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  • 62 | Tom Selementi - How to Scale a Beloved Brand Without Losing Its Soul

    62 | Tom Selementi - How to Scale a Beloved Brand Without Losing Its Soul
    2026/09/29
    If this was useful, the letter goes further: one short insider note each week on what I'm seeing in live deals right now. It's free, it's two minutes, and replies come straight to me. Join at thejmichael.com/letter.What if the thing people fall in love with is the first thing to disappear when a business grows?Tom Selementi went from washing dishes at a bagel shop at 16 to scaling brands like Le Pain Quotidien, The Little Beet, and Bluestone Lane. In 2025, he became CEO of Spread Bagelry, the Philadelphia brand built on Montreal-style, wood-fired bagels boiled in honey water, and his job is to grow it without losing what people love.Tom calls himself a culinary romantic and an operational realist. With J. Michael Fischer Jr., he unpacks what breaks first when a craft business scales, why “our problem is people” is the excuse he bans, how to hold one standard across every shop, and why same-store sales growth beats growth at all costs.If you run or advise a business people love, this is the operator’s view most owners get too late. The craft is the brand. Listen now.Timestamped Highlights[01:13] – The hardest problem in business nobody talks about: growth that quietly erases what people loved [06:35] – The 35 cents a burnt bagel cost him, and the lesson that stuck for life [07:50] – Culinary romantic, operational realist: the tension inside every great food brand [09:22] – Why a single bagel convinced him to bet his career on Spread [09:54] – The corners every chain cuts to hit scale, and the three Spread refuses to [11:28] – The Jersey Mike’s blueprint: a $7 billion sandwich and the corner they never cut [14:01] – What actually breaks first when a craft business starts to scale [14:35] – The one excuse he bans the day he walks in the door [16:32] – Baseline expectation vs a great experience, and why owners confuse the two [19:54] – Welfare, food stamps, and the story he tells every hourly employee [22:22] – Stewardship and legacy: how he earned the right to carry a brand forward [25:48] – Growth at all costs vs great shops in great neighborhoods [28:30] – Ranked 690 out of 690, and the mentor who bet on him anywayMentioned ResourcesSpread BagelryLe Pain Quotidien (LPQ)The Little BeetBluestone LaneCarmine’s and Alicart Restaurant GroupJersey Mike’sCavaPopUp BagelsToastRutgers UniversityRed LobsterHavana CentralEss-a-BagelAbout the GuestTom Selementi is the CEO of Spread Bagelry, the Philadelphia-based brand known for Montreal-style, hand-rolled, wood-fired bagels boiled in honey water. A New Jersey native and Rutgers University graduate, he started in the business washing dishes at a bagel bakery at 16 and went on to help lead and scale premium food brands, including Carmine’s and Alicart Restaurant Group, Le Pain Quotidien, The Little Beet, and Bluestone Lane, where he helped open 22 locations. He describes himself as a culinary romantic and an operational realist, and since becoming CEO in 2025, he has led a turnaround built on hospitality, operational discipline, and an uncompromising commitment to craft.🔗 LinkedIn | WebsiteImportant LinksFeel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
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    35 分
  • 61 | What You Keep Is The Deal: The $30m Deal That Beat The $50m Deal

    61 | What You Keep Is The Deal: The $30m Deal That Beat The $50m Deal
    2026/09/22

    If this was useful, the letter goes further: one short insider note each week on what I'm seeing in live deals right now. It's free, it's two minutes, and replies come straight to me. Join at thejmichael.com/letter.

    What if the biggest number you can announce is not the one you get to keep?

    Two founders sold their companies the same year, one for $50 million and one for $30 million, and the one who sold for less kept more in the bank. In this solo episode, J. Michael Fischer Jr., Managing Director at DBD Investment Bank, explains how that happens and why the headline number is not the deal.

    Michael breaks down what comes off the top before a dollar reaches your account: cash versus paper, debt, fees, the working capital peg, escrow, and the one that matters most, taxes. Structure beats the headline, and the best time to act is long before a buyer shows up.

    If a sale is anywhere on your horizon, this is the work most owners do too late. You don’t deposit a valuation. You deposit what survives. Listen now.

    Timestamped Highlights

    [01:12] – Two founders, two exits, and why the one who sold for less kept more

    [01:45] – The headline number is not the deal, and what actually is

    [02:48] – Cash versus paper, and why $50 million is rarely $50 million

    [03:28] – The first question to ask before you celebrate any offer

    [04:08] – The working capital peg almost no founder sees coming

    [04:47] – Escrow, holdbacks, and the insurance move that frees up your cash

    [05:33] – Why structure matters more than the number on the front page

    [06:21] – The tax trap that can hit the same dollars twice

    [07:01] – Exactly where the $30 million founder won the exit

    [09:34] – Why almost every lever is easier to pull before a deal exists

    [10:20] – The allies to assemble, and the part most owners get wrong

    [11:45] – The one question to sit with today if a sale is anywhere ahead

    Important Links
    • Feel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.
    • Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.
    • Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.

    Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
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    16 分
  • 60 | Eric Cohen - Stop Letting Hidden Money Walk Out Your Door

    60 | Eric Cohen - Stop Letting Hidden Money Walk Out Your Door
    2026/09/15
    If this was useful, the letter goes further: one short insider note each week on what I'm seeing in live deals right now. It's free, it's two minutes, and replies come straight to me. Join at thejmichael.com/letter.What if the fee you never read is quietly draining your profit?J. Michael Fischer Jr. sits down with Eric Cohen, founder and CEO of Merchant Advocate, built to sit on the business owner's side and cut credit card processing fees without switching processors. Eric came up inside the industry, saw how the fees really work, then switched sides.They break down what a merchant statement really says, who actually makes the money, the hidden line items like non-PCI fees and rate creep buried where no one reads, and why one overlooked charge can cost a seller hundreds of thousands at exit. Every unnecessary fee flows straight to EBITDA and multiplies when the business sells.If you take credit cards, you are probably leaving money on the table and cannot see it. This is the value hiding inside your business long before any transaction happens. Listen now.Timestamped Highlights[01:28] – The statement sitting in your inbox that quietly eats your profit and your exit value[04:52] – How needing a credit card machine turned into a residual income business[07:56] – The overnight rate hike almost no business owner ever notices[09:34] – A consumer advocate exists, so why was there never a merchant advocate?[11:08] – Why no one is really watching your rates, and what that lets processors do[15:19] – Who actually makes the money when you swipe a card, and it is not who you think[18:23] – Why a merchant statement is your cell phone bill times fifty[20:06] – The unanswered survey that can quietly cost you half a million at sale[23:42] – The surcharge scheme where the extra one percent disappears[27:38] – The data entry mistake that cost one company two million dollars a year[29:31] – Why merchant fees can swing a business sale by millions[29:55] – The savings a private equity buyer hopes you never find first[38:01] – The small moment that flipped his entire business philosophyMentioned ResourcesVisaMastercardAmerican ExpressDiscoverBetter Business BureauCredit Card Competition ActDurbin AmendmentChatGPTClaudeAbout the GuestEric Cohen is the founder and CEO of Merchant Advocate, a firm he started in 2006 to sit on the business owner's side of the table and lower credit card processing costs without forcing a switch in processors. He came up inside the merchant services industry as an independent sales organization, then flipped sides to represent the merchant, negotiate against existing processors, and monitor statements month after month for hidden fees and rate creep. Merchant Advocate has saved clients over 300 million dollars in excess fees. A Pepperdine MBA based in New Jersey, Eric runs the company alongside his wife Danielle, who serves as chief operating officer.🔗 LinkedIn | WebsiteImportant LinksFeel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
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    46 分
  • 59 | Jessica Walsh – How One Problem Became the World's Smallest Injector

    59 | Jessica Walsh – How One Problem Became the World's Smallest Injector
    2026/09/08
    If this was useful, the letter goes further: one short insider note each week on what I'm seeing in live deals right now. It's free, it's two minutes, and replies come straight to me. Join at thejmichael.com/letter.What if the fix for a life-or-death problem was small enough to fit in the tiny pocket of your jeans?Jessica Walsh has a severe allergy, the kind where the wrong exposure becomes an emergency. Prescribed a bulky EpiPen, she taped it to her arm just to go running. Rather than live with it, the founder and CEO of Rx Bandz built a better one.She sits down with J. Michael Fischer Jr. to trace how one problem became MiniJect, an auto-injector half the size of a traditional one, then a platform the U.S. military is backing to deliver medications from pain relief to treatments that stop bleeding. She cut open her own EpiPen to see inside, built a team of specialists, and learned to stop talking and listen to patients.If you have ever learned to live with a problem, don't miss this. Listen now.Timestamped Highlights[03:48] – The bee sting that started it all, and the line that turned a patient into a founder[04:50] – Before any of this, she built wireless networks where there was nothing[05:48] – The leap most people never make: leaving a funded job with an amazing budget[07:23] – Why she works on this like her life depends on it, because it does[08:02] – The calls from mothers, and the story that makes this bigger than one person[09:15] – What happened when the military asked, what else can you deliver[10:03] – MiniJect explained like you are the patient: cap off, press, done in under half a second[11:18] – Why it did not stop at epinephrine, and the IV drug they moved to one injection[13:12] – Drone warfare, no medic, and doing drug math under fire in night vision goggles[14:30] – Built to survive Special Forces and a kid's backpack, military-grade protection for families[16:40] – The DIY moment: putting her own auto-injector in a vise and cutting it open[17:11] – From napkin sketch to a manufacturable device, and the New Jersey partners who made it real[19:46] – The New Jersey funding program she could not believe was real[23:23] – The million-dollar question: the pivot that only happened when she stopped talking and listenedMentioned ResourcesEpiPenBechtelWeiss-AugAscendiaPrince Sterilization ServicesBD (Becton Dickinson)MedtronicBioNJNew Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), Innovation Evergreen FundAbout the GuestJessica Walsh is the founder and CEO of Rx Bandz, a biotech developing the next generation of patient-centric auto-injectors to deliver a wide range of injectable medications. After a severe allergic reaction to a bee sting left her carrying a bulky EpiPen, she set out to build a better solution and created MiniJect, an ultra-compact auto-injector less than half the size of a traditional one. Before founding Rx Bandz, she built wireless telecommunications infrastructure with Bechtel, work that taught her to move into new territory and navigate the regulatory hurdles and milestones a hard build demands. Today her platform is designed to serve patients, EMS, and the U.S. military.🔗 LinkedIn | WebsiteImportant LinksFeel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
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    30 分
  • 58 | Best of: Selling Your Business

    58 | Best of: Selling Your Business
    2026/09/01

    If this was useful, the letter goes further: one short insider note each week on what I'm seeing in live deals right now. It's free, it's two minutes, and replies come straight to me. Join at thejmichael.com/letter.

    What if the biggest financial moment of your life comes down to everything except the number?

    In this collage episode of Going Beyond the Deal, host J. Michael Fischer Jr., Managing Director at DBD Investment Bank, gathers the moments that hit listeners hardest on the subject founders think about most and prepare for least: selling the business.

    Michael breaks down why a $50 million offer can mean two very different lives, why structure not price decides what you keep, and why the best buyer is rarely the highest bidder. Three guests add hard-won perspective: Jeff Parnell on preparing years early, Nio Queiro on the company buyers dream of, and Zach Kuehne on the small decision that changed everything.

    If you are weighing your own next chapter, growth, capital, or a sale, start here. Listen now.

    Timestamped Highlights

    [00:00] – Why a calm process is a sign of strength, not hesitation

    [01:21] – The financial moment this best-of is built around, and what most owners get wrong

    [01:51] – Why a $50 million offer can mean two completely different lives

    [02:38] – An exit, or a job with a closing dinner: the difference founders miss

    [03:34] – Not the fine print, the deal: how structure quietly decides what you keep

    [04:46] – Jeff Parnell on the runway you need before a sale, and being honest with yourself

    [05:22] – The owner who waited an extra 10 years and left $10 million on the table

    [06:15] – Nio Queiro on the company every buyer dreams of

    [07:56] – Why the best buyer is almost never the highest bidder

    [08:31] – The questions nobody writes into the LOI, and why you diligence the buyer

    [10:05] – Legacy or obligation: the line families confuse constantly

    [11:21] – Zach Kuehne on the small choice, 700 miles from home, that changed everything

    [13:46] – The old line Michael keeps coming back to, and why the champagne always runs out

    Featured Guests

    Jeff Parnell, on preparing a business and its owner for a sale years in advance. | Episode 15 - How to Prepare Your Business for the Next Generation

    Nio Queiro, on what makes a company a buyer magnet and why nothing moves faster than your comfort level. | Episode 33 - Stop Losing Value: Uncommon Tools for Building a Buyer Magnet

    Zach Kuehne, on leading a legacy business and the small decisions that shape a career. | Episode 11 - How to Lead a Legacy Business into the Future

    Important Links
    • Feel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.
    • Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.
    • Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.

    Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
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    17 分
  • 57 | Why the Highest Offer Is Rarely the Best Deal

    57 | Why the Highest Offer Is Rarely the Best Deal
    2026/08/25

    If this was useful, the letter goes further: one short insider note each week on what I'm seeing in live deals right now. It's free, it's two minutes, and replies come straight to me. Join at thejmichael.com/letter.

    What if the highest offer is the worst thing that could happen to everything you built?

    There is a moment near the end of almost every deal when the owner goes quiet. The number is good, sometimes better than they imagined, and still stops them cold. In this solo episode, J. Michael Fischer Jr., Managing Director at DBD Investment Bank, explains why the highest bid and the right home for your company are two different things.

    Michael breaks down the four buyers who might want your business, strategic, private equity, family office, and individual, and what each means for your people, your name, and your life after the close. He shows why one buyer hands the leverage to the other side, and why competition is about terms, not just price.

    Do not start with your number. Start with what winning looks like the morning after the deal closes. Listen now.

    Timestamped Highlights

    [01:09] – The quiet moment at the end of almost every deal, and what it really means

    [01:50] – The question owners spend decades avoiding until it is too late

    [02:57] – The strategic buyer, why they can pay the most, and what it costs you

    [04:14] – The hidden downside of synergy, and whose job disappears first

    [04:52] – Private equity, the bad rap, the hype, and the truth in between

    [06:00] – Rolled equity and the second bite of the apple that can beat the first

    [07:20] – Why private equity may buy you a partner and a scoreboard, not a retirement

    [08:31] – The family office that might own your company for 20 years, or forever

    [09:15] – The one thing to understand before you take anyone's money

    [09:50] – The individual buyer nobody talks about, and the one thing they offer

    [12:43] – The game you play once against someone who has played it 100 times

    [13:15] – Why four good buyers flip the leverage back to your side

    Important Links
    • Feel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.
    • Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.
    • Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.

    Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
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    19 分
  • 56 | Cynthia Hetherington - How to Uncover the Truth Before You Sign

    56 | Cynthia Hetherington - How to Uncover the Truth Before You Sign
    2026/08/18
    What if the person across the table is telling you a story, and the real story is the one you never checked?J. Michael Fischer Jr. sits down with Cynthia Hetherington, founder and CEO of the Hetherington Group, and the author of the textbook investigators and agencies learn OSINT from. She helped investigate two of the largest Ponzi schemes in American history and trains thousands of professionals a year.She breaks down open source intelligence for dealmakers: the human red flags no financial statement shows, why culture decides whether a founder thrives or becomes someone else’s employee after a sale, the poor man’s due diligence you can run in an afternoon, and how AI and deepfakes are changing who you can trust.If you have ever shaken a hand and hoped you read the person right, this is the perspective founders get only after the damage is done. Listen now.Timestamped Highlights[00:00] – The story behind the story, and why the deal you are told is never the whole deal[03:41] – From public librarian to running an intelligence operation out of New Jersey[05:33] – What OSINT actually is, and why every business owner should care[07:01] – I can find out anything about anyone, and what that means for your next handshake[08:21] – The simple search that would have exposed Bernie Madoff years earlier[11:54] – The two checks that tell you almost everything about a company[14:03] – Why the comments section is a gemstone before you sign anything[19:19] – Inside her team’s overwatch role at the 2026 World Cup[27:33] – The expert missing from most deal tables, and the data they surface[29:38] – The one thing that decides whether a founder thrives after a sale[32:34] – The poor man’s due diligence you can run in a single afternoon[35:31] – How AI makes a mediocre operator look like a rock star across the table[37:02] – Turn the machine against them, and fact-check the deal with AIMentioned ResourcesACG New Jersey (Corporate Growth Awards)GoogleStandard & Poor’sDun & BradstreetFlock SafetyAonNew Jersey State PoliceUrban Area Security Initiative (UASI)FIFA World Cup 2026PerplexityClaudeChatGPTOSINT: The Authoritative Guide to Due Diligence by Cynthia HetheringtonAbout the GuestCynthia Hetherington is the founder and CEO of the Hetherington Group, a consulting, publishing, and training firm specializing in due diligence, corporate intelligence, and cyber investigations. A former librarian turned open source intelligence pioneer, she has led national and international investigations, helped investigate two of the largest Ponzi schemes in American history, and trains more than 7,000 investigators, attorneys, and security professionals every year. She is the author of OSINT: The Authoritative Guide to Due Diligence.🔗 LinkedIn | WebsiteImportant LinksFeel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
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    42 分
  • 55 | Understanding the Regret of Business Owners

    55 | Understanding the Regret of Business Owners
    2026/08/11

    What if the hardest part of selling your business is the Monday morning after the deal closes?

    The Exit Planning Institute found that 76% of business owners who sell regret it within a year. In this solo episode, J. Michael Fischer Jr., Managing Director at DBD Investment Bank, explains why that regret is almost never about the money.

    Michael breaks down the gap between a successful transaction and a successful transition. Why the business becomes part of an owner’s identity. What happens on the first Monday when nobody is waiting on a decision. And the personal questions every owner should answer years before an offer arrives.

    If a sale is anywhere in your future, this is the work most owners only do too late. The check does not always fill the hole. Listen now.

    Timestamped Highlights

    [00:06] – The number he cannot stop thinking about, and what it really says about selling

    [02:52] – Why a successful transaction does not create a successful transition

    [03:35] – The thing a business provides that money can never replace

    [04:31] – When the company stops being an asset and becomes part of who you are

    [06:46] – The first Monday after the sale, when nobody is waiting on you

    [07:31] – Why selling a business can feel like moving through grief

    [08:23] – The questions owners always ask, and the more important ones they skip

    [10:38] – The owner who wanted to slow down, then could not sit still

    [13:10] – The dangerous belief that the sale will solve everything

    [14:21] – Why the owners who got exactly what they wanted still struggle

    [16:04] – The one difference between owners who thrive and owners who drift

    [18:55] – The single question about an ordinary Monday that changes everything

    [22:37] – Why a sale is a door, not a finish line

    Mentioned Resources
    • Exit Planning Institute

    Important Links
    • Feel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.
    • Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.
    • Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.

    Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
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    17 分