You Thought You Could Fix It Later

You Thought You Could Fix It Later

From Decision State with Joe Steele by Joe Steele

May 19, 2026 · 32 min · Episode 60

About this episode

Jerry Brazie shares his experience of a challenging business acquisition that led to significant financial losses.

Jerry Brazie has built, bought, and sold more than a dozen companies over thirty years. He was doing $25 million a year in revenue and clearing a quarter million a month in profit when a $4 million transportation company came across his desk. He took the financials to his peer group — the same people he'd been sitting with for twelve years, whose advice had helped build everything he had. They said no. He came back the next month with more answers. They said no again. He bought it anyway. The integration started falling apart almost immediately. It took three to four years of working through the wreckage to discover that the quarter million he thought he was making should have been $310,000 — his core business had been leaking while he was looking the other direction. Six years and roughly $10 million later, he was out. "I was high on my own supply." Guest links: KronosGroup.org If you recognized something in this episode — joesteele.com Follow Decision State on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. CHAPTERS 00:00 — “Everything Is Your Fault” 00:34 — What Jerry Is Running Right Now 03:24 — “I’m The Rock Everyone Crashes Against” 05:57 — Running Multiple Companies…

People in this episode

Host: Joe Steele

Guest: Jerry Brazie

Topics covered

  • business acquisition
  • company integration
  • financial management
  • entrepreneurship
  • leadership challenges

Keywords

  • business acquisition
  • financials
  • entrepreneurship
  • company integration
  • leadership

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: KronosGroup.org, joesteele.com

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