The Visionary Chronicles

Episode Title:  THE FUTURE LEADER AND AI How Visionary Executives Are Adapting, Evolving, and Leading in the Age of AI     Chronicle Number:  CHRONICLE 237  EPISODE DESCRIPTION    Episode Description: In this episode of The Visionary Chronicles, Bryan Smeltzer unpacks the five forces reshaping visionary leadership over the next decade — drawn from his book The Visionary Leader and 30 yearsof executive leadership at Oakley, adidas, and TaylorMade. Bryan breaks down how AI is augmentingthe executive role, why adaptive culture is now a competitive moat, how human-centered leadershipdrives performance in an AI-saturated workplace, the anatomy of purpose-driven leadership,and how Legacy Leaders operate on two time horizons simultaneously. If you are a CMO, founder, or executive leader building for the next decade — this is your framework.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   • How to lead alongside AI systems — and why strategic judgment is now the most defensible executive skill • Why adaptive organizations win — and the structural shifts Visionary Leaders are making right now • How to build human-centered culture as a durable competitive advantage • The anatomy of purpose-driven leadership — and the three questions every Visionary Leader must answer • How Legacy Leaders operate on two time horizons: 90-day execution and 1,000-day architecture   Timestamps: 00:00  —  Intro 00:XX  —  Why the Future of Leadership Matters Now 00:XX  —  Key Concept 1: The AI-Augmented Leader 00:XX  —  Key Concept 2: The Adaptive Organization 00:XX  —  Key Concept 3: The Human-Centered Leader 00:XX  —  Key Concept 4: The Purpose-Driven Brand 00:XX  —  Key Concept 5: The Legacy Leader 00:XX  —  Closing Challenge 00:XX  —  Book CTA: The Visionary Leader 00:XX  —  Outro   📘 If this episode resonated with you, grab a copy of The Visionary Leader — The Success Principles of the World's Greatest Visionaries. Available now wherever books are sold. As a thank you to podcast listeners, the eBook is available for just $1.99. Your purchase supports the show and helps future Visionaries find the content. 🔗 Purchase | The Visionary Leader → https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DNKVZ72B   💼 Work with Bryan directly on your brand strategy: LiquidMind Advisory → https://liquidmindsite.com/advisory Sessions One 2 One (Free 15-min intro) → https://tidycal.com/bryansmeltzer/free-15-minute-introductory-meeting-with-bryan   APPLE PODCASTS REVIEW REQUEST ⭐ If this episode helped you, please take 30 seconds to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps others find the show and keeps The Visionary Chronicles growing. Search 'The Visionary Chronicles' → Ratings & Reviews → Write a Review. Thank you.       📬 Newsletter | The Visionary Advisory Letter — Weekly brand strategy and leadership insights: https://bryansmeltzer.com/ 🎓 Course | The Visionary Brand MasterCourse (18 modules, 2 hrs): https://www.thevisionaryfiles.com/ — About Bryan Smeltzer Bryan Smeltzer is a bestselling author, business executive, entrepreneur, and brand strategist. He held executive roles at Oakley, adidas, TaylorMade, K-Swiss, and Schutt Sports, founded a men's apparel brand and sold it to a VC firm, and now leads LiquidMind Inc. — a global brand strategy advisory firm. The Visionary Chronicles is ranked #1 Visionary and Top 50 Global Marketing Podcast by Feedspot. 🔗 Follow Bryan LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryansmeltzer/ Instagram → @bryansmeltzer33 X → @bryan_smeltzer Website → https://bryansmeltzer.com/ 📧 Contact → [email protected] — © 2026 Bryan Smeltzer / LiquidMind Inc. All rights reserved. #TheVisionaryChronicles #BryanSmeltzer #VisionaryLeadership #BrandStrategy #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveLeadership #BrandBuilding #ProductInnovation   Episode Hashtags: #futureOfLeadership #visionaryLeadership #leadershipTrends #AIleadership #adaptiveLeadership #purposeDriven #legacyLeadership #leadershipDevelopment2026 #executiveLeadership      

  EPISODE 135 CHRONICLE: November 29th, 2023   Venture Capital | How to Prepare Your Company   "Go as far as you can see, when you get there, you'll be able to see farther..."                                                                                              Leadership from JP Morgan   In looking at the factors and misconceptions behind why some companies get funded, others get left with no avenue to attaining the funding they feel they need or deserve. Having done many deals, predominantly with Visionary entrepreneurs, start-ups, and mid-tier companies, I have found several reasons why some were able to gain interest, get a meeting, and finally culminate in funding. Most questions I receive from the companies we work with at LiquidMind (LiquidMindsite.com) are how to locate a VC firm, their priorities, where they find deals, and when I will receive a Term Sheet. There are many points of contact, but I have broken these into five areas of focus when dealing with VC firms. The HUNT | Finding Deal Flow 44% of deal flow comes predominantly from through their network, investors, or other entrepreneurs. 30% of deal flow comes from References. From Pitches, although many entrepreneurs think this is the avenue, it is the path least traveled at 10% of Deal Flow. The ODDS | The Funnel 100 Opportunities. 28 get a Meeting. 10 get an internal meeting. 5 go on to Due Diligence. 1-2 get a Term Sheet.   The CLOSE | Deal Timeline. Due Diligence | 120 hours, on average. Close | 90-120 days, on average. The FACTORS | Most important to VCs. Founders/Team | 95% Business Plan/Opportunity | 75% Market Size/Exit | 70% Industry | 30% Valuation | low point on the totem pole, valuation determined upon exit, and multiple dollar-to-dollar investments. IRR vs. DCF analysis.   The DEAL | After Close Value. Guidance | 90% Investor flow | 70% Connections | 65% Operations | 60% Board | 55% As you can see, this is very definitive outline but can change relative to the deal flow, opportunity, and other factors. Although not an exact science, this gives you a good indicator of what is on a Venture Capital firm's radar, the best chances you may have for striking interest, and hopefully, a Term Sheet. Good luck, and Enjoy the Ride!   Stay True, Stay Authentic, be Different, and be Great! Enjoy the Journey!   Bryan Smeltzer, President  LiquidMind Inc.   #TheVisionaryChroniclesPodcast #TheVisionaryBrandBook   @LiquidMindsite.com @BryanSmeltzer.com    © All rights reserved, Bryan Smeltzer, 2023     Bryan Smeltzer is a consumer products business executive and entrepreneur. He has held executive-level roles in business development, Product, and marketing with some of the world's most prestigious brands, including; Oakley, TaylorMade, Adidas, K-Swiss, and Schutt Sports, among other international brands. He also founded a men’s apparel brand, successfully running a profitable business for ten years, eventually selling to a VC firm.     He also hosts a Podcast called The Visionary Chronicles, ranked as the #1 Visionary and Top 50 Marketing Podcasts by Feedspot, and recently finished his first bestselling book, The Visionary Brand, The Success Formula Behind the World’s Most Visionary Brands, and recently received the prestigious Readers Favorite Award for BEST Non-fiction, Marketing Genre book.   With the book's release, Bryan created The Visionary Brand MasterCourse. The Master Course site at The VisionaryFiles.com includes a Master Course with 18 Video Learning segments and almost 2 hours of Visionary lessons training. Over the past five weeks, over 1,500 brand leaders and Entrepreneurs have taken the Master Course! Unleash your potential as a brand leader and take the Master Course.     Bryan oversees LiquidMind Inc., a global brand strategy firm that partners with start-ups and established mid to large-cap consumer brands to empower businesses to think differently, be different, drive a passionate culture, and execute relentlessly. You can contact or  follow him at;   email |  [email protected] Facebook |  @bryansmeltzer33  Instagram | @bryan_smeltzer X |  @bryansmeltzer LinkedIn |  linkedin.com/in/bryansmeltzer/

The Visionary Chronicles Podcast CHRONICLE: November 17th, 2022   "When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps..."                                                                                     Life Wisdom from Confucius   Podcast: Goals | How to Set Goals and Achieve Your Vision With the new year upon us and the past year presenting so many challenges, the ability to set and move ahead with your Goals is imperative. It sets the Future, a Vision that moves us beyond the past and allows us to achieve that which seems unattainable. But how do you effectively set and achieve your goals? Interestingly, I engage with companies and leaders looking for answers to increasing innovation, productivity, or efficiency, each seemingly distinct but separate Goals. There is nothing wrong with this thinking other than the intent should be to tie them all together to improve your brand and teams. However, the realization hits them when they consistently fail and do not embrace the risk required to succeed. These scenarios reflect the real world, where only 8% of those who set goals achieve them. In my new Visionary Chronicles Podcast, Goals | How to Set Goals and Achieve your Vision, I address this question, providing insightful principles on setting goals properly and executing them through a step-by-step process. When setting Goals, they must be challenging but attainable. Here are ten proven Principles for assuring Goals are stretched but attainable ; Change your daily Habits or Routines to enhance productivity. Look at your daily/hourly routine, and disrupt it to find more time. Be realistic with your Goals, but offer up a Stretch to achieving them. They must be attainable, but only through sweat and failure. Give everyone a sense of accomplishment. Find support where needed after analyzing your daily Habits/Routine. You can not achieve success consistently without some help…find it. Take Two Steps Forward and one Step back. The path to Success is not a straight line, step back and evaluate the way forward. Share Success, Embrace Failure. Failure is your pathway to eventual Success. Move out of the Status quo to realize your Vision. Break free from Habits, and change your routine to be more effective. Also, don't multi-task; your brain likes to complete one path before moving on to another. Realize progress, find what works and what does not. Then, do more of what works and less of what does not. Simple but powerful! Have Faith, know you are not alone—calming influence in turbulent times. Times change, be ready to make your move. Covid should be a lesson learned when being prepared to Adapt. Always be moving forward. When you take two steps forward, just do not take three back.   Within these principles, you will find roadblocks and barriers to achieving eventual Success. But just stick to your path no matter how rocky. The old cliché holds if it were easy, everyone would do it. Set definitive goals, change your habits, find support along the way, and have Faith that all things will work together for good.   Stay True, Stay Authentic, be Different, and be Great! Enjoy the Journey!   Bryan Smeltzer, President LiquidMind Inc. #TheVisionaryPodcast #TheVisionaryBrandBook   @LiquidMindsite.com @BryanSmeltzer.com    © All rights reserved, Bryan Smeltzer, 2022   Bryan Smeltzer is a successful consumer products business executive and entrepreneur. He has held executive-level roles in business development, product, and marketing with some of the world's most prestigious brands, including; Oakley, TaylorMade, Adidas, K-Swiss, and Schutt Sports, among other international brands. He also founded a men's apparel brand, successfully running a profitable business for ten years, eventually selling to a VC firm.   He also hosts a Podcast called The Visionary Chronicles. In addition, he recently finished his first bestselling book, The Visionary Brand, The Success Formula Behind the World's Most Visionary Brands. He recently received the prestigious Readers Favorite Award for BEST Non-fiction, Marketing Genre book. He is a member of the Board of Advisors at UCI's BCIE along with their New Venture Program, an Innovation Advisor at the UCI's Applied Innovation program at the Cove, a Mentor/Advisor to UCLA's Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and the UCLA Media, Entertainment and Sports programs, and the San Diego Sports Innovators Accelerator (SDSI) center.   Bryan currently oversees LiquidMind Inc., a global brand strategy firm that partners with start-ups and established mid to large-cap consumer brands to empower businesses to think differently, be different, drive a passionate culture, and execute relentlessly.    [email protected]   @bryansmeltzer33  @bryan_smeltzer  @bryansmeltzer  linkedin.com/in/bryansmeltzer/    

The Visionary Brand, The Success Formula Behind the World's Most Visionary Brands “Exceptionally well written, organized, and presented, The Visionary Brand must be considered essential reading for all aspiring entrepreneurs and corporate executives seeking to expand their market share. The Visionary Brand is unreservedly recommended for community, corporate, college, university library Business Management instructional reference collections, and for the personal reading lists of entrepreneurs, MBA students, and corporate executives."                                                             James Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review   The Visionary Brand, The Success Formula Behind the World's Most Visionary Brands When I decided to write The Visionary Brand, The Success Formula Behind the World’s Most Visionary Brands, I was very fortunate to have been inside some of the world’s most creative, disruptive, and revolutionary brands. These brands were each different, positioning themselves differently, engaging strategically, creating consistently, understanding why they exist, how they are unique, and building a culture that drives the passion for driving the brand forward. I found each fascinating and having been inside the walls of the executive suite seeing firsthand how these great brands operated was an experience few get to experience and witness. So, this experience, along with having a passion for reading and absorbing how other great brands were able to navigate the path to success for generations effectively, built a great base of knowledge both inside and outside these four walls. These insanely great companies and the leaders behind the curtain, the wizards pulling the brand along and successfully executing a Vision no one else could see or comprehend. The experience was the inspiration, and this is where the Journey started. Having been with these brands and throughout my years, I found that there truly was no ONE Visionary brand, a company that had all the pieces in place. Some had most, but none had all to achieve this status. So as I prepared to write The Visionary Brand, I wanted it to be an outline of the pieces required to achieve Visionary level. Also, I intended to interpret the content quickly and apply it to your day-to-day and long-term strategy. In having read hundreds of books, all either Bios of great leaders or disruptive brands, most were told from outside in perspective or academic standpoint. Neither of these is easily applied, nor are they beneficial unless you are a multi-billion brand with significant resources to execute their strategy. Therefore, I wanted to take an Entrepreneurial spin on building the structure of The Visionary Brand, which can be applied with limited resources, brands both big and small and measurement in results. It has been a passion and longtime goal to write this book, many times wanting to hang up my pen and other times spilling out thoughts that seemed never-ending. Both extremes are why I feel The Visionary Brand is so tangible to leaders at all levels and industries. You will find a clear, tangible path to understanding, achieving, and realizing the pieces of putting your Visionary brand puzzle together. I intended to make it clear, tangible, and fun to execute individually and as a team. Achieving Visionary status seems intangible to most, and it is meant to be by design. However, if you can acquire insight into building your path to generational success while putting these pieces in place, I will have served my purpose in writing The Visionary Brand! Inside the cover of The Visionary Brand, you will step by step insight into what an authentic Visionary brand is, how this machine runs, what their point of difference is, and how these tangible and intangible points of difference allow them to crush their Competition. Journey/Brand It starts with my Journey to writing the book and then defines what a Brand truly is built from a foundational perspective.   Vision/Elements The book then moves to Vision from the brand and how companies separate themselves through foresight and a product innovation pipeline. I discuss how this revolution is the difference that defines these Visionary brands and how imitators will never be leaders. The elements that set great brands apart and allow them to sustain their category leadership for generations. Disruption, being Different, and Case Studies around each.   Positioning/Omni-Channel From Vision, I move to marketplace positioning and omnichannel strategy. Ensuring you are consistent in all you do, being authentic, ensuring the bloodlines are true to the Vision—strategic competitiveness, Lifestyle marketing, and being the best at ALL times.   Power Triad/Culture Product/Marketing & Sales, the Power Triad. How they drive the brand forward, and how each builds a Culture to be envied by all their competitors.   Product Vision/Ecosystem Breakaway design, innovation pipeline, drawdown strategy, and commercialization. Each a piece of a strategic arsenal brands deploy every day. They were leading through extinction and building an Ecosystem that allows the brands to capture a community and make a Loyal following.   Fuel/UX Marketing is The Fuel that keeps a brand moving forward, executing on the Vision and ensuring its positioning always is consistent and authentic. Personalization and Ambassador engagement are two unique platforms for brands to ensure they continue to build their community, the heart, and soul of DTC revenue. Finally, the UX, empathizing and understanding your customers.   Artist/Courage These are areas rarely discussed, but I felt they were probably the most important to put in my book. Without Artists and Courage, you have neither the creativity to be different to the guts to take risks. In summary, The Visionary Brand was written for those looking to understand what is significant, being Visionary, being different to sustain long-term success, and what they do to create brand Loyalty. Also, it was written from an inside out perspective, understanding is as much personal, as it is business acumen. Be a Leader, Be a Visionary, Be Compassionate, Be Great!   Stay True, stay Authentic, be Different, be Great! Enjoy the Journey! Bryan Smeltzer, President LiquidMind Inc. @LiquidMindsite.com @BryanSmeltzer.com   © All rights reserved, Bryan Smeltzer, 2022   Subscribe to The Visionary Chronicles PODCAST,  and receive The Visionary Chronicles Weekly Newsletter, along with a FREE copy of my new book; THE VISIONARY BRAND, The Success Formula Behind the World’s Most Visionary Brands. I am providing a FREE copy with the hope you will review Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, or any other international distributions sites the book is currently being distributed. It is always greatly appreciated when you spread the word through REVIEWS! Enjoy! Visionary Interviews, I will be doing some upcoming interviews with some icons in the industry. If you happen to know of someone, I may want to interview, please let me know. Just provide some brief information, and if it works, we will reach out.                         LiquidMind a Brand Strategy Firm for those looking to disrupt their industry, build a global digital platform, business execution leadership, or just need someone who understands your business's complexities and can provide solutions.