Sep 8, 2016 · 23m · top-founders
EP 411: She Made $1.1M 2015 Performance Arts Center, Now Coaching with Stacy Tuschl
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In this episode of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews entrepreneur Stacey Tuschl, who shares how she built a $1.1 million performing arts center and leveraged that operational foundation to launch successful online coaching programs, digital courses, and speaking assets.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 45.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Nathan as informed peer 5.2 Guest teaching 2.4 Guest disagreement 1.8 Nathan pushing back 4.2
speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 13:50 Defending a 50 percent affiliate split
Stacey firmly counters Nathan's distaste for giving away 50 cents on the dollar, arguing it is essential for creating genuine partner buy-in.
Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:04 Nathan refuses non-answer on revenueNathan refuses Stacey's initial deflection about consulting revenue, pushing her as a businesswoman to provide exact figures or ranges.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 4:48 Aggressive legal tax avoidance strategyStacey explains how she manages brick-and-mortar profit margins down to near zero via distributions and tax deductions with her CPA.
Nathan holds their own ▶ 8:56 Paid consults as stealth market researchNathan leverages his own software experience to demonstrate why charging small sums for consults filters for higher quality user feedback than free calls.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Nathan as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Nathan pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Send Later Acquisition, Toptal Sponsorship, and Upcoming Episodes | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | Nathan introduces the show and challenges Stacey right away on why anyone should listen to another business consultant. Stacey defends her background by highlighting her long-running seven-figure brick-and-mortar business. | |
| Performing Arts Center Financials, Taxes, and Operational Scale | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | Nathan digs into the unit economics of the performing arts center, calculating student ARPU and analyzing her zero-profit tax strategy by comparing it to Amazon's model. Stacey explains her aggressive write-off distributions and payroll structure for 40 part-time employees. | |
| Transitioning to Online Coaching and the Level Up Program | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | Nathan checks Stacey's website in real-time and discusses trading time for dollars before relating his own experience of using cheap consults as paid market research. Stacey outlines the launch metrics and ad spend for her group coaching program. | |
| Consulting Evolution, Get Focused Academy, and Affiliate Models | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | Nathan presses Stacey when she claims not to know her 2015 consulting revenue, teasing that her CPA would be unhappy. Stacey clarifies the timeline of her first product launch and justifies paying a 50 percent affiliate cut despite Nathan's skepticism. | |
| Book Strategy, Live Event Economics, and Paid Keynote Speaking | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | Nathan questions the economics of authoring books, hosting live events, and low-fee speaking gigs, contrasting her approach with his strict $10,000 speaking minimum. Stacey explains that her $10,000 live event loss was an intentional marketing asset investment for future funnels. |
Statements from this episode (13)
Latka plans to take Send Later public by age 30
“I will build Send Later into a big business, and I will take it public by the time I turn 30.”
Tuschl: Performing arts center is a seven-figure business with 40 employees
“Well, I mean, I still have my performing arts center, which is my first brick and mortar business. That is a seven figure business, but 40 employees.”
Tuschl: Performing arts center reached almost $1.1M in revenue in 2015
“It reached almost 1.1 million.”
Tuschl: Team payroll was about $350,000 in 2015
“And our payroll, I can kind of tell you this, our payroll last year not including myself with the team was about 350,000 dollars.”
Tuschl: Performing arts center had 800 to 900 students in 2015
“Unique sales. There were about eight to 900 students, but some of them take several classes. So we're running almost 2000 times. People are walking in and out of our doors in a week.”
Latka says charging $97 for research calls converts better than free invites
“When I say, Hey, book a time. It costs 97 bucks for 30 minutes with me. Everybody does it. So it's like, almost like you're getting paid to do market research.”
Tuschl: Email launch of $497 group coaching program produced four sales
“The, out of that, we had four people immediately sign up that week.”
Tuschl: Get Focused Academy launch generated $11k in November 2015
“So my launch in November, 2015 was something called get focused Academy. That was the first time ever going out in the world going, Hey, I've got this online product and we launched with an 11,000 dollar launch. And that was to somebody else's list that we did…”
Tuschl: A 50/50 affiliate split creates the best win-win partnership
“I just feel like if they're going to commit to doing this, and people get bombarded with affiliate commissions and all of those opportunities, I want them to feel like it's a win-win. It's this partnership, and I think fifty-fifty is just a great way to do it.”
Tuschl: First Milwaukee live event lost approximately $10,000
“So for me, I lost a little bit of money, but what it was. What's a little bit, by the way? About 10,000.”
Tuschl: Free speaking gigs can outperform paid ones via lead capture
“I mean, sometimes the free ones can be better than the paid ones. It really just depends on who's in the audience. Can you resonate with them quickly enough with whatever timeframe you're given and how can you let them opt into something, whether it's a text m…”
Latka demands at least $10,000 to leave his pajamas for speaking gigs
“I don't like, I don't even get out of my pajamas from my bed unless 10 grand minimum, minimum 10 grand to speak.”
Latka claims Gary Vaynerchuk has aged twenty years from overworking
“Gary, by the way, you look at pictures of him from five years ago and where he is now, you know, like when the president takes office, and it's like, before he took office, now, and they look like they've aged 20 years, that's what Gary is killing himself. I d…”