Independence by Design™
Redesign Your Business to Work for You—Not the Other Way Around. Hey there, I’m Ryan Tansom, and I know firsthand how overwhelming it can feel to be stuck in the grind of running a business. In 2009, I jumped into my family’s $21 million company when it was losing nearly $1 million a year. Over five years, we turned it around and sold it for eight figures—but the journey left me with more questions than answers. The stress, the massive tax bill, and the lack of clarity on how our decisions aligned with our goals taught me one thing: most owners don’t have a roadmap to navigate the complexities of business ownership. That’s why I created the Independence by Design™ Ownership Framework. It’s a system built to help owner-operators like you align your decisions with your goals for time, cash flow, and wealth. Over the last decade, I’ve been involved in dozens of transactions and worked with thousands of business owners, helping them shift from being stuck in the day-to-day grind to designing businesses—and lives—they love. On this podcast, I’ll show you how to escape the owner-operator trap by using the Independence by Design™ Framework to make better decisions, create sustainable cash flow, and reclaim your time. I’ll also bring in some of the smartest minds I’ve had the privilege of interviewing, like Gino Wickman, Mike Michalowicz, Chris Voss, Jack Stack, and Bo Burlingham, to challenge and inspire you along the way. This isn’t just another business podcast. Like Andrew Huberman does for science, I get into the weeds, following my curiosity and trying to be as comprehensive as possible. It’s your guide to mastering the game of ownership—whether you’re scaling, stepping back, or planning your exit. If you’re ready to take back control and finally build a business that works for you, not the other way around, you’re in the right place.
Episodes
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?
In this episode, I sit down with Jeff Buettner from ButcherJoseph, an investment banker who specializes in founder-led companies in the lower middle market. We unpack the current state of dealmaking for $2M to $1...
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?
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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?
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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.
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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?
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In this episode, I’m joined by Graham Stephen and Kyle McCulloch, the team behind Bizval, a company that’s quietly building a t...
What happens when the business you built no longer protects you from the parts of yourself you've been avoiding? Alex McClafferty co-founded and sold WP Curve to GoDaddy—but it wasn’t until after the exit that he found himself face-to-face with an identity crisis, emotional collapse, and a brutal confrontation with his shadow self.
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What really happens when an entrepreneur sells their business? For John Rood, it was the start of a deeply personal reckoning with identity, purpose, risk, and time. In this episode, we go beyond the typical exit story and talk about what it actually feels like to step away from the company you built—and what comes next when you’re no longer busy, no longer...
This episode is fire. Elliott Holland is a straight shooter who has seen hundreds of deals from every angle—searcher, investor, operator, and QofE provider. In this conversation, we cut through the noise to talk about what’s really going on in the acquisition market, why most self-funded searchers fail, and how owners can actually position their business (and themselves) for the ne...
Most business owners are exhausted by marketing that feels like a black box—random tactics, disconnected agencies, and no clear ROI. Kim Clark knows that pain—and she’s built the solution. As the former head of sales and marketing at ITR Economics, Kim helped transform the business from a founder-led consulting firm into a scalable company that exited at eight figures—without relyi...
This episode sets the bar. Pat Hobby, my former business partner, is one of the best CFOs I’ve ever worked with. He’s not just a CPA or an operator—he brings an investor mindset and decades of experience managing financials with the purpose of building long-term value. In this conversation, we break down exactly what a business owner should expect from a high-performing CFO—and why...
Many owner-operators begin their journey driven by the vision of personal and financial independence, only to find themselves entrenched in the daily operations, unable to step away without fear of chaos. In this episode, I talk with Rob Dube, co-founder of ImageOne and visionary behind The 10 Disciplines for Managing and Maximizing Your Energy™, about how to break free from the ow...
Today I'm talking with Shannon Susko, a serial entrepreneur who developed the 3HAG (3-Year Highly Achievable Goal) and Metronomics frameworks. What sets Shannon's approach apart is how directly it connects your strategic plan and execution rhythms to clear, measurable financial outcomes. It's an operating system built specifically for business owners who un...
SBA loans have always been a key tool for financing business acquisitions, but recent changes have opened up new opportunities for both buyers and sellers. If you're thinking about selling your business, acquiring one, or financing a transition, these updates could have a major impact on your strategy.
In this episode, I sit ...
The economy is shifting fast, and if you’re a middle-market business owner, the moves you make today will define your future—whether that’s navigating capital markets, securing financing, or making critical reinvestment decisions.
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In this Quarterly Economic & M&A Update, I bring together three powerhouse guests to give you real-tim...
Scaling a business isn’t just about increasing revenue—it’s about building the right leadership team to support that growth. Too often, business owners get stuck because their team isn’t structured for the future, leaving them to fill the gaps instead of leading strategically.
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In this episode, I sit down with Rick Rittmaster and Mike Fromm...
More revenue, more employees, and more complexity can actually pull you deeper into the day-to-day grind—unless your business is structured the right way.
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In this episode, I sit down with Nick Bradley, a business growth strategist and private equity veteran who has worked on billion-dollar deals and now helps business owners scale with pu...
Many business owners dream of building a company that thrives without them, but few understand what it takes to make that a reality—especially when facing a leadership crisis. In this episode, I sit down with Heather Braimbridge-Cox, CEO of Windings, and Bill Mills, founder of The Leadership Process™, to break down how to transform a struggling culture, develop high-performing team...
I’ve spent the last handful of episodes diving deep into business valuations, M&A jargon, and how buyers think about value. But here’s the thing—most of it doesn’t matter unless you actually have cash left over at the end of the day.
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That’s why I brought Patrick Donohue back on the show. He and I have been in the trenches, working wit...
Most business owners go through a pivotal moment—their first real look behind the curtain at how buyers value companies. For Rens Hayes, that moment came when he went through a sale and due diligence process for his father’s structural steel business. What he learned from that experience completely changed how he approached building and scaling his own company, H&O Structural E...
In a world full of business jargon and complicated metrics, free cash flow stands out as the foundation of value creation for both owner-operators and investors. kXVm3nQBij8
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Ken Sanginario returns to focus on this core principle, unpacking the noise ar...
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