Deal or No Deal

Deal or No Deal — What a DVM offer actually looks like in 2026 Every independent practice owner believes they can't compete with a corporate offer. We spent an hour checking that against ten years of contracts. Joseph Coury and Tyler Jones, JD break down the modern veterinary associate offer — the signing bonus that cooled from its COVID peak, the clawback provisions quietly becoming unenforceable, how ProSal actually pays, and the one clause almost no veterinary employment agreement contains. Along the way: what a $1M producer really earns, why corporates struggle to hire as much as you do, and the strangest thing anyone has ever written into a contract. In this episode: (00:00) A banker, an attorney, and ten years of contracts (03:17) Why associate compensation changed so fast (04:30) Signing bonuses: the COVID spike and the thaw (05:35) ProSal, production percentages, and the negative accrual "ghost" (07:20) What a $1M producer actually earns (09:39) Anatomy of a Puget Sound offer — CE, PTO, dues, base, production (10:45) The first-associate discount nobody has studied (12:30) Why corporates can't hire either (16:36) The strangest contract requests — horses, freezers, and a boa constrictor (18:40) Bonus clawbacks, and why corporates don't sue (20:24) Profit sharing for the whole team (21:29) What Washington's 2027 non-compete change does to pay (23:00) The 22% labor ratio — is it still realistic? (30:14) Why veterinarians actually leave (32:16) Deal or No Deal: pricing a mid-career GP (34:08) The missing path to ownership (39:50) Tyler at the Pacific Northwest Veterinary Conference Read the companion briefing: Briefing No. 02 — https://futuresidestudios.com/fp2p/br... Catch Tyler live: Contracts, Corporates, and Control: Making Sense of VetMed in 2026 — Pacific Northwest Veterinary Conference, Friday, September 25, 9:00 a.m., Room 406. Hosted by Joseph Coury, CFO of Urban Animal, and Tyler Jones, JD, veterinary M&A attorney at Helsell Fetterman. A FutureSide Studios production. Educational only — not legal, tax, financial, or investment advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by listening. Tyler Jones is licensed in Washington State; content does not constitute legal advice in any jurisdiction. Joseph Coury participates as a financial educator; nothing here is investment advice.