This week, Dan & Ian talk about the early days of digital nomadism, what it says about the future, and how to spot new opportunities in life and business.

They'll also explore new topics like compound startup theory, why focus can steer you in the wrong direction, and whether TikTok is the blue ocean Amazon was in 2014.

Stay tuned to learn about the new AI feature, enabling founders to make connections more swiftly than ever.

All this and more in today's fully booked episode, so buckle up and charge your earbuds.

Dan & Ian react to a viral article that asks the question: Does the American Dream still make sense in 2023? They point to the internationality of the concept, and muse about how the American Dream is changing and how it’s particularly relevant to digital nomads and founders.

Dan also gives a rundown of the Elon Musk bio and extracts the business lessons he gleaned from the book. Lastly, with DCBKK less than a month away, Dan & Ian reminisce about why they started this event in Bangkok over 10 years ago, and why it’s still worth the trip.

Join Dan for a wide-ranging conversation with Brian, the Founder and CEO of Reforge, as they dive into critical points in his remarkable journey and gained insights from his experience as the former VP of Growth at Hubspot. Brian has started multiple VC-backed companies and shares his wisdom through detailed essays on growth and user acquisition and in a new podcast, Unsolicited Feedback.

Dan and Ian host a dynamic summer roundup episode, sharing business highlights, dissecting the "nomad's dilemma," and offering their top picks for books and podcasts of the season. Stick around for the latest community news.

YouTube creator, English teacher, and CEO Lucy Bella Simkins joins Dan on the pod to share some of the behind-the-scenes challenges, strategies, and reflections on turning a passion project into one of the world’s largest language learning YouTube channels and a thriving 7-figure+ business. She also shares the challenges and pitfalls of building an operation of 15 team members capable of turning viewers into customers.

Summer in Barcelona comes to a close with a game of Would You Rather featuring the CEO of AppSumo, Noah Kagan. Dan challenges him to choose between distributing equity to employees or advisors, investing in “boring” businesses or tech, owning or renting a primary residence, and more.

Dan also poses a question to listeners that’s been on his mind: how long should summer vacations be?

Dan flies solo this week in a 3-part episode where he circles back to a few hot topics that caught some listener’s attention over the last few months.

Back in May, Dan shared insights from a book he read called the 5 Types of People Who Will Ruin Your Life. Today he’s sharing a recent story where this came into play.

He also shares lessons from the best business book he’s read in the past 6 months (of which he reads about 3 each week). And last but not least, he reaches into the mailbag to share a story from a listener about their Mexican Fisherman Moment.

Dan raises the question: if you only had to implement one simple framework to improve your business, what would it be? In other words, what’s your minimum effective dose of operational practices? Sometimes–most of the time–one simple change can make a huge difference.

Today’s guest represents this line of thinking to a T. Lydia Machova talks about the ROI of spending a month implementing one simple idea, developing an integrator/visionary relationship, and the minimum effective dose of operational practices that improved her business.

Dan and Ian give the inside scoop about their upcoming events strategy and the realization that prompted them to relaunch their hiring search not for an events planner but a business-minded community organizer.

In light of resetting the event strategy for 2024, Dan also chats with the DCx London hosts Seonaid Beckwith, Noel Andrews, and John Ainsworth about how they pulled off one of the best all-time DC events in London last month.

Dan Andrews (https://twitter.com/TropicalMBA) talks to Coachvox.ai founder Jodie Cook (https://twitter.com/jodie_cook) about her methods for building an AI startup from scratch, how to have the most productive and enjoyable month of your life and more. Jodie is full of experience and wisdom, and this was a fun one.

Dan Andrews (https://twitter.com/TropicalMBA) talks to Authority Hacker co-founder Mark Webster (https://twitter.com/markwebster1) about successfully transitioning from an agency model to a multimillion-dollar course business. They talk about navigating 50/50 partnerships, why starting a course business isn’t for everyone, and what you can build with a laptop, a dream, and cheap accommodation.

Two months ago, Dan & Ian were limited by their lack of visibility into their business finances. They fired their bookkeepers, hired a financial professional, and with their financial house in order, they’re able to agree on top-level strategies and move with speed.

Dan and Ian have had hundreds of conversations with founders in 2023 so far. In today’s episode, they dive into two major challenges that are coming up for 7+ figure founders. They’re calling these challenges the Wheel of Despair and the Paradox of Growth.

This week’s guest is a TMBA all-timer. Taylor Pearson is an entrepreneur, writer, and co-founder of Mutify Funds. He joins Dan to catch up on what he’s been up to lately and shares five frameworks he’s adapting in his business after “messing up” over the last two years.

Today’s guest is one of Dan’s favorite people to talk business with. Justin Tan grew his productized video-editing agency to 7 figures in 2 years and “retired” in 4. Now he helps burnt-out mid-6-figure agency owners become 7-figure passive owners without the 60-hour workweek grind.

In today’s episode, Dan talks with agency owner John Ainsworth about how implementing seemingly small, simple changes allowed him to take most of last year off, while his business still grew 30%.

Some bootstrapped entrepreneurs are fortunate enough to exit their businesses for life-changing money, but that’s not always the case. Today on the pod, Dan talks to Einar Vollset, about the most common mistakes founders make when planning for an exit.

Dan and Ian discuss 6 frameworks for having a good business idea: ‘Find a Channel, Not an Idea’, ‘The Classic Entrepreneur’s Venn Diagram’, ‘The Slippery Slope Arbitrage’, “Make it Incredibly Difficult and Pointlessly Complicated’ and ‘Polarize Your Range’.

In what could be a polarizing conversation for the pod, Dan and Ian discuss one of the most popular threads in the TMBA community this year: Is living in America worth it? They address the pros and cons of life in the US vs abroad and challenge the bigger questions about the values that pull some of us back to our home country, and the luxuries that make the digital nomad life so appealing.

Have you ever had somebody move through your life or business that takes up an excessive amount of energy? Constantly creates drama and conflict? Makes you feel like you’re walking on eggshells? Or even worse?

In today’s episode, Dan tries his best to be a psychologist (disclaimer: not really, but kinda) as he and Ian explore frameworks for identifying and dealing with people who have (what is now called) personality disorders.