Thought Liters

Adam Conner
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Thought Liters: Connecting the top of the world with the bottom of a glass. Join host and creator Adam Conner as he sips and spills with the world’s best and brightest across business, athletics, and the arts. Enjoy each episode in its full-pour, unfiltered glory. Cheers! Proudly built in Pittsburgh, PA.

  1. Inside a Sports Shorts Empire: The Frank Michael Smith Story

    May 28

    Inside a Sports Shorts Empire: The Frank Michael Smith Story

    Frank Michael Smith has built what millions only dream of: a digital media empire with billions of views. But he didn't do it by taking shortcuts, using view bots, or getting lucky. Today, we get to the bottom of what it means to be a sports creator and an entrepreneur. We trace Frank's steps from filming sled jump highlight reels in 2007 to pitching an early app to 500-person college lecture halls. Frank breaks down why he refuses to micromanage his creative team, why the NBA needs to abolish its draft, and his aspirations for a feature-length documentary on Mathew Bowyer. (He also explains how a single comment turned into a piece of merchandise that his wife couldn't wait to get out of their house.) 00:00 Sled Jumps and Early YouTube 03:14 Thinking Like an Artist 04:39 Learning the Hard Way 07:32 The Failed College App Business 09:36 The Power of Original Content 11:39 Why Follower Counts Still Matter 13:31 Building the Rhino Brand 16:14 Shifting from Stories to Opinions 20:22 How to Hire a Video Team 25:29 Why the NBA Draft is a Mistake 29:03 Mathew Bowyer Documentary down the road #businesspodcast #pittsburgh #thoughtliters WHAT IS THOUGHT LITERS? Thought Liters is a series created and hosted by Adam Conner. On the show, Adam learns from the top of the world through the bottom of their glass. Each episode, we share a flight of local craft with the best and brightest brand minds around – whether it be an entrepreneur, an athlete, an artist, or otherwise. The questions evolve as the sip changes. The show is proudly founded and produced in Pittsburgh, PA. The whole goal is to have conversations about business with a more lighthearted look and feel. Adam thinks most business content is dry, and wants to change that. If you’re interested, follow along! If not, that’s cool too. But if you wanna be where the thought leaders are…you’ll tune in to where Thought Liters is.

    35 min
  2. What is Soju? Inside The 13th-Century Spirit Taking Over the West | Hello Soju CEO Elisabeth Baron

    May 20

    What is Soju? Inside The 13th-Century Spirit Taking Over the West | Hello Soju CEO Elisabeth Baron

    Today, we discover the magic of soju. Despite its 13th-century origins and massive global popularity, this incredible rice-based spirit is still a mystery to many in the US. I sit down with Elisabeth Baron, the CEO of Hello Soju, to taste five distinct flavors of their sparkling spin on the spirit (plus the core juice) and get to the bottom of the "K-Cal culture" phenomenon. From Asian Pear to Green Grape, we learn how Elisabeth is blending traditional Korean culture with the modern California lifestyle. We dive into the science of modernizing a historic beverage, the secret to getting "liquid to lips," and how to build a vibrant community around a brand. Plus, stick around to the end to see how to execute the perfect, high-octane "Soju Bomb," before Elisabeth shares some incredibly vulnerable advice on balancing family, knowing your worth, and making bold career leaps. 00:00 Intro & The Rise of K-Cal Culture 01:19 Asian Pear & What is Soju? 06:44 Lychee & Innovating Heritage Brands 12:05 Lemon Yuzu & Taking Career Leaps 17:20 Peach & Breaking into the Market 20:45 Green Grape & The Lightning Round 24:37 The Hello Soju Bomb 26:46 Last Call: Choosing Family Over Prestige #businesspodcast #pittsburgh #thoughtliters WHAT IS THOUGHT LITERS? Thought Liters is a series created and hosted by Adam Conner. On the show, Adam learns from the top of the world through the bottom of their glass. Each episode, we share a flight of local craft with the best and brightest brand minds around – whether it be an entrepreneur, an athlete, an artist, or otherwise. The questions evolve as the sip changes. The show is proudly founded and produced in Pittsburgh, PA. The whole goal is to have conversations about business with a more lighthearted look and feel. Adam thinks most business content is dry, and wants to change that. If you’re interested, follow along! If not, that’s cool too. But if you wanna be where the thought leaders are…you’ll tune in to where Thought Liters is.

    31 min
  3. They Cracked the Code to Guaranteed Virality | Fixated Founders Zach Katz and Jason Wilhelm

    May 13

    They Cracked the Code to Guaranteed Virality | Fixated Founders Zach Katz and Jason Wilhelm

    Can you actually manufacture virality? Zach Katz and Jason Wilhelm, the co-founders of Fixated, join to explain that you can. Fixated was built to be the architect behind some of the internet's biggest cultural phenomena. They've done well so far -- their first client was Sketch, who they brought on when he had only a few hundred viewers, and scaled him into a megastar. Since then, they've taken on big investor money and bought firms like Ellify, Elevate, and Studio71 to continue to scale. Today on the show, Zach and Jason pull back the curtain on the creator economy, exposing the dark side of early talent management and revealing the uncompromising "burn the boats" mentality required to reach the top. From building massive creator houses to discovering true talent in a sea of millions, you'll learn how two industry pros navigate the modern creator economy. 0:00 The Boldest Claim in Content: Can You Actually Manufacture Virality? 2:15 Pop Culture History: The Hilarious "Sean Kingston" Origin Story 4:51 Building the Sway House: Professionalizing the Creator Mansion Model 9:36 Exposing Predatory MCN Deals & The FaZe Clan "Shush" Story 16:22 The Fixated Blueprint: How to Guarantee Distribution & Views 33:33 The Sketch Story: Finding a Mega-Creator Before They Explode 39:25 Controversial Takes: Why "48 Laws of Power" is Messing Creators Up 57:27 The "Burn the Boats" Mentality: Why Having a Plan B Guarantees Failure #businesspodcast #pittsburgh #thoughtliters WHAT IS THOUGHT LITERS? Thought Liters is a series created and hosted by Adam Conner. On the show, Adam learns from the top of the world through the bottom of their glass. Each episode, we share a flight of local craft with the best and brightest brand minds around – whether it be an entrepreneur, an athlete, an artist, or otherwise. The questions evolve as the sip changes. The show is proudly founded and produced in Pittsburgh, PA. The whole goal is to have conversations about business with a more lighthearted look and feel. Adam thinks most business content is dry, and wants to change that. If you’re interested, follow along! If not, that’s cool too. But if you wanna be where the thought leaders are…you’ll tune in to where Thought Liters is.

    58 min
  4. Penguins President Turned Pittsburgh Protector: The Kevin Acklin Story

    May 6

    Penguins President Turned Pittsburgh Protector: The Kevin Acklin Story

    How do you protect the soul of the working class when you're the one brokering the billion-dollar deals? Kevin Acklin is the former President of the Pittsburgh Penguins and former Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Pittsburgh. Born and raised in South Oakland, Kevin shares his incredible journey from leading his childhood hockey league in penalty minutes to navigating the highest stakes in sports and civic leadership. Kevin unpacks the formative moments of his career, including a shocking boardroom revelation in North Carolina that forever cemented his drive to protect the "little guy." We also get the untold, behind-the-scenes story of how he orchestrated the return of NHL legend Jaromir Jagr to Pittsburgh. 00:00 Intro: Preserving Pittsburgh's Soul 00:49 The Enforcer of South Oakland: Growing up across the street from Dan Marino and leading the league in penalty minutes 06:26 The Man in the Arena: Drawing inspiration from Teddy Roosevelt and empowering the community 11:33 The Boardroom vs. The Working Class: The emotional North Carolina term sheet story that cemented his defense of the "little guy" 20:35 Rebuilding the City: From painting cannons to saving August Wilson's boyhood home and becoming Chief of Staff 29:29 Bringing Jaromir Jagr Home: The mysterious phone call, the jersey retirement, and the stolen bobbleheads 45:43 Lightning Round 54:28 What's Next?: Life at Stevens & Lee, looking toward the future, and why his client will always be Pittsburgh #businesspodcast #pittsburgh #thoughtliters WHAT IS THOUGHT LITERS? Thought Liters is a series created and hosted by Adam Conner. On the show, Adam learns from the top of the world through the bottom of their glass. Each episode, we share a flight of local craft with the best and brightest brand minds around – whether it be an entrepreneur, an athlete, an artist, or otherwise. The questions evolve as the sip changes. The show is proudly founded and produced in Pittsburgh, PA. The whole goal is to have conversations about business with a more lighthearted look and feel. Adam thinks most business content is dry, and wants to change that. If you’re interested, follow along! If not, that’s cool too. But if you wanna be where the thought leaders are…you’ll tune in to where Thought Liters is.

    1h 3m
  5. The Bartender Who Built a Billion Dollar Airport | Christina Cassotis, CEO of the Pittsburgh International Airport

    Apr 29

    The Bartender Who Built a Billion Dollar Airport | Christina Cassotis, CEO of the Pittsburgh International Airport

    Christina Cassotis, CEO of the Pittsburgh International Airport, is executing the first ground-up, brand-new airport build in the US since the pandemic. Today she joins Thought Liters to tell that story and answer an important question: why do it You'll also get to learn about Christina lifts up leaders, her 2030 vision for air travel in and out of the Steel City, and how she went from intentionally flunking out of college to becoming a high-powered CEO. Special thanks to Cafe Conmigo (and their owner Derek) who let us use their space inside the new terminal to film. 0:00 The $1.7B Comeback (Trailer) 1:09 Meet Christina Cassotis & The Pan Am Pilot Influence 3:09 The Iced Tea Flight at Cafe Conmigo 5:01 Why Great Ideas Fail (How to "Architect" Change) 6:48 Leadership is Just Selling an Idea 8:22 The Day the Hub Pulled Out: "This Isn't Coming Back" 11:06 Speaking Truth to Power & Winning the Room 15:23 Inside the New Terminal: Constellation Lighting & Design 22:34 The Biggest Challenge: Building During a Global Pandemic 26:49 Lightning Round: Rating Wild Airport Upgrades 30:28 Inside the Actor's Studio: What Gets a CEO Out of Bed 41:01 Last Call: Legacy-First Leadership & Mentorship 47:16 Unfinished Business: The Final 6% of the New PIT 49:18 Flunking Out of College & Advice for Your 20s 51:00 The Final Sip & Behind the Scenes at Cafe Conmigo #businesspodcast #pittsburgh #thoughtliters WHAT IS THOUGHT LITERS? Thought Liters is a series created and hosted by Adam Conner. On the show, Adam learns from the top of the world through the bottom of their glass. Each episode, we share a flight of local craft with the best and brightest brand minds around – whether it be an entrepreneur, an athlete, an artist, or otherwise. The questions evolve as the sip changes, The show is proudly founded and produced in Pittsburgh, PA. The whole goal is to have conversations about business with a more lighthearted look and feel. Adam thinks most business content is dry, and wants to change that. If you’re interested, follow along! If not, that’s cool too. But if you wanna be where the thought leaders are…you’ll tune in to where Thought Liters is.

    52 min
  6. How This Smart Locker Became the Hard Drive of the Neighborhood | Miles Mufuka Martin, Co-Founder & CEO of Relai

    Apr 22

    How This Smart Locker Became the Hard Drive of the Neighborhood | Miles Mufuka Martin, Co-Founder & CEO of Relai

    Miles Mufuka Martin, founder of Relai, joins to share how he's building the future of local delivery via a network of battery-powered asynchronous exchange zones... and perhaps the hard drive of the neighborhood as a result. Miles shares the gritty reality of building a company from the ground up, including getting rejected by 300 businesses before a local pizza shop finally said yes to hosting their first asynchronous exchange zone. We dive deep into the challenges of hardware development, what it took to learn how to code after getting burned by outside dev shops, and how Relai is secretly building a hyper-localized network of compute power for local businesses and startups. 00:00 The Local Delivery Paradox 00:20 What is Relai? (Asynchronous Exchange Zones) 02:50 300 Rejections: Getting the First Pizza Shop 04:15 Getting Burned & Learning to Code from Scratch 08:11 Heritage, Resilience, and the "Figure It Out" Mentality 11:46 The Co-Founder Dynamics of a Hardware Startup 14:21 The Secret: Building "Invisible Infrastructure" 19:38 Lightning Round: Business Mistakes & The Roku Dream 23:59 The Pittsburgh Dream: Exchange Zones on the Sister Bridges #businesspodcast #pittsburgh #thoughtliters WHAT IS THOUGHT LITERS? Thought Liters is a series created and hosted by Adam Conner. On the show, Adam learns from the top of the world through the bottom of their glass. Each episode, we share a flight of local craft with the best and brightest brand minds around – whether it be an entrepreneur, an athlete, an artist, or otherwise. The questions evolve as the sip changes. The show is proudly founded and produced in Pittsburgh, PA. The whole goal is to have conversations about business with a more lighthearted look and feel. Adam thinks most business content is dry, and wants to change that. If you’re interested, follow along! If not, that’s cool too. But if you wanna be where the thought leaders are…you’ll tune in to where Thought Liters is.

    26 min
  7. This Neuroscientist's Brain Upgrade Makes AI 70% Cheaper

    Mar 12

    This Neuroscientist's Brain Upgrade Makes AI 70% Cheaper

    The AI energy and compute arms race is completely unsustainable. Companies are burning billions of dollars on hardware to run artificial intelligence, and they are all using the exact same foundational building block from 1943: the artificial neuron. Today, Dr. Rorry Brenner, neuroscientist and CEO of Perforated AI, reveals why AI desperately needs a "brain upgrade." Rorry breaks down how introducing biological dendritic technology—essentially the "brain of the neuron"—can make AI models run twice as fast while making them 70% cheaper to operate. In this episode, we cover: -- Why the 80-year-old artificial neuron is driving compute costs through the roof. -- The "Brain Upgrade": What dendritic technology actually is and how it works. -- How to cut your AI compute and hardware costs by 70% without losing accuracy. -- The difference between "raising the ceiling" (better accuracy) and "lowering the floor" (cheaper compute). -- How making AI cheaper will democratize the industry and enable offline edge computing. -- The massive environmental benefits of moving away from electricity-guzzling server farms. 00:00 Introduction: Why AI Compute is So Expensive 01:47 Welcome Dr. Rorry Brenner & The AI Hardware Arms Race 07:06 The "Brain Upgrade": What is a Dendrite? 08:46 The Metaphor: An Army of Toddlers vs. A Team of Adults 11:14 Lowering the Floor: Making Compute Cheaper 15:30 How Perforated AI is Bringing Dendrites to Market 22:00 Real-World Impact: Cutting AI Costs by 70% 27:11 Will This Solve the AI Hype Cycle Decline? 31:23 Democratizing AI and The Future of Edge Computing 34:07 Lightning Round 38:31 The Green AI Future & Last CallWHAT IS THOUGHT LITERS?Thought Liters is a series created and hosted by Adam Conner. On the show, Adam learns from the top of the world through the bottom of their glass. Each episode, we share a flight of local craft with the best and brightest brand minds around – whether it be an entrepreneur, an athlete, an artist, or otherwise. The questions evolve as the sip changes.The show is proudly founded and produced in Pittsburgh, PA.The whole goal is to have conversations about business with a more lighthearted look and feel. Adam thinks most business content is dry, and wants to change that.If you’re interested, follow along! If not, that’s cool too. But if you wanna be where the thought leaders are…you’ll tune in to where Thought Liters is.

    44 min
  8. He Built a Robotic Leg to Help Amputees Walk Again | Josh Caputo, Humotech

    Feb 24

    He Built a Robotic Leg to Help Amputees Walk Again | Josh Caputo, Humotech

    Imagine buying a car without test-driving it. If you hate it, you can't return it. That is the unthinkable reality for many of the 2.5 million people in the US living with limb loss. In this episode of Thought Liters, we sit down with Josh Caputo, CEO of Humotech. Josh explains how his company is revolutionizing the industry by using a robotic system that lets patients test-drive different prosthetic feet before they commit. Instead of being stuck with the wrong fit for 3 to 5 years due to insurance rules, Humotech allows patients to find their perfect fit in minutes. We dive deep into Josh's journey from a technically curious engineer at Carnegie Mellon University to pioneering a brand-new clinical business model. We also explore the future of wearable robotics, orthotics, and exoskeletons. Plus, stick around for our brand-new lightning round where Josh shares what keeps him up at night and the hard truths about the marathon of entrepreneurship. 00:00 The Unthinkable Problem in Prosthetics 01:48 Finding the Spark at Carnegie Mellon University 05:29 The Entrepreneur's Dilemma & Finding First Customers 08:18 Creating a "Shoe Store" for Prosthetic Feet 11:10 Moving from R&D into Real-World Clinics 13:38 How the Robotic Emulator Actually Works 15:21 Beating the 3-to-5 Year Insurance Trap 17:39 The $15B Market and the Future of Exoskeletons 21:30 Lightning Round: The Marathon of Entrepreneurship #businesspodcast #pittsburgh #thoughtliters WHAT IS THOUGHT LITERS? Thought Liters is a series created and hosted by Adam Conner. On the show, Adam learns from the top of the world through the bottom of their glass. Each episode, we share a flight of local craft with the best and brightest brand minds around – whether it be an entrepreneur, an athlete, an artist, or otherwise. The questions evolve as the sip changes. The show is proudly founded and produced in Pittsburgh, PA. The whole goal is to have conversations about business with a more lighthearted look and feel. Adam thinks most business content is dry, and wants to change that. If you’re interested, follow along! If not, that’s cool too. But if you wanna be where the thought leaders are…you’ll tune in to where Thought Liters is.

    27 min
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About

Thought Liters: Connecting the top of the world with the bottom of a glass. Join host and creator Adam Conner as he sips and spills with the world’s best and brightest across business, athletics, and the arts. Enjoy each episode in its full-pour, unfiltered glory. Cheers! Proudly built in Pittsburgh, PA.

Information

  • Creator
    Adam Conner
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Adam Conner
  • Show Website
    Thought Liters