We Fixed It, You're Welcome

The majority of Pizza Hut was just sold to investors for roughly $1.5 billion. Hot deal, right? Not exactly. The pizza category has cooled off, and one of America's most iconic brands is struggling to keep up. Can its new owners turn things around, or do we need to fix it for them?

Join Chino Nnadi and Aaron Wolpoff with guest Brandon Solano, former VP at Domino's Pizza, CMO of Papa Murphy's and Wendy's, and current CEO of RAVE Restaurant Group, to dig into why Yum! Brands sold Pizza Hut to LongRange Capital.

Stacking Pizza Hut up against Domino's, Papa John's, Little Caesars and Pizza Inn, the panel tackles third-party delivery, dine-in versus takeout, franchisee challenges and Domino's legendary turnaround, which happened during Brandon's tenure. They also question whether yet another limited-time offer can bring customers back, or whether the real fix starts with the product itself, right down to the freshness of the dough.

The conversation lands on a turnaround plan: a handful of flagship dine-in restaurants with retro vibes and live stages for local talent, warmer delivery-and-carryout locations, a bigger personality on social media, and a quiet recommitment to fresh ingredients. Did we actually fix Pizza Hut, or is it just another half-baked idea?

Panelists:

Chino Nnadi – https://www.linkedin.com/in/chino-talentstrategist/

Guest

Brandon Solano – https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-solano-48459392/

Aaron Wolpoff – https://www.linkedin.com/in/marketingaaron/

Connect With the Show

Subscribe for more deep dives where we fix big business problems with fresh perspectives.

• Website – www.wefixeditpod.com

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Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wefixeditpod

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wefixeditpod

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@WeFixedItPod

If you liked this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends! Keep listening to find out how we fix companies and put them back better than we found them.

Disclaimer

A quick disclaimer. We are going into this somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. These are our views and opinions. We're here to ask the kinds of questions everyone's thinking, have an engaging conversation and maybe come to some conclusions that we feel are worth exploring.

By the end, if we fixed it, you're welcome. All trademarks, IP and brand elements discussed are property of their respective owners.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A famous last name can get you the meeting, the press coverage and the first check. It can't answer your support tickets, fix your fulfillment or make the unit economics work. So when a last opens every door, how can we tell whether the business behind it is actually any good?

Join Chino Nnadi, Aaron Wolpoff and Melissa Eaton to unpack the world of "nepo babies" in business, which we agree is a loaded term. Using Phoebe Gates' AI shopping assistant Phia, Hailey Bieber's Rhode, David Ellison's Skydance, the Kardashian brand empire and Stella McCartney as examples, the panel breaks down what a famous name really buys: the removal of doubt, faster access to investors, and a financial safety net most bootstrapped founders never get. They also look at who's really behind many celebrity "co-founder" brands, and why the Theranos board is a warning about trusting big names over real expertise.

The conversation lands on a simple test: strip away the story, look at who's actually running the company, and judge it on retention, not reach. A head start isn't the problem. Pretending it doesn't exist is.

Panelists:

Chino Nnadi – https://www.linkedin.com/in/chino-talentstrategist/

Melissa Eaton – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mseaton/

Aaron Wolpoff – https://www.linkedin.com/in/marketingaaron/

Connect With the Show

Subscribe for more deep dives where we fix big business problems with fresh perspectives.

• Website – www.wefixeditpod.com
• Follow us on:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wefixeditpod
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wefixeditpod
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@WeFixedItPod

If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends! Keep listening to find out how we fix companies and put them back better than we found them.

Disclaimer
A quick disclaimer. We are going into this somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. These are our views and opinions. We’re here to ask the kinds of questions everyone’s thinking, have an engaging conversation and maybe come to some conclusions that we feel are worth exploring.

By the end, if we fixed it, you’re welcome. All trademarks, IP and brand elements discussed are property of their respective owners.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Middle managers were supposed to be one of the layers companies could do without. Organizations flattened their org charts, invested heavily in AI, and removed roles in the name of efficiency. Now the question is whether they also removed the people who help teams think, learn, and work effectively.

Abhijit Bhaduri joins Aaron Wolpoff and Melissa Eaton to unpack the management reset happening in an AI-enabled workplace. Drawing on his experience in talent management and global learning and development, he explains why efficiency and effectiveness are not the same, how repeated restructures erode trust, and why employees need enough security to learn new skills.

The conversation explores the future of middle management, the entry-level talent pipeline, the human cost of treating employees as interchangeable line items, and why AI needs thoughtful human escalation when systems fail. The answer is not to stop using AI. It is to redesign work so technology and people can make each other more effective.

In this episode:
Why companies are reconsidering middle management
Efficiency versus effectiveness
How layoffs and reversals damage trust
Why fear makes learning harder
The role of managers in coaching, culture, and escalation
What happens when entry-level jobs disappear
Why AI needs human judgment and customer-service escalation
How employers can invest in employees’ next roles

Connect with Abhijit Bhaduri:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhijitbhaduri/

Connect With the Show

Subscribe for more deep dives where we fix big business problems with fresh perspectives.
• Website – www.wefixeditpod.com
• Follow us on:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wefixeditpod
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wefixeditpod
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@WeFixedItPod

If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends! Keep listening to find out how we fix companies and put them back better than we found them.

Disclaimer
A quick disclaimer. We are going into this somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. These are our views and opinions. We’re here to ask the kinds of questions everyone’s thinking, have an engaging conversation and maybe come to some conclusions that we feel are worth exploring.

By the end, if we fixed it, you’re welcome. All trademarks, IP and brand elements discussed are property of their respective owners.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Advertising Week and the future of industry conferences get a full rebuild on We Fixed It You're Welcome, recorded live in New York with Erica Boeke, CEO of XP Land.

Aaron sits down with Erica in NYC while Melissa and Chino join remotely to ask why Advertising Week New York now runs out of an old Herald Square mall, why event sponsorship budgets are shrinking, and why the best conference networking happens at fringe events. Erica, who spent years creating brand experiences for Condé Nast titles, lays out an experiential marketing and event marketing strategy playbook for Advertising Week 2027 built around the attendee experience.

In this episode:

- Why Erica last spoke at Advertising Week in a former JC Penney boys department

- The dirty little secret: why she hasn't bought a badge for SXSW, AWNY or Cannes in years

- How 86 devices for the 86th Oscars beat a $250,000 logo-on-a-napkin package

- Why Canva, Sephora and Target no longer need conferences to reach their fans

- The fixes: make New York the campus, program downtime, design moments of awe

What you will learn

Why Advertising Week moved from Broadway theaters to a Herald Square mall, where Erica last spoke inside the old JC Penney boys department

The dirty little secret of big conferences: why Erica hasn't bought a badge for SXSW, AWNY or Cannes in years, and why that should worry organizers

How Erica got Samsung to deliver 86 devices for the 86th Oscars green room, and why that story beats a $250,000 logo-on-a-napkin sponsorship

Why one major insurance tech conference's sponsor list shrank to roughly half of what it was three years ago

How Canva, Sephora and Target built audiences big enough that conferences now need them more than they need conferences

Why the best feedback from a Fast Company Innovation Festival survey was about networking on the shuttle buses

The 2027 fixes: audit the attendee journey, make New York the campus, get out of the mall, program downtime and design moments of awe

About the guest

Erica Boeke started her career as a journalist before moving to the brand side at Condé Nast, where she created experiences for titles including GQ, Teen Vogue, Wired and Architectural Digest. Her work includes the Oscars green room with designer David Rockwell. Today she runs XP Land, which hosts experiential events alongside Advertising Week and is launching its first experience upfront next year.

Connect with Erica Boeke:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-boeke/

Connect With the Show

Subscribe for more deep dives where we fix big business problems with fresh perspectives.
• Website – www.wefixeditpod.com
• Follow us on:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wefixeditpod
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wefixeditpod
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@WeFixedItPod

If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends! Keep listening to find out how we fix companies and put them back better than we found them.

Disclaimer
A quick disclaimer. We are going into this somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. These are our views and opinions. We’re here to ask the kinds of questions everyone’s thinking, have an engaging conversation and maybe come to some conclusions that we feel are worth exploring.

By the end, if we fixed it, you’re welcome. All trademarks, IP and brand elements discussed are property of their respective owners.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oura has sold millions of rings, generated significant revenue from both hardware and memberships, and pursued a company valuation of more than $15 billion.

It was supposed to go IPO…and then it didn’t.

The ring itself? It tracks your sleep, stress, recovery and activity. It’s a major business.

But the ring may be the least interesting part of this story.

In this episode of We Fixed It, You’re Welcome, our panelists Aaron, Melissa and Chino break down the business behind Oura, from its hardware-plus-subscription model to its growing customer base, brand awareness, and health-data strategy and challenge each other about whether an IPO was ever the right move to begin with.

The conversation explores why Oura has succeeded in a crowded wearable market, how it can continue growing, and what happens when a company becomes responsible for an increasingly valuable collection of deeply personal health data.

The central question is:

With all eyes on this company, how does Oura move on from here?

What You Will Learn

Why Oura is more than a ring

How Oura's hardware-plus-subscription business works

Why the subscription model is both an opportunity and a challenge

How Oura can expand its audience

Why Oura's screenless experience is an important differentiator

Why retention does not necessarily mean genuine customer engagement

How raw health data can be turned into actionable guidance

Why customers may want different levels of health information

The discussion around Oura's sleep-data accuracy

Why customer consent matters when collecting health data

How AI could increase the value of biometric information

Why health-data privacy could become increasingly important

What a customer-controlled data permission center could look like

Why longitudinal health data could become a valuable asset

The tension between shareholder expectations and customer privacy

Whether Oura should monetize its data

Whether Oura should introduce additional products

Whether Oura should increase subscription prices

Connect With the Show

Subscribe for more deep dives where we fix big business problems with fresh perspectives.
• Website – www.wefixeditpod.com
• Follow us on:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wefixeditpod
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wefixeditpod
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@WeFixedItPod

If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends! Keep listening to find out how we fix companies and put them back better than we found them.

Disclaimer
A quick disclaimer. We are going into this somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. These are our views and opinions. We’re here to ask the kinds of questions everyone’s thinking, have an engaging conversation and maybe come to some conclusions that we feel are worth exploring.

By the end, if we fixed it, you’re welcome. All trademarks, IP and brand elements discussed are property of their respective owners.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices