#20 | Brint Ryan: Work-Life Balance Is a False Narrative

"Work-life balance doesn't exist. That's a false narrative." Brint Ryan built a $1.7 billion firm on the alternative.More on Brint Ryan and this episode: thedealtablepodcast.com/episodes/brint-ryanRyan is the founder and chief executive of Ryan, the largest firm in the world dedicated exclusively to business taxes. He started it as a two-person business in 1991 and has grown it every year since, 33 consecutive years, to 6,100 employees, 18,000 clients across 60 countries, roughly $1.7 billion in revenue and $400 million of EBITDA. It has run a results-only, remote-capable model since 2008.He explains what work-life success means in practice and how it changed the way the firm pays people, why he treats generative AI as a force multiplier after starting with narrow machine learning years earlier, and how tax moves from an annual compliance exercise to real-time optimization and managed services.The origin story is worth the listen on its own: leaving the Big Six with no clients, and a first big win of $300,000 recovered that produced a $61,000 fee, which set the success-based model the firm still runs on. Also covered: sitting on the Lieutenant Governor's tax advisory committee, the first private equity deal, and the $50 million gift to the University of North Texas.Brint Ryan is the founder and CEO of Ryan, the largest tax services firm in the world focused exclusively on business taxes, with 6,100 employees and roughly $1.7 billion in revenue. He founded the firm in Dallas in 1991 and chairs the University of North Texas System Board of Regents.KEY MOMENTS00:00 "Imagine taking government out of tax"06:40 Work-life balance is a false narrative08:58 Why almost everything is success-based14:28 Tax grows 5 to 7% globally, every year17:44 Generative AI as a force multiplier22:58 Where managed services started43:05 "In the room when it was written"49:20 The UNT gift as an investment57:38 The first private equity deal01:05:22 Do not wait until you are ready to sellNewsletter: thedealtablepodcast.com/connectLane Carrick on selling a business, The Optima Advantage: amzn.to/48nLElWInstagram: instagram.com/thedealtablepodcast/LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/the-deal-table/The Deal Table is hosted by Ryan Harper and Lane Carrick, filmed in Dallas, and produced by Harper Belmont Media.Sponsored by Capital Southwest and Vela Wood.