Episode 1299 · May 29, 2026

Corbin Cowan on Tax Strategies for Entrepreneurs

Corbin Cowin

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On The Daily Mastermind, host George Wright III sat down with Corbin Cowan, founder of Founders First Advisory, for a conversation that challenges how most business owners think about taxes. Rather than treating taxes as an unavoidable cost of success, Cowan argues they are one of the most powerful and underutilized growth tools available to entrepreneurs.

Cowan built his philosophy through hard experience. He took over a company on the verge of bankruptcy, found his way into the Board of Advisors network, closed deals, helped a med tech company raise about $18 million in private capital, and took it public on Nasdaq. That journey shaped his conviction: most advisors focus on the business, but the founder is the most important piece of the equation.

What Is Founders First Advisory?

Cowan created Founders First Advisory to serve business owners who have moved past the struggle phase and are generating enough revenue to take out roughly half a million dollars or more per year in personal income. His starting point is not growth strategy or marketing. It is taxes.

His premise is direct: every major business advisor talks about growth, marketing, and scaling. None of them talk about how much the founder actually keeps. That is the gap Founders First Advisory is designed to close. The business advisory work, including introductions to Board of Advisors and broader wealth management connections, follows once the tax foundation is in place.

How the Tax Credit Strategy Works

The core of Cowan's offering is built around an investment tax credit program legislated under the Inflation Reduction Act. The credit runs approximately 35 to 40 percent, and it is paired with bonus depreciation to create a two-pronged approach to reducing tax liability.

What makes it distinctive is not the credit itself but how Cowan architects it for each individual founder. The amount of investment, where the capital comes from, and how the strategy is structured are all customized to accomplish the most for that specific situation.

Why You Can Recover Taxes Already Paid

One of the most surprising aspects of Cowan's approach is the ability to go backward. Unlike bonus depreciation, which only applies going forward, the tax credit rules allow founders to recover approximately 75 percent of taxes paid to the IRS over the prior three years.

It's real simple. We look at what they've paid in taxes over the last three years, and if it's 300,000 or more, they qualify.

That is found money. If you have paid $300,000 or more to the IRS over the past three years, you qualify for recovery. If you have a traditional IRA with $500,000 or more, you also qualify. That capital can be redeployed into the business, used to reduce personal financial risk, or simply kept to compound over time.

The Real Benefit: Financial Peace of Mind

Cowan is direct about what he is actually providing. He says he helps founders save on income tax, but the deeper reality is financial peace of mind. Knowing that 25 to 35 percent more of your revenue will stay in the business going forward changes how a founder operates and thinks.

I can improve your bottom line by 30 to 35% without you growing a dollar.

When founders stop playing not to lose and start playing to win, creativity follows naturally. Growth becomes organic rather than forced. The mental shift that comes from financial security is often worth as much as the tax savings themselves. Less risk, with the same or greater results, is a formula that compounds over years.

The Difference Between Tax Prep and Tax Planning

One of the clearest themes in this conversation is the gap between tax preparation and tax planning. Most founders, and even most advisors, are focused on filing accurately at year end. Very few think strategically about how to structure income, credits, and investments across multiple years.

Cowan spent eight years inside Board of Advisors, surrounded by talented people, business advisors, attorneys, and CPA firms, before he encountered this approach. It was never surfaced because most advisors do not specialize in this kind of proactive architecture. Founders who rely only on generalist advisors are likely leaving significant money on the table every single year.

How to Think About Reinvesting the Savings

Once the tax savings are secured, the question becomes what to do with them. Cowan tailors this recommendation to each situation. If the business has the right infrastructure to support growth, reinvesting is often the best move. There is no better place to put capital than a well-positioned company you already control.

For founders who are not ready to scale, the savings still compound. A stronger financial foundation reduces risk and creates the conditions for smarter decisions down the road, without the pressure of throwing money at the next hot opportunity just to feel like you are growing.

Action Steps

Visit foundersfirstadvisory.io to find out if you qualify. The criteria are simple: $300,000 or more paid in taxes over the past three years, or a traditional IRA with $500,000 or more.
Audit the difference between what you pay in taxes and what you could be paying with proactive planning rather than year-end preparation.
If you have paid significant taxes over the last three years, treat recovering that money as a near-term business priority rather than something to address later.
Assess whether your current advisors specialize in investment tax credits or whether you are relying on generalists who do not surface these strategies.
Once tax savings are secured, build a clear reinvestment or preservation plan so the capital works for you intentionally.

Most founders are running hard to grow the top line. Cowan makes the case that improving the bottom line by 30 to 35 percent, without adding a single dollar of revenue, is not only possible but available right now. It is never too late to start living the life you were meant to live, and sometimes that starts with recovering the money that was always yours.

READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT

All right, we're here back at, uh, Board of Advisors. Um, we're kinda doing a, a deep dive into one of the key players here at Board of Advisors. Um, Corbin, it's good to have you here, man.

Thanks, man. It's

great to be here. You know, this is, this is hard because both of us get pulled in a lot of directions and, um, there's a lot of stuff going on here, but I'm, I'm, I'm curious.

First, just start by telling everybody who you are and what your business is.

Um, my name's Corbin Towne, and um, I have a business advisory service that really focuses on the founder. Uh, and we start by not focusing on the business intentionally, uh, because all the business advisors focus on the business- Yeah

on growth-

Yeah ...

on marketing, on scaling, right? And they ignore the most important piece, which is how much does the founder end up getting to take out of the company?

Yeah. Plus they're the key person in the whole equation anyway, right?

Exactly.

Yeah.

So that's why we call it Founders First Advisory.

Got it.

Cool. So what you're doing right now is a great fit because you're also one of the key players at this Board of Advisors event, which is a high level, um, next level above a mastermind, but individuals that are, you know, high net worth and have had some exits and people that are building businesses in all different industries.

How did you get connected with Board of Advisors?

So I was, um, I actually went to Florida for another mastermind that was supposed to be so great, and at the time I'd just taken over a company that was almost ready to file bankruptcy and it was a turnaround. I needed to meet, you know, real players, you know.

Uh, I was fairly young, um, and, you know, I nee- I needed help to, to have success. And um, and so I came to this mastermind and it was a joke and I was... I walked out early and, uh, somebody walked out with me and they're like, "What are you doing here?" You know, I'm like, "You know, I'm looking for, you know, some help turning this company around."

He's like, "Oh, you need to meet Mike Calhoun." So get on the phone with Mike and he's like, "Oh, you didn't come to Florida to go to that mastermind. You came to Florida to meet me."

That's awesome. Yeah. Pretty typical, right? Yeah.

At that time my kids were young. I'd already booked the flight home. He's like, "Get over to my office."

And I'm like, "I, I'm, I'm heading home, bro." Um, he's like, "Okay, but you're gonna be back in two weeks 'cause, you know, you're, you're, you're gonna experience what real mastermind is all about." And uh, and I said, "I don't, I don't know, man." And he's like, um, at the time, you know, the company was broke. Definitely didn't have the money to, to put into Board of Advisors.

Yeah. And um, and Mike said, "Give me a deposit, get here. We'll make it happen from there." And that was eight, um, a little over eight years ago. Wow. And, uh, so I got a deal done, uh, when I got there. I got to the next meeting. I got in front of Kevin Harrington. You know, one thing after another, you know, happened with Board of Advisors.

I sold that company, uh, got involved with a, a- another, uh, med tech company that came as a referral from BA.

Okay.

Um, helped them raise about $18 million in private capital, and then we took 'em public on Nasdaq.

Wow.

And, uh, exited that company and, um, so I've been, you know, uh-

So you've had a lot of experience, but also deals through Board of Advisors, Interactive, and so you've got this network as well, which is pretty interesting, especially since you're now focused on founders and, uh, founder level.

So doing that with Board of Advisors, that kinda shows a lot of the value that you've gotten from the business and also given to Board of Advisors. Let's talk about your company, your company itself. W- who is it that you serve in particular? 'Cause you say founders, but that could mean a lot of things. Who do you serve, and what is the primary thing you do for them?

So first step, uh, business owners and founders, uh, that are, um, past the, you know, point of, of struggle - Yeah. Right? They need- They've

got a viable business

probably, yeah. They've got a, they've got a viable business, and they need to be taking out about a half a million a year or more in personal income from the business.

Okay. And I've created and architected a tax product that helps, um, eliminate their current year's income tax and even allows me to go back three years and recover- Wow ... 75% of what they've paid to the IRS over the last three years.

So this is a strategy that puts cash flow in their pocket, obviously, by also getting it from something they probably already have.

Right. Or, or that they've, they've Have lost.

Yeah. That they've given up, right? You know, it's, it's- In taxes and things like that. A lot of money. So tax-based primarily in order to help them to capitalize on this. Do you find yourself going deep in other areas in addition to tax when you end up working with these founders?

Yeah. Once, once we establish that we can, you know, get them, you know, more efficient with the income coming out, that's when my, the business advisory piece comes in. Got it. That's where I introduce them to board of advisors for leveraged business development. Mm. Um, and, and it just goes from there. That's when, you know, other wealth management, you know, connections and things like that- Yeah

come, come into play, so.

That's interesting 'cause you have a pretty big network now through board of advisors, so if you have to bring in people for tech or AI or money or raising or, um, you know, wealth management or whatever, you have those really high-end contacts, right?

Yeah. And that's why, you know, I think, uh, Mike, about six months ago, asked me to join him on the executive team and, and, uh, kinda help new advisors coming in have that same type of success- Mm

as I did. Um, and I think because I've, I've, you know, been able to create deals out of nothing and, and see opportunities that, you know, maybe other people don't see, I'm in, I'm in a good position to be able to help them. You know, they may see somebody as a competitor, and I see somebody as a joint venture opportunity.

Yeah. Well, you know more about the individuals as well. That's the thing I love about board of advisors is you actually pair people as well. But with your company, talk to me just for a minute. I know we don't have time to deep dive, and we'll probably need to do this in a, in a, in a deep interview. But talk to me about this tax product, and help me to understand who is the most eligible for it and, um, so, so that I get a, a good feel for who your ideal client is, and then also what you do.

Um, a- and maybe you can give us a brief overview of what this tax, you know, uh, strategy is.

So the tax strategy, uh, is an investment tax credit program that was congressionally legislated, um, in the Inflation Reduction Act. Mm. Got it. In and of itself, there's, there's nothing unique about it, right? But it has some powerful features, the tax credit about, you know, 35% to 40% depending on, um, where we're at, uh, and, uh, and bonus depreciation.

So two very powerful- Yeah ... tools. Um, where it becomes unique is in our ability to be strategic with it and design it in, in, in a way that allows us to accomplish the most, right?

Yeah. It's interesting as you go deep with stuff I've learned that, that a lot of people might be aware of tax credits or these programs, but not know the best way to architect them, right?

So you're really architecting this based on the individual business and founder, right?

Exactly.

Okay. Got it.

Right. So we, we have the product that has, you know, the certain features, but how we design the actual, you know, uh, number of, you know, um, amount of investment and all that kind of stuff- Right ... and where we get the money and all of, all of those things, that's where the strategy and the, you know, kinda creativity and structure comes in.

Yeah. So if there's a founder or business owner, uh, an executive that is past this point of momentum a bit and has a viable business, how would they know or identify themselves to you as someone who might be eligible for this tax credit?

Um, I mean, easiest way is just to go to foundersfirstadvisory.com.

I mean, excuse me, foundersfirstadvisory.io.

Got it.

Um-

And you have like an intake or a questionnaire they can answer some things to see if they would qualify for this?

Yeah. And it's, it's real simple. We look at, you know, what they've paid in taxes over the last three years, and if it's 300,000 or more, they qualify.

Got

it. You know, um, and if they don't qualify there, but they have an IRA, traditional IRA, uh, with a half million or more, they qualify.

So- Wow. Well, that's, I mean, that's, that opens up the door to a lot of people. And how many of these founders do you think maybe are unaware? Do... Are most founders really unaware of these tax credits?

Yeah. I was unaware. Like- You're

around it. Yeah.

Yeah ... yeah. I mean, I've been in the, you know, in big rooms. I've been in board of advisors for eight years. I mean, all the talented people, all the business advisors, and the attorneys and, and, you know, CPA firms never, you know-

Because they don't specialize, right?

They're just trying to churn out... Yeah, it's that difference between tax planning and tax prep, right? Most people are just prepping at the end of the year. They're not planning strategically. And then the advisor part I think is cr- is, is key because I think a lot of business owners, they're playing the game not to lose rather than to win, and they're also thinking about it when it's down the road.

So I like the idea that you said about being able to go back three years though. Is that, is that something that happens- Yeah ... with a lot of businesses you work with?

Um, y- yes, and it's unique to the tax credit rules, right? Got it. Um, bonus depreciation is great. You can buy equipment and depreciate it, but you can't use bonus depreciation and go backwards, right?

Um-

But these credits allow you to go back and claw back the taxes you paid. So this is actually found money it sounds like.

Found money, 100%.

Wow. Wow.

Uh, and, and that's-

Which can fund some major growth for your business and capital or go straight to the pocket of the founder, right?

Right. Uh- Wow. And, you know, once the f- you know- People kind of, you know, I tell people I help save them, you know, on income tax, right?

But the re- the reality is I provide them pure financial, um, peace of mind.

Right.

Because moving forward they now know that they have 25, 35% more revenue in their business- Yeah ... to grow.

Yeah, that's huge because I think getting that win, that early win, even going backwards, that's great. But it, it is, you think of the compounding effects long term,

uh,

e- even if you don't use it to grow.

Like just think of the compounding effects of that money in your pocket over the next five years or wh- whatever it is, right?

Yeah, so you can take less risk-

Mm ...

and have the s- you know, the same or greater results as, as the guy next to you that's, you know, throwing money at the, you know- Wow ... the hot stock or whatever.

Wow. Is your, is your... I'm curious on this and then, and then we'll let you go. But is, is your strategy or your recommendation a lot of times to these founders to reinvest that into their business as part of your advisory direction? Or, or do they, do you try to get them to kind of do both, right? Take it, take it in their pocket, but also invest in the business, or does it just depend on everybody?

So I look at if the business is ready to, to grow- Yeah ... and they have the right pieces in place, then there's no better place to invest

it.

Um, you know, maybe SpaceX, but-

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah ... other than that. You know what's, what's, what's funny is when you talk about taxes, a lot of times people are like, "Oh, it's just a topic they just hate talking about because they hate paying taxes."

But, um, when... But it's really a growth tool, right? Like, I mean, it is a business growth tool. It's also, I think almost a lifestyle, um, benefit because more capital, more cash, more income, you know, all that. So

if you think about it, um- Mm ... to, to grow your, um, top line revenue 30 to 35%-

Yeah ...

it takes a lot of work.

You know, you're gonna have to make some changes. You're gonna have to implement marketing and, and sales and all these different components. I can improve your bottom line by 30 to 35% without you growing a dollar.

Yeah.

You know? And so it's a stress reliever.

Yeah.

Right? Um, some of these businesses are, are creating good top line revenue, um, and, you know, maybe they're 10 million in revenue and the founder's only taking out a half a million dollars.

Um, you know, it, it gives them that peace of mind. Yeah. And, and, and then they feel free, and that's when, like, creativity starts to happen, and they start, you know, thinking about new ways to grow, and the growth becomes organic.

Yeah. That's great. No, this is awesome. I'm glad you were able to take some time with me, 'cause this has opened my eyes to a bunch as well.

Um, so if, if somebody's listening to this later on, um, what's the best way for them to connect with you individually? Because I have a feeling that whether it's, um, wanting to connect with Board of Advisors and that massive network you have, or whether it's your, uh, if, you know, founder advisory service, what's the best way for them to connect with you?

Um, corbin@boardofadvisors.com or corbin@foundersfirst.io. Um, and then my cellphone. Okay. 405-229-4052.

Great. Well, I'll put, um, especially when we, we syndicate this, I'll put some of those in the notes. Um, but thanks for taking time, man. I appreciate it.

Absolutely, brother.

And if you're, uh, if you're out there and you have an experienced board of advisors or you're even thinking about these tax credits and things, make sure that you reach out.

You know, the point here is to collaborate. The point is to really help you to grow your business and create both life and lifestyle and business. So, um, you know, and, and then share this. If you get this message, share this out so there's other founders out there that can take advantage as well. So have an amazing day.