Dan welcomes back Jay Clouse, founder of Creator Science, for his third appearance on the podcast. Jay has grown Creator Science into a thriving media company, including a YouTube channel with over 100,000 subscribers. In this episode, they discuss recurring vs. one-time products, effective marketing funnels, channel viability, and the difference between discovery and nurture content. Jay’s transparent approach to building his business is truly inspiring. Catch the second part of this conversation on the Creator Science podcast.

Dan talks to Matthew Newton, CEO of Leatherback Travel, about his radically unconventional approach to scaling an 8-figure business. They dive into why it’s crucial to ruthlessly select your opportunities, along with key lessons learned—including when to pivot, balancing flexibility with structure, and ensuring that running a business is always engaging and fun. Lean into some of these insights as you work on your goals for 2025.

If you’re sleeping on LinkedIn, let this episode be your wake up call. Dan sits down with Dr. Alex Barker, a pharmacist-turned-entrepreneur who 10X’d his business using LinkedIn. A real LinkedIn success story, proving how this often-overlooked platform can be a game-changer for B2B businesses.  If you’ve ever doubted LinkedIn’s potential, this conversation might just change your mind.

Dan and Ian traveled to Barcelona with 12 other CEOs and founders to spend the week with Scaling Up author Verne Harnish. They spent $20K+ to stay in a haunted villa and workshop their business 12 hours a day for 4 straight days.

These are the 8 takeaways that you can apply to your own business… for free.

Does your business feel stuck in 'idea mode,' constantly jumping from project to project? If you’re ready to get on track and build a more focused, scalable strategy for 2025, this episode is for you.

Dan breaks down his proven 4-step framework for driving your next $1 million in revenue. These actionable steps can be implemented in just a few days, with results you’ll notice almost immediately.

Dan revives his Re-Readables series with a discussion inspired by Frank Slootman's business book Amp It Up. He delves into the book's core arguments, such as the idea that execution trumps strategy, faster execution can drive better decision-making and growth, and the importance of building for investability.

Dan & Ian talk to Lucas Peters, founder of Journey Beyond Travel, about his plans to get to $10M in 5 years.

They break down the business and shift thinking from a project-oriented mindset to an approach rooted in financial analysis: What are your gross margins? What does it take to aquire a customer? What is your rebuy rate and LTV?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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).

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.

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.