Before You Buy a Business, Check These Red Flags
The Liquid Lunch Project
Would you buy a business that loses its clients the minute the owner walks out the door? Muriel Touati reviewed more than 100 businesses while hunting for an acquisition. A lot of them looked good from across the room. Up close? Different story. Founder dependency. Weak recurring revenue. Too much money tied to one client. No real digital marketing system. And, in one case, a $3.7 million deal with 40% monthly customer churn. Hard pass. Muriel joins Matthew R. Meehan and Luigi Rosabianca to break down the biggest red flags in business acquisition, what lenders really care about, and how owners...
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Win Today: How Great Leaders Reset Under Pressure
The Liquid Lunch Project
Positive thinking might be the reason you’re still stuck. Pressure doesn’t vanish when you become a better leader. The stakes just get bigger. Performance coach and sports psychology expert Joshua Lifrak joins Matt and Luigi to explain how leaders can stay focused, reset after a bad result, and build confidence that is backed by real work, not wishful thinking and a motivational coffee mug. Joshua breaks down the same mental habits used by elite athletes, championship teams, and high-performing business leaders. The goal is not to feel great every second. It is to see the facts, control...
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The Real Cost of Owning a Bar with Chris Schneider
The Liquid Lunch Project
Think owning a bar is just pouring drinks and counting cash? Think again. Bar owner and coach Chris Schneider breaks down what really makes a bar work…and why a packed room can still leave you broke on Monday. Chris joins Matthew R. Meehan and Luigi Rosabianca to talk pricing, staff, food, location, profit, and the small costs that can quietly wipe out your margin. He also explains why gut instinct is not enough, why simple drinks often win, and why your parking lot may matter more than your cocktail list. 🍸 What you'll hear in this episode: Why bar owners need to follow the...
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Mark Roberge’s Formula for Smarter Sales and Safer Growth
The Liquid Lunch Project
Most sales problems start when the seller won’t stop talking. Mark Roberge (HubSpot’s founding CRO, Harvard Business School lecturer, and co-founder of Stage 2 Capital) joins Matt and Luigi to challenge the loudest myths in sales and startup growth. His take is simple: great selling is not about pressure, slick pitches, or talking someone into a bad deal. It’s about asking better questions, finding the real problem, and knowing when to walk away. The conversation also tackles a mistake that kills promising companies: scaling before customers are getting real value. Mark...
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Can Blockchain Actually Help World Peace?
The Liquid Lunch Project
Can blockchain do more than make rich people argue on the internet? In this episode of The Liquid Lunch Project, Matt and Luigi sit down with Erai Beckmann, founder of Peace Through Trade, to talk about a much bigger use case for blockchain, AI, and cryptocurrency: global trade that creates trust, financial access, and maybe even less fighting between humans. Wild concept, apparently. Erai breaks down why trade has historically been one of the strongest tools for reducing conflict, how blockchain can open doors for people left out of traditional finance, and why Peace Through Trade is building...
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The Four Signs Your Business Is Stuck
The Liquid Lunch Project
Your business can be busy and still be stuck. Revenue may be coming in. The team may be working hard. The founder may be carrying the whole thing on their back. But if margins are getting tighter, communication is breaking down, decisions are bottlenecked, and nobody really owns revenue… that business is not scaling. It’s surviving. In this episode of Built to Scale, Matt sits down with Autumn McFarland, a fractional COO who helps founder-led and growth-stage companies get unstuck, rebuild operational clarity, and create the foundation they need to grow without chaos running the show....
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Equipment Financing Without Getting Screwed
The Liquid Lunch Project
That “great deal” on equipment financing might be eating your lunch. In this episode of The Liquid Lunch Project, Matt and Luigi sit down with Rob Misheloff of Smarter Finance USA to talk about the stuff most lenders do not explain clearly: equipment financing, lease terms, credit scores, hidden fees, auction purchases, and why small business owners need to read the fine print before signing anything with a payment attached. Rob breaks down how equipment financing really works, why the market has gotten tighter, and what business owners should watch for when buying trucks, machinery, med...
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Your financial advisor may be nice. That does not mean they are safe.
The Liquid Lunch Project
In this episode of The Liquid Lunch Project, Matt and Luigi sit down with securities lawyer David P. Meyer to talk about the ugly side of investing: broker misconduct, crypto scams, hidden fees, fake online “experts,” and the very real ways smart people lose serious money. David also shares how he built a national securities litigation practice after taking on Prudential Securities in his twenties and winning a jaw-dropping $262 million jury verdict. Not bad for a guy who says he was basically just trying to avoid reading tax code forever. 🍸 What you'll hear in this episode: ...
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Built to Scale: The 5 Financial Blind Spots That Stop Business Owners from Scaling
The Liquid Lunch Project
Revenue looks great on a scoreboard. But if your cash flow is a mess, your margins are thin, and your financials only get attention during tax season… that growth might be hiding a much bigger problem. In this episode of Built to Scale, Matt sits down with Larry Rice, CPA, CEPA, and founder of RVG & Company, to talk about the financial blind spots that quietly keep business owners stuck, stressed, and scrambling. They dig into why revenue is not the same as financial health, how fast growth can actually make bad decisions worse, and why your CPA should not be treated like an emergency...
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America was the ultimate startup
The Liquid Lunch Project
Big idea. No safety net. Shaky money. Brutal odds. A giant competitor. And founders who were not just risking cash…they were risking their necks. Literally In this special 250th anniversary episode of The Liquid Lunch Project, Matthew R. Meehan and Luigi Rosabianca look at America’s founding like a business launch. The Declaration of Independence becomes the mission statement. Washington becomes the operator under pressure. Franklin becomes the closer. And the whole thing becomes a crash course in risk, debt, ownership, cash flow, and building something that lasts. 🍸 What you'll...
info_outlineWould you buy a business that loses its clients the minute the owner walks out the door?
Muriel Touati reviewed more than 100 businesses while hunting for an acquisition. A lot of them looked good from across the room. Up close? Different story.
Founder dependency. Weak recurring revenue. Too much money tied to one client. No real digital marketing system. And, in one case, a $3.7 million deal with 40% monthly customer churn. Hard pass.
Muriel joins Matthew R. Meehan and Luigi Rosabianca to break down the biggest red flags in business acquisition, what lenders really care about, and how owners can build a company that is easier to grow, finance, and sell.
🍸 What you'll hear in this episode:
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Why founder dependency can kill a business sale
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How customer concentration scares buyers and lenders
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Why predictable revenue matters in business valuation
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The difference between recurring revenue and starting from zero each month
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How digital marketing can increase company value
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Why off-market deals may beat crowded business listings
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How LinkedIn and email can support deal sourcing
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What buyers should check before signing an acquisition deal
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How SBA loans and rent replacement may help finance a purchase
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Why a “good deal” can still be a very expensive headache
👤 About our Guest:
Muriel Touati is the founder of Exit 3D Studio and author of The Valuation Gap: What Buyers See That Sellers Miss. She helps business owners reduce founder dependency, build better lead generation systems, and prepare their companies for growth or sale.
🎧 Why Listen:
Before you buy a business—or try to sell yours—listen to this episode. It may save you from buying a very polished dumpster fire.
Visit exit3dstudio.com to learn more about Muriel’s work and get the first chapter of The Valuation Gap.
đź”— Links + Stuff
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Get the first chapter of The Valuation Gap FREE: https://www.exit3dstudio.com/the-valuation-gap
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Muriel on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/murieltouati
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📲 Connect with the hosts
Follow along for behind-the-scenes clips, commentary, and things that don’t make it into the episode.
• Matt Meehan: https://www.instagram.com/matthew.r.meehan
• Luigi Rosabianca: https://www.instagram.com/luigi_rosabianca
• The Liquid Lunch Project: https://www.instagram.com/theliquidlunchproject/
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