In this repurposed episode, Adam Koós joins Scottie Taylor for a wide-ranging conversation on what it actually takes to grow a financial advisory practice without working 70-hour weeks.

Adam shares the real lessons from building and scaling multiple businesses — including his RIA, Elevate & Exit (focused on business transition and exit planning), and Adrenaline Advisor (education and community for financial advisors) — while staying focused on systems, delegation, and long-term sustainability.

This conversation goes beyond surface-level growth tactics. Adam and Scottie dig into the mindset shifts advisors must make as they move from "doing everything" to building firms that can grow without them being the bottleneck.

If you're an advisor who wants more leverage, better clients, and a business that doesn't depend on your constant presence — this episode will resonate.

⏱️ Episode Highlights

• Why most advisors struggle to scale — and how control is often the real bottleneck
• The difference between marketing that builds familiarity vs. prospecting that creates action
• How automation and systems create freedom (not distance) from clients
• What it really means to hire the right people — and when the wrong hire caps your growth
• The shift from "financial planning firm that does marketing" to "marketing firm that does planning"
• Why growth isn't about working harder — it's about removing friction
• Lifestyle practice vs. scalable firm: choosing intentionally, not reactively

🔑 Key Takeaways

💡 Growth doesn't come from one tactic — it comes from building an entire system that works together
💡 Delegation only works when the right people are in the right seats
💡 Advisors have a responsibility to market ethically — not a discomfort to avoid
💡 The ultimate scale comes when clients trust the firm, not just the founder

🧠 Notable Quotes

🗣 "If you know, but you don't act — then you don't know."
🗣 "We're not a financial planning firm that does marketing. We're a marketing firm that happens to do financial planning."
🗣 "The badge of honor isn't working 70 hours a week — it's building something that runs without you."

Follow Adrenaline Advisor:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/adrenalineadvisorconsulting

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adrenaline.advisor

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@adrenaline.advisor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/adrenaline-advisor-consulting/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adrenalineadvisor

email: info@adrenalineadvisor.com

Website: www.adrenalineadvisor.com

Connect with Adam Koós:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamkoos
Website: https://www.adrenalineadvisor.com

In Part 2 of Adam's conversation with Cambria CIO and researcher Meb Faber, they dig into the realities of global investing, why home-country bias hurts more portfolios than advisors realize, and how disciplined rules can turn "losses" into part of a long-term edge. They also discuss value cycles, trend signals, real assets, and why diversification still works—even when it feels uncomfortable.

Whether you're refining your portfolio process, rethinking risk, or helping clients understand how markets really behave, this episode offers clear, practical insight advisors can put to work immediately.
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Episode Timestamps
00:00 – Welcome & Part 2 kickoff
00:45 – Why U.S. investors are overexposed by default
03:00 – Home-country bias in both advisors and clients
05:20 – When foreign markets outperform the U.S.
08:10 – Value cycles and market regimes
12:00 – Why diversification feels bad in real time
15:00 – Trend following and the role of "good losses"
18:30 – Thinking in decades vs quarters
21:15 – How narratives help investors stay disciplined
24:40 – Small caps, value, and non-U.S. markets entering new cycles
28:00 – The emotional challenge of sticking with a system
31:00 – Real assets, gold, and inflation regimes
34:00 – Portfolio construction lessons advisors overlook
37:00 – Closing thoughts from Meb (end of Part 2)
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Key Takeaways
💡 Home-country bias is one of the biggest blind spots in portfolio construction.
Most investors dramatically overweight the U.S. without realizing how often other countries lead.
💡 Diversification still works — it just rarely feels good in real time.
Global markets rotate in long, humbling cycles.
💡 "Good losses" are part of a disciplined system.
Trend following isn't prediction — it's survival through deep, behavioral drawdowns.
💡 Value, small caps, and foreign markets may be entering a new leadership cycle.
Patience is required because these cycles play out over years, not months.
💡 Clients absorb stories better than statistics.
Simple analogies often outperform charts when explaining market behavior.
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Key Quotes
🗣 "Home-country bias is one of the biggest problems investors don't realize they have." — Meb Faber
🗣 "Diversification works in practice, not in emotion." — Meb Faber
🗣 "A good loss is one that follows your rules." — Adam Koós
🗣 "Markets move in decades, not quarters." — Meb Faber
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Connect with Meb Faber
Website: https://mebfaber.com
Cambria Investments: https://cambriainvestments.com
The Meb Faber Show: https://themebfabershow.com
Idea Farm Research: https://theideafarm.com
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MebFaber
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MebFaber
________________________________________
Follow Adrenaline Advisor
Facebook: https://facebook.com/adrenalineadvisorconsulting
Instagram: https://instagram.com/adrenaline.advisor
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@adrenaline.advisor
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/adrenaline-advisor-consulting
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@adrenalineadvisor
Email: info@adrenalineadvisor.com
Website: https://adrenalineadvisor.com
Connect with Adam Koós:
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/adamkoos
Website: https://adrenalineadvisor.com

Adam Koós welcomes Carl Richards, speaker, author, and creator of the Sketch Guy column in The New York Times.

Carl shares the story of how a simple whiteboard sketch changed the trajectory of his career, leading to books, speaking events, and his new release, Your Money: Reimagining Wealth in Simple Sketches. Together, Adam and Carl explore the intersection of money, meaning, and communication, and why advisors must focus on presence, listening, and guiding clients through uncertainty.

From "conversation grenades" to the sketch advisors use most ("Less Wrong Tomorrow"), this conversation is packed with insights for advisors who want to connect deeply with clients and build lasting impact.

Episode Timestamps:
02:00 – How a desperate sketch in a client meeting changed everything
06:00 – The email that landed Carl at The New York Times
09:00 – Luck, persistence, and increasing your "luck surface area"
11:00 – Why Your Money is really a "conversation grenade"
13:00 – Carl's favorite sketches on risk and uncertainty
14:00 – Shifting from being "slightly better" with money to seeing it differently
17:00 – "Less Wrong Tomorrow" and how advisors can use it with clients
22:00 – What separates transformative advisors from the rest
24:00 – Presence, listening, and watching for the "crunchy bits"
26:00 – Why clients abandon plans (and what advisors might be missing)
30:00 – AI, self-driving money, and the evolving value of advisors

Key Takeaways:
💡 Simple sketches can transform complex financial conversations.
💡 Advisors must shift focus from jargon to meaning and presence.
💡 Clients abandon plans when they don't feel truly heard.
💡 "Less Wrong Tomorrow" is a powerful sketch for guiding clients.
💡 AI may automate money—but human guidance remains irreplaceable.

Key Quotes from Carl Richards:
🗣 "What if you're not bad at money—what if you're just asking the wrong questions?"
🗣 "The best advisors are deeply present and attuned to their clients."
🗣 "The most powerful sketch? Less Wrong Tomorrow."
🗣 "Self-driving money is coming—but someone still has to tell it where to go."

Connect with Carl Richards:
Website: behaviorgap.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkingcarl/
https://x.com/behaviorgap
https://www.instagram.com/behaviorgap
Book: Your Money: Reimagining Wealth in Simple Sketches (available October 21)

The link to pre-order Carl's book on Amazon, or folks can head to their favorite local bookstore

The link to place a bulk order of Carl's book.

Listeners can save an additional 5% by using the code YourMoney5 at checkout.

Follow Adam Koós and Advisor's Fuel:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/adrenalineadvisorconsulting

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adrenaline.advisor

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@adrenaline.advisor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/adrenaline-advisor-consulting/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adrenalineadvisor

email: info@adrenalineadvisor.com

Website: www.adrenalineadvisor.com

Adam Koós sits down with David Keller, CMT - President and Chief Strategist at Sierra Alpha Research, former Director of Research at Fidelity, and host of Market Misbehavior.

David's unique background in music and psychology led him into technical analysis, where he's spent decades helping advisors and portfolio managers understand market cycles, manage risk, and avoid costly behavioral biases. From Bloomberg to Fidelity's legendary chart room, to launching his own research firm, David has built a career around making complex market ideas clear and actionable.

This conversation is packed with lessons on technical analysis, investor psychology, and the daily routines that separate average advisors from exceptional ones.

Episode Timestamps:
01:00 – David's unconventional path from music and psychology into finance
04:00 – Early days at Bloomberg and discovering technical analysis
06:00 – Running Fidelity's technical research department and the chart room legacy
13:00 – Why David launched Sierra Alpha Research and Market Misbehavior
18:00 – Breaking down myths about technical analysis and "predicting the future"
22:00 – How momentum, price, and relative strength guide smarter investing
27:00 – Famous quotes and lessons from Buffett, Templeton, and others
31:00 – Behavioral biases that derail both clients and advisors
38:00 – Why routines matter more than predictions in successful investing
46:00 – David's go-to indicators and risk management tools
52:00 – Practical advice for the next generation of financial advisors

Key Takeaways:
💡 Technical analysis isn't about fortune telling; it's about recognizing reality in the markets.
💡 Advisors face the double challenge of managing both client and personal biases.
💡 Routines and consistent processes matter more than "perfect calls."
💡 Behavioral finance and momentum studies validate what technicians have practiced for decades.
💡 Staying objective requires tools, indicators, and humility.
💡 The best investors don't know everything; they ask the best questions.

Key Quotes from David Keller:
🗣 "It's okay to be wrong. It's not okay to stay wrong."
🗣 "Price is fact - and it has information just like earnings do."
🗣 "A consistent but imperfect process beats a perfect but inconsistent one."
🗣 "The most successful investors aren't the smartest — they're the most self-aware."
🗣 "Relative strength is about putting your money with the playoff teams."

Connect with David Keller and Market Misbehavior:
Website: https://www.marketmisbehavior.com
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@DKellerCMT
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dckeller/

Connect with Adam Koós and Adrenaline Advisor:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/adrenalineadvisorconsulting
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adrenaline.advisor
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@adrenaline.advisor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/adrenaline-advisor-consulting/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adrenalineadvisor
email: info@adrenalineadvisor.com
Website: www.adrenalineadvisor.com

If you want to scale your advisory practice, grow with intention, and spend more time in your zone of genius, this episode is for you.

In this solo episode, Adam Koós shares the same 5-part planning framework he teaches inside the Adrenaline Program. You'll learn how high-performing financial advisors reverse-engineer their ideal life, align their calendar with their values, and focus only on the work that moves the needle.

This isn't fluff. It's the operating system behind firms that scale without chaos.

Whether you're tired of feeling reactive or ready to build a business that supports your goals (not just your clients'), you'll walk away with a blueprint to help you grow with clarity, structure, and confidence.

⏱️ Episode Timestamps:

00:45 – Why most advisors don't make time to plan
02:03 – The 5-part framework: values, vision, mission, goals, and targets
04:30 – Time and values audit
06:30 – $50/hour vs. $800/hour work
08:00 – What's your unique ability — and are you doing enough of it?
09:05 – "Perfect Day" planning exercise
11:30 – Visualizing your future without limits
13:45 – Why SMART goals fall short
15:00 – Backing into income and lifestyle goals
16:30 – Turning your vision into weekly actions
17:50 – What high performers do differently
19:00 – Laminate your goals (yes, really)
20:00 – Final thoughts

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Winging it isn't a strategy, even if you're already successful
• A simple 5-part framework can help you align your business with your life
• Your calendar reveals your true priorities
• High-performers plan backwards from vision and income goals
• Delegating low-value tasks is essential for sustainable growth
• You don't need a new idea, you need a better system

👤 Connect with Adam

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamkoos/

Learn more about ADRENALINE Advisor

Facebook: https://facebook.com/adrenalineadvisorconsulting
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adrenaline.advisor
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@adrenaline.advisor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/adrenaline-advisor-consulting/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adrenalineadvisor
email: info@adrenalineadvisor.com
Website: www.adrenalineadvisor.com

Depending on when you're listening to this, our Adrenaline Advisor program is either getting ready to launch or has just opened to the public. It's designed specifically for advisors who want more clients, better systems, and streamlined processes that support real growth.

We host ongoing Q+A calls where you can ask questions and see if Adrenaline is the right fit—and we also offer free webinars with CFP®-approved CE credits that give you a preview of the strategies we teach inside the program.

Register for the webinar

Register for the Q+A call