Independence by Design™
Independence by Design™ is a framework to help owner-operators get out of the weeds and lead from the boardroom. I built it because I lived this trap. In 2009, I joined my dad in our $21M family business. We turned it around and sold it for eight figures in 2014 — enough to pay off debt, cover taxes, let my dad retire, and leave me with a chunk of cash at 27. But the sale gutted our team, systems, and identity. It looked like a win, but it didn’t feel like freedom. I bawled in the driveway. After 450+ interviews, thousands of owners, and multiple ventures, I saw the real issue: we didn’t know the difference between being owners and operators. Our goals weren’t aligned. And we had no framework to guide us. That’s why I built iBD — to help owners avoid regret, reclaim their time, grow real equity value, and build a business that gives them freedom — whether they stay, scale, or sell. This show is the one I wish I had.
Episodes
Most budgets don’t survive past Q1. They collapse because they aren’t built on cash flow, they don’t roll into the balance sheet, and they aren’t tied to owner goals. In other words, they’re not budgets — they’re wish lists.
Watch on YouTube
That’s why Part 2 of our Budget Season 2026 Series is all about the model itself. I sat dow...
Budgeting season is here. But most owners build budgets in a vacuum — starting with last year’s numbers and layering on guesses. The result? Fantasy budgets that collapse by Q2.
Watch on YouTube
That’s why I’m kicking off a three-part Budget Season Series. Each episode will build on the last to give you a step-by-step process to cre...
Every owner’s journey is made up of inflection points, the moments where you have to make big, irreversible decisions.
Watch on YouTube
In this episode, my friend Tom Nagler shares his full story arc as an owner. From growing up in a family business, to buying it from his dad, to juggling cash and growth pains, to considering a sal...
Margins are under pressure, and scaling isn’t about throwing more people at the problem. Owners have to leverage technology to increase throughput per employee — but that only works if your data is clean and your processes are digitized.
Watch on YouTube
Read more
The business advice system is completely broken. Tax, estate, and wealth must be one plan — and you can’t trust the system to build it for you.
Watch on YouTube
Advisors sell products, optimize for their own fees, and stay in their silos. Taxes here. Estate there. Wealth over in another corner. Nobody owns the whole. And owners are the ones who pay the price.If you don...
If you’re a business owner trying to make sense of Bitcoin, this conversation is your entry point.
Over two episodes combined into one, I sat down with Kim Clark and her father Alan Beaulieu—a partner at the world-renowned forecasting firm ITR Economics
Most advice treats all owners the same. The reality? There are two different games.
Watch on YouTube
For the 98% (smaller, tightly owner‑dependent companies), the job and the asset are commingled. Generic “exit planning” advice often creates nois...
If your goal is to run your company from the boardroom, the real work isn’t just stepping out of day-to-day operations. It’s making sure the business—and your wealth—are protected no matter what happens. In this conversation with attorney and deal advisor Jim Carlisle. Jim has guided hundreds of owners through sales, ESOPs, continuity crises, and legacy planning—and he’s seen what ...
If you want to design a business that works for your life — not the other way around — you need to understand the actual game you’re playing.
Watch on YouTube
In this episode, I sit down with Candice Bradley, a business owner, investor, former banker, and strategic advisor who’s lived through ...
If you’re trying to grow your business without creating a mess of misaligned incentives, resentment, or comp plans that backfire—this episode is for you. I brought Jennifer Davis back on because she built one of the most intentional compensation systems I’ve ever seen. We walk through how she tied her company’s mission and KPIs directly to each person’s comp—and connected it all th...
What if the success you're chasing isn't the final destination, but the beginning of something more?
Watch on YouTube
Most business owners I talk to know AI matters—but many are still stuck thinking it’s just for writing emails or something their IT team should handle. That’s not the game we’re playing.
What if the success you're chasing isn't the final destination, but the beginning of something more?
Watch on YouTube
This episode is the natural continuation of last week's conversation with Jean Moncrieff, the new leader of the Small Giants Community. But today, we go back to the source to get the full o...
What does it actually mean to build a company that lasts?
Watch on YouTube
Not just one that grows. Not just one that sells. But one that thrives beyond the founder—because it was built with values at the core.
In this episode, I’m joined by Jean Moncrieff, an entrepreneur, coach...
This episode is different. No guest. No business mechanics. Just me, reading from my journal and unpacking the questions that have been driving my work, my life, and everything behind Independence by Design™.
Watch on YouTube
A few questions have been front and center for me since my first memories. Why are we here? Wh...
Jennifer Davis is the co-founder and former CEO of Davisware, a vertical ERP platform she and her husband started at 17. Over two decades, they scaled it to $20M+ in revenue, built a team of over 200, and sold to private equity. She’s also the mother of ten kids and the author of two books, including Living Exponentially.
Watch on YouTube...
What’s happening in the M&A market right now? Who’s buying, who’s selling, and how should owners think about timing, value, and optionality?
Watch on YouTube
In this episode, I sit down with Jeff Buettner from ButcherJoseph, an investment banker who specializes in founder-led companies in the lower mid...
Most owners rely on gut instinct, advisors, or market trends to make decisions, but few stop to ask: What’s actually happening underneath the economy?
Watch on YouTube
In this episode, I’m joined by Joe Brown—creator of Heresy Financial—for a macroeconomic breakdown that actually makes sense for business owners. We unp...
We’ve all heard it: “Pick one thing. Focus. Go all in.” But what if that advice doesn’t apply once you’ve built real optionality?
Watch on YouTube
In this episode, I’m joined by Mark Cleveland—an experienced entrepreneur, investor, and self-described parallel entrepreneur—to rethink how owners can design ...
If you're running a mid-sized company and considering acquisitions—or you just want to understand how smaller companies get valued—this episode is for you.
Watch on YouTube
I sat down with Clint Fiore, a business broker who’s helped hundreds of Main Street businesses try to sell. And here’s the truth: most of them don’...
You’ve probably heard that business valuation is more art than science. But what if the art is just smoke and mirrors—and the science has been hiding in plain sight all along?
Watch on YouTube
In this episode, I’m joined by Graham Stephen and Kyle McCulloch, the team behind Bizval, a company that’s quietly building a t...
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.