Built to Sell Radio

Ep 236 How to Structure Your Earn-out in Uncertain Times

15 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Anson Sowby started Battery, a creative advertising agency in 2013. Battery quickly won assignments from companies like Netflix and LEGO featuring A-l...

Ep 235 How To Increase An Acquisition Offer Without Appearing Greedy

08 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In 2012, Gabriela Isturiz co-founded Bellefield Systems, a company offering a timekeeping application for lawyers. Over the next seven years, Bellefie...

Ep 234 How To Maintain Your Leverage After You Sign An LOI

01 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ganesh Ramakrishna and Mike Watson built Opex Analytics to 140 employees before they sold it to PE-backed LLamasoft in the fall of last year.

Ep 233 How To Get Acquired By A Partner

24 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Adam Ochstein started an HR software company called StratEx in the depths of the 2008 recession. CEOs were asking HR managers to do more with less and...

Ep 232 Building to Sell Through a Crisis

17 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Nashville-based Bryan Clayton was running Peachtree, a landscaping business, when the financial crisis of 2008 hit hard. Customers stopped spending mo...

Ep 231 Tips, Hacks And Countermeasures For Negotiating With A Giant

09 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If you're working from home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, you've probably received a few packages from Amazon. As more people order essentials to deal w...

Ep 230 How To Rethink Your Business Like A Lobster

03 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's ironic that Joshua Dick lives in Italy, one of the country's worst hit by COVID-19 deaths. He moved to Italy with his family as a reward for sell...

Ep 210 Start-up To Exit In 186 Days

03 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Staffing-industry veteran Will Gilbert co-founded Socium – a U.K.-based company supplying workers to companies that needed them – in early 2019. W...

Ep 229 How To Do Less While Making More

27 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Aater Suleman co-founded an IT services company called Flux7 in 2013, built it to 70 employees and sold it in 2019 to NTT DATA, the Fortune 500 IT gia...

Ep 228 3 Reasons Bollé Sunglasses Acquired SPY Optics

20 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The action sports business is fuelled by big brands which is why, when SPY Optics built a style popular with irreverent teens, eyewear bemouth Bollé ...

Ep 227 Why Cracker Barrel Paid $36 Million For Maple Street Biscuit Company

13 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When Scott Moore's job as a VP at Winn-Dixie was eliminated in 2012, he decided to start a restaurant with his friend Gus Evans in Jacksonville, Flori...

Ep. 226 The Inside Story Of Elsevier's $50.6 Million Acquisition Of 3D4Medical.com

06 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Back in 2004, John Moore started 3D4Medical.com, a company that created three-dimensional models of the human body, photographed them and licensed the...

Ep 225 How To Scratch Your Itch

27 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Arvid Kahl and Danielle Simpson were living together in Berlin when Kahl noticed his partner struggling to complete feedback reports about the student...

Ep 224 Inside Shutterstock's $65 Million Acquisition of FlashStock

21 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Grant Munro started FlashStock in 2013 to help big companies produce content (photos, videos) for advertising campaigns. In 2015, Instagram exploded, ...

Ep 223 Built to Sell News Pura Vida Acquired For $75 Million ++

14 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman, two Southern California friends traveling through Costa Rica on a post-college graduation trip in 2010, crossed paths ...

Ep 222 How Nick Gray Sold Museum Hack

07 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Nick Gray built Museum Hack, a company that offers fun museum tours in major cities, to almost 3 million dollars in annual revenue when he had an idea...

Ep 221 When To Bring In Someone To Run Your Company

31 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Pathfinder Health offered software to therapists helping patients with Autism. The company founder was creative, but the company had reached a plateau...

Ep 220 3 Ways To Immunize Yourself From The Dangers Ahead.mp3

24 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the last two weeks, we've seen a passenger jet shot out of the sky. A super-bug has emerged in Asia. A bun fight in the democratic primaries which ...

Ep 219 How To Make Peace With Your Decision To Sell

10 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When Scott Raymond started buying real estate, he looked for a property management company to maintain his buildings. He couldn't find anyone to care ...

Ep 218 Walking Away From An 8 Figure Deal

03 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Wes Winham was a co-founder and shareholder in PolicyStat, a software company that helps hospitals keep track of their Standard Operating Procedures (...

Ep 217 How To Package Your Expertise Into A Subscription

20 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Marc-Andre Seguin launched JazzGuitarLessons.net in 2009 to share his knowledge as a guitar teacher.

Ep 216 How To Find A $100 Million Idea

06 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. David Bach is a Harvard-trained scientist, physician, and serial entrepreneur.

Ep 215 Start-Up To Ferrari In Five Years

06 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Zain Hasan started an insurance agency called National Insurance Consulting Group (NICG), in 2014.

Ep 214 Avoiding The Commoditization Rat Race To The Bottom

29 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jean-Eric Plamondon was in the scrap metal business where the stereotypical operator is a shady character buying metal by the ton with a blow torch in...

Ep 213 The Backstory Behind E&J Gallo's Acquisition of Barefoot Cellars

22 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey built Barefoot Cellars to sales of more than 600,000 cases of wine per year when they got the attention of R&J Gall...

Ep 212 WP Curve Get Acquired By Go Daddy

15 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 2013, Alex McClafferty co-founded WP Curve, a company that provided IT support for people with a WordPress site. 

Ep 211 The Snag Of Selling To Private Equity

08 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Starting from humble beginnings, Sherry Deutschmann built LetterLogic into a $40 million juggernaut which she sold recently for more than seven times ...

Ep 209 The Hidden Secret That Made This Company Worth A Ton

25 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Ian Silverberg was considering acquiring a health club when he discovered a surprising lease that all but guaranteed his acquisition would be a winner...

Ep 208 How To Avoid Getting Diluted

18 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Luxer One went from around $1 million in sales in their first year to an incredible $37 million in 2018 without suffering the dilution of accepting a ...

Ep 207 When Tragedy Strikes A Founder

11 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tom Pisello built Alinean, a consulting company which offered a set of tools to help salespeople express the value of picking their solution. The busi...

Ep 206 From Billion Dollar Startup To Bankruptcy And Back Again

04 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Sunny Vanderbeck was growing Data Return 40% every quarter when he took the company public in 1999 on the way to a market capitalization of more than ...

Ep 205 How A Patent Sways The Value Of Your Business

27 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

O'Neil-Dunne was able to patent his technology and create a competitive advantage by learning the "patois" of his industry. Here's how.

Ep 204 Deciding When To Sell

20 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 1999, Peter Kelly was at Stanford business school when he and two partners spotted an opportunity to remake an industry – used cars.

Ep 203 How To Place A Value On Your Sales Team

13 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Deutschmann started Village Real Estate in 1996 and by 2018 he had grown it to 350 salespeople. Then six of his agents decided to compete with hi...

Ep 202 Multiple Of Earnings Vs. Revenue

06 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Glenn Grant always assumed he would sell his company for a multiple of EBITDA… until private equity firms started talking multiples of revenue. He d...

Ep 201 How To You-Proof Your Business

29 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

After falling ill, Nation Leagues owner, David Heimlich, needed to sell his business – but to his surprise, it was worthless. He learned the hard wa...

Ep 200 How Re-Modelling A Swimming Pool Business Led To A 7-Figure Exit

23 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When Tommy Berretz had his successful swimming pool company valued, he had just one (big) problem: he didn't like what he found out.

Ep 199 Finding Your Subscription Model

16 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

John MacInnes pulled his business out of a rut by evolving into a subscription-based model. Here's how he did it.

Ep 198 A $471 Million Exit From The Online Travel Industry

09 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

From a standing start, Dinesh Dhamija grew European online travel agency eBookers to more than one billion in sales in just five years.

Ep 197 Wisdom From Wall Street: How To Buy, Then Sell

02 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Matt Slaine used his wisdom from Wall Street to buy the perfect company, and later sell it for a perfect price.

EP 196 Was The Inc. 500 The Reason For This Founder's Exit?

26 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

James Roman grew iVelocity's revenue by a whopping 1000% - was the stress that ensued worth it?

Ep 195 When It Makes Sense To Accept Equity Instead Of Cash

19 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Matt Darby was burnt out and wanted to sell the business – even if it wasn't for cash.

Ep. 194 How To Structure Your Earn Out (Without Getting Burned)

12 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Kristin Delwo co-founded Stacks, a software used by librarians. Though the software was still early in its life, Delwo wanted to scale quickly and dec...

Ep. 193 The 'Inside' Deal: How To Sell Your Company Internally

05 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes you don't have to look far to find the perfect buyer – but you do have to be flexible.

Ep. 192 How To Sell A 22-Employee Company For $125 Million

28 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Altia systems has just crested 20 employees and was fine tuning the latest version of its camera system. So how on earth did it sell for $125 million?

Ep. 191 When To Hire A President To Run Things.mp3

21 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Want to bring in a President to run your company day-to-day? Here's how to get it right.

Ep. 190 The Other Half Of The Equation

14 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

So, your business is ready to sell. But are you? Here's the other side of the ledger you may have forgotten to consider.

Ep. 189 What To Do When Something New Attracts Your Attention

07 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk a lot about how you sell a business, but the real satisfaction comes when exit and expectations match.

Ep. 188 Herding Cats Towards The Exit

31 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

If too many cooks spoil the broth, can too many owners derail a sale?

Ep. 187 How To Avoid The Hodgepodge Discount

24 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

How does an event with thousands of attendees, millions of dollars in revenue, and keynote speakers like Richard Branson give its founder nightmares?

Ep. 186 The True Value Of Sticky Customers

17 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

CJ Whelan and his co-founder evolved a typically "free service" into something that customers were more than willing to pay for – and remain loyal.

Ep. 185 From 10 Employees to 10X Revenue

10 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Alex Bates's company used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict the future, but even he couldn't have anticipated a 10X payday when he sold his busi...

Ep. 184 Sixth Time's a Charm For This Restaurant Owner

03 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Andrew Lamppa wanted to sell his restaurant within two years of buying it, but it would take another twelve before he had something an acquirer wanted...

Ep. 183 How One Consulting Company Used The 'Netflix Model' To Transform

26 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Kogentix's product and service offerings may be complex, but their huge growth resulted in an ending that's easy to understand—an acquisition by the...

Ep. 182 How One Bad Boy [Clause] Landed an 8-Figure Deal

12 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Find out how Erik Van Horn went from running a business for only two hours a week to making an eight-figure exit.

Ep. 181 How To Avoid The Idiot Tax

05 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Kenan Hopkins spent 7 years paying what he calls "the idiot tax", until he learned the more efficient way to run a business.

Ep. 180 3 Strategic Reasons Big Companies Buy Small Ones

29 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Strategic acquirers will pay more for your company—here's how to make your business irresistible to them.

Ep. 179 Disrupted By Airbnb, Acquired By Expedia

22 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

From the acquirer to the seller, Ross Buhrdorf bought more than 25 companies at HomeAway, then sold his business to Expedia for a whopping $3.9 billio...

Ep. 178 Buying a Business to Sell It

15 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Connie Fenyo went all in, risking everything to purchase Dye & Durham. And when buyers came knocking, her gamble paid off.

Ep. 177 Startup to Exit in 18 Months

08 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Building a sellable business doesn't have to take years. Drew Kraemer received his first acquisition offer nine months after he started Marketplace St...

Ep. 176 How Two Co-Founders Stopped One Thing To Change Everything

01 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The two founders of Stelligent were burnt out running their consulting business until they agreed to stop doing one thing that changed just about ever...

Ep. 175 How to Get One Million More from PwC

22 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

From an agile SMB to the big, corporate environment of one of the Big Four auditors – this business owner learned negotiating a price is only half t...

Ep. 174 Warren Buffett's Advice On Creating A Valuable Business

15 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Turning business down can be tough for an entrepreneur, but Mitch Durfee learned the hard way that saying 'yes' can lead to disaster.

Ep. 173 Fortune 500 Companies Helped This Founder Exit

08 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

From raising $28 million to dealing with a less-than-friendly departure of a partner, find out how Mitchell Reichgut built Jun Group to sell.

Ep. 171 How to Lose $200 Million

04 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Procrastinating the sale of your business? One entrepreneur shares a cautionary tale that reveals the best time to sell your company may be when someo...

Ep. 172 Inside the Mind of a Private Equity Acquirer

01 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

There are two sides to every success – the business owner, and the buyer. This week, we're putting on new shoes and looking from the buyer's Point-o...

Ep. 170 How To Break Up With Your Business Partner

18 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

How do you place a fair valuation on your company when one partner wants out while the other is ready to continue?

Ep. 169 The 'Sell Your Business Before It Starts' Mindset

11 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When is the best time to start thinking about an acquirer? For one company, they had it on their agenda since day one.

Ep. 168 How To Handle A Low-Ball Offer

04 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

You're excited to get an offer for your company, but it's not what you had hoped for. You're tempted to react with righteous indignation – but is th...

Ep. 167 The Single Biggest Mistake Owners Make

14 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Philip Williams' environmental consulting company was going to be sold to one of the biggest players in the oil industry. But just as the check was ab...

Ep. 166 What's Lurking In Your Company's 'Attic'?

07 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Washington state's legalization of recreational marijuana sounded like an entrepreneur's dream, but the reality had Brandon Neth looking for an exit a...

Ep. 165 A Small Giant Makes a Great Exit

30 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tyler Tringas maintained his independence from beginning to end, starting with bootstrapping his SaaS company and then ultimately navigating the sale...

Ep. 164 Built to Flip

23 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Buying a business in 48 hours is a risky move, but Carl Allen did exactly that and turned his purchase around for a tidy sale in just three years.

Ep. 163 10 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Business: Part 2

16 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

John Warrillow is back with answers to five more questions from Built to Sell Radio listeners that will help you build your business to sell.

Ep. 162 10 Questions To Ask Yourself About Your Business: Part 1

11 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What are the top 10 questions every entrepreneur has when selling their company? It's John Warrillow's turn in the hot seat this week, and he's got an...

Ep. 161 4 Big Exits, 1 Smart Entrepreneur

02 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Steve Murch's BigOven sale is his latest in a series of successful multi-million-dollar exits. Find out how he did it.

Ep. 160 How To Keep Competing Offers In Play

26 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Backing out of a deal is never easy, so when Keith Weigand discovered his acquirer was going to buy his company and terminate his employees, he had a ...

Ep. 159 How Hawking Pool Chemicals On Subscription Led To An Offer From An Industry Giant

19 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

ConnectedYard took an old idea and brought it into the 21st century. When they started looking for new funding, they found a buyer instead.

Ep. 158 An 18-Month Roller Coaster Leads to a Rock-Bottom Sale

12 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The story of Tiny Devotions is a cautionary tale about the importance of getting out while you're ahead.

Ep. 157 When NIKE Wants To Buy Your Company

05 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Data analytics provider Zodiac was preparing to raise an A investment round for its customer lifetime value software when NIKE decided they wanted to ...

Ep. 156 From Technological Obsolescence to a Multi-Million Dollar Exit

28 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

From a service no one wanted anymore to a growing business and a strategic buyer, find out how AMI was rebuilt to sell.

Why A NYSE-listed Giant Bought This $2M Business

21 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Angela Mader started selling her fitbook through retail giants like CVS, Target and Walgreens. Little did she know, Mader was also attracting the atte...

Ep. 154 - Jim Remsik's Adorable Exit Was Just Right

14 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

When a health scare sent Jim Remsik looking for a buyer for his company, he had to decide whether to sacrifice a high-multiple exit for his personal p...

Ep. 153 How Matchmaking By Microsoft Led To One Of 2018's Biggest Technology Deals

07 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Mergers can be painful. But when Mitchell Feldman was approached by Microsoft about merging with another company, the result was a match not even HP c...

Ep. 152 This Grasshopper Learned Well

17 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

David Hauser's Grasshopper is a masterclass in building a business to sell. With no venture funding and fewer than 40 staff, Grasshopper was acquired ...

Ep. 151 What To Do When Getting Out Means Staying On

10 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

A service-based company can be a tough sell, so Eric Enge found a buyer while his best asset was still on the table: himself.

Ep. 150 Cracking the Amazon e-Commerce Code

03 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Sophie Howard built and sold a 7 figure Amazon e-Commerce business in less than two years. Here's how she did it.

Ep. 149 How Indian Motorcycle & Chris-Craft Were Built to Sell

27 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Stephen Heese buys fallen iconic brands and brings them back to life. Find out how he turns big personal risk into great rewards.

Ep. 148 Getting Out Quick And Clean

20 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Nathaniel Broughton grew Spread Effect to a $4 million company in only four years -- so why would he sell for a rock bottom multiple?

A Good Acquisition Offer Goes Horribly Wrong

13 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Ross Hoek built Impres Engineering into a $2.5 million company and got a fair acquisition offer. Little did he know, it was too good to be true.

Ep. 146 Niche Down To Jack Up Your Value

06 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

It can be tempting to expand your niche to grow your business, but the broader the market you serve, the less valuable you may be to an acquirer.

Salsa Maker Gets Contract With Whole Foods On Her Way To A Surprising Exit

29 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Despite having distribution at Whole Foods, Kroger, and Safeway, salsa-maker Julie Nirvelli found herself on the brink of bankruptcy. She sent a last-...

Ep. 144 How Jennifer Aniston And Reese Witherspoon Helped Viviscal Exit For 15 x EBITDA

15 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

With celebrity endorsements like Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, Viviscal hit €50 million in revenue…so, why would the CEO want to sell it...

Ep. 142 From $15 In His Pocket To A $3.2M Exit

25 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Chemco Industries' customers included Walmart, eBay, and Amazon, which is one reason they were so irresistible to an acquirer.

How To Sell Your Family's Business

18 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Ross Organic was a family business so when Stephanie Leshney took over from her father, she knew she had to make some changes if it was going to grow ...

Ep. 140 The Acquisition Of FPD: 4 Offers, 1 Big Regret

11 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tom Hannon's publishing company grew rapidly, and he received 4 offers.  So why does he wish he handled his exit differently?

Ep. 139 Influencer Marketing Pioneer Acquired By Fullscreen

04 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Pete Borum practically invented the term "influencer marketing." So how did Borum raise $15 million dollars and attract multiple acquisition offers in...

Ep. 138 With Clients Like Starbucks And NIKE, Blast Radius Was Irresistible To Acquirers

27 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Digital marketing agency Blast Radius went from 10 people to more than 400 in less that 10 years, ultimately attracting the attention of WPP who acqui...

Ep. 137 From Broke To A $1B Sale

20 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Gorny built his first business- and lost it. He was determined not to let that happen again.

Ep. 136 How A Baby-Sitting Job Turned Into 100+ Franchises In A Few Short Years

13 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What started as a part-time job to get through college turned into over 100 franchises.