Capital Insight founder Brett Bishov, front right, with wife Kate and their children. Back row, from left, are Charlotte, 20; Carson, 25 and Chase, 27.
“I pride myself as being technically adept as anyone out there,” said Brett Bishov, founder of franchise investment banking firm Capital Insight, based in Solana Beach, California. Bishov has been working on complex financial transactions for both franchise and independent multi-unit operators for 30 years. What he calls a “pivotal moment” early in his career was as one of the first employees at American Commercial Capital, a securitized lender in the restaurant industry, which was sold to and operates as Wells Fargo Restaurant Finance today.
“I was surrounded by an incredibly intense level of very thoughtful people,” he said. During a discussion in a meeting, ACC co-founder Bill Trefethen observed, “The single biggest void out there is critical thinking.”
Bishov was young at the time, “and Bill had the uncanny ability to understand transactions and risks at a granular level that I couldn’t keep up with then. I literally said to myself, ‘I’m just going to outwork everyone. I’m going to learn.’”
Today, he contended, “When you have enough knowledge and then you can critically think, you can create solutions other people don’t see.”
He loves the technical aspect of complex financial deals, and bringing to them a higher level of sophistication and attention to detail. “When you are working on a transaction, if you can truly understand the motives and incentives of those on both sides of the table—what’s the financial impact, the tax implications, cash needs and how does it all flow through different financial models—you have an advantage when you are negotiating.”
He and his team, including Akash Chilka and Jared Hirte, work on large institutional transactions. The largest early in Bishov’s career was an $800 million Circle K deal, and there have been several restaurant transactions in excess of $250 million. But Capital Insight also takes on small, founder-led deals. In fact, when Franchise Times talked to Bishov, they were completing a transaction for a 20-unit owner.
“The only difference between large deals and small ones is the decimal point,” he said. “There is value-add there; we can add that level of sophistication that is not often afforded to smaller companies.”
Brett and Kate Bishov at a family wedding.
And yet, despite all his professional success, he faces daily struggles.
Bishov has experienced two bouts of cancer. In 2010, he faced laryngeal cancer, which led to the removal of his voice box at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. In 2013, Franchise Times wrote a story about his journey, documenting how he overcame the loss of his larynx to once again use his voice—a critical skill for someone who spends hours on the phone talking through complex transactions with clients and negotiating with various stakeholders.
In January 2020, he returned to the hospital to have a small malignancy removed from his colon. He went through genetic testing, since it was his second cancer occurrence, and learned he had Lynch syndrome, which is a genetic predisposition to get colon cancer. Bishov’s dad had colon cancer, as well as three of his four grandparents.
He was told to come back in March for another colonoscopy, but COVID hit and the test was delayed until July. “By that time, there were three more malignancies,” Bishov said, “all stage one and small.” But coupled with Lynch syndrome, he was at a greater risk.
In August 2020, he and wife Kate traveled back to MD Anderson so Bishov could have the surgery to remove his entire colon. Kate could only drop him off at the hospital because of strict pandemic-related restrictions at the time.
“I wondered, ‘Is this going to kill me?’ But you have to let the doctors do what they need to,” he said, then added, “I was at peace going in, but nervous,” especially because no family member could be with him to talk to or comfort him.
When he woke up in intensive care, his surgeon told him everything went well. “I was working three days later from my hospital bed,” Bishov said. “I thought about the magnitude of what I went through, but there’s no deliberating. I remember having that conversation with myself: ‘I will heal.’” And, he knew Chilka was back at the office, steering the ship, which provided comfort.
But what he wasn’t prepared for was the depression that followed. “I thought, ‘What the hell’s wrong with me?’ The goal is to get rid of the cancer and be happy you’re alive. If you’re cured, they check the box as a win and you move on.”
He also had reoccurring physical ailments from his colon removal, such as being nauseated and tired, among other symptoms.
Bishov later learned there is a gut-brain connection, with neural connectivity between the two: Without a colon, the recipient was gone. “It dismantled my brain chemistry,” he said.
Clinical studies have found that the types of surgeries Bishov went through are considered physical, traumatic injuries to one’s central nervous system, including all the stress-related situations he encountered as he faced multiple cancer diagnoses. He was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
If he didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know. When people are around him, Bishov cracks jokes and seems to have an endless supply of energy to get deals done.
Franchise investment banker Brett Bishov and his dog, Archie, visit the beach every morning before work.
Dog as co-pilot
“My savior was my dog, Lucy,” he remembered. “She read me like a book. Any void I couldn’t fill with human beings, she did.”
But, Lucy was older, and as time went on, Bishov grieved what he knew was coming. “At the end of her life, it was like caring for an elderly person. And I was going through my worst time, too. When she passed, I was destroyed.”
Bishov’s niece had heard about 4E Kennels Healing Hearts program, a nonprofit group that provides service dogs to deserving people. Unbeknownst to Bishov, in 2023 she put in an application for him and he qualified.
He felt undeserving at the time, but his new dog, Archie, has been a lifeline. “There is a chemical in your brain, oxytocin, that makes you happy. It calms you. And that’s what Archie does for me. I am 75 percent more social” thanks to him.
Still a puppy, the goldendoodle resembles a giant muppet and will grow to be about 75 pounds of adorable fluffiness and energy. Bishov hired a trainer who specializes in service dogs to come to his office numerous times a week to make sure Archie is a well-trained companion who will sense when Bishov needs support.
“His effect on me has been immediate,” Bishov said. “I feel positive today, and I have hope for the future.”
Part of that future includes his efforts to provide financial stability for his family. He and Kate have three children: Chase, 27, Carson, 25, and Charlotte, 20. And, he wishes “for my wife and me to live a less encumbered existence.”
He wants that especially for Kate, who, Bishov said, “is a force of nature with her heart affixed in precisely the right spot.” He said she “put the strength in me” to battle the continued health challenges, and the emotional toll they were taking on him.
“My appreciation and admiration for her are monumental,” he said.
Bishov also wants Capital Insight’s other stakeholders, Hirte and Chilka, to have a future with the business. They aren’t worried. He’s been able to mentor both of them through his health crisis and has taught them the intricacies of the business.
“I started working here about six years ago,” said Chilka, “and I have learned so much from Brett. My learning curve has been like a hockey stick. I have been blessed to observe him so closely.”
For Hirte, Bishov has been a mentor, but he considers him a friend, too. “He’s lighthearted—he can crack jokes—but then he’s also sentimental. I have gone through two life events and he has offered mentor-type guidance. Having those two juxtaposed against each other is pretty great.”
Bishov believes work is the ultimate healer. “Engaging in intense work builds up my serotonin,” he said. Thanks to his wife, family, clients, team and, of course, Archie, Bishov’s resilient spirit pushes him to tackle the next deal, and pivotal moment.