The Deal Table

Harper Belmont Media | Optima Mergers and Acquisitions
  • 5.0 (18)
  • Business
  • Updated Weekly

The Deal Table is a long-form podcast featuring the founders, operators, investors, and advisors who navigate consequential decisions around capital, control, leadership, and legacy. Filmed at Old Parkland in Dallas, the show brings together leaders who have built, financed, governed, acquired, and exited real businesses to speak candidly about private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and what actually happens before, during, and after the deal. For founders, executives, investors, and advisors making decisions Sponsored by: Capital Southwest, Security National Bank, IMA & Blockchain.com

  1. 2d ago

    #53 Bill Rowe: There Are More PE Jobs Than Proven Operators

    "If we owned this company, we wrote the $50 million check to control this business, is that who you would hire to put in that job?" Bill Rowe is founder, chairman and CEO of Rowe Global, a retained executive search firm that recruits CEOs, CFOs and presidents for private equity portfolio companies, PE funds, family offices and private companies. He went into retained search straight out of SMU in 1991, spent almost 10 years at Foster Partners and 11 as a founding partner of Pearson Partners International, and launched Rowe Global in 2013 so the principals would make the calls and meet the candidates themselves. He asks his team the $50 million question about 20 times a week, usually when a search is down to two or three qualified finalists. After nearly 25 years recruiting for private equity, he says he thinks more like a PE investor than a recruiter: where the fund sits in its investment cycle, what the debt looks like, and what kind of leader a leveraged portfolio company can afford. The market has shifted against the buyer of talent. Private equity has grown so broad that "there's more leadership needs than there is proven operators," the best candidates are weighing two other deals or waiting out a payday at their current portfolio company, and the industry average search runs 122 days from go to yes. Executives who move from Wall Street or a Fortune 50 company into a family office fail, he says, when they arrive without the mentality of "I'm here to serve." And he remembers every placement that did not work: "I still can remember like a death of a child, every placement that wasn't good. And it eats at me." Also in this episode: executive search for private equity, how a retained search firm defines a role, hiring a CEO for a portfolio company, recruiting executives into Texas and to secondary markets, a search that ended with a hire in Ghana, what moves a candidate besides compensation, and the question his three kids asked him at Thanksgiving. Hosted by Ryan Harper and Andy Swartz. Produced by Harper Belmont Media. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 2:28 Sponsors 3:50 The forever pledge at Old Parkland 13:06 The client is the company 13:41 A boutique, not the next Korn Ferry 15:54 Fill the job, don't survey the market 18:36 11 years building Pearson Partners 20:14 The emergency call to New Orleans 23:51 A scared SMU senior reads Forbes 27:07 Coaching a new leader in 28:43 Every bad placement, remembered 29:42 "We wrote the $50 million check" 31:30 Partner versus transaction 33:57 Thinking like a PE investor 37:39 Why executives fail at family offices 41:25 Forget the job description 42:12 How long a search really takes 45:07 More PE jobs than proven operators 46:30 Waiting out the payday 49:02 Two smart decisions 50:44 A third of the work is recruiting into Texas 52:05 Recruiting to West Texas 53:13 A search that ended in Ghana 57:08 What moves a candidate besides money 59:46 The left and right side of the page 1:01:31 A landmine field 1:03:15 The Old Parkland spring cocktail 1:06:12 The Rowe Global Ranch Party 1:07:49 "Dad, do you even like what you do?" 1:09:58 10 years at the Indy 500 1:11:55 SMU's next 35 years 1:19:05 Sam Susser, filming next SPONSORED BY Capital Southwest | https://capitalsouthwest.com Security National Bank | https://securitynational.bank Blockchain.com | https://www.blockchain.com IMA Financial Group | https://imacorp.com Rowe Global: https://www.roweglobal.com The Deal Table: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-deal-table/ Ryan Harper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryansharper/ Lane Carrick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/b-lane-carrick-65a728/ Lane's book, The Optima Advantage: https://amzn.to/48nLElW

    #53 Bill Rowe: There Are More PE Jobs Than Proven Operators

  2. Sep 21

    #52 Alex Danza, Vonlane: They Said Nobody Would Pay $99 to Ride a Bus

    "People thought I was crazy 12 years ago. You're going to ask people to spend $99 to ride a bus. They thought I was nuts. And I thought I was nuts a little bit."Alex Danza is the founder and CEO of Vonlane, the premium motorcoach company he launched in Dallas in May 2014 with two coaches and a single route to Austin. Twelve years on, Vonlane runs more than 500 weekly departures across Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia, has carried 1.8 million passengers over 36 million miles, and has never taken a dollar of institutional capital. The original plan was a regional charter business. Danza killed it once he saw the industry competed on nothing but who bid lowest, and a coach salesman offered him a way out: an empty shell he could finish however he wanted. What came back is closer to an airline than a bus line. Terminals in downtown Dallas, Austin, Houston, and Nashville rather than an airport twenty minutes out. Twenty-two first class seats, an attendant on every trip, Starlink, meals included, and a library voice policy enforced with a discreet card and a piece of chocolate. Net promoter score runs at 90, and the first two coaches he bought are still on the road and still earning. Then COVID erased two and a half years. He was two weeks from launching Nashville when March Madness was cancelled, went dark for six weeks, took Vista Bank's first Main Street lending loan, and did not reach Tennessee until 2023. On the fare he is plain: it started at $99, it is $129 today, and it will never be dynamically priced. "It is an airline on the ground, this business." The pricing is the one part of the airline he refuses to copy. Also in this episode: how Vonlane picks a route and why it runs to Buckhead instead of Hartsfield, why he will not hire a driver without two years on a 45 foot motorcoach, what he actually wants from autonomous vehicles and the DOT, raising capital in one ten minute phone call, why he would sell to private equity or a family office but never go public after Andersen and Enron, and what solving ground transportation for NetJets taught him first. Hosted by Ryan Harper and Andrew Swartz. Produced by Harper Belmont Media. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 2:01 Sponsors 3:17 Starting a thing that should already exist 3:53 The 200 to 250 mile problem 6:50 Downtown terminals, not airports 10:01 $1.2 million a coach, and why the IRR works 11:21 The first two coaches, 12 years later 11:56 The original plan was charter 13:18 "I'll just sell you one that's empty" 15:07 Competing on productivity, not price 16:59 How a route gets chosen 18:35 Buckhead instead of Hartsfield 20:00 COVID cost them two and a half years 21:29 Two weeks from Nashville, then March Madness died 26:14 Six weeks dark 26:32 Vista Bank's first Main Street loan 27:53 Maintenance and a 0.04% month 29:27 Two years on a 45 foot coach, no exceptions 35:51 "People thought I was crazy" 39:35 Sixty percent book inside seven days 41:48 Fifty-fifty business and leisure, NPS of 90 42:37 The shutdown sent them 30% more riders 43:37 He wants DOT hours, not a driverless bus 48:56 Raising the money: one call, ten minutes 50:42 No institutional money, ever 51:57 $99 to $129, in very small steps 54:01 The library voice policy 56:21 225 employees, and Miles the AI agent 1:00:16 When a coach goes down in Waco 1:04:30 The endgame: an exit, not an IPO 1:06:35 Andersen, Enron, and staying private 1:09:48 Events are the business 1:14:15 Before Vonlane: Y2K and the road 1:15:31 Solving what NetJets could not 1:19:39 What people get wrong 1:21:31 Close SPONSORED BY Capital Southwest | https://capitalsouthwest.com Security National Bank | https://securitynational.bank Blockchain.com | https://www.blockchain.com Vonlane: https://www.vonlane.com The Deal Table: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-deal-table/ Ryan Harper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryansharper/ Lane Carrick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/b-lane-carrick-65a728/ Lane's book, The Optima Advantage: https://amzn.to/48nLElW

    #52 Alex Danza, Vonlane: They Said Nobody Would Pay $99 to Ride a Bus

  3. Sep 14

    #51 Allen West | Our P&L Statement Was in Lives

    His P&L was measured in lives, not dollars. Allen West commanded 650 soldiers in Iraq, then carried the same leadership system into Congress and into business. More on Allen West and this episode: https://www.thedealtablepodcast.com/episodes/allen-west West spent 22 years in the U.S. Army, commanded an artillery battalion out of Fort Hood, and advised the Afghan National Army in Kandahar. He then spent two years in Congress on the Armed Services and Small Business committees. Most of this conversation is him teaching. The five C's of leadership: courage, competence, commitment, conviction, character. Commander's intent broken into purpose, method and end state, and why an operation briefed that way survives the plan falling apart. Why the 100 percent plan always gets beat while the 65 to 70 percent plan wins. Why every company should run a weekly after action review, good, bad and ugly. Why the leader's job in an ambush is to get off the X and decide, and why refusing to decide is the worst option available.He is direct on what government owes a business owner, which is conditions and a level playing field rather than a definition of success. He is just as direct on quarterly earnings myopia, on why a company aiming at the 25 yard target loses to an adversary thinking in 50 to 100 year cycles, and on why the military is bad at helping veterans translate what they did into a resume a hiring manager can read. He still carries the worn 3x5 cards he carried as a battalion commander. Cool heads always prevail. Soldiers don't care what you know, they want to know that you care. Issues come with two recommendations. Leaders take responsibility, never credit. ABOUT THE GUEST Lt. Col. Allen West (Ret.) is the executive director of the American Constitutional Rights Union, founded by Ronald Reagan's attorney general Ed Meese. He served 22 years in the U.S. Army and led 650 soldiers in Iraq. Elected to Congress in 2010, he was the first African American Republican to represent Florida since Reconstruction. He is a former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, hosts the weekly Steadfast and Loyal podcast, and is the author of three books. KEY MOMENTS 00:00 Intro 04:05 The five C's of leadership 08:23 Commander's intent, in three parts 20:13 Get off the X and decide 24:00 Why quarterly thinking loses 33:58 The weekly after action review 36:40 The perfect plan always gets beat 51:39 What government owes small business 1:13:09 Hiring veterans, and why it works LINKS American Constitutional Rights Union: https://theacru.org Steadfast and Loyal: https://allenwest.substack.com Guardian of the Republic: https://amzn.to/4iMJO4r We Were Soldiers Once... and Young, Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway: https://amzn.to/4xw3QnjThe Law, Frederic Bastiat: https://amzn.to/3UW2F2S Deal Table newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1Tfx_WobCTPuXWenG1-69EQoavsd FOLLOW THE DEAL TABLE YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedealtablepodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-deal-table/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedealtablepodcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedealtablepodcast TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedealtable X: https://x.com/thedealtablepod Produced by Harper Belmont Media: https://www.harperbelmont.com/ Sponsored by: Capital Southwest: https://www.capitalsouthwest.com/ Security National Bank: https://securitynational.bank Blockchain.com: https://www.blockchain.com

    #51 Allen West | Our P&L Statement Was in Lives

  4. Sep 7

    #50 George Baker | Private Equity Rarely Loses

    "Private equity rarely loses." George Baker says it as a director of the company he founded, watching his own shareholder value climb. Lane Carrick, who sells founder-owned businesses to private equity for a living, pushes back: you think it's about the math? "I know it's about the math." George Baker Sr. is the founder of ParkHub, now JustPark, and the founder and managing partner of 2 the Moon Ventures in Dallas. He swept his father's commercial parking lots downtown at 12, founded ParkHub in 2010 to attack cash leakage in a $40 billion industry that had seen almost no technology, and built it into a B2B parking and mobility platform serving stadiums and airports. Jerry Jones was an early investor. LLR Partners put in $100 million of growth equity. More than 20 bolt-on acquisitions followed, then a merger with UK-based JustPark and an FTV Capital recap that moved Baker from chairman to director. The mechanism was boring and enormous: digitize the cash. Parking operators saw revenue lifts of 30 to more than 50 percent. Inside the venue the transaction fell from over 20 seconds to under five, congestion dropped and food and beverage sales rose 19 percent. In 2014, reading the consumer window closing, he shut down his own reservation engine, called Ticketmaster, and rebuilt the entire company as B2B software. Growth ran 400 percent, then 300, then 200. What he gave up was not the money. "We were a band of brothers. I don't think I will ever have that much fun." He has not seen much private equity put weight on culture or job creation, and he does not believe founder culture survives the invitation. He has made peace with that, and he is specific about the trade: four years of school runs and family dinners after a decade of not being around. Also in this episode: why an operator turned investor now buys Texas consumer brands instead of software, why western wear is a $130 billion market, how he judges a founding team in a single conversation, and the advice he gives anyone entering a transaction, which is to write down what success looks like in one sentence, date it, and seal it in an envelope, because the deal will take two to three times longer than the LOI says. Hosted by Ryan Harper and Lane Carrick. Produced by Harper Belmont Media. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 1:40 Sponsors 3:35 Sweeping his father's parking lots at 12 6:02 The problem statement was cash leakage 18:29 Revenue lifts of 30 to more than 50 percent 20:07 Destroying his own business model 21:12 Shutting it down and calling Ticketmaster 21:39 Jerry Jones invests, then 400, 300, 200 percent growth 22:20 EOS, traction, and a band of brothers 23:26 A $40 billion market with zero technology 28:28 Twenty seconds to five, and what it did to the venue 30:06 More than 20 bolt-on acquisitions 31:17 The JustPark merger 31:52 The FTV recap, chairman to director 32:27 Founders backing founders at 2 the Moon 36:23 From parking software to boots and cookies39:12 Western wear is a $130 billion market 44:20 "You think it's about the math?" 44:49 "Private equity rarely loses" 44:55 Can founder culture survive private equity? 46:26 Contact tracing and reopening Live Nation 47:07 The capital he had to give back 47:41 Making peace with it not being his baby 48:19 The trade: four years of school runs and dinners 52:09 Write it down, date it, seal the envelope 1:02:10 It is not the company, it is the entrepreneur 1:03:40 Book recommendations 1:07:03 Close SPONSORED BY Capital Southwest | https://capitalsouthwest.com Security National Bank | https://securitynational.bank Blockchain.com | https://www.blockchain.com 2 the Moon Ventures: https://2themoon.ventures The Deal Table: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-deal-table/ Ryan Harper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryansharper/ Lane Carrick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/b-lane-carrick-65a728/ Lane's book, The Optima Advantage: https://amzn.to/48nLElW

    #50 George Baker | Private Equity Rarely Loses

  5. Sep 1

    #49 Edward Crawford and Ralph Manning, Coltala Holdings: $400M, 24 Deals

    Private equity principals do not say this out loud: "We need to sell this company before something bad happens." Ralph Manning did it for years, not because the market was right, but because he could not see far enough into his own businesses to know what was hiding. Edward Crawford and Ralph Manning are co-founders and co-CEOs of Coltala Holdings, a permanent capital holding company in Fort Worth and Dallas. Since 2017 they have deployed more than $400 million across 24 transactions in aerospace, home health, water, and engineering. No fund sits behind it, so there is no seventh-year clock and no forced sale to raise the next one. What replaced the fear is the Coltala Enterprise System, a lean operating playbook out of Danaher and Toyota by way of Larry Culp, who took Danaher's market cap from $3 billion to $30 billion and now chairs GE Aerospace. The proof is their aerospace business. Lead times sat at 164 days. Two weeks of kaizen on three bottlenecks, one an $80,000 paint shop, brought it to 32 days. Every employee at every Coltala company, forklift operator included, gets a quarterly check from 8 to 10 percent of after-tax profits. Crawford came to private equity from the Peace Corps, where he built a 300-farmer coffee cooperative, and from naval intelligence in Afghanistan, where he earned a Bronze Star with SEAL Teams 2 and 4, by way of Goldman Sachs. He is blunt about the fit: "If you want a guy from New York who has a Harvard MBA who's going to tell you how great they are, then you can maybe go work with them. But if you want a real partner, we're your guys."Also in this episode: why mission and margin are not opposites, what mission critical means after the pandemic, how defense tech changed once Ash Carter stood up Unit X, the knower versus learner test they run on every founder, and why yellow lights never turn green. The last twenty minutes go elsewhere, to Andrew Jackson at New Orleans and the banana peddler who overthrew a government. Hosted by Ryan Harper and Lane Carrick. Produced by Harper Belmont Media. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 1:44 Sponsors 2:59 Ralph in the hot seat 4:46 Where the name Coltala comes from 7:48 The nonprofit that was going under 9:34 Why mission and margin are not opposites 13:18 What "mission critical" actually means 19:31 Unit X and Ash Carter 23:21 Where founders hit the ceiling 25:03 The Coltala Enterprise System 26:25 The $80,000 paint shop 26:47 164 days down to 32 27:08 The best ideas come from the people doing the work 29:39 Profit share for the forklift operator 31:45 Meeting Larry Culp 34:09 Process is speed, not bureaucracy 37:23 Three credit cards to $400 million 39:22 "We need to sell before something bad happens" 40:47 No fund, so no forced sale 41:27 Growth makes complexity, complexity kills growth 43:05 Going deeper beats being a generalist 44:26 The MRO moat, $1.2 million and three years 47:44 The anti private equity pitch 48:27 30,000 subscribers and fifty relationships 49:40 They are Luke Skywalker, we are Yoda 52:37 Knower mindset versus learner mindset 54:19 If the seller wants top dollar, it is not for us 59:58 "Yellow lights don't turn green" 1:00:49 Peace Corps, intelligence, and ground truth 1:03:19 Andrew Jackson goes to the gemba 1:06:16 Seabiscuit and walking the track at 2 a.m. 1:07:27 The Banana King of New Orleans 1:11:39 Jim Collins on being in frame 1:14:43 Jiu-Jitsu, do not white knuckle everything 1:16:58 Give and Take, givers, takers, matchers 1:18:07 Close SPONSORED BY Capital Southwest | https://capitalsouthwest.com Security National Bank | https://securitynational.bank Blockchain.com | https://www.blockchain.com Coltala Holdings: https://coltala.com The Deal Table: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-deal-table/ Ryan Harper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryansharper/ Lane Carrick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/b-lane-carrick-65a728/ Lane's book, The Optima Advantage: https://amzn.to/48nLElW

    #49 Edward Crawford and Ralph Manning, Coltala Holdings: $400M, 24 Deals

  6. Aug 26

    #48 Jennifer Chandler | Spanish Teacher to $86 Billion

    At 20 she was teaching high school Spanish. Today she runs Bank of America in North Texas and an $86 billion practice for foundations. More on Jennifer Chandler and this episode: thedealtablepodcast.com/episodes/jennifer-chandler Jennifer Chandler holds two jobs most banks split between two executives: North Texas president, with roughly 14,000 colleagues, and head of the bank's national endowment and foundation practice, the largest outsourced chief investment office in the world at approximately $86 billion for family foundations, hospital systems, and college endowments. She finished the University of Texas in two and a half years and graduated at 20. Too young, by her own account, for a big institution, so she taught high school Spanish instead. Then Dean Witter took a bet on her, put her through an interview where a room of psychiatrists made her sell a pen over the phone, and sent her to the Twin Towers. The through-line is a claim most philanthropy executives soften, and she does not: capitalism and giving are one flywheel, not opposing forces. She is blunt about the rest of it too. Giving money away well is harder than making it, she says no roughly 90 percent of the time, giving is up while the number of givers falls, and sometimes the honest advice to a nonprofit is to merge or close. Her practical warning to anyone approaching an exit: set up the family foundation before the liquidity event, not two months before closing. Jennifer Chandler is the North Texas president of Bank of America and leads the bank's national endowment and foundation practice, which manages approximately $86 billion. A first-generation college student, she graduated from the University of Texas at 20 and began her career as a high school Spanish teacher. She is the incoming chair of the Dallas Regional Chamber. KEY MOMENTS 00:00 I'm a big capitalist 06:01 Which is harder, making or giving 07:02 Why she started out teaching 08:27 Selling a pen to psychiatrists 10:14 The largest OCIO in the world 12:38 Set up the foundation first 18:09 Where the wealth transfer goes 41:48 Saying no 90% of the time 43:45 Giving is up, givers are down 44:47 When a nonprofit should close Newsletter: thedealtablepodcast.com/connect Bank of America: bankofamerica.com Books from this episode: thedealtablepodcast.com/books Lane Carrick on selling a business, The Optima Advantage: amzn.to/48nLElW Follow The Deal Table: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X The Deal Table is hosted by Ryan Harper and Lane Carrick, filmed in Dallas, and produced by Harper Belmont Media. Sponsored by Capital Southwest, Security National Bank and Blockchain.com.

    #48 Jennifer Chandler | Spanish Teacher to $86 Billion

  7. Aug 18

    #47 | Rex Kurzius: Google's AI Answers Killed 80% of Our Clicks

    Google's AI answers took 60 to 80% of the clicks businesses used to get. Rex Kurzius rebuilt his entire company around the thing that did it. More on Rex Kurzius and this episode: thedealtablepodcast.com/episodes/rex-kurzius Kurzius founded Asset Panda in 2012 to solve the least glamorous problem in business, knowing where your stuff is. It now tracks assets for customers including Amazon, Toyota, Dyson and Carnival, and runs in 67 languages. Eighteen months ago he tore the platform down and rebuilt it around AI, and he calls that stretch the most stress he has ever endured. His framing is that the product went from a noun to a verb. It used to be a container you filled in. Now a movie studio asks it which props in inventory fit a 1901 to 1925 production, a utility technician asks which tools and training he needs before he leaves the yard, and an inspector photographs a generator instead of filling out a form. When he could not find a tool to replace the search traffic AI took away, he built a generative engine optimization studio in house, and he is about to sell it as a product. Then the part nobody expects from an asset tracking founder. His father was a German immigrant who named a bakery in Albuquerque after his two sons, Dan Rex Bakery, and died of a heart attack when Rex was 10. The family was nearly homeless and moved in with grandparents in Dallas. That older brother, Dan Kurzius, went on to co-found Mailchimp. Rex's daughter picked the name Asset Panda off a list as a kid and now works there as an account executive, alongside her brother who runs AI. He is blunt about the rest: career silos dissolve, he hires athletes rather than job titles, and if you are not replaced by AI you will be replaced by someone who uses it. Rex Kurzius is the founder and CEO of Asset Panda, the Dallas-based asset intelligence platform he founded in 2012, used by customers including Amazon, Toyota, Dyson and Carnival and running in 67 languages. Asset Panda reached number 104 on the 2018 Inc. 5000 with 3,552 percent three-year growth. He previously founded Timberhorn IT Solutions and sold it to the Ettain Group in 2015. He has been named to the D CEO Dallas 500 and was an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. KEY MOMENTS 00:00 We track endangered chickens 06:16 Google's AI took 80% of the clicks 07:27 "It's underhyped" 09:46 A studio asks for 1901 to 1925 12:37 The survey that got the model wrong 24:44 Building the tool nobody sold him 25:46 His brother founded Mailchimp 38:24 The most stressful 18 months 53:13 "I call them athletes" 01:05:37 Losing his father at 10 Newsletter: thedealtablepodcast.com/connect Asset Panda: assetpanda.com Lane Carrick on selling a business, The Optima Advantage: amzn.to/48nLElW Follow The Deal Table: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X The Deal Table is hosted by Ryan Harper and Lane Carrick, filmed in Dallas, and produced by Harper Belmont Media. Sponsored by Capital Southwest, Security National Bank and Blockchain.com.

    #47 | Rex Kurzius: Google's AI Answers Killed 80% of Our Clicks

  8. Aug 14

    #46 | Tony Bridwell: Why Culture Never Shows Up in Due Diligence

    Every buyer says culture is everything. No buyer puts culture in diligence. Tony Bridwell has spent 25 years inside that gap. More on Tony Bridwell and this episode: thedealtablepodcast.com/episodes/tony-bridwell Lane Carrick opens with the paradox he has watched his whole career on the sellside: every buyer says culture makes or breaks an acquisition, and no buyer ever builds a process around it. Bridwell ran people strategy for 60,000 team members across 1,600 Chili's and Maggiano's restaurants at Brinker International, then did the same at Ryan LLC. What follows is a working manual for the part of a deal nobody underwrites. Why toxicity only surfaces after the letter of intent. Why 3 percent of an organization moves 90 percent of its culture, and why it is never the 3 percent you would guess. What breaks the day the founder who was the de facto mission hands over the keys. Then Frank, the brilliant jerk everyone tolerates because he produces, and the four options: tolerate, isolate, eliminate, rehabilitate. All four carry a cost. Chasing Frank sent Bridwell into a doctorate, where the research turned out not to be about leadership at all. Roughly $60 billion a year goes into leadership development in the United States. There is no comparable number for followership. Dr. Tony Bridwell is Chief Talent Officer at The Encompass Group, where he leads the organizational consulting practice and the E3 Leadership Academy, and Adjunct Professor of Executive Leadership at SMU Cox School of Business. He was previously Chief People Officer at Brinker International and at Ryan LLC. He is the author of eight books, including The Follower Effect (Wiley, 2026), and is a living organ donor. KEY MOMENTS 00:00 The deal that died 30 minutes out 08:08 Culture never shows up in diligence 11:10 Brint Ryan: tighten the lug nuts 20:21 3% of a company moves 90% of it 25:21 When the founder is the mission 34:35 What you hear in the word follower 38:41 $60 billion on leadership, zero here 49:40 Tolerate, isolate, eliminate, rehab 01:12:00 30% logic, 70% emotion 01:17:57 Why he gave a friend a kidney Newsletter: thedealtablepodcast.com/connect The Follower Effect: amazon.com/dp/1394375034 The Courage to Be Disliked: amzn.to/45s5Npo Man's Search for Meaning: amzn.to/4xxm4VK What to Make of a Life: amzn.to/4gy5JdK Dr. Tony Bridwell: drtonybridwell.com Southwest Transplant Alliance: organ.org Lane Carrick on selling a business, The Optima Advantage: amzn.to/48nLElW Follow The Deal Table: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X The Deal Table is hosted by Ryan Harper and Lane Carrick, filmed in Dallas, and produced by Harper Belmont Media. Sponsored by Capital Southwest, Security National Bank and Blockchain.com.

    #46 | Tony Bridwell: Why Culture Never Shows Up in Due Diligence
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
18 Ratings

About

The Deal Table is a long-form podcast featuring the founders, operators, investors, and advisors who navigate consequential decisions around capital, control, leadership, and legacy. Filmed at Old Parkland in Dallas, the show brings together leaders who have built, financed, governed, acquired, and exited real businesses to speak candidly about private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and what actually happens before, during, and after the deal. For founders, executives, investors, and advisors making decisions Sponsored by: Capital Southwest, Security National Bank, IMA & Blockchain.com

Information

  • Creator
    Harper Belmont Media | Optima Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    53
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Harper Belmont Media | Optima Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Show Website
    The Deal Table

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