He sold his company for $230 million right before oil prices collapsed. It wasn't luck — it was a board meeting. Thomas Chance joins The Deal Podcast to share what 30+ years of building, selling, and starting over actually looks like from the inside.

Thomas Chance is a serial entrepreneur, engineer, and Louisiana native who built CNC Technologies into the world's largest privately held offshore survey company — 600 employees, 10 offices worldwide, $25M EBITDA — then sold to Oceaneering in 2015 for $230 million. He then spun off and built ASV (Autonomous Surface Vehicles), a pioneering unmanned marine technology company, and sold that to L3 Technologies (now L3Harris) in 2018. His father before him built and sold a landmark survey company in 1991. Now his sons are doing the same.

Topics covered:

• Following his father's entrepreneurial path from civil engineer to company founder
• Building a pre-GPS satellite positioning system in the 1980s (before GPS existed)
• The emotional reality of leaving a family business after a sale
• Hiring the people a new acquirer just laid off — and why it worked
• Growing CNC Technologies to 600 people and the world's largest private offshore survey firm
• Why a board of advisors (not PE) told him to sell — and why he listened
• Timing the $230M exit before the 2015 oil crash
• Carving out the autonomous underwater vehicle division at close
• Building ASV and selling driverless boat technology to L3 Harris
• Startup advice: learn the industry first, then go start your company

🔗 Website: https://www.thedealpodcast.com/

Jude David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jude-david-jd-dcl-mba-172a6a76/

Joshua Wilson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuadwilson/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dealpodcast

Powered By: FA Mergers https://www.famergers.com/

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What do Grammy-winning songwriting credits, merchant cash advances for the Latino community, and a reverse merger into the OTC markets have in common? They're all part of Yoel Damas' story — and it's one you won't forget.

In this episode of The Deal Podcast, Joshua Wilson sits down with Yoel Damas — entertainment attorney, Grammy-credited songwriter, and now CEO of a publicly traded revenue-based finance company targeting underserved communities. Yoel breaks down how a chance conversation led him from the music business into the world of merchant cash advances, how he spotted a massive gap in capital access for Latino and minority-owned businesses, and how a random meeting about a vodka brand became the catalyst for a reverse merger into the OTC markets. He's now pursuing a NASDAQ uplisting, and he holds nothing back about what he'd do differently.

Topics Covered:

• How the music industry changed from radio gatekeepers to Spotify playlists
• Why artists lose money without proper paperwork — and how Yoel fixed that
• The story behind landing an Apple distribution deal in 2006* when 'it was impossible'
• How a colleague's tip led Yoel to invest in merchant cash advances
• Why Latinos and gig economy workers were underserved in revenue-based finance
• What a reverse merger actually looks like from the inside
• OTC shell companies — the pros, cons, and honest lessons learned
• The filed NASDAQ application and uplisting process*
• His father's decade in a Cuban political prison — and why that shapes everything
• What Yoel wishes he'd done differently before going public

*2006 (corrected post-recording).

*Update since recording: Audits for the 2023 and 2024 periods have been completed and publicly announced, and a confidential DRS S-1 has been filed.

🔗 Website: https://www.thedealpodcast.com/

Joshua Wilson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuadwilson/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dealpodcast

Powered By: FA Mergers https://www.famergers.com/

📩 Want to be a guest or have a topic suggestion? Reach out via LinkedIn or our website.

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What happens when a six-time X Games competitor realizes the athletes he idolizes are losing their homes, battling addiction, and going broke? Dan Brisse made a decision that changed his life — and now he's helping 750+ investors do the same through multifamily real estate.

Dan Brisse is the co-founder of Granite Towers Equity Group, a private equity firm specializing in multifamily value-add apartments. Before building a real estate portfolio, Dan spent 15 years as a professional snowboarder — competing in six X Games, winning multiple gold and silver medals, and gracing the covers of major action sports magazines. After watching his peers flame out financially, Dan taught himself to invest, built passive income streams, and transitioned into full-time real estate. In this episode, Dan shares the raw story of his journey from living on peanut butter sandwiches in Salt Lake City to running a PE firm with hundreds of investors.

Topics discussed:

• How parental support and belief shaped Dan's career trajectory
• The financial destruction Dan witnessed among elite athletes
• Discovering passive income and the books that changed everything
• Breaking down a real multifamily deal: acquisition to exit
• How Dan's wife becoming a real estate professional saved them $35K+ in taxes
• The depreciation strategy that took his tax bill from $52K to $17K
• What Granite Towers looks for in a perfect deal
• Fixed debt vs. bridge debt and why hold period matters
• Investor relations best practices: transparency over perfection
• Why you should never rush into a deal with the wrong partner
• Ray Dalio's Changing World Order and why inflation is the silent wealth killer
• The mindset shift from trading time for money to building passive income

🔗 Website: https://www.thedealpodcast.com/

Joshua Wilson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuadwilson/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dealpodcast

Powered By: FA Mergers https://www.famergers.com/

📩 Want to be a guest or have a topic suggestion? Reach out via LinkedIn or our website.

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What does nearly five decades of business law teach you about deals, people, and life? Veteran attorney Joe Giglio has spent 49 years in the trenches of business litigation, shareholder disputes, and M&A transactions — and the lessons he's learned go far beyond the courtroom.

In this episode, Joe sits down with Joshua Wilson and co-host Jude David to share the wisdom that comes from a lifetime of navigating high-stakes business conflicts, mediating shareholder disputes, and advising deal makers through some of the toughest decisions of their careers. From surviving Louisiana's oil and gas depression of the 1980s to building a thriving practice at Lisko and Lewis, Joe reveals how saying "yes" to unexpected opportunities — and knowing when to say "no" — shaped his entire career.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Why the best lawyers listen more than they talk — and how that applies to deal making
• How Louisiana's 1980s oil crisis forced Joe into business law and transformed his career
• The single rule Joe follows in every client relationship and why it works
• Business divorce: navigating shareholder disputes when partners can't agree
• The Aesop's Fable analogy every deal maker needs to hear before going to court
• Texas Shootout provisions — how they work and when they backfire
• How to identify whether someone across the table is trustworthy or a "scorpion"
• Why your client is always smarter than you in their field
• The power of in-person meetings to save deals and build trust
• Mentorship, faith, family, and building a legacy that outlasts your career
• Joe's priority framework: faith, family, friends, community, and travel

Whether you're a business owner navigating a partnership dispute, an attorney looking to sharpen your deal-making instincts, or a future deal maker seeking wisdom from someone who's seen it all — this episode delivers.

🔗 Website: https://www.thedealpodcast.com/ Joshua Wilson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuadwilson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dealpodcast Powered By: FA Mergers https://www.famergers.com/

📩 Want to be a guest or have a topic suggestion? Reach out via LinkedIn or our website.

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Walter Hidalgo Jr. built a chemical company from scratch in 2001, sold it at the perfect time in 2014 (right before oil crashed from $120 to under $20/barrel), and felt completely lost after the exit. After a detour into the restaurant business, he reunited with his 25-year-old son to relaunch the original brand and this time, they're doing it together.

In this episode, Walter opens up about the emotional reality of selling a business you built with your own hands, why cold calling strangers has always worked better for him than calling people he knows, and how his son keeps him from chasing every shiny opportunity that crosses his path.

Whether you're building your first company or thinking about your exit, this conversation is packed with hard-earned wisdom from a serial entrepreneur who's been through the full cycle build, sell, lose yourself, and start again.

Topics covered:

• How he spotted a business opportunity from a customer's truck bed
• Selling at the peak (luck vs. preparation)
• The identity crisis every founder faces after an exit
• Cold calling 101: "A little rejection never killed anybody"
• Father-son dynamics: visionary vs. integrator → Why you should stay in what you know after a liquidity event
• Advice for the next generation of deal makers

Guest: Walter Hidalgo Jr.: Founder, Enviro Chem

Host: Joshua Wilson

Co-host: Jude David, FA Mergers

📩 Got a question for a future guest or want to be on the show?

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In this episode, we sit down with veteran banker and operator Brady Como for a masterclass on debt, risk, and long-term dealmaking.

With decades of experience spanning commercial banking, business liquidations, oilfield services, and real estate investing, Brady shares lessons most dealmakers only learn the hard way.

This conversation explores:

• Why banks are often the least greedy partner in a transaction
• The real difference between consumer debt and producer debt
• How underwriting teaches discipline in dealmaking
• Why experience collecting money matters more than lending it
• How purpose, patience, and people shape long-term success
• What separates producers from consumers in capital allocation
• Why retirement without purpose is a dangerous idea

This episode is a must-watch for entrepreneurs, operators, investors, and the next generation of dealmakers who want to understand how capital actually works in the real world.

In this episode, we sit down with Tim Prevost, a third generation banker who worked his way from shredding paper and serving as a teller to becoming CFO of a community bank.

Tim shares a rare inside look at how deals are evaluated from the banking side, why relationships still matter more than spreadsheets, and how judgment, timing, and trust influence lending, acquisitions, and long-term outcomes.

This conversation covers:

• What commercial bankers actually look for in deals
• How teller-line experience shapes better decision-making
• Why valuation starts with comparable sales, not gut feel
• The parallels between treasure hunting and dealmaking
• Moving from commercial banking into the CFO role
• How banks measure success beyond profit
• Why community banks move faster and think differently
• The importance of trust, follow-through, and doing the next right thing

This episode is for founders, dealmakers, operators, and finance professionals who want to understand how capital decisions are really made.

In this episode, we sit down with Joris Delanoue, founder of Fairmint, to unpack how tokenization and blockchain are reshaping private markets.

Joris explains how Fairmint helps companies put their equity on chain by transforming cap tables into smart contracts, removing unnecessary intermediaries, and unlocking new paths to liquidity while preserving compliance and investor protections.

This conversation covers:

• What it actually means to put equity on chain
• How private company cap tables become smart contracts
• Why over intermediation hurts founders and investors
• The role of transfer agents in a blockchain world
• How tokenization blurs the line between public and private markets
• Liquidity, tender offers, and secondary transactions for private equity
• Why knowledge-based accreditation may replace wealth-based rules
• How regulators, founders, and investors can all win with better rails

This episode is for founders, private equity firms, family offices, investors, and operators who want to understand where capital markets are heading next.