Episode 60: Buying a Business in the Era of Mass Retirement

June 8th, 2026  |  42 mins 42 secs

asset protection, business acquisitions, business exit strategy, business valuation, due diligence, family business, financial independence, mass retirement, private equity investment, seller discretionary earnings

Brandon Mendez, Ph.D., CPA, Professor of Finance at the Darla Moore School of Business and U.S. Navy veteran, joins Stephan in the studio for a full-episode conversation on what it actually takes to buy a business today. They cover how to read multiples and seller discretionary earnings, why private equity has a structural edge over individual buyers, what AI is doing to the talent side of acquisitions, and where the real red flags hide in a set of financial statements.