The New Era of Private Equity

Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss break down the shift they call private equity 3.0. Version one was financial engineering: buy a company with debt, break it up, and sell the parts. Version two was the roll up. Now, with tens of thousands of funds chasing the same deals and debt costing twice what it did, the returns have to come from actually growing the business, which makes operators the new stars. They walk through what that means for anyone who plans to sell: above market performance, a proven ops team the buyer can use as a platform, and why professionally managed businesses will command higher prices than owner operated ones. It ends with the practical part: systems before people, why to hire a COO before a CEO, and why you keep the CEO seat until the cash is in the bank. 0:00 Cold open: the only real advantage left is growing the business 0:49 Welcome, and the article on private equity 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 3:26 Tens of thousands of funds, trillions of dollars, and debt that costs twice as much 5:09 Operators are the new stars, and the 113 million dollar Starbucks CEO hire 7:17 What it means if you plan to sell: a proven ops team becomes the platform 9:27 Financial engineering explained with Pretty Woman: the scrapyard worth more in pieces 12:06 Version 1.0 breaks it up, version 2.0 rolls it up: growth by acquisition 14:26 Why the pivot: 68,000 private equity firms, family offices, and the auto repair math 16:51 Debt doubled, sales slowed, and the three to five model broke 20:54 The opportunity for owners: above market performance and professional management 26:01 Systems first, people second: why just hiring a CEO is the wrong first move 28:07 Hire a COO instead, the rise of the CFO, and keep the CEO seat until the cash comes Listen to Business Lunch: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-lunch/id1442654104 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0iWSA89TaD263zhXETdSvZ Follow Roland Frasier: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolandfrasier/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rolandfrasier Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolandFrasierPage/ Everything else: https://msha.ke/rolandfrasier/ Follow Ryan Deiss: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryandeiss/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/ X: https://x.com/ryandeiss Visit: https://www.scalable.co

In This Episode Of Business Lunch: Jimmy Buffett left a 275 million dollar trust, and now his widow and his longtime business manager are suing each other in two states while the legal bills run into the millions. Roland Frasier, who practiced estate law for about 12 years, and Ryan Deiss use that fight to make a case most advisors never make: the estate plan that saves the most tax is often the one that tears the family apart. They cover who actually needs complex trusts (almost nobody under 30 million dollars), what they each plan to leave their own kids, what should happen to the business, and the few simple moves that protect a family without giving anyone you love the right to sue anyone else you love. This is a conversation about what they do themselves, not legal advice.Chapters:0:00 Welcome back, Ryan Deiss, and a business that keeps running when life happens1:58 Today's topic: structuring things for when you are not there3:08 Jimmy Buffett's 275 million dollar trust fight and the James Brown estate9:30 Under 30 million dollars, you do not need the complex structures12:39 What Roland wants for his kids: education, a house, shared experiences, no control from the grave16:41 Ryan Deiss on stewardship and deciding who gets what21:04 Never create an estate plan that gives people you love standing to sue each other24:29 Tell your kids to expect nothing, and spend on experiences while you are alive27:33 What happens to the business, and do the kids have to be treated equally?34:05 Two simple tools: 14 years to pay estate tax on a business, and life insurance trusts36:30 Give your beneficiaries the right to remove the trustee39:27 The one box on the estate tax return that can cost a surviving spouse 6 million dollars42:23 Six figure trust setups on small estates, and the human side advisors miss47:09 Recap: the three moves to make, and the question to ask every advisorListen to Business Lunch:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-lunch/id1442654104Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0iWSA89TaD263zhXETdSvZFollow Roland Frasier:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolandfrasier/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rolandfrasierFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolandFrasierPage/Everything else: https://msha.ke/rolandfrasier/Follow Ryan Deiss:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryandeiss/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/X: https://x.com/ryandeissVisit: https://www.scalable.co

In This Episode Of Business Lunch: We take on the FIRE movement, financial independence and retiring early, and ask the question most of its followers skip: what are you retiring to? They separate financial independence from retirement, walk through the 25 times rule and the 4 percent rule, explain the buckets of money approach that funds the future and the present at the same time, and share the stories behind their view that life is short and life is long, and you never know which one you get. It ends where every owner thinking about an exit should start: sell your business on a good day, and know what comes next before you go.Chapters:0:00 Cold open: the belief at the core of the FIRE movement0:55 Welcome, and what retired actually means2:42 Lean FIRE, fat FIRE, index funds, side hustles, and deferring big life events5:13 Is working for someone else really the enemy?6:04 Parents who missed their kids, and why deferring life is risky: 125 million dollars in bearer bonds8:48 Waiting on kids, Lamborghinis, and the beach house that was a stretch11:09 What to tell a young couple going all in on FIRE: support first, then buckets of money14:52 All your eggs in one basket, in money and in time16:03 Financial independence and retirement are two different things18:23 The 25 times rule and the 4 percent rule19:57 Not what you are retiring from, but what you are retiring to23:10 Retiring from what you love, and selling your business on a good dayListen to Business Lunch: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-lunch/id1442654104 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0iWSA89TaD263zhXETdSvZFollow Roland Frasier: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolandfrasier/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rolandfrasier Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolandFrasierPage/ Everything else: https://msha.ke/rolandfrasier/Follow Ryan Deiss: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryandeiss/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/ X: https://x.com/ryandeissVisit: https://www.scalable.coMentioned in this episode:Build Your CEO DashboardGet one report every week of the key metrics you need to know with the CEO Dashboard!CEO Dashboard

Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss tell the whole story of Traffic and Conversion Summit: a marketing event that started in 2009 with 289 people and no profit, grew to thousands of attendees, and sold to Clarion Events in 2018 at the highest multiple the buyer had ever paid for an event. Then they walk through what happened after the sale: the 80 percent rollover deal, the earn out, the put and call option that paid out zero after the pandemic, and why the corporate owners could not keep the soul of an event built by marketers for marketers. Real deal structure lessons from their own exit, including how to carve off the one asset a buyer actually wants and keep everything else. 0:00 Cold open: the vision behind the best event people ever attended 0:30 Welcome, a fire alarm night, and why Traffic and Conversion Summit is officially over 3:52 2009: 289 people, no profit, and a rule against pitch fests 6:24 Year three: the event becomes a business and launches DigitalMarketer 7:54 Sponsors, production value, and no more selling from stage 12:02 Clarion Events comes calling with a global vision 14:58 The event was a product line, not a company: thin slicing the deal 17:01 Air rights and bundles of sticks: sell only what the buyer wants 19:53 Deal structure: 80 percent sold, cash plus an earn out, the goose and eggs, the put and call 24:45 Having your cake: programming control, free booth space, the only offer from stage 26:34 How it all went wrong: the pandemic, a multiple of zero, bought out for nothing 34:52 Why TNC failed: the business model changed hands Listen to Business Lunch: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-lunch/id1442654104 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0iWSA89TaD263zhXETdSvZ Follow Roland Frasier: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolandfrasier/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rolandfrasier Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolandFrasierPage/ Everything else: https://msha.ke/rolandfrasier/ Follow Ryan Deiss: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryandeiss/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/ X: https://x.com/ryandeiss Visit: https://www.scalable.co

In This Episode Of Business Lunch: We open our consulting for equity playbook right after wrapping a real $50,000 half day consult. They walk through the exact process step by step: getting the leadership team aligned on the problem to be solved, the 1 3 1 framework, the report of findings, and how to get buy in without losing the room. If you consult, this is a process you can run tomorrow. If you own a company, it works just as well as a self consult.Chapters:0:00 A real consult opens the playbook1:00 Consulting for equity and the half day consult model2:24 The client and the four times sales goal5:21 Step one is alignment on the problem to be solved6:25 Keep doing, stop doing, start doing10:22 Value drivers and the theory of constraints17:22 The 1 3 1 framework and the report of findings22:26 Send recommendations before the meeting24:52 Leads, conversion, and the ICP trap34:18 The awareness scale and where the ads were aimed38:36 Handling pushback without attacking the person44:15 Agree, disagree and commit, or recuseListen to Business Lunch:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-lunch/id1442654104Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0iWSA89TaD263zhXETdSvZFollow Roland Frasier:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolandfrasier/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rolandfrasierFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolandFrasierPage/Everything else: https://msha.ke/rolandfrasier/Follow Ryan Deiss:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryandeiss/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/X: https://x.com/ryandeissVisit: https://www.scalable.coMentioned in this episode:Build Your CEO DashboardGet one report every week of the key metrics you need to know with the CEO Dashboard!CEO Dashboard

In This Episode Of Business Lunch: We tackle a question every founder faces: do you build your business for cash flow now or for a big exit later, and can one company really do both? They dig into why bootstrapped owners have far more options than funded ones, how cash left sitting in a company quietly turns into bloat, and how to pay yourself regular distributions without hurting a future sale.Chapters:0:00 Cold open0:36 Welcome and where this question came from0:55 Can one business deliver both cash flow and a big exit1:57 The path VC funding locks you into3:45 Why bootstrapped owners have more flexibility9:19 How cash left in the company creates bloat11:35 The cash flow waterfall and budgeting for distributions12:34 How VC backing changes the exit itself14:06 Building reserves for refunds and emergencies16:20 Regular distributions or waiting for the big exit18:54 Wrap upListen to Business Lunch:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-lunch/id1442654104Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0iWSA89TaD263zhXETdSvZConnect with Roland Frasier:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolandfrasier/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rolandfrasierFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolandFrasierPage/Everything else: https://msha.ke/rolandfrasier/Connect with Ryan Deiss:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryandeiss/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/X: https://x.com/ryandeissSite: https://www.scalable.co

In This Episode Of Business Lunch: A Hartford Financial study found that 75% of business owners regret selling their company. Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss have both lived it, and they get personal about what the wire does not fix: the identity you give up with the business, the buyer promises that rarely survive the close, and why more than half of sellers wind up swooping back in. Then the way out: fulfillment continuity, the threads you build before the exit so you are not adrift after it.If you have exited a business, share in the comments what surprised you most about life on the other side.Chapters:0:00 The telescope and why founders exit unhappy1:57 The Hartford study: 75% of owners regret selling4:22 Roland's identity shift after leaving law6:02 Ryan on exiting Traffic and Conversion Summit9:10 What buyers promise vs the post exit reality13:52 Why due diligence pulls the two sides apart19:46 Business partnerships are marriages: extending grace23:45 The threads that save you from being adrift27:02 Fulfillment continuity: Roland's framework32:14 Find the part of the business that fulfills you40:47 Reallocating your time as seasons change48:20 The miserable rich person trap49:04 Fire and rehire yourself every yearListen to Business Lunch: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-lunch/id1442654104 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0iWSA89TaD263zhXETdSvZRoland Frasier: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolandfrasier/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rolandfrasier Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolandFrasierPage/ More: https://msha.ke/rolandfrasier/Ryan Deiss: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryandeiss/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/ X: https://x.com/ryandeissScalable: https://www.scalable.coMentioned in this episode:Build Your CEO DashboardGet one report every week of the key metrics you need to know with the CEO Dashboard!CEO Dashboard

Not every problem in your business is yours to fix. Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss break down how to tell a seasonal slump from a fire you actually started, why the easy and obvious moves matter most when the numbers dip, and how AI written resumes are quietly breaking hiring for small businesses. Plus the internal recruiter role they think every growing company is about to need. 0:00 Welcome back from a 30 day vacation 1:46 Why rest is actually productive work 3:20 When do you let the dumpster fire burn? 4:52 Internal vs external: what you can and cannot fix 6:00 Control what you control: lead flow and double booking 6:51 Do the easy and obvious things well 10:07 Red vs yellow metrics on the scorecard 15:46 Theory of constraints: which fire to fight first 17:47 Why small businesses aren't hiring: the AI resume problem 20:01 How to interview when AI writes every resume 25:20 The pre interview email that filters out a third of applicants 26:53 The rise of the internal recruiter Listen to Business Lunch: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-lunch/id1442654104 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0iWSA89TaD263zhXETdSvZ Roland Frasier: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolandfrasier/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rolandfrasier Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolandFrasierPage/ More: https://msha.ke/rolandfrasier/ Ryan Deiss: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryandeiss/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandeiss/ X: https://x.com/ryandeiss Scalable: https://www.scalable.co

In This Episode of Business Lunch: We explore the evolving landscape of search engine optimization (SEO) versus answer engine optimization (AEO), and how businesses can adapt their strategies to stay ahead in AI-driven search environments. They discuss practical tactics, the importance of evidence and authority, and how to leverage paid and organic channels effectively.Chapters:00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview00:17 Challenges with Technology and Setup00:30 Introduction to ChatGPT Ads and Platform Insights00:58 SEO vs AEO: What's the Difference?01:26 Understanding Search Engine Optimization and Answer Engine Optimization02:02 Should You Invest in SEO Now?02:30 Clarifying SEO, GEO, and Generative Engine Optimization03:06 How Answer Engines Are Replacing Search Engines03:42 The Shift from Rankings to Recommendations04:15 Using Search Engines for Direct Source Verification04:56 The Changing Role of Search in Customer Awareness Levels05:36 Branded Search and Its Importance06:01 The Evolving Nature of Search Optimization06:19 Optimizing for Recommendations, Not Rankings07:15 Bidding Strategies on Competitors and Trademark Terms08:40 Cost-Effective Strategies for Competing in Answer Engines10:00 Practical Approach for Business Owners11:00 From Rankings to Recommendations: New Optimization Goals12:08 The Role of Evidence and Proof in AI Recommendations13:15 Creating Credibility and Authority for Search Engines14:06 Content Strategy for AEO Success15:29 Schema and Technical SEO for AI16:29 Building the Neural Network: Assets and Relationships17:32 Practical Steps to Optimize for AI and Answer Engines18:36 Focusing on Questions, Not Keywords19:10 Gathering Evidence to Prove Authority20:39 Distribution, Freshness, and Uniqueness in Content21:26 The Importance of Original and Contrarian Content22:29 Using the Skyscraper Strategy for AI Optimization23:46 Reverse Engineering Top Sources and Cited Content25:38 Prioritizing Strategies Based on Business Needs26:09 Shifting Budgets from SEO to AEO27:05 Content and Embedded Influencers for Organic Growth28:14 Paid Search and Branded Terms for Immediate Impact29:41 Balancing Organic and Paid Strategies33:02 The Role of Authority and Evidence in AI Rankings36:34 Starting with Paid Search and Organic Content37:49 The Future of Search and Business Strategy40:13 Encouragement to Experiment and Share Results42:22 Final Thoughts and Wrap-upConnect with me on social:TikTok: Check out my TikTok HereInstagram: Check out my Instagram HereFacebook: Check out my Facebook HereLinkedIn: Check out my LinkedIn HereSubscribe to my YouTube 👉 HereResources:• 7 Steps to Scalable workbook• Get my book, Zero Down, FREEMentioned in this episode:Build Your CEO DashboardGet one report every week of the key metrics you need to know with the CEO Dashboard!CEO Dashboard

In This Episode of Business Lunch: We explore the concept of founder identity and how legacy identity debt can hinder business growth. They discuss practical strategies for recognizing and overcoming identity lag to scale effectively.Chapters:00:00 Introduction to founder identity and role evolution00:30 The five stages of role evolution in business00:58 Understanding identity lag and its effects01:28 The concept of identity debt in business02:24 Sleep debt analogy and identity debt02:51 Impact of legacy identity debt on scaling03:22 Recognizing when you're in the wrong role04:05 The importance of role clarity and job descriptions08:06 How to get consciously competent and fix identity debt09:44 Defining your current role and responsibilities10:14 Using time studies to identify role mismatches11:52 Addressing comfort work and role reversion12:24 Resetting roles and accountability with team members13:19 The importance of honest communication and ownership14:38 Handling time constraints and delegation16:29 Hiring the right roles and using AI tools17:12 Recognizing and overcoming identity debt in business17:43 Summary: Overcoming insidious identity debtConnect with me on social:TikTok: Check out my TikTok HereInstagram: Check out my Instagram HereFacebook: Check out my Facebook HereLinkedIn: Check out my LinkedIn HereSubscribe to my YouTube 👉 HereResources:• 7 Steps to Scalable workbook• Get my book, Zero Down, FREEMentioned in this episode:Build Your CEO DashboardGet one report every week of the key metrics you need to know with the CEO Dashboard!CEO Dashboard