John Lee Dumas

$180K/month from podcast sponsorships, half from one sponsor

Per his public income report, JLD makes roughly $180,000 a month on podcast sponsorships. He later notes HubSpot sponsors 50% of his episodes, so about half of that revenue comes from a single sponsor.

“I recruited Jenna Kutcher, I got Amy Poorfield in the house. Sam, you know, and My First Million is obviously blowing it up. I mean, HubSpot's going big here, bro.”

Pat Flynn's income reports turned a skeptical Army officer into an online entrepreneur

JLD, a former Army officer who thought the internet was for scammers, found Pat Flynn's Smart Passive Income income reports and realized you could make honest money online giving real value. He vowed to pay it forward; 13 months into Entrepreneurs on Fire he hit $100K and has published a monthly income report for 101 months straight.

“But I stumbled across this one, um, podcast slash blog called Smart Passive Income and Pat Flynn, this guy that I didn't know from Adam, I found out about him literally that day, was publishing income reports every single month. I went back over his like last 10 income reports and I was like seeing how he was making money and that he was a family guy and that, you know, he was working hard writing really valuable articles for affiliate income and I was like, wait a second. So you, you can be like a standup person and make money giving people real value”

Why JLD moved to Puerto Rico: a flat 4% tax and 0% capital gains

John Lee Dumas was writing seven-figure tax checks yearly in San Diego. He moved to Puerto Rico under Act 20/Act 22, which gives qualifying residents a flat 4% corporate tax rate, no federal or state tax, and 0% capital gains on stocks, real estate, and crypto.

“So found out about this unbelievable incentive of Puerto Rico. They launched it back in 2012, actually, which was called Act 20 and Act 22. And it was fantastic. It literally said if you move your business to Puerto Rico, which is an American territory, you retain, of course, your US citizenship and you pay a flat 4% tax rate on all your corporate earnings. You pay no federal, no state. And the best part— this is where my real wealth has extrapolated to like the moon. Is you pay 0% capital gains.”

Steal thisIf you run a location-independent business and face large capital gains, study Puerto Rico's Act 20/22 residency before a big exit.

A $2M Puerto Rico mansion paid for by 17 months of tax savings

JLD bought a 6,000 sq ft Caribbean mansion for $2 million; the taxes he saved by living in Puerto Rico exceeded the home's cost within 17 months. A comparable La Jolla home would have run $7-12 million.

“I moved to Puerto Rico, $2 million bought me a 6,000 square foot mansion on the Caribbean. In 17 months, I had saved more in taxes than the house cost. Period.”

JLD's 6-figure DWAC SPAC bet that 22x'd on a $4 cost basis

JLD put six figures into a SPAC at a $4 share price that ended up merging with Trump Media (DWAC). At the time of recording the shares sat around $88, an on-paper 8-figure return, though he was locked in for 6-8 more months and unsure it would hold.

“And so I actually have a lot of money that I invested in the SPAC at $4 a share. That's the price of the SPAC. And as this is today, the, um, actual merger is, which I am locked into, by the way, for at least the next 6 to 8 months. So who knows if it's gonna turn out to be anything. It could go way up from here, it could, could go way down from here. But those share prices are currently sitting at like $88 per, and my cost basis is 6 figures at a $4 cost basis. So that would be, you know, a massive multi, multi, you know, 8-figure return.”

Keep 80-90% of every dollar by running lean from Puerto Rico

JLD contrasts the startup grind with his model: he lives in Puerto Rico, employs only three virtual assistants, and keeps 80-90% of every after-tax dollar that comes in the door.

“And so I just keep all the money I make. Like, I live in Puerto Rico, I have 3 virtual assistants, and I just keep 80 to 90% of every dollar that comes in my door after tax.”

Entrepreneurs on Fire did 2.968M podcast downloads in one month

JLD reported just under 3 million podcast downloads for the month of January for his daily show Entrepreneurs on Fire, excluding all other platforms.

“But so for the month of January, we did 2.968 million. So just under 3 million listens for just the podcast.”

Daily-podcast math: 30 episodes a month = 60-75 ad slots

JLD's edge in podcast sponsorship is volume. Publishing 30 episodes a month with 2 pre-rolls, 3 mid-rolls, and 2 post-rolls yields 60-75 ad slots, versus ~8 for a weekly show. Even at $200 per episode, that math made him $12,000 in his first sponsorship month.

“we're coming to you because you do 30 episodes a month. That is 60 potential sponsorship slots. 'Cause you can have 2 pre-rolls, 2 mid-rolls, and 2 post-rolls.”

Steal thisPublish daily to multiply your ad inventory; volume of slots beats a single high-CPM weekly drop.

Cookie delivery: 'pizza gets delivered, why not cookies?'

JLD shares a guest's origin story: a woman stood a man up, felt bad, and baked and delivered him cookies. The insight 'you can get pizza delivered, why not cookies?' became a homemade chocolate-chip cookie delivery business now valued around a billion dollars.

“And the guy was like, well, you can get pizza delivered, but why can't you get cookies delivered? And they literally started up. This homemade chocolate chip cookie delivery service company that's now like a billion dollar company.”

Steal thisTake a delivery model that already works (pizza) and apply it to an unserved craving people will pay a premium for.

JLD's 10-day water fast: 22 pounds lost after reading The Pleasure Trap

After reading The Pleasure Trap, JLD spent 17 days at a Santa Rosa clinic doing a 10-day water-only fast plus a 7-day refeed, dropping from 172 to 150 pounds. He later did two more 5-day water fasts at home in Puerto Rico.

“So I read this book, which was a game changer for me called The Pleasure Trap. Game changer. Changed my entire wiring in my mind around food and health and wellness in general. Went to this guy's clinic in Santa Rosa, California for 17 days, did a 10-day water-only fast with a 7-day refeeding cycle afterwards. Came back, was from a 1— from 170, went down, got down to 150, dropped 22 pounds actually, cuz I was 172 weighed in.”