The Fort
Here, we uncover the proven strategies, insights, and inspiring stories of today’s greatest leaders in the worlds of business, real estate, entrepreneurship, and investing. Each episode’s mission is to help you to level up your entrepreneurial game by hearing directly from the men and women in the arena. Chris is able to uniquely uncover things not commonly discussed because he is an entrepreneur himself. We not only cover business, but we also cover the personal side of entrepreneurship. The Fort began in 2018 as a way for Chris to publicly explore the fascinating world of entrepreneurship. Since he was a child, he’s been characterized as obsessively curious about the world around him. The Fort has now been downloaded over 2M times, across more than 50,000 unique listeners. Each week features conversations with entrepreneurs, Founders, CEOs, and Executives from some of the leading companies in America. Past guests have represented companies such as JLL, Hillwood, S2 Capital, Chick Fil A, Morning Brew, Founders Podcast, Tiny Capital, Permanent Equity, Fort Capital, Matthews REIS, Bonobos, and ConvertKit. 🐦 Follow Chris on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FortWorthChris 💡 Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ 📹 Subscribe to The FORT on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FORTpod
Episodes
Imran Khan is the Founder at Proem Asset Management. In this episode we explore the arc of his remarkable career—from his early days as one of Wall Street’s top-ranked analysts to leading global IPOs and eventually launching his own hedge fund.
We discuss:
- Why gross margins are a critical indicator of fundamental shifts in a business
- How he met Joe Tsai and helped lead Alibaba’s record-setting IPO
- The vision Evan Spieg...
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Today’s guest is Mark Toro, Chief Vision Officer @ Toro Development Co, based in Atlanta, GA.
Mark unpacks the philosophy, economics, and human-centered detail behind some of the most successful mixed-use developments in the country. We talk through his journey from building suburban power centers to pioneering immersive experiences like Avalon, Colony Square, and the upcoming Medley.
Mark shares how the 2008 financial crisis ...
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Since 2016, Ken Hersh has served as President and CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center which houses the George W. Bush Library and Museum and the George W. Bush Institute.
In 1988, he co-founded NGP Energy Capital Management, one of the nation’s largest natural resources private equity firms which pioneered private capital investing in the sector. Until 2016, he served as CEO, investing over $12 billion, earning a 27-y...
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May 20, 2025 • 75 mins
Trent and Tyler Leon are the Co-Founders of Tilden Capital. Today, their business, Tilden Capital, has deployed billions of dollars into oil & gas minerals, royalties, and non-operated positions across the Permian and other domestic basins.
We talk about growing up in a golf-obsessed family, attending IMG Academy, and competing at the highest levels of amateur and professional golf—then making the decision to walk away and sta...
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Andrew Yaffe is the CEO of Dude Perfect. Prior to joining Dude Perfect, he served as Executive Vice President, Head of Social, Digital and Original Content at the NBA, leading the department responsible for all video, editorial, and documentary content produced and distributed by the NBA.
We dive into the evolution of content strategy, how vertical video, AI-driven editing, and fan-driven content are reshaping how people consum...
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April 22, 2025 • 81 mins
In this episode, Jason and I discuss one of the biggest challenges facing America today: the health crisis fueled by our food system.
Jason, a former hedge fund manager turned health entrepreneur, shares how his personal journey through professional burnout, depression, and physical illness opened his eyes to the systemic problems in the way America produces, regulates, and consumes food.
We explore how decades of misaligned inc...
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April 15, 2025 • 81 mins
Hunter Pond is the founder of Vandelay Hospitality Group, one of the most recognizable restaurant portfolios in Texas. From dropping out of law school mid-exam to launching East Hampton Sandwich Co. with no industry experience, Hunter shares how a love for restaurants kickstarted a hospitality empire.
We dive into the creation and evolution of VHG. Hunter breaks down the art and science behind successful concepts, why restaurants ...
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April 8, 2025 • 67 mins
Hiten Samtani is the founder and editorial director of ten31, a new media company focused on market-moving insider coverage of the most important and least understood industries. He is the author of The Promote, a newsletter that readers have likened to commercial real estate's answer to Matt Levine's "Money Stuff," and a publication that has built the most highly engaged audience in B2B media (open rate: 70%). Hiten founded ten31 ...
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April 1, 2025 • 32 mins
Today’s episode is with Co-Founder, Jason Baxter, to introduce our latest venture, FOSTR AI—a company built to solve one of the most pressing challenges facing businesses today: how to implement AI in your business in a meaningful, aligned, and scalable way.
We unpack the fragmented state of AI adoption across small to mid-sized businesses and explain why most organizations, despite interest, are either stuck in experimentation or...
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March 11, 2025 • 70 mins
Paul Hedrick is the Founder of Tecovas, the leading high-quality western footwear, apparel, and accessories brand.
In today’s episode, we discuss:
- the origins of Tecovas and early founding stories,
- what it takes to build an incredible brand
- Tecovas’ retail “moat” - radical hospitality
- how they managed through COVID
- and more
As Executive Chairman, Paul works with the Tecovas board and executive team on brand, product, ...
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Steve Cockram is an inspirational communicator, serial entrepreneur, and confidante to elite leaders worldwide. He is a best-selling author, creator of the 5 Voices communication system, and co-founder of GiANT, a global leadership consultancy working in 143 countries. His latest venture is called the “Relationship Revolution.”
We discuss:
- Why successful business people have failed relationships
- How to mend failed relationshi...
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February 18, 2025 • 72 mins
Kyle Bass is the Founder/CIO of Hayman Capital Management, L.P., an investment manager of private funds focused on global event-driven opportunities, and the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Conservation Equity Management, an impact and natural capital private equity firm.
Kyle is also the Co-Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed Rochefort Management, a private credit firm focused on the Critical Technology Initiat...
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February 11, 2025 • 76 mins
Morgan’s books have sold over seven million copies and have been translated into more than 60 languages.
He is a two-time winner of the Best in Business Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and winner of the New York Times Sidney Award. MarketWatch named him one of the 50 most influential people in markets. He's a partner at The Collaborative Fund and serves on the board of directors at Markel.
We disc...
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February 3, 2025 • 84 mins
Kevin Lavelle is the CEO & Cofounder of Harbor. He’s also the Founder and Chairman of the Board at Mizzen+Main, where he invented the world’s first performance fabric dress shirt, ultimately driving it to hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.
He successfully raised a growth round from L Catterton and established partnerships with athletes like Phil Mickelson, JJ Watt, and dozens of others. Today, Mizzen+Main has more than ten ...
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Jesse is a founder who bootstrapped and scaled Employer.com, Recruiter.com, Before You Apply, and BountyJobs.com into a $500M+ HR Tech powerhouse. He built these brands by solving global problems in EOR, payroll, hiring, and workforce management for companies of all sizes.
Most recently, Jesse has gone viral for his public bid to acquire TikTok, alongside some of the most influential names on the internet. He also recently acquire...
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January 13, 2025 • 69 mins
Krish is the Founder and CEO of Angry Gods, a strategy and creative consultancy. He has been involved in some of the most iconic brand stories of the past two decades, including the launch of the iMac, the resurrection of Adidas Originals, the explosion of Vitaminwater, American Express, and the rebrand of Virgin Galactic.
As a partner at Culture, a next-generation venture incubator, Krish helps the world’s most popular influence...
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December 17, 2024 • 75 mins
Fernando is the Founder and CEO of Leon Capital Group, a diversified holding company that operates assets in the real estate, financial services, healthcare, and technology industries. Leon takes the lead in conceiving, developing, owning, and operating businesses through a family-holding structure that oversees $10 billion of its own private assets.
We discuss:
Social Systems Entrepreneurship
The Supply Chain of Money
Building ...
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December 3, 2024 • 67 mins
Pete is the founder and chairman of Capital III, an impact investment company with investments in the US and Central America. Enterprise Stewardship is an initiative of Capital III that equips marketplace leaders with resources to transform their personal LIFE and business enterprises. During his four decades in business, he has invested in and operated companies in the energy, manufacturing, banking, and education sectors, often f...
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Jack Fraker is President and Global Head of Industrial & Logistics Capital Markets for Newmark. He is responsible for driving Newmark’s industrial & logistics business, primarily capital markets but also leasing.
Jack has personally completed over 1,800 industrial & logistics capital markets transactions totaling 1.5 billion square feet | $85 billion in more than 60 U.S. cities, Mexico, Europe, Japan, and South America. He has als...
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October 29, 2024 • 70 mins
Paul Renner is a former Commander in the U.S. Navy, and was deployed in Operation Desert Storm as well as Afghanistan.
We discuss:
Reclaiming American Institutions
The state of the U.S. Military
China, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, and the Military Industrial Complex
Immigration
The Future of America
We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.
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