EPISODE #558 PREVIEW - ECONOMIC AND RELATIVITY: SECOND INTERVIEW WITH STEVEN LANDSBURG
This week on The Soul of Enterprise, Ron and Ed sit down with economist and author Steven Landsburg for a wide-ranging conversation that spans the frontiers of economics and physics. Known for his provocative insights and clear explanations of complex ideas, Landsburg discusses his latest work in economics—including why artificial intelligence continues to stumble on his famously challenging exams.
EPISODE #557 - AN AI INTERVIEW WITH KARL MARX
What happens when 19th-century ideology meets 21st-century technology? In this provocative and irreverent episode, Ed and Ron “sit down” with none other than Karl Marx—resurrected through the magic of AI voice synthesis and large language models—for a spirited, satirical, and intellectually charged conversation.
EPISODE #556 - INTERVIEW WITH A DRAGONSLAYER - FOURTH CONVERSATION WITH DAN MORRIS
In this episode, Ron and Ed sit down with Dan Morris, Chief Dragon Slayer at Morris and D’Angelo, for his fourth appearance on The Soul of Enterprise. Dan shares captivating stories from his decades-long career in international tax and accounting, including memorable IRS cases and the nuances of navigating complex tax law.
EPISODE #555: ON TRUMP'S AI ACTION PLAN: SECOND INTERVIEW WITH ADAM THIERER
In this episode, we sit down with Adam Thierer, Resident Senior Fellow at the R Street Institute, to unpack his recent analysis—AI Policy in Congress Mid‑2025: Where Are We Headed Next? We explore shifting congressional priorities, from the AI–China strategic race to the rising friction with state-level AI regulations. Adam also shares how policymakers are evolving from a fear-driven stance to one increasingly open to AI’s broader benefits. Dive in for thoughtful insight on the road ahead in federal AI governance.
EPISODE #554: KIMBERLEE JOSEPHSON (PART VI): SUPERMAN, SNACKS & THE INVISIBLE ORDER
Ron and Ed are thrilled to welcome back Kimberlee Josephson for the sixth time, diving into her fascinating latest piece: “Superman, Sneaking Snacks into Movies, and the Mystery of Social Order”. In it, Kimberlee reflects on how seemingly small acts—like sneaking snacks into a film screening—reveal the spontaneous, emergent structures that bind society—drawing on themes of personal norms, subtle coordination, and the texture of social order.
EPISODE #553: THE SOUL OF STRATEGY — FROM ANSWERS TO IMAGINATION
We throw the word strategy around so much that it risks becoming meaningless. Is it a plan? A budget? A list of goals? In this episode of The Soul of Enterprise, Ron and Ed revisit the meaning of strategy through the lens of John Hillen’s book The Strategy Dialogues: A Primer on Business Strategy and Strategic Management.
EPISODE #552: GROSS OUTPUT (GO) VS. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP): THE TOP LINE OF THE ECONOMY
For years, GDP has been treated as the ultimate scorecard of economic performance. But GDP only measures final goods and services. It’s like judging a business by gross margin while ignoring sales. Economist Mark Skousen’s innovation, Gross Output (GO), fixes that. GO is the “Top Line” of the economy—capturing total sales and revenues at every stage of production, from raw materials to finished goods.
EPISODE #551: CATCHALL CHAOS
Sometimes the best conversations come from the stories that don’t neatly fit into a single theme—but are too good to ignore. In this week’s episode of The Soul of Enterprise, Ron and Ed bring you a lively grab bag of pricing and business news, insights, and oddities they’ve collected from around the world.
EPISODE #550: THRESHOLD AND THE REVELATION
On their first independent episode, Ron and Ed will share some thoughts on the new format, the transformation economy, their new entity (THRESHOLD), and their Jerry Maguire mission statement to the professions entitled The REVELATION.
EPISODE TEASER: A NEW BEGINNING
Ron and Ed (well, just Ed, really) announced their transition from VoiceAmerica to their own platform. The show will continue streaming on Fridays at 3 PM Eastern/Noon PT, with the streams available at thesoulofenterprise.com or thresholdnow.com/tsoe. In addition to a few announcements, Ed shares the audio version of the Preamble to the REVELATION - a mission statement outlining their vision for the Transformation Economy focused on human flourishing.
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Ron Baker
Ronald J. Baker started his CPA career in 1984 with KPMG’s Private Business Advisory Services in San Francisco. Today, he is the founder of VeraSage Institute—the leading think tank dedicated to educating professionals internationally—and a radio talk-show host on the www.VoiceAmerica.com show: The Soul of Enterprise: Business in the Knowledge Economy, and the Chief Value Officer at Armanino LLP.
As a frequent speaker, writer, and educator, his work takes him around the world. He has been an instructor with the California CPA Education Foundation since 1995 and has authored over twenty courses for them, including: You Are What You Charge For: Success in Today’s Emerging Experience Economy (with Daniel Morris); Alternatives to the Federal Income Tax; Trashing the Timesheet: A Declaration of Independence; Everyday Economics; Everyday Ethics: Doing Well by Doing Good; and The Best Business Books You Should Read.
He is the author of seven best-selling books, including: Professional’s Guide to Value Pricing; The Firm of the Future: A Guide for Accountants, Lawyers, and Other Professional Services, co-authored with Paul Dunn; Pricing on Purpose: Creating and Capturing Value; Measure What Matters to Customers: Using Key Predictive Indicators; Mind Over Matter: Why Intellectual Capital is the Chief Source of Wealth; Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for Professional Firms; and his latest book The Soul of Enterprise: Dialogues on Business in the Knowledge Economy, co-authored with Ed Kless.
Ron has toured the world, spreading his value-pricing message to over 220,000 professionals. He has been appointed to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountant’s Group of One Hundred, a think tank of leaders to address the future of the profession; named on Accounting Today’s 2001 to 2007, and 2011 to 2019, Top 100 Most Influential People in the profession; voted among the Top Ten Most Influential People in the profession in 2012—2019; selected as one of LinkedIn’s Influencer Bloggers; inducted into the CPA Practice Advisor Hall of Fame in 2018; and received the 2003 Award for Instructor Excellence from the California CPA Education Foundation. He graduated in 1984 from San Francisco State University, with a Bachelor of Science in accounting and a minor in economics. He is a graduate of Disney University and Cato University, and is a faculty member of the Professional Pricing Society. He presently resides in Petaluma, California.
Ed Kless
Ed Kless joined Sage in July of 2003 and is currently the senior director of partner development and strategy. He develops and delivers curriculum for Sage business partners on the art and practice of small business consulting including the Sage Consulting Academy, Business Strategy and Customer Experience Workshops.
Ed hosts the Sage Advice Podcast and co-hosts the VoiceAmerica TalkShow Network’s The Soul of Enterprise with Ron Baker, founder of the VeraSage Institute where Ed is also a senior fellow. They coauthored The Soul of Enterprise: Dialogues on Business in the Knowledge Economy, a compendium of a few of the episodes.
Prior to joining Sage, Ed worked with Tipping Point Advisors, an organization dedicated to the growth and development of software implementation partners. In 1996, he co- founded Third Wave Business Systems, a Microsoft Dynamics GP partner that grew to 20 team members and $5 million in revenue. At Third Wave, Ed developed the implementation methodology and led the CRM and ERP consulting teams.
Ed is a contributor to industry publications and has spoken at many conferences worldwide on project management, pricing, and knowledge workers. He is also active in the Information Technology Alliance (ITA) and has been named to Accounting Today’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in Accounting numerous times including 2019. Additionally, Ed is a faculty member of the Professional Pricing Society.
He lives north of Dallas with his wife and two children and ran for Texas State Senate in 2010 and 2012 as a Libertarian.
Follow him on his blog at www.edkless.com or on Twitter @edkless.
Time’s Up NOW AVAILABLE
We have some great news!
In 2003, Ron Baker and Paul Dunn published The Firm of the Future: A Guide for Accountants, Lawyers, and Other Professional which revolutionized the business model of professional firms worldwide.
Now they are back with Time’s Up: The Subscription Business Model for Professional Firms which once again upends the business model.
