EPISODE · Jun 4, 2026 · 40 MIN
#859 Building a $6.5M Remote Agency in 5 Years — LevelUp Leads
from Tropical MBA: Entrepreneurship & Founder Lifestyle · host Dan Andrews; Ian Schoen
Dan interviews John Karsant, founder of Level Up Leads, a 73-person outsourced SDR agency doing about $6.5M/year revenue, built while living abroad (Argentina, now Barcelona). John shares how he found remote work early via Craigslist, then spun out a list-building service that nearly failed due to one-off sales before pivoting into full appointment setting—eventually cold calling, which raised value, doubled average sale while keeping churn steady, and enabled $15K–$20K/month packages. He explains why radical honesty wins deals, how a strong ops leader and an in-house client dashboard improved transparency, and which metrics matter most (dial-to-connect, meetings booked, show rate, and pipeline movement). In this episode: John discusses hiring ahead of the curve How he compensates reps based on client retention The decline of email outreach John’s inbound engine that drives 80–90% of leads Practical AI uses for role play training, transcript analysis, playbooks, and script generation The value of an experienced CEO coach John’s approach to investing and family life Thanks to this week's sponsor Wayfront — the AI-ready operating system for productized agencies. One client portal. One team dashboard. All your data, AI-accessible. TMBA listeners get an extra free month on top of the trial at wayfront.com/tmba. Links: Level Up Leads More Business Resources Upcoming DC Events 🎙️ Tropical MBA is a podcast for entrepreneurs building location-independent businesses. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes on business, money, and the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Hang out exclusively with 7+ figure founders in DC BLACK https://dynamitecircle.com/dc-black Chapters: (00:00:33) Guest Intro Story (00:02:11) Argentina Remote Leap (00:04:24) Barcelona Founder Life (00:05:24) Time Management Abroad (00:07:37) Business Idea Origins (00:08:47) Pivot To Cold Calling (00:12:17) Honest Sales Edge (00:12:48) Ops Systems Dashboard (00:14:27) Metrics And Financials (00:18:12) Retention Based Pay (00:21:44) Outbound Shifts And Inbound (00:24:26) AI Workflows For SDRs (00:28:43) CEO Coaching And Hard Stuff (00:31:32) Personal Finance Investing (00:31:16) Life Outside Work Dadhood (00:38:58) Ideal Clients And Wrap Up CONNECT: Dan Andrews is the co-founder of Dynamite Circle, author of Before the Exit, host of the Tropical MBA podcast, and an entrepreneur who has successfully launched and scaled multiple 7-figure businesses. Email [email protected] PLAYLIST: The $10K Projects You Never Do (AI Just Changed That) How to Build a 6-Figure Digital Business with Claude Code We Got Claude-Pilled
What this episode covers
Dan interviews John Karsant, founder of Level Up Leads, a 73-person outsourced SDR agency doing about $6.5M/year revenue, built while living abroad (Argentina, now Barcelona). John shares how he found remote work early via Craigslist, then spun out a list-building service that nearly failed due to one-off sales before pivoting into full appointment setting—eventually cold calling, which raised value, doubled average sale while keeping churn steady, and enabled $15K–$20K/month packages. He explains why radical honesty wins deals, how a strong ops leader and an in-house client dashboard improved transparency, and which metrics matter most (dial-to-connect, meetings booked, show rate, and pipeline movement). In this episode: John discusses hiring ahead of the curve How he compensates reps based on client retention The decline of email outreach John’s inbound engine that drives 80–90% of leads Practical AI uses for role play training, transcript analysis, playbooks, and script generation The value of an experienced CEO coach John’s approach to investing and family life Thanks to this week's sponsor Wayfront — the AI-ready operating system for productized agencies. One client portal. One team dashboard. All your data, AI-accessible. TMBA listeners get an extra free month on top of the trial at wayfront.com/tmba. Links: Level Up Leads More Business Resources Upcoming DC Events 🎙️ Tropical MBA is a podcast for entrepreneurs building location-independent businesses. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes on business, money, and the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Hang out exclusively with 7+ figure founders in DC BLACK https://dynamitecircle.com/dc-black Chapters: (00:00:33) Guest Intro Story (00:02:11) Argentina Remote Leap (00:04:24) Barcelona Founder Life (00:05:24) Time Management Abroad (00:07:37) Business Idea Origins (00:08:47) Pivot To Cold Calling (00:12:17) Honest Sales Edge (00:12:48) Ops Systems Dashboard (00:14:27) Metrics And Financials (00:18:12) Retention Based Pay (00:21:44) Outbound Shifts And Inbound (00:24:26) AI Workflows For SDRs (00:28:43) CEO Coaching And Hard Stuff (00:31:32) Personal Finance Investing (00:31:16) Life Outside Work Dadhood (00:38:58) Ideal Clients And Wrap Up CONNECT: Dan Andrews is the co-founder of Dynamite Circle, author of Before the Exit, host of the Tropical MBA podcast, and an entrepreneur who has successfully launched and scaled multiple 7-figure businesses. Email [email protected] PLAYLIST: The $10K Projects You Never Do (AI Just Changed That) How to Build a 6-Figure Digital Business with Claude Code We Got Claude-Pilled
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#859 Building a $6.5M Remote Agency in 5 Years — LevelUp Leads
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