Ryan Shazier went from NFL stardom to a career-ending injury in a heartbeat. But his transition to the business world was just as painful. In the first ever live recording of Thought Liters, Ryan reveals post-career losses, the bad mentors he trusted, and the brutal reality of his forced pivots.

Prepare for a raw, unfiltered look at the failures that built the man you see today.

You'll hear more about:

-- The Identity Crisis: How Ryan went from "provider to provided for" overnight.

-- The $0 Mistake: The trucking business failure that drained his bank account.

-- Bad Mentors: How to spot the middlemen who will ruin your business, and properly vet mentors instead.

-- The Turnaround: How he applied the lessons of failure to build the Ryan Shazier Fund.

-- Coach Tomlin's Advice: The one principle Ryan uses to lead his team today.

0:00 Intro: From All-Pro to Forced Pivot

2:15 I Felt Adopted by Pittsburgh

6:14 The Reality Check: Money vs. Skill

14:15 Mourning Your Career vs. Mourning Your Business24:22 The Trucking Business Disaster (Full Story)

33:22 How to Build a Foundation the Right Way

45:04 Leadership: The Difference Between the Field & The Office

51:01 Final Advice: Get Uncomfortable

#businesspodcast #pittsburgh #thoughtliters

Special thanks to Komos for being the beverage partner on this event. Thanks too to Babb, Inc. and VPO for their support.

WHAT IS THOUGHT LITERS?

Thought Liters is a series created and hosted by Adam Conner. On the show, Adam learns from the top of the world through the bottom of their glass. Each episode, we share a flight of local craft with the best and brightest brand minds around – whether it be an entrepreneur, an athlete, an artist, or otherwise. The questions evolve as the sip changes.

The show is proudly founded and produced in Pittsburgh, PA.

The whole goal is to have conversations about business with a more lighthearted look and feel. Adam thinks most business content is dry, and wants to change that.

If you’re interested, follow along! If not, that’s cool too. But if you wanna be where the thought leaders are…you’ll tune in to where Thought Liters is.

Join the flight.

It sounds like a script for a reality TV show: You hire a business consultant to help organize your startup, only to discover he’s actually a high-net-worth investor in disguise, testing you for his next massive deal.

That is exactly what happened to Mike Vindler, CEO of Tronix3D.

In this episode of Thought Liters, we explore how that "undercover billionaire" moment became the catalyst for Tronix3D. Mike takes us from the early days of uncertainty to building an industrial empire that prints in grade-five titanium for aerospace and life-saving medical devices.

We also get the story of the "genius in the garage": Mike’s partner, Jason, who was hand-building 4K monitors for Samsung before the rest of the world caught up—and discuss why 99% of people are using 3D printing completely wrong.

In this episode, we cover:

-- The "Undercover Billionaire": The wild true story of the consultant who hid his wealth to test Mike’s character.

-- The "Genius" Partner: How Mike’s co-founder built tech for Samsung and Palmer Luckey out of his garage.

-- Building the Empire: Why Tronix3D isn’t printing cheap plastic toys, but rather replacing supply chains.

-- Sustainability: How they became the only facility in the US recycling 100% of their powder on-site.

-- The CEO’s Burden: The brutal honesty about what actually keeps a founder awake at night.

00:00 Intro

02:15 From Corporate to "The Real World"

08:40 Why Most People Use 3D Printing Wrong

14:54 The "Genius in the Garage": Meeting Jason

21:04 We Are The Only Ones Doing This (100% Recycling)

26:58 Fixing a Medical Device by Accident

34:37 The "Undercover Billionaire" Consultant Story

40:15 The Hardest Part of Scaling a Manufacturing Business

43:44 The Real Nightmare That Keeps CEOs Awake

47:55 The 3D Printing Buzzkill: Stop Printing Plastic Trash

54:10 The Future: Titanium & Aerospace

58:32 Where to Find Mike

WHAT IS THOUGHT LITERS?

Thought Liters is a series created and hosted by Adam Conner. On the show, Adam learns from the top of the world through the bottom of their glass. Each episode, we share a flight of local craft with the best and brightest brand minds around – whether it be an entrepreneur, an athlete, an artist, or otherwise. The questions evolve as the sip changes.

The show is proudly founded and produced in Pittsburgh, PA.

The whole goal is to have conversations about business with a more lighthearted look and feel. Adam thinks most business content is dry, and wants to change that.

If you’re interested, follow along! If not, that’s cool too. But if you wanna be where the thought leaders are…you’ll tune in to where Thought Liters is.

Thought Liters has been around for a year now. I dumped a buttload of money into it. Here's what happened, what I made, and where I'm doubling down in 2026.

In this video, you'll get a full picture of a content creator's first year of creation. The good, the money, and the future, all in 11 minutes. Let's get it.

You'll also learn:

• The "Occupational Hazard" of drinking on camera
• How I secured the show's first partnership without a massive subscriber base
• The economics of high-production content, and why I spent $24,204 on it

To all who have tuned in during 2025, this will also serve as the year in review for the show. Thanks a bunch, and see you next year!!

00:00 Intro (it's been a year)

00:22 Stats: views and subscriber growth in 2025 for Thought Liters

01:13 The Good from Thought Liters in 2025

02:09 Thought Liters Ship: an IRL event test for the show

02:30 On Tap: Thought Liters live recordings

03:13 The first partnership for the show ("The Six Pack Series"")

04:10 The money: how much Thought Liters made in 2026

04:46 The money: how much I've spent on Thought Liters in 2026 (and why)

06:10 Plug: where the money comes from (how to help)

06:50 The Plans and To Dos for 2026 for Thought Liters

09:07 Closing: Where This Came From, Early Memories, a Thanks, and small advice

#businesspodcast #pittsburgh #thoughtliters

WHAT IS THOUGHT LITERS?

Thought Liters is a series created and hosted by Adam Conner. On the show, Adam learns from the top of the world through the bottom of their glass. Each episode, we share a flight of local craft with the best and brightest brand minds around – whether it be an entrepreneur, an athlete, an artist, or otherwise. The questions evolve as the sip changes.

The show is proudly founded and produced in Pittsburgh, PA.

The whole goal is to have conversations about business with a more lighthearted look and feel. Adam thinks most business content is dry, and wants to change that.

If you’re interested, follow along! If not, that’s cool too. But if you wanna be where the thought leaders are…you’ll tune in to where Thought Liters is.