Business Lunch

Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss tell the whole story of Traffic and Conversion Summit: a marketing event that started in 2009 with 289 people and no profit, grew to thousands of attendees, and sold to Clarion Events in 2018 at the highest multiple the buyer had ever paid for an event. Then they walk through what happened after the sale: the 80 percent rollover deal, the earn out, the put and call option that paid out zero after the pandemic, and why the corporate owners could not keep the soul of an event built by marketers for marketers. Real deal structure lessons from their own exit, including how to carve off the one asset a buyer actually wants and keep everything else.

0:00 Cold open: the vision behind the best event people ever attended

0:30 Welcome, a fire alarm night, and why Traffic and Conversion Summit is officially over

3:52 2009: 289 people, no profit, and a rule against pitch fests

6:24 Year three: the event becomes a business and launches DigitalMarketer

7:54 Sponsors, production value, and no more selling from stage

12:02 Clarion Events comes calling with a global vision

14:58 The event was a product line, not a company: thin slicing the deal

17:01 Air rights and bundles of sticks: sell only what the buyer wants

19:53 Deal structure: 80 percent sold, cash plus an earn out, the goose and eggs, the put and call

24:45 Having your cake: programming control, free booth space, the only offer from stage

26:34 How it all went wrong: the pandemic, a multiple of zero, bought out for nothing

34:52 Why TNC failed: the business model changed hands

Listen to Business Lunch:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-lunch/id1442654104

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0iWSA89TaD263zhXETdSvZ

Follow Roland Frasier:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolandfrasier/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rolandfrasier

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolandFrasierPage/

Everything else: https://msha.ke/rolandfrasier/

Follow Ryan Deiss:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryandeiss/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/

X: https://x.com/ryandeiss

Visit: https://www.scalable.co

In This Episode Of Business Lunch: We open our consulting for equity playbook right after wrapping a real $50,000 half day consult. They walk through the exact process step by step: getting the leadership team aligned on the problem to be solved, the 1 3 1 framework, the report of findings, and how to get buy in without losing the room. If you consult, this is a process you can run tomorrow. If you own a company, it works just as well as a self consult.

Chapters:
0:00 A real consult opens the playbook
1:00 Consulting for equity and the half day consult model
2:24 The client and the four times sales goal
5:21 Step one is alignment on the problem to be solved
6:25 Keep doing, stop doing, start doing
10:22 Value drivers and the theory of constraints
17:22 The 1 3 1 framework and the report of findings
22:26 Send recommendations before the meeting
24:52 Leads, conversion, and the ICP trap
34:18 The awareness scale and where the ads were aimed
38:36 Handling pushback without attacking the person
44:15 Agree, disagree and commit, or recuse

Listen to Business Lunch:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-lunch/id1442654104
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0iWSA89TaD263zhXETdSvZ
Follow Roland Frasier:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolandfrasier/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rolandfrasier
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolandFrasierPage/
Everything else: https://msha.ke/rolandfrasier/
Follow Ryan Deiss:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryandeiss/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/
X: https://x.com/ryandeiss
Visit: https://www.scalable.co
Mentioned in this episode:
Build Your CEO Dashboard
Get one report every week of the key metrics you need to know with the CEO Dashboard!
CEO Dashboard

In This Episode Of Business Lunch: We tackle a question every founder faces: do you build your business for cash flow now or for a big exit later, and can one company really do both? They dig into why bootstrapped owners have far more options than funded ones, how cash left sitting in a company quietly turns into bloat, and how to pay yourself regular distributions without hurting a future sale.

Chapters:
0:00 Cold open
0:36 Welcome and where this question came from
0:55 Can one business deliver both cash flow and a big exit
1:57 The path VC funding locks you into
3:45 Why bootstrapped owners have more flexibility
9:19 How cash left in the company creates bloat
11:35 The cash flow waterfall and budgeting for distributions
12:34 How VC backing changes the exit itself
14:06 Building reserves for refunds and emergencies
16:20 Regular distributions or waiting for the big exit
18:54 Wrap up

Listen to Business Lunch:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-lunch/id1442654104
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0iWSA89TaD263zhXETdSvZ
Connect with Roland Frasier:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolandfrasier/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rolandfrasier
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolandFrasierPage/
Everything else: https://msha.ke/rolandfrasier/
Connect with Ryan Deiss:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryandeiss/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/
X: https://x.com/ryandeiss
Site: https://www.scalable.co

In This Episode Of Business Lunch: A Hartford Financial study found that 75% of business owners regret selling their company. Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss have both lived it, and they get personal about what the wire does not fix: the identity you give up with the business, the buyer promises that rarely survive the close, and why more than half of sellers wind up swooping back in. Then the way out: fulfillment continuity, the threads you build before the exit so you are not adrift after it.
If you have exited a business, share in the comments what surprised you most about life on the other side.

Chapters:
0:00 The telescope and why founders exit unhappy
1:57 The Hartford study: 75% of owners regret selling
4:22 Roland's identity shift after leaving law
6:02 Ryan on exiting Traffic and Conversion Summit
9:10 What buyers promise vs the post exit reality
13:52 Why due diligence pulls the two sides apart
19:46 Business partnerships are marriages: extending grace
23:45 The threads that save you from being adrift
27:02 Fulfillment continuity: Roland's framework
32:14 Find the part of the business that fulfills you
40:47 Reallocating your time as seasons change
48:20 The miserable rich person trap
49:04 Fire and rehire yourself every year

Listen to Business Lunch:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-lunch/id1442654104
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0iWSA89TaD263zhXETdSvZ
Roland Frasier:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolandfrasier/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rolandfrasier
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolandFrasierPage/
More: https://msha.ke/rolandfrasier/
Ryan Deiss:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryandeiss/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/
X: https://x.com/ryandeiss
Scalable: https://www.scalable.co
Mentioned in this episode:
Build Your CEO Dashboard
Get one report every week of the key metrics you need to know with the CEO Dashboard!
CEO Dashboard

Not every problem in your business is yours to fix. Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss break down how to tell a seasonal slump from a fire you actually started, why the easy and obvious moves matter most when the numbers dip, and how AI written resumes are quietly breaking hiring for small businesses. Plus the internal recruiter role they think every growing company is about to need.

0:00 Welcome back from a 30 day vacation

1:46 Why rest is actually productive work

3:20 When do you let the dumpster fire burn?

4:52 Internal vs external: what you can and cannot fix

6:00 Control what you control: lead flow and double booking

6:51 Do the easy and obvious things well

10:07 Red vs yellow metrics on the scorecard

15:46 Theory of constraints: which fire to fight first

17:47 Why small businesses aren't hiring: the AI resume problem

20:01 How to interview when AI writes every resume

25:20 The pre interview email that filters out a third of applicants

26:53 The rise of the internal recruiter

Listen to Business Lunch:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-lunch/id1442654104

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0iWSA89TaD263zhXETdSvZ

Roland Frasier:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolandfrasier/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rolandfrasier

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolandFrasierPage/

More: https://msha.ke/rolandfrasier/

Ryan Deiss:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryandeiss/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/

X: https://x.com/ryandeiss

Scalable: https://www.scalable.co