Business can be faddish. Paul Jarley, dean of the UCF College of Business, is on a mission to separate fads from fundamental change that will impact students. Join us as we chat with experts, enthusiasts and interesting people to talk business and pose the question… Is This Really a Thing?
Is This Really a Thing?
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Business can be faddish. Paul Jarley, dean of the UCF College of Business, is on a mission to separate fads from fundamental change that will impact students. Join us as we chat with experts, enthusiasts and interesting people to talk business and pose the question… Is This Really a Thing?
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November 6, 2025
Is a Martian Economy Really a Thing?
Paul Jarley: It's Space Week at UCF and I'm like a kid in a candy store. So many questions. For one, everyone's talking about going to Mars, but why? What problem are we solving? What does Mars offer that other planets or the moons don't? And if the answer is survival or curiosity, does that really require an economy, people trading air, power and data in some kind of cosmic barter system? Or is Mars just a science project? Let's be real. Most moms or dads did their kids science projects. Nobody ever monetized anything from any of them.<br /> <br /> This show is all about separating hype from fundamental change. I'm Paul Jarley, Dean of the College of Business here at UCF. I've got lots of questions. To get answers, I'm talking to people with interesting insights into the future of business. Have you ever wondered, Is This Really a Thing? On to our show.<br /> <br /> In the past few years, the College has been undergoing a transformation. We've been asked to build a Business School that's a key asset to Florida's leading engineering and technology university. That's meant bringing in people who are a little different from our typical pragmatic, data-driven faculty. The ones who teach students to manage people and PNLs. A few of these new faces can fairly be called dreamers. One of them is Zaheer Ali. He, along with Greg Autry is leading our space commercialization efforts, including our space MBA. It's not a nickname, it's a space MBA. As we were setting up for Space Week, Z claimed that a Martian economy would really be a thing. Well, he said something like that. I gave him a skeptical look, he countered with a panel of experts.<br /> <br /> Listen in.<br /> <br /> Zaheer Ali: Well, thank you Dean Jarley. I like to say that, you know, in our business, we turn sci-fi into sci-reality. And one of the people who helps make sci-fi and is now helping make science reality is Danica Vallone of the Making Space Agency. Her path to space is very interesting coming from Hollywood of things like costumes and sets of such high fidelity and accuracy that the space industry said we need some of that. In my time at NASA, one of the things we did was we always built very high fidelity simulators and simulation systems to prepare people and equipment for the challenges of the space environment. So welcome Danica.<br /> <br /> Danica Vallone: Thank you very much.<br /> <br /> Zaheer Ali: We also have Dr. Pascal Lee of the Mars Institute, of the SETI Institute, one of the leading planetary scientists in the US and indeed the world Co-Chair of the National Space Society Space Settlement Summit and International Space Development Conference. Welcome, sir.<br /> <br /> Paul Jarley: So I'm going to start this conversation by asking the same question I ask anybody who pitches me an idea, what problem does this solve? If you're going to Mars and establishing an economy, what problem does that solve?<br /> <br /> Danica Vallone: Mars expert over here should probably have first crack.<br /> <br /> Pascal Lee: This is an interesting way to frame the question. I'm not interested in space exploration to solve a problem. I'm interested in drawn to space exploration and Mars exploration in particular because as a scientist, I'm interested in this quest for life. We often say we're looking for life on Mars. What we fail to specify is that we're looking for the first example of an alien form of life. And we're not talking about little green men or some intelligent form of life. We know that Mars hasn't had that in its history, but we're looking for another example of life. A different biology from ours. All life on earth is connected and going to Mars would solve possibly that problem, which is how alone are we? Is there some other form of life even within our own solar system? That would solve the problem in the sense of giving us a fuller perspective of what we mean here on Earth.<br /> <br />
October 27, 2025
Is the $1 Billion Powerpoint Really a Thing?
We’ve all sat through bad slide decks—but what about the ones that change history? In this episode of Is This Really a Thing?, Dean Paul Jarley is joined by Jim Balaschak, Dr. Mike Pape, and Derek Saltzman to explore whether the so-called “billion-dollar PowerPoint” is myth or reality. From Airbnb and Tesla’s iconic pitch decks to the role of storytelling, trust, and investor psychology, they unpack what makes a presentation powerful, what doesn’t, and whether AI or new tools might one day dethrone PowerPoint.<br /> Featured Guests<br /> <br /> Michael Pape, Ph.D. - Dr. Phillips Entrepreneur in Residence & Professor of Practice, Management<br /> Jim G. Balaschak - Principal, Deanja, LLC<br /> Derek Saltzman - Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Soarce<br /> <br /> Episode Transcription<br /> Paul Jarley: We've all sat through terrible slide decks, but every so often a PowerPoint does more than communicate. It creates value. Think of the pitch deck that launched Airbnb, the presentation that convinced investors to fund Tesla or the strategy decks that shape billion dollar mergers. So is the billion dollar PowerPoint really a thing? Can a few slides actually change the course of business history, or is it just a fancy way of describing really good storytelling?<br /> <br /> This show is all about separating hype from fundamental change. I'm Paul Jarley, Dean of the College of Business here at UCF. I've got lots of questions. To get answers, I'm talking to people with interesting insights into the future of business. Have you ever wondered, Is This Really a Thing? Onto our show.<br /> <br /> To help me figure this out, I've invited three guests. Jim Balaschak is an alum of the college, in our Hall of Fame, and a serial investor. Dr. Mike Pape is an Entrepreneur in Residence here at the College of Business, and Derek Saltzman is a former winner of the Joust and is co-founder of a company called Soarce. Thank you gentlemen for being here today. We've all seen really bad PowerPoints. Talk a little bit about what makes a great one. Jim, I'll start with you.<br /> <br /> Jim Balaschak: A PowerPoint that catches my eyes shows a big potential market, a problem they've identified that they have a solution for that they can make money on. It's not necessarily always the slides, but the slides can quickly convey the idea of the thoughts. And a lot of times before I meet with a founder, I'm emailed the pitch deck and going through the pitch deck helps me determine do I want to pursue this to the next step, get on the call with the founder, have them pitch it to me? I think it's a good way to open the door.<br /> <br /> Paul Jarley: The quality of the pitch deck tells you something about how serious and well thought out this is, right? So a schlocky one can really close the door, maybe more than a really good one can enhance it. Is that fair in your view?<br /> <br /> Derek Saltzman: Yeah.<br /> <br /> Paul Jarley: Derek, what do you think?<br /> <br /> Derek Saltzman: I think there's a lot to take into consideration with the audience and the stage gate of when you're first starting a pitch or when you're trying to interact. There's multiple decks for multiple stage gates. So in the first beginning intro, like for instance, how Jim said, when you're trying to send and get that initial meeting, it's all about a hook. Can you describe what you do in the most succinct, effective way possible to get the message across of what the problem is, how you're solving that problem, and what's the revenue potential like he described? Because that's what all investors are really looking for. Once you move past that initial stage gate, you have much more detailed decks that go into your financials that go into your true revenue model, your business model, maybe your IP strategy, and a variety of other topics. The overall optics and the overall clear messaging is I'd say the two biggest things.<br /> <br />
September 29, 2025
Is The Quarterly Report Really a Thing?
Quarterly earnings reports have been a fixture of American business for more than 50 years ... but are their days numbered? Earlier this month, President Donald Trump reignited debate by suggesting companies should only report twice a year, a move he says would cut costs and free executives to focus on the long term. But would fewer reports build stronger businesses, or erode trust in the markets? In this episode of Is This Really a Thing?, Dean Paul Jarley sits down with UCF College of Business Hall of Fame members Paul Gregg and Jim Balaschak, along with accounting faculty member EB Altiero Poziemski, to examine whether the quarterly report is an outdated ritual or a critical safeguard. Could its demise really be a thing?<br /> <br /> Featured Guests<br /> <br /> EB Altiero Poziemski, MSA Program Director & Advisor / Associate Lecturer<br /> Paul Gregg, Finance Executive in Residence<br /> Jim G. Balaschak - Principal, Deanja, LLC<br /> <br /> Episode Transcription<br /> Paul Jarley: Sometimes things just come together. Last week I read something about the President's proposal to shift from quarterly to semi-annual earnings reports. That same week I was holding the College's fall meeting of our Dean's Advisory Board. The Board is filled with folks who have a direct interest in this debate. So I convened a quick panel to gain insights into the likely death of the quarterly report. Paul Gregg is an experienced CFO, member of the College of Business Hall of Fame and an Executive in Residence in the Department of Finance. He is joined by Jim Balaschak, a fellow Hall of Famer and serial investor, and EB Altiero Poziemski, a faculty member in the Dixon School of Accounting. Quarterly earnings reports have been with us for 50 years. President Trump has floated the idea of going European and cutting back to semi-annual reporting. Would that save money, destroy trust in markets or both? And what happens when AI makes real time disclosure possible? In this episode, we ask whether the cadence of reporting is about efficiency or about faith in the system itself. Could the end of the quarterly earnings report really be a thing? Stay tuned.<br /> <br /> This show is all about separating hype from fundamental change. I'm Paul Jarley, Dean of the College of Business here at UCF. I've got lots of questions. To get answers, I'm talking to people with interesting insights into the future of business. Have you ever wondered, Is This Really a Thing? Onto our show.<br /> <br /> EB, let me start with you. Talk a little bit about when the quarterly report first came about and why, and the changes over the years.<br /> <br /> EB Altiero Poziemski: The requirement to actually have any financial reporting whatsoever from our public companies started with the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. So that was the first time that there was a law that said a publicly traded company had to periodically report their results to their investors.<br /> <br /> Paul Jarley: This was a response that Great Depression, right?<br /> <br /> EB Altiero Poziemski: Yes. Following on that, in 1955, that was when the requirement for semi-annual reports was added to the rules, and so we saw that sometime between the original 1934 act and 1955, there was an increased demand for more timely information about these companies. And then from there, we didn't see quarterly reporting required until 1970. So in the grand scheme of things, it's actually a fairly recent development and not entirely a settled one either because we're here talking about it right now. But Donald Trump also brought this up in 2018, actually brought it to the SEC for comment. It did go out for public comment at that time, and in 2013, the European Union actually abolished quarterly reporting for the companies that they regulate. So it's been kind of a push and pull over time.<br /> <br /> Paul Jarley: Paul, you've been in the corporate world for a lot of years,
45 total episodes available
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