Podcasts about ebitda

The episode centers on structural changes in the Managed Service Provider (MSP) mergers and acquisitions (M&A) landscape, with a focus on the increased influence of private equity (PE), platform strategies, and disciplined deal execution. Dave Sobel and Abraham Garver highlight that the primary driver for buyers has shifted from merely acquiring revenue to seeking operating models that support scale, standardization, and automation. Size of institutional funds directly shapes acquisition targets: funds with $500 million or more increasingly pursue MSPs with minimum EBITDA thresholds, commonly $3–5 million, with larger funds only able to transact at the $10–15 million EBITDA level or above. This signals a market separation, where smaller MSPs face heightened risk of being excluded from future platform opportunities.Supporting these structural shifts, Abraham Garver explains that the buyers' value assessment increasingly prioritizes new customer acquisition over one-off gains from cross-sales like cybersecurity add-ons. Organic growth, shown through the consistent addition of new client logos, outweighs temporary revenue boosts in determining valuation. The episode also outlines that AI investment and automation stories are not materially lifting valuations for smaller MSPs, unless directly reflected in improved financials. Larger providers may have the resources to invest meaningfully in AI, but for the majority—especially those below $10 million in revenue—outsourcing or leveraging third-party solutions is more practical than bespoke, high-cost internal development.A further operational risk discussed is the prevalence of "retrading"—buyers renegotiating valuations post–Letter of Intent (LOI) based on due diligence findings. Abraham Garver reveals that 60% of transactions see price reductions after the LOI, often for factors such as recent customer losses or missed forecasts, diverging from initial headline multiples. This reality highlights the importance of diligent contract negotiation, clear documentation, and the value of experienced advisors to navigate buyer tactics. Rob Calvert contributes additional insight on workflow and technology alignment, emphasizing the role of standardized onboarding and offboarding processes in reducing both operational friction and security gaps.For MSPs and IT service providers, the discussion clarifies several critical implications. First, with platform buyers seeking scale, only MSPs meeting explicit EBITDA and growth metrics will attract competitive offers; others should realistically assess the cost and likelihood of reinvention versus sale. Second, buyers' focus on execution and organic growth, not headline multiples or claims of technological advancement, makes robust financial performance and client acquisition strategies essential to preserving value. Third, the commonality of post-LOI repricing underlines the need for rigorous pre-sale diligence, explicit contractual terms, and experienced representation to preserve deal value and protect against downside risk. Lastly, operational standardization—especially in device and data management—remains central to both platform attractiveness and risk mitigation.

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In this episode, the hosts break down a $34M revenue heavy equipment dealership in Western Canada doing $9.2M in EBITDA — a high‑growth, high‑margin, possibly monopolistic business — and question why it's for sale, if it's truly a “license to print money,” and whether a U.S. buyer could even touch it.Business Listing – https://dashboard.dealforce.com/deals/profiles/profile66806.pdfWelcome to Acquisitions Anonymous – the #1 podcast for small business M&A. Every week, we break down businesses for sale and talk about buying, operating, and growing them.

Kyle breaks down why most restaurants don't have a tech stack, instead they have a “subscription drawer.” He gives a simple filter for every tool you're paying for: it must lower labor, increase throughput, prevent waste, or improve acquisition efficiency. If it doesn't, it's probably not helping your EBITDA it's just adding friction, and expense.Chapters00:00 Understanding the Tech Stack in Restaurants01:47 Evaluating Software Effectiveness03:32 The Four Buckets of Tech Evaluation06:02 Differentiation vs. Utility in Tech08:10 Measuring Financial Leverage of Software10:10 The Importance of Data Ownership12:33 Streamlining Operations and Reducing Friction14:38 Actionable Steps for Tech Optimization

In this episode of Corporate Finance Explained on FinPod, we break down cash flow forecasting, why profitable companies still fail, and how liquidity, not earnings, determines whether a business survives. This episode explains how companies can look strong on the income statement while quietly heading toward a cash crisis.Many businesses don't collapse because they're unprofitable. They fail because they run out of cash. Understanding the differences between profit, EBITDA, and cash available is one of the most critical skills in corporate finance. This episode shows how cash flow forecasting reveals timing risk, funding gaps, and liquidity shortfalls long before they appear in reported earnings.In this episode, we cover:– Why profitability and EBITDA can hide serious liquidity risk– How timing differences between revenue, expenses, and cash create dangerous gaps– The impact of accounts receivable, inventory, capex, and debt repayments on cash flow– How operating, investing, and financing cash flows work together– Why companies like Apple and Walmart manage liquidity so effectively– What went wrong at companies like WeWork, Carvana, and Boeing from a cash flow perspective– How short-term, 13-week, and long-term cash flow forecasts prevent financial surprisesWe explain why cash flow forecasting is not just a treasury function, but a core finance responsibility. By mapping cash inflows and outflows over time, finance teams can anticipate liquidity troughs, plan funding needs, and make informed decisions before cash constraints become emergencies.This episode is designed for:– Corporate finance professionals– FP&A analysts and managers– Investment banking and valuation professionals– Finance leaders responsible for liquidity, forecasting, and capital planningCorporate Finance Explained is a FinPod series from Corporate Finance Institute (CFI), created to make complex finance topics clearer, more practical, and easier to apply in real-world decision-making.Subscribe to FinPod for more corporate finance explainers, real-world examples, and practical finance insights.

From investment banker to crypto fund strategist, Stas Sukhinin shares insider perspectives on how credit committees really make decisions, why over-leveraged companies fail fast during downturns, and where stablecoins are creating trillion-dollar transaction opportunities. In this episode of the DealQuest Podcast, host Corey Kupfer sits down with Stas Sukhinin, a finance veteran with over 19 years of experience spanning investment banking, corporate lending, and alternative asset management. Stas began his career at internationally recognized institutions including UniCredit and Societe General, where he helped pioneer mezzanine loan products in Eastern Europe. By age 29, he had become a senior partner at one of the region's largest mezzanine lenders, managing a team of 20 finance professionals and overseeing a $450 million loan portfolio. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: In this episode, you'll discover what really happens inside credit committees when your loan application gets reviewed and why factors unrelated to your business can determine outcomes. Stas explains how strong companies can go from healthy to restructuring in just three to four months when leverage catches up with them, and the critical difference between how first-time owners and experienced operators approach debt decisions. You'll learn the two key factors that determine how much debt your business can handle, why working capital provisions in purchase agreements deserve more attention than most buyers give them, and how sellers legally present financials in the most favorable light. The conversation also covers Stas's experience investing in the 2017 ICO boom where 90% of projects went to zero but winners returned 50x to 100x, why venture capital investors sometimes block deals that would be life-changing for founders, and where stablecoin transaction volume is already reaching trillions while most people remain unaware. STAS'S JOURNEY: Stas's path into finance started at age 14 when a classmate brought a business magazine to school. Reading about business owners selling companies for millions crystallized his direction. He knew he wanted to be in corporate lending where he could see businesses, analyze financials, and speak directly with owners while working with numbers at a bank. His first role as a junior credit analyst gave him exactly that. He progressed from working with small businesses that had no financials to mid-sized companies to large corporations. Each step taught him more about how deals really get done from inside the institutions making funding decisions. CREDIT COMMITTEE INSIGHTS: Stas pulls back the curtain on what actually happens when loan applications reach credit committees. The reality differs dramatically from what most business owners imagine. Factors affecting approval can seem completely unrelated to the specific deal. Maybe the bank already has a competitor in their portfolio. Maybe the receivable financing department has a different relationship with someone in your industry. One offhand comment from a committee member who hasn't read the full memo can change the entire trajectory of a conversation or result in higher interest rates. DEBT MANAGEMENT LESSONS: The pattern Stas has seen destroy companies in months follows predictable steps. Revenue drops or stagnates. Margins deteriorate because of increased competition and client uncertainty. Debt ratios that looked comfortable suddenly reach concerning levels. Refinancing options disappear just when needed most. Interest rates climb. Everything compounds simultaneously. The difference between experienced and first-time business owners comes down to scenario planning. Experienced operators build safety margins and stress-test assumptions. First-time owners assume conditions will continue as they are. That assumption determines survival. ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS: Stas joined a crypto investment fund at its inception in 2017 during the ICO boom. Out of many investments, approximately 90% went to zero. The winners returned 50x or 100x. His observation about liquidity cycles was particularly interesting. Traditional venture now averages seven-year holding periods while crypto projects can reach liquidity events in three or four years through token distributions. On stablecoins, Stas sees enormous opportunity in programmable money. Transaction volume is already in the trillions though most people in developed countries don't realize the scale. Goldman Sachs reportedly reduced bond settlement time from three days to minutes using blockchain technology. Perfect for business owners considering debt financing, entrepreneurs navigating capital raising, and anyone interested in how credit decisions really get made and where alternative investments are creating new opportunities. FOR MORE ON THIS EPISODE: https://www.coreykupfer.com/blog/stassukhinin FOR MORE ON STAS SUKHININ: https://www.thesourcer.so https://www.linkedin.com/in/stassukhinin/ FOR MORE ON COREY KUPFER https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreykupfer/ https://www.coreykupfer.com/ Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator, and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author, and professional speaker. He is deeply passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast. Get deal-ready with the DealQuest Podcast with Corey Kupfer, where like-minded entrepreneurs and business leaders converge, share insights and challenges, and success stories. Equip yourself with the tools, resources, and support necessary to navigate the complex yet rewarding world of dealmaking. Dive into the world of deal-driven growth today! Episode Highlights with Timestamps: [00:00] - Introduction: Stas Sukhinin's 19 years in finance from investment banking to crypto [03:26] - First deal experience: Structuring a real estate development loan with disbursement tied to sales [05:47] - Hidden factors: Why deals get rejected for reasons unrelated to underwriting criteria[08:20] - Committee dynamics: How one comment from an uninvolved member changes deal trajectories [11:41] - Timing and instruments: When companies use the wrong type of capital [15:55] - Risk assumptions: The difference between first-time and experienced business owners [18:29] - Volatility factors: How income stability determines appropriate leverage levels [21:09] - M&A implications: Structuring adjustment provisions for concentration risk [24:09] - Liquidity advantages: Why crypto offers shorter holding periods than traditional venture[27:55] - Venture math: The story of a VC blocking a life-changing exit for 1x returns [29:27] - Due diligence limitations: Legal ways sellers present favorable financials [32:14] - Stablecoins explained: Digital tokens designed to maintain dollar parity [36:31] - Programmable money: Smart contracts that execute automatically on conditions [38:00] - Financial advisory services: How Stas helps business owners understand their financials[39:14] - Freedom defined: Removing gatekeepers and accessing financial systems without barriers Guest Bio: Stas Sukhinin has over 19 years of experience in finance spanning investment banking, corporate lending, and alternative asset management. He began his career at internationally recognized institutions including UniCredit and Societe General, where he helped pioneer mezzanine loan products and shaped the market in Eastern Europe. By age 29, Stas had become a senior partner at one of the region's largest mezzanine lenders, managing a team of 20 finance professionals and overseeing a $450 million loan portfolio. He later served on boards of several private companies, deepening his expertise across credit investments and corporate governance. Recognizing early opportunities in alternative assets, Stas joined a crypto investment fund at its inception in 2017 and continues to lead its strategy and operations. He now helps business owners run more efficiently from the lens of financials through his advisory practice. Host Bio: Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator, and dealmaker with more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author, and professional speaker deeply passionate about deal-driven growth. He is the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast. Show Description: Do you want your business to grow faster? The DealQuest Podcast with Corey Kupfer reveals how successful entrepreneurs and business leaders use strategic deals to accelerate growth. From large mergers and acquisitions to capital raising, joint ventures, strategic alliances, real estate deals, and more, this show discusses the full spectrum of deal-driven growth strategies. Get the confidence to pursue deals that will help your company scale faster. Related Episodes: Episode 350 - Tom Dillon: When NOT to Take Venture Capital Money: Explore alternative funding sources including private credit, SBA loans, and sale-leasebacks with a fractional CFO who works with startups on capital strategy. Episode 370 - Gerry Hays: Democratizing Venture Capital Through VentureStaking: Discover alternative approaches to early-stage investing that don't require massive checks or exclusive networks. Episode 85 - Nick Adams: Seed Stage Venture Capital Funds: Understand how traditional VCs think about early-stage deals and what metrics they evaluate from the investor perspective. Episode 351 - Solocast: Deal Structures Beyond M&A and Capital Raising: Learn about joint ventures, strategic alliances, licensing agreements, and other creative partnership models for business growth. Episode 324 - Sejal Lakhani-Bhatt: Tech Due Diligence in M&A: Explore how technology systems and cybersecurity impact business valuation and deal outcomes. Episode 330 - Pete Mohr: Preparing Your Business for Exit: Understand why sellers often cause deals to fail and how to prepare for the emotional aspects of selling a business. Follow DealQuest Podcast: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreykupfer/ Website: https://www.coreykupfer.com/ Follow Stas Sukhinin: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stassukhinin/ Website: https://www.thesourcer.so Keywords/Tags: corporate lending insights, credit committee decisions, debt management for businesses, mezzanine lending, alternative asset management, crypto investment strategy, stablecoin business applications, EBITDA management, leverage risk, working capital due diligence, venture capital exits, ICO investing, blockchain finance, programmable money, business financing, capital structure, due diligence strategies, financial advisory, dealmaking, business growth strategies

On today's episode, Dr. Mark Costes is joined by Bill Keith and Ben Kacos for an in-depth crash course on DSOs—what they are, how they've evolved, and why every dentist should understand their growing impact on the profession. This conversation dives into the history of dental consolidation, the rise of private equity in the industry, and what those infamous EBITDA multiples really mean for your practice valuation.  The trio compares doctor-to-doctor transitions with DSO sales, laying out the pros, cons, and critical factors like tax strategy, risk mitigation, and personal goals. With real-world insights, valuation math, and clear advice on navigating offers, this is the foundational DSO knowledge every growth-minded dentist needs. Be sure to check out the full episode from the Dentalpreneur Podcast! EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.truedentalsuccess.com Dental Success Network Subscribe to The Dentalpreneur Podcast

In this episode of the HVAC Know It All Business Edition Podcast, co-hosts Gary McCreadie and Furman Haynes of WorkHero discuss the business side of HVAC with veteran technician and entrepreneur Greg Crumpton, the Vice President of Service Logic. Greg is an expert in mission-critical environments like data centers and hospitals. Greg shares his vast knowledge of the HVAC business, covering everything from financials and profit margins to building a solid team and breaking into specialized markets like liquid cooling.   Expect to Learn: - How to calculate and interpret key financial metrics like EBITDA and Net Profit for HVAC businesses. - The importance of team culture and how to build a solid team in an HVAC business. - Key strategies for moving from working "in" the business to working "on" the business as an owner. - How to break into mission-critical work, including data centers and liquid cooling systems. - Tips for retaining top employees and building a culture of excellence within your company.   Episode Breakdown with Timestamps: [00:00:00] - Introduction to the Episode [00:01:05] - Understanding EBITDA and Profit Margins in HVAC [00:03:51] - Transition from Technician to Business Owner [00:06:52] - Building a Strong Company Culture and Team [00:13:19] - Breaking into Mission-Critical HVAC Work [00:16:32] - Opportunities in Liquid Cooling and Direct Refrigerant to the Chip [00:20:57] - Closing Remarks and Contact Information   Follow Greg Crumpton on:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crumptonskilledtrades/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gregcrumpton/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gregcrumpton.airtight/ Company's Website: https://www.servicelogic.com/ Company's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/service-logic   Follow Furman Haynes on:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/furmanhaynes/  WorkHero: https://www.linkedin.com/company/workherohvac/    Follow Gary McCreadie: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-mccreadie-38217a77/  Website: https://www.hvacknowitall.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/HVAC-Know-It-All-2/61569643061429/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hvacknowitall1/   

Stuart Mitchell: How he built $3M in 3 years (then realised he hated his own job)Stuart Mitchell launched Hampton North in September 2022.$1.6 million year one. $2.5 million year two. On track for $3 million plus in year three.Now 10 staff and projects $1m profit for next year.I interviewed him on the show in the middle of 2023, and things were flying.But over the following 18 months, he nearly broke.His dad died. His wife fell pregnant. And the VP he'd promised her-the guy who was supposed to take the pressure off-pulled out in January."I had to go home to my newly pregnant wife and have a really hard conversation."For 6 months, Stuart ground it out alone. High expectations, low empathy. The worst version of himself.Then at a wedding, his old running mate Greg Anderson said: "I think we should do this again."Greg joined in June and immediately told Stuart the truth: "There is nothing here. No process. Nothing written down. You're making it impossible for anyone who joins to actually do well."This week on The RAG Podcast, Stuart tells the full story.We cover:Launching just before the 2023 downturn and hitting $1.6M in the first yearLosing his dad and how it derailed him for two monthsThe VP hire that fell through one week after his wife fell pregnantWhy he admits "I had my own company and I didn't like my job"How one hire professionalised a business built entirely on talentBuilding a $3M agency with 10 people (and why he'll never scale past 25)Why he takes profit first and doesn't care about a big exitThe role this LinkedIn profile and brand played in attracting top-tier talentThis isn't about sacrifice for success.It's about a founder who built a multi-7-figure business, then redesigned it so he could pick his kids up from school.If you've ever wondered whether you can have both profit and peace, this episode is the proof you need!__________________________________________Episode Sponsor: AtlasAdmin is a massive waste of time. That's why there's Atlas, the AI-first recruitment platform built for modern agencies.It doesn't only track CVs and calls. It remembers everything. Every email, every interview, every conversation. Instantly searchable, always available. And now, it's entering a whole new era.With Atlas 2.0, you can ask anything and it delivers. With Magic Search, you speak and it listens. It finds the right candidates using real conversations, not simply look for keywords.Atlas 2.0 also makes business development easier than ever. With Opportunities, you can track, manage and grow client relationships, powered by generative AI and built right into your workflow.Need insights? Custom dashboards give you total visibility over your pipeline. And that's not theory. Atlas customers have reported up to 41% EBITDA growth and an 85% increase in monthly billings after adopting the platform.No admin. No silos. No lost info. Nothing but faster shortlists, better hires and more time to focus on what actually drives revenue.Atlas is your personal AI partner for modern recruiting.Don't miss the future of recruitment. Get started with Atlas today and unlock your exclusive RAG listener...

Send us a textJoin Tim Gerdeman, Vice Chair & Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at WTR, and Peter Gastreich, Senior Energy Transition and Sustainability Analyst, as they unpack WTR's Initiation of Coverage report for Abundia Global Impact Group (NYSE American: AGIG). AGIG's waste-to-value approach converts hard-to-recycle plastics and waste wood into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), diesel, and more.  AGIG stands out through proven, scalable modular technologies, a prime Houston Shipping Channel location, and strategic partnerships. In terms of sustainability, AGIG both helps to decarbonize transportation and divert waste from landfills. Peter highlights 2026 milestones like site expansion, commercialization steps, and EBITDA scenarios. 

Want to double your ticket average without being pushy? Get access to real-time sales training, scripts, and role-play coaching inside the Blue Collar Closer community — join today before the next live Q&A drops: https://wastenoday.pro/BCC Join the Waste No Day! Facebook group: https://wastenoday.pro/FBgroup Tommy Mello is the CEO of A1 Garage Door Service and a returning guest on the show. He built his garage door company from $50K in debt into a $200M business operating across 19 states. Known for his focus on accountability, people, and processes, Tommy leads a nine-figure organization with over 700 employees in the home services industry. He's also a best-selling author, an Inc. Magazine columnist, a keynote speaker, and a top 0.1% podcast host.   In this part two of our interview with Tommy, we talked about fitness, health, accountability, EBITDA, profitability...

Stop running a lifestyle business and start building a high-value asset that investors and acquirers will compete to buy at a premium price. View the complete show notes for this episode. Want To Learn More?  Should I Use SDE or EBITDA to Value My Business for Sale? Business Valuation Standards of Value & Fair Market Value Increasing the Value of Your Business | The RVD Model Additional Resources: Selling your business? Schedule a free consultation today. Sign up for an Assessment and Valuation of Your Business. Courses: The Art & Science of Selling a Business Download The Art of The Exit: The Complete Guide to Selling Your Business Download Acquired: The Art of Selling a Business With $10 Million to $100 Million in Revenue If you have any topic or guest suggestions, please email them to podcast@morganandwestfield.com.

Got questions? Send Ericka a Text!Profit doesn't come from working harder or cramming more patients into the schedule. Real profit comes from running your billing department like a business within a business—and using it to lift EBITDA, create predictable cash flow, and make smarter decisions across the practice.We walk through a clear definition of EBITDA and why serious owners, lenders, and buyers use it to judge operational health. Then we connect the dots between daily billing work and big-picture results: coding accuracy as revenue capture, denial management as a cost-to-collect reducer, and AR velocity as the engine of cash strength. You'll hear why sloppy billing erodes margins from both sides—less revenue in, higher expenses out—and how a systems-first approach flips that script with cleaner claims, faster payments, and fewer reworks.From there, we get tactical. We outline the metrics that matter—first-pass claim rate, average days in AR, denial rate by payer, write-off trends, appeal success—and how to use them to forecast collections, control overhead, and plan staffing without panic. We dig into the definition of an unreasonable denial and share a practical escalation and appeal playbook that speeds recovery while protecting productivity. Finally, we make the case for a living billing manual: documented workflows for claim submission, clearinghouse and payer receipt verification, EFT reconciliation, and standardized follow-up so the whole team moves in sync.If you're ready to replace checklists with outcomes and turn billing into a true profit engine, this conversation lays out the path. Subscribe, share with a fellow office leader, and leave a quick review to help more practices build healthy, sustainable profitability. Register for the March 1st LIVE event in Riverside, CA: www.dentalbillingdoneright.com Click on "The New Rules of Dental Billing" Schedule a demo with MaxAssist to unlock scheduleing potential here: https://maxassist.com/book-a-demo-fortune-billing/ Would you like to set-up a billing consultation with Ericka? She would love the opportunity to discuss your billing questions and see how Fortune Billing Solutions may help you. Email Ericka:ericka@dentalbillingdoneright.com Email Jen: jen@dentalbillingdoneright.com Grab the Hygiene Billing and Coding Playbook Here: https://stan.store/hygieneunlocked Email Ed: ed@dentalbillingdoneright.comSchedule a call with Ericka: https://calendly.com/ericka-dentalbillingdoneright/30min Perio performance formula: (D4341+D4342+D4346+D4355+D4910)/(D4341+D4342+D4346+D4355+D4910+D1110) Delta Dental Locum Tenens Form: https://www1.deltadentalins.com/content/dam/ddins/en/pdf/dentists/locum-tenens-form.pdf

Join host Tim McNeely and special guest Ian Miller, CEO of Dental Mutuality and Guinness World Records holder, for a high-energy episode that reframes modern dentistry. Ian and Tim dig into how the industry has shifted—driven by DSOs, AI, and new business models—and share practical ways practice owners can find hidden profits, protect EBITDA, and make dentistry enjoyable again. Topics covered include the dual nature of change (both opportunity and threat), how to evaluate and adopt AI and new technologies without getting overwhelmed, and the crucial role of trusted partners or consultants in vetting options for your office. Ian explains why early adoption today looks different and how to decide which innovations actually move the needle for your practice. The conversation highlights often-overlooked profit drivers beyond marketing and production growth: smart cost-savings, staff satisfaction and retention, patient loyalty, and operational tweaks that drop straight to the bottom line. Tim and Ian discuss tariffs, production protection, and why a dollar of cost savings can deliver more immediate impact than a dollar of new revenue. Patient and staff wellbeing are emphasized as central to profit and joy in the office. Ian shares real solutions—like virtual reality from Paper Plane Therapeutics to reduce patient anxiety and lunchtime VR resets for staff—as well as practical sensory changes (colors, smells, music) that improve clinic atmosphere and outcomes. Actionable growth ideas are also explored: community engagement and charitable care as authentic marketing and morale builders, and hands-on tactics like offering custom athletic mouthguards to drive new patient traffic. Ian issues a 28-day challenge to inject fun into the office and invites listeners to try small, immediate changes to see big morale and financial results. Expect an upbeat, solutions-focused episode full of concrete next steps you can use tomorrow—technology evaluation strategies, ways to uncover hidden profits, patient-anxiety tools, staff-retention tips, and how to build a practice that thrives financially and culturally. To learn more about Ian and Dental Mutuality, visit dentalmutuality.com.

Host Tim McNeely welcomes Dickie Ball, owner of Summit Handpiece Express, to uncover how simple handpiece maintenance and quality repair can dramatically improve a dental practice's efficiency, patient care, and exit valuation. This episode explains why small operational habits matter and how they translate into real financial gains. The conversation covers practical topics including proper lubrication (before every autoclave cycle), correct PSI settings, burr quality, autoclave calibration, and the dangers of gray-market handpieces. Dickie explains the most common mistakes practices make—insufficient lubrication, incorrect PSI, and poor sterilization practices—and shows how fixing these fixes reduces downtime and repair frequency. Dickie describes differences between cheap repairs and quality repairs, why Summit uses ceramic ABEC-9 bearings, and how selecting an established, responsive repair partner affects longevity and warranty performance. He also discusses DSO-level reporting: quarterly repair summaries, trend analysis, and simple protocol changes that lower costs and boost EBITDA. Listeners will hear how team education and clear protocols (checklists for high- and low-speed handpieces, chair-side PSI checks, and immediate removal of malfunctioning instruments) improve staff productivity and patient experience. Dickie shares Summit's family-owned approach, easy prepaid shipping and free estimates, and resources like a free laminated maintenance sheet and training he delivered at the Florida Dental Convention. Key takeaways: routine, correct maintenance cuts repair costs; quality parts and repairs lengthen handpiece life; empower your team with simple systems to prevent failures; and partnering with the right repair vendor improves finances and clinical operations. For help or a second opinion, contact Dickie at rick@summithpx.com or call 877-342-0101 (toll-free) / 561-823-0101 (local).

Interview with Richard Young, CEO, i-80 GoldOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/i-80-gold-tsxiau-production-path-to-200000-ounces-8586Recording date: 16th January 2026Nevada-based i-80 Gold is executing an ambitious three-phase development plan to transform from a small producer into a mid-tier gold company, targeting production growth from under 50,000 ounces annually to over 600,000 ounces within six years. All five projects are brownfield developments at historic Nevada mines, offering reduced execution risk through existing permits and infrastructure.The company delivered five preliminary economic assessments in Q1 2025 and has raised approximately $300 million toward a targeted $900 million to $1 billion recapitalisation. Management expects to complete balance sheet restructuring by end of Q1 2026, which will enable full construction approval for the critical Lone Tree autoclave refurbishment project.The Lone Tree facility refurbishment represents a cornerstone investment, with total capital costs of approximately $430 million and completion scheduled for end of 2027. Once operational, the facility is projected to produce 200,000 ounces annually and generate $200-400 million in EBITDA at current gold prices. i-80 Gold will be one of only two companies operating an autoclave in Nevada.Project economics have improved substantially with higher gold prices. At $3,000 gold, the net asset value of the five projects was approximately $5 billion versus the company's current market capitalization of $1.3 billion fully diluted. At current gold prices above $4,600, NAV is estimated between $8-10 billion, with all-in sustaining costs averaging approximately $1,400 per ounce.The company has significantly strengthened its technical team and is advancing feasibility studies for multiple underground mines including Archimedes and Granite Creek. Management is also accelerating work on Mineral Point, the flagship asset capable of producing 300,000 ounces over a 17-year mine life, pulling development forward by approximately two years.Operating exclusively in Nevada provides advantages including world-class geology, skilled workforce, supportive regulatory environment, and the current macro environment featuring high gold prices without corresponding input cost inflation.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/i-80-goldSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

What if the real reason scaling feels harder is because your systems were never built to scale in the first place? Kendall sits down with Ted Wegman, co-founder of Access DSO Solutions, to break down what really goes wrong when dental groups grow too fast. Ted explains how practices hit facility bottlenecks, miss critical details, and end up with systems that don't talk to each other. Before they know it, owners are pulled back into decisions they thought growth would eliminate. He shares real stories from large dental groups that scaled right and wrong, why scalability and EBITDA drive real value, and how building systems before expansion creates freedom instead of friction.  

Send us a textImagine a home services business that turns heads, sparks referrals without begging for them, and actually gives families their Saturdays back. That's the vision behind Waterloo Turf — and in this episode of We Bought a Franchise, we sit down with founders Lance Ingram and Tim Lovett to unpack how they're building the first true national artificial turf brand.We start with the origin story. Lance walked away from a traditional corporate path, returned to turf, and validated the model across Austin and San Antonio before ever thinking about franchising. Tim came from a large home services platform and saw turf as a rare opportunity: a niche category with high-ticket installs, low capital requirements, and almost no national competition. Instead of rushing to sell franchises, they raised capital first, built infrastructure, and designed a support system meant to scale responsibly.From there, we dig into the operating model. Waterloo Turf uses generous territories (350,000 population), subcontracted crews, and a single wrapped sales vehicle to keep startup costs lean while preserving room to grow. New owners aren't burdened with real estate, inventory, or large payrolls — and the launch sequence is designed to get franchisees to revenue in roughly 75 days, not “someday.”We also talk numbers — responsibly. Waterloo shares a combined Item 19 P&L from Austin and San Antonio showing a little over $2M in revenue with approximately 16% EBITDA, along with how owner-operators can improve margins by replacing a manager. We break down how marketing actually works in this business: national brand and content layered with local hustle, referral relationships, and what Lance calls “donut economics.”One of the most interesting pieces of the model is the Fresh & Clean maintenance program. Turf isn't truly “set it and forget it,” and Waterloo leaned into that reality by creating a recurring service that protects installs, improves longevity, and drives ongoing client touchpoints. The result is better reviews, more referrals, and an additional revenue stream that stabilizes the business.You'll also hear how turf stretches beyond the typical backyard install — into putting greens, indoor gyms, golf simulators, dog facilities, and commercial spaces — and why those projects often compound through a powerful referral flywheel. We cover supplier relationships, national pricing leverage, turf coaches who fly out to ensure five-star first installs, and why staying focused (no stadium fields, no bolt-on trades) keeps execution tight.If you're comparing traditional home services like HVAC, plumbing, or roofing, this episode offers a contrarian perspective. Those categories are crowded with private-equity-backed platforms. Turf isn't. Waterloo owners often compete against generalist landscapers, giving them a real chance to become the turf authority in their market.If this conversation sparks interest, don't guess whether a turf franchise — or any franchise — is right for you.

Send us a textJoin Tim Gerdeman, Vice Chair & Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at WTR, and Peter Gastreich, Senior Energy Transition and Sustainability Analyst, as they dive into WTR's Initiation of Coverage report for Comstock Inc. (NYSE: LODE), a Nevada-based innovator tackling clean energy and industrial bottlenecks. Discover how Comstock's businesses are driving growth include its cutting-edge solar panel recycling (metals business), historic mining assets, strategic real estate, and renewable fuels (Bioleum subsidiary). Get insights on the outlook for silver, aluminum, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and learn why these are important to the outlook for LODE. Peter also discusses project economics and shares WTR's financial forecasts for LODE including its rapid EBITDA growth to 2030. 

Pete Watson: 22 years as a solo Rec2Rec in Australia (and why he'd never do it again)Pete Watson is the longest-serving boots-on-the-ground Rec2Rec in Australia.22 years running Mint R2R. Thousands of placements. A recognisable name across the entire Australian recruitment market.But 18 months ago, he was at the gym when he asked himself one question:"Would I do it all again?"His answer was immediate: "A fast no."Not because he failed. But because of what success actually cost him."Even though people look at 22 years as a business owner and go 'that's amazing, congratulations' - it's been brutal. It's been lonely. It's been isolating. It has not been good for mental health."So that afternoon, he knocked up a logo on Canva and launched Recruitment United.Within a week, 70 agency owners joined a WhatsApp group.Within four months, 500.Today, there are 330 subscribing members accessing weekly training, mate rates discounts, and a proper community of peers.This week on The RAG Podcast, Pete tells the full story.We cover:Why 22 years as a solo Rec2Rec nearly broke him mentallyThe gym moment that changed everythingHow he built a 500-member community in four months with zero planWhy the majority of his members have no intention of scalingThe rise of lifestyle businesses over exit strategiesNavigating divorce, becoming a stepdad, and buying back his family home13 years alcohol-free and why he finally started talking about itThis isn't about building an empire.It's about a founder who realised that isolated recruitment success was killing him—and built something to solve that for himself and others!If you've ever felt lonely as a solo founder, or wondered whether there's another way to build, this episode is for you.__________________________________________Episode Sponsor: AtlasAdmin is a massive waste of time. That's why there's Atlas, the AI-first recruitment platform built for modern agencies.It doesn't only track CVs and calls. It remembers everything. Every email, every interview, every conversation. Instantly searchable, always available. And now, it's entering a whole new era.With Atlas 2.0, you can ask anything and it delivers. With Magic Search, you speak and it listens. It finds the right candidates using real conversations, not simply look for keywords.Atlas 2.0 also makes business development easier than ever. With Opportunities, you can track, manage and grow client relationships, powered by generative AI and built right into your workflow.Need insights? Custom dashboards give you total visibility over your pipeline. And that's not theory. Atlas customers have reported up to 41% EBITDA growth and an 85% increase in monthly billings after adopting the platform.No admin. No silos. No lost info. Nothing but faster shortlists, better hires and more time to focus on what actually drives revenue.Atlas is your personal AI partner for modern recruiting.Don't miss the future of recruitment. Get started with Atlas today and unlock your exclusive RAG listener offer at https://recruitwithatlas.com/therag/__________________________________________Episode Sponsor:...

Want to double your ticket average without being pushy? Get access to real-time sales training, scripts, and role-play coaching inside the Blue Collar Closer community — join today before the next live Q&A drops: https://wastenoday.pro/BCC Join the Waste No Day! Facebook group: https://wastenoday.pro/FBgroup Tommy Mello is the CEO of A1 Garage Door Service and a returning guest on the show. He built his garage door company from $50K in debt into a $200M business operating across 19 states. Known for his focus on accountability, people, and processes, Tommy leads a nine-figure organization with over 700 employees in the home services industry. He's also a best-selling author, an Inc. Magazine columnist, a keynote speaker, and a top 0.1% podcast host.   In this episode, we talked about fitness, health, accountability, EBITDA, profitability...

Want a quick estimate of how much your business is worth? With our free valuation calculator, answer a few questions about your business, and you'll get an immediate estimate of the value of your business. You might be surprised by how much you can get for it: https://flippa.com/exit -- Are you a business owner thinking about the next chapter? Too many entrepreneurs focus entirely on building their company but fail to prepare themselves, and their finances, for the exit. In this episode, Steve sits down with Tim Golas, Partner and Co-Founder at Spurstone, to discuss the tactical realities of selling a business. From the dangers of concentration risk to the "Fish and Chip" method of negotiation, Tim breaks down how to run two parallel paths: optimizing the business for sale and preparing your personal wealth for the liquidity event. Whether you are looking to sell in 2026 or just want to de-risk your current operations, this episode provides a roadmap for maximizing your deal terms and protecting your legacy. -- Timothy Golas is an exit planning advisor, fiduciary, and Partner at Spurstone who serves as a trusted confidant to eight- and nine-figure business owners navigating major financial transitions. A founder himself, he understands the pressure and complexity of building a business and the risks of exiting without the right strategy or support. With more than 20 years of experience advising successful families, executives, and stakeholders across the U.S., Timothy helps founders and multi-owner teams protect what they've built, maximize value, and move forward with clarity and confidence. As a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), he specializes in value acceleration, tax-efficient exits, and guiding entrepreneurs through Spurstone's Grind to Good Life framework, from exit preparation to post-exit fulfillment, bringing both expertise and empathy to a deeply personal transition. Website - https://www.spurstone.com/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothygolas/ Timestamps: (00:22) From Wall Street to Main Street: Tim shares his background at UBS during the financial collapse and why he founded Spurstone to better serve entrepreneurs and business owners. [02:00) The 2-3 Year Window: Why you need to start planning years before the sale. The concept of "Parallel Paths" - preparing the business entity and the personal financials simultaneously. (04:12) Combating Concentration Risk: How to identify if your business is too reliant on one client. Tactical Tip: Tim discusses the strategy of acquiring smaller companies to dilute client concentration before going to market. (08:12) When is the Right Time to Sell?: Navigating age, market conditions, and avoiding "forced" exits (Death, Disability, Divorce). (13:54) Maximizing Valuation: Moving beyond the top-line number. Understanding the difference between EBITDA and Normalized EBITDA, and why "de-risking" (e.g., settling litigation, owning real estate) drives multiples higher. (15:32) The Biggest Mistake Sellers Make: Why you should never wait for an LOI (Letter of Intent) to land on your desk before you start planning. (19:30) The "Fish and Chip" Method: A warning on how buyers use high valuations to hook sellers, only to chip away at the price during due diligence. (21:14) M&A Trends for 2026: What's happening with Baby Boomers, the trades, and manufacturing sectors. The rise of Private Equity roll-ups. -- The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You'll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

Adam Vandermyde had to be persuaded to acquire the $15m business that he ultimately professionalized and exited for 7x.Register for the webinar: How to Present Your Deal for Maximum SBA Success - TODAY!! - https://bit.ly/3KW7aWLTopics in Adam's interview:Leaving consulting 2 months from making partnerTaking on the CEO role at the target before closingFocusing on EBITDA over revenueA construction mistake that cost the company dearlyParsing data to understand “margin per labor dollar”Advantages of being in a high-growth geographical areaImproving customer service to stand outExiting after 5 yearsAdrenaline rush of sharing his payday with employeesHow it feels to be a millionaireReferences and how to contact Adam:LinkedInGet a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):Book a call with Tim or hello@systemsix.com and mention Acquiring MindsLearn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:The Acquisition LabWork with an SBA loan team focused exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:Pioneer Capital AdvisoryConnect with Acquiring Minds:See past + future interviews on the YouTube channelConnect with host Will Smith on LinkedInFollow Will on TwitterEdited by Anton RohozovProduced by Pam Cameron

Are you stuck deciding between building custom software or buying an expensive SaaS solution? In this episode, Ashok breaks down a real-world workshop with a medical device CEO facing a costly operational bottleneck. You'll learn how to size problems effectively to ensure they are worth the tech investment and why "renting" software might actually be the fastest path to owning your own high-value IP. Ashok challenges the common "tech-enabled" playbook—hiring a C-suite CTO immediately—and offers a leaner alternative: the "In-House Prototyper." Discover how using AI tools and low-code platforms can help you validate business value before committing to expensive development. Whether you are navigating compliance-heavy industries or just trying to improve EBITDA, this episode provides a tactical framework for negotiation, sequencing, and strategic capital allocation. Unlock the full potential of your product team with Integral's player coaches, experts in lean, human-centered design. Visit integral.io/convergence for a free Product Success Lab workshop to gain clarity and confidence in tackling any product design or engineering challenge. In this episode: Build vs. Buy Math: How to calculate the break-even point for custom software. The "Sandbox Pilot": How to negotiate a 1-month trial instead of a 12-month lock-in. Strategic Sequencing: Why you should "rent to learn" before you build to own. The Prototyper Role: A high-leverage alternative to hiring a full-time CTO. Problem Sizing: Identifying problems that compound with growth vs. those that vanish. Mentioned in this episode: Prototyping Tools: Lovable, Bolt, Replit, Vibe Coding. Workflow Automation: N8N, Langflow Subscribe to the Convergence podcast wherever you get podcasts including video episodes to get updated on the other crucial conversations that we'll post on YouTube at youtube.com/@convergencefmpodcast Learn something? Give us a 5 star review and like the podcast on YouTube. It's how we grow.   Follow the Pod Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/convergence-podcast/ X: https://twitter.com/podconvergence Instagram: @podconvergence

In this episode of Beyond Bitewings, we're bringing back some of our favorite advice from our episodes that discussed selling a dental practice to a Dental Support Organization (DSO), highlighting the significant differences between selling to a DSO and an independent buyer. The conversation covers how DSOs value practices using EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization), and why this can result in higher sale prices compared to traditional methods that use a percentage of collections. We also explain the importance of understanding value from the DSO and private equity perspective and warns practice owners about the risks of responding to unsolicited offers without proper representation.The episode addresses key concerns for dentists, such as what to expect after the sale, how contracts are structured, and why it's essential to shop around for multiple offers before committing. They discuss the impact of EBITDA calculations on a practice's valuation, the role of lease agreements when the seller owns their building, and strategies to maximize the value of the transaction. Key Topics Discussed:How DSOs value dental practices using EBITDADifferences between DSO and independent salesThe structure of post-sale contracts and earn-outsPitfalls of responding to unsolicited DSO offersThe importance of getting multiple offers and proper representationEBITDA calculations and their effect on practice valuationLease agreements when the seller owns the buildingAdvice for maximizing practice sale valueThe changing dental industry landscape with the growth of DSOs

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Mirakl.In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses:Amazon faces growing complaints from independent brands over its "Buy for Me" shopping tool, which allows customers to purchase products from other websites within Amazon's app, often without explicit retailer consent.GameStop proposes an entirely performance-based compensation package for CEO Ryan Cohen that could reach $35 billion if the company hits a $100 billion market cap and $10 billion in cumulative EBITDA.UPS' Happy Returns pilots AI-powered Return Vision software to detect "decoy return" fraud, using computer vision to verify returned products match retailers' original items.The Retail Daily Minute has been rocketing up the Feedspot charts, so stay informed with Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, your source for the latest and most important retail insights.Be careful out there!

Strong execution is what separates momentum from noise and Delivra Health Brands (TSXV: DHB | OTCQB: DHBUF) continues to build on the progress achieved in 2025. In this interview, President & CEO Gord Davey shares how the company is translating product innovation, disciplined cost control, and channel expansion into real market performance.The discussion covers how Dream Water® and LivRelief™ are impacting everyday lives, why new product formats and international expansion matter, and how the company continues to deliver positive EBITDA while reinvesting in growth. Furthermore, the CEO offers a look at what investors should be watching as the company moves into 2026.Learn more about Delivra Health Brands: https://www.delivrahealthbrands.com/Watch the full YouTube interview here: https://youtu.be/uxY95lHlApEAnd follow us to stay updated: https://www.youtube.com/@GlobalOneMedia

The new year has arrived, and with it, the predictable surge of "system noise." While the rest of the world is busy scrubbing the movie screen with Windex—trying to fix external results through sheer force and 3:00 AM ice baths—we are going into the projection booth. In this episode, we diagnose why most high-performers are trying to run enterprise-level software on fried hardware. The "Spirit of the Deal" isn't about finding your inner peace; it's about system maintenance. We are bridging the gap between the boardroom and biology. If your nervous system is screaming "unsafe" during a negotiation, your prospect will feel the friction, no matter how polished your script is. Your biology is the bottleneck, not your strategy. In this episode, we discuss: The Projection Metaphor: Why working harder is just scrubbing a screen when the scratch is actually on the internal film. Hardware vs. Software: Why somatic intelligence is the processor speed required to run the "Quantum Leap" strategy. The Middle Path: How to merge Vagus nerve regulation with EBITDA targets without losing your edge. Diagnostic Frameworks: Identifying if your current operating system is prone to overheating, ghosting, or people-pleasing under pressure.   Stop white-knuckling the steering wheel. Your nervous system is running an outdated operating system, and it's time for a mandatory upgrade. Learn how to regulate your internal state so the external deal closes by resonance, not force. Ready for a hardware scan? Check the show notes for our free Diagnostic Tool to identify where your nervous system is cracking under the pressure of your current bandwidth.   Diagnostic Tool

Michael Green: How he made $700K in year one (after not billing for 6 years)Michael Green spent six years running teams of 100+ recruiters.Building offices. Managing people. Zero placements.When he launched Unico in April 2024, he had to go back to basics."I had to do role plays to myself. I hadn't qualified a candidate in six years."Day one was brutal. Just him, his house and a dog.But Michael had something most recruiters don't: a genuine answer to "what makes you different?"While everyone else competed on job boards chasing $30K fees, Michael went the opposite direction.Senior positions only. Architect level and above.New York Location onlyHis average fee jumped from $30K to $60K overnight.His biggest placement? $170,000.12 months later: $700K gross profit. Solo.Year two: $1.5M with just four people.But here's what makes Michael different.He's not scaling headcount - he's scaling quality.Ultra-niche: ServiceNow and bleeding-edge SaaS. One technology. Total focus.Last week, a major partner messaged him: "I've seen your posts. I've heard your reputation. We want to use you exclusively."He'd never spoken to them before..He's now targeting growth15 profitable recruiters and $3M in 2026.This week on The RAG Podcast, Michael tells the full story.We cover:- Why he walked away from running 200 people to start from scratch- How he made $700K in year one after six years out of recruitment- The "top 3%" model that clients can't say no to- Why he pivoted from $30K to $100K+ fees overnight- The AI screening tool that's changing his close rate- His LinkedIn strategy that generates 70% conversion ratesThis isn't about scaling fast.It's about a man who had to relearn his own trade, doubted himself daily, and built a $1.5M business in 20 months that doesn't require 100 heads to hit seven figures.No venture capital. No growth-at-all-costs.Just profitable headcount over vanity metrics.If you've ever wondered whether you can start your own agency after years of management - or if there's a smarter way to scale than just adding bodies – this episode has the blueprint.__________________________________________Episode Sponsor: AtlasAdmin is a massive waste of time. That's why there's Atlas, the AI-first recruitment platform built for modern agencies.It doesn't only track CVs and calls. It remembers everything. Every email, every interview, every conversation. Instantly searchable, always available. And now, it's entering a whole new era.With Atlas 2.0, you can ask anything and it delivers. With Magic Search, you speak and it listens. It finds the right candidates using real conversations, not simply look for keywords.Atlas 2.0 also makes business development easier than ever. With Opportunities, you can track, manage and grow client relationships, powered by generative AI and built right into your workflow.Need insights? Custom dashboards give you total visibility over your pipeline. And that's not theory. Atlas customers have reported up to 41% EBITDA growth and an 85% increase in monthly billings after adopting the platform.No admin. No silos. No lost info. Nothing but faster shortlists, better hires and more time to focus on what actually drives revenue.Atlas is your personal AI partner for modern recruiting.Don't miss the future of recruitment. Get started with...

Is your business missing out on millions by overlooking supply chain efficiency? What if unlocking massive value in M&A deals was easier than you think?In this episode, Mert Erkan, Vice President of Efficio Consulting, joins Patrick Stroth to reveal how procurement and supply chain transformations drive game-changing results for both private equity and strategic acquirers on a global scale.You'll discover…The surprising percentage of EBITDA growth hiding in procurement synergiesHow “clean room” analysis can set post-merger integration up for instant successWhy even high-tech companies are underinvesting in their supply chain teams—and what to do about itThe Formula 1 approach to leveraging AI and digital tools in procurementWhat resilience and agility really mean for modern supply chain networks—and why it matters more than ever

In this episode the hosts hilariously critique a New England insulation and energy‑efficiency contractor deal, debating subsidy dependency, normalized EBITDA red flags, and whether it's a business worth owning.Business Listing – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x1fQmCWxkw0Jzbhc-vGwR89oK25r91Lm/view?usp=drive_linkWelcome to Acquisitions Anonymous – the #1 podcast for small business M&A. Every week, we break down businesses for sale and talk about buying, operating, and growing them.

We're heading into 2026 with one goal: stop losing money.Not “grow at all costs.” Not “try harder.” Just: build a healthy business that actually cash flows.In this episode, John Wilson and Jack Carr break down what they're cutting, tightening, and renegotiating in 2026 to go from ~13% EBITDA to 20% EBITDA—and why they're also targeting 10% net profit after realizing how big the gap can be between EBITDA and real take-home profit.They walk through the exact planning process they used this year (operational inputs → revenue → profit plan), then share the unsexy truth: most of the gains don't come from some magic tactic… they come from relentless efficiency—marketing discipline, killing bloated software, renegotiating vendor terms, tightening material spend, and finding hidden leaks everywhere.If you run a home service business (at any size), this is your 2026 playbook for getting healthy first—then scaling from strength.In this episode, we cover:“Just Don't Lose Money” Mindset: Why refusing to lose changes everythingProfit Planning for 2026: Planning off the P&L (not vibes)EBITDA Isn't a Light Switch: Why profitability is an on-ramp (and takes time)Marketing Discipline: Cutting inconsistent channels + tracking cancellation rateSoftware Bloat: The hidden $10K–$50K/month leak almost everyone has

Audrey Neff moderates a powerful M&A roundtable with industry leaders Annie Hockey, Ben Hernandez, Carlos Arce, Esq., Mark Estes, MD, and Tyler Weinberg, unpacking what med spa owners need to know about growth, valuation, private equity, and consolidation heading into 2026. From building a sellable business and navigating legal considerations to understanding market trends, GLP-1 impacts, EBITDA multiples, and exit readiness, this conversation delivers clear, practical insights for aesthetic entrepreneurs focused on scaling strategically — whether they're preparing for a future growth partnership, transaction, or simply just aiming to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape. Resources: Aviva Aesthetics Skytale Group Florida Healthcare Law Firm

George Tsilis covers the biggest stock stories of New Year's Eve. Alphabet (GOOGL) got a price target hike from Citizens to $385 from $340, citing strength in its search business. Nike's (NKE) CEO bought about $1M in stock, as a recent filing disclosed, or about 16.4K shares. Hyatt Hotels (H) announced several properties in Jamaica would stay closed until 4Q of 2026 due to damage from Hurricane Melissa, which has already created a $10M hit for EBITDA in 2025.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/ About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

In this episode, the hosts dig into a port-a-potty rental company with $4.1M in revenue and a $2M price tag, revealing a capital-heavy, route-based business that's either a blue-collar dream or an operational nightmare.Welcome to Acquisitions Anonymous – the #1 podcast for small business M&A. Every week, we break down businesses for sale and talk about buying, operating, and growing them.

Revenue growth can look healthy while quietly destroying business valuation, EBITDA, and cash flow. In this episode of the CEO Sales Strategies Podcast, Doug C. Brown sits down with profitability strategist Ben Hansen, founder of Profit Doctor, to unpack why revenue growth without profit discipline creates risk instead of value. Many growing businesses celebrate top-line success while margins erode, complexity increases, and valuation suffers. This conversation challenges the belief that growth automatically leads to profitability — and explains why profit improvement is a CEO-level responsibility. Ben shares how leaders can identify profit leakage, make focused decisions, and improve margins without relying on aggressive growth. In this episode, you'll learn: ✅ Why revenue growth often hides serious profit problems ✅ How low margins quietly destroy business valuation ✅ Why profit decisions must be led by the CEO ✅ The 50/20 rule for rapid profitability improvement ✅ Why cutting what loses money is faster than finding more growth ✅ How improved focus leads to stronger EBITDA and cash flow

How will wealth management change in 2026? In this episode of Bank on Wipfli, join Wipfli's Robert Zondag for a conversation with Diamond Consultants CEO Louis Diamond and Wipfli partner Ron Niemasyk about the evolving dynamics of the industry in areas like recruitment, tech and private equity partnerships — plus how wealth management advisory firms are adapting to keep up.Listen for a rundown on key trends that will shape wealth management over the next 12 months, including:Firms moving towards advisory-focused business models, including why tax and estate planning have become expected service offerings.Wealth advisors leaning heavily on technology to drive growth, including AI, CRM integration and a focus on operational efficiency.Private equity's growing interest in the registered investment advisor (RIA) sector, what's driving record 10-12x EBITDA valuations, and why long-term success can depend on capital decisions.Key recruiting and retention strategies, including a holistic approach that embraces flexibility, culture, technology and succession planning.Major recruiting red flags, like compensation changes, limited growth support and a lack of integration into the team.

Interview with Alex Black, Executive Chairman of Rio2 Ltd.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/rio2-tsxrio-approaching-january-2026-production-targeting-20000tpd-ramp-up-7959Recording date: 23rd December 2025Rio2 Limited (TSX:RIO) represents a compelling investment opportunity at the critical inflection point between development and production, with first gold pour from its Fenix heap leach project in Chile scheduled for January 2026 whilst the recently acquired Condestable underground copper mine in Peru contributes immediate substantial cash generation. The dual-asset strategy directly addresses the binary risk inherent in single-asset junior companies whilst providing diversified exposure to both precious and base metals during favourable pricing environments characterised by gold exceeding $4,500 per ounce and copper benefiting from structural supply constraints.Management delivered the Fenix project on time and on budget at $150-160 million total capital expenditure, representing modest capital intensity for a gold operation of this scale. The operation targets 60-70,000 ounces during the 2026 ramp-up year before reaching steady-state production of 100,000 ounces annually by 2027 at nameplate throughput capacity of 20,000 tonnes per day. Critically, the starter project represents only 1.7 million ounces of the property's 5 million ounce resource base, which was defined using $1,800 per ounce gold price pit shells, creating significant reserve expansion potential in the current $2,600+ pricing environment. Systematic exploration drilling commencing in 2026 targets resource growth potentially reaching 5-7 million ounces by the late 2027 feasibility study for phase two expansion.The December acquisition of Condestable fundamentally altered Rio2's financial trajectory and risk profile. The transaction added 10 years of proven and probable reserves, unusual longevity for any producing operation that eliminates near-term reserve replacement pressures. The mine produces 27,000 tonnes of copper equivalent annually (60 million pounds copper) at current throughput rates of 8,400 tonnes per day, generating clean concentrate grading 80% copper and 20% precious metals. At current metal prices, Condestable generates over $100 million in annual free cash flow after taxes with sustaining capital requirements below $10 million per year, creating an 8% annual cash yield on Rio2's $1.2 billion market capitalisation before considering Fenix's contribution.The combined operations project to generate $150-175 million annual free cash flow once Fenix reaches steady-state production, providing capital to fund organic expansion at both properties without equity dilution. Condestable offers clear expansion pathway from 8,400 to 12,000 tonnes per day throughput (40% increase) with study underway, whilst the underexplored 45,000-hectare land package surrounding the mine provides blue-sky resource growth potential that previous private equity owners neglected in favour of cash flow extraction.Management's 25-year Peru operating history and successful prior mine development through Minera IRL validates capability to navigate Latin American permitting, community relations, and operational challenges. The successful $205 million financing with $800 million total demand (4x oversubscription) demonstrates institutional confidence in the execution track record and strategic vision. Rio2 currently trades at approximately 2x EBITDA on Condestable alone, before attributing value to Fenix production or substantial organic expansion potential at either asset. Comparable producers in the 100,000+ ounce gold and 50+ million pound copper production range typically trade at 4-6x EBITDA multiples, suggesting significant valuation convergence opportunity as quarterly production reports validate operational performance through 2026-2027.Management explicitly positions Rio2 as an active consolidator building toward eventual corporate transaction within 3-5 years rather than perpetual operator, with Executive Chairman Alex Black noting "we're not building a company for the next 20 years" but rather "taking advantage of the situation, the time, the metal prices and building something up that is very very valuable." G Mining's $8.5 billion valuation whilst operating two assets provides reference point for Rio2's potential valuation trajectory, representing 7x current market capitalisation as the production platform matures and demonstrates consistent operational execution across both jurisdictions.View Rio2's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/rio2-limitedSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

The Leveraged Buyout (LBO) is one of the most powerful and high-stakes tools in modern finance. It is the primary engine of the private equity (PE) industry, where a massive amount of debt is used to acquire a company, with the goal of restructuring it for a highly profitable exit.In this episode of Corporate Finance Explained on FinPod, we unpack the mechanics of the LBO, explore why debt is used as a management tool, and analyze the technical hurdles that separate multi-billion dollar wins from high-profile bankruptcies.The Fundamental Structure: Leverage as an EngineAn LBO is an acquisition funded by a small sliver of equity (usually 30%) and a massive layer of debt (usually 70%).The "Mortgage" Analogy: Much like buying a home with a small down payment, the PE firm uses leverage to control a much larger asset. However, in an LBO, the target company assumes the debt used for its own purchase, using its own assets as collateral. Magnifying Returns: Leverage acts as an amplifier. If a firm invests $10M in equity and the company's value grows by 50%, the return on that initial "small" equity check can skyrocket to 200% or 300% upon exit.The 4 Drivers of the LBO ModelBeyond just magnifying profit, the LBO structure forces a specific type of corporate behavior:Enhanced Equity Returns: Using "Other People's Money" (OPM) to minimize the sponsor's initial capital outlay.Disciplined Cash Flow Focus: Debt acts as a "deadline." Management is forced to ruthlessly cut waste and optimize operations to meet mandatory quarterly interest and principal payments.Strategic Flexibility: Taking a company private removes the "quarterly earnings" pressure of the public markets, allowing for long-term, painful restructurings (e.g., the Dell pivot).Multiple Expansion: The goal is to buy at a lower multiple (e.g., 6x EBITDA) and sell at a higher one (e.g., 8x EBITDA) after transforming the business into a lean, predictable machine.Success vs. Failure: Real-World Case StudiesThe Triumphs (Hilton & Dell):Hilton Hotels: Blackstone acquired Hilton in 2007, just before the financial crisis. Success came through digital transformation and a relentless focus on streamlining costs, proving that operational rigor, not just financial engineering, dictates success.Dell Technologies: Private capital allowed Michael Dell to execute a painful pivot from low-margin PCs to high-margin enterprise software without the public market "slaughtering" the stock price.The Cautionary Tale (Toys "R" Us):Took on over $5B in debt in 2005. As a low-margin, cyclical retail business, it couldn't generate enough cash to both service the debt and invest in e-commerce modernization. The debt didn't amplify success; it strangled the ability to adapt.The LBO Analytical ToolkitFinance teams stress-test deals using the LBO Model, which centers on several key technical mechanics:Debt Tranches: Modeling senior debt (low risk/cost, secured) vs. subordinated and mezzanine debt (higher risk/interest, unsecured). Cash Flow Coverage: Lenders obsess over the Debt-to-EBITDA ratio (how many years of cash flow it takes to pay off debt) and the Interest Coverage Ratio. The Exit Strategy: Success is modeled based on IRR (Internal Rate of Return), which is driven by EBITDA growth, debt pay-down, and exit multiple expansion.6 Elements of an Attractive LBO TargetStable, Predictable Cash Flow: Ideally "subscription-like" or defensive.Durable Competitive Advantage: To protect margins during the hold period.Operational Improvement Potential: A clear "fat-to-trim" or optimization thesis.Reasonable Leverage: Avoiding the "Toys R Us" trap of over-leveraging cyclical businesses.Clean Exit Strategy: A clear vision for a sale or IPO from Day 1.Realistic Assumptions: Stress-tested models that account for market downturns.

AppLovin just crossed $250 billion in market cap. Stock up 127% YTD. EBITDA margins at 82%. Is this the beginning—or the top?We assembled the most qualified panel possible to break it down: an operator running millions through AppLovin's platform, a gaming-focused financial analyst, and an institutional investor who's seen these cycles before.What emerged isn't your typical bull-bear debate. It's a breakdown of how dominance actually works in ad tech—and what could break it.IN THIS EPISODE→ Why AppLovin doesn't need to be better than competitors—just 95% as good→ The MAX/Axon lock-in that keeps publishers captive→ E-commerce expansion: AppLovin is beating Google on Android→ The SEC investigation and deplatforming risk (how worried should you be?)→ What one operator's portfolio data reveals about where the cracks are forming→ Each panelist's prediction for AppLovin in 2026SPEAKERSJosh Chandley — President & CEO, WildCard GamesMatthew Kanterman, CFA — Director of Research, Blue River Financial GroupBrian Peganoff — Former TMT Investor, Founder Timber AdvisorsJoseph Kim — CEO, Lila GamesTIMESTAMPS[00:00] Introduction & Panel Overview[01:22] AppLovin Financial Recap: 127% YTD, 82% Margins[04:52] Valuation Analysis: Is Growth Priced In?[07:15] The Bull Case: Infrastructure Lock-In[10:30] How MAX & Axon Create Publisher Dependency[15:45] E-Commerce Expansion: Beating Google on Android[22:10] Why Meta & Google Can't Compete on iOS[28:40] The Bear Case: Five Risks[35:20] SEC Investigation & Deplatforming Risk[42:15] The Infrastructure Risk Nobody Discusses[48:30] Competitive Landscape: Unity, Moloco, Meta[58:20] Connected TV: Wild Card or Dead End?[1:05:40] Panel Predictions for 2026[1:15:30] Key TakeawaysLINKSNewsletter: https://www.gamemakers.comFull article: https://www.gamemakers.com/p/applovin-bull-bear-casePixels & Profits is a GameMakers series covering the business and investing side of the gaming industry.

It's been another interesting year in the world of personal finance and macroeconomics. As we look ahead to 2026… well, who really knows what's coming? I'll be sharing my own take—and making a few predictions—in an upcoming episode. What's hard to ignore is just how unusual this moment in history is. We're coming off COVID. We went through a rapid rise in interest rates, and now a pullback. Tariffs are back in the conversation. There are a lot of moving parts, and as usual, the consensus hasn't exactly nailed it. Almost every expert was convinced tariffs would push inflation higher. I expected at least a temporary bump—some transient inflation while markets adjusted. Then the CPI report came out at 2.7%. That's a lot closer to the Fed's 2% target, and nearly half a percentage point lower than expectations. Clearly, something else is going on. At the same time, GDP came in at around 4.3% growth. That's real strength. Inflation is coming down, growth is strong, and while the labor market is still a little murky, there's no question there's underlying momentum in the system. Investors haven't quite felt it yet. It's been a sticky environment. But my sense is that we're getting closer to a shift—more liquidity, more money in the system, and markets that may start moving meaningfully again. Of course, we'll see how it all plays out. For this episode, my producer Phil pulled together some of the highlights from the show in 2025—a look back at the conversations and ideas that stood out in a year when the data kept surprising just about everyone. I hope you enjoy it. And again, happy holidays. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year. Transcript Disclaimer: This transcript was generated by AI and may not be 100% accurate. If you notice any errors or corrections, please email us at phil@wealthformula.com.  Welcome everybody. This is Buck Joffrey with D Wealth Formula Podcast, coming to you from Montecito, California and, uh, want to wish you, first of all, a happy holidays. Merry Christmas, happy new Year, all that. And, uh, yeah, it’s been, uh, it’s been another, uh, another interesting year in the world of personal finance and macroeconomics is what, what we talk about on the show. And as we look forward to 2026, gosh, who knows what’s gonna happen, right? Uh, well I’ll give you my take in, uh, show coming up where I’m gonna make some predictions. However, you know, it’s just, it, it, it’s just such an unusual time in, in history. Um, as we kind of look at. Coming off of COVID and having those high interest rates and then coming, uh, coming down and then having Trump elected and now the tariffs and well, gosh, who knows? Right? I mean, just for example, you know, almost every expert was pretty much guaranteeing that inflation would go up because of the tariffs. I mean, even if it was transient, which frankly I thought it was gonna be transient, meaning that there was gonna be a bump in inflation. For a period of time until there was a readjustment after tariffs. Well, TPI comes up most recent CPI is actually 2.7. You know, that’s much closer to the fed target of 2%. And, um, 2.7 was, you know, I think, uh, almost a half, half percentage point less than the expected, uh, CPI, uh, report. So that, that’s obviously something else is going on there. And then. GDP numbers came out and we had a four handle. It was like 4.3, I believe, GDP. So we’ve got incredible growth. We’ve got decreasing inflation. The labor market is still, I know, a little unclear, but it seems like there’s a lot of strength in this market. Of course, it’s really sticky investors. We haven’t quite felt that strength yet, but I do think you need to start anticipating. That markets are gonna come back pretty heavy, uh, with increased liquidity, uh, and a lot of money in the system. But we shall see, uh, this show. What we’re gonna do here is, uh, my, uh, producer Phil put this together, but it’s basically some of the highlights of, uh, the show in, in 2025. So hopefully you enjoy it. Uh, and again, happy holidays. Merry Christmas, new Year. And we’ll be back right after these messages. Wealth Formula banking is an ingenious concept powered by whole life insurance, but instead of acting just as a safety net, the strategy supercharges your investments. First, you create a personal financial reservoir that grows at a compounding interest rate much higher than any bank savings account. As your money accumulates, you borrow from your own. Bank to invest in other cash flowing investments. Here’s the key. Even though you’ve borrowed money at a simple interest rate, your insurance company keeps paying. You compound interest on that money even though you’ve borrowed it at result, you make money in two places at the same time. That’s why your investments get supercharged. This isn’t a new technique, it’s a refined strategy used by some of the wealthiest families in history, and it uses century old rock solid insurance companies as its back. Turbocharge your investments. Visit wealth formula banking.com. Again, that’s wealth formula banking.com. How do you approach the process of identifying stocks that are maybe best suited for consis consistent cash flow? Or do you just pick the stocks that you like and, and create the cash flow? Or are, you know, fundamental metrics that maybe you prioritize? Yeah, the, the, the first thing to determine. I think real estate investors understand this is if I were to invest in real estate, I’m gonna determine whether I’m gonna be a flipper, or I’m gonna try and buy low forced depreciation, sell high. Or if I’m gonna be a cashflow investor where I might invest in syndication, or I am, I’m gonna have tenants in property management. And the same is true with stocks. Most people start off by thinking about price rather than cash flow. They think about buy low, sell high, like a house slipper, and that’s, that’s less tenable in stocks because in real estate, if I buy low and sell high, I can do things to force appreciation. I can renovate, I can get new management, I can put in new appliances. I, there’s things I can do to force appreciation. But once a person buys a stock, there’s absolutely nothing you can do to make the stock price go up. But if you take a a, if you think of it like a real estate investor. You think about it like owning a business where the priority, as you mentioned these metrics, the priority is, Hey, what kind of cashflow will this produce be in terms of dividends and in my case, option premiums. And so some of the key metrics is, you know, if I, I’m basically buying a financial statement, same as real estate. You know, I, I, I, it is just a little different numbers in real estate. I wanna know what the net operating income is. In stocks, I might wanna know what the EBITDA is ’cause they’re essentially looking at the same types of things in real estate. I wanna know what the cap rate is in stocks. I wanna know what the PE ratio is, which is just the same number inverted. They just put the price on the top instead of the bottom. To me, I don’t see a difference between real estate and stocks, uh, in that they’re both a business or they charge someone for a good or a service. And there’s either cashflow there at the end of it or not. If people take a cash flow approach, they can begin to build on their passive income. And that contributes to that blueprint we mentioned earlier to get ’em outta the route race. So if you take a Warren Buffet approach, the most important number in that business is operational cash flow or earnings. Meaning does what they do, their operation. You know, you walk in there, a nice operation you got going here, you know, trucks are moving and you know, products are being built and shipped and, and nice operation. If they’re earning money, that means that’s the life flood of the business. That means it’s got a good moat. That means it’s pretty protected and that allows them to do two things for me. Number one is a dividend, which is exactly the same thing as a distribution in real estate. Uh, there is no difference, uh, in a syndication. I have a whole bunch of investors I’ve joined with where you have a share of this project and when the earnings come out, they distribute the, the distributions among the share shareholders. Same is true with stocks. They take the earnings, uh, we call it a payout ratio, and they take a, a, a significant amount of that money and they pay it in a dividend, same as a distribution. But what I do that’s a little bit unique buck is, uh, is I also have the options market on my side. Where I can use options to control risk, uh, to get guarantees where I can buy and sell, but even more importantly, I can offer, uh, and get paid for making promises to people. This is very much a Warren Buffet deal where it, it brings a significant increase to my monthly cash flow beyond the dividend, up to three, two and three times. Uh, the amount of money, two to 300% more cash flow. By being involved in the options market and that’s, that’s a nice secret sauce. The yield max Tesla option income, ETF, which is TSLY. And basically what it does is. Is it just does a series of longs and shorts and, and then generates what looks like to be kind of a, a ridiculous amount of, uh, dividend, uh, per, per month. So what are we missing here? What, what’s, well, you’re, you’re basically hiring those guys to mow your grass. It’s just like any other mutual fund or any other. They’re doing something you could absolutely do by yourself and not pay them a fee. There’s two cultures. There’s the advice culture and there’s the education culture and the advice culture. People say, look, I don’t wanna learn anything. Just gimme the advice. Well, you’ll pay for that in fees. And the problem with doing that is if you really listen to Warren Buffett, which 1% is enormous. Because in the wealth blueprint that we do for people, we use compounding. We use the compounding calculator to see what we’re gonna need. You drop that 1%, you give up 1% of your compounding powers as an investor over your life, it, it wouldn’t seem like 1%, but Buffet knows the truth. It’s enormous. So yeah, absolutely there are ETFs and there are funds that will do exactly what I do or what I teach people to do, but we have some advantages in doing it yourself because risk is about control. I trust myself more than I trust those guys any day of the week. And like I say, I’m doing this by month, so yeah. But it’s legit. How do you even make predictions? And second of all, I mean presumably you still have some forecasts over the next, uh, 12 to 24 months, and maybe you could tell us a little bit about that. Our methodology lends itself to times of uncertainty like this, and that’s the benefit of really relying on the leading indicators that we have. Now. We do have to take a little bit of a different approach. We have to look at data in a lot higher frequency today. You know, a lot of the data you get from government sources or quarterly data, monthly data, but we’re having to track weekly trends with the ever-changing environment that we find ourselves in. So we’re not surprised by the time any monthly or quarterly data comes out. The level of uncertainty that we’re dealing with is certainly unprecedented. I share an index each day, um, and we are three times more uncertain today than we were at the height of the pandemic. You know, put that in perspective, right? Yeah. So we do have to adjust, um. The, the way that we’re looking at data with higher frequencies, we also have to rerun a lot of these correlation analysis. Every single time we get a new data point to see are these lead times becoming more condensed? Do we have to make adjustments in our models as a result to maybe data reacting quicker than it might have in the past? So those are some of the ways that we’re, we’re continuing to evolve in these interesting times we live in. This relates to our forecast. Our team expected some weakness in the first part of this year, and, and we knew that coming in with the, with the tariffs that were proposed during President Trump’s campaign, we did have a weak first quarter GDP number forecast. Our team was 0.1% off of nailing that first quarter GDP number, so they were right on the money there. Uh, we were very impressed with that, but we do expect a sluggish first half of the year. We call it the recovery phase of the cycle. What we mean by that is our growth rates are still building momentum, but are still negative year over year. You know, ITR. Really known for its emphasis on leading indicators. So which of the leading indicators you guys rely on the most when and, and I guess which are flashing red or green right now? I’ll give you one of each. Uh, yeah. The one we’re in right now, we look at the purchasing managers, index isms, purchasing managers index. Now we look at at on a one 12 basis. What I mean by that is we compare the most recent month, the same month one year ago. The reason we look at it on that basis is it gives us 12 month lead time into the future when you correlate it to the economy. That index was recently rising until we got the most recent month of data, and then it dropped back down. So that is giving us the mixed signal of, hey, we need to be a little bit more concerned about the prospect for growth moving forward. Now the opposite is true when we look at an indicator called capacity utilization. What Capacity utilization measures, it’s about an eight month lead time to the economy. So still a nice view into the future, but what it measures is output over capacity, and that actually continues to improve meaning. And again, really all that means on a simple level is we’re utilizing more of our existing capacity, so we’re getting busier. If we look at the consumer side of inflation that the Fed’s more concerned about in terms of setting policy, we have inflation essentially flat this year from where we are today. Now, if you look at the CPI, it’s at 2.8%. Our projection for the end of the year is 2.8%. We don’t see inflation coming down much at all. As a result of that, that’s why you’re seeing Chairman Powell back off being able to cut rates and is holding these rates steady because he sees these higher inflation risks as well. And so from our perspective, it’s very unlikely you see any meaningful interest rate decline this year. Yeah. Now again, the second quarter, GDP number can have an impact on that. We do see a very weak second quarter chairman Powell alluded just a couple of days ago to some slack in the labor market. Maybe you can get a quarter point if we have a really weak second quarter, quarter point cut, but it just seems very unlikely given how persistent inflation has been. And so we tell all of our clients, prepare for interest rates to be relatively flat this year, and prepare for interest rates to rise through the balance of the second half of the decade. It’s not just tariffs, it’s employment costs, it’s electricity costs, it’s material costs. There’s a lot more driving higher inflation than just tariffs. What macroeconomic trends are you watching right now with regards to how they’re shaping the markets today? I think there’s really three things right over the long run. They’re gonna debase the currency, that’s gonna be a persistent tailwind for all liquid, uh, assets, including stocks. Bitcoin gold and bonds. And then I think that you also are going to have a, uh, very interesting dynamic around all these tariffs, uh, and kind of the administration’s economic policies. And then the third thing is that there is a whole technology, uh, trend to, uh, pay attention to. Uh, obviously innovation is very deflationary. Uh, we’ve got, you know, things from humanoid robots to rockets to gene editing, to uh, to crypto and everything in between. And so I think those three things really tell the story of where, uh, markets potentially go in the future. When I grew up, um. S and P 500 was the benchmark. There’s a risk-free rate in bonds. I believe that my generation and younger sees Bitcoin as the benchmark. And so, uh, it’s very simple. If you can’t beat it, you gotta buy it. And I think that there’s institutions around the country who are realizing they can’t beat the benchmark and therefore they will end up buying it. And really, to me, that is, uh, maybe the most interesting. Part of the entire conversation is that Bitcoin obviously has risen significantly on a percentage basis in appreciation. Bitcoin has kind of infiltrated every corner of finance, but most importantly is it has transitioned from a high risk, you know, kind of asymmetric type asset to now it’s becoming the hurdle rate uhhuh. And if you’re the hurdle rate, you suck up a lot of capital. Yeah. Because there’s not a lot of people who can beat you. And I think that that is a very powerful position for Bitcoin to be in. And that’s how you infiltrate into, uh, the institutional portfolios. Bitcoin will stop going up. When they stop printing money. I don’t think they’re gonna stop printing money, so I don’t think Bitcoin’s gonna stop going up. That’s kind of one huge component of this. The second thing is that Bitcoin is very unique in that the higher the price goes, the less risky it is deemed by the largest pools of capital. Mm-hmm. And so usually, you know, if NVIDIA’s at a $4 trillion market cap, people like, oh, it might be overvalued there. A lot of debate. Right. Bitcoin if it was at a $4 trillion market cap would be way less risky than it when’s at 2 trillion. And so there is a lot of structural advantages, both from the legacy world but also from the Bitcoin market that I think will continue to lead to these large institutional capital pools. Uh, allocating some percentage. And the beauty is right now we have very small adoption in that world. Uh, it’s only gonna get bigger. It’s only gonna get more normalized. And I think that one of the parts people really underestimate when it comes to Bitcoin is how important time passing is. You know, if you think back, uh, there is not anyone under the age of 16 that has lived their life without Bitcoin existing. If you’re keeping large chunks of money in savings account, paying less than 1% or any percent less than inflation, you’re bleeding wealth every single day. It feels safe. It looks safe, right? ’cause the numbers may not be moving nominally but it, but it’s not safe. It’s a bucket with a hole in the bottom and you don’t even notice until it’s almost empty. That’s why the wealthy don’t hoard cash. They own assets. They own assets that inflate with inflation. If you can’t beat ’em, join them. They buy things that grow in value as dollars shrink because they understand the system. They don’t fight it, they ride it. So you’ve said many times that the current monetary system is broken and headed for reckoning. So from your perspective, what are the core flaws in the system right now and how do we get here? Well, probably the largest and most obvious underlying flaw in the monetary system is the fact that the federal government just can’t balance its budget. And so they have to take on debt to cover the deficit that they run and that deficit. Well, you know, over the course of the last 20 years, it’s gone up and down. More recently, it’s gone mostly up and, uh. We just came through a period where, you know, it was reemphasized to everybody. Just what a problem this is. Because as you’ll recall, when Trump was first elected, they were talking about those, the Department of Government Efficiency and cutting expenses and you know, maybe 2 trillion or 1 trillion. Of course, then Elon got frustrated and left and the numbers have come down and you know, Trump and the Freedom Caucus was saying they were gonna try and balance the budget or at least cut expenses. And of course, what we know is that they just passed this big beautiful bill. Which really increases the deficits and they bump the debt, uh, ceiling up by another $5 trillion. So sadly, what do many of us have seen and been saying, which is to say they just can’t stop, kind of continue. Seems to be continuing. And, um, you know, the reason why that, just to close the full circle, the reason why that matters is they, they do this debt, they issue debt to cover these deficits, and then the debt requires interest payments and, you know, there’s not enough money to make the interest payments. And so. They more or less have to print the money, you know, and inflate the money supply to keep the system going. And that’s why it’s so important to hard assets. You know, we need to grow the economy at, you know, 4, 5, 6, 7% a year, which, which we’ve never really done on real terms. Well, I think that is kind of what they’re projecting it might be, but it, it’s gonna be harder than hell to achieve. I mean, it just, where you can’t just snap your fingers and create that growth. Now, don’t get me wrong, if you start to, if you ramp up inflation. If you have 10% inflation, well then the GDP number’s gonna get bigger, fast. And so really the model they’ve used, they call it the R Star model, is that they’ve got to have faster growth. Growth rate has to be higher than interest rates, or else you’re in a debt spiral. And so what’s been happening is, by the way, that’s why Trump wants to take interest rates down so much. You know, he is called for a 300 basis point cut. Imagine right now with inflation running at three plus percent, if they cut rates to one point a half percent or one point a quarter percent, I mean, it would be good for the economy. People would refi their houses. You know, there were all kinds of, you know, growth, right? Huge. But in turn it would be inflationary, very inflationary. That’s the trap. They’re really kind of caught in. It’s a seventies kind of stagflation sort of environment. You know, if they don’t keep rates low, they’re not gonna have any growth. If they want to get growth, they’ve gotta keep rates low. That’s gonna lead to monetary creation, which is gonna lead to inflation. Look how it all resolves is very complicated and none of us know. Yeah, sure. But what I do know with very high certainty, with a lot of confidence is this is going to be an inflationary decade. It’s already been an inflationary decade, and because of the way the math is today is very highly likely to continue to be an inflationary decade until we fix this monetary system. Well, we have less than 3% adoption. Three goes to six fairly easily. You know, human beings underestimate how long change really requires, and then we really underestimate how much change actually occurs. Think the internet like we are moving into a digital planet, right? Robots are not going to use credit cards, man. They’re not gonna use, they don’t need visa. We don’t need middlemen. The cool thing about Bitcoin, unlike the Rolls Royce, is you don’t have to buy the whole Rolls Royce. You can buy a fraction of it. You know, you don’t, maybe you guys partner with each other to do apartment buildings. Well, you’re already doing fractured deals on apartment buildings, so Sure. It’s not really that different. 2%, 3% goes to six. I mean, it does go to six. You have the largest ETF in the history of ETFs, okay? This supersedes the goal. ETF by orders of magnitude. I study markets very, very well, price. Really gets people’s attention. I think price is, uh, 90% of Bitcoin. Like I am truly a supply and demand guy. Oh wow. 21 million. And you guys have lost four. You lost 4 million coins. Oh, how’d you lose the 4 million? You lost the 4 million. I know how you lost it. You mispriced it. Bitcoin has been mispriced every day. Its entire history. Dude. 19 million coins have been issued. The addressable market is 8 billion people. You don’t need ’em all. Yep. You just need a small function of those 8 billion to go, Ooh. 21 million units and and four have been lost. It’s already mispriced. Okay. They’re pricing Bitcoin at one 15 Today, assuming there’s 21 million units, we know there’s not. There’s 17, so the supply shrunk. The market caps at 2 trillion. Hello. The standard deduction for a household is now, uh, what in a low 32,000 range. And it turns out that 60% of the households in the United States cannot take advantage of itemized deductions. That is when they take their mortgage interest, property taxes, charitable deductions, they don’t get that number. And so there’s not as much benefit to home ownership as there used to be in the United States. With our big institutional players, nobody wants their appraised values to be quickly marked down to market, because if your competitors don’t do the same thing and they’re part of the index and benchmark that you compete against, you’re going to underperform. And so we’ve traditionally had a lot. Appraised values for real estate among the institutional players, especially. You don’t get this out of the private market, but you get this from the nare players, the institutional type players, and, um, and everybody’s, uh, uh, fearful of underperforming that index. I would prefer as a private investor just to go ahead, bite the bullet and mark it down. Now take the pain if in fact you’ve seen it go down. Some markets have seen property values go down 30, 35% even in multifamily, but they’ve bottomed out in the transaction market and, and absolutely the, uh, the appraisers are gonna have to bring it down and the owners are gonna have to ease up that pressure and say, yes, I want a realistic appraisal. But, um, but there is that fear of underperforming the index and that’s. What’s holding up the American appraisal firms in 2008, 9, 10, 11, we saw a lot of deep distress. The the smart money was ready for it. Now, there’s a lot of people with dry powder, as we say. Ready to p on the market hoping for some distress from those who cannot refinance now, whose, whose CMBS loan or other money is, is rolling. A couple points there. One is, I think you’re going to see more loan modifications this cycle than last time because they realize it’s temporary and they realize that not all properties are in trouble. And these tend to be the higher leverage properties. The smart private wealth investors tended to use conservative leverage over the last several years knowing we’d hit a cycle and, and they probably are 65% or less. Leverage some of the, um, greener newer investment managers might have gone up to 80% and might have even used variable rate debt when they shouldn’t have. They’re the ones getting nailed. They’re losing all their equity and that property is distressed. So there’s not that much of it out there. But there’s a little bit, and I would certainly pounce on it if you can find it. There are often a lot of sort of hidden costs associated with buying versus renting. Can you talk about trying to weed through some of that? Sure some of the highest costs that we don’t think about when we own, although we do take cut down on risk. And also I think that’s come back to consumption. I, I is the fact that there’s the opportunity cost. So think about having 50%, a hundred percent of your home paid for. This, it’s the opportunity cost. You’ve actually taken capital out of play at higher returns to put it into something that perhaps, yes, you see it as a form of an investment, but it’s also partly consumption. And I think that’s why many people end up paying for their homes when they can, because there’s an old saying, and that is, you can’t go broke if you don’t owe money on it. Right? So if you, it’s hard for the lender to come get your home and you don’t really care, right? You wanna be able to. Have no debt on your home. It doesn’t make the typical financial sense if we argue at it from leverage and returns and maximization of returns. I think most people this high end level are looking at, you know, I, I, I, I have high net worth. I’m looking at both consumption and the investment side of the component. But very often the consumption wins and the investment is I can be safe and I can own this house. Outright in many states too. Your homeowner, the home that you live in, you are actually, if you’ve homesteaded the home, you’re actually protected against lawsuits and other things that are out there. Divorce cases will protect your position in, in terms of a homestead, so you can protect a significant portion of wealth by having a paid for home. What are some of those markets that are really overpriced versus. I guess underpriced right now. So when we look at the top 10 most overpriced markets in America right now, we look at their prices, where they are and compare them to where they should be statistically modeling them. We’re seeing the most overpriced markets are Detroit at 33.5% and then falling, falling, descending. Order of Cleveland, Ohio. New Haven, Connecticut, Akron, Ohio, Worcester, Massachusetts, Las Vegas, Nevada, Hartford, Connecticut. Rochester, New York, Knoxville, Tennessee, Toledo, Ohio. You’ll notice. And these are overpriced. These are overpriced. These, the overpriced mark. That’s so, that’s sort of counterintuitive, isn’t it? Ab absolutely. But yes. Wow. Okay. And then h how about the, uh, underpriced markets? I’m curious on that too. Sure. So when we then go to the opposite end of the spectrum, and usually now with underpriced comes risk and there’s risk in both of these markets, what you wanna do, both overpriced and underpriced, what you wanna be long term in a housing market. Uh, ’cause you want to be really close to that trend and not have these dramatic swings. It’s just like stock price. We don’t like volatility. Housing, it’s, it’s dangerous for performance. The most underpriced markets. We only have four markets in America right now that are trading at a discount relative to their long-term pricing trend. In other words, statistically, where they historically prices say prices should be today only four cities are underperforming. That that’s Austin, Texas at 3.1% below where they should be, or a discount of 3.1%. San Francisco at a discount of 6.5%. Wow. New Orleans, Louisiana at a discount of 8.7 and Honolulu, Hawaii at a discount of 10.3. Notice I’m not saying these markets are inexpensive. They’re just below where they’ve historically been. These are the best buys right now because they’re below their long-term trend. One of our other indices, we call it our price to rent ratio. It’s really a PE ratio for rents versus home ownership. And then so we can look at that. So if you’re in our a hundred markets, we know the average price, right? So it’s gonna be priced, divided by the annual average rent. So it’s gonna be how many dollars in price do you pay for every $1 and annual rent? And that gives us the relative difference between owning and renting. The higher that ratio. The, the more you should on in general be leaning towards renting, the lower that ratio, the more you should be leaning towards owning. And we used to do an old buy versus rent index for 23 cities. We now do it for 100 cities. And this price to rent ratio produces almost the same exact answer. So when we look at the average price to rent ratio in an area and we just compare, are they above or currently are you above the price to rent ratio? Uh, for Los Angeles, California. Are you below it? If you’re above that average for say the last 10 years, you’re gonna be rent friendly. If you’re below it, you’re gonna be bio friendly. I can do this very quickly. Pick a California market you’d like to know about. Why don’t we try Dallas, Texas. Okay. Dallas, Texas. That one’s in the top 100 in terms of population. So Dallas, Texas, uh, their price to rent ratio is at about a, just below a 6% premium. In other words, that trade off between renting and owning is about 6% above where it should be, so it slightly favors renting. I’ll jump to the next index. If we look at actual prices in Dallas, there’s a slight premium. So it’s, it’s, it’s telling me, Hey, that my price to rent ratio’s high, slightly favoring ownership, but it’s probably because prices are a little high and they might change. Uh, Dallas has had a bit of a. Premium right now. So I will now go look at Dallas rents. My gut feeling is they’re gonna be below average and they are. They’re at about a 4.5% discount. So that’s just market dynamics in motion right there. And we can do that for a hundred cities pretty quickly. Mm-hmm. You make a lot of money, but are still worried about retirement. Maybe you didn’t start earning until your thirties, now you’re trying to catch up. Meanwhile, you’ve got a mortgage, a private school to pay for, and you feel like you’re getting further and further behind. Good news. If you need to catch up on retirement, check out a program. M put off by some of the oldest and most prestigious life insurance companies in the world. It’s called Wealth Accelerator, and it can help you amplify your returns quickly, protect your money from creditors, and provide financial protection to your family if something happens to you. The concepts here are used by some of the wealthiest families in the world, and there’s no reason why they can’t be used by you. Check it out for yourself by going to wealth formula banking.com. Welcome back to the show everyone. Hope you enjoyed it and uh, once again. Thanks again for listening. Uh, I truly appreciate your support. I hope, uh, I hope it’s been entertaining for you and that you’ll learn something along the way and, um, you know, always appreciate your feedback. Shoot me an email, bucket wealth formula.com. Let me know if there’s things that you want me to do. Let me know if there’s things you wanna hear more about. Uh, but hopefully it’s gonna be a good year and we’re gonna keep plugging away talking about the, you know, try to get educated myself and pass along information to you on Wealth Formula Podcast. That’s it for me this week on Wealth Formula Podcast. This is Buck Joffrey. If you wanna learn more, you can now get free access to our in-depth personal finance course featuring industry leaders like Tom Wheel Wright and Ken McElroy. Visit well formula roadmap.com.

In this episode, the hosts dissect a fast-growing mattress manufacturer with $43M in revenue and shrinking margins—raising questions about customer acquisition, product differentiation, and whether this red-ocean DTC business is salvageable or doomed.Welcome to Acquisitions Anonymous – the #1 podcast for small business M&A. Every week, we break down businesses for sale and talk about buying, operating, and growing them.

You're gonna love this episode. No joke, someone needs to make a series about Sean. He constantly bets on himself and has an incredible story. Podcast Nuggies From biomedical engineer to investor: moved to Memphis, flipped ~1,500 houses, syndicated ~800 units. Transitioned back to Utah; year-plus search with multiple failed LOIs, then bought PSI Tops (countertops/cabinets) in late 2024 (~$800k EBITDA, 35 employees, included real estate/SBA). DON'T be afraid of being the backup buyer!   Join the How to Buy a Business Cohort - Jan 2026 https://www.letsbuyabusiness.com/ Sourcing List:https://www.letsbuyabusiness.com/source   SMBs are the biggest target for cyber attacks. Protect your business with Inzo Technologies.Check out....www.inzotechnologies.com, I-N-Z-O, or email Nick directly at nick@inzotechnologies.com.   Guest Name:  Sean Tagge   Additional guest information https://www.linkedin.com/in/seantagge/ acornea.com

From closing dinner conversations that changed his career trajectory to advising on transactions up to half a billion dollars, Channing Hamlet shares proven strategies for selling businesses at premium valuations through proper preparation, understanding sector-specific value drivers, and creative deal structures. In this episode of the DealQuest Podcast, host Corey Kupfer sits down with Channing Hamlet, Managing Director at Objective Investment Banking and Valuation, who has over 30 years of experience advising business owners on management issues, transaction execution, and business valuation. Channing's firm specializes in lower middle market transactions, typically ranging from $10-25 million up to $100-150 million in value. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: In this episode, you'll discover how buyer expectations have dramatically shifted over 25 years and why preparation requirements for premium valuations have intensified. Channing explains why clean accounting is no longer optional, how financial projections can make or break your valuation, and the three key value drivers beyond revenue and EBITDA. You'll also learn creative deal structures that can save transactions when traditional financing becomes challenging. CHANNING'S JOURNEY: Channing's path into dealmaking started at the family dinner table, where his father frequently hosted business visitors for dinner conversations about deals and transactions. His pivotal moment came while working at Legg Mason doing M&A, when a patriarch from a third-generation family business pulled him aside at a closing dinner and shared how much the work had changed his family's life. That moment hooked him on helping entrepreneurs and family businesses navigate successful exits. KEY INSIGHTS: In the mid-1990s, private equity firms paid four to six times EBITDA. Today, good companies sell for 10 to 14 times EBITDA, but buyers expect sellers to show up polished and prepared. Channing identifies three major value drivers beyond EBITDA. First, understanding what drives value in your specific sector. Second, building predictability through recurring revenue and systematized operations. Third, clearly articulating your differentiation and unique value proposition. Financial projections matter because selling takes approximately nine months, meaning buyers pay based on projected results, not historical performance. A last-minute budget won't stand up to scrutiny. Channing also shares a creative deal structure where seller financing at 10% interest saved a transaction when traditional bank financing fell through. Perfect for business owners considering an exit in the next 3-5 years, M&A advisors working with lower middle market companies, and anyone wanting to understand what truly drives premium valuations. FOR MORE ON THIS EPISODE: https://www.coreykupfer.com/blog/channinghamlet FOR MORE ON CHANNING HAMLET: https://objectivecp.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/channing-hamlet/ FOR MORE ON COREY KUPFER https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreykupfer/ https://www.coreykupfer.com/ Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator, and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author, and professional speaker. He is deeply passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast. Get deal-ready with the DealQuest Podcast with Corey Kupfer, where like-minded entrepreneurs and business leaders converge, share insights and challenges, and success stories. Equip yourself with the tools, resources, and support necessary to navigate the complex yet rewarding world of dealmaking. Dive into the world of deal-driven growth today! Episode Highlights with Timestamps [00:00] - Introduction: Channing Hamlet's journey from family dinner table conversations to investment banking [02:17] - Growing up around business deal discussions and choosing the outdoor life [03:45] - The closing dinner moment that changed everything at Legg Mason [08:19] - How the M&A landscape has transformed over 25 years [10:26] - Why buyer expectations and preparation requirements have increased [18:52] - Understanding sector-specific value drivers through the printing industry example [23:39] - Market outlook for 2023 and beyond [31:43] - The three legs of Objective's valuation practice[40:03] - Finding Objective Capital Partners and getting in touch Guest Bio Channing Hamlet is a Managing Director at Objective Investment Banking and Valuation, focused on leading the firm's valuation advisory service practice and transaction execution for its investment banking services practice. He is a results-driven executive with 30+ years of experience advising owners on management issues, transaction execution, and business valuation. Channing draws on a diverse background that includes direct management experience, strategy consulting, private equity investing, investment banking, and business appraisal experience to advise his clients. He is actively involved in the LA and San Diego business communities and has spoken at numerous organizations including EO. He was chosen as the Investment Banking Visionary for 2022 and 2021 in Banking and Finance magazine. Host Bio Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator, and dealmaker with more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author, and professional speaker deeply passionate about deal-driven growth. He is the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast. Show Description Do you want your business to grow faster? The DealQuest Podcast with Corey Kupfer reveals how successful entrepreneurs and business leaders use strategic deals to accelerate growth. From large mergers and acquisitions to capital raising, joint ventures, strategic alliances, real estate deals, and more, this show discusses the full spectrum of deal-driven growth strategies. Get the confidence to pursue deals that will help your company scale faster. Related Episodes Episode 350 - Tom Dillon: When NOT to Take Venture Capital Money: Explore valuation considerations and preparing for exit from a fractional CFO perspective. Episode 330 - Pete Mohr: Building Exit-Ready Businesses: Discover how to build a business that commands premium multiples through systematization and predictability. Episode 332 - John Martinka: Exit with Style, Grace, and More Money: Learn practical strategies for maximizing value when selling your business. Episode 339 - Solocast 74: Exit and Succession Planning: Corey's insights on preparing for successful business transitions and the importance of advance planning. Episode 88 - Internal Succession Deals: Explore options for transitioning business ownership to next-generation leadership. Keywords/Tags business valuation, selling a business, M&A preparation, EBITDA multiples, exit strategy, investment banking, lower middle market transactions, sell-side advisory, company valuation, premium valuation, buyer expectations, financial projections, value drivers, private equity, business sale preparation, transaction execution, family business sale, entrepreneurship, dealmaking, business growth strategies

Stop guessing what your business is truly worth and learn the core differences between the lower and upper middle markets and what drives a higher business valuation. Discover why professional buyers focus less on revenue and more on durable cash flow and why professionalizing your operations is your ticket to a bigger exit. Start working on your exit plan now to demand a better multiple later. View the complete show notes for this episode. Want To Learn More? Business Valuation Basics: 9 Critical Concepts to Understand Should I Use SDE or EBITDA to Value My Business for Sale? Business Valuation Checklist: 3 Traps to Avoid Additional Resources: Selling your business? Schedule a free consultation today. Sign up for an Assessment and Valuation of Your Business. Courses: The Art & Science of Selling a Business Download The Art of The Exit: The Complete Guide to Selling Your Business Download Acquired: The Art of Selling a Business With $10 Million to $100 Million in Revenue If you have any topic or guest suggestions, please email them to podcast@morganandwestfield.com.

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE? https://www.agencymastery360.com/training What do you do when a business partnership fails? Do you try to engineer the perfect agreement so the exit is clean, or focus on alignment long before anyone signs anything? The truth is, most agency partnerships fail because owners rush into them without slowing down to see the cracks. Preparing for the worst is not pessimistic. It is how you protect the business you are trying to build. Today's featured guest has gone through failed starts, broken agency partnerships, and overcommitting his time as the owner for fear of losing opportunities. He'll unpack 25 years of wins, mistakes, and hard earned clarity, from building his agency and how the biggest breakthroughs came from leadership shifts rather than marketing tactics. Andy Crestodina is the co founder of Orbit Media, a Chicago based web development and optimization agency approaching its 25th year in business. Orbit has grown to a team of fifty five and more than eight million in annual revenue. Andy is also one of the most respected voices in content marketing, with millions of readers, hundreds of speaking engagements each year, and a reputation for teaching real strategy instead of recycled tactics. In this episode, we'll discuss: Slow, organic for consistent agency growth. What a failed agency partnership can cost you. The hire that gives an agency founder their time back. Learning when "yes" becomes the problem. Subscribe Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio Sponsors and Resources E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service. How Slow, Organic Growth Built a 25-Year Agency Andy was working as an IT recruiter in the nineties and found himself bored at his day job. He didn't get to build anything in that position and he had a lot of ideation urging him to do something else. Luckily, the internet offered him that chance. He could build a website and channel his creative energy through that side project. But could he do it full time? He had no resume and no portfolio to present to a potential employer. He realized it was easier to get a client to take a chance on him than it was to convince an employer to hire him. So he and a high school friend started building sites. The first partnership failed fast and then the second attempt grew slowly, quietly, and steadily for 25 years. The secret was not paid ads or cold outreach. It was content. Consistent publishing, useful insights, and a commitment to organic channels long before that became mainstream advice. When Agency Partnerships Go Wrong and What It Really Costs There are many stories of successful partnerships in the agency world, but overall the disaster stories are much more common. As Jason says, you either know the bad partner or you are the bad partner. Andy lived through one of the toughest versions of that story. He had three partners for a while. One of them ran an unprofitable department. Responsibilities were unclear. Values were not aligned. And when it came time to clean up the mess, a poorly written shareholder agreement became a bigger problem than the partner himself. Andy had to mortgage his home and personally lend the company money to buy out the partner. The agreement used the wrong valuation formula. The partner dragged his feet and what should have been a difficult but clean process turned into a long, expensive, emotionally draining separation. Looking back, Andy says something most founders never admit. A handshake would have been better than the shareholder agreement they had. The real mistakes came earlier: saying yes to a partner who did not share the same values, not slowing down long enough to evaluate the deal, and being hungry for growth and ignoring misalignment. The Leadership Hire That Gave the Founder His Time Back Around this time of misalignment between partners was when a long time client turned management consultant stepped in. He saw tension inside the partner group, so he moved to do a 360 review and surfaced the problems that no one wanted to say out loud. Andy was quick to spot that he would be a great addition to the agency, and so eventually, he became the CEO. That single hire changed everything. Andy was doing all the sales and marketing. Meetings all day. Proposals all night. Burning energy on tasks someone else should have owned years earlier. Once his new CEO came on board, he built systems, built a sales process, hired strategists to handle qualification and scoping. Suddenly Andy had 20 hours a week of his life back. He poured that time into content and went right into work. He doubled publishing frequency, launched a conference, wrote a book, held monthly live events, shot videos. The brand exploded. Their reach multiplied. The inbound engine went from effective to unstoppable. This is the founder shift so many agency owners avoid. Letting go. Delegating the work that drains you. Investing your best energy into the work that grows the company, not the work that maintains it. Saying Yes, Saying No, and Protecting Your Energy Andy admits he still overcommits. He still says yes to speaking engagements because he loves the stage and it generates leads, even though the constant travel wears him down. This is something many agency owners have to face. You may want the brand, speaking gigs and reach. But you also want to protect your energy so you do not turn into the hero who disappoints people when they finally meet you. At some point, you have to choose where your yes goes. Andy chose articles, newsletters, LinkedIn, webinars, a conference, and in person events. He let go of podcasting. He narrowed his focus so he could go deeper. That discipline, more than any tactic, is what keeps his inbound engine healthy 25 years later. The Tension Between Culture and Profit How do you balance loyalty to your team with the need for profit and EBITDA? Andy is still trying to figure this out. His team has an average tenure of eight years. Some team members have been there twenty. Andy cares deeply about them and their families. But agencies face moments when bonuses, salaries, utilization, and capacity collide. Where doing right by people and doing right for the business feel like competing priorities. There is no perfect answer. But there is a direction. Take care of your people first. Trust them to help you solve the profit problems. Fix leaks. Raise rates. Tighten scope. Operate like owners. And when the agency wins, let your team win with you. Culture breaks agencies faster than anything else. Profit can be fixed. Culture cannot be patched over. Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset? Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.

Joel Dolisy, CTO at WellSky, joins the podcast to reveal why organizational design is the ultimate "operating system" for scaling tech companies. This conversation is a deep dive into how engineering leaders must adapt their strategies when moving between the hyper growth of Venture Capital and the disciplined profitability of Private Equity.Building a high performing team is about much more than just hiring. Joel explains the necessity of maximizing the "multiplier effect" where the collective output far exceeds the sum of individual parts. We explore the pragmatic reality of digital transformation, the "art" of timing disruptive technology adoption like Generative AI, and how to use the Three Horizons framework to keep your core business stable while chasing the next big innovation. Whether you are leading a team of ten or an organization of hundreds, these insights on design principles and leadership context are essential for navigating the complexities of modern software delivery.Core InsightsShifting the perspective of software from a cost center to a core growth enabler is the fundamental requirement for any company aiming to be a true innovator.Private Equity environments require a specialized leadership approach because the "hold period" clock dictates when to prioritize aggressive growth versus EBITDA margin acceleration.Scaling successfully requires a "skeleton" of design principles, such as maintaining team sizes around eight people to ensure optimal communication flow and minimize overhead.The most critical role of a senior leader is providing constant context to the engineering org, ensuring teams understand the "why" behind shifting constraints as the company matures.Timestamped Highlights01:12 Defining the broad remit of a CTO from infrastructure and security to the unusual addition of UX.04:44 Treating your organizational structure as a living operating system that must be upgraded as you grow.10:07 Why innovation must include internal efficiency gains to free up resources for new revenue streams.15:01 Navigating the massive waves of disruption from the internet to mobile and now large language models.23:11 The tactical differences in funding engineering efforts during a five to seven year Private Equity hold period.28:57 Applying Team Topologies to create clear responsibilities across platform, feature, and enablement teams.Words to Lead By"You are trying to optimize what a set of people can do together to create bigger and greater things than the sum of the individual parts there".Expert Tactics for Tech LeadersWhen evaluating new technology like AI, Joel suggests looking at the "adoption curve compression". Unlike the mid nineties when businesses had a decade to figure out the internet, the window to integrate modern disruptors is shrinking. Leaders should use the Three Horizons framework to move dollars from the core business (Horizon 1) to speculative innovation (Horizon 3) without making knee jerk reactions based solely on hype.Join the ConversationIf you found these insights on organizational design helpful, please subscribe to the show on your favorite platform and share this episode with a fellow engineering leader. You can also connect with Joel Dolisy on LinkedIn to keep up with his latest thoughts on healthcare technology and leadership.

In this episode, Michael sits down with Jay Bourgana, a turnaround expert and business builder who went from immigrant roots to overseeing $350M in real estate sales—and now focuses on acquiring and scaling profitable private businesses. Jay breaks down how buying established companies can accelerate wealth creation, how to structure acquisitions without becoming the day-to-day CEO, and why this strategy pairs naturally with syndication and real estate investing. If you're curious about business acquisitions as a scalable, high-cash-flow complement to multifamily, this episode is for you. Key TakeawaysBuying established businesses can outperform real estate on cash flow, with acquisitions often priced at 2–4x EBITDA and significant upside on exit.This strategy is not passive — business acquisitions are best suited for operators with experience, systems thinking, and the ability to build teams.The goal isn't to run the business forever: acquire, stabilize, install leadership, and step back from day-to-day operations.Three systems drive every successful business: customer acquisition & retention, talent acquisition & retention, and financial visibility.Debt can dramatically amplify returns when paired with strong cash flow, including SBA loans and seller financing.Recurring-revenue businesses are ideal, especially those with an install + maintenance model that creates predictable long-term income.Connect with MichaelFacebookInstagramYouTubeTikTokResourcesTheFreedomPodcast.com Access the #1 FREE Apartment Investing Course (Apartments 101)Schedule a Free Strategy Session with Michael's Team of AdvisorsExplore Michael's Mentoring ProgramJoin the Nighthawk Equity Investor ClubReview the Podcast on Apple PodcastsSyndicated Deal AnalyzerGet the Book, Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing by Michael Blank For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session503/

Brandon Schuh sits down with Dean Hildebrandt, President and CEO of Assurex Global, to explore how mega-broker consolidation is reshaping the insurance brokerage landscape. As consolidation accelerates in 2025, with mega-brokers absorbing smaller firms through billion-dollar acquisitions, including Willis Towers Watson's $1.3 billion purchase of Newfront and Baldwin Group's $1 billion acquisition of CAC Group, the conversation reveals how private equity is driving transactions that, while profitable for financial sponsors, leave clients, carriers, and employees bearing the costs. Dean brings two decades of expertise from his leadership at Associated Benefits and Risk Consulting and his pivotal role at Ahmann-Martin before joining Assurex.Dean challenges the prevailing narrative around these mega-deals, arguing that the real winners aren't clients or carriers but private equity firms extracting value through EBITDA portfolio plays. Throughout the episode, he details how consolidation is accelerating talent acquisitions and market share gains for independent, regionally-focused brokers like those in the Assurex network, firms that prioritize relationships, client service, and stability over spreadsheet metrics. The discussion also highlights Assurex's structural innovation: the launch of AG London, a first-of-its-kind London wholesale broker owned by 30 Assurex firms that operates under perpetual independence and cannot be acquired or sold.As the industry looks ahead to 2026-2027, Dean and Brandon examine how technology and AI will reshape brokerage operations while emphasizing that true competitive advantage lies in understanding the full value chain. The episode underscores a fundamental tension in modern insurance. Whether consolidation will create better client outcomes or simply enrich financial sponsors while destabilizing the very firms and relationships that hold the industry together. For independent brokers navigating this landscape, the conversation offers both cautionary lessons and a compelling vision of an alternative future.Chapters02:30 – Wine recommendations and AI tool comparisons07:00 – Introduction to Dean Hildebrandt and his background10:00 – Dean's entry into brokerage and early career with Ahmann-Martin14:00 – Overview of 2025 consolidation trends and mega-broker activity16:30 – Willis Towers Watson acquires Newfront for $1.3 billion19:00 – Baldwin Group purchases CAC Group for $1 billion22:00 – Private equity's role in driving M&A transactions26:00 – How consolidation impacts clients, carriers, and employees31:00 – The absence of client perspective in private equity discussions35:00 – Deal sizing and EBITDA economics in mega-acquisitions39:00 – Why independent brokers are thriving amid consolidation42:00 – Introduction to Howden's US market entry strategy46:00 – Assurex's strategic response: AG London launch and structure51:00 – Dean's journey to Assurex Global leadership54:00 – Technology, AI, and automation in brokerage operations58:00 – How carriers are adapting to industry transformation61:00 – Conclusion and future outlook for independent brokerageConnect with RiskCellar:Website: https://www.riskcellar.com/Brandon Schuh:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552710523314LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-stephen-schuh/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schuhpapa/Nick Hartmann:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickjhartmann/ Dean Hildebrandt - President & CEO, Assurex GlobalWebsite: https://www.assurexglobal.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-hildebrandt-09810baAbout Assurex Global:Founded in 1954, Assurex Global is the world's largest privately held commercial insurance, risk management, and employee benefits brokerage group, combining local expertise with global reach across more than 600 partner office

Most founders believe the value of their business lies entirely inside their operating company. In this episode, Jason Bush joins Jerome Myers to challenge that assumption and expose one of the most overlooked exit-planning risks: real estate misalignment. Drawing from Jason's two exits, his background in engineering, business advisory, and commercial real estate, and his work at Linville Team Partners, this conversation unpacks how poorly structured leases, ownership entities, and rent strategies can quietly destroy enterprise value.  You'll hear real-world horror stories, surprising valuation math, and a powerful framework for turning real estate from a liability into a strategic wealth-building lever before an exit ever hits the market. [00:00 – 07:00] From Engineering to Exit Clarity Jason shares his early career as a civil engineer and his first successful business exit Why one exit worked and another failed despite strong income The difference between owning a “job” and building a sellable enterprise [07:01 – 15:00] Why Exits Fail Even When the Business Looks Strong Most exits fail due to lack of clarity, not lack of revenue Why a liquidity event rarely changes how people think about life The danger of exiting without a clear “what's next” [15:01 – 24:00] Brokerage vs Advisory: A Critical Distinction The difference between business brokerage and real estate brokerage Why advisory work starts long before any transaction How advisors miss value when real estate is treated as an afterthought [24:01 – 33:00] The Real Estate Horror Story Every Founder Should Hear A real example where a multimillion-dollar business became unsellable How month-to-month leases can destroy buyer confidence Why M&A advisors often overlook real estate risk until it's too late [33:01 – 42:00] OpCo, PropCo, and the Valuation Blind Spot Why operating companies and real estate must be separate entities How under-market rent inflates EBITDA but reduces real exit value The hidden cap-rate advantage of moving value into real estate [42:01 – 52:00] Turning Real Estate into Optionality, Not Risk How paying market rent can increase total enterprise value Why real estate is often more valuable than the business itself The power of optionality when exits are structured correctly Key Quotes: “Real estate is often valued at a higher multiple than the business, yet it's treated like an afterthought.” - Jason Bush  “Most founders don't realize they have two businesses to exit: the operating company and the real estate.” - Jason Bush Connect with Jason!Website https://www.ltpcommercial.com/brokers/jason-bush/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-bush-value-advisor/ Join industry leaders shaping the future and secure your spot at the Exit Planning Summit today! https://exitplanningsummit.com/speakers Ready for your next chapter?Start Your Assessment Now