TMBA Podcast Episodes
With the TMBA in your ear, you’ll no longer have to grow your business alone. Subscribe to follow along to hear about the ways we help entrepreneurs scale successful businesses.
↓ Never miss an episode or blog post!
We publish a new show every Thursday morning, 8AM EST
The 3 hats of bootstrapping + Insights from DCBKK 2024
Dan and Ian discuss the importance of three key executive roles—CEO, COO, and CFO—within bootstrapped businesses, emphasizing the need for founders to embrace responsibilities beyond visionary tasks.
They share insights from this year’s DCBKK and a sneak peek into the upcoming DC Black event in New York.
Agencies vs. Products + What Happened in the Amazon Aggregator Space?
We’re joined this week in a business breakdown session with Alexej Pikovsky of Alphawellbrands.com. Alexej raised 4MIL to build a CBD marketplace. They were forced to pivot and have currently acquired an Amazon FBA brand and started up a success agency in the process, the combined revenue of both is on track to be over 4MIL this year.
Create and Communicate an Offer (That Doesn’t Suck) in 30 Minutes
Selling your product or service requires using words to convey what you offer. But words alone don’t convert on-the-fence prospects into paying customers. Great conversion copy is a mix of persuasion, UX, and decision-making psychology. Sound hard? We promise it isn’t.
Chris, the founder of Conversion Alchemy, takes us for a deep dive into all things copywriting and how the power of your messaging can impact your business growth, for better or worse.
The 4 Most Eye-Opening Lessons I’ve Learned From My Coaching Clients
Dan and Ian talk to 100s of listeners a year via 1:1 coaching. In this episode they distill those calls into 4 breakthrough ideas that can change your quarter for the better.
Newsletter subscribers will get our GPS (Goals/Plans/Systems) worksheet. Sign up for the newsletter.
A Business Idea That Might Actually Work
Dan considers why many of us are resistant to a certain type of business idea even when it’s been proved time and time again.
He’ll also explore that often what stands between your business and positive change is some structured thinking.
“You’re Gonna Mess It Up The Way Everybody Messes It Up”
Dan paid big money for a business coach who only gave him one piece of advice. Listen to the episode to find out what it was and if it worked.
6 Keys to a Successful Bootstrapped Business
Dan & Ian get real about what it takes to create and maintain a successful business. They’ll walk you through their Goals/Plans/Systems (GPS) worksheet that’s specifically designed to help you plan for business growth. They use it with their coaching clients on a weekly basis.
Newsletter subscribers can download and complete their very own GPS worksheet.
“When is my LTV good enough?” + Founder Mode for Bootstrappers
“Manager mode is so tempting…” Dan & Ian discuss Paul Graham’s most recent essay titled “Founder Mode”, and how lifestyle bootsrappers can harness the power of founder mode to grow their businesses.
They’ll also address a question they get asked all the time: “But when is my LTV good enough?” How to figure out your LTV to CAC ratio and more in this week’s episode.
Subscribe to the newsletter to access Dan & Ian’s business resources used with their coaching clients. Subscribe to the TMBA newsletter.
This week’s episode brought to you by Remote First Recruiting. Hire your next team member in 30 days or less.
You Don’t Have an Operations Problem. You Have a Sales & Marketing Problem.
Many founders think they have an operations problem - delivery, trust, staffing, leadership. But Dan thinks you might actually have a sales & marketing problem.
Dan & Ian also talk about becoming better leaders and how to fight against the erge to control your team.
Last but not least, Dan shares the invaluable relationship advice he learned from President Barack Obama and reflects on the benefits of owning a lifestyle business when it comes to parenting.
Want to work through your current challenges with Dan & Ian? TMBA listeners can apply to get business coaching from Dan & Ian live on the pod (it’s free). Apply here.
$30K a Month on Upwork in Less Than 2 Years
This founder started an Upwork agency less than 2 years ago and is making $30K a month… JUST on Upwork alone. We talk about how to take it to $80K a month and beyond in the next year.
In this week’s newsletter, we include our ICP exercise. Your next breakthrough in under 30 minutes.
TMBA email subscribers can also apply to get business coaching from Dan & Ian live on the pod (it’s free).
$100K MRR in 12 Months… Can They Do It?
These co-founders want to more than triple their revenue in the next 12 months. Despite stagnation the past few years, they believe they can get there.
Dan & Ian dissect their plans to achieve this goal and offer some counterintuitive advice.
They cover repackaging a product for a higher cost, focusing on your premium customers, and how to lead a sales call.
In this week’s newsletter, we include our favorite resources for getting started with sales calls.
“Lifestyle Business” vs “Real Business”
Go from being trapped in the job you’ve built for yourself to building a wealth-generating machine.
Dan & Ian challenge service businesses to determine their LTV to CAC ratio so they can improve their cashflow and run a “real” business that gives them the lifestyle they want.
Calculating the LTV to CAC ratio may sound hard (and boring), but it’s no harder than solving all those other things you’re struggling with in your business.
Also, Dan’s hot take on the digital nomad ratio and being “relatively” wealthy.
“1,000 Customers from One Channel”
Dan & Ian talk to a listener who’s running a SaaS business that within one year got to $8K MRR. The business is full of potential and opportunities, but the risks involved with having all of your customers come from one channel looms heavily in the background.
They discuss topics like how to build relationships with customers, increase average cart value, how to grow your business when you’re not a sales and marketing expert, and more.
Dan & Ian brainstorm ideas about how this founder can future-proof his business while still maintaining his ideal lifestyle.
TMBA email subscribers can submit their business to be reviewed with Dan & Ian on the pod.
“I’m Scared to Raise the Price”
Dan & Ian talk to a listener who’s running a $1M D2C e-commerce business about the challenges and opportunities he faces as he plans for future growth and a potential exit down the road.
They discuss topics like decreasing customer acquisition costs, increasing profit margins, the absolutely essential role of a CFO, and not letting your passion for the product get in the way of your growth.
At the end of the call, Dan & Ian will recommend key next steps this founder should take in order to scale their business effectively and aggressively.
TMBA email subscribers can submit their business to be reviewed with Dan & Ian on the pod.
Only 3 Ways to Grow…What Would Plato Do
Tackling one of the biggest problems entrepreneurs struggle with: separating their business from their own narrative and looking at it with fresh eyes.
This episode will uncover the simple but hard truths to every business and reveal the three (and only three) ways to grow any business.
We talk about customer acquisition, order value, retention, risk-free offers, and more.
TMBA email subscribers will get access to the platonic business calculator discussed on today’s show.
The 5 Approaches for Getting Rich + Budgeting for Wealth
We speak to hundreds of entrepreneurs every year through one-on-one coaching and live events.
Many of those entrepreneurs have gone on to become very wealthy, and throughout our conversations with those people, we have found some common threads to the ways that wealthy people behave.
This was one of our most popular episodes of 2019 so we’re bringing it back with updated thoughts.
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive Dan’s personal monthly budget template.
10 Ideas for Businesses Seeking $1 Mil in Revenue
In this week's conversation, Dan and Ian discuss 10 ideas that provide valuable insights and strategies for entrepreneurs looking to grow their revenue to $1 Million and beyond.
From years of experience and countless coaching calls, Dan and Ian cover topics such as finding a product with a tailwind, getting out of delivery, hiring a key badass, understanding your business model, optimizing your marketing funnel, and much more…
These strategies can provide a roadmap for entrepreneurs to focus on the most impactful areas of their business and make informed decisions to drive growth.
Winning and Losing Millions with Nathaniel Eliason
This week’s conversation revolves around the book 'Crypto Confidential' and explores author Nathaniel Eliason’s experience during the crypto mania.
From the moment he decided to go all-in on crypto and the impact it had on their personal life, Nathaniel delves into the mechanics of farming and the process of launching decentralized exchanges.
Enjoy insights deep insights from the crypto world including off-ramping, the risks and challenges of early wallets, the mindset of crypto whales, the experience of losing and making millions, the rise and fall of the Titan project, and the author's biggest win in developing a crypto game.
Less Than 5% of Businesses Get to 1MIL+ - A Process to Reach the Goal
Dan and Ian discuss the fundamental principles of change and how they apply to both weight loss and entrepreneurship.
The conversation explores the three key components of successful change: knowledge, accountability, and identity.
Listen in for how these principles are practical and applicable to your business growth, cause ass we know breakthroughs in our business don’t happen through epiphanies, they happen through small and consistent accumulations of change.
The 7 Most Common Money Mistakes for Bootstrappers
Dan and Ian discuss the biggest money problems they’ve seen in their own business and hundreds of other bootstrapped businesses.
Learn how to craft a sustainable financial model, the importance of owner compensation, how to avoid being under-invested, and more.