Today Dan and Ian are going to talk about something that every entrepreneur has to deal with. That "something" is the anxiety that comes along with the entrepreneurial way of life and the overall challenge to our mental well-being. Owning and operating a business means responsibility, and those responsibilities can create all kinds of stress and mental fatigue. Very few people are as experienced in this topic as Dr. Sherry Walling. Sherry is a clinical psychologist and the host of the ZenFounder podcast. She also recently released a fantastic book on the topic called "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Keeping Your Shit Together". Sherry believes that the success of our businesses is intimately tied to our mental health. She has joined us on today's podcast to talk about why many of us aren't taking enough time to care for ourselves, and what we can do to solve that.

Dan and Ian know that one of the most difficult things about running a business is having the right mindset, especially in the early stages. One of the most powerful concepts about how to improve your creative mindset was presented by author Steven Pressfield in his book The War of Art. Steven poses that there is a force in the universe, which he calls 'resistance', that is manifesting itself in our lives and getting in the way of our forward progress. On today's episode, we will be talking about five ways in which this 'resistance' can appear in our day-to-day lives. Make no mistake, even the most seasoned entrepreneurs experience it. Learning how to identify 'resistance', and to eventually overcome it, is one of the most critical skills that you can learn on your entrepreneurial journey.

For many years, Dan and Ian have spoken about jobs on this podcast. After all, the TropicalMBA originally started as a job listing on this website. Jobs are an important facet of entrepreneurial life. Remote jobs and distributed teams have been a huge part of the successes that people have found in our community. A remote job can also offer a springboard to a long and prosperous career as an entrepreneur. On this week's episode, Dan and Ian thought it would be fun to talk about their own personal history of remote jobs. This podcast chronicles that history, from the first remote employee that they've hired, all the way to their latest venture, a remote job board that they have recently launched called Dynamite Jobs.

Dan and Ian announced on last week's podcast that they are publishing a new book about the things they wished they had considered before they sold their business. In researching the topic, they were shocked to find that there were so few people writing stories about selling businesses and that the majority of those books were simply focused on trying to get a fair price for your business. Today's guest is Bo Burlingham. Bo is the author of several books, including a book called Finish Big, which Dan and Ian both wish they could have read before selling their own business. Bo is also a journalist, with over 30 years of experience as a writer and editor at Inc. Magazine. On today's episode, Bo shares his stories about interviewing entrepreneurs who have exited their businesses and explains why he believes that there is much more to the process of selling a business than a simple monetary transaction.

Dan and Ian have some very exciting news to share on today's podcast. Longtime listeners know that the two of them spent several years growing a business that they eventually sold. They have also spent countless hours on this show speaking to other entrepreneurs who have changed their lives by growing and selling their own businesses. Because of this, they have decided to share their unique personal experience on this topic in the form of a new book, which Dan has recently completed writing. They didn't choose to write this book as a business venture, though. They were driven by the idea that any entrepreneur can make these kinds of life-changing business deals if they are equipped with the right knowledge. On today's episode, you will hear all about their decision to write this book, what that experience was like, and how you can be one of the first people to read it.

A few weeks back, Dan and Ian shared an in-depth conversation about cryptocurrency. That podcast featured Greg Gerber, who spoke about the basic things that you need to know about Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital currencies. The response to that podcast was fantastic, and we thought we would follow up on the topic by inviting our longtime friend, and cryptocurrency enthusiast, Taylor Pearson back on to the show. Taylor's recent article "Why Is Bitcoin Valuable" was recently featured on the front page of Hacker News. On today's show, Taylor joins us to talk about that article, and to share his insights on the philosophy behind this new technological movement. This episode isn't all philosophical, though. Taylor also shares some great tips about how you can dip your toes into the crypto space if you are so inclined.

Dan and Ian know better than anyone how important lead generation is to a business. After all, they used to end every episode of this podcast with the phrase "Go make a cold call."Every business needs to make sales to survive, and to make those sales, they need to have leads. Today we are going to speak to two people who specialize in generating leads and making sales. Dan Englander is the founder of SalesSchema, a consulting company that helps larger ad agencies win more business. Dana Lindahl is the CEO and Founder of Legendary LeadGen, a company that helps marketing agencies get in touch with their ideal prospects. We've asked Dan and Dana to join us this week to engage in a bit of a spirited debate about the two dominant methods of lead generation. On one side of the debate, there are people who believe that creating an amazing business that relies on word-of-mouth marketing will ultimately bring in more qualified leads. On the other side, there is the idea that cold email outreach is ultimately the superior way to get new customers and clients. Regardless of what you believe, we hope this episode will inspire you to go out there and take the necessary steps to grow your business.

A recent episode of Tim Ferriss' podcast caught the attention of Dan and Ian. The title of that episode was "The 4-Hour Workweek Revisited". For those who are unfamiliar, Tim is the author of The 4-Hour-Workweek, which is easily the most influential book in our community of location-independent entrepreneurs. The book is ten years old, and perhaps because of its prominence, it has received quite a few criticisms, many of which Tim addressed in his podcast. In this episode, Dan and Ian discuss their thoughts on Tim's podcast, the themes presented in his book, and why The 4-Hour Workweek is still such an important part of the entrepreneurial zeitgeist a decade after it was released.

Dan and Ian receive a lot of emails from listeners of this show. They don't always have time to respond to them, but one recent email caught their attention. The message was from a listener named Jay Clouse. Jay wrote that he was struggling with some of the common issues that early-stage entrepreneurs face. Jay recently left his position at a tech startup and has started a new business facilitating mastermind groups. Rather than email him back, Dan and Ian decided it might be helpful to call Jay and talk about these problems. This episode is a great resource for those who are just starting a business. For those of us who are more experienced entrepreneurs, we hope that you will stick around and share your own advice for Jay and the people like him in the comments section of this episode.

Indeed, many entrepreneurs have built their businesses from the wisdom and insights that they have gained from the written page. Kyla Gardner is a bit of a bookworm herself. She’s is a former journalist, established author and literati extraordinaire. And Kyla joins us this week to share the favorite books that we’ve read in the past 12 months. The conversation also turns to the writing process as well because *drumroll* Dan has recently completed a draft of his first book. So, this week’s podcast is an episode for anyone and everyone who loves books and are seeking to read more in 2018.

A few months back, Dan and Ian shared a conversation on this show about a failed negotiation that Ian was involved in for a used car. The response we received about that episode was pretty overwhelming, and the results were unanimous: people want to hear more about these types of dealmaking situations. In pursuit of that information, we decided to invite a very special guest on to the show. Corey Reuth is Ian's mentor in the world of wheeling and dealing. Over the past few years, Corey has greatly influenced the deals that Ian has made, and he has helped save Ian thousands of dollars. On this week's episode, Corey shares his stories, tips, and strategies about what it takes to make killer deals. These tips don't just apply to car sales, either. We believe that anyone that's listening to this episode can learn something that can help them make a deal and that learning these techniques can help you make great strides along your entrepreneurial journey. 

Dan and Ian have decided to use today's podcast to talk about a particularly difficult, but common issue in our community. One of the biggest challenges that entrepreneurs face is adhering to the "life scripts" that society has written for us to follow. The cold, hard truth is that people's lives often don't go the way that they think they are going to, and the social scripts that lead us into the corporate rat race can frequently leave us wanting more out of life. Today's guest is someone that Dan and Ian have known for over 8 years. We hired David Hehenberger as a TMBA intern back in 2010. Using the skills he learned during his apprenticeship, he left to become an SEO consultant and ultimately started his own successful productized business called FatCat Apps. David joins us on this week's show to talk about three specific life scripts that are uniquely tailored for entrepreneurs. These scripts will help us to create the kind of financial independence that will ultimately allow us to live the kind of lives that we want, on our own terms.

Today's podcast is a very special episode. Dan and Ian are taking some time this week to celebrate the birth of Ian's new son. On this episode, you'll hear all about how Ian is transitioning to his new role as a parent. Ian isn't alone in this adventure, though. Many of our listeners and members of our entrepreneurial community are parents as well. Balancing parenting with entrepreneurship can be quite the challenge, and today's guest understands it as well as anyone. Martijn Reintjes is the CEO of a company called Team Croco, which provides done-for-you split testing services. Martijn and his wife Ryanne have a two-year-old son named Milo, who they have brought along with them to several of our events. Martijn shares a great deal of advice with Ian on today's podcast about what it means to be a parent and an entrepreneur.

Happy New Year and welcome back to all of our listeners. We hope that we can help make 2018 your best year in business ever. To kick things off strong, Dan and Ian are going to talk about one of the most popular and controversial topics in the entrepreneurial community today. Of course, we are talking about Cryptocurrency. Digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have made many members of our audience very wealthy, and have left the rest of us wondering what we are missing out on. Greg Gerber is an internet entrepreneur and cryptocurrency enthusiast. He owns a marketing company that has been accepting Bitcoin as payment since 2013. On this episode, Greg joins us to talk about the world of digital currency, the advantages to accepting these currencies as payment, and the future of money.

Dan and Ian are in a reflective mood this week. 2017 has been a hallmark year for the TropicalMBA, and we thought it would be fun to revisit some of our favorite episodes of the year. We'll be sharing some of our most memorable moments from the show this year, as well as re-examining those conversations in a discussion we like to call the "7 Stages of Entrepreneurship". These 7 stages are bridges that every entrepreneur will eventually cross on their journey. Stick around after the credits for a very special collection of TropicalMBA outtakes and bloopers from 2017. To all of our listeners: We wish you a very happy holiday and a fantastic new year.

In the past, Dan and Ian have spoken on this podcast about specific "epiphanies" that entrepreneurs have had on their journey. You're not going to hear about a lightbulb business idea or an overnight success story on today's show, though. The reality is that even if these epiphanies happen, the day-to-day life of being an entrepreneur has nothing to do with a single moment of insight. In fact, quite often the opposite is true. Entrepreneurs frequently feel like they have no idea what they are doing or what they are supposed to do. Chris Cage first joined us on the TropicalMBA in 2015 to talk to about his company, Greenbelly Meals. Greenbelly manufactures and sells mega-calorie, high-nutrient meal bars for people that participate in activities that require a huge calorie load. When Chris last spoke on this podcast, there were many question marks about his path forward. On this week's episode, Chris talks about what has happened in his journey since we last spoke, what inspired his first book, how it felt to appear on The Joe Rogan Experience, and much, much more.

Dan and Ian have spent many years on this show discussing the importance of surrounding yourself with supportive people who share your vision. Today's guest can attest to that philosophy. Nate Ginsburg has built a successful Amazon business over the last two years, which he recently sold for just under a million dollars. He didn't do it alone, though. On this week's show, you'll hear how a chance encounter in the rolling hills of Northern Thailand led Nate down an unbelievable entrepreneurial journey. 

Last week, Dan and Ian spoke to Greg Gerber on this podcast. During that conversation, Greg mentioned that he had recently interacted with many listeners of this show, and that a large portion of them owned services businesses. He also spoke about how he believed that those entrepreneurs were struggling to take the next step in their business. This insight into the audience of the show got our hosts thinking. What if they could help those entrepreneurs take that next step? On this week's episode, Dan and Ian will be talking at great length about what "The Services Problem" is, as well as sharing three strategies that entrepreneurs with these types of businesses can employ in order to solve it.