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Going Beyond the Deal

Going Beyond the Deal

Written by: J. Michael Fischer Jr | DBD Investment Bank
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Welcome to Going Beyond The Deal. The show for founders, business owners, and professionals who want to grow smarter, achieve bigger exits, and build a legacy that lasts. Your host is no other than, J. Michael Fischer Jr – connector, life-long student of personal growth, and Managing Director at DBD – a bespoke investment bank that helps businesses handle big financial moves. Each week, we look beyond the numbers and the deals to talk about what really drives success. You'll hear from entrepreneurs, strategists, and top performers about the mindset, habits, and decisions that help businesses — and people — keep moving forward. If you're getting ready to sell, raise capital, or just level up — you're in the right place.Copyright © 2025 DBD Partners LLC Economics Leadership Management Management & Leadership Personal Finance
Episodes
  • 55 | Understanding the Regret of Business Owners

    55 | Understanding the Regret of Business Owners
    Aug 11 2026

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

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

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

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

    Timestamped Highlights

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Mentioned Resources
    • Exit Planning Institute

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

    Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
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    16 mins
  • 54 | Ivan Nikolov - Why Human Connection Becomes Your Most Valuable Skill

    54 | Ivan Nikolov - Why Human Connection Becomes Your Most Valuable Skill
    Aug 4 2026
    What happens to you, not just your business, when AI can do the expert work you built your career on?Ivan Nikolov spent his career in fitness and mindset coaching before co-founding Parallon AI, a company built to hand a business’s most repetitive expert work to machines. In this conversation with J. Michael Fischer Jr., the two go past the usual AI efficiency talk to a harder question: what happens to people when the work itself starts to disappear?Ivan lays out his post-labor thesis, why he believes businesses will soon grow without adding headcount, and how Parallon’s paper-to-system approach pulls knowledge out of people’s heads and into AI that can coach anyone through the task, with a human still approving the result. They also get personal, from raising kids who may never need a job to finding meaning when achievement is no longer the point.If you run or advise a business and you are trying to figure out what AI actually means for your people, this is the rare conversation that treats the human cost as seriously as the upside. Listen now.Timestamped Highlights[00:00] – Most AI talk asks what the tech can do. This one asks what happens to the human.[02:37] – Bulgaria to Malaysia to Spain: the unlikely path that led Ivan into AI.[04:09] – The one question that told Ivan whether a client would actually change.[08:47] – Why the real AI story is not time saved, but a post-labor world.[10:16] – The mindset shift on AI’s pace: today is the slowest it will ever be.[11:24] – A philosopher’s warning: within a year it may feel like a new species arrived.[13:27] – When the price of almost everything falls to near zero, the rules change.[14:44] – What is left when career stops mattering: connection, contemplation, learning, art.[17:59] – The hard middle: can you survive the messy years to reach the upside?[26:13] – Inside Parallon AI: paper to system, with the human still in the loop.[30:55] – From typing SOPs in Notion to a voice note that becomes an AI skill.[35:57] – The million-dollar question: the tiny moment that quietly changed everything.Mentioned ResourcesMindvalley Claude NotionTelegram Loom Vishen Lakhiani, founder of MindvalleyJohn Ziss, co-founder of Parallon AIAtlas Shrugged by Ayn RandThe Fountainhead by Ayn RandAbout the GuestIvan Nikolov is co-founder of Parallon AI, a company that helps businesses move repetitive expert work into AI systems while keeping a human in the loop to approve the output. Born in Bulgaria, he competed in natural bodybuilding, immigrated to the United States at 28, and spent 16 years building a career in fitness training and mindset coaching. He later spent two years at the edtech company Mindvalley in Malaysia as a community manager and facilitator, and now lives in Spain, where he continues to coach on the side while building Parallon AI.🔗 LinkedIn | WebsiteImportant LinksFeel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
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    40 mins
  • 53 | Laurel Whitney - How to Beat Coke and Pepsi Without an Ad

    53 | Laurel Whitney - How to Beat Coke and Pepsi Without an Ad
    Jul 28 2026
    What if the smartest business you ever build is the one you never planned to sell?Laurel Whitney has done what most founders only imagine once. She is the co-founder and CFO of Push Beverages, but before that she built and sold the largest independent vending company in New Jersey, and before that she opened and sold a 22,000 square foot children's entertainment facility. In this conversation with J. Michael Fischer Jr., she talks about what it actually feels like to build, sell, and start over.They get into the 2008 recession that accidentally created Push, why she named a soda the secret weapon she never wanted to share, how she protected her employees through an exhaustive sale, and why she refuses to put her drinks on supermarket shelves. She also breaks down Simply Push, the school-ready line built to beat sugary alternatives, and what building companies alongside her husband really takes.If you have ever wondered what happens after the deal closes and the next morning arrives, this is the founder's view most people never get. Listen now.Timestamped Highlights[00:15] – The three businesses she built before most founders finish one[06:38] – Why she opened a 22,000 square foot play space after having kids[07:32] – Selling the vending company to a multi-billion dollar buyer[09:22] – The soda they built only for themselves, and never meant to sell[10:20] – The 2008 shift that told them to launch four flavors[11:18] – The pizzeria and gas station calls that turned a secret into a business[12:32] – Inside an exhaustive due diligence she worked through on vacation[12:57] – The one contract term she refused to sign without[16:43] – Forty-nine states, and the samples headed to Alaska[17:12] – The wrapped Sprinter van that sold Push door-to-door[19:14] – The USDA rule that decides what schools can sell[23:09] – Why Push will never be a supermarket brand[28:06] – Her one rule for couples who want to build together[30:58] – The small choice that changed the entire trajectory of her lifeMentioned ResourcesSimply PushTribe Sweet TeaJohnson & JohnsonGiggles Play StationAutomatic MerchandiserCoca-ColaPepsiUSDA Smart Snacks in School guidelinesOklahoma School Nutrition AssociationAbout the GuestLaurel Whitney is the co-founder and CFO of Push Beverages, a New Jersey-based beverage company now selling seven product lines across 49 states. She handles the finance, production, and logistics side of the business, which she co-founded with her husband. A serial entrepreneur, she began her career in public relations at Johnson & Johnson, founded and sold Giggles PlayStation, a 22,000 square foot children's entertainment facility, and built the largest independent vending company in New Jersey before selling it in 2013. Push Beverages is a certified women-owned company, and its Tribe Sweet Tea was named Product of the Year by Automatic Merchandiser.🔗 LinkedIn | WebsiteImportant LinksFeel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
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    35 mins
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