How Stephen Diaz Used AI to Rebuild a $10M Business from Near Bankruptcy - CFR #808

What happens when you build a $20M business... and then lose it all? Stephen Diaz didn't just survive — he rebuilt from scratch using the exact same playbook that got him there the first time. Stephen started as a wedding photographer. After discovering the power of funnels and the challenge model, he and his wife Chelsey built Rainmaker Family into one of the fastest-growing coaching companies in America — 120 employees, $3M months, Inc. 5000 . Then three things hit at once: a public disparagement campaign, their Instagram account got taken down, and tariffs tanked demand in their market overnight. He went from $20M/year to $1M in debt, laying off 100 people in the process. What he did next is the whole point of this episode. In this conversation Stephen breaks down: How he found the ClickFunnels playbook and scaled to 8 figures with a challenge funnel The three punches that nearly bankrupted a $55M business What it was like to lay off 100 people — and have 44 of them volunteer to come back for free How he rebuilt an entirely new business in under a year using AI The "earlier is better" funnel principle that doubled his opt-in rate His 30/30/30 rule for keeping margins healthy as you scale Why he believes the same funnel framework works in any market This one is raw, honest, and packed with real numbers. If you're building something right now — or rebuilding — this episode is for you. 🔧 Get 60 free credits on Stephen's 8 Figure AI Toolkit (exclusive for CFR listeners): 🚀 Ready to build your funnel? Get 3 months of the ClickFunnels Scale plan for just $99:

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How Stephen Diaz Used AI to Rebuild a $10M Business from Near Bankruptcy - CFR #808 is an episode from FunnelHacker Radio by Dave Woodward.

This episode is 01:16:47 long.

This episode was published on Apr 30, 2026.

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