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Going Beyond the Deal

Going Beyond the Deal

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
  • 48 | Jay David – How to Rescue a Dying Business Before It Is Too Late

    48 | Jay David – How to Rescue a Dying Business Before It Is Too Late
    Jun 23 2026
    What if the numbers you trust most are the ones steering your business into the ground?Jay David has spent his career inside food manufacturing plants, where real decisions carry real consequences. He is a turnaround operator and the author of Turnaround Revelations, and he speaks a language most consultants do not, having lived on both the finance and operations sides of a struggling business.In this conversation with J. Michael Fischer Jr., Jay breaks down the cost of saying yes, why the price your accounting tells you to charge is often the price that starves your business, and how a company can walk away from $700,000 of profit without realizing it. He explains why you can never cut your way back to profitability, what idle equipment and empty desks really signal, and why the moment you are worried about making payroll is the moment it is already too late.If you run or advise a business that is grinding and you cannot figure out why the harder you cut, the worse it gets, this is the perspective most owners only find after the damage is done. The death spiral is quiet until it is not. Listen now.Timestamped Highlights[00:03] Why every yes eventually starts costing you something[02:07] The baseball player who dropped out, then got hooked on a single community college class[05:47] Working doubles, closing the bar at 2 am, and out-earning his own accounting job[08:34] Building a 3D Excel model of the factory floor to see what every decision really costs[09:31] From scorekeeper to player, and running cost accounting for an $850 million company two years out of school[10:42] The billion-dollar land grab that buried the balance sheet in debt[13:06] The first walk-through: what dust, idle machines, and empty desks quietly tell him[16:27] Why he refuses to make friends, and how he delivers the tough medicine anyway[19:13] The cost of saying yes, and why the market already decided your price[23:02] The $700,000 contract a firm walked away from for almost no reason[26:30] The signal that means it is already too late to save the business[27:18] Why you can never cut your way back to profit[28:18] The death spiral that starts when every conversation is about cost[31:01] The small shift from finance to operations that changed how he reads every businessMentioned ResourcesDo Business Better (Jay's consulting firm and website)Turnaround Revelations, Jay David's book on AmazonThe Goal, the manufacturing book Jay recommendsAbout the GuestJay David is a food manufacturing turnaround operator and consultant, and the founder of Do Business Better. Across a career that has run from cost accounting to operations, he has worked inside companies, including a Chicago candy maker, Favorite Brands, Nabisco, and Kraft, helping struggling manufacturers and other businesses fix what is actually broken instead of cutting their way to failure. He is the author of Turnaround Revelations.🔗 LinkedIn | Website Important 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 BankGoing 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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    32 mins
  • 47 | Why the Biggest Offer Can Cost You Everything

    47 | Why the Biggest Offer Can Cost You Everything
    Jun 16 2026

    What if the highest offer on the table is the one that leaves you with the least?

    A founder once turned down an offer, then a month later celebrated a bigger one that put less money in his pocket. In this solo episode, J. Michael Fischer Jr., Managing Director at DBD Investment Bank, explains how that happens and why the number on the front page of a letter of intent is not the deal.

    Michael breaks down what actually decides what a founder keeps: cash at close, rollover equity, earnouts, escrows, the working capital peg, asset versus stock structure, and tax exposure. He shows why the highest bid is rarely the best bid, why you have to diligence the buyer as hard as they diligence you, and why the strongest exits are built 12 to 24 months before a sale ever starts.

    If you are years of work away from the most important financial moment of your life, this is the perspective most founders only get after it is too late. The champagne runs out. The structure is what you live with. Listen now.

    Timestamped Highlights
    • [00:00] – The offer that paid less than the smaller one he turned down a month earlier
    • [00:40] – Why the big number on the LOI feels like the deal, and why it isn’t
    • [01:44] – How a single $50 million offer can mean two completely different lives
    • [02:43] – The line between a real exit and a job with a closing dinner
    • [03:22] – The “fine print” that is actually the entire deal
    • [04:37] – Why selling to private equity often means choosing your next boss
    • [04:53] – The reason the highest bid is almost never the best bid
    • [05:51] – The buyer you forgot to diligence, and why it costs you later
    • [06:59] – Why the best exits start 12 to 24 months before the sale
    • [07:54] – The one crack in your story that quietly drains your price
    • [08:05] – The invisible asset that holds every deal together
    • [09:38] – Valuation or outcome? The question that changes everything

    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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    10 mins
  • 46 | Eric LeGrand – Can Your Worst Setback Become Your Greatest Business Edge?

    46 | Eric LeGrand – Can Your Worst Setback Become Your Greatest Business Edge?
    Jun 9 2026
    What if your greatest setback became your launchpad for impact and growth? In this episode, J. Michael Fischer Jr. sits down with Eric LeGrand, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and founder of LeGrand Coffee House and Eric LeGrand Bourbon. They dive deep into the raw realities of starting over after unimaginable adversity, challenging common myths about resilience, business, and success.Through candid stories and actionable lessons, Eric unpacks what it truly means to hustle, lead, and build wealth without shortcuts or gloss. This is not a highlight reel, but a playbook for those who refuse to quit. If you miss this episode, you miss the real stories and strategies that separate passionate survivors from passive dreamers. Listen now to claim practical insight you will not find anywhere else.Timestamped Highlights00:05 – The brutal truth behind business “overnight” success05:29 – Eric reveals the daily grind (and the real face of the hustle)11:58 – The single hospital moment that shifted Eric’s entire mindset13:55 – How elite athlete discipline became his recovery superpower16:05 – Resilience decoded: instincts, training, and relentless belief18:23 – What a “bad day” really looks like after starting over24:00 – The wild leap from motivational speaking to coffee entrepreneur28:51 – Why most business owners misunderstand profit (and what it actually takes)32:04 – The expensive, high-stakes world of launching a spirits brandMentioned ResourcesLeGrand Coffee HouseEric LeGrand WhiskeyChristopher & Dana Reeve FoundationBrian Axelrod (business partner)Rutgers UniversityCoach Greg SchianoGreen River spiritsMiletto Business AdvisorsACG Corporate Growth AwardsShopRiteNicholas CreameryRosie’s PizzaBroadway ChickenWalk to BelieveKessler InstituteAbout the GuestEric LeGrand is the founder of LeGrand Coffee House and co-founder of Eric LeGrand Bourbon. A nationally recognized motivational speaker and philanthropist, Eric is known for transforming life-changing adversity into a platform for business and community impact. He has been honored with ACG New Jersey’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his leadership and resilience.🔗 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 BankGoing 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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    43 mins
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