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Cut The Tie Podcast with Justin Kuyper

For decades, hedge fund and private equity strategies were reserved for institutions and ultra-wealthy investors. In this episode of Cut The Tie, host Thomas Helfrich sits down with Justin Kuyper, founder of OpenVest, to break down why access to sophisticated investment strategies has been limited—and how technology and regulation are finally changing that reality.

Justin shares his journey from Wall Street to fintech founder, explaining how the traditional investment system was built with layers of friction, high fees, and structural barriers that locked out everyday investors. This conversation dives into how OpenVest is removing those barriers while staying compliant, transparent, and investor-focused.

About Justin Kuyper:

Justin Kuyper is the founder of OpenVest, a fintech platform designed to give individual investors access to hedge fund and private-equity-style strategies traditionally limited to institutions. With an MBA from Columbia University and a background working on Wall Street, Justin brings deep experience in financial markets, regulation, and investment infrastructure. His work focuses on reducing unnecessary middle layers, lowering fees, and expanding access to actively managed investment strategies.

In this episode, Thomas and Justin discuss:

• Why hedge fund and private equity strategies were built for institutions
• How high fees and intermediaries quietly erode investor returns
• The structural difference between passive index investing and active management
• Why access—not intelligence—is often the biggest investing disadvantage
• How OpenVest uses regulated infrastructure to protect investor assets
• Managing downside risk during volatile market conditions
• Why non-accredited investors have historically been excluded
• What responsible democratization of investing actually looks like

Key Takeaways:

• Access has always been the real advantage
  Opportunity in investing has historically been about entry, not intelligence.
• Middle layers quietly extract value
  Fees, opacity, and intermediaries cap long-term returns without being obvious.
• Technology changes who gets in
  Platforms can unlock strategies once limited to institutions and insiders.
• You don’t need millions to participate
  Smaller amounts, invested consistently, can still compound meaningfully.
• Control beats complexity
  Clear systems and transparency outperform convoluted financial structures.

Connect with Justin Kuyper:

🌐 Website: https://openvest.co/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-kuyper-a862b0103/

Connect with Thomas Helfrich:

🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelfrich
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cutthetie
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfrich
🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 InstantlyRelevant.com

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Cut The Tie Podcast with Henry Yoshida

Most executives spend decades earning, saving, and investing money without ever truly understanding where their capital sits or how much control they actually have over it.

In this episode of Cut The Tie, Thomas Helfrich sits down with Henry Yoshida, CEO and co-founder of Rocket Dollar, to unpack the mindset shift that separates passive investing from intentional ownership. Henry shares his journey from corporate finance at Merrill Lynch to building financial technology companies that help people unlock alternative investments inside retirement accounts.

This conversation explores why access often matters more than invention, how comfort can quietly limit opportunity, and why knowing where the money is can change how executives think about risk, freedom, and long-term success.

About Henry Yoshida

Henry Yoshida is the CEO and co-founder of Rocket Dollar, a financial technology company that enables individuals to invest retirement funds into private and alternative assets. With a career rooted in financial services and retirement planning, Henry has built multiple companies focused on giving people more control over capital they already own.

His work centers on access, education, and empowering individuals to make informed decisions outside traditional Wall Street structures.

In this episode, Thomas and Henry discuss:

• Henry’s transition from corporate finance to entrepreneurship
• Why understanding capital matters more than creating investments
• How retirement accounts quietly limit choice and control
• The role of discomfort in long-term success
• Alternative investments and personal knowledge as a risk filter
• Why diversification means more than stocks and bonds
• Cutting ties with institutional thinking around money
• Redefining success beyond titles, status, and safety

Key Takeaways

• Access beats invention
  You don’t need to create investments to benefit from opportunity.
• Capital already exists
  The question is who controls it and how it’s used.
• Comfort can limit growth
  Security often delays necessary change.
• Risk is contextual
  What feels risky to institutions may feel obvious to individuals.
• Ownership creates clarity
  Control over money leads to better decisions.

Connect with Henry Yoshida

🌐 Website: https://www.rocketdollar.com/
🏢 Parent Company: https://www.retired.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henryyoshida/

Connect with Thomas Helfrich

🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfrich
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 Instantly Relevant: https://www.instantlyrelevant.com

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Cut The Tie Podcast with Chuck Hall

What if the way you see the world differently is exactly what makes you a better leader?

In this episode of Cut The Tie, Thomas Helfrich sits down with Chuck Hall, a business coach and organizational consultant who brings a rare and powerful perspective to leadership. Diagnosed as autistic, Chuck explains how his ability to recognize patterns, communicate directly, and remember conversations in detail has become a core advantage in helping executives lead more effectively.

Chuck shares his journey from corporate communications into entrepreneurship, the moment he cut ties with corporate life, and how redefining success around contentment and clarity reshaped both his business and his life. This conversation challenges conventional leadership thinking and reframes difference as a strategic asset.

About Chuck Hall

Chuck Hall is a business coach and organizational consultant specializing in executive leadership and organizational dynamics. With a background in journalism, corporate communications, and organizational development, Chuck helps leaders identify the real issues holding their organizations back.

Autistic by diagnosis, Chuck leverages his ability to see behavioral patterns, communicate with precision, and retain deep conversational insight to guide leaders through difficult decisions, team challenges, and personal growth.

In this episode, Thomas and Chuck discuss:

• Seeing leadership patterns others miss
• How autism shapes Chuck’s approach to coaching
• Cutting ties with corporate instability and burnout
• The shock of transitioning from employment to entrepreneurship
• The difference between the stated problem and the real problem
• Why most business challenges are actually people challenges
• Narrowing focus to do fewer things at a higher level
• Using data and behavioral assessments to drive honest leadership conversations

Key Takeaways

• Different perspectives create better leaders
  Pattern recognition and direct communication are strengths, not limitations.
• Security can become a trap
  Corporate safety often delays real fulfillment and ownership.
• People problems start at the top
  Leadership behavior sets the tone for the entire organization.
• Focus creates momentum
  Eliminating distractions clarifies impact and direction.
• Data removes defensiveness
  Honest feedback is easier when it’s grounded in evidence.

Connect with Chuck Hall

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckhall18901/
🌐 Website: https://bizinuum.com/

Connect with Thomas Helfrich

🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfrich
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 Instantly Relevant: https://www.instantlyrelevant.com

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Cut The Tie Podcast with Robert Kennedy III

Most business owners are exhausted from pitching, cold outreach, and trying to prove their value. Robert Kennedy III believes the real problem is not effort. It is communication.

In this episode of Cut The Tie, Robert shares his journey from high school teacher to entrepreneur, speaker, and founder of Kinetic Communications. He explains why storytelling and connection outperform traditional sales tactics, and how cutting the safety net forced him to build a business rooted in authenticity, influence, and trust.

This conversation explores why success is about contentment rather than titles, how resistance signals you are on the right path, and why connection is the fastest way to attract the right audience without chasing anyone.

About Robert Kennedy III

Robert Kennedy III is a speaker, trainer, and founder of Kinetic Communications, where he helps service-based business owners and real estate professionals attract clients through storytelling, stage presence, and video.

With a background in education, instructional design, and communication, Robert teaches leaders how to articulate their value clearly, confidently, and authentically. His work focuses on replacing cold outreach with connection-driven influence.

In this episode, Thomas and Robert discuss:

• Defining success as happiness and contentment
• Cutting the safety net and committing fully to entrepreneurship
• The emotional cost of playing it safe
• Why most people struggle to tell their own story
• The four elements of powerful storytelling
• Using questions to create instant connection
• The neuroscience behind audience engagement
• Resistance as a signal of growth
• Why influence beats cold outreach every time

Key Takeaways

• Connection comes before persuasion
  People engage when they feel seen and understood.
• The safety net delays growth
  Real clarity comes after commitment.
• Stories outperform pitches
  People remember experiences, not features.
• Resistance signals progress
  Discomfort often means you are on the right path.
• Influence attracts the right audience
  You do not need to chase clients when connection leads.

Connect with Robert Kennedy III

🌐 Website: https://www.robertkennedy3.me
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertkennedy3/

Connect with Thomas Helfrich

🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfrich
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 Instantly Relevant: https://www.instantlyrelevant.com

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Cut The Tie Podcast with Erin Khan

Construction is one of the most critical industries in the world—and one of the hardest to change. Erin Khan has spent her career working directly inside that tension.

In this episode of Cut The Tie, Erin shares her journey from civil engineering to leading construction innovation initiatives, and eventually launching her own consulting practice. She explains why technology adoption in construction is less about tools and more about behavior, trust, and execution on the ground.

This conversation explores how real change happens in legacy industries, why innovation fails when people are left out of the process, and how Erin helps contractors turn promising technology into real-world impact.

About Erin Khan

Erin Khan is an independent construction technology and innovation consultant based in Los Angeles. With a background in civil engineering and years of experience working inside large general contractors, Erin helps construction teams adopt technology that improves efficiency, safety, and collaboration.

She specializes in bridging the gap between contractors and technology providers, ensuring solutions are not only implemented—but actually used in the field.

In this episode, Thomas and Erin discuss:

• Why construction has historically resisted change
• The real reasons technology adoption fails
• Balancing experienced field professionals with emerging tools
• Moving from a large organization to independent consulting
• Supporting smaller contractors with limited resources
• Why innovation only matters if it reaches the job site
• Making construction more visible and attractive to the next generation
• Creating impact by connecting people, process, and technology

Key Takeaways

• Legacy industries don’t change overnight
  Progress requires patience, trust, and consistency.
• Adoption matters more than innovation
  A tool unused is a problem unsolved.
• Behavior change drives real results
  Technology succeeds only when people buy in.
• Impact happens in the field
  Solutions must work where the work actually happens.
• Modernization benefits everyone
  Industry-wide progress requires inclusion, not exclusivity.

Connect with Erin Khan

🌐 Website: https://erinkhanconsulting.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-khan-655a761a/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ErinKhanConsulting

Connect with Thomas Helfrich

🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfrich
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 Instantly Relevant: https://www.instantlyrelevant.com

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Cut The Tie Podcast with Ryan Miller

Ryan Miller has lived on the front lines of sales. Cold calls. Door knocking. Endless outreach. The grind most people never see but everyone feels.

Then the game changed.

In this episode of Cut The Tie, Ryan explains why modern outreach is broken, how over-automation has destroyed trust, and why AI only works when it amplifies human judgment instead of replacing it. From building an AI-powered outreach platform to leaving the U.S. and relocating to Brazil, Ryan shares what it really means to scale without losing credibility.

This is a conversation about cutting ties with spammy volume, outdated sales playbooks, and the illusion that more messages equal better results.

About Ryan Miller

Ryan Miller is the founder of Zenith Project, an AI-driven outreach platform designed to help businesses create real conversations instead of automated noise. With a background in hands-on sales and deep experience in automation, Ryan focuses on building human-in-the-loop systems that balance efficiency with authenticity.

Now living as an expat in Brazil, Ryan is focused on helping founders and agencies modernize outreach without sacrificing trust, relevance, or relationships.

In this episode, Thomas and Ryan discuss:

• Why mass outreach and copy-paste automation stopped working
• How spam destroyed trust in modern sales
• The difference between AI assistance and AI replacement
• Why personalization without intent feels fake
• Breaking sales conversations into smaller, evolving objectives
• The danger of removing humans entirely from outreach
• Transitioning from a service business to scalable software
• Using AI to create clarity instead of noise

Key Takeaways

• Volume no longer creates leverage
  Relevance beats reach every time.
• AI without judgment erodes trust
  Automation must support thinking, not replace it.
• Spam signals indifference
  Buyers instantly know when a message wasn’t actually read.
• Human oversight is non-negotiable
  The best systems still require people in the loop.
• Scaling requires cutting old playbooks
  Yesterday’s sales tactics don’t survive today’s market.

Connect with Ryan Miller

🌐 Website: https://zenithproject.co
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanmillerhq
📧 Email: ryan@zenithproject.co

Connect with Thomas Helfrich

🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfrich
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 Instantly Relevant: https://www.instantlyrelevant.com

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Cut The Tie Podcast with Jeff Burningham

Jeff Burningham has lived on the front edge of success. Serial entrepreneur. Venture investor. Builder of billion-dollar businesses. A candidate for governor. A life defined by scale, momentum, and achievement.

Then the stage collapsed.

In this episode of Cut The Tie, Jeff shares how stepping away from business and politics forced him inward and why the rise of artificial intelligence has clarified what truly matters next. As machines take over more of what humans used to do, Jeff argues that the real work ahead is learning how to be.

This is a conversation about wisdom, presence, identity, and why the future will not be decided by smarter technology alone but by whether humans evolve alongside it.

About Jeff Burningham

Jeff Burningham is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and former candidate for Governor of Utah. He has founded and sold multiple companies across real estate and technology and has been an early investor in several high-growth businesses.

Jeff is the author of The Last Book Written by a Human, a reflection on humanity, wisdom, and the choices we face as artificial intelligence accelerates faster than our cultural and emotional frameworks.

In this episode, Thomas and Jeff discuss:

• Why Jeff ran for governor and what the pandemic revealed
• The “stage of success” and why it eventually falls apart
• Becoming a human being instead of a human doing
• Defining success as living in non-resistance to what is
• Why attachment to outcomes quietly drains meaning
• AI as a mirror reflecting humanity back to itself
• Why wisdom, not intelligence, is the real bottleneck
• How love becomes the only fuel that doesn’t burn out

Key Takeaways

• Doing more does not create fulfillment
  Presence matters more than productivity.
• Success without wisdom feels hollow
  Achievement alone cannot carry meaning.
• AI forces a human reckoning
  As machines advance, character and awareness matter more.
• Outcomes are tools, not identities
  You can pursue results without being owned by them.
• Growth often begins with deconstruction
  Sometimes the stage must collapse to reveal what’s real.

Connect with Jeff Burningham

🌐 Website: https://jeffburningham.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-burningham-15a01a7b/

Connect with Thomas Helfrich

🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfrich
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 Instantly Relevant: https://www.instantlyrelevant.com

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Cut The Tie Podcast with Matthew Person

What if most performance problems aren’t people problems at all?

In this episode of Cut The Tie, Thomas Helfrich sits down with Matthew Person, founder of Town Square Advisors, to challenge one of the most common assumptions in leadership: that disengagement, underperformance, or turnover is the fault of the employee.

Drawing on experience as an entrepreneur, executive, investment banker, and acquirer of businesses, Matthew explains why misalignment, not incompetence, is usually the real issue. He introduces the thinking behind the Square Management System, a practical framework for intentionally designing organizations that balance trust, autonomy, and accountability.

This conversation is for leaders who are tired of chasing culture trends, managing by exception, or feeling trapped between innovation and control.

About Matthew Person

Matthew Person is the founder of Town Square Advisors and the creator of the Square Management System. He has worked across small businesses, large enterprises, and acquisitions, giving him deep insight into what creates sustainable value inside organizations.

Matthew is the author of the forthcoming book The Culture of Alignment, which outlines a structured, actionable approach to building high-trust, high-performing teams by aligning people, systems, and decision-making.

In this episode, Thomas and Matthew discuss:

• Why labeling people as “bad employees” misses the real issue
• How misaligned systems create disengagement over time
• The flaw in copying “best places to work” cultures
• What organizational alignment actually looks like in practice
• Balancing constraint and freedom inside teams
• Why empowered micro-decisions increase speed and trust
• Designing companies people can succeed inside

Key Takeaways

• Most performance issues are system failures
  People struggle when environments are misdesigned.
• Culture must be intentional, not copied
  What works for one company may fail in another.
• Alignment creates trust and momentum
  Clear boundaries allow teams to move faster together.
• Autonomy needs structure to work
  Freedom without direction leads to chaos.
• Right people need the right box
  Fit matters more than labels.

Connect with Matthew Person

🌐 Website: https://townsquare-advisors.com/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewdperson/

Connect with Thomas Helfrich

🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfrich
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 Instantly Relevant: https://www.instantlyrelevant.com

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