Tropical MBA – Location Independent Entrepreneurship

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.

Podcast 25:00| Download | Stitcher | iTunes | Comment Occasionally we’ll be putting out a ‘Tuesday podcast’ with some news and ways you can get involved beyond the main TMBA show. I’ll make some notes below but, if you’re interested in our new ‘finding your dream job’, attending one of our events, or hearing what’s in...

Podcast 40:57| Download | Stitcher | iTunes | Comment It is no secret that Dan and Ian have an affinity for great books, and they know that the listeners of this show appreciate them too. Indeed, many entrepreneurs have built their businesses from the wisdom and insights that they have gained from the written page. Kyla Gardner is...

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 Etherieum 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.

Dan and Ian have shared many stories on this show about luck, serendipity, and being in the right place at the right time. But what if that luck isn't totally random? Today's episode is about entrepreneurs (and specifically listeners of this show) connecting to help each other out on their entrepreneurial journey. It begins with Greg Gerber, who made a post in our private membership forum The Dynamite Circle offering to give one lucky entrepreneur an all-expenses paid trip to our annual conference in Bangkok, DC BKK. The recipient of that gift was Madeleine Lambert. Madeleine started a content marketing business called Content Refined last year. She and Greg have joined us today to share the story of Greg's gift and how Madeline's business has grown to $50,000 in monthly recurring revenue since she received it.

The theme of today's show is navigating the social pressures that so many of us feel from friends, family, and colleagues. Dan and Ian are certainly familiar with these feelings, and today's guest is no stranger to them either. Vincent Nguyen is the founder of Growth Ninja, a performance-based Facebook ads company. You may remember Vincent from an episode we published a few years ago about apprenticeships. Vincent has definitely paid his dues in the world of entrepreneurship, having apprenticed with Empire Flippers before starting Growth Ninja in 2015, all the while hiding the fact that he dropped out of college from his immediate family. This episode is a conversation about the tough decisions that many entrepreneurs are forced to make, what it means to sacrifice relationships, and what it really takes to get started in the world of entrepreneurship.

This week's episode represents one of the most promising and immediate opportunities for starting a business on the internet. Dan and Ian have spoken at length about Amazon on this show in the past. Time after time, they have heard stories of success from other entrepreneurs. A year ago, they explored some of these same ideas on an episode that was one of the most popular and controversial episodes we've ever done. Kevin Graham joined us for that episode. He runs a portfolio of almost 60 Amazon product review websites, and is the founder of Bulk Buy Hosting. Kevin agreed to speak with us again today, along with Coran Woodmass, whose company TheFBABroker.com brokers Amazon based eCommerce businesses. On today's show, Kevin and Coran speak at great length about the types of successes that people are having on Amazon, the criticisms of Amazon based businesses, and what kind of opportunities exist in this marketplace for entrepreneurs of all types.