Episode 19 | Garth Fasano When I bought Top Dog, I thought I was buying a boring, predictable business. A classic ETA play. What I actually bought was responsibility—hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll, outcome-based contracts, and no safety net. In this episode of Bought the Biz, I walk through the early days after acquisition, the mistakes I made as a first-time operator, and the moments that forced me to grow into real ownership. If you're in the middle of operating and it feels heavy, this episode is for you.

Episode 18 | Christi Loucks with guest, Raj Kankaria Getting laid off and served divorce papers in the same moment usually ends a chapter. For Raj Kankaria, it started one. In this episode of Bought the Biz, Raj shares how personal chaos forced clarity and ultimately pushed him into buying and scaling Lone Star Attorney Service.

We unpack the real operator lessons that don't show up in glossy acquisition stories: hard people decisions, implementing EOS when emotions are high, and leading with gratitude instead of ego. This is a raw look at how adversity sharpens leadership and why the worst moments often create the best operators.

Episode 17 | Garth Fasano & Christi Loucks

In this episode of Bought the Biz, Garth is in the hot seat.

After acquiring a cash flowing call center business through a traditional ETA search, Garth made a decision that most operators never plan for and many would avoid. He transformed the business from a people heavy services company into an AI powered SaaS platform.

Garth and Christi walk through the full journey. Why the original acquisition made sense. What made the business unique. How advisors and board members pushed the thinking forward. And why the rapid acceleration of AI forced a much bigger strategic decision than simple optimization.

They dig into the realities of winding down a legacy business. Communicating with employees and customers. Letting go of a model that worked. Raising a seed round. Giving up ownership. And sitting with the personal and emotional weight of choosing a harder path.

This is not a typical ETA story. It is a real look at what happens when an operator decides that standing still is riskier than rebuilding everything.If you are an operator, searcher, or small business owner wrestling with modernization, AI, or big irreversible decisions, this episode is for you.

Episode 16 | Garth Fasano & Christi Loucks So was an MBA actually worth it if your goal is to buy and run a business? In this episode of Bought the Biz, Garth and Christi unpack the real value of business school through the lens of entrepreneurship through acquisition. Drawing from very different MBA experiences, they talk candidly about what translated into ownership and what simply did not once they were responsible for payroll, people, and real consequences. They explore where accounting, leadership development, and structured thinking helped, and why grit, resilience, and figuring things out under pressure mattered far more than frameworks. The conversation also dives into the less obvious benefits of business school, including confidence building, long term relationships, and access to investors and peers who continue to show up long after graduation. This episode is for searchers, operators, and anyone debating whether an MBA is necessary, helpful, or overrated on the path to business ownership. Expect honest reflections, nuance, and practical perspective from people who have actually made the leap from classroom to operator seat. pasted

Episode 15 | Garth Fasano & Christi Loucks Cash flow is where the theory of small business ownership meets reality. In this episode of Bought the Biz, Garth and Christi dig into one of the most uncomfortable but unavoidable parts of owning a business: getting paid. They unpack working capital, late payments, collections, unpredictable revenue, and what it really feels like to manage payroll and personal income when you leave the W-2 world behind. Garth shares his unusual experience acquiring a business with negative days sales outstanding and what that taught him about working capital risk. Christi walks through the discipline of 13-week cash flow forecasting, dealing with bad debt, and the emotional toll of chasing payments as an owner. They also talk candidly about paying yourself, toggling salary and commissions, debt pressure, Stripe vs ACH, collections agencies, and why social media dramatically understates how long it takes to reach financial stability after acquisition. If you're a searcher, a first-time operator, or anyone thinking about ETA, this episode will reset expectations and give you practical frameworks for surviving the cash flow rollercoaster.

Episode 14 | Garth Fasano & Christi Loucks When you buy a small business, you don't just inherit customers and revenue. You inherit habits, unwritten rules, and some truly bizarre surprises. In this episode of Bought the Biz, Garth and Christi reflect on the strange, funny, and occasionally uncomfortable things they discovered after stepping into ownership. From nonexistent holiday policies and global teams disappearing for surprise days off, to informal "rules" about remote work, sick days, and even gaming on the job. They talk candidly about the tension between wanting to run a human, trust based company and the reality that bad behavior forces structure, policies, and guardrails. The conversation also dives into why new owners often feel compelled to go deep into the weeds, how that builds confidence, and when it becomes a liability as you scale. This episode is a must listen for searchers and new operators who assume small businesses are just "corporate, but smaller." The reality is messier, more human, and far more educational than you expect.

Episode 13 | Garth Fasano & Christi Loucks with guest, Marci LaRouech In this episode of Bought the Biz, Garth and Christi sit down with Marci LaRouech, the new owner and CEO of Seay HR, a sixty-year-old HR consulting firm. Marci opens up about the emotional shift that hits the morning after closing a deal—the moment when the weight of ownership settles back onto your shoulders. For Marci, that weight isn't a burden; it's what gives this work meaning. She shares why acquiring Seay HR has been the best decision of her life, even though she thinks about the business constantly. Marci explains how she led her team and long-tenured clients through the transition by always starting with why—why the business was evolving, why certain changes mattered, and why she believed so deeply in the next chapter. From waiting intentionally before making adjustments, to modernizing systems, to navigating long-overdue price increases with empathy and clarity, Marci shows what it looks like to carry the responsibility of ownership with purpose. If you're a searcher or new operator learning to balance legacy, leadership, and the pressure of getting it right, this conversation will help you see why the weight is worth it.

Episode 12 | Garth Fasano & Christi Loucks In this episode of Bought the Biz, Garth and Christi get uncomfortably honest about pricing. How do you know when it is time to raise prices, change your model, or simplify your packages. How do you do it in a small business where every client and every dollar feels personal. They compare complex outcome based and consumption models with simple retainers, talk through real changes they have made in their own companies, and share the messy parts of bringing legacy clients up to current rates. They also dig into how to frame new services, build confidence in the value you deliver, set clear guardrails for your team, and communicate price increases without feeling like a villain. If you are an ETA owner or small business operator who knows your pricing needs to change but keeps putting it off, this one is for you.

Episode 11 | Garth Fasano & Christi Loucks

In this episode of Bought the Biz, Garth and Christi break down what they wish they had known before signing their acquisition documents. From surprise lender pullouts and nineteen percent debt to due-diligence must haves and emotional landmines, they share the real pre close challenges that don't make it into the search fund playbooks. They walk through financing pitfalls, why your lender becomes an actual partner, how to build (and stick to) your no go list, and why you should never negotiate against yourself in the final weeks. If you're headed toward your first close, this is the episode to hear before you sign.

Episode 10 | Garth Fasano & Christi Loucks

New owners walk into a maze of legacy tools, habits, and hidden dependencies. Garth and Christi unpack how to triage urgent vs important, when to keep a "weird" CRM config, why email deliverability and payments can sink you, and how to pace org and process changes without breaking morale. Practical tactics include deep-slice audits, choosing platforms vs. custom builds, EOS and OKRs, and lessons from hiring workflows that looked smart but hurt outcomes.