E62: Core Anesthesia: How Cole Dill & Tanner Hulin Built a Successful Business Empowering CRNAs

Cole Dill and Tanner Hulin, co-founders of Core Anesthesia, started their educational platform in 2019 purely to help themselves get through anesthesia school. With a lack of adequate study resources available, they began recording their car conversations to listen passively, helping them cut down on study time for finals. When classmates asked for the audio files, they uploaded them to Spotify for free. Soon, listeners from across the country discovered them, and the duo realized their need for better studying was shared by thousands.

Contents hide

1 What Scaling a Business as a “Broke Student” Looks Like

2 The Archer Review Acquisition and Future Vision

3 Partnership and Wealth Building Wisdom

4 Securing Your Future Through Strategic Financial Planning

5 Links Relevant to this Episode

5.1 Never miss a new episode! Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

What Scaling a Business as a “Broke Student” Looks Like

They officially launched the podcast in February 2020, mere days before COVID hit, which Cole believes actually helped, as students needed an online audio resource when there were no in-class activities.

Since they were “broke anesthesia school” students, the co-founders quickly sought to turn their platform into an income stream. They launched a premium version through Patreon for $4.99 a month for students (the price of one coffee). For the first several years, they adhered to a strict financial rule: the business must give before it receives. They decided not to pay themselves and instead cash-flowed almost everything, continuously pouring incoming funds back into product development.

The Archer Review Acquisition and Future Vision

In May 2025, Core Anesthesia was acquired by Archer Review. For Cole and Tanner, who were “burning the candle at both ends” and felt they were at the “end of their rope,” the acquisition provided the much-needed financial and mental capital to finally focus on product creation.

They chose not to make a complete exit because they believe they are just about to “take off” and wanted to remain involved to execute the potential that is still there. The partnership made sense because Archer Review offers a “complete seamless journey,” supporting nurses from undergraduate school (NCLEX) to ICU certification (CCRN).

Their three-year vision is focused on two areas:

Reaching CRNAs: Despite having 75% of current students using the platform, many practicing CRNAs and program directors are still unfamiliar with their app, which offers accessible CEUs.
Expanding SRNA Resources: Using Archer’s resources to build more tools for residents to make anesthesia education accessible and approachable—allowing learning in the car or while walking the dog, rather than sitting at a desk.

Partnership and Wealth Building Wisdom

Cole and Tanner equate their partnership to a marriage, emphasizing the need to be equally yoked on goals and priorities from the start, and showing mercy and grace to each other over time. They also hired a business coach (a mistake they advise correcting sooner) to provide unbiased analysis and guidance through the acquisition process.

For CRNAs looking to build wealth beyond their clinical income, Cole’s core financial advice is: “I want my mindset to be that of an investor, not a consumer”. He cautions that many CRNAs immediately adapt to the high post-graduation salary without changing their consumer habits, losing the opportunity to leverage the largest financial jump they may ever experience.

Securing Your Future Through Strategic Financial Planning

The journey of Cole Dill and Tanner Hulin underscores that building wealth as a CRNA, whether through entrepreneurship or clinical practice, demands a shift in financial perspective. Their success hinged on the conscious decision to operate as investors first, reinvesting their company’s cash flow and delaying personal gratification.

This strategic mindset is a must for any CRNA facing a massive salary jump post-graduation. Partnering with a specialized financial advisor can help you make the necessary pivot from being a consumer to an investor.

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