What does it take to build a $150 million wellness empire without selling your soul - or your company - to the highest bidder? This week on The Higher Standard, Chris sits down with longtime friend Shahab Elmi, co-founder and CEO of Cymbiotika, for a conversation that goes well beyond vitamins and supplements. From betting on himself and building a bootstrapped business into a nine-figure brand to navigating the temptations of private equity, protecting product quality and learning that success means very little if your family gets the leftovers. Shahab pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to build something that lasts. Along the way, they tackle entrepreneurship, longevity, AI, fatherhood and why the most expensive ingredient in any successful business might just be integrity. Turns out, building different isn't a marketing slogan… it's a very expensive way of refusing to compromise. No games. No drama. No nonsense.

💥 Have you left your "honest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" review?

This episode is proudly brought to you by Fridays.

Because real wealth starts with your health. If you want to feel sharper, stronger, and more in control, visit joinfridays.com and use code HIGHER for an exclusive discount.

📩 NEWSLETTER: https://tr.ee/O6FWkv

👕 THS MERCH: http://www.thspod.com

🔗 Resources:

Official Website — Premium Supplements, Innovation & Wellness (Cymbiotika)

Co-Founder & CEO of Cymbiotika — Personal Instagram (Shahab Elmi @shahabelmi)

Cymbiotika — Independent Supplement Ratings, Brand TrustScore & Product Testing (SuppCo)

Cymbiotika Wellness Bar — Official Location & Information (Fontainebleau Las Vegas)

Dietary Supplements: What You Need to Know — Quality, Safety & Independent Verification (National Institutes of Health — Office of Dietary Supplements)

⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note that the content shared on this show is solely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice or attributed to any company. The views and opinions expressed are personal and not reflective of any entity. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and listeners are urged to seek professional advice before making any legal or financial decisions. By listening to The Higher Standard podcast you agree to these terms, and the show, its hosts and employees are not liable for any consequences arising from your use of the content.

Over the weekend more than 500,000 people marched across France, with cars set on fire and over 2,000 arrests. This morning French 10-year yields jumped more than 10 basis points, the CAC 40 is down about 1.7%, and France now pays more to borrow than Italy or Greece. It lands on a US market that was already jumpy: since Friday’s show the 10-year is up about 6 basis points to 5.15%, Brent is near $110, and the VIX has climbed from 16 to 18. So is France a one-day scare, or the first crack in a global bond market that’s running out of buyers? We’re going live to work through it.

💥 Have you left your "honest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" review?

This episode is proudly brought to you by Fridays.

Because real wealth starts with your health. If you want to feel sharper, stronger, and more in control, visit joinfridays.com and use code HIGHER for an exclusive discount.

📩 NEWSLETTER: https://tr.ee/O6FWkv

👕 THS MERCH: http://www.thspod.com

🔗 Resources:

French unrest compounds debt crisis fears. Paris-listed stocks, bonds and the euro fall (CNBC)

Euro drops amid high energy prices and street riots in France (Reuters)

US rate rises are being amplified in global markets (FT Markets)

Pimco Sees A 6% 10-Year... Here's Why "Bad Inflation" Caps Yields (ZeroHedge)

Brent Flirts With $110 Before Reversing As Wright Declares Pump Prices Have "Peaked" (ZeroHedge)

Will Oil Prices Decline as Middle East Supply Recovers? (Goldman Sachs)

⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note that the content shared on this show is solely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice or attributed to any company. The views and opinions expressed are personal and not reflective of any entity. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and listeners are urged to seek professional advice before making any legal or financial decisions. By listening to The Higher Standard podcast you agree to these terms, and the show, its hosts and employees are not liable for any consequences arising from your use of the content.

Every great company wants loyal customers. The really great ones want believers. This week, we look at what happens when a business stops selling you a product and starts selling you an identity. From Amazon’s “Day 1” disciples to Tesla shareholders defending Elon Musk like family and OpenAI employees threatening to walk out with Sam Altman, the biggest companies in America have figured out something Wall Street can’t put on a balance sheet: tribal loyalty is incredibly valuable. But now the tribes are wearing political jerseys, CEOs are becoming symbols, tickers are becoming flags, and buying a car, drinking a beer, or choosing an AI company can somehow announce what team you’re on. Totally normal stuff. Welcome to the cult economy. Pick yours carefully.

💥 Have you left your "honest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" review?

This episode is proudly brought to you by Fridays.

Because real wealth starts with your health. If you want to feel sharper, stronger, and more in control, visit joinfridays.com and use code HIGHER for an exclusive discount.

📩 NEWSLETTER: https://tr.ee/O6FWkv

👕 THS MERCH: http://www.thspod.com

🔗 Resources:

Amazon Leadership Principles (Amazon)

2025 Annual Meeting — Elon Musk Compensation & Shareholder Vote (Tesla)

OpenAI Announces Leadership Transition — Sam Altman (OpenAI)

⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note that the content shared on this show is solely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice or attributed to any company. The views and opinions expressed are personal and not reflective of any entity. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and listeners are urged to seek professional advice before making any legal or financial decisions. By listening to The Higher Standard podcast you agree to these terms, and the show, its hosts and employees are not liable for any consequences arising from your use of the content.

AI may be the most important technology of our lifetime. That does not mean Wall Street has priced it correctly. In Episode 356, we dig into Anthropic’s reported $2 trillion ambitions, more than $500 billion in long-term compute commitments, OpenAI’s even larger promises, and 180 years of investors discovering the hard way that great technology and great investments are not the same thing. From Railway Mania and Netscape to Webvan, Cisco and WeWork, the pattern is remarkably familiar: spend enormous amounts of money today, assume tomorrow will be exponentially bigger, and try not to ask what happens if growth slows. But this time there is an extra wrinkle: the AI valuations only really work if software captures a meaningful piece of something much larger than the software market itself... your paycheck.

💥 Have you left your "honest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" review?

This episode is proudly brought to you by Fridays.

Because real wealth starts with your health. If you want to feel sharper, stronger, and more in control, visit joinfridays.com and use code HIGHER for an exclusive discount.

📩 NEWSLETTER: https://tr.ee/O6FWkv

👕 THS MERCH: http://www.thspod.com

🔗 Resources:

Amazon Leadership Principles (Amazon)

2025 Annual Meeting — Elon Musk Compensation & Shareholder Vote (Tesla)

OpenAI Announces Leadership Transition — Sam Altman (OpenAI)

⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note that the content shared on this show is solely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice or attributed to any company. The views and opinions expressed are personal and not reflective of any entity. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and listeners are urged to seek professional advice before making any legal or financial decisions. By listening to The Higher Standard podcast you agree to these terms, and the show, its hosts and employees are not liable for any consequences arising from your use of the content.

America’s next debt crisis isn’t hiding in the numbers. It’s hiding behind them. Credit card delinquencies are either flashing red or perfectly manageable, depending on which statistic you cherry-pick. And somehow, both are technically correct. In Episode 357, we follow the cracks spreading through student loans, subprime auto lending, buy-now-pay-later debt, and the $1.8 trillion private credit market—where Wall Street apparently believes moving risk off a balance sheet makes it disappear. From South Korea’s credit card collapse to the infamous assurances that subprime was “contained,” history offers a familiar warning: the numbers look manageable right up until they don’t. The real question isn’t how much Americans owe. It’s who’s carrying the risk, who’s hiding the losses, and what happens when the paychecks stop.

💥 Have you left your "honest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" review?

This episode is proudly brought to you by Fridays.

Because real wealth starts with your health. If you want to feel sharper, stronger, and more in control, visit joinfridays.com and use code HIGHER for an exclusive discount.

📩 NEWSLETTER: https://tr.ee/O6FWkv

👕 THS MERCH: http://www.thspod.com

🔗 Resources:

How Distressed Are Consumers? Reconciling Diverging Credit Card Delinquency Measures (Federal Reserve Bank of New York )

Delinquency Rate on Credit Card Loans — All Commercial Banks (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED))

May 2026 Financial Stability Report — Private Credit, Redemption Risks & Bank Exposure (Federal Reserve Board)

⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note that the content shared on this show is solely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice or attributed to any company. The views and opinions expressed are personal and not reflective of any entity. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and listeners are urged to seek professional advice before making any legal or financial decisions. By listening to The Higher Standard podcast you agree to these terms, and the show, its hosts and employees are not liable for any consequences arising from your use of the content.

Oil just whipsawed on a headline. Brent spiked to $111.99 on Tuesday, then reversed and settled at $108.79 when a Qatar and Pakistan "compromise proposal" hit the wires, and Iran fired back that reports a deal is close are wrong. The IRGC says two tankers were set ablaze by its mines, and Kpler counts at least 18 vessels hit in two weeks. Here's the strange part: stocks don't care. The Nasdaq 100 is up 2.3% from Friday's close, the VIX sank from 20 to 16.65, and the 10-year is still parked above 5%. Then the UK printed 3.5% inflation against 3.4% expected, and the Bank of England is eyeing a hike. Is the market pricing peace or ignoring a lit fuse? We get into it live at 11.

💥 Have you left your "honest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" review?

This episode is proudly brought to you by Fridays.

Because real wealth starts with your health. If you want to feel sharper, stronger, and more in control, visit joinfridays.com and use code HIGHER for an exclusive discount.

📩 NEWSLETTER: https://tr.ee/O6FWkv

👕 THS MERCH: http://www.thspod.com

🔗 Resources:

UK Inflation Hits 11-Month High as Bank of England Eyes Rate Hike (Bloomberg)

U.K. Consumer Price Index (YoY) For September 3.5% Vs. 3.4% Est.; 3.1% Prior (Bezinga)

Oil prices fall as traders hope for diplomatic progress in Middle East (CNBC)

Iran Rejects Report That Deal Is 'Close' After Qatar, Pakistan Push 'Compromise Proposal' To End War (ZeroHedge)

Oil Prices Climb Above $110 as Middle East Supply Fears Persist (Yahoo! Finance)

⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note that the content shared on this show is solely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice or attributed to any company. The views and opinions expressed are personal and not reflective of any entity. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and listeners are urged to seek professional advice before making any legal or financial decisions. By listening to The Higher Standard podcast you agree to these terms, and the show, its hosts and employees are not liable for any consequences arising from your use of the content.

Brent just hit $116, the highest since April 30, and the reasons keep stacking up. The U.S. ordered non-essential staff out of Saudi Arabia, Aramco told Dhahran headquarters staff to evacuate, the Houthis keep striking Saudi targets, and Trump says something happens "fairly soon" on Iran. Thursday also gave the Nasdaq 100 its worst day since June, down almost 3%, as OpenAI's raise got marked down $150 billion to a $1.25 trillion valuation. The 10-year sits at 4.99% after Treasuries' biggest rally in over two years. And tonight Moody's reviews France while its bond spread to Germany sits at a post-2011 high of 176bps. Oil, AI and Europe's weakest link, all at once, with FOMC next Wednesday. Don't blink.

💥 Have you left your "honest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" review?

This episode is proudly brought to you by Fridays.

Because real wealth starts with your health. If you want to feel sharper, stronger, and more in control, visit joinfridays.com and use code HIGHER for an exclusive discount.

📩 NEWSLETTER: https://tr.ee/O6FWkv

👕 THS MERCH: http://www.thspod.com

🔗 Resources:

Brent crude tops $113, highest level since May, after Trump hints at action on Iran (CNBC)

Futures Wobble After AI Bloodbath As Brent Hits $114, France Braces For Moody's (ZeroHedge)

Global stocks tumble as oil price tops $112 (FT Markets)

Brent Hits $114 as Houthi Attacks Threaten Saudi Energy Infrastructure (Yahoo! Finance)

⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note that the content shared on this show is solely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice or attributed to any company. The views and opinions expressed are personal and not reflective of any entity. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and listeners are urged to seek professional advice before making any legal or financial decisions. By listening to The Higher Standard podcast you agree to these terms, and the show, its hosts and employees are not liable for any consequences arising from your use of the content.