Episodes
No Operator, No Deal — How PE Firms Find the Right CEO with Travis Hann
Some PE deals don't fall apart in due diligence — they fall apart because no one can find the right CEO. Travis Hann has built his firm around solving exactly that problem. If the operator doesn't exist — or can't be found — the deal doesn't happen. Travis Hann is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Pender & Howe, a fast-growing boutique executive search firm serving mid-sized companies and investors across North America. He also serves on the board of Kestria, the…
He Buys Companies Everyone Else Is Running From — Nate Moore
He only buys companies everyone else is running from — and he's been doing it for 20 years. Nate Moore has built a 700-person operation by acquiring distressed childcare and home care businesses, walking into chaos where others see dead ends, and turning them around through leadership, structure, and a relentless belief in people. Nate Moore is a serial acquisition entrepreneur and founder of Moore Consulting & Investment Group. For over two decades, Nate has operated at the int…
Value Creation vs. Wealth Acceleration: The Family Office Framework
Most business owners confuse value creation with wealth acceleration — and it's costing them everything after the deal closes. This episode breaks down the family office framework that changes how you think about your business, your exit, and your legacy. Joshua Wilson sits down with Benjamin Domingue, founder of Family Office Partners, a multifamily office serving private business owners from pre-transaction planning through multi-generational wealth management. With over 15 years of e…
Why Culture Kills More Acquisitions Than Bad Pricing — Scott Harkey
Scott Harkey put $750,000 cash down on an agency tuck-in — and turned it into $10 million in enterprise value inside his group. That's EBITDA arbitrage. And according to Scott, most independent agency operators grinding away ...
How a Banker Evaluates Business Acquisitions (The 5 Cs Explained)
What does a banker actually look for before saying yes to your deal? Ben Smith, Market President at Red River Bank in Lafayette, Louisiana, pulls back the curtain on how banks evaluate business acquisitions, equipment financi...
When to Sell: The $50K Angel Investing Lesson — Bubba Page
Bubba Page watched a $50K investment grow to $200K on paper — then passed on the chance to cash out. A year later, that company went bankrupt. His position went to zero. That one decision — and the hard-won wisdom that follow...
When to Order a Quality of Earnings — Elliott Holland
Most first-time buyers skip the QoE. Elliott Holland has spent 15 years watching that mistake blow up deals — and families. In this episode, he breaks down exactly when you need one, what it finds, and why the EBITDA number y...
What an Investigative Journalist Notices That Most Deal Makers Miss
What does an investigative journalist notice that most deal makers miss? Adam Daigle of the Acadiana Advocate has spent 15 years covering business, M&A, and economic development across Louisiana — and his pattern recognition ...
From Brazil to Rebuilding Downtown Lafayette
From tennis courts in São Paulo to building one of Lafayette, Louisiana's most ambitious mixed-use hotel developments — Gus Rezende's story is one of grit, community, and hard-earned entrepreneurial wisdom. Gus Rezende is the co-founder and managing partner of Social Entertainment, a Lafayette-based holding company with 300+ employees, 12 Tropical Smoothie Cafe locations, restaurant concepts including Central Pizza, real estate investments, and the highly anticipated Hotel Lafayett…
90% of Family Wealth Is Gone by the Third Generation — Here's Why
90% of family wealth is gone by the third generation — and it's not bad investments doing the damage. It's governance failures, the hard conversations nobody has, and the failure to pass down the values and stories that created the wealth in the first place. In this episode, Tim Brown breaks down what actually separates multi-generational family offices from those that quietly fade back to shirt sleeves. In this episode of The Deal Podcast, Joshua Wilson sits down with Tim Brown — …
What 18 Months Before Your Exit Should Actually Look Like
Most business owners are leaving money on the table — not because they're running a bad business, but because they can't prove how good it is. In this episode, we break down exactly what buyers look for and how to build a business that commands top dollar. Joshua Wilson sits down with Mark Sims, a former Chief Information Officer and Head of Strategy & M&A at Scott's Miracle-Gro ($4B company), who now helps businesses transact, transition, and transform through…
"God Whispers" — How Faith Led to a Life-Changing Exit
What does it look like when faith and dealmaking become the same story? Brandon Robinson — a practicing CRNA turned multi-unit Planet Fitness franchisee — shares one of the most remarkable entrepreneurial journeys you'll hear...
The 5 Dimensions of Private Equity Most GPs Ignore
What if most private equity firms are using AI completely wrong — and leaving massive IRR on the table because of it? Mohamad Chahine has sat in nearly every seat in the deal ecosystem: corporate engineer at Schlumberger, MBA...
The Art of Venture Capital: How VCs Value an Idea
From sugar cane fields in New Iberia, Louisiana to investing in the next frontier of space technology — Theo Williams' path to venture capital is unlike anything you've heard. If you want to understand how early-stage VC actu...
Platform vs. Tuck-In: The Private Equity Playbook Explained
Most business owners spend years building something great — and almost no time thinking about what comes next. The buyers on the other side? They think about this stuff every single day. In this episode, Joshua Wilson sits do...
How He Timed His $230M Exit — Then Did It Again
He sold his company for $230 million right before oil prices collapsed. It wasn't luck — it was a board meeting. Thomas Chance joins The Deal Podcast to share what 30+ years of building, selling, and starting over actually looks like from the inside. Thomas Chance is a serial entrepreneur, engineer, and Louisiana native who built CNC Technologies into the world's largest privately held offshore survey company — 600 employees, 10 offices worldwide, $25M EBITDA — then sold to Oceanee…
He Represented Grammy Artists. Now Doing Reverse Mergers On Wall Street
What do Grammy-winning songwriting credits, merchant cash advances for the Latino community, and a reverse merger into the OTC markets have in common? They're all part of Yoel Damas' story — and it's one you won't forget. In ...
Why Athletes Go Broke (And How This Pro Snowboarder Avoided It)
What happens when a six-time X Games competitor realizes the athletes he idolizes are losing their homes, battling addiction, and going broke? Dan Brisse made a decision that changed his life — and now he's helping 750+ inves...
Why the Smartest Lawyers Kill the Fewest Deals
What does nearly five decades of business law teach you about deals, people, and life? Veteran attorney Joe Giglio has spent 49 years in the trenches of business litigation, shareholder disputes, and M&A transactions — and th...
He Sold His Family Business for Millions, Then Bought It Back 10 Years Later With His Son
Walter Hidalgo Jr. built a chemical company from scratch in 2001, sold it at the perfect time in 2014 (right before oil crashed from $120 to under $20/barrel), and felt completely lost after the exit. After a detour into the ...
Why Bankers Are The Least Greedy Partner In A Deal
In this episode, we sit down with veteran banker and operator Brady Como for a masterclass on debt, risk, and long-term dealmaking. With decades of experience spanning commercial banking, business liquidations, oilfield servi...
From the Teller Line to the CFO Seat: How Trust Drives Better Deals
In this episode, we sit down with Tim Prevost , a third generation banker who worked his way from shredding paper and serving as a teller to becoming CFO of a community bank. Tim shares a rare inside look at how deals are eva...
Putting Private Equity On Chain: The Future of Capital, Liquidity, and Ownership
In this episode, we sit down with Joris Delanoue , founder of Fairmint, to unpack how tokenization and blockchain are reshaping private markets. Joris explains how Fairmint helps companies put their equity on chain by transfo...
Building a Business on Faith, People, and Patience
In this episode, we sit down with Marvin Travasos , founder of Coastal Pumping Equipment, to unpack what it really takes to build a durable, multi-location industrial business rooted in faith, leadership, and long-term thinki...