David Waddell is the CEO and Chief Investment Strategist at Waddell & Associates, an SEC-registered investment advisory and wealth management firm. He leads the firm's investment committee, using macroeconomic forecasting, market analysis, and risk assessment to guide clients' portfolio strategies. With over two decades of experience, David is a recognized economic and investment expert and has been featured in major media outlets like Forbes and The Wall Street Journal.

In this episode…

Success in business often looks like confidence, certainty, and control — but the reality is often far messier. Behind strong outcomes are moments of doubt, difficult decisions, and the willingness to admit what isn't working. Sometimes, the advantage isn't having the answers, but knowing when to question them.

As an investment strategist with decades of experience guiding entrepreneurs, David Waddell's journey was shaped as much by missteps as by wins. From humble beginnings — sleeping in a sparse apartment while working at Charles Schwab — to stepping into his father's firm and challenging its core business model, David learned early that conviction comes with risk. Years later, after a long stretch of success, shifting market dynamics exposed flaws in his approach, forcing him into a difficult period of reflection and reinvention. That experience reshaped his leadership style, grounding it in humility and decisiveness.

In this episode of The Decision, Robert Hartline and Eric Jackson sit down with David Waddell, CEO and Chief Investment Strategist at Waddell & Associates, to discuss decision-making and growth as an entrepreneur. David explains the importance of vulnerability in EO forums, lessons from shifting a business model, and how market changes forced a strategic reset.