The Deall Show

By Reverie
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Interviewing the backers and dealmakers behind acquisition entrepreneurs: from the investors, lenders, lawyers, to the advisors and brokers. Covering everything ETA and Search related. Former guests include early investors in Facebook, Palantir, Pinterest, Lyft, as well as the former president of Y-Combinator. With guests having launched & managed billions of dollars.

  1. 6d ago

    9 Years Placing CFOs — Here’s What Every Acquisition Buyer Gets Wrong About Finance

    Tom Hunter is Australia’s leading specialist recruiter for first finance hires and first CFOs — with nearly a decade placing top finance talent into high-growth tech, fintech, and deep-tech businesses. He also hosts The CFO Track, a podcast interviewing Australia’s top CFOs that hit 70K+ listens in its first season. For ETA buyers, the finance function is one of the most overlooked risks after close — most small businesses are just the owner plus a bookkeeper, and a big part of that walks out the door with the seller. In this episode, Tom breaks down: How to read the finance function during diligence before you sign What red flags only show up once you’re in the seat Why your first finance hire usually shouldn’t be a CFO How to build lender and investor trust in year one What makes a finance candidate actually suited to an owner-operated business vs a startup

  2. Oct 15

    The Advisor Behind 900 Acquisitions & $400M in Deals | Heather Griffith Barber

    Heather Griffith Barber co-founded Utah’s largest vehicle wrap company at 23, scaled it to 30 employees, and exited at a 6x multiple in 2024 — before turning her focus entirely to helping other founders do the same. She’s now the advisor ETA searchers call before signing an LOI — having informed 900+ acquisition decisions and valued over $400M in deals through her Buy-Scale-Sell platform. She’s also the author of two books, The Due Diligence Bible and Silver Tsunami. In this episode, Heather covers: What most searchers get wrong in their thesisHow to read revenue quality in a project-based businessThe red flags buyers consistently miss in deals they bring herWhat it felt like to be on the sell side — navigating diligence and choosing a buyerWhy the emotional cost of selling is something every acquisition entrepreneur underestimatesWhere AI is actually moving the needle for ETA operators, and where it’s just noiseHeather's Linkedin:   / heathergriffithbarber   Check Out The Silver Tsunami: https://tinyurl.com/bdd4vska Check Out The Due Dilligence Bible: https://tinyurl.com/5dctr4w8 Questions or suggestions? Email us at berk@reverielux.com or learn more about us at http://thedeall.com!

  3. Oct 6

    From £175M Exit to Both Sides of the Deal Table | Mark Mills

    Mark Mills built and exited 5 companies — most notably Cardpoint plc, the world's largest non-bank ATM operator, which he grew from scratch to £100M in annual revenue before exiting for £175M in 2007. Having both built companies and acquired them, Mark has sat on both sides of the deal table — giving him a rare, unfiltered view of what sellers are actually thinking, fearing, and maneuvering around when a buyer comes knocking. Since 2007, he's helped dozens of founders sell their businesses for far more than they expected — including one owner told his company was worth £3M who walked away with £10M. Nothing changed in the accounts — just who it was presented to and why they needed it. In this episode, Mark pulls back the curtain on sell-side psychology — the motivations, fears, and tactics every acquisition entrepreneur needs to understand before they sit across the table from a founder looking to exit.

  4. Sep 30

    The Man Backing 1,200 Entrepreneurs and $1 Billion in Acquisitions | Jordan Fliegel

    Jordan Fliegel played professional basketball in Israel before becoming a 2x founder — raising $14M for CoachUp (backed by Stephen Curry) and selling Draft to Paddy Power Betfair for $48M in 2017. He went on to make early angel bets on Ramp (~$44B valuation) and Carta (~$2B), before pivoting fully into the world of buying businesses. Today he's CEO of Acquisition Lab, a community of 1,200+ entrepreneurs whose acquisitions have surpassed $1B in combined enterprise value.In this episode, Jordan breaks down why buying a boring business might be smarter than building a startup from scratch — and what it takes to succeed as an acquisition entrepreneur. Check Out The Lab: https://acquisitionlab.com/ Connect with Jordan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanfliegel/ Email the host: berk@reverielux.com

  5. Sep 22

    The Deal Maker Behind $1 Billion in Boring Business Acquisitions | Eric Pacifici

    Eric Pacifici is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SMB Law Group, a law firm that's helped everyday operators buy boring, unsexy businesses — closing over a billion dollars in deals along the way. Before founding the firm, Eric cut billion-dollar deals at Kirkland & Ellis, the largest law firm in the world by revenue, before leaving to help entrepreneurs skip the startup grind entirely and buy their way into ownership instead. He's credited with coining the term "silver tsunami" — the roughly $7 billion in small businesses currently held by Baby Boomers that will hit the market by 2030 — and has been named a Rising Star in M&A by Super Lawyers four years running. He's also become one of the most prominent voices in the ETA (entrepreneurship through acquisition) space on X, with a following surpassing 148,000. In this episode, Eric breaks down the real deal-making lessons from a billion dollars in closings — what separates a good acquisition from a bad one, and what buyers consistently get wrong.

  6. Jul 30

    Uber's Early Employee on the Deals That Built an Empire | Kyle Thomas

    Kyle Thomas was one of Uber's earliest employees, hired as the company's 250th hire and one of its first NYC operators — right in the room while Uber was cutting the deals that turned it from a scrappy startup into a global empire. He helped launch multiple markets from scratch, personally negotiating and closing the local partnerships, regulatory relationships, and driver/rider deals that got Uber to $100M+ in ARR in market after market — all while the company scaled from 200 employees to over 30,000 worldwide. After Uber, Kyle took his deal-making instincts to Avo, a Y Combinator-backed startup, before founding Early — a company built to help ambitious operators land roles at the next high-growth company before everyone else sees it coming. During this episode, Kyle and Berk go deep on the stories behind Uber's early deal-making — including pitching Travis Kalanick directly — how to spot and land a seat at the next high-growth startup, and why thinking like an investor is the real unlock in your career.

  7. Jul 30

    The Lawyer Who Quit Big Law to Back Elon Musk's xAI & Neuralink | Evan Buhler

    Evan Buhler's journey into startups began after he quit his Big Law job following a conversation with a client who had built a multi-billion dollar company. After two attempts at building a legal tech startup, Evan founded Talok Capital, a venture capital firm investing at the intersection of AI, enterprise software, and consumer — with a portfolio that includes early positions in xAI and Neuralink, both Elon Musk companies, along with Parafin and other early-stage bets. In this episode, Evan shares his path from Big Law attorney to full-time investor, and how Talok Capital combines capital with legal protection to help founders build and defend their startups.

  8. Jul 30

    From 0 to $200,000,000 Exit in 18 Months | Kevin Henrikson

    Kevin Henrikson is a seasoned entrepreneur, engineer, and investor with a track record of building and scaling high-impact technology businesses. Before Acompli — which he took from 0 to a $200 million exit to Microsoft in just 18 months — Kevin was Director of Engineering at Zimbra, which sold to Yahoo! for $350 million in 2007. After Acompli, he led engineering for Outlook Mobile at Microsoft and later became VP of Engineering at Instacart. He's also invested in over 50 startups over the past two decades and served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Redpoint Ventures. During this episode, Kevin & Berk (the host) discuss: How Acompli went from 0 to a $200,000,000 exit in only 18 monthsHow to pick the right co-founders and build a successful partnershipHow Kevin is using AI to supercharge himself and his businesses

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About

Interviewing the backers and dealmakers behind acquisition entrepreneurs: from the investors, lenders, lawyers, to the advisors and brokers. Covering everything ETA and Search related. Former guests include early investors in Facebook, Palantir, Pinterest, Lyft, as well as the former president of Y-Combinator. With guests having launched & managed billions of dollars.

Information

  • Creator
    By Reverie
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    57
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © By Reverie
  • Show Website
    The Deall Show