{"podcast":{"title":"The SMB Deal Hunter Podcast","slug":"the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224","podcast_index_feed_id":7541224,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast","website_url":"http://join.smbdealhunter.xyz","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/ryVS_4EnnsoNc7YOE4bH5mBUjGvES7GhKayukwR4fuM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83ZGJh/YTEwNmZhZTcyYWJk/OWU0OGM3MDM2Mzcy/MmUxNy5qcGVn.jpg","author":"Helen Guo","episode_count":104,"summary":"Every week, Helen Guo interviews successful acquisition entrepreneurs, independent sponsors, and investors who have acquired businesses. Learn how to buy a business rather than starting one from scratch from those who have done it themselves.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-14T08:20:23.718235+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224"},"episode":{"title":"How She Bought A $3M Pet Food Business Making $500K/yr (For 10% Down)","slug":"how-she-bought-a-3m-pet-food-business-making-500k-yr-for-10-down","published_at":"2026-05-25T19:23:30+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/how-she-bought-a-3m-pet-food-business-making-500k-yr-for-10-down","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224","url":"https://share.transistor.fm/s/40a06c0c","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/40a06c0c/480db703.mp3","summary":"In this episode, Chelsea breaks down how she bought a $1.7M raw pet food business after 12 years at Boeing and Amazon, the off-market deal that \"broke up\" and came back to life nearly a year later, and the performance-based seller's note that bridged a valuation gap when bird flu cratered 2025 sales. ◼️ The \"Hail Mary\" offer she sent the seller nine months after their first deal collapsed ◼️ The one moment that killed the first deal a few months in (and how the seller's son ended up on her team anyway) ◼️ The financing structure — 10% down, SBA loan through Climate First Bank, and a sales-tied performance note — that closed a $1.7M deal with no outside investors ◼️ Why she spent her first year hunting virtual businesses before realizing she needed a local, physical operation ◼️ How her corporate negotiation training saved the relationship with her biggest wholesale customer in month four Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (200,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ Follow Helen: Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/","meta_description":"In this episode, Chelsea breaks down how she bought a $1.7M raw pet food business after 12 years at Boeing and Amazon, the off-market deal that \"broke up\"…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2570,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/episodes/how-she-bought-a-3m-pet-food-business-making-500k-yr-for-10-down/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/how-she-bought-a-3m-pet-food-business-making-500k-yr-for-10-down.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}