, or technology—but the gradual decline of your own capacity? In this episode, I speak with entrepreneur, coach, and former competitive athlete Denis Champagne about the connection between physical strength, mental resilience, personal alignment, and long-term success. Drawing on more than 35 years in business and a lifetime of athletic competition, Denis shares why leaders must treat themselves as their most important asset—and why discipline ultimately matters more than motivation.
We cover topics including:
Why "refusing decline" begins with making—and sticking to—difficult decisions
How physical strength creates the capacity to recover from setbacks, adapt to change, and sustain performance over time
Why structure and discipline outperform motivation when it comes to achieving lasting personal and professional growth
If you've ever felt overwhelmed, fragmented, or simply less effective than you once were, this conversation offers a practical framework for rebuilding capacity from the inside out.
The Wise Up! Podcast is your regular dose of business wisdom, brought to you by the members of OpenWater.

What if the real secret to business development isn’t selling at all, but building genuine, friction-free relationships over time? In this episode, I speak with entrepreneur, implementation expert, and self-described “superconnector” Sharon Schanzer about the hidden mechanics of networking, execution, and sustainable business growth. Drawing on decades of experience spanning design, technology, consulting, and community-building, Sharon shares why connection is a long game, why most people underestimate the work of business development, and how generalists are becoming increasingly valuable in a specialized world.
We cover topics including:
Why “always be connecting” matters more than “always be closing”
How friction-free communication and follow-through create trust, referrals, and opportunity
Why execution—not just ideas—is the real differentiator for entrepreneurs and organizations
If you’ve ever struggled with networking, pipeline-building, or turning ideas into action, this conversation offers a refreshingly practical perspective on what actually moves business forward.
The Wise Up! Podcast is your regular dose of business wisdom, brought to you by the members of OpenWater.

What if the fastest path to growth isn’t chasing new revenue, but improving the profitability already inside your business?
In this episode, I speak with operations executive and cost optimization advisor Jeff Peduto about why cost optimization should be treated as a strategic growth lever—not just a reactive cost-cutting exercise. Drawing on decades of experience leading operational transformation and business optimization, Jeff explains how organizations can uncover hidden inefficiencies, improve supplier spend, protect margins, and create lasting operational discipline.
We cover topics including:
Why cost optimization is a growth strategy—and how smarter supplier management and operational efficiency can unlock meaningful working capital and EBITDA improvement
Why improvement programs often fail over time, and how accountability, operating discipline, and ownership make results stick
How a pay-for-performance consulting model aligns incentives around outcomes, not activity—reducing risk while increasing trust and execution
If your business is working hard but margins still feel tighter than they should, this conversation offers a practical roadmap for creating stronger financial performance.
The Wise Up! Podcast is your regular dose of business wisdom, brought to you by the members of OpenWater.

What if your organization’s margin challenges, client churn, or execution gaps aren’t operational problems at all, but leadership ones? In this episode, I speak with executive coach and fractional leader Jared Koesten about how aligning people, process, and strategy unlocks measurable business performance. Drawing on decades as a global CHRO and advisor to CEOs, Jared shares a practical framework for eliminating friction, achieving greater team engagement and strengthening leadership EQ.
We cover topics including:
Why clarity, alignment, processes and systems (“CAPS”) are the foundation of sustainable growth
How operating rhythm can exposes (and help resolve) hidden financial and organizational friction
The difference between strategic ambiguity in branding—and the danger of ambiguity in leadership
If you’ve ever been told to “just fix it,” this conversation offers a smarter, more durable way forward for leaders to inspire engagement and achieve sustainable improvements to their businesses.
The Wise Up! Podcast is your regular dose of business wisdom, brought to you by the members of OpenWater.

Search funds may be one of the best-kept secrets in alternative investing. In this episode, I speak with veteran venture capitalist Jon Staenberg, managing partner of the Agate Hound Fund — the world’s first fund of funds dedicated to this asset class. We explore how search funds empower young entrepreneurs to buy and grow small businesses, why the model has delivered outsized returns for decades, and what the coming “silver tsunami” of retiring owners means for future opportunities.
The Wise Up! Podcast is your regular dose of business wisdom, brought to you by the members of OpenWater.

Of the three major disciplines in global health, public health is both the least visible and the least well-funded. And yet, effective public health practices are critical to alleviating and even avoiding major health crises (think pandemics). In this episode, I chat about the future of public health with Dr. Jay Varma, who has led public health programs around the world for the past two decades. We discuss the importance of thinking from a prevention and policy mindset, the crisis facing effective public health administration, and the role of AI in relieving the pressures that put public health at risk. Could AI be the single biggest opportunity to improve public health in our lifetimes?
We cover topics including:
How public health complements R&D and care delivery to keep populations healthier
The role AI can play to help public health agencies forced to do more with less
Enabling “high touch” public health at scale
Please listen in to join this fascinating —and critical—conversation.