Tropical MBA: Entrepreneurship & Founder Lifestyle

http://www.tropicalmba.com/ricardosemler/ On today's show, Dan and Ian are going to be speaking with someone who has inspired them both for a very long time. In fact, he is the author of one of the most cited books on this podcast. Maverick is Ricardo Semler's account of how he was able to transform his family's traditional manufacturing business into an experiment that introduced the world to his...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/estonia/ On today's show, Dan and Ian are taking a look at one specific country. Estonia is a nation that, until this point, our hosts had very little knowledge of. They are a country that has started behaving like a startup, and has even started offering services specifically designed for location-independent entrepreneurs. In particular, they have developed a solution...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/sarahk/ Back in 2012, Dan and Ian hosted a two week seminar that was attended by 44 listeners of this show, and Sarah Kornblet was one of those people. Since attending that seminar, Sarah has become a very successful attorney for online entrepreneurs. This week's episode is really the story of what has happened in Sarah's life since that seminar. It is also the story of...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/apprentice2/ 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 fr...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/businessideas2/ 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...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/eventfive/ 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...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/claycollins/ 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 Co...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/greatbooks/ http://www.tropicalmba.com/greatbooks/ Podcast 37:39 | Download | Stitcher | iTunes | Comment 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...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/propertypodcast/ 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...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/buffett/ 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...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/languagelearning/ http://www.tropicalmba.com/languagelearning/ Podcast 35:24 | Download | Stitcher | iTunes | Comment Hola! 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...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/basketball/ http://www.tropicalmba.com/basketball/ Podcast 45:54 | Download | Stitcher | iTunes | Comment This week’s episode is the final instalment 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...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/rcr/ 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...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/cycling/ 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 an...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/dccommunity/ 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. Chri...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/soldfollowup/ 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 direc...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/thesubtleart/ Today's guest is one of Dan and Ian's all time favorite writers, Mark Manson. Many of you may know him from his blog at MarkManson.net, where he has written about a wide range of subjects including digital nomadism, living with anxiety, and toxic relationships. Recently, Mark made the decision to sign with Harper Collins and publish his first book, titled T...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/convertplayer/ 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 t...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/emailstrategies/ http://www.tropicalmba.com/emailstrategies/ Podcast 19:35 | Download | Stitcher | iTunes | Comment 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...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/podcastprocess/ 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...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/bitcoin/ 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 c...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/estherjacobs/ 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 be...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/notsell/ 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...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/boutiquejapan/ Last week Dan and Ian talked about how they hosted a couple hundred entrepreneurs in Barcelona for the DCBCN conference. A lot of those entrepreneurs shared their stories on stage, which is an intimidating task. Andres Zuleta of Boutique Japan was one of those people. Andres started a business that sells boutique travel packages to people who want to visit...

http://www.tropicalmba.com/bcnconference/ Dan and Ian are hot off the heels of the DCBCN conference they hosted this week, where over 200 entrepreneurs gathered in Barcelona to participate in a series of dinners, workshops, parties and even bike rides. On this week's episode, they'll be talking about some of the trends that they are seeing in the lifestyle business space, as well as five things th...