Most founders treat buying a business like a shortcut. In reality, your first acquisition is old-school marriage. It cannot end in divorce. Seth Deutsch joins me to unpack how to know if you should acquire at all, how to avoid blowing your first deal, and how to build an anti-fragile business that investors actually want.

Most founders think they have a growth problem. In reality, a lot of them have an acquisition problem waiting to happen.

In this episode I sit down with Seth Deutsch, deal architect, investor, and operator who has led or advised on more than 70 acquisitions, helped build nine private-equity-backed platforms, and worked on over 2 billion dollars of enterprise growth. We talk about buy vs build, why acquisitions are like merging families, and the mindset you need before you go anywhere near your first deal.

Seth breaks down culture, vision, peer-group cashless mergers, and what it means to make a business anti-fragile from an investor's point of view. We get real about customer concentration, deal structure, earnouts, and why buying a company to save a struggling one is like adding fuel to a house that is already on fire.

He also opens up about complex PTSD and severe childhood abuse, how he hid it for years while building a high-performance career, and why he now speaks openly so other founders know it was not their fault and it does not have to define them.

If you are thinking about buying a business, selling your own, or just want to understand how investors really see your company, this conversation will give you a real-world lens most people never share.

__

► Free resource: 90 Day ROI Playbook — Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains https://bitnw.academy/roiplaybook

__

Guest: Seth Deutsch

Topic(s): Mergers and Acquisitions, private equity, owner operator, small business, investors, leadership, enterprise growth, cashless merger

https://www.samsonpartnersgroup.com/

Music Licensing by Audiio

License #: 0981896904

#cashlessmerger #business #privateequity

Most owners in the trades do not have a revenue problem. They have a profit problem.
Ben Hansen, the Profit Doctor, joins me to break down why you are working harder than ever with nothing to show for it and how to fix it.

In this episode, I sit down with Ben Hansen, the Profit Doctor, to dig into why so many blue collar entrepreneurs are incredible operators and terrible CFOs for their own company. We talk about the gap between turning wrenches and understanding your numbers, why most bookkeepers and CPAs are not setting you up to win, and what to do if your revenue is climbing but your profit is stuck.

Ben walks through his 4-part profit prescription, the difference between profit, revenue, and cash, how to think about pricing in the trades, and why you should stop doing the jobs that always lose you money. We also get into profititis, the 50–20 rule, and how cutting the worst 20 percent of your customers and work can be the fastest way to double what you keep.

__

► Free resource: 90 Day ROI Playbook — Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains https://bitnw.academy/roiplaybook

__

Guest: Ben Hansen, Profit Doctor

Topic(s): Scale lean, boost margins, and build a business that actually gives you freedom, not just bigger numbers.

https://profitdoctor.com/

Music Licensing by Audiio

License #: 0981896904

#profit #profitability #smallbusiness

A candid business podcast for growth-minded leaders and entrepreneurs. Hosted by Josh Zolin. The truth about leadership, business, and becoming who you're meant to be.

Olympic gold medalist Joe Jacobi breaks down performance without the hustle theater: rehearse the day, put presence before future-self, and master wave selection (the art of letting most waves pass so the right ones carry you farther with less effort). We get tactical on routines, gratitude at the start line, 15-second resets, and why the small waves you surf will compound into big results.

► Free resource: 90 Day ROI Playbook — Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains https://bitnw.academy/roiplaybook

__

Guest: Joe Jacobi, Performance Coaching

Topic(s): Rethinking and redefining what High Performance is and means today

https://joejacobi.com/

Music Licensing by Audiio

License #: 0981896904

#leadership #performance