DealQuest Podcast
Episode guides Apply to be a guest →
Vol. VII  ·  The Guest Application A weekly dispatch on structured dealmaking
Guest Applications  ·  Now Open

Come on the
show as a dealmaker.

DealQuest is a weekly podcast for people who structure, negotiate, and close real transactions. Hosted by attorney and dealmaker Corey Kupfer, it is built for sophisticated listeners who want to hear from operators, advisors, and founders who have actually been in the room.

400+
Episodes published across seven volumes
35+
Years of dealmaking behind the host
Weekly
Publishing cadence, every Wednesday
2
Core audience: Growth stage operators across industries and RIA firms.
Begin your application ↗ Read the editorial standards

Applications are reviewed personally. If your experience is a fit for the show, Corey will be in touch.

Hear the show first
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Spotify Read a transcript
01 About the Podcast
A single conviction: structured deals are the fastest path to meaningful business growth.

Every week, Corey Kupfer sits down with guests who have navigated the full spectrum of dealmaking, from complex mergers and acquisitions to capital raises, joint ventures, strategic alliances, franchising agreements, and advisors moving to RIA independence through growth and exit. The conversations are long, deliberate, and technical — the kind that can only happen between people who have read the term sheet.

DealQuest does not cover general business advice. It does not cover sales funnels, productivity, mindset, or personal branding. It covers transactions: how they are sourced, structured, priced, negotiated, diligence prepared, closed, and integrated.

Our listeners are not passive. They are advisors, founders, and executives in the middle of active dealmaking or preparing to be. They come to the show to hear what actually happened, not what might theoretically work.

Audience, One

Leaders of growing companies.

Business owners considering M&A, entrepreneurs planning exits, and executives pursuing deal-driven growth. They are sophisticated, decision-ready, and looking for the specifics — deal terms, structures, and outcomes — from operators who have done it.

Audience, Two

Wealth management professionals.

Financial advisors pursuing RIA independence, RIA owners planning succession, and growing RIA firms exploring acquisitions. These listeners are navigating breakaways, firm sales, and inorganic growth inside the advisory industry.

02 Topics We Cover

Eight areas where real experience moves the conversation.

Guests who perform best on this show have concrete, first-person experience with formal, legally structured deals. The more specific your story — deal size, counterparties, terms, outcomes — the better the conversation.

No. 01

Mergers & acquisitions.

Buy-side and sell-side M&A for growing companies and RIA firms — sourcing, structure, diligence, integration. Browse 156 episodes →

No. 02

RIA independence.

Breaking away from wirehouses, banks, insurance companies and other platforms, transitioning to independence, and building and growing an RIA firm. Browse 65 episodes →

No. 03

Business exit planning.

Preparing a company for sale, valuation strategy, working with advisors, and ownership transitions. Browse 95 episodes →

No. 04

Joint ventures & strategic alliances.

Structuring formal JVs and alliances that create lasting enterprise value — governance, economics, exit rights. Browse 117 episodes →

No. 05

Capital raising.

Equity, debt, and alternative funding structures for growth-stage companies, from term sheet to closing. Browse 95 episodes →

No. 06

Succession planning.

Internal leadership development, Gen 2 and Gen 3 transitions, and family business succession deal structures. Browse 63 episodes →

No. 07

Franchising & licensing.

Using franchising or licensing agreements as structured deal vehicles for durable, systematic growth. Browse 43 episodes →

No. 08

Deal negotiation strategy.

The legal, structural, and strategic dimensions of negotiating complex business transactions — authentically. Browse 139 episodes →

03 Editorial Standards

What we look for in a guest — and what we pass on.

Corey looks for guests who bring first-person experience with formal, legally structured deals, not general business development or sales wins. We are deliberate about fit because our audience is deliberate about their time.

§ A Strong Fit

You have been in the room.

A strong application includes at least one of the following, supported by real examples from transactions you were directly involved in.

  • You have completed at least one significant structured transaction — as buyer, seller, advisor, or operator — and can speak to decisions, terms, and outcomes.
  • You have specialized expertise in an aspect of M&A, business transactions, or structured dealmaking that serves owners, advisors, or entrepreneurs planning growth or exits.
  • You work in or serve the RIA, financial advisory, or wealth management space with concrete experience in independence transitions, succession deals, or firm acquisitions.
  • You have built or scaled a company through inorganic growth — acquisitions, joint ventures, licensing agreements, or formal strategic partnerships.
  • You are an investment banker, M&A advisor, or transaction-focused consultant whose work is directly tied to closing deals.
  • You have a perspective on deal-driven growth that challenges conventional thinking, supported by transactions you have been directly part of.
× Not The Right Fit

We respectfully decline.

DealQuest is focused specifically on formal dealmaking, structured transactions, and business transitions. Applications in the following areas are not matches for this audience.

  • Sales, marketing, or lead-generation frameworks without a direct tie to structured transactions.
  • General business operations, productivity, or leadership content that is not transaction-specific.
  • Lifestyle, coaching, or mindset topics unconnected to legally structured dealmaking.
  • Thought leadership on deals without firsthand operator, advisor, or principal experience to back it up.
  • Attorney guests — because Corey is himself an attorney, the show does not feature other lawyers in guest seats.
  • Paid placements, sponsored interviews, or promotional appearances in any form.
04 What Guests Receive

A substantive asset, published properly.

Every accepted guest receives a long-form episode and a full editorial package built to live and compound over time — not a clip and a tag in a crowded feed.

i.

Full episode feature.

A long-form conversation with Corey that goes deep on your expertise, your deals, and your perspective — typically 40 to 60 minutes of substantive audio.

ii.

Blog post & show notes.

A professionally written, SEO-optimized companion piece published on coreykupfer.com summarizing the key insights from your episode.

iii.

Social promotion.

Your episode is promoted across Corey's LinkedIn and other channels to an audience of dealmakers, entrepreneurs, and RIA professionals.

iv.

Email distribution.

Featured in the DealQuest list, landing your insights in the inboxes of business owners and advisors actively engaged with dealmaking content.

v.

Evergreen asset.

Your episode lives permanently on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and every major platform, continuing to attract new listeners over time.

vi.

Access to the network.

Past guests have found meaningful professional relationships and business opportunities through the DealQuest community around the show.

05 About the Host
Portrait of Corey Kupfer, M&A attorney, dealmaker, and host of the DealQuest Podcast.
Your host, in conversation

Corey Kupfer.

Attorney Dealmaker Founder, Kupfer. Author, Authentic Negotiating

Corey Kupfer has spent more than 35 years structuring and negotiating transactions across industries, with particular depth in RIA M&A, business transitions, and strategic deal structures. He founded Kupfer. a boutique firm advising clients through complex legal transactions, and is the author of Authentic Negotiating.

"Corey approaches every conversation as a dealmaker first and a host second."

Guests consistently describe the DealQuest interview as one of the more substantive podcast experiences they have had. Corey comes prepared, asks deal-specific questions, and is genuinely interested in the mechanics of how transactions get sourced, structured, papered, and closed.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Spotify
06 Frequently Asked

Questions, answered in full.

Q.01

What are the top M&A podcasts for business owners and entrepreneurs?

DealQuest has published a new episode every week since 8 February 2019 — more than 400 in total, 156 of them on mergers and acquisitions: about 100 hours of conversation with 98 named guests. The host, Corey Kupfer, is a deal attorney with more than 35 years of transaction experience and the author of Authentic Negotiating. Episodes work through buy-side and sell-side process, deal structure, earnouts, diligence and post-close integration with the operators and advisors who closed the deals they describe. Full index: 156 M&A episodes.

Q.02

What are the best podcasts for RIA professionals and financial advisors?

65 DealQuest episodes cover RIA independence and wealth-management M&A — 43 hours with 40 named guests. Subjects include breakaway transitions, the economics of aggregators and integrators, advisor succession, and how advisory books get valued. Episode 201 features Matthew Cooper of Beacon Pointe Advisors; David DeVoe has appeared three times. Corey Kupfer’s own practice has particular depth in RIA M&A, which is why the show returns to the sector far more often than a general business podcast does. Full index: 65 RIA independence episodes.

Q.03

What podcasts should I guest on to reach entrepreneurs and business owners interested in deals?

290 episodes feature an outside guest — 272 different people, from founders who sold to private-equity buyers to the advisors and bankers who papered the transactions. The show is built on deals rather than general business advice: 156 episodes on M&A, 139 on deal negotiation, 117 on joint ventures and partnerships, 95 on exit planning and 95 on capital raising. Listeners arrive mid-deal or preparing for one, so the fit is strongest if your expertise is in sourcing, structuring, pricing, negotiating or closing. The published transcripts show the level the conversations run at.

Q.04

What are the best business podcasts to guest on for M&A advisors and investment bankers?

Most business podcasts cover deals occasionally. DealQuest is built on them: across more than 400 episodes and 265 hours of audio, 156 cover mergers and acquisitions, 139 cover negotiation, 95 cover capital raising and 95 cover exit planning. That lets a guest work at the level of deal mechanics — valuation gaps, earnout structures, reps and warranties, diligence failures — instead of re-explaining what M&A is. 98 named guests appear on the M&A index alone, among them operators, M&A advisors, investment bankers and transaction attorneys. Full index: 139 deal negotiation episodes.

Q.05

What podcasts cover business exits and exit planning strategies?

95 DealQuest episodes cover business exits and exit planning — 66 hours with 74 named guests. They work through preparing a company for sale, closing a valuation gap, the tax and legal structure of an ownership transition, and what sellers wish they had started 24 months earlier. Episode 394 covers multiple exits across three decades in technology, Episode 402 building a transferable business and surviving the exit, and Episode 389 a startup to private-equity exit in three years. Full index: 95 business exit planning episodes.

Q.06

How do I apply to be a guest on DealQuest?

Fill out the application form on this page. It asks for six contact fields — first and last name, email, company, phone and website — and four short written answers: what makes you unique as a dealmaker, your most memorable deal and why, the value you would bring to an audience of entrepreneurs and dealmakers, and how you heard about DealQuest. There is no fee to apply or to appear. Corey reviews every submission personally. If your experience is a fit for the show he will be in touch; if you do not hear back, it was not a fit this time.

Q.07

Is there a fee to appear on the DealQuest Podcast?

No. DealQuest does not charge guests to appear on the show, and does not pay appearance fees. What a guest receives is the episode itself, a show-notes page, promotion to the show’s social and email audience, and a durable asset — every episode since February 2019 is still published and searchable. Selected episodes also carry a full written transcript.

— Applications, now open —

Apply to be a DealQuest guest.

If you have real deal experience and a story worth sharing with an audience of dealmakers, entrepreneurs, and RIA professionals, we would like to hear from you. Applications are reviewed personally.

Corey reviews every submission personally and gets in touch if it is a fit.