The Deal Podcast

What if the same company could give you four bites of the apple? Steven Pivnik did exactly that — and nearly lost it all in between.

In this episode of The Deal Podcast, host Joshua Wilson sits down with Steven Pivnik, serial founder, endurance athlete, and exit advisor who built and monetized the same software company four separate times before finally selling to a $4 billion competitor. Steven shares the real story behind the wins...

What does it take to turn a text message into a viral brand? Bryan McGehee, founder of Gatr Coolers, did exactly that — starting from a camper with his wife and kids, betting his house on a cooler company, and going full-time the same month COVID shut the world down.

Bryan McGehee is the founder of Gatr Coolers, a premium customizable cooler and drinkware brand built out of Thibodaux, Louisiana. Bryan spent years working pipeline jo...

What if the biggest mistake you're making isn't a bad deal or a wrong hire — but spending your life doing things you're capable of instead of things you were made for?

Dominic Dupré grew up watching four cousins build successful companies in Louisiana's energy corridor. He graduated into the shale boom, swung sledgehammers on a workover rig, and had his entrepreneurial dreams derailed by the 2014 oil bust — only ...

What if the thing slowing your growth isn't what's missing — it's what you refuse to cut?

Yarin Gaon sold his fourth company at 28, ran turnarounds as an Entrepreneur in Residence at a venture capital firm, mentored 400+ founders through the University of Chicago and SCORE, and has earned an MBA along the way. Today he runs Fractional Partners, where he applies a private equity-style operating playbook to lower middle...

He was drowning in investor debt, swinging a hammer in Houston just to make payroll — and still found a way to build something worth fighting for. This is a story about grit, partnership, and what it really takes to grow a trade business from the inside out.

George Boudreaux founded Pelican Roofing Company in Lafayette, Louisiana on July 4th, 2014 — not from a place of momentum, but from a burning need to survive. After a real estat...

She thought it was total BS. Then they built a company together — and haven't looked back since. Kenny and Stacy Maggard turned a margarita-fueled conversation into Azalea Health Services, a mission-driven mental health company serving seniors in long-term care settings across Louisiana and Texas.

Kenny Maggard spent 15 years as a middle market banker at Capital One before stepping into private equity and ultimately taking the ...

What happens when you hand the keys to an $850 million government operation to someone who thinks like an operator? You get fewer barriers, faster decisions, and a city that starts acting like it has a balance sheet to protect.

In this episode of The Deal Podcast, host Joshua Wilson and co-host Jude David, JD, DCL, MBA and Managing Partner at FA Mergers, sit down with Mayor-President Monique Boulet of Lafayette, Louisiana. Monique w...

What happens to your business if you don't make it home today?

Taylor Davis watched his father — a top vascular surgeon making great money — die at 48 with almost no coverage after a business partnership dissolved and the insurance went with it. His mother sold her dream home and went back to work. That experience became his life's mission.

Taylor Davis is a Wealth Management Advisor with Northwestern Mutual, approaching 34...

What does it take to turn a family baking legacy into a viral sensation? Billy and Denny, aka "The Gingerbread Twins", have been proving that faith, hard work, and butter cookies can build something extraordinary.

Billy and Denny are the identical twin founders of Gingerbread Twins, a Lafayette, Louisiana bakery rooted in three generations of baking tradition. In this episode, they share one of the most inspiring entrepren...

Most financial advisors are sitting on their biggest asset and don't even know it. Dr. Jon Randall breaks down exactly what your practice is worth — and how to build it so buyers are lined up when you're ready.

In this episode, Joshua Wilson sits down with Dr. Jon Randall, founder of eXtraordinary Financial Advisors (XFA) and author of The Extraordinary Financial Advisor Practice. With over 25 years of experience coaching ...

He was the only survivor of a plane crash that killed five people — burned on 80% of his body, pulled from a coma, and given little chance of a full recovery. What Wade Berzas discovered in that hospital room became the foundation for everything he now teaches entrepreneurs.

Wade Berzas is an EOS Implementer, business coach, and speaker who works with privately held entrepreneurial companies of 10 to 250 employees. After a decade as...

Most companies are spending money on marketing without knowing if it's working. Jeremy Beyt has built a career proving there's a better way — and it starts long before you run a single ad.

Jeremy Beyt is the CEO and Co-Founder of ThreeSixtyEight, a full-service creative agency based in Louisiana known as the Challenger Agency. In this episode, Jeremy joins hosts Joshua Wilson and Scott Shea for a wide-ranging conversation ...

Before Scott Rainey owned a safety consulting company, he was getting bit by dogs in North Louisiana — knocking on doors as a landman, trying to convince hostile landowners to let oil companies onto their property. That pivot into entrepreneurship wasn't clean. It nearly ended in bankruptcy. Here's how he got out, started over, and built something worth selling.

Scott Rainey is the founder and President of Quest Safety Sol...

She spent thousands of dollars on wedding flowers she didn't even love — and watched them end up in the trash by the end of the night. That experience became the blueprint for a business that has now served over 60,000 weddings and helped couples save more than $100 million on flowers.

Lauren Bercier is the Co-Founder and CEO of Something Borrowed Blooms, the leading silk floral rental company disrupting the traditional wedding...

What if you could invest like the Hilton family — without having $100 million in the bank? Mark Miller has spent nearly 40 years making that possible, and in this episode, he pulls back the curtain on exactly how it works. The strategies, the philosophy, the network — and the surprising backstory of how the Hilton family fortune ended up in a foundation instead of the family's hands.

Mark Miller is the Managing Director of the ...

Some PE deals don't fall apart in due diligence — they fall apart because no one can find the right CEO. Travis Hann has built his firm around solving exactly that problem. If the operator doesn't exist — or can't be found — the deal doesn't happen.

Travis Hann is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Pender & Howe, a fast-growing boutique executive search firm serving mid-sized companies and investors acros...

He only buys companies everyone else is running from — and he's been doing it for 20 years.

Nate Moore has built a 700-person operation by acquiring distressed childcare and home care businesses, walking into chaos where others see dead ends, and turning them around through leadership, structure, and a relentless belief in people.

Nate Moore is a serial acquisition entrepreneur and founder of Moore Consulting & Investment Gr...

Most business owners confuse value creation with wealth acceleration — and it's costing them everything after the deal closes. This episode breaks down the family office framework that changes how you think about your business, your exit, and your legacy.

Joshua Wilson sits down with Benjamin Domingue, founder of Family Office Partners, a multifamily office serving private business owners from pre-transaction planning through m...

Scott Harkey put $750,000 cash down on an agency tuck-in — and turned it into $10 million in enterprise value inside his group. That's EBITDA arbitrage. And according to Scott, most independent agency operators grinding away at 17–25% margins have never once thought about it. This episode covers the deal math, the culture traps, and the billboard rollup opportunity most investors are completely missing.

Scott Harkey is the foun...