Mark and Jesse are back after a short break with a discussion about slippery slopes... real and imagined. Jesse delivers an epic rant on the uselessness of economists, while Mark talks about his hesistance applying for graduate school in order to obtain the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist credential. Mark presents his dillema: he wants the c…

Mark and Jesse discuss their most recent read, Never Enough: From Barista to Billionaire by Andrew Wilkinson, a one-time barista and co-founder of Tiny, a holding company that buys and holds businesses for the long-term (like Berkshire Hathaway). At the age of 36, Wilkinson found himself owner of a company worth over a billion dollars, and in a new…

Good gardens require good soil, and good soil takes compost and plenty of time. Jesse shares his experiences composting soil for his garden, and how it applies to business. Like compost, good business ideas take time to execute. They can be executed more quickly, but that often involves more complexity. Mark and Jesse then pivot to discuss complexi…

The algorithm has come to rule media, and it is a voracious beast. It consumes as much content as people can create, as often as they can create. The ones who rise to the top seem to be those who create the most content, on as many platforms as possible, but what do the economics of this look like? Mark asks the question whether playing the content…

Jesse shares one of his recent experiments, inspired by a guest on the Art of Manliness podcast. The challenge was to delete the apps on your phone, especially the ones you feel a "pull" from -- a pull to open it and check it every time you see it (most social media apps would meet this criteria for most people). As Jesse explains, phones don't jus…

On previous epsidoes, Mark and Jesse have discussed the importance of scarcity, and how limitations drive creativity. Mark even goes so far as to argue creativity can't exist without limitations! YNAB, then, is a tool for viewing reality through the lens of money -- a reality mirror if you like. By understanding the tradeoffs you are making with yo…

Mark and Jesse discuss YNAB's recent price increase, and the psychology of customers around pricing. You can't make everyone happy, whether you justify the price increase by citing your own increased costs or by plainly stating your price increase without explanation or caveat. Jesse points out that some customers that have complained about the pri…

Mark and Jesse reminisce about the early days of YNAB, and a conversation over lunch in which Mark gave Jesse (what he thought was) sage advice -- to raise prices. Genius right? Jesse recounts how they raised prices in the earliest incarnations of YNAB's product, from spreadsheets to software to software-as-a-service. He also candidly breaks down a…

After a conversation about using ChatGPT to organize the weekly recipe calendar for the Mecham household, Mark and Jesse talk about the concept of letting go of control in a business. Mark posits an idea: you can have control or you can have growth, but not both. And Mark hates it! Jesse draws a distinction between control of the business -- that i…

Mark and Jesse discuss the role of customer service in a business, and how the alignment of customer expecations with the business owner's strengths (or working genius, if you like) is crucial to customer satisfaction and avoiding burnout. Mark shares an example from his virtual CFO business, which was highly profitable but making him miserable as …

Mark and Jesse discuss Patrick Lencioni's The 6 Types of Working Genius, a book exploring various personality types and the kinds of work most suitable to each. It's more than a personality test however! Lencioni's model assesses people according to their genius, competency, and frustrations in six areas: Wonder: The natural gift of pondering the p…

In today's episode, Jesse discusses his net worth tracker, a basic spreadsheet in which he records the balances of his investments and other assets quarterly. For Jesse, net worth is the scorecard of personal finance -- it's a way of keeping track of what direction you are going with your money. However, scorecard is an impersonal way to describe n…

In today's episode, Mark and Jesse discuss money as a concept, why it exists, and how trade (using money) has created tremendous value for humans throughout history. On the YNAB Podcast, Jesse has spoken about money being far more than a tool, however, and really an extension of one's self -- one's energies and desires. Mark and Jesse then attempt …

Mark kicks off today's episode with a handful of words, hoping to weave them into a broader discussion: vision, goal, strategy, plan, and tactics. Mark and Jesse discuss how many small business owners look for tactics first, various tasks focused on operations: posting on social media, starting a YouTube channel, building an email list. These may o…

In today's episdoe, Mark and Jesse discuss the importance of developing good systems, not just in business but in life! Mark shares a recent experience in which his wife left for a few days on a retreat, leaving Mark to handle her usual duties. Mark was faced with a lack of systems in day to day tasks, and enough friction to sit her down after the …

Mark and Jesse ponder the question -- what do you do when growth slows and the business plateaus? Mark recalls a story about a successful businessperson who failed at several ventures before striking gold, and notes that the "gold" business was never hard. It grew a lot early on, and continued to grow steadily from there. He juxtaposes this result …

People have been hemming and hawing over the value proposition of college for years now, and in 2024, the value that a bachelor's degree offers is more questionable than ever. Mark and Jesse, both with teenagers staring down the barrel of college (or not) in the next few years, share their thoughts on the subject. As Jesse argues, the purpose of ed…

We usually talk about stress as something you need to reduce, or recover from. But there are different types of stress -- good stressors and bad stressors -- and sometimes stress drives us to accomplish things and innovate when we otherwise wouldn't. To that end, Mark and Jesse discuss Morgan Housel's book Same As Ever: A Guide to What Never Change…

Jesse defends the New Years resolution, and offers up of his own resolutions for the year, namely being kind. Mark resolves to try really hard, and be a better friend. Harvard study on men's happiness (started in 1938!): https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-secret-to-happiness-heres-some-advice-from-the-longest-running-study-on-happiness-2017100…

Mark shares a trend he has become aware of in his business: his highest revenue clients are also his least time-consuming clients, and thus his most profitable clients. On balance, the clients who pay the least under his sliding scale fee structure end up taking the most time to process. This discussion begs the question -- when do you fire a clien…

Mark shares a recent conversation with a client fixated on "diversifying" her business, which to her meant expanding her coaching services from 1-on-1 to group coaching. Diversification is one of those concepts that sounds wise (of course you should diversify!) and is a bedrock concept of investing. However, as Jesse points out, what most people th…

Jesse shares a conversation he had with the YNAB executive team about spending (and giving) with joy, and Mark relates how many business owners struggle with this problem. Mark also shares a recent talk with a client agonizing over an upcoming vacation, which he believes will require him to make poor financial decisions. As Mark has coached him thr…

Mark and Jesse actually read the book (almost)! After completing most of the book recommended by a listener, 10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy, Mark and Jesse share their thoughts on organizing your business and your life to harness your "unique ability." Mark Butler, …

A listener requested Mark and Jesse comment on the book 10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy -- and they happily oblige! Except... they haven't read the book. Yet. Nevertheless the title is thought provoking, and they debate the merits of growing a business slowly vs grow…

Mark and Jesse share a snippet of a long conversation about the nature of opportunity cost in budgeting. They broadly divide people into two different personality types: the accumulators who diligently follow the rules of budgeting and amass cash, and the spenders who focus purely on what that cash can buy them -- experiences, memories, mementos, e…

Mark explains his unique system for managing his day to day tasks after years of struggling with ADHD. For Mark, it's all about managing his energy and honoring his mindset in the current moment. If the "dirt pile" calls (his affectionate name for an ongoing earthmoving project in his backyard), then that's what he does, whether or not it's the "be…

Mark and Jesse answer a listener question about how to run more effective meetings, particularly for introvert-heavy groups. Jesse talks about the importance of ice breakers (although you don't have to call them that) and standardized meeting structures across the company. Mark and Jesse also discuss some new books on their reading list, including …

Mark poses a question -- how much knowledge about money does someone need? As in, how much time and energy should one devote toward investing, planning for future needs and problems, and other future considerations? Jesse offers some examples of how people often seek assurances, guarantees that their future income (and circumstances) will be safe. …

Mark provides an update on his son Charlie and his budding mechanic career, and voices some concerns about his continuing to work at the auto shop. Charlie made some good money replacing brakes on a family friend's vehicle, and is considering making the jump to a mobile auto service business (as Mark and Jesse first discussed in Episode 79). Mark B…

Mark and Jesse discuss the process of setting compensation, salaries, bonuses, and communicating those effectively to the team. Compensation is a touchy subject. Businesses want to incentivize employees to perform at a high level and reduce turnover by compensating them well. Employees need to feel like they have space to grow their skills and capa…

...probably comes from doing more of what you're already doing, not a new venture or even a new product. But Mark and Jesse have talked about digging trenches already. Today they ask the question, is it enough for a business owner to put their head down and just dig more trenches? When do you look around, observe broad trends in your industry, and …

Mark and Jesse dissect the culture of striving that pervades American society, in businesses and consumers alike. There seems to be a tacit assumption that all business should be about more -- growing more, making more money, etc -- and you don't have to look far to see the same mentality in consumer culture. In fact, it's the heart of the economy!…

Mark shares a difficult personal situation he and his family have been dealing with, that has signficant financial ramifications. Recently Mark's wife was diagnosed with cancer, and she has undergone chemo treatments and a litany of medical tests. As the medical bills continue to pile up, Mark finds himself having to float tens of thousands of doll…

It's happening! Mark's son is taking the step toward business ownership. His plan is to leave his job at the auto shop behind, and start a mobile oil change business. Mark and Jesse discuss some of the challenges of pricing his service, establishing a recurring revenue model, and marketing to the most influential groups he has access to. Mark Butle…

Jesse shares a recent situation that would have sent shivers through most owners. Following a revision in the tax code regarding software R&D costs, YNAB discovered it would be facing down a huge tax bill, over triple what they anticipated for the year. While this might bankrupt some companies, Jesse and the executive team were able to take the new…

What if all your spending... was actually borrowing? Ok, well not ALL your spending, but those situations in which you pull money from one category of your budget and apply it to another. Jesse gives the example of going to a special dinner at an exclusive restaurant. Reservations are very difficult to get, and you finally get one when someone else…

Mark and Jesse answer a question from Beginning Balance listener Allison (thanks for listening Allison!). Allison asks: what do you do when you get paid? How much should you set aside for taxes and retirement savings? It's a great question, and many business owners struggle with this. Mark and Jesse explain the concept of "profit first" and why the…

On the previous, Mark shared a recent experience about letting an employee go. Not long after, another team member left for a great opportunity at another company. On a small team like Mark's, the loss of two employees back to back poses a big problem, as the workload gets spread to the remaining employees (a BIG increase) and some institutional kn…

It's not a fun part of the job, but sometimes you have to let employees go. Mark discusses a recent experience, and why, in retrospect, he should have acted much sooner. Jesse shares his thoughts on when, and why, you should let go of team members, when it's clear they aren't a good fit with the organization. Mark Butler, Virtual CFO The Money Scho…

Mark and Jesse consider the wave of AI technology that is rapidly being deployed in a number of industries. Whether it's the dreamlike collage-art of Midjourney or ChatGPT's pedantic essays based on conversational prompts, AI seems to be on everyone's lips these days. What remains to be seen is how quickly -- and broadly -- it will impact businesse…

Jesse and Mark return to their credit card debate from episode #69 (recorded last year in 2022) and discuss how business is going with using a credit card. Jesse went cold turkey and stopped all use of credit cards, while Mark kept a card for just a couple recurring transactions, but greatly reduced his usage. The consensus? Even though YNAB attemp…

Mark and Jesse share their New Year's resolutions for 2023, and why their goals and plans are getting simpler as time goes by. One common goal for 2023? Mark and Jesse are recommitting to YNAB, and ditching the credit card. Mark Butler, Virtual CFO The Money School: https://moneyschool.works https://markbutler.com https://letsdothebooks.com YNAB ht…

Mark and Jesse have discussed the advantages of being cash focused since the beginning of the show -- such as episode #3: Your Cash Is Your Strategy -- and part of being cash focused is not being focused on debt, or using debt to fund business operations. Most followers of YNAB can agree with this outlook, however credit cards fall into a grey and …

The beginning of the year brings for every business owner a familiar feeling... worry and fear about taxes. Even for those putting in an honest, good faith effort, it's not always clear that you've done things 100% correct. There's also the lingering worry that somehow, the IRS is going to show up in dark sunglasses one day and start tearing throug…

There's a lot of doom and gloom in the media these days, more than usual, that is! Inflation, recession, war... there seem to be many reasons to be negative about business outlooks in the coming year. But what are you going to do about it? Is it even helpful to think about this stuff too much? Jesse relates a recent experience talking to a reporter…

Mark and Jesse discuss the idea of "moats" in business, that is, the things which both give your business a competitive edge and also make it difficult to replicate. Too many budding entrepreneurs become enamored with building apps and software tools for their business, thinking that the app is the thing that makes them unique. Software is very rar…

Mark and Jesse answer a listener's questions about whether Jesse knew that he was onto an idea that would positively impact so many people when he started YNAB. They also discuss what new projects -- in business and in life -- they have on the horizon for the coming years. Mark Butler, Virtual CFO https://markbutler.com https://letsdothebooks.com Y…

Mark and Jesse ponder the question: what makes (and keeps) employees happy? While Jesse doesn't like the term "happy," there are definitely some strategies to keeping employee morale high and making jobs more fulfilling. Jesse references Dan Pink's book "Drive" and his concept of AMP -- autonomy, mastery, and purpose. If a job can offer these thing…

Mark and Jesse discuss the idea that all businesses really transact in information. Whether the business sells goods or services, no matter the field or industry, ultimately there is information behind all products -- how to make the product, how to market and sell it, how to support it, etc. With that revelation, the concept of standardization bec…

Mark and Jesse discuss the importance of preserving institutional knowledge when employees inevitably leave and new ones join, and how that can (and should!) be baked into the normal functions of the business. As Jesse puts it, nothing in business is ever "one and done." Every process requires regular updating lest it fall prey to the law of entrop…