Do Not Do Your First Acquisition Until You Hear This (with Seth Deutsch)
Everything They Don’t Tell You
Release Date: 12/23/2025
Do Not Do Your First Acquisition Until You Hear This (with Seth Deutsch)
Everything They Don’t Tell You
Most founders treat buying a business like a shortcut. In reality, your first acquisition is old-school marriage. It cannot end in divorce. Seth Deutsch joins me to unpack how to know if you should acquire at all, how to avoid blowing your first deal, and how to build an anti-fragile business that investors actually want. Most founders think they have a growth problem. In reality, a lot of them have an acquisition problem waiting to happen. In this episode I sit down with Seth Deutsch, deal architect, investor, and operator who has led or advised on more than 70 acquisitions,...
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Stop Doing The Jobs That Lose You Money
Everything They Don’t Tell You
Most owners in the trades do not have a revenue problem. They have a profit problem. Ben Hansen, the Profit Doctor, joins me to break down why you are working harder than ever with nothing to show for it and how to fix it. In this episode, I sit down with Ben Hansen, the Profit Doctor, to dig into why so many blue collar entrepreneurs are incredible operators and terrible CFOs for their own company. We talk about the gap between turning wrenches and understanding your numbers, why most bookkeepers and CPAs are not setting you up to win, and what to do if your revenue is climbing but...
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Think Like An Olympic Champion with Joe Jacobi
Everything They Don’t Tell You
A candid business podcast for growth-minded leaders and entrepreneurs. Hosted by Josh Zolin. The truth about leadership, business, and becoming who you’re meant to be. Olympic gold medalist Joe Jacobi breaks down performance without the hustle theater: rehearse the day, put presence before future-self, and master wave selection (the art of letting most waves pass so the right ones carry you farther with less effort). We get tactical on routines, gratitude at the start line, 15-second resets, and why the small waves you surf will compound into big results. ► Free resource: 90...
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What People Hear Is Not What You Said
Everything They Don’t Tell You
Leaders don’t get buy‑in by talking louder. Dave Garrison (CEO, advisor, author of The Buy‑In Advantage) breaks down how to make people care: confirm what they heard, define great, switch from human doings to human beings, and replace answers with questions so teams own the work. Plus: the 30% raise rule, warning signs you’re losing buy‑in, and the one meeting question that changes everything. ► Free resource: 90 Day ROI Playbook - Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains Music Licensing by Audiio License #: 0981896904
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The Hive Model: Let Them Be Brilliant
Everything They Don’t Tell You
Leadership that lasts looks more like a hive than a pyramid. Philip Atkinson (consultant and beekeeper) explains how: the queen serves the hive, communication is clear and consistent, leaders “sense the system,” and careers evolve through many roles. Plus: three coaching skills to practice this week (listen, ask better questions, stay curious). ► Free resource: 90 Day ROI Playbook — Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains Check out Philip’s book Be Wise and Bees for Development (proceeds to charity). 🐝 Bee Wise: 12 Leadership Lessons from a Busy Beehive...
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Start Today, Not “Someday”
Everything They Don’t Tell You
Stop waiting for perfect. Start today. Al Levi breaks down why momentum beats perfection, how to “box” your business so it can scale, and the seven powers he uses to build teams and companies that last. Al Levi shares the mindset and mechanics to grow: start now, ship at 80 percent, and build on documented systems, not slogans. We get into his “seven powers” framework (planning, operations, staffing, sales, sales coaching, marketing, finance), why people need the why, and how to turn ideas into a focused “top five” plan you’ll actually finish. We also hit training that...
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They Gave The Company To The Employees (Here’s Why)
Everything They Don’t Tell You
A candid business podcast for growth-minded leaders and entrepreneurs. Hosted by Josh Zolin. The truth about leadership, business, and becoming who you’re meant to be. What happens when a CEO stops optimizing for the quarter and starts optimizing for people? Henny Penny’s Rob Connelly walks us through why they converted to an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan), how it changed behavior on the floor, and the leadership credo that guided the journey: “Savor the day while always learning for a better tomorrow.” We talk long-view decision making, radical accountability, and why...
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Find Your Zone of Genius with Dr. Gay Hendricks
Everything They Don’t Tell You
A candid business podcast for growth-minded leaders and entrepreneurs. Hosted by Josh Zolin. The truth about leadership, business, and becoming who you’re meant to be. Episode 3 with Dr. Gay Hendricks (The Big Leap): We unpack the Upper Limit Problem and how to spot it in real time, then move into practical tools for living in your Zone of Genius. We cover the fears that trigger self-sabotage, the two questions that reveal your genius, excellence vs genius, how to handle worry thoughts, and why wonder is a leadership superpower. What you’ll learn • Upper Limit Problem, in plain English...
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Be Where Your Feet Are - How high-performing dads win at home and at work.
Everything They Don’t Tell You
A candid business podcast for growth-minded leaders and entrepreneurs. Hosted by Josh Zolin. The truth about leadership, business, and becoming who you’re meant to be. 🎯 Free resource: 90 Day ROI Playbook — Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains How high-performing dads win at home like they do in business. We talk presence vs. hurry, immature vs. mature masculinity, self-leadership, “be where your feet are,” the Preparation Pause, and why coachability beats clout. Practical, human, and immediately usable. Topics we cover • Presence over hurry...
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Fear, Tribe, and the Leadership Switch That Gets You Shipping
Everything They Don’t Tell You
Everything They Don’t Tell You with Josh Zolin and guest Christian Ray Flores. Leaders don’t freeze because they’ll fail. They freeze because they’ll be rejected by the tribe. Christian Ray Flores breaks that loop and gets practical: build an offer (Persona, Problem, Promise, Process) and use the Seven Fs to scale without losing yourself. 🎯 Free resource: — Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains Highlights: • Fear of failure vs fear of rejection and tribal wiring • “Fit in by standing out” — in service to your tribe • Offers > services: the 4 Ps...
info_outlineMost founders treat buying a business like a shortcut. In reality, your first acquisition is old-school marriage. It cannot end in divorce. Seth Deutsch joins me to unpack how to know if you should acquire at all, how to avoid blowing your first deal, and how to build an anti-fragile business that investors actually want.
Most founders think they have a growth problem. In reality, a lot of them have an acquisition problem waiting to happen.
In this episode I sit down with Seth Deutsch, deal architect, investor, and operator who has led or advised on more than 70 acquisitions, helped build nine private-equity-backed platforms, and worked on over 2 billion dollars of enterprise growth. We talk about buy vs build, why acquisitions are like merging families, and the mindset you need before you go anywhere near your first deal.
Seth breaks down culture, vision, peer-group cashless mergers, and what it means to make a business anti-fragile from an investor’s point of view. We get real about customer concentration, deal structure, earnouts, and why buying a company to save a struggling one is like adding fuel to a house that is already on fire.
He also opens up about complex PTSD and severe childhood abuse, how he hid it for years while building a high-performance career, and why he now speaks openly so other founders know it was not their fault and it does not have to define them.
If you are thinking about buying a business, selling your own, or just want to understand how investors really see your company, this conversation will give you a real-world lens most people never share.
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► Free resource: 90 Day ROI Playbook — Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains https://bitnw.academy/roiplaybook
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Guest: Seth Deutsch
Topic(s): Mergers and Acquisitions, private equity, owner operator, small business, investors, leadership, enterprise growth, cashless merger
https://www.samsonpartnersgroup.com/
Music Licensing by Audiio
License #: 0981896904
#cashlessmerger #business #privateequity