I've always been fascinated with something most startups avoid like the plague.
Cashflow.
I personally spend my free time researching businesses that make cash, and now I'm sharing this research with the world.
Expect weekly breakdowns of profitable businesses (e.g. cash machines).
We believe that cashflow > capital gains and that the startup/VC world is mostly bullsh*t.
Think TechCrunch for the rest of us.
Let's dive in...
The OG.
John Lee Dumas was podcasting before podcasting was a thing.
He established the roadmap for millions of other podcasts.
And he got paid well for doing so.
Here are the details...
• The Business: Entrepreneurs On Fire
• The Founder: John Lee Dumas
• Business Type: Media
• How They Make Money: Sponsorships, courses, affiliate programs
Revenue is going down.
I think we can only assume this is due to competition… e.g. sponsorship revenue went down due to higher competition from other shows as the podcasting world exploded between 2014 and 2024.
However, looking closer, we see that as revenue dropped from approx. $4m in 2016 to $1.6m in 2024, we see the revenue mix change:
• Dropped coaching and cohort courses
• Focused on sponsorship revenue
Profit increased and stress decreased as they stopped with the coaching/courses and just focused on sponsorships:
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The total numbers are staggering:
$27,893,207 in revenue with $21,980,205 in profit, a lifetime margin of 78.8%
EOF has made John rich.
The team consists of John, his wife Kate and 3 VA’s (based in the Philippines). Total payroll is $12k per month.
You don’t need a team in the US to do basic admin tasks. You do need to be organised though. John has clearly defined roles for each VA.
John just records, they do everything else (not sure what his wife does though).
Maybe this is limited to the media game… but John’s product is his own advertising. E.g. His ideal podcast listener is likely also his ideal customer.
An entrepreneur that listens to the show to learn, would also be a good sponsor for the show. John therefore can simply place ads in his own podcast or place a CTA in his newsletter to find sponsors.
Essentially a $0 CAC.
This is a simple one.
John moved to Puerto Rico in 2016:
• 4% income tax versus 30% in California
This likely is saving him upwards of $600k per year.
John follows a “boring” approach to investing profits:
• Most go into low-cost index funds, specifically through Vanguard
• He has a big pad in Palmas Del Mar in Puerto Rico
• He bought a beachfront condo in Marbella from his parents, now listed in Airbnb
• Investing a little in crypto in 2021, and even launched a podcast series called “NFTs on Fire” - not sure how that went
That said, he also ring-fences some profits for charity:
• He is a major donor to “Pencils of Promise”
• He has funded the building of multiple schools in places like Guatemala, Laos and Ghana
A business doesn’t have to keep growing to achieve an epic outcome for its founder/founders.
In this case, John is still raking in over $1m per year by maintaining the attention asset and selling sponsorships.
Less stress, more cash.
Amen to that.