Tropical MBA: Entrepreneurship & Founder Lifestyle

http://www.tropicalmba.com/crypto/ 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.

http://www.tropicalmba.com/7stages/ 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.

http://www.tropicalmba.com/greenbelly2/ 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.

http://www.tropicalmba.com/nateginsburg/ 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. 

http://www.tropicalmba.com/theservicesproblem/ 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.

http://www.tropicalmba.com/gregsgift/ 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.

http://www.tropicalmba.com/vincent/ 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.

http://www.tropicalmba.com/amazon2/ 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. 

http://www.tropicalmba.com/dcbkk2017/ Today Dan and Ian are going to be talking about their biggest weekend of the year. They are fresh off the heels of DCBKK, the annual event that they host in Bangkok for members of The Dynamite Circle. Hundreds of entrepreneurs, many of whom are listeners of this show, migrate to Southeast Asia each year to attend. They do so with the intention of focusing their time and energy on improving their businesses. On this week's episode, our hosts will be sharing their five biggest takeaways from this year's conference. You'll also hear them talk about what makes a profitable event and how they are planning on ramping up their events for 2018.

http://www.tropicalmba.com/municibid/ Dan and Ian have talked to many business owners on this podcast about what it takes to create a highly successful business, but what are we supposed to do once our businesses become successful? Today's guest is Greg Berry. Greg has been a very big contributor to our online community The Dynamite Circle, and has spoken at many of our events. Greg joins us this week to share the story of Municibid, a marketplace company that Greg founded when he was 26 years old. Since then, Municibid has grown to become a completely location-independent seven figure business. On this week's episode, we seek to answer a very high quality problem that many entrepreneurs end up facing: what happens after you actually build the business of your dreams?