There's a gap between what the data says and how people feel — and right now, that gap is enormous. Wheeler and Colin sit down with Seth Buks, a market strategist and thought leader who has spent nearly two decades translating complex financial ideas into clear, actionable guidance for advisors and their clients. The conversation covers a lot of ground: where the economy actually stands on growth, inflation, and interest rates; why real wage growth over the past five years tells a very different story than the one most people believe; and what behavioral finance reveals about the decisions investors make when fear and greed start running the show.

Seth breaks down the "vibesession" — the phenomenon where people feel economically terrible despite data pointing in the opposite direction — and explains the behavioral biases behind it, including recency bias, herding, and representativeness. The conversation shifts to AI and what the productivity data actually shows, why the bakery analogy matters for understanding GDP, and how to separate what's real from what's noise when every headline feels urgent.

They also get into the mechanics of why markets compress: the investor psychology cycle, the buy-the-dip conditioning of the past decade, and what's been missing from recent market downturns that makes this moment harder to read. And in a candid conversation about private credit, the three explore how an investment product can start well-intentioned and quietly become something clients don't fully understand they've bought into — and what advisors owe clients when complexity steps in.

The episode closes with one of the better pieces of career advice the show has heard: the asset that compounds most reliably isn't a portfolio. It's the relationships you keep.

Follow Us:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/compoundgrowthpod
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CompoundGrowthPodcast
• TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@compoundgrowthpod
• Wheeler’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wheeler-crowley-0a63933b/
• Colin’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-walker-mba-6099a038/

Credits:
Created By: Wheeler Crowley and Colin Walker
Production, Editing and Post-Production: Tori Rothwell

One year ago, Wheeler and Colin hit record on a podcast with no script, no audience, and no certainty it would go anywhere. This episode marks that anniversary — and uses it as a lens for the thing the show has always been about: what does it actually take to build something that compounds over time?

The conversation opens with a riff on jargon — why professionals in every field lose the ability to explain themselves to the people they care about most, and what that says about the gap between expertise and genuine communication. From there, it moves into reflection. What consistency really looks like when no one is watching. Why early decisions that look small — staying independent, saying no to the wrong opportunities, betting on your own voice — tend to be the ones that matter most in hindsight.

Wheeler and Colin discuss the moment they turned down a well-resourced firm that had everything except room for this, a podcast. They talk about the first year of advisors and what separates the ones who last. They revisit why growth, in any domain, is less about the headline moments and more about the accumulated weight of small, repeated choices.

This anniversary episode is a honest conversation about where the show started, direct about where it's going, and grounded in the same belief that has run through every episode: that money, work, and the way people build things are all worth talking about clearly, without the jargon getting in the way.

Follow Us:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/compoundgrowthpod
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CompoundGrowthPodcast
• TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@compoundgrowthpod
• Wheeler’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wheeler-crowley-0a63933b/
• Colin’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-walker-mba-6099a038/

Credits:
Created By: Wheeler Crowley and Colin Walker
Production, Editing and Post-Production: Tori Rothwell

April was one of the more eventful market months in recent memory, and Wheeler and Colin are breaking it all down. The S&P finished the month up 12%, the Nasdaq up 18%, and semiconductors — led by an almost impossible 116% single-month run in Intel — stole the show. But the real story underneath the numbers is earnings: more than 85% of companies that reported beat expectations, with average earnings growth hovering around 15%. That's not a sentiment rally. Companies are actually making more money.

Wheeler and Colin dig into what's driving the semiconductor surge, why Intel's chart looks like nothing either of them has seen before, and how to think about the AI infrastructure build-out without getting swept up in the hype. The conversation also covers tariff uncertainty, the resilience of the consumer despite the noise, and why the US economy continues to confound the skeptics.

Then things get a little philosophical. A discussion about fractional ownership of luxury assets — partial stakes in Ferraris, art, and collectibles — turns into a broader conversation about what anything is actually worth, and whether the financialization of everything is slowly draining the fun out of life. Plus: the Survivor betting market that spoiled the office bracket and confirmed that yes, there is a prediction market for literally everything now.

Follow Us:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/compoundgrowthpod
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CompoundGrowthPodcast
• TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@compoundgrowthpod
• Wheeler’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wheeler-crowley-0a63933b/
• Colin’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-walker-mba-6099a038/

Credits:
Created By: Wheeler Crowley and Colin Walker
Production, Editing and Post-Production: Tori Rothwell