Welcome to episode 36 of Invest & Scale! In this episode, we dive into mergers and acquisitions, personal growth, and the lessons learned from buying, building, and flipping businesses — all while living with purpose and adventure.

Our guest, Zach, shares his journey from growing up on a farm to navigating finance, entrepreneurship, and consulting. From the Chicago Board of Trade to buying his first business at 28, Zach’s story is packed with honest insights and practical frameworks.

He explores how real value lies not just in numbers, but in people, vision, and purpose. From consulting distressed companies to global travel and charitable work, Zach highlights the mindsets and emotional intelligence that create freedom in business and life.

If you’ve ever wondered what it truly takes to scale, or how to separate self-worth from net worth, this episode is full of inspiration and actionable advice.

Grab your headphones and enjoy this powerful conversation — only on Invest & Scale.

00:00:11 – 00:02:37: Guest’s Background and Entry into M&A

00:02:37 – 00:06:27: Learning by Doing and Early Deals

00:06:27 – 00:12:58: Building Community, Criteria, and Philosophy

00:12:58 – 00:19:26: Personal Purpose, Giving Back, and Lifestyle Design

00:19:26 – 00:23:07: Managing, Scaling, and Investing Focus

00:23:07 – 00:29:50: Prioritizing Opportunities and Human Factor

00:29:50 – 00:36:32: Frameworks, Scaling, and Emotional Resilience

00:36:32 – 00:45:53: Insights on Detachment, Vision, and Scaling

00:45:53 – 00:52:10: Money, Value, and Mindset Shifts

00:52:10 – 00:55:05: Advice for Aspiring Acquirers & Business Owners

00:55:05 – End: Future Vision and Closing Thoughts

- Grew up on a farm, started learning about money in high school via Peter Lynch’s book.

- Studied finance in college, worked for a real estate investor, then at Chicago Board of Trade as a broker.

- Became a valuation consultant after sending out thousands of resumes, eventually worked at Willamette Management.

- Gained deep expertise in quantitative and qualitative aspects of valuing businesses and intangible assets.

- Bought a pool company in his late 20s with minimal funds—put down payment on a credit card.

- Learned hands-on about sales and marketing, applied forensic accounting to organize finances.

- Flipped the company in a year, implemented systems and processes for remote management.

- Started a real estate investing community in Phoenix with 1,000+ members.

- Began offering accounting services to fill a gap for real estate investors and entrepreneurs.

- Developed the “Fossum” framework: Finance, Operations, Sales, and Marketing.

- Uses this framework to identify and fix problems in distressed businesses, building teams around each area.

- Early goals: travel, help people, make money; found fulfillment by giving back, especially to children’s causes.

- Founded “Learn and Grow Rich” to marry financial education with meaningful impact.

- Embraces location independence: travels while running businesses, currently based in Colombia.

- Finds deeper fulfillment and financial success by slowing down and fostering intentionality.

- Currently invests in AI and systems that clarify financial reporting and planning for clients and portfolio companies.

- Helps CEOs see multiple years ahead instead of focusing only on the next month.

- Believes the value lies increasingly in human relationships and emotional intelligence, not just systems or AI.

- Highlights importance of emotional intelligence in business success and scaling.

- Encourages clients to define their “enough”—using budgeting and envisioning their dream lifestyle to determine true financial freedom.

- Money is fundamentally a medium of exchange—value traded, not just currency.

- Clients who reinvest in themselves and personal growth tend to be most successful.

- Business success stems from understanding and providing real value and solving real problems.

- Use budgets and plans to clarify vision and enable delegation.