Independence by Design™ is a framework to help owner-operators get out of the weeds and lead from the boardroom.
I built it because I lived this trap. In 2009, I joined my dad in our $21M family business. We turned it around and sold it for eight figures in 2014 — enough to pay off debt, cover taxes, let my dad retire, and leave me with a chunk of cash at 27.
But the sale gutted our team, systems, and identity. It looked like a win, but it didn’t feel like freedom. I bawled in the driveway.
After 450+ interviews, thousands of owners, and multiple ventures, I saw the real issue: we didn’t know the difference between being owners and operators. Our goals weren’t aligned. And we had no framework to guide us.
That’s why I built iBD — to help owners avoid regret, reclaim their time, grow real equity value, and build a business that gives them freedom — whether they stay, scale, or sell.
This show is the one I wish I had.
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Independence by Design™ is a framework to help owner-operators get out of the weeds and lead from the boardroom.
I built it because I lived this trap. In 2009, I joined my dad in our $21M family business. We turned it around and sold it for eight figures in 2014 — enough to pay off debt, cover taxes, let my dad retire, and leave me with a chunk of cash at 27.
But the sale gutted our team, systems, and identity. It looked like a win, but it didn’t feel like freedom. I bawled in the driveway.
After 450+ interviews, thousands of owners, and multiple ventures, I saw the real issue: we didn’t know the difference between being owners and operators. Our goals weren’t aligned. And we had no framework to guide us.
That’s why I built iBD — to help owners avoid regret, reclaim their time, grow real equity value, and build a business that gives them freedom — whether they stay, scale, or sell.
This show is the one I wish I had.
#469: Alison Bechdol | Your Marketing Isn’t Broken — Your Data Is
Independence by Design™
1 hour 14 minutes 17 seconds
1 month ago
#469: Alison Bechdol | Your Marketing Isn’t Broken — Your Data Is
Marketing is confusing for most owners — not because the tactics don’t work, but because the data underneath is broken. Watch on YouTube In this episode, I sit down with Alison Bechdol, founder of Digital-ade, to break down why so many owners feel like they’re throwing money at marketing with nothing to show for it. And the truth is simple: you cannot build a predictable revenue engine without clean data, real attribution, and a clear picture of your customer acquisition cost. Most companies don’t have a marketing problem — they have a data infrastructure problem. Tracking is wrong, systems aren’t unified, and owners don’t have the visibility they need to design revenue, forecast cash flow, or make decisions from the boardroom. We also talk through the deeper issue: the marketing industry’s incentives are misaligned. Owners need doers, not gurus — and they need a clear order of operations to diagnose, fix, and scale what actually drives margin and enterprise value. 10 Takeaways:
Most owners don’t have a marketing problem — they have a data problem.
If attribution isn’t accurate, every marketing dollar becomes guesswork.
The marketing industry runs on misaligned incentives that reward activity over outcomes.
Many “strategic” roles lack operational depth, leaving owners paying for insight without execution.
Most companies’ tools are misconfigured, creating blind spots in revenue-critical data.
Bad data kills owner confidence and leads to reactive, inconsistent decisions.
There is a clear order of operations: fix tracking → unify systems → measure → optimize → then scale.
Predictable revenue comes from diagnostics and visibility, not tactics or trends.
Clean data + a reliable conversion funnel = predictable CAC, forecastable revenue, and controllable cash flow.
Clear data empowers owners to make boardroom-level decisions and allocate capital with confidence. Alison Bechdol is the owner of Digital-ade, specializing in analytics, tag management, event tracking, and paid media for both B2B and B2C companies. Known for cutting through noise and fixing the data foundations most businesses overlook, she helps owners build reliable tracking, clear attribution, and actionable insights. Alison also teaches GA4, KPIs, and Google Tag Manager through workshops, consulting, and speaking engagements.
Chapters:
(00:00) Alison's unconventional journey from event planning to analytics mastery
(05:45) First principles thinking and understanding consumer psychology in data
(12:37) Predictable revenue and mapping the complete customer journey
(15:37) Moving from mindset to implementation: where to start with data
(20:20) Setting goals and KPIs: working backwards from conversion points
(32:09) Building your dashboard: Looker Studio as single source of truth
(43:04) Why AI can't replace expertise: the insights problem explained
(56:00) Fractional resources and finding the right doers versus strategists
(1:12:37) Getting started today: implement tracking and identify conversion points
Rate, comment, and share with the owner/operators you know!
Resources: Company Website http://digital-ade.com/ Ryan Tansom Website https://ryantansom.com/
Independence by Design™
Independence by Design™ is a framework to help owner-operators get out of the weeds and lead from the boardroom.
I built it because I lived this trap. In 2009, I joined my dad in our $21M family business. We turned it around and sold it for eight figures in 2014 — enough to pay off debt, cover taxes, let my dad retire, and leave me with a chunk of cash at 27.
But the sale gutted our team, systems, and identity. It looked like a win, but it didn’t feel like freedom. I bawled in the driveway.
After 450+ interviews, thousands of owners, and multiple ventures, I saw the real issue: we didn’t know the difference between being owners and operators. Our goals weren’t aligned. And we had no framework to guide us.
That’s why I built iBD — to help owners avoid regret, reclaim their time, grow real equity value, and build a business that gives them freedom — whether they stay, scale, or sell.
This show is the one I wish I had.
