The Gstaad Guy Podcast

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Éric Martel, CEO of Bombardier, at the company's completion centre in Montreal with the Global 8000 behind them, to explore how a snowmobile inventor from a small Quebec town became the foundation of one of the world's great aerospace companies. Éric reflects on a career that began on the factory floor and a company whose defining trait is a willingness to take on things it has never done before, from building metro cars without ever having built a train to inventing the regional jet.

The conversation gets into what actually separates one aircraft from another once you are past the specification sheet, and why the company still gathers the people who built each plane to meet the family taking it home. Éric is candid about the supply constraints no amount of demand can solve, the buyers now arriving in their twenties and skipping straight to the flagship, and what he looks for in the people he hires across engineering, design and everything in between. Warm, precise, and unmistakably proud of where it is all made, it is a conversation about craftsmanship, national identity, and the pursuit of perfection at scale.

Filmed at the Bombardier Completion Centre in Montreal.

(00:00) Intro ✨🎙️

(03:41) It Started With A Snowmobile 🏔️🛷

(05:46) He'd Never Built A Train 🚂😮

(07:28) Canadair, Learjet And The Regional Jet ✈️🇨🇦

(12:01) A Family Business At Twenty Thousand People 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🏭

(14:27) The Ceremony Room 🏛️✨

(16:50) Ten Days To Become An 8000 🏔️💪

(17:59) Why You Land Rested 😴✈️

(19:24) Four Countries, Four Days 🌍⚡

(20:32) The Wing Is The Secret Weapon 🛩️🔑

(22:47) Thirty Minutes Or Two Days ⏱️🗺️

(24:07) What Bombardier Means To Canada 🇨🇦🏆

(29:22) Hydropower And Perfect Stitching 💧🧵

(30:41) The Craft You Can Touch 🤲✨

(32:51) We Invented The Winglet ✈️💡

(34:15) Inside The US Market 🇺🇸📈

(36:13) They're Knocking At Twenty Seven 🚪⏳

(38:11) How To Be A Good Guest On Board 😊✈️

(40:06) The Pen That Popped 🖊️✨

(42:46) From The Factory Floor To CEO 🏭👔

(47:17) The Plane That Calls Ahead ✈️📞

(51:04) Everyone Wants Theirs First 🏆⚡

(53:10) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨

(53:52) Luxury That Actually Works 💎✅
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The Gstaad Guy sits down with Ted Gushue, founder of ERG Media and Editor-in-Chief of Type 7, who publishes hand bound books in the most digital era in history. Having once declared print dead and been proved comprehensively wrong, Ted has built a career around people who care too much about one thing, on the conviction that making something for two thousand obsessives beats selling fifty thousand copies to the indifferent.

The conversation gets into where taste comes from and why the objects people love say more about them than anything they say out loud. Ted is candid about the discipline of looking at your own work honestly, about why he has never taken a cut for an introduction, and about the one quality he has found impossible to teach. Warm, generous, and full of opinions he has actually earned, it is a conversation about craftsmanship, obsession, and building things designed to outlive you.

Filmed at Mandarin Oriental, Milan.

Intro ✨🎙️

(02:52) The Cheat Code Of Being An American In Europe 🇺🇸🇪🇺

(05:54) Books Are Dead, I Was Wrong 📚🔄

(08:09) Printing It Out In Lockdown 🖨️🏠

(11:18) Jazz Kissa And The Audience Of Two Thousand 🎷🎧

(15:04) Porsche Was The Architect's Car 🏎️📐

(19:32) Building A Community, Not An Advert 🤝📣

(25:29) Fax Machines And Flying Cars 📠🚗

(29:22) Otaku, And The Beauty Of Being Obsessed 🇯🇵🔍

(33:40) What Coolness Actually Looks Like 😎✨

(35:15) I've Never Been A Broker 🚫💼

(40:12) No Door Is Closed In America 🚪🇺🇸

(44:33) DJ, Gossip Columnist, Consultant 🎧🗞️

(48:22) Learning To Say This Ain't It ✋🎯

(49:59) Why Milan Breathes 🇮🇹🌬️

(54:58) Bite The Bullet, Open The Company 🏢🚀

(58:33) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨

(01:05:03) You Can't Teach Work Ethic 💪🏆
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In a reversal of the usual format, Alex Ikonn, founder of Intelligent Change, turns the microphone on The Gstaad Guy to explore what actually constitutes a life well lived. From repeating a private joke among college friends to a video that circulated by WhatsApp through Gstaad, Monaco, Aspen and New York, The Gstaad Guy traces a path he describes as entrepreneurial rather than creative: not an artist waiting to be heard, but someone watching for the one thing that worked well enough to run behind.

The conversation gets into why he spent two years nurturing the character before leaving Apple, and why he rejects the rhetoric urging young people to quit and chase the dream. He is candid about what he has learned from observing people who have achieved extraordinary success, and how consistently their regrets turn out to be human rather than professional. He makes the case for dating your best friend, argues that legacy is a self-serving word, and explains why he would risk his financial success for his family's unity but never the reverse. Reflective and unusually direct about the cost of ambition, it is a conversation about balance, perspective, and voting with your screen time.

Filmed at The Peninsula London.

Chapters:

(00:00) Intro 🎙️✨

01:54) Before The Deals, Still At Apple 💻🍎

(02:43) The Joke That Became The Gstaad Guy 😂🏔️

(04:04) Stopped On The Street A Month Later 👀🌍

(06:03) An Entrepreneur, Not A Creative 💼🚀

(07:50) Earning The Right To Quit 💪🎯
(11:47) Advice For Anyone Sitting At A Desk With A Dream 💡🌟

(13:50) What The Most Successful People Have In Common 🏆🔍

(16:21) Living In The Grey Area ⚖️🌫️

(17:26) Filling A Void Versus Building A Tower 🏗️💡

(20:55) Date Your Best Friend ❤️🤝

(23:20) The Rich Guys Who Replace Instead Of Fix 💰🔄

(25:34) What Social Media Did To Love 📱❤️

(27:29) Guiding The Algorithm Instead Of Being Guided 🧭📱

(30:45) Building A Subculture By Choosing Friends 🤝🌍

(35:00) The Question That Made Him Define His Values 🔍🏛️

(39:39) What Money Is Actually Well Spent On 💰✨

(41:47) Where Meaning Fits In 🧭❤️

(47:26) Why Legacy Is A Lame Word 🏆💭

(49:37) The Happiest Marriages Are The Least Social 💍🌿

(53:52) Swiss Values And De-Glamorising Excess 🇨🇭⚖️

(55:41) Grateful For The Law Of Attraction 🙏✨
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The Gstaad Guy sits down with David Grutman, founder of Groot Hospitality and the man many consider to hold the keys to Miami, to explore what it really takes to build places people never want to leave. From working the door to opening Komodo in a space his own friends called dead on arrival, David reflects on a career defined by reading people, spotting trends before they surface, and the conviction that the real reward is not the money but the look on someone's face after a great night.

The conversation gets into why festive beats formal in a restaurant, what makes someone a great guest, and how he tells the difference between genuine warmth and someone working an angle. David speaks candidly about playing the long game with people who let him down, the investments that failed alongside the ones that worked, and the wife who calls him a broken butterfly for the boundaries that keep him whole. Warm, perceptive, and refreshingly honest about his own ambition, it is a conversation about hospitality, loyalty, and why taking it personal might be the whole point.

Filmed at David Grutman’s Miami home.

Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro ✨🎙️
(00:47) Holding The Keys To Miami 🌴🔑
(02:39) Reading People And Spotting The Angle 👁️🎯
(05:56) Setting Trends By Watching The Underground 🔍📈
(08:01) Komodo, Brickell And A Restaurant Everyone Called Dead On Arrival 🐉🍽️
(12:08) Why Festive Beats Formal In A Restaurant 🎉🍽️
(15:12) Mentors, And Why He Refuses To Be One 🚫🎓
(17:03) Take It Personal, And Playing The Long Game 📖⏳
(20:07) How To Be A Great Guest 😊🌟
(21:48) FOG, Friends Of Grutman, At The Door 🚪🤝
(23:29) Ambition, Marriage And The Broken Butterfly 💍🦋
(31:38) Investing In Olipop, Symbiotika And The Deals That Failed 💰📉
(36:48) Writing The Book And Learning Gratitude 📖❤️
(41:48) The Verbal Tip Nobody In The Industry Wants 🗣️😏
(44:20) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨
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The Gstaad Guy sits down with David Grutman, founder of Groot Hospitality and the man many consider to hold the keys to Miami, to explore what it really takes to build places people never want to leave. From working the door to opening Komodo in a space his own friends called dead on arrival, David reflects on a career defined by reading people, spotting trends before they surface, and the conviction that the real reward is not the money but the look on someone's face after a great night.

The conversation gets into why festive beats formal in a restaurant, what makes someone a great guest, and how he tells the difference between genuine warmth and someone working an angle. David speaks candidly about playing the long game with people who let him down, the investments that failed alongside the ones that worked, and the wife who calls him a broken butterfly for the boundaries that keep him whole. Warm, perceptive, and refreshingly honest about his own ambition, it is a conversation about hospitality, loyalty, and why taking it personal might be the whole point.

Filmed at David Grutman’s Miami home.

Chapters:
(00:00) Intro ✨🎙️

(01:34) Holding The Keys To Miami 🌴🔑

(03:26) Reading People And Spotting The Angle 👁️🎯

(06:43) Setting Trends By Watching The Underground 🔍📈

(08:48) Komodo, Brickell And A Restaurant Everyone Called Dead On Arrival 🐉🍽️

(12:55) Why Festive Beats Formal In A Restaurant 🎉🍽️

(15:59) Mentors, And Why He Refuses To Be One 🚫🎓

(17:50) Take It Personal, And Playing The Long Game 📖⏳

(20:54) How To Be A Great Guest 😊🌟

(22:35) FOG, Friends Of Grutman, At The Door 🚪🤝

(24:16) Ambition, Marriage And The Broken Butterfly 💍🦋

(32:25) Investing In Olipop, Symbiotika And The Deals That Failed 💰📉

(37:35) Writing The Book And Learning Gratitude 📖❤️

(42:35) The Verbal Tip Nobody In The Industry Wants 🗣️😏

(45:07) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨
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