Tropical MBA: Entrepreneurship & Founder Lifestyle

By Dan Andrews; Ian Schoen

Society & Culture Business Places & Travel

What's Tropical MBA: Entrepreneurship & Founder Lifestyle about?

With 10M+ downloads and thousands of listener meetups worldwide, the TMBA Podcast is the hub for 7 & 8-figure founders who’ve built life-changing businesses while attaining personal freedom. New episodes every Thursday morning.

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Tropical MBA: Entrepreneurship & Founder Lifestyle episodes:

04.18.2024
#751 “The Death of the Follower” + How I’d Make $250K in 3 Days a Week
Is it possible to bootstrap a high-level business if you’re broke? Listen to Dan & Ian’s take on what kinds of businesses are best to start when you’re starting with basically nothing. Also, what the hell does a visionary do?...
04.11.2024
#750 What is the Most Simple OS for <$5M?
The hard part shouldn’t be how to implement an OS in your organization. The hard part is answering the question: Are the right people in the right roles at your company? In this episode, Dan and Ian share their own...
04.04.2024
#749 Do Things That Don’t Scale
In this episode, Ian and Dan discuss the concept of doing things that don't scale, inspired by Paul Graham's influential article 'Do Things That Don't Scale.' They explore the idea of taking risks and gambling in entrepreneurship, and how it...
03.28.2024
#748 Three Phases to 1 Million
Dan and Ian discuss the different phases of bootstrapping a business and the common challenges that arise at each stage. They walk through three phases: Zero to $250k “Mindset”; $250k to 1 million "We're seeking a reliable/repeatable source of new...
03.21.2024
#747 Quiet Crypto, The Demand Question, and Difficult Decisions ft. Jordan Gal
Dan talks to Jordan Gal, founder of Rally and co-host of the Bootsrapped Web podcast about challenges in the ecommerce space, product-market fit and demand, partnerships and veto power, the quietness of crypto, risking other people’s money, and more… There’s...
03.14.2024
#746 “Full-Service Agencies Are Out” & Other Productized-Service Ideas
Dan & Ian talk to John Doherty, the founder of Editor Ninja, former owner of Credo, and cohost of the Working Sessions podcast about three major trends he’s seeing in the agency space that could impact your strategy and profitability...
03.07.2024
#745 “3 Million in Revenue is a Death Zone" - Financial Strategy with Greg Crabtree
Transitioning through the death zone requires careful execution and a focus on profitability. The $3 million dollar mark is a critical milestone for businesses, and many struggle to push through it. In this episode, Dan talks to Greg Crabtree, author of...
02.29.2024
#744 How Transparent Should You Be? Thoughts on Queen Bee Roles & a Ticket Giveaway
This week Dan & Ian share a few thought experiments you can do to improve your business and reach your next breakthrough. They cover the value of a writing-first culture, the Queen Bee Role & how transparent should you be...
02.22.2024
#743 Spotting Taboo Business Ideas Through the Overton Window
Going deeper on shiny object syndrome, Dan & Ian open the mailbag to read responses to last week’s episode. A listener shares his success story with shiny object syndrome, revealing how he pursues his entrepreneurial impulses without growing crazy. The...
02.15.2024
#742 A Podcast About Shiny Object Syndrome
Dan & Ian delve into the complexities of combating shiny object syndrome, a challenge that plagues all entrepreneurs at one time or another (or all the time). They’ll talk about six strategies for tackling “the syndrome” and how to harness...
02.08.2024
#741 The Roadmap for Turning a Skill Into a 1M+ Productized Service
In this episode Dan uncovers The Ultimate TMBA Business: a productized service business built on a skill set. Tom Kent started his business based on a very specific skill set of his: he was good at getting jobs. Now Tom...
02.01.2024
#740 The Anti-Agency Agency + High ROI Customer Acquisition
Vince Nguyen joins Dan to share how he resurrected his agency from semi-retirement and in the first month resumed making 5+ figures per client. He runs his agency solo and shares some of his biggest hacks for success. Vince essentially...
01.25.2024
#739 The Three Horsemen Holding Your Business Back from Breakthrough with Mike Michalowicz
Dan interviews business author and entrepreneur Mike Michalowicz, delving into the transformative concepts from Mike's books — "Profit First," "The Pumpkin Plan," Clockwork", and more. They explore the power of prioritizing profit and why most small businesses are often “crushed”...
01.18.2024
#738 Under the Hood of an 8-Figure Business + Million Dollar Weekend with Noah Kagan
“Noah’s new book Million Dollar Weekend has so many nuggets for aspiring and mature entrepreneurs alike. Specifically, if you’re launching a new product, starting a new business, or you want to keep things simple for your team, you’ll find tangible...
01.11.2024
#737 Business Basics: Revenue Durability, “Small” Goals, & High-Leverage Meetings
Today Dan & Ian challenge you to consider: How durable is your revenue? They’ll explore the concepts of profit now vs profit later, investing profits to build durability, network effects, marginal profitability calculation, and more. But first, in some lighter conversation,...
01.04.2024
#736 How to Have Your Best Year $$$Wise Ever
This week, Dan reveals a strategic approach to decision-making intervals for achieving top-line revenue and personal income goals. Join him as he explores how this decision-making cadence serves as a compass in navigating the challenging 'messy middle' of entrepreneurship. What’s the...
12.28.2023
#735 An 8-figure exit and revisiting the 1,000-day principle
Can you make a life-changing decision based on assumptions you pulled off the internet? This question and many others are answered in today’s fascinating interview with two of Dan’s mentors and longtime friends. They recently exited one of their businesses (they’re still...
12.21.2023
#734 Non-Obvious Ways to Grow Your Business + Favorite Moments of 2023
As 2023 comes to a close, Dan & Ian reflect on how their business did in 2023 and share some of their favorite moments from the year. They’ll also talk about what makes a compelling offer, the “non-obvious ways”...
12.14.2023
#733 End-of-Year Brainstorming, Goal-Setting, and a Mexico Meltdown
Dan & Ian offer up some end-of-year thought experiments for founders, including how to re-visualize your business, capitalize on strategy, and ensure that you are in the right role in your business. Most founders assume they are the “executive” in...
12.07.2023
#732 Can Org Charts Be Sexy? + NYC Drinking Stories
Dan & Ian unravel the complexities of job titles and organizational frustrations post-DC Black event, offering solutions through org chart brainstorming, a new business idea, and how much you should be investing into networking strategies based on your income. Plus, see...
12.05.2023
#731 Special Edition Pod: Meet us in Mexico
In this special Tuesday edition of the pod, Dan & Ian make the hard sell for listeners to meet them in Mexico. If you’re into five-star resorts, good food, frosty drinks, and nerding out about your business, consider this your official...
11.30.2023
#730 Cash Flowing Your Early Retirement (10K/mo+)
This week, Dan continues delving into the world of coaching with a story about one company that provides highly paid professionals with a low-stress way to earn a living in the sunset phase of their careers. Dan also interviews Sarah...
11.23.2023
#729 What is the Michael Jordan of Business Models?
All we can say is that it’s extremely powerful and extremely profitable. Dan and Ian nerd out on what might be the GOAT business model of all time. They analyze some of the best examples of said business model, and...
11.16.2023
#728 Mailbag: Hang-ups, Power-ups, and Cheat Codes for Entrepreneurs
Dan & Ian open up the metaphorical mailbag to answer some listener questions. They reveal cheat codes for bootstrappers and how to activate them, the top reasons people can’t scale to 7+ figures, and the difference between F U money and...
11.09.2023
#727 The Freedom Line, 7+ Figure Founders, and Extended DCBKK Recap
This week Dan & Ian talk about a topic that came up countless times at this year’s DCBKK: Whether to exit or stay in your business. They’ll revisit frameworks from their book Before The Exit and discuss how to...
11.02.2023
#726 Insights from DCBKK 2023: The UI vs API of a Location, How Bootstrappers Are Getting Wealthy, 2024 Business Strategy, and More
Dan & Ian are back in Austin and have fully recovered from what was the biggest event in DC history: DCBKK 2023. Over 400 entrepreneurs gathered in the world-class city of Bangkok to swap stories, participate in masterminds, and fuel...
10.26.2023
#725 How One Entrepreneur Built a 7-Figure Brand Around a Very Niche Audience
This week, Dan is joined by a listener who wrote in with some compelling insights on community, camaraderie, and what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Anthony Fosano, founder of Engineering Management Institute, built a 7-figure brand with a coaching...
10.19.2023
#724 Hyper Niche Business Ideas with Big End Game Potential
This week Dan invites Dana Lindahl, founder of Legendary Podcasts, as a special guest on the pod. They’ll discuss how you can generate cash flow and demand for your product immediately using cold email and identify high-earning potential business ideas...
10.12.2023
#723 4 types of business coaches for 7+ figure founders and reflecting on our 15-year partnership
Ian and Dan agree that partnerships can create polarized outcomes, either leading to a successful collaboration or a complete failure, depending on a few essential factors they’ve learned over the years. Find out whether they think business partnerships are a...
10.05.2023
#722 Revisiting the History of Digital Nomadism, AI For Connecting Founders, and the Big Focus Problem
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...
09.28.2023
#721 Dissecting the American Dream & Business Lessons from the Elon Musk Bio
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...
09.21.2023
#720 Brian Balfour’s $33M Growth Insights: Product-Market Fit, Durability, & Knowing Your Natural Limits
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...
09.14.2023
#719 The Nomads Dilemma, Anti-Traction Debate, and Summer Highlights
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. Dan & Ian’s Stuff: The Newsletter “The DC” DC...
09.07.2023
#718 Lucy Bella Simkins Built a YouTube Channel with 10,000,000 Subscribers
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...
08.31.2023
#717 A Game of Would You Rather ft. Noah Kagan
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...
08.24.2023
#716 Too Old for Basketball, Business Books, & Personality Disorders in Action
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...
08.17.2023
#715 3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Business
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...
08.10.2023
#714 Profit vs. Revenue and the Inside Scoop on Events for Founders
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...
08.03.2023
#713 How to Build an AI Startup with Jodie Cook
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...
07.27.2023
#712 Business Partnerships and 6-Figure Launches: A Conversation with Mark Webster
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...
07.20.2023
#711 “Money is Your Responsibility” + News Updates
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...
07.13.2023
#710 The Wheel of Despair and the Paradox of Growth
Dan and Ian have had hundreds of conversations with founders in 2023 so far. In today’s episode, they share two major challenges that are coming up for 6 and 7+ figure founders. They’re calling these challenges the Wheel of Despair...
07.06.2023
#709 How (Not) to Lose Money with Taylor Pearson
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...
06.29.2023
#708 The Path to 7-Figure Passive Ownership + We’re Hiring
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...
06.22.2023
#707 Deceptively simple ways to have a better business
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%. They discuss the modern business philosophies of Traction and...
06.15.2023
#706 5 Things Founders Often Misunderstand about Exiting Their Business
Some bootstrapped entrepreneurs are fortunate enough to exit their businesses for life-changing money, but that’s not always the case. Today Dan talks to Einar Vollset, about the key mistakes founders often make when exiting their business. Einar is the Founder...
06.08.2023
#705 6 things we’ve learned about having good (and bad) business ideas
Today Dan and Ian analyze different frameworks for developing a good business idea, and reflect on how they didn’t always follow their own advice. They cover 6 idea frameworks: ‘Find a Channel, Not an Idea’, ‘The Classic Entrepreneur’s Venn Diagram’,...
06.01.2023
#704 Moving Back to America… Was it Worth It?
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...
05.25.2023
#703 Counting Money Is Making Money + High-Conflict Personalities
Dan and Ian deep dive into the high-conflict personalities that could derail your business and how the role of finance changes as you grow out of one phase of your business and into the next. Lastly, in a throwback to the...
05.18.2023
#702 Millions for Podcasts and Jay Clouse on Memberships
Dan Andrews (@TropicalMBA) talks with Jay Clouse (@jayclouse) about his $400K membership site, becoming a professional creator, and winning CEX Content Entrepreneur of the year. Jay Clouse, founder of Creator Science, long-time listener, and former guest of the pod is...

What's Tropical MBA: Entrepreneurship & Founder Lifestyle about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Tropical MBA: Entrepreneurship & Founder Lifestyle episodes:

#751 “The Death of the Follower” + How I’d Make $250K in 3 Days a Week

#750 What is the Most Simple OS for <$5M?

#749 Do Things That Don’t Scale

#748 Three Phases to 1 Million

#747 Quiet Crypto, The Demand Question, and Difficult Decisions ft. Jordan Gal

#746 “Full-Service Agencies Are Out” & Other Productized-Service Ideas

#745 “3 Million in Revenue is a Death Zone" - Financial Strategy with Greg Crabtree

#744 How Transparent Should You Be? Thoughts on Queen Bee Roles & a Ticket Giveaway

#743 Spotting Taboo Business Ideas Through the Overton Window

#742 A Podcast About Shiny Object Syndrome

#741 The Roadmap for Turning a Skill Into a 1M+ Productized Service

#740 The Anti-Agency Agency + High ROI Customer Acquisition

#739 The Three Horsemen Holding Your Business Back from Breakthrough with Mike Michalowicz

#738 Under the Hood of an 8-Figure Business + Million Dollar Weekend with Noah Kagan

#737 Business Basics: Revenue Durability, “Small” Goals, & High-Leverage Meetings

#736 How to Have Your Best Year $$$Wise Ever

#735 An 8-figure exit and revisiting the 1,000-day principle

#734 Non-Obvious Ways to Grow Your Business + Favorite Moments of 2023

#733 End-of-Year Brainstorming, Goal-Setting, and a Mexico Meltdown

#732 Can Org Charts Be Sexy? + NYC Drinking Stories

#731 Special Edition Pod: Meet us in Mexico

#730 Cash Flowing Your Early Retirement (10K/mo+)

#729 What is the Michael Jordan of Business Models?

#728 Mailbag: Hang-ups, Power-ups, and Cheat Codes for Entrepreneurs

#727 The Freedom Line, 7+ Figure Founders, and Extended DCBKK Recap

#726 Insights from DCBKK 2023: The UI vs API of a Location, How Bootstrappers Are Getting Wealthy, 2024 Business Strategy, and More

#725 How One Entrepreneur Built a 7-Figure Brand Around a Very Niche Audience

#724 Hyper Niche Business Ideas with Big End Game Potential

#723 4 types of business coaches for 7+ figure founders and reflecting on our 15-year partnership

#722 Revisiting the History of Digital Nomadism, AI For Connecting Founders, and the Big Focus Problem

#721 Dissecting the American Dream & Business Lessons from the Elon Musk Bio

#720 Brian Balfour’s $33M Growth Insights: Product-Market Fit, Durability, & Knowing Your Natural Limits

#719 The Nomads Dilemma, Anti-Traction Debate, and Summer Highlights

#718 Lucy Bella Simkins Built a YouTube Channel with 10,000,000 Subscribers

#717 A Game of Would You Rather ft. Noah Kagan

#716 Too Old for Basketball, Business Books, & Personality Disorders in Action

#715 3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Business

#714 Profit vs. Revenue and the Inside Scoop on Events for Founders

#713 How to Build an AI Startup with Jodie Cook

#712 Business Partnerships and 6-Figure Launches: A Conversation with Mark Webster

#711 “Money is Your Responsibility” + News Updates

#710 The Wheel of Despair and the Paradox of Growth

#709 How (Not) to Lose Money with Taylor Pearson

#708 The Path to 7-Figure Passive Ownership + We’re Hiring

#707 Deceptively simple ways to have a better business

#706 5 Things Founders Often Misunderstand about Exiting Their Business

#705 6 things we’ve learned about having good (and bad) business ideas

#704 Moving Back to America… Was it Worth It?

#703 Counting Money Is Making Money + High-Conflict Personalities

#702 Millions for Podcasts and Jay Clouse on Memberships