What's Your Deal? | Business Buying, Business Acquisitions, Investing & Exit Strategies

For the first time on What's Your Deal, Matt Uhler sits down with a fellow business broker, Ryan Armstrong of Transworld Phoenix. He and Matt walk through the full life of a Main Street deal: preparing the seller emotionally, building a data-driven listing, and vetting buyers. They also cover LOIs, due diligence, financing and closing, and why the best deals leave buyer and seller as friends.   Co...

Why do brilliant people sometimes make terrible decisions? According to Rich Hua, former Chief EQ Evangelist at Amazon, it's because stress can cut your effective IQ in half, and most leaders were never taught how to manage it.   In this episode of What's Your Deal, host Matt Uhler sits down with Rich to talk about emotional intelligence and why it may be the most underrated skill in business toda...

Ryan Beckmann built and lost multi-million-dollar RV dealerships, won a 40 Under 40 award the same year he became homeless, and fought his way back from addiction to found Hero Picks and The Last Save. In this raw conversation, Ryan shares what it took to hit bottom, why service to others became the key to his own healing, and how he's now building "Beyond Awareness" — a platform designed to conne...

Matt sits down with longtime friend and ZebraScapes Landscaping founder Rodney Steidinger, who built his company from a minivan and a trailer during the 2008 recession into a thriving, multi-generational business. Rodney shares the breaking point that forced him to hire real leadership, how he built a family business empire with his three daughters, and the core values that guide every hire and pr...

Most business owners over 40 have never posted on social media — and it's not because they don't know how. It's fear. Matt Uhler sits down with Beau Bullard, founder of Bullard Media, to unpack why attention is today's most valuable currency, why iPhone content outperforms professional cameras by up to 800%, and how business owners (and the buyers who acquire their companies) should think about pe...

Tax attorney and wealth advisor Nik Agharkar of Crown Point Tax joins Matt to unpack the difference between tax evasion, tax deferral, and legitimate tax strategy — and why so many business owners unknowingly torch their company's sale value with aggressive write-offs. They dig into the "Costco conversation," why most CPAs aren't equipped to strategize (only to prepare). A must-listen for anyone p...

Most business owners spend decades building their company but almost no time planning what happens after they sell it. In this episode, Matt sits down with Anthony Perez of Harvest Wealth Strategies to talk about "knowing your number," why owner dependency is the #1 deal killer, and how to turn business equity into lasting personal and generational wealth — before it's too late to plan.   Connect...

This week's episode flips the script — Beau Bullard, who's never bought a business himself, turns the tables and interviews Matt with the exact questions first-time buyers ask most. They cover finding your core competency, why profitable businesses go up for sale, how valuations really work, SBA loan qualification, seller-carried notes, blue sky, employee retention, and what actually makes a Main...

Eric Wiklendt, Managing Director of SpySide Equity, joins Matt Uhler to break down how private equity firms evaluate, acquire, and transform manufacturing businesses.    Eric shares the "fix and build" framework his firm uses to grow EBITDA and scale revenue, how they handle underperforming key employees, why smaller businesses struggle to execute transformation, and what a five-to-seven-year hold...

Nearshoring is reshaping how U.S. companies build teams — and Brian Samson, founder of Plugg Technologies, has spent over a decade helping businesses do it right. In this episode of What's Your Deal, Brian joins Matt Uhler to break down why nearshoring has become a go-to strategy for outsourced talent.   Brian shares firsthand experience building an 80-person remote team from the ground up, the re...

In this special episode, Sarah turns the tables and interviews Matt about an exciting new project: a community built for anyone thinking about buying a business. This new space opens the door for the masses to get questions answered live, weekly, with everything archived and searchable. Buying a business doesn't have to be guesswork. Get direct access to a business broker with nearly 30 years of e...

Eben and Ali Hartzenberg arrived in America with nothing, started from scratch, and built a portfolio of nine retail businesses.   In this episode, they open up about facing fear, the power of data over intuition, what makes their marriage-meets-business-partnership work, and the red flags that tell them to walk away from a deal.   Connect with Ali and Eben Hartzenberg:   Ali@bennali.com Eben@benn...

Most business owners exploring an exit only hear one pitch: sell to private equity or a strategic buyer. Matt Middendorp, Director of ESOP Consulting at VisionPoint Capital, joins the show to make the case for a third path — selling to your own employees.   Matt breaks down what an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) actually is, the biggest misconceptions owners have about price, control, and le...

Most business owners think they're making rational decisions. Robin Afinowich says otherwise. In this episode, Matt sits down with Robin Afinowich — a clinically trained mental health counselor, national speaker, and daughter of M&A legend Jim Afinowich — to unpack how unresolved stress and trauma quietly shape the decisions business owners make every day. From childhood adversity to burnout in le...

What actually creates lasting wealth? And why do so many entrepreneurs hit a ceiling despite working harder than ever?   In this episode of What's Your Deal? , Matt Uhler sits down with entrepreneur, investor, and marketing strategist Alexa D'Agostino to discuss the uncomfortable truths behind scaling a business, building wealth, and transitioning from founder to owner.   Alexa has built and exite...

Most business owners spend years building income through their business, but far fewer create a strategy to turn that income into lasting wealth.   In this episode of What's Your Deal?, Matt Uhler sits down with wealth advisor Ted Young of Anasazi Investment Group to discuss the financial decisions that can make or break a business owner's future.   Ted shares the biggest mistakes he sees entrepre...

What happens when one of the most influential financial educators of all time sits down to talk business, investing, and the mindset behind wealth creation?   In this episode of What's Your Deal? , Matt Uhler welcomes Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad and founder of the Rich Dad brand. With more than 40 million books sold worldwide, Robert has spent decades challenging conventional fina...

What if you could build multiple streams of income through ownership in small businesses — without running every business yourself? In this solo episode of What's Your Deal? , Matt Uhler breaks down the exact framework he used to build ownership interests in more than 20 businesses across multiple industries through strategic equity deals and partnerships.     If you are interested in learning mor...

What if the biggest threat to your business isn't competition, the economy, or a bad deal—but your own operating system?   In this episode of  What's Your Deal? , Matt and Audrey Uhler sit down with performance strategist and executive coach MJ Gordon to discuss why so many high-performing entrepreneurs feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and stuck in a constant state of stress.   MJ has worked with lead...

  What does it really take to build a successful life without sacrificing your health, family, happiness, or purpose along the way? In this episode of What's Your Deal?, Matt Uhler sits down with legendary entrepreneur and speaker David Meltzer for one of the most powerful conversations we've had on the show. David shares the lessons he learned after losing over $100 million, rebuilding his life t...

In this episode of What's Your Deal?, Matt sits down with longtime business partner Kristian Gose and private lending veteran Bill "Billy A" Anastopoulos for an inside look at the world of private money lending, hard money loans, fix-and-flip financing, bridge loans, and real estate investing. With more than 80 years of combined experience and thousands of funded transactions between them, this co...

In this episode of What's Your Deal? , Matt sits down with Lindsey Quinn, founder of HeartWise Collective to talk about one of the biggest shifts happening in business today: artificial intelligence. Lindsey shares how she went from running a traditional consulting business in the orthodontic industry to building AI-powered systems that help business owners save time, improve efficiency, and creat...

What does it really take to get approved for an SBA loan when buying a business? In this episode of What's Your Deal? with Matt Uhler , Matt sits down with SBA lending expert Steve Johnston and financing specialist Lindsay Denton to break down the truth about SBA loans, business acquisition financing, and why most buyers get it wrong. If you've heard horror stories about SBA loans taking forever—o...

What does it take to build a business that scales beyond you?   In this episode of What's Your Deal? , Matt sits down with franchising expert and entrepreneur Jeff Dudan to unpack what makes franchise ownership work, how to scale a business through systems, and why great businesses are built with the end in mind.   Jeff shares how he built and scaled AdvantaClean to over 240 locations before a suc...

What happens when a key employee becomes one of the most valuable partners in a small business? In this episode of What's Your Deal?, Matt Uhler sits down with longtime business partner Ryan Carr to discuss small business ownership, business partnerships, leadership, entrepreneurship, company culture, employee management, and business growth. Ryan shares his journey from employee to owner after st...