On this show, Dan and Ian talk a lot about apprenticeships. In doing research about apprenticeships, Ian recently discovered that in many developed countries all over the world, there is a very robust apprenticeship culture that does not exist in the United States. On this week's episode, we are going to bring you the story of one such apprenticeship told from both sides. Jacob Puhl brought Corey Ames on as an apprentice at a company he founded called Firegang Dental Marketing. You'll hear how their relationship started and how it evolved to where it is today, as Corey is preparing to take over the reigns as CEO.

On last week's show, Dan and Ian spoke about how many entrepreneurs are finding success with productized service business. One of the reasons for that success is that these businesses can be started quickly and with little to no capital. On today's episode, they have asked their friend and expert idea generator Tristan King of Blackbelt Commerce to return to the show. The last time Tristan was on this program, listeners of this show took the ideas that were donated and turned them into successful businesses. Listen in to hear even more of Dan and Tristan's ideas for productized service businesses that could be started up this weekend.

Dan and Ian are both recovering from their DC BKK event that they host every year in Bangkok. This year marked the fifth anniversary of that event, which has been a topic of conversation on this show every year since its inception. In this weeks show, they are going to talk about some of the themes of this year's DC BKK, what that they learned from this year's event, and the intimate connection that TropicalMBA listeners have formed with DC BKK over the years.

Several weeks ago, Dan and Ian spoke with Simon Payne about his experiences as the technical co-founder of LeadPages, the number one landing page software on the web, and his decision to leave that company to pursue a new venture called ConvertPlayer. A few days after that episode aired, we were contacted by one of the other founders of that company, Clay Collins, who wanted to come onto the show and talk about one of his favorite things in life: marketing technology. We jumped at the chance to talk to Clay about his company's growth, why they decided to seek venture capital, and a whole lot more.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, when Dan and Ian decided to start a business together, their first serious spending was on books. They knew that, in order to run a successful business, they would first have to read up on how others had done gone about it. This week, Dan has invited good friend of the show and author of “The End of Jobs”, Taylor Pearson back to discuss some of the books they have discovered over the past year, some of the books they have been re-reading as well as some of their favorite blogs.

Recently, Dan and Ian have been exploring the subject of investing in properties, and the many reasons and motivations that different investors have. It has been a few months since Ian purchased his home in Austin, Texas, and he is still trying to wrap his head around what it means to be a homeowner. This week, he decided to reach out to Rob Dix and Rob Bence, who have both been investing in properties in the UK for almost a decade. They also run a business finding and managing properties for others, as well as hosting a podcast about property investments called The Property Podcast. On this episode, the "Robs" share with Ian why people might want to invest in property, some of the archetypes of people who do invest in property, and their general feelings on the future of housing market.

Recently, Dan and Ian have decided to research someone who is a legend in the world of business. For a very long time, Warren Buffett was the richest person in the world. Dan and Ian both recently read Alice Schroeder's fantastic biography of Warren Buffett titled "The Snowball". They decided they wanted to dedicate an episode to that story of Mr. Buffett's life, and the unique business choices that he has made throughout his career.

Like many of us, Dan and Ian spend a lot of time in foreign countries. As regular listeners know, Dan has recently moved to Barcelona and he’s starting to get more than a little embarrassed by his limited range lack of Spanish. But he also has a lot of questions and concerns about the kind of a time investment it’s going to take him to learn a new language.

This week’s episode is the final installment of our three-part series about people who have turned their passions (which just happen to be some of Dan and Ian‘s personal obsessions) into successful businesses. Today’s guest is the podcaster that Dan has listened to the most in 2016: Nate Duncan, founder and host of the Dunc’d On Basketball Podcast. Nate has only been podcasting for a little over a year but has already turned it into his full-time job.

In the second part of our three-part series, Dan and Ian are talking to people that have turned their own personal obsessions into successful businesses. This week, you'll be hearing from someone that Ian has admired and wanted to talk to for quite some time. Mr. Regular is one of the hosts of Regular Car Reviews, a very successful YouTube channel that combines car reviews with pop culture references, social commentary, and much more. The results are both hilarious and impressive. You don't need to be a car person to enjoy this show. Mr. Regular shares his insight on what it was like to get started publishing content on YouTube four years ago and what the journey has been like since then.

In the first part of a new three part series, Dan and Ian are going to be talking about some of their personal obsessions and the people who have turned those obsessions into businesses. This week, you'll hear about one particular obsession that Ian introduced into Dan's life: cycling. Patrick Brady of Red Kite Prayer has become one of Dan's favorite bloggers and podcast hosts. Patrick has been able to make a living writing and speaking about cycling. This episode is about more than just riding a bike, though. Patrick shares his attitudes about generating revenue with his blog, writers he is inspired by, and much more. Those of you who are cycling enthusiasts should stay tuned for some bonus content after the credits as well, where Patrick and Dan geek out over some hardcore cycling stuff.

Starting a business can be extremely emotionally difficult. Dan and Ian are very familiar with the personal toll that the process can take on an aspiring entrepreneur. A lot of times starting a business means that you are broke, or relying on your friends, family or significant other to support you. For some, that can lead to stress and even depression. Christopher Sutton knows these feelings all too well. A few years ago, Christopher wrote a blog post about what it was like to experience the emotional roller coaster of starting his own business, Easy Ear Training. On this week's episode, you will hear Christopher talk about what that experience was like, as well has how he found support through this podcast and our community of listeners in the Dynamite Circle.

A year ago, Dan and Ian published one of the most-listened to episodes of this podcast, titled 7 Things to Consider When Selling Your Business. In that episode, they detailed all of the ups and downs of the sale process, as well as some anonymous profiles of the people who were putting in offers and kicking tires. On this week's episode, you will hear directly from Tino Sage, the "CEO Sally" who purchased their manufacturing and import business. She'll explain what she was looking for in a business, what the process of buying our business was like, and how things have been since she took over the reins.

Like all entrepreneurs, Dan and Ian have fantasized about putting their ideas out on the internet and making millions of dollars. Today's guest has actually done that. Simon Payne is the co-founder of Leadpages, the industry standard software in creating landing pages for websites. Dan and Ian originally met Simon in the Philippines, around the time that they were forming the Dynamite Circle. In this episode, you'll hear how that original meetup influenced Simon, as well as the true story of how Leadpages was formed, and what the future has in store for Simon.

Email has been an all pervading part of entrepreneurial life for the last few decades. These days, Dan and Ian have mixed feelings about email in general. In exploring how to step up some of their strategies for dealing with it, they decided to talk to someone who is always happy to open his inbox. Chris Van Patten of Van Patten Media is just that guy. Chris loves working with email, and he’s not afraid to share his feelings about it. In this episode, you’re going to hear some approaches to handling email and why, sometimes, it’s ok to give yourself permission not to respond.

About a year ago, Dan and Ian were working on their annual DC BKK event in Bangkok, and they were finding themselves strapped for time. They weren't putting the kind of resources or time into this show that the would have liked to, and they realized that the enjoyment that they were getting out of this podcast had started to wane. It was around that time that they decided they needed to drastically step up the production level of the show. They put out a call for a new producer, which was answered by a former BBC producer named Jane Beresford. This week's episode is the story of what has been going on behind the scenes of the Tropical MBA podcast since then. You'll hear about what led to the decision to increase production, and a step by step instruction on how they were able to take this show to the next level.

Dan and Ian have been talking a lot on the TropicalMBA lately about investments, and those conversations have led them down a lot of interesting paths. Most notably, that curiosity has led them to explore the future of cryptocurrency, and in particular, Bitcoin. What really compelled us to talk about the Bitcoin story on this show is the strange and incredible cast of characters involved. No one knows that story or those characters better than Nathaniel Popper, a New York Times business reporter and the author of Digital Gold. On this week's episode, you'll hear Nathaniel share the fascinating details of the history of Bitcoin, and the process of shaping a book based on so many of those crazy stories.

One of the recurring themes on this show is freedom. The freedom to make personal choices. The freedom to travel. The freedom to create a business that allows you to live the lifestyle you choose to live. Dan and Ian have spoken to many people about what that freedom means, but perhaps Esther Jacobs has the most profound story about freedom that has ever been shared on this show. Esther is one of the youngest people in the Netherlands ever to be honored with the distinction of knighthood. Despite that event, Esther has a very unique story to share about how she was disowned by the very same country that named her a knight. Esther has an unbelievable story, and it could carry serious implications for digital nomads all around the world.

It's been almost a year to the date since Dan and Ian sold their business. They don't regret the decision, but in the time since then, the two of them have explored a lot of "what ifs" in their head. A lot of listeners have approached them recently who are considering selling their business as well. On this week's episode, you'll hear some of the questions that listeners approached them with, as well as five reasons why selling your business might not be the right idea for you.