Founder Files

Buying boring businesses is all the rage in 2026, but today’s guest has been doing it for years.Meet Dee Ludlow. He owns a portfolio of businesses, runs an M&A advisory firm that works with funds and investors, and teaches people how to buy companies. His team has worked on deals worth billions of dollars in value.Today we learn:🔥 How he got started in M&A, going from property investor and barbershop owner to buying companies, and the book that kicked it off.🔥 How he partners with operators through option contracts that give him the right to take a majority stake once they’ve proven themselves, so he can scale his portfolio across multiple industries.🔥 Why he finds deals through cold outreach instead of brokers, and why he typically doesn’t pay more than 3x profit.🔥 The real story behind his journey, including the losses, like buying a company for £1 and putting it back into administration a year later.If you want to grow your business through acquisitions, or get out of the nine to five through ownership, this episode is for you.Chapters:0:00 Intro1:41 Background12:28 Structuring Deals22:23 Finding Deals38:36 Why M&A?41:20 Personal Life49:38 Using AI55:39 Advice for Agency Owners1:00:02 Buying vs Building1:03:10 The Deal Process1:08:06 Inside the HoldCo Team1:11:24 When Deals Go Wrong1:14:44 Teaching & Education1:22:56 Personal Life Part 2

After Conor Benn's recent mega fight in Vegas, we sit down with the coach who ran his camp to talk through how he gets high performers operating at their peak, and what they can do to bounce back from setbacks.Today's guest is Dan Lawrence, founder of Perform365, the high performance coach to over 30 champion athletes. He now works with CEOs like the founder of Joe & The Juice and the CEO of Frasers Group.In this episode, we unpack:🔥 Why resilience is the trait that separates the best from everyone else.🔥 His data capture process for founders that helps them treat their health like a P&L.🔥 The traffic light system he uses to manage training, stress and burnout.🔥 The simple daily non-negotiables that work for founders, and why the basics beat the biohacks, and much, much more.If you want to put another zero on the end of your business and crush it as a business exec, this episode is for you.Chapters:0:00 Intro1:54 Conor Benn vs Ryan Garcia5:15 Dan's Background16:25 Inside His Testing & Optimisation Process21:35 Alcohol, Balance & the 80/2029:33 Burnout & Managing Stress40:30 When Is Enough? Business, Health & Family44:04 The 80/20 for Business Owners52:05 What Separates Elite Performers55:58 Training as You Age1:01:08 Hyperbaric, Saunas & Ice Baths1:07:05 Supplements1:12:18 Peptides & Smart Drugs1:20:26 Fixing a Fried Nervous System1:24:12 Mastering Your Mindset & Identity1:29:08 Social Media & Screen Time1:35:33 Rapid Fire Questions

He's on track to turn his marketing agency into a $1 million-a-month business, and he's spending six figures a month on ads to get there.Today's guest is Liam Evans, founder of Unorthodox, a marketing agency that turns ad spend into signed clients for high-ticket service businesses.In this episode, we unpack:🔥 Why cost-per-lead is a vanity metric, and the only number that actually matters: CAC.🔥 The low-ticket front-end offer that liquidates 70% of his ad spend.🔥 The exact funnel economics and product suite he's using to scale to a million a month.🔥 His creative testing process to constantly find new winning ads.If you want to build an eight-figure business from cold traffic without wrecking your margins, and with a sales process that closes 70% of your lead flow, this episode is for you.Chapters:0:00 Intro3:07 Making Ads Work for High-Ticket Offers13:34 What Makes a Good Market16:01 Launching Ads & Reading the Data18:12 Fixing Your Sales Process23:52 Filtering Leads & Pre-Framing Calls29:12 Optimising For CAC & LTV34:41 Low Ticket Front End Offers40:59 Spending $150K/Month on Ads48:00 The Road to $1M/Month

Today's guest is an eight-figure entrepreneur who's built and exited multiple eCommerce brands. And yet for him, money was never the goal.In this episode with Jamal Muse, we unpack:🔥 How he's turned what he admits is a compulsive need to always be productive into a genuine business advantage, and where he's had to draw the line.🔥 The daily non-negotiables — prayer, routine, and a strict first hour of the day — that keep him grounded while running a fast-growing business.🔥 Why he turns down deals when the money doesn't sit right with his values.🔥 Why he was back at work the day after his last exit, and how he's chasing a legacy that goes far beyond being known as "the eCommerce guy."If you want to see how a high-output founder builds real wealth without losing sight of what actually matters, this episode is for you.Chapters:0:00 Intro1:23 Ambition vs. Being Present for Family5:03 Daily Routine7:49 The "Productivity Addiction"11:10 Living a Well-Rounded Life17:15 How Faith Shapes Every Decision33:35 Finding Fulfilment37:41 Life After the Exit46:46 Why Keep Going?

Most eCom brands aren’t maximizing email.Not because it doesn’t work — but because it’s underbuilt, underutilized, and treated as an afterthought.BN Healthy was doing around $50K/month from email — just ~12% of their revenue.After rebuilding the system, that jumped to over $270K/month, contributing nearly 45% of total online sales.In this video, we break down:🔥 What their Klaviyo setup looked like before — and the key gaps holding back revenue🔥 The exact flow structure we implemented to boost site conversion rates🔥 How we used list growth, segmentation, and “micro-ask” popups to drive 10–15% opt-in rates🔥 The campaign strategy behind consistent revenue — from educational content to high-converting promos🔥 And how email + SMS became a major growth engine — adding an extra ~$200K/monthIf you’re running an eCommerce brand and email isn’t driving at least 30–40% of your revenue — this episode is for you.