All Episodes of The Deal Table

At 20 she was teaching high school Spanish. Today Jennifer Chandler is Bank of America's North Texas president and leads the national team managing roughly $86 billion for foundations and endowments across the country. She holds two jobs most banks split between two executives: North Texas and its 14,000 colleagues, and the largest outsourced chief investment office in the world. 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. "I'm a big capitalist," she says in the first ten seconds. 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 founders: set up the family foundation before the liquidity event, not two months before closing.

Google's AI answer box took 60 to 80 percent of the clicks that used to reach business websites. Rex Kurzius watched it happen to his own funnel, and instead of waiting for it to pass he rebuilt his company around it. 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. 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.

Thirty minutes before the wire, the seller called to say he had an epiphany overnight. He was not selling. Dr. Tony Bridwell has a translation. The epiphany is code for an overwhelming emotional reaction, and roughly 70 percent of your day runs on emotion rather than logic. That is the side that consumes a deal. 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 explains why toxicity only surfaces after the letter of intent, why 3 percent of an organization moves 90 percent of its culture and it is never the 3 percent you would guess, and what breaks the day the founder who was the de facto purpose, mission and vision hands over the keys. The conversation then turns to Frank, the brilliant jerk everyone tolerates because he produces, and the only four things you can do with him: tolerate, isolate, eliminate, rehabilitate. All four carry a cost. Chasing Frank sent Bridwell into a doctorate, where the research told him it was never about leadership at all. Roughly $60 billion a year goes into leadership development in the United States. There is no comparable number for followership. He closes on why he gave a kidney to a close friend.

David Henry is the founder and CEO of Vue Jet, a Dallas-based private aviation brokerage and charter company. Before aviation he spent 18 years as Senior Vice President at CBS Radio DFW. The reinvention from radio sales executive to private-jet broker is the spine of the episode. In this conversation, Henry walks through the trigger moment for the 2010-2011 pivot from radio into aviation, the actual mechanics of selling a $20 million jet (who buys, why, and how the deal really gets done), and what changed permanently in 2020 about who flies private. He also covers the Vue Jet model, what a Tiger 21 Educational Partner actually does, and how an SMU Cox marketing degree, a Mustang Band background, and a Royal Oaks Country Club Rolodex turned into a private-aviation business.

Dr. Kneeland Youngblood is the founding partner, chairman, and CEO of Pharos Capital Group, a Dallas and Nashville-based healthcare-focused private equity firm that has completed 33 healthcare investments and manages more than $650 million in assets. Before building Pharos, he practiced emergency medicine for 12 years. He has served on the boards of Gap, Starwood Hotels, Burger King, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Energy Future Holdings, the Milken Institute, and Caltech, and was appointed to the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. In this conversation, Youngblood traces the arc from the trauma bay to the boardroom, the cold call from Don Williams (Trammell Crow) that pulled him into deal-making, the mentorship chain of Richard Rainwater, David Bonderman, and Michael Milken, and the Pharos playbook for scaling healthcare companies in underserved urban, rural, and tribal markets. He also tells the Eckford family land story: the 147 acres in Karnes County purchased by his formerly enslaved ancestors in 1889 that he is now fighting to reclaim. He breaks down how an ER doctor learned to read a deal, why mission and margin compound in healthcare, and what presidents, Fortune 500 boards, and trauma bays actually have in common.

Ken Malcolmson is President Emeritus of the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce and one of the most connected people in Dallas. Over his eight-year tenure as President and CEO, the region landed 100+ corporate relocations and is on track to overtake Chicago as America's third largest metro area by 2030. Before the Chamber, Ken spent 40 years in corporate healthcare, culminating as CEO of Humana's $1.4 billion West Central Region. Ken breaks down the hard advantages (DFW airport, central location, low taxes) and the soft advantages (Ross Perot's 'culture wins' framework) that are pulling Goldman Sachs, Scotia Bank, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Fidelity into the region. He explains why Dallas needs more density (not sprawl) to fix affordability, why the city's tax revenue is generated almost entirely from downtown, Uptown, and Preston Center, and how the 2019 tornado that destroyed the NDCC's 42-year home actually became a financial windfall. He also discusses Bob Buford's 'Halftime,' the book he read at three different life stages that shifted his trajectory from success to significance.

Thomas E. Gleason III is a fifth-generation Texan and Dallas-based entrepreneur whose primary business is oil and gas, alongside a passion-driven venture reviving two of Texas's oldest cowboy boot brands: Olsen-Stelzer (est. 1900) and Dixon Boot Company (est. 1889). Together with two Highland Park High School classmates, he acquired Olsen-Stelzer in 2018 through GG&E Boots, LLC and Dixon in 2022, and is now finalizing a merger with a complementary western business. Thomas shares why the custom-only Olsen-Stelzer model is priced at $1,500 to $7,500 per pair but can't scale on its own, how a three-month turnaround time beats competitors quoting 18 to 24 months, and how a chance encounter with Jane Seymour in the Philadelphia Admirals Club turned into a signed royalty partnership in under a year. He also breaks down the Boots For Warriors Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that hand-crafts custom boots for wounded veterans with lower extremity impairments, and explains why the western industry is forecast to keep growing 8 to 10 percent annually through 2029 to 2030.

Jay Young is a fourth-generation Texas oilman and the founder and CEO of King Operating Corporation, a privately held energy company based in Addison, Texas. From measuring oil tanks with his grandfather in East Texas to cold-calling strangers at Dean Witter Reynolds in the World Trade Center, Jay's path to building an oil and gas empire was anything but direct. Jay shares the 2015 chairlift conversation at Beaver Creek that completely reshaped his business model, why the first two King Operating funds failed and what he learned from it, and how a chance connection through Nolan Ryan led to tens of thousands of acres of leases. He breaks down his Acquire, Develop, and Divest (ADD) framework, explains why 95% of oil and gas promoters leave money on the table, and makes the case that now is the time to drill while rigs are cheap and oil is climbing.

Preston Dunlap served as the first Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. Space Force and Chief Architect of the U.S. Air Force, where he deployed $750B+ annually for the Secretary of Defense and started $250B+ of new products. Inspired by his 105-year-old WWII veteran grandfather, Preston left a tech entrepreneurship career to serve in the Department of Defense, then founded Arkenstone Capital to invest in industrial technology companies. Preston discusses what it means to 'defy gravity' in business and national security, how he co-invested $1B annually of government capital alongside private capital, and why deep domain expertise matters more than ever in an overheated aerospace and defense market.

Randall Bryant, 38, is the youngest-ever Board Chair of Dallas Area Rapid Transit, a $1.6B transit agency serving 13 North Texas cities with the nation's second-largest light rail system. He started knocking on doors for Ron Kirk's mayoral campaign at age 8, founded his own political consulting firm at 24, and has managed 75+ campaigns across local, state, and federal levels. Randall discusses the February 2026 DART funding compromise he brokered (14-1 board vote that stopped cities from withdrawing), how political strategy and deal-making intersect, and what it takes to lead a $1.6B public agency as someone who grew up in Dallas's historically Black Hamilton Park neighborhood. He's also pursuing his Executive MBA at SMU alongside host Ryan Harper.

Chris Fisher, professional mountain endurance athlete, high-altitude climber, and adventure filmmaker, shares his journey from early life struggles and the U.S. Navy to setting world records in extreme environments and building a media business from the mountains. Chris holds the record for climbing 400,000 vertical feet in a single month on foot, completed all 58 Colorado 14ers in a single winter season, and summited Manaslu (the 8th highest peak in the world) without supplemental oxygen or support. He has set over 30 Fastest Known Time speed records across the Andes, Himalayas, and North America. As the founder of To The Top Media, Chris documents elite athletes and remote landscapes through cinematic photography and film, working on major expeditions including Everest and multiple 6,000-8,000 meter objectives. He discusses the business of being a professional athlete, closing brand partnership deals, funding high-dollar projects around the world, and an upcoming role as a cinematographer for a Netflix film. Key Highlights: - From lost and directionless to U.S. Navy to world-record mountain athlete - The mindset behind surviving high-risk, high-altitude environments - How to market yourself as an athlete and filmmaker to land brand deals - Building To The Top Media and selling stories to outdoor brands - Why consistency and showing up on the hardest days creates leverage - Risk assessment in deadly situations and what it teaches about business

Rogers Healy joins The Deal Table to break down the founder journey from building one of Texas' largest independent real estate brokerages to stepping away from day-to-day operations and going all-in on venture capital. He shares his framework for identifying breakout consumer brands, communicating hard truths to investors, and hiring himself out of operating roles so companies can scale without founder bottlenecks. The conversation also covers personal brand leverage, deal flow discipline, and what sustainable business freedom actually requires.

George Killebrew, Chief Revenue Officer of the United Pickleball Association and 27-year veteran of the Dallas Mavericks front office, joins The Deal Table to break down how professional sports franchises actually make money, from media rights deals and naming rights to sponsorship activation and playoff economics. The conversation traces George's unlikely entry into sports business, from parking cars at an SMU fraternity house during a Mavericks playoff game at Moody Coliseum to becoming one of Mark Cuban's chief business officers. He generated over $500 million in sponsorship sales at the Mavs, earned 15 NBA awards for excellence, and helped negotiate the American Airlines Center naming rights deal ($6.5 million per year for 30 years, the largest at the time). George walks through the business transformation of the Mavericks under Cuban, how the team went from 11-71 (the laughingstock of professional sports) to consistent playoff contenders with top-5 revenue in the NBA. He shares the inside story of the 2011 NBA Championship, the financial impact of winning consistently versus losing, and why franchise values keep rising even when teams struggle, driven primarily by media rights deals. The episode also covers his time as Commissioner of Major League Rugby (building sponsorship from barter deals to over $1 million in his first year, securing the league's first Fox Sports TV deal), the inside story of the American Airlines Center partnership with the Dallas Stars (and why that relationship is now unraveling), and his current role scaling the business of pickleball, a sport that has been named the fastest-growing in the U.S. four years running with an estimated 20-40 million players. George closes with his perspective on Dallas as the top sports city in America, why private equity is changing franchise ownership, and how emerging sports like pickleball and padel are creating new billion-dollar opportunities.

Katherine Monson, CEO and co-founder of Hale SWx, joins The Deal Table to explain how her company is building the gold standard for space weather forecasting—predicting solar radiation to protect satellite constellations, commercial aviation, GPS-reliant agriculture, and even futures markets. The conversation dives deep into the science behind Hale SWx: how co-founder Scott McIntosh discovered the fundamental electromagnetic forces driving solar cycles, why that breakthrough was published in Nature, and how it enables forecasts that are 15% more accurate than NOAA in the short range and maintain a 0.8 skill score years into the future. Katherine explains how SpaceX lost 100 satellites—roughly $500 million—in a single solar storm, and why most operators have simply been shrugging at the sun until now. Beyond space, the applications are staggering: predicting hurricane seasons months in advance, forecasting LNG demand years out for commodities trading, optimizing airline maintenance schedules based on radiation exposure, and helping precision agriculture avoid GPS disruptions. Katherine also shares her negotiation philosophy from working with the Harvard 'Getting to Yes' team at Vantage Partners, her time as a fellow at the Pentagon, and why she likes building businesses where one bad decision means game over. The episode closes with a discussion of Hale SWx's SaaS business model, their search for a quantitative hedge fund partner, and Lane's bold prediction that the company has billion-dollar potential.

Wyatt Smith, founder and CEO of UpSmith, sits down to discuss how agentic AI is transforming the skilled trades industry and why America's workforce shortage is both a crisis and a massive opportunity. Wyatt traces his unconventional path from a family farm in Alabama to Teach for America, McKinsey, and Uber—where he helped build and spin out Uber Elevate, the flying car division that catalyzed $10 billion in investment into next-gen aviation. After moving to Texas during the pandemic, he launched UpSmith to tackle the skilled labor shortage using AI. The conversation dives deep into how AI agents are revolutionizing home service businesses—following up on open estimates, booking jobs, and mining customer data for upsell opportunities—all without adding headcount. Wyatt explains the critical difference between deterministic and probabilistic software, and why this shift unlocks problems that were never economically solvable before. The discussion explores why private equity firms are paying historically high multiples for trades businesses, how AI-driven productivity gains can dramatically expand free cash flow without additional indirect labor costs, and why the application layer of AI—not the models themselves—is where real value gets created. From the dignity of skilled work to the crisis of fatherhood, from Condoleezza Rice's wisdom on AI to building resilience through failure, Wyatt offers a compelling vision of technology as a force for human flourishing and American competitiveness.

Todd Milbourn, the 10th Dean of the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, sits down to discuss his bold vision for transforming business education in the age of AI and his strategic plan to make SMU Cox a dominant force in the business school landscape. Todd explains why he chose Dallas over other prestigious deanships, citing the explosive economic growth in North Texas and SMU's unique combination of Division 1 athletics, a strong undergraduate business program, and visionary university leadership under President Jay Hartzell. He breaks down how SMU's move to the ACC isn't just about sports—it's an academic accelerant that puts the university in the same conversation as Stanford and Boston College. The conversation dives deep into the existential pressures facing higher education: declining enrollment, the rise of online alternatives, and the AI revolution threatening traditional job paths. Todd argues that while AI will disrupt many industries, it will create more jobs than it destroys—but they won't be the same jobs. His solution? Infuse entrepreneurial thinking into every student, teaching them the grit, resilience, and problem-solving skills that no algorithm can replicate. Todd reveals SMU Cox's secret weapon: three separate entrepreneurship institutes working together, including the Caruth Institute (the first endowed entrepreneurship institute at any business school), the Hart Institute for technology development, and the Spears Institute for Entrepreneur Leadership, which just launched its first accelerator program with 18 students building 11 businesses—three of which have already secured outside funding. From the $100,000 weekend DJ gigs of former students to the challenges of managing tenured faculty like 'senior partners,' Todd offers a rare inside look at what it takes to run a modern business school as a proper business.

Scott Theeringer, founder and CEO of M&A Devco, breaks down why North Texas is experiencing unprecedented demographic and economic growth. As a Texas-based real estate developer and private equity investor, Scott explains how land entitlement, infrastructure constraints, and the Texas Triangle are shaping the future of housing supply. Key Highlights: - Why Texas has the stickiest population in America (87% born here stay here) - How 1,200 people per day moving to North Texas is driving subdivision development - The entitlement process and infrastructure challenges developers face - Why data centers are creating massive energy and power infrastructure demands - The real story behind homelessness (it's not about housing affordability) - Nuclear energy as the only long-term solution for Texas growth - California's regulatory lessons and what Texas must avoid

JJ Barto, Partner at Broadwing Capital, shares insights on lower middle market private equity and what it means for founder-operators considering their first institutional capital transaction. With more than 20 years of experience investing in privately held companies, JJ brings an operator-first mindset to private equity, emphasizing discipline, partnership, and long-term value creation. Key Highlights: - What lower middle market private equity really means ($5-50M EBITDA) - First-time institutional capital: working with founders who've never sold - The emotional and identity challenges of selling your business - How tariffs and uncertainty affect deal flow and valuations - Private equity vs. family office investment approaches - Preparing for an exit: founder intention planning

Dan Hunt, President and part-owner of FC Dallas, shares his journey leading one of MLS's top player-development clubs and his eight-year effort to bring the 2026 FIFA World Cup to North Texas. As the son of sports pioneer Lamar Hunt, Dan discusses the legacy of American soccer, stadium economics, and the $2 billion economic impact the World Cup will bring to Dallas. Key Highlights: - Eight years of work to secure World Cup 2026 for Dallas - Stadium economics and the philosophy of long-term venue investment - The Hunt family legacy in American sports (AFL, Chiefs, Bulls, MLS) - Sports and gambling: integrity concerns and prop bet risks - Taylor Swift's impact on NFL fandom and the Chiefs' global brand - Family business diversification and leadership lessons from Lamar Hunt

John Willding, a corporate and securities attorney with more than two decades of experience, shares insights on founder-led M&A, private equity transactions, and the evolving deal landscape. A US Army veteran turned dealmaker, John discusses representing entrepreneurs through recapitalizations, the impact of interest rates on deal flow, his involvement with the Texas Stock Exchange, and how policy changes under the Trump administration are creating unprecedented opportunities in energy, digital assets, and international trade.

Buddy Ozanne discusses the strategies behind building and preserving generational wealth, the role of intellectual property in creating lasting value, and how family offices approach legacy planning. We explore investment philosophy, governance structures for family enterprises, and the principles that help wealth survive across generations.

Jason Downie and Edward Herring of Tailwater Capital discuss the U.S. energy renaissance and what's driving the resurgence in domestic energy investment. We explore midstream infrastructure opportunities, the role of private equity in energy transition, and how to build sustainable competitive advantages in energy investing.

Tracy 'The D.O.C.' Curry shares insights on entertainment and discusses key strategies for success in their field. This conversation explores practical approaches and real-world applications of their expertise.

Nicole Chambers discusses the ambitious plan to build a new stock exchange in Texas to challenge the dominance of NYSE and NASDAQ. We explore why companies are seeking alternatives to traditional exchanges, the regulatory landscape for launching a new exchange, and what this means for the future of capital markets and corporate governance.

Ken Hersh, CEO of NGP Energy Capital Management, shares how he built a $20B+ energy-focused private equity empire. We discuss contrarian investing during commodity cycles, the importance of patient capital, leadership lessons from running the George W. Bush Presidential Center, and why being the 'fastest tortoise' wins in energy investing.

Michael Sarner, CEO of Capital Southwest, explains how a publicly-traded BDC provides unique advantages in middle-market lending. We discuss operational support, partnership mentality, what makes good credit investments, and how to differentiate in competitive lending markets.

Lane Kasselman, Co-CEO and President of Blockchain.com, joins The Deal Table to explain how one of the oldest companies in digital assets built a business spanning 90 million wallets and 190 countries, and why he moved its U.S. headquarters to Dallas. Lane came to crypto slowly and skeptically. A lawyer by training, he started his career in politics, spent four years at AT&T, then joined Uber as one of its first 100 employees and left after it passed 6,000. When a friend introduced him to Blockchain.com founder Peter Smith, his answer was blunt: "I don't believe in your fake internet money thing, but you seem like nice guys." He advised and invested for years before finally coming in-house about five years ago. What converted him was not a price chart but Argentina, where friends who were software engineers and startup founders were having US dollars physically couriered to them to escape hyperinflation, and switched to crypto the moment it became an option. The conversation breaks down what Blockchain.com actually is: a brokerage rather than an exchange, and the largest non-custodial one in the world, which means compromising the platform would require compromising 90 million individual accounts. Lane walks through all three business lines, the retail brokerage with roughly 42 million verified users, an institutional prime brokerage offering more than 800 crypto assets to hedge funds and family offices, and a proprietary trading and asset management arm run by a room of quants in London, all sitting on shared infrastructure and staffed by about 500 people across London, Dallas, Paris, Singapore, Vilnius and Buenos Aires. He also details the M&A playbook behind seven acquisitions, sorted into three buckets: buying regional market share and customer bases outright, buying technology to extend the platform underneath all three businesses, and acquihiring five to twenty person teams who can be taught crypto afterward. He lays out the three rules he carried out of Uber, hire utility players, "we all do windows, we all do floors," and never let a resume decide what someone is capable of, a rule he applies to himself: "I shouldn't be running a crypto company based on my resume." The episode also covers why AI agents may be crypto's biggest near-term catalyst rather than its competition, the difference between store-of-value assets, utility tokens and meme coins, why FTX and Terra Luna were fraud and bad software rather than hacks, why the company actively wants a permanent regulatory framework rather than fewer rules, its deliberately bipartisan board, the Dallas Cowboys partnership, the weighted analysis across 14 cities that landed his family in Texas, and the IPO the company is building toward.

Troy Eckard shares hard-won lessons from 40 years navigating the volatile oil and gas industry. We discuss commodity cycle management, operational discipline, the future of energy markets, and what it takes to survive multiple boom-and-bust cycles.

Brint Ryan, founder and CEO of Ryan LLC, built the world's largest tax services firm focused exclusively on property tax, sales tax, and income tax consulting. We discuss how specialization and contingency-fee models disrupted Big 4 accounting, the future of AI in tax optimization, and how to scale professional services businesses.

Alex Farahmand, CEO of Spiration (acquired by Olympus Medical), shares his journey building and selling a medical device company that transformed respiratory care. We discuss regulatory strategy, clinical validation, what strategic acquirers look for, and how to build deep tech companies that change patient outcomes.

Tom Leppert, former Mayor of Dallas and CEO of Turner Construction, reveals the inside story of Dallas's explosive growth. We discuss public-private partnerships, what cities must do to compete for businesses and talent, how to solve labor shortages in construction, and the future of urban development in Texas.

Chris Gannett, former Chief Marketing Officer of American Idol, shares his playbook for building billion-dollar entertainment and consumer brands. We discuss the balance between data-driven marketing and creative instinct, what separates successful brand-building campaigns from failures, and how to scale brand awareness at a national level.

Jimmy Tran, Founder of Oak Lawn Ventures, reveals what it's really like to navigate $2B in M&A transactions. From Pokemon card streaming empires to crypto mining operations, Jimmy shares how unconventional revenue streams can lead to massive deals. This episode covers deal structuring, creative entrepreneurship, and the realities of high-stakes acquisitions.

Scott Harper, Managing Partner at Harper Belmont, shares his entrepreneurial journey from bootstrap startup to successful exit. We discuss the strategic role of content in deal-making, how The Deal Table podcast creates relationship capital at scale, and what it takes to build a diversified investment platform.

John Donovan, former CEO of AT&T Communications, takes us inside the next wave of technological disruption. From quantum computing to AI governance and hypersonic flight, we explore how large-scale organizations must adapt to exponential change. This episode covers digital transformation, workforce reskilling, and the intersection of policy and innovation.

Leib Bolel, Partner at Grayhawk Capital, reveals how data-driven decision-making shapes venture capital investing. We discuss how to separate AI hype from real innovation, the importance of unit economics, and what institutional investors look for when backing startups. This episode is essential listening for entrepreneurs seeking venture funding and investors looking to sharpen their analytical edge.

Eric Bennett is on a mission to revolutionize brain health investing. As the founder of Brain Capital Partners and Brain Super Fund, he explores cutting-edge innovations in mental wellness, neurotechnology, and cognitive performance. This episode dives into how investors can capitalize on the brain health megatrend while making a meaningful impact on society.

Mara McNeill shares her unique journey from working in national security at the Pentagon to becoming a key player in energy-focused private equity. We discuss the critical role of energy markets in national security, what makes a successful private equity investor, and how leadership principles from public service apply to building high-performing investment teams.

Victor Vescovo, Extreme Explorer & Private Equity Investor, takes us on a thrilling journey through some of the most extreme frontiers of our planet—and beyond. From scaling Mount Everest to diving deeper than any human in history, Victor shares insights into risk-taking, strategic investing, and his relentless pursuit of the unknown. This episode dives into the mindset of an explorer who doesn't just conquer physical frontiers but also navigates the high-stakes world of private equity.

On this episode of The Deal Table, we sit down with Suresh Narayanan, an accomplished entrepreneur, investor, and visionary leader with deep roots in aviation. From aerospace engineering and military jet modifications at AQRD to driving innovation as COO of JSX, Suresh has been at the forefront of change in the industry. Now, as the founder of Jets MRO, he's shaping the future of aviation with a people-first approach—revolutionizing how the industry operates and treats its workforce.

Douglas Smith, former Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and current Global Head of Public Affairs at The Nuclear Company, dives into the deep intersections of public policy, national security, innovation, and business. From stories behind the launch of TSA PreCheck and Global Entry to cybersecurity risks in private equity and the role of government in advancing green tech, Smith underscores the necessity of collaboration across sectors. He reflects on the fading art of civil discourse, the dangers of institutional knowledge loss, and the enduring value of relationships over transactions in leadership, governance, and capital markets.

In this episode of The Deal Table, we sit down with General Jim Williams, a two-star Marine Corps General with 38 years of service. From surviving helicopter crashes to negotiating with warlords, General Williams shares incredible stories of leadership, discipline, and risk-taking. We explore the parallels between battlefield strategy and business success, diving into financial literacy, wealth-building, and the future of AI-driven industries. Whether you're an entrepreneur, investor, or leader, this conversation is packed with insights on how to navigate uncertainty, build resilience, and make smarter financial decisions. Key Topics: - Leadership lessons from combat - Why financial literacy is crucial for success - The future of business, AI, and automated manufacturing - What it takes to build a lasting legacy

Charlie Calise, a veteran marketing strategist and the Chairman Of Imaginuity, shares his insights into brand growth, competitive positioning, and the evolution of advertising in the digital age. With decades of experience working with major brands, he discusses what separates businesses that thrive from those that struggle, how to craft a compelling brand story, and the biggest mistakes companies make when scaling their marketing efforts.

John Terry, co-founder of Churchill Terry and professor at SMU, shares deep insights into business growth, mergers and acquisitions, and financial strategy. With experience across entrepreneurship, corporate finance, and investment advisory, he discusses what separates entrepreneurs from business owners, the challenges of scaling a company, and how to maximize valuation before selling. Key topics include: - The mindset shift from corporate executive to entrepreneur - Strategies for increasing business valuation before an exit - Common mistakes business owners make when selling their company - How venture capital and private equity investors evaluate businesses - Lessons from advising high-net-worth individuals and family offices

Jim Keyes: Author, Chairman, Philanthropist, Former CEO of 7-Eleven & Blockbuster. Jim shares invaluable leadership lessons learned from running two Fortune 500 companies, diving into topics like navigating corporate change, overcoming adversity, and the power of education. Discover the real story behind Blockbuster's battle with Netflix, the strategies that fueled 7-Eleven's growth, and how embracing change can create limitless opportunities in business and life.

Building a business isn't just about having a great idea—it's about execution, funding, and resilience. In this episode, Kevin Lavelle, founder of Mizzen+Main and Harbor, shares his raw, unfiltered journey of scaling a brand from the ground up, securing funding, and navigating the ever-changing venture capital landscape.

Abe Minkara, a founding partner at Legacy Knight and former Managing Director at Mark Cuban Companies, dives deep into the world of venture capital, private equity, and high-net-worth investing. Abe shares his insights from evaluating Shark Tank deals, working with entrepreneurs, and navigating the complex landscape of wealth management for ultra-high-net-worth families.

Michael Levy spent 20 years at Morgan Stanley before becoming the first non-family CEO in the 77-year history of Crow Holdings, one of the largest private real estate firms in the US. In this episode, Michael explains why Wall Street breeds a mercenary culture, how Texas operates on relationships and legacy, and what he learned watching the 2008 financial crisis destroy firms that forgot the fundamentals. His #1 rule as CEO? "Do no harm." Not exactly what you'd expect from someone who ran trading desks on Wall Street.