Tropical MBA: Entrepreneurship & Founder Lifestyle

We've been receiving a lot of requests from our listeners lately for an old-school "talking shop" type of episode. This week, we're doing just that, and in typical Tropical MBA fashion, we are focusing on three specific topics that are top of mind as the year comes to a close. We start the episode off with a discussion about whether we believe we are on the correct path to achieve our goal of building an 8-figure business in the near future. The second segment is an in-depth look at the dreaded "I word" that we've been hearing so much about lately: Inflation, and the ramifications that it is having on entrepreneurs everywhere. Finally, we'll be wrapping up the episode with some lighter conversation, as we talk about some of our favorite locations for digital nomads and open up about our event schedule for 2022.

There is nothing we love more than an entrepreneur who operates outside of convention, and this week's guest is no exception. Tynan is a bestselling author and the creator of CruiseSheet, a website that helps travelers find great deals on cruises. He is also a former Pickup Artist or "PUA", and at one point was a professional gambler. We've been following his terrific blog at Tynan.com for many years, and we're fascinated by his ability to remain ahead of the curve when it comes to social trends on the internet. Tynan joins us this week to discuss his history in the controversial Pickup Artist subculture, his unique philosophies on wealth and personal finance, and what it truly means to live outside of your comfort zone.

Today's episode is all about an emotional journey that was born out of this very podcast, and the unique mental health challenges that entrepreneurs face. Bunty SomRoy took a huge risk back in 2015 when he decided to volunteer at one of our Dynamite Circle events in Bangkok. Since then, he has gone through many stages of the entrepreneurial journey; hustling as a freelancer, taking a job at a startup, and finally running a successful business of his own. It wasn't all wine and roses, though. Bunty encountered some harrowing mental health struggles along the way, and he joins us on the podcast this week to share his very personal story. This conversation touches on many of our favorite topics as well, including why it's important to put yourself in the room with seasoned entrepreneurs, how getting a job can be an excellent way to uplevel your business chops, and much more.

When today's guest spoke at our recent event in Mexico City, we were taken by his story because it presented a captivating alternative to the traditional bootstrap business partnerships that we've encountered over the years. Tommy Griffith is the founder of ClickMinded, an online SEO training course, and he has joined us many times over the years to share the story of that business. His story took an unexpected turn when he decided to take on a co-founder, after he had already been operating his business for five years. Tommy joins us on today's show to explain how his feelings of being "cornered and surrounded" led to the decision to seek out a late-stage co-founder, what he was looking for in a business partner, how they negotiated equity, and a whole lot more.

We are once again reaching into the mailbag this week to answer questions from the Tropical MBA audience. We'll be answering questions that our listeners have submitted on a broad range of topics, including how to stay motivated after your business has met your goals, and how you can better your chances of being selected as a speaker at a conference or a podcast guest. You'll also hear some news updates about our own businesses, our crypto portfolio, and a whole lot more.

It was such a breath of fresh air to see so many entrepreneurs in Mexico City last week at DC MEX, our first in-person event since 2019. We had so much fun catching up with old friends, meeting new ones, exchanging stories, and working together to move forward with our businesses. One of our favorite parts about these events is that we get an up-close-and-personal look as all kinds of exciting trends start to emerge in the community. In today's episode, we are highlighting 10 new trends that we've identified in the location-independent community. You'll hear about business models that becoming popular, how entrepreneurs are moving forward in the wake of the pandemic, and hot locations for digital nomads in 2022.

Today's podcast is all about a business model that sometimes gets a bad rap on this show: "the agency". We recently bumped into our friend Johnathan Solorzano at MicroConf in Austin, and he had quite a bit to say about the subject. Johnathan is the founder of Solo Media Group, a remote agency of web developers that focuses primarily on Shopify and WooCommerce projects. We've invited Johnathan onto the show this week to share his thoughts about the upside of running an agency, specifically how it can provide you with unique insights into your market, improve your professional network, and help you start earning revenue fast.

In last week's podcast, Carrie McKeegan shared how she has been using author Gino Wickman's EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) to help her grow and manage her team. This week, we're diving deeper into the topic by speaking with an entrepreneur who has developed their own customized version of the very same system with impressive results. Neel Parekh is the founder of MaidThis, a business that offers cleaning services for residential homes and AirBNB rentals. Neel joins us today to discuss why he chose to use the EOS system in MaidThis, the steps he has taken to implement it, and how smaller businesses can utilize a "Lite" version of EOS to help manage their teams.

We've spoken at great length on this podcast about how the Covid pandemic has forced us to make changes in the way that we run our businesses. This week, we're going to speak to an entrepreneur who used the landscape of Covid as an opportunity to provide an entirely different educational experience for her children. Carrie McKeegan is the CEO and co-founder of Greenback Expat Tax Services, which helps Americans abroad prepare and file their taxes. She and her husband Dave have been living outside of the United States for many years, raising their children as "Third Culture Kids", a subject that has become increasingly popular in our online community. Carrie joins us this week to talk about what it's like educating children abroad, why she decided it was time to "reinvent education" for her kids, and how the book "Traction" by Gino Wickman has shaped the way that she manages her team.

It has been nearly two years since we've hosted an event for the members of our private membership forum The Dynamite Circle. DCMEX, our first official event since 2019, is just a few short weeks away, and we couldn't be more excited to see so many listeners of this podcast in Mexico City this October. In-person events are so important to those of us in the entrepreneurial community. From the relationships that we develop to the things that we learn together, there are so many reasons why entrepreneurs can benefit from being together in the same place. We've invited our longtime friend Jeff Pecaro back onto the show this week, to reflect on what the past few years have been like without DC events, how things have changed since the last time we've all been together, and why we've chosen Mexico City for our newest event.