Where they publish
Peter G Schmidt ↗
What they write about
Venture Capital & Startups · Manufacturing & Industrials · AI (Horizontal) · Energy & Climate · Retail & E-commerce · AI Infrastructure
Recent posts
- Episode 6: Cummins, Inc.↗ 1 Oct 2026
A deep-dive podcast conversation tracing Cummins Inc.'s 100+ year history from diesel engine pioneer to diversified power-systems company, examining its innovations, strategic pivots, and positioning in electrification and data-center power.
- Talent Is Everywhere, Including Columbus, Indiana↗ 18 Sept 2026
Clessie Cummins built a $33 billion diesel engine company from rural Indiana by combining natural talent, patient capital from a local banker, and years of relentless iteration—proving that great founders and capital sources exist everywhere, not just Silicon Valley.
- Who Should You Pay Attention To? ↗ 11 Sept 2026
Regional restaurant chains and unglamorous businesses generate real wealth across America, but receive minimal media attention compared to coastal tech companies—yet studying their turnarounds (like Portillo's under new leadership) offers as much strategic insight as following high-profile stories like Starbucks.
- Why is there a $500M AI Model Training Company in North Canton, OH?↗ 5 Sept 2026
An analysis of Alignment Engine, a North Canton, Ohio–based GPU training infrastructure provider betting on AMD chips to fill the compute capacity gap as AI model builders face constrained access to NVIDIA hardware. The company leverages legacy HPC expertise and existing power infrastructure to undercut rivals.
- State of the Venture Market - 2026↗ 28 Aug 2026
The venture market in 2026 is heavily concentrated in mega-deals (87.5% of capital) and AI (86% of all VC dollars), with megafunds capturing most capital and traditional seed/Series A/B rounds stagnating outside the hype. Exit expectations remain misaligned with reality—unicorn valuations have soared but IPO activity lags, leaving many post-2021 companies unable to return capital to later-stage investors.
- Episode 5: The Cincinnati Open↗ 17 Aug 2026
A deep dive into the Cincinnati Open's history from amateur roots through its evolution into a premier ATP tour event, exploring its regional economic impact and potential as America's leading tennis destination.
- Why Does Cincinnati Have an Open? ↗ 7 Aug 2026
Why Cincinnati hosts one of tennis's premier tournaments—a deep dive into how regional talent, institutional prestige, P&G-caliber brand thinking, and one transformative leader (Paul Flory) turned an amateur-era event into a Masters 1000 fixture, plus a Midwest M&A roundup.
- Why 88% of America’s RVs Are Built in Indiana 30 Jul 2026
- How is Rawlings Worth $2 Billion? 24 Jul 2026
- How to Build a Bank in Ohio in 2026 16 Jul 2026
- How John H. McConnell Built a Steel Giant 9 Jul 2026
- Episode 4: Worthington Industries, Steel, Enterprises and Beyond 1 Jul 2026
- Can Ohio Build Drones? 18 Jun 2026
- Can the Midwest build the anti-Cybertruck? 11 Jun 2026
- How GE Aviation Avoided a 3D Printing Innovator's Dilemma 4 Jun 2026
- Reverse Boomerang Theory 28 May 2026
- Building a Playbook 21 May 2026
- Episode 3: Gorilla Glue - All 600 lbs of Brand Power 19 May 2026
- Episode 2: TQL - Just Win, Baby 31 Mar 2026
- Episode 1: Graeter's Ice Cream - 156 Years of Stalwart Success 27 Feb 2026
- What We Can Learn from the Fiddle 18 Dec 2025
- WHY RAISE? 24 Oct 2025
- Data Network Effects vs. the Innovator’s Dilemma 17 Oct 2025
- The Bull Case for the University of Cincinnati 10 Oct 2025
- SOCIAL MEDIA –> ALGO MEDIA –> AI MEDIA 3 Oct 2025
- WHAT IS GOING ON IN VENTURE 2025? 25 Sept 2025
- WHAT IS GOING ON IN VENTURE 2025? 18 Sept 2025
- Electronic Health Records, Administrative Bloat, and the AI Reset 12 Sept 2025
- AI + Ads 4 Sept 2025
- R[ai]dio on the Internet 28 Aug 2025
All writers · all sources · by topic