Going Beyond the Deal

What if the hardest-working person in the room is actually the one getting the least done?
J. Michael Fischer Jr. sits down with David Crawford, CEO of Anco AI and the chief operating officer behind Fischer’s advisory work, books, speaking, and this podcast. Fischer thought he had no time problem. He was disciplined, guarded his calendar, and outworked the room. Then David asked one question that changed how he sees his days.

They break down the idea of the one main thing, the difference between real work and friction, and the custom systems they built to clear it out. That includes a personal CRM Fischer actually owns and a four-layer AI operating system that runs the admin so he can spend his hours on connection.

If your calendar is full but the needle is not moving, this is the conversation most people only have after they burn out. You do not need more hours. You need the right ones. Listen now.
Timestamped Highlights
[00:01:27] – The one question David asked that dismantled how Fischer saw his time
[00:02:25] – The manual work quietly eating hours it never deserved
[00:06:26] – From plumber’s helper and line cook to managing director in New York
[00:09:50] – The multi-million company down the road that does exactly one thing
[00:11:20] – Why the new book almost got shot down, and how it survived
[00:13:44] – The data question that reveals your real main thing
[00:15:02] – I do not work for a living, I live for a living
[00:16:37] – The admin work AI can quietly take off your plate today
[00:19:53] – One dinner, twenty-five CEOs, and the call-logging game nobody wins
[00:25:32] – The four layers of an AI operating system, explained simply
[00:31:18] – Why trust is the one thing AI will never replace
[00:32:52] – The chance meeting on a viewing that changed David’s entire path

Mentioned Resources
ChatGPT
Claude
Gemini
Salesforce
HubSpot
DealCloud
Knight Frank
eBay
ACG (Association for Corporate) Growth)
Goldman Sachs
JP Morgan

About the Guest
David Crawford is the founder and CEO of Anco AI, where he builds custom AI operating systems, automations, and workflow tools that help founders and business owners remove friction and scale. Based in Manchester, England, and originally from Glasgow, Scotland, he began his career as a chartered surveyor and investment surveyor at Knight Frank before leaving to build businesses of his own. He now works closely with J. Michael Fischer Jr. as his personal chief operating officer across his advisory work, books, speaking, and content.

🔗 LinkedIn | Website
Important Links
Feel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.
Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.
Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.

Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

What if the price you get for your business was mostly decided before you ever called a banker?
A founder called J. Michael Fischer Jr. last year, excited, ready to sell the company he had spent almost 20 years building. Michael had to tell him the hard truth. The price he was going to get had already been mostly decided, not by the market or the buyer, but by what he did or failed to do in the 24 months before he picked up the phone.
In this solo episode, Michael lays out six moves he would make at least two years before selling any business. Clean up your numbers so a buyer can trust them. Make yourself removable so the company is not just you. Fix customer and supplier concentration. Lock in the people a buyer is really paying for. Grow into the sale instead of dressing up earnings. And get your house in order, your money, your taxes, your family, and your head.
If you are one, two, or three years from the most important financial moment of your life, this is the perspective most founders only get after it is too late. The two years before you sell are the two years that pay you. Listen now.

Timestamped Highlights
[00:10] – The founder who called ready to sell, and the truth Michael had to tell him
[02:19] – Six moves worth more than any multiple, starting 24 months out
[04:33] – Why messy books make a buyer question you, not just the numbers
[06:50] – When clean financials sell harder than any pitch you could make
[08:58] – The moment being needed stops being a compliment and starts being a risk
[11:45] – The concentration that quietly gets built into your price
[13:36] – The people a buyer is really paying for
[14:58] – Why a stronger team makes the business worth more, not less
[17:04] – The earnings mistake that makes your story weaker, not stronger
[19:54] – Your real number versus the one that sounds good at dinner
[25:01] – The number that was not available the first day he called

Important Links
Feel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.
Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.
Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.

Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

What if the most dangerous thing in a hospital room is the air itself?
Gary Kellstrom Jr. spent 17 years in the medical device industry before betting everything on one idea. He is founder and CEO of Geared Power Biotech, the Wayne, New Jersey startup behind BioGuard UVC, a wearable device that inactivates airborne pathogens in exhaled breath before they reach anyone else.
With J. Michael Fischer Jr., Gary explains why he stopped trying to filter the air and started attacking the source. They get into the pivot from a transmission prototype to a pandemic era mask, the FDA Safer Technologies Program, a previous exit that went wrong, and the hard middle of holding patents, awards, and congressional support with no revenue yet. Gary also opens up about his years as a Skip Barber racing driver and what racing at the limit taught him about control.
If you want to see what conviction looks like before the win is guaranteed, this is the founder story most people never hear in real time. Listen now.

Timestamped Highlights
[00:00] – The wearable device built to neutralize pathogens in your breath before they reach anyone else
[02:50] – What 17 years inside a medical device giant really taught him
[08:28] – The dinner where three neighbors handed him 90,000 dollars without being asked
[09:34] – The pandemic pivot that turned a transmission company into a biotech
[10:08] – The previous exit that got reverse engineered out from under him
[10:58] – Why losing control on paper can still leave you in control
[13:52] – How the mask works, and why the chambers matter more than the light
[15:06] – The UVC dose that kills Covid, and the 10 times more he applies
[17:11] – The emergency room problem that got doctors excited
[18:25] – Every win you can imagine, and still pre-revenue. How he holds it together
[22:00] – The FDA path that skips the clinical trial, and why it matters
[24:09] – From hot rods to pro racing, and where the obsession started
[28:43] – What racing at the limit taught him about running a company
[31:39] – The hospital statistic that makes the whole market obvious
[36:32] – The small decision that quietly changed everything

Mentioned Resources
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
BD (Becton Dickinson)
Stevens Institute of Technology
SAP
FDA Safer Technologies Program (STeP)
NJMEP (New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program)
NJBIA (New Jersey Business and Industry Association)
HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ)
New Jersey Business Action Center
NJEDA (New Jersey Economic Development Authority)
Skip Barber Racing School
IROC (International Race of Champions)
Trans Am Series, SCCA Pro racing
Watkins Glen
EY Entrepreneur of the Year
BioNJ
New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology

About the Guest
Gary Kellstrom Jr. is the founder and CEO of Geared Power Biotech, a Wayne, New Jersey medical device startup developing BioGuard UVC, a wearable, filter free device that uses germicidal UVC light to inactivate airborne pathogens in exhaled breath at the source. A mechanical engineer and Stevens Institute of Technology graduate, he spent 17 years in the medical device industry and is a serial entrepreneur with a prior exit. BioGuard UVC has earned the inaugural Coolest Thing Made in New Jersey award, congressional support, and acceptance into the FDA Safer Technologies Program, and Gary was named a 2026 EY Entrepreneur of the Year New Jersey finalist. He is also a former Skip Barber pro series racing driver.
🔗 LinkedIn | Website

Important Links
Feel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.
Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.
Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.

Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

What if most restaurants fail for reasons that have almost nothing to do with the food? Half of them close, and last year nearly 10,000 shut down across America.
In this episode, J. Michael Fischer Jr. sits down with Michael Balsamo, founder and CEO of The Sage Advisory Group, to unpack why. Michael grew up in his family's Italian restaurant on Long Island, worked every job from the dish pit to the dining room, and spent 25 years in the industry before building Sage to give independent owners the systems most never have. They get into the three forces every restaurant must manage, the pre-opening mistakes that sink first-time owners, and why trust, not money, is the new currency of business.
Thin margins, scarce talent, and passion alone will not keep the lights on. Listen now.

Timestamped Highlights
[00:03:38] – Growing up behind the line in a family Italian restaurant that lasted 25 years
[00:07:08] – Why he walked away from taking over his dad’s restaurant
[00:10:01] – The number most owners never hear: how many restaurants quietly close every year
[00:11:12] – The three forces every restaurant has to manage, and where most lose control
[00:13:33] – The single biggest challenge the industry has faced since COVID
[00:14:31] – The pre-opening trap that can flip your P&L upside down before you open
[00:15:51] – The three kinds of owners who call Sage, and the best time to reach out
[00:18:21] – What actually happens in the first two weeks of a restaurant checkup
[00:23:57] – How to fix a struggling restaurant without scaring off your guests
[00:25:33] – Why the new currency of business is trust, not money
[00:27:42] – Hiring hard: the first move that decides whether your team stays
[00:29:59] – The 4th of July mistake that taught him never to manage on impulse
[00:33:10] – The habit that keeps him grounded after 25 years in a brutal business
[00:35:28] – The small thing that felt like nothing and ended up changing everything
Mentioned Resources
Fordham University
Johnson & Wales University
Con Edison
Lenny’s Clam Bar
BR Guest
BLT Steak
Running Your Restaurant With Intention (Michael Balsamo’s upcoming book, working title)

About the Guest
Michael Balsamo is the founder and CEO of The Sage Advisory Group, a hospitality advisory firm that works hands-on inside independent restaurants to build the financial and operational systems most owners have never had. He grew up in his family’s Italian restaurant on Long Island, earned his degree and MBA from Fordham University, and spent more than 25 years across the industry, from the dish pit to leading teams at respected New York restaurant groups, before founding Sage. He is currently writing a book on running a restaurant with intention.
🔗 LinkedIn | Website
Important Links
Feel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.
Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.
Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank

Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

What if the numbers you trust most are the ones steering your business into the ground?
Jay David has spent his career inside food manufacturing plants, where real decisions carry real consequences. He is a turnaround operator and the author of Turnaround Revelations, and he speaks a language most consultants do not, having lived on both the finance and operations sides of a struggling business.
In this conversation with J. Michael Fischer Jr., Jay breaks down the cost of saying yes, why the price your accounting tells you to charge is often the price that starves your business, and how a company can walk away from $700,000 of profit without realizing it. He explains why you can never cut your way back to profitability, what idle equipment and empty desks really signal, and why the moment you are worried about making payroll is the moment it is already too late.
If you run or advise a business that is grinding and you cannot figure out why the harder you cut, the worse it gets, this is the perspective most owners only find after the damage is done. The death spiral is quiet until it is not. Listen now.

Timestamped Highlights
[00:03] Why every yes eventually starts costing you something
[02:07] The baseball player who dropped out, then got hooked on a single community college class
[05:47] Working doubles, closing the bar at 2 am, and out-earning his own accounting job
[08:34] Building a 3D Excel model of the factory floor to see what every decision really costs
[09:31] From scorekeeper to player, and running cost accounting for an $850 million company two years out of school
[10:42] The billion-dollar land grab that buried the balance sheet in debt
[13:06] The first walk-through: what dust, idle machines, and empty desks quietly tell him
[16:27] Why he refuses to make friends, and how he delivers the tough medicine anyway
[19:13] The cost of saying yes, and why the market already decided your price
[23:02] The $700,000 contract a firm walked away from for almost no reason
[26:30] The signal that means it is already too late to save the business
[27:18] Why you can never cut your way back to profit
[28:18] The death spiral that starts when every conversation is about cost
[31:01] The small shift from finance to operations that changed how he reads every business

Mentioned Resources
Do Business Better (Jay's consulting firm and website)
Turnaround Revelations, Jay David's book on Amazon
The Goal, the manufacturing book Jay recommends

About the Guest
Jay David is a food manufacturing turnaround operator and consultant, and the founder of Do Business Better. Across a career that has run from cost accounting to operations, he has worked inside companies, including a Chicago candy maker, Favorite Brands, Nabisco, and Kraft, helping struggling manufacturers and other businesses fix what is actually broken instead of cutting their way to failure. He is the author of Turnaround Revelations.
🔗 LinkedIn | Website

Important Links
Feel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.
Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.
Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank

Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.