In conversations about business, you don’t hear Karl Marx quoted very often. That’s principally because of his enthusiasm for communism, which is kind of the opposite of business… But Marx was an economist back in the mid 1800’s and the reason we still know about him is because he had some insights that are still relevant.

Among them is the observation that everything contains the seeds of its own destruction. A current example of this is the way the internet is changing. Every single day there are 14 Billion – with a “B” – Google searches. Most of these searches lead the searcher to a website.

If you own a website and a business, and you want people to find you online, you use a science called Search Engine Optimization. Or SEO. SEO makes sure that when someone’s searching for what you’re selling, your website comes up first on a Google search.

Brian Hong has spent hours, weeks, months and years building websites and manipulating SEO for clients at his New Orleans company, Infintech Designs.

Then along came the seed of the internet’s destruction. AI. AI doesn’t search the web the way a human does. But every day more and more people are using AI to do web searches.

So how does Brian adapt? He gets into the AI business. He creates three AI companies, BigEasyData.ai, Flowbots.ai and Thorbit.ai.

In one way or another, each of these defeat the death of SEO and instead use AI to grow a business. Any kind of business. HVAC. Plumbing. A medical practice. A law firm…

To demonstrate his confidence in his AI tools’ ability to grow any business, instead of taking a fee, Brian will take a small stake in each company. And, but the way, in case you’re wondering, this is not theoretical, it’s actually working.

In another example of Marx’s seeds of self-destruction – one of the ironies of the of the so-called “Information age” - is the death of information itself.

We started publicly sharing written information as early as 59BC. That was the first newspaper. Almost continuously throughout human history since then, and certainly since the invention of the printing press, newspapers have played all kinds of functions in our communities. From a record of small-town births, deaths and marriages, to uncovering national political scandals and covering international wars, the newspaper has been a cohesive element of almost every literate community, everywhere.

The demise of newspapers has been well documented. And news of the shrinking of the news industry continues. Which is what makes an organization called Deep South Today so interesting.

Deep South Today is a nonprofit network of local newsrooms that includes The Current in Lafayette, The Garrison Project, Mississippi Today, and in New Orleans, Verite News.

Warwick Sabin is President and CEO of Deep South Today. Among his varied past occupations Warwick served three terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives, he was a press secretary on Capitol Hill, he has a graduate degree from Oxford University in the UK, and from 2008-13 he revived and was the publisher of the equally prestigious Oxford American magazine.

You’ve probably heard the expression, “When one door closes another door opens.” If that literally happens, you’re probably in prison. But as a metaphor it applies to both Brian's and Warwick's businesses. They're both in fields where the traditional way of doing things doesn’t work anymore, and they've both created original and unique pathways out of what has looked to most people like a dead end.

Frankly, most people who care about these issues in this country are not looking in a southerly direction for solutions. It’s pretty amazing what these guys have accomplished already. Watch this space!

Out to Lunch was recorded live over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Orleans. You can find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at itsneworleans.com.

 

In conversations about business, you don&rsquo;t hear Karl Marx quoted very often. That&rsquo;s principally because of his enthusiasm for communism, which is kind of the opposite of business&hellip; But Marx was an economist back in the mid 1800&rsquo;s and the reason we still know about him is because he had some insights that are still relevant.
Among them is the observation that everything contains the seeds of its own destruction. A current example of this is the way the internet is changing. Every single day there are 14 Billion &ndash; with a &ldquo;B&rdquo; &ndash; Google searches. Most of these searches lead the searcher to a website.
If you own a website and a business, and you want people to find you online, you use a science called Search Engine Optimization. Or SEO. SEO makes sure that when someone&rsquo;s searching for what you&rsquo;re selling, your website comes up first on a Google search.
Brian Hong has spent hours, weeks, months and years building websites and manipulating SEO for clients at his New Orleans company, <a href="https://www.infintechdesigns.com/">Infintech Designs</a>.
Then along came the seed of the internet&rsquo;s destruction. AI. AI doesn&rsquo;t search the web the way a human does. But every day more and more people are using AI to do web searches.
So how does Brian adapt? He gets into the AI business. He creates three AI companies, <a href="https://bigeasydata.ai/">BigEasyData.ai</a>,<a href="https://www.flowbots.ai/"> Flowbots.ai </a>and <a href="https://thorbit.ai/">Thorbit.ai</a>.
In one way or another, each of these defeat the death of SEO and instead use AI to grow a business. Any kind of business. HVAC. Plumbing. A medical practice. A law firm&hellip;
To demonstrate his confidence in his AI tools&rsquo; ability to grow any business, instead of taking a fee, Brian will take a small stake in each company. And, but the way, in case you&rsquo;re wondering, this is not theoretical, it&rsquo;s actually working.
In another example of Marx&rsquo;s seeds of self-destruction &ndash; one of the ironies of the of the so-called &ldquo;Information age&rdquo; - is the death of information itself.
We started publicly sharing written information as early as 59BC. That was the first newspaper. Almost continuously throughout human history since then, and certainly since the invention of the printing press, newspapers have played all kinds of functions in our communities. From a record of small-town births, deaths and marriages, to uncovering national political scandals and covering international wars, the newspaper has been a cohesive element of almost every literate community, everywhere.
The demise of newspapers has been well documented. And news of the shrinking of the news industry continues. Which is what makes an organization called <a href="https://deepsouthtoday.org/">Deep South Today</a> so interesting.
Deep South Today is a nonprofit network of local newsrooms that includes&nbsp;The Current in Lafayette,&nbsp;The Garrison Project,&nbsp;Mississippi Today,&nbsp;and in New Orleans, Verite News.
Warwick Sabin is President and CEO of Deep South Today. Among his varied past occupations Warwick served three terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives, he was a press secretary on Capitol Hill, he has a graduate degree from Oxford University in the UK, and from 2008-13 he revived and was the publisher of the equally prestigious Oxford American magazine.
You&rsquo;ve probably heard the expression, &ldquo;When one door closes another door opens.&rdquo; If that literally happens, you&rsquo;re probably in prison. But as a metaphor it applies to both Brian's and Warwick's businesses. They're both in fields where the traditional way of doing things doesn&rsquo;t work anymore, and they've both created original and unique pathways out of what has looked to most people like a dead end.
Frankly, most people who care about these issues in this country are not looking in a southerly direction for solutions. It&rsquo;s pretty amazing what these guys have accomplished already. Watch this space!
Out to Lunch was recorded live over lunch at&nbsp;<a href="https://thecolumns.com/">Columns in Uptown New Orleans</a>. You can find photos from this show by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lafleurphoto.com/">Jill Lafleur</a> at<a href="https://itsneworleans.com/2026/04/12/solutions-from-the-south/"> itsneworleans.com</a>.
&nbsp;

OUT TO LUNCH finds economist and Tulane finance professor Peter Ricchiuti conducting business New Orleans style: over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Olreans. In his 15th year in the host seat, Ricchiuti’s learned but uniquely NOLA informal perspective has established Out to Lunch as the voice of Crescent City business. You can also hear the show on WWNO 89.9FM.

OUT TO LUNCH finds economist and Tulane finance professor Peter Ricchiuti conducting business New Orleans style: over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Olreans. In his 15th year in the host seat, Ricchiuti&rsquo;s learned but uniquely NOLA informal perspective has established Out to Lunch as the voice of Crescent City business. You can also hear the show on WWNO 89.9FM.

Tulane finance professor Peter Ricchiuti conducting business New Orleans style: over lunch at Commander's Palace restaurant.

It's New Orleans: Out to Lunch

OUT TO LUNCH finds the country's most entertaining finance professor Peter Ricchiuti conducting business New Orleans style: over lunch. Each week Peter invites guests from the New Orleans business world to join him for a midday bite. CEO's, startups, managers, musicians, biomed needle-movers, tech success stories and entrepreneurs of all stripes put aside the elevator pitch and talking points and actually enjoy themselves. It's business, New Orleans style. 
You can also hear the show on WWNO 89.9FM.

OUT TO LUNCH finds the country's most entertaining finance professor <a href="https://freeman.tulane.edu/faculty-research/finance/peter-ricchiuti">Peter Ricchiuti </a>conducting business New Orleans style: over lunch. Each week Peter invites guests from the New Orleans business world to join him for a midday bite. CEO's, startups, managers, musicians, biomed needle-movers, tech success stories and entrepreneurs of all stripes put aside the elevator pitch and talking points and actually enjoy themselves. It's business, New Orleans style. You can also hear the show on <a href="https://www.wwno.org/show/out-to-lunch">WWNO 89.9FM</a>.