Built to Sell Radio
Episodes
Ep. 135 How One Key Hire Helped Dimple Up Their Value By 500% in 2.5 Years
06 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Teetering on the brink of liquidation, a key hire at Dimple led to a dramatic turnaround that resulted in a $13.4M exit.
Ep. 134 3 x EBITDA To 13 x EBITDA In Just 2.5 Years
04 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Embanet broke just about every rule there is for running a company and still sold for $200M.
Ep. 133 From Paper Sketches To $441M Sale
23 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Oribe sold in early 2018 for $441M, but in 2008 they were just a few sketches of shampoo bottles on a piece of paper. Tev Finger shares the surprising...
Ep. 132 How Much Are Your Employees Worth To An Acquirer?
21 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Impact LABS had no hard assets and little intellectual property, so why would ContextLabs want to acquire them for millions?
Ep. 131 Finding An Investor Vs. An Acquirer
09 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Finding an acquirer for your business feels a lot like searching for an investor, but as Moritz Plassnig found out, there is one crucial difference.
Ep. 130 Why LinkedIn Acquired This Dorm Room Startup
02 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Harpaul Sambhi's company was 8 days away from bankruptcy. So why would LinkedIn want to buy it for millions?
Ep. 129 From Food Stamps To A Seven-figure Exit
23 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
While Michael Pedone survived off of food stamps as a kid, he dreamed of living a lifestyle where money wasn't scarce. Fast-forward a few decades, and...
Ep. 128 Third Time's A Charm: From False Starts To Finishing Big
16 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Scott Miller knew that telling his employees he wanted to sell his $3M company, Miller Restoration, could get messy. But he wasn't prepared for what a...
Ep. 127 How Forecasting The Future Led To A $100M Sale
09 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Back when mobile phones had green screens with black dots on them, Andy Nulman founded Airborne Mobile. In one year, the company went from $2M in rev...
Ep. 126 Getting A Second Bite Of The Apple
02 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Manders co-founded iAutomation and built it up to $12M before deciding it was time to recapitalize. Manders sold 75% of his company for almost...
Ep. 125 Built to Flip: From Start Up To Sell Out In Just 2 Years
26 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
After a motorcycle accident shattered Jon Read's collar bone into 6 pieces, he wasn't able to follow-through on his post-surgical rehabilitation appoi...
Ep. 124 How To Recover (and thrive) After Splitting From Your Co-Founder
12 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Four years ago Nexalogy CEO Claude Théoret was counting the employees he had to lay off. His company had burned through their $600,000 seed round o...
Ep. 123 Why VEEV Vodka Went for More Than 7 Times Revenue
05 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney Reum left Goldman Sachs in 2007 to start a Vodka business. He built VEEV up to more than $10 million in annual sales before he sold the compa...
Ep. 122 How To Get Acquired By Facebook (Twice)
29 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The market for digital assistants is booming. Apple has Siri, Amazon has Alexa and Google has Google Assistant. Now, thanks to Charles Jolley, Faceboo...
Ep. 121 - 5 (Sobering) Lessons from the Sales of Hammocks.com
22 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
David Fairley estimates he has sold more than 20 online properties but admits it was the sale of Hammocks.com—one of his first exits—that taught h...
Ep. 119 The Hunter vs. the Hunted
04 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Goodmanson started Monk Development as a custom website development shop and evolved it into a product enabling churches to establish an online p...
Ep. 118 The Founder of the "Female Viagra" Sells Her Business for $1 Billion
22 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Cindy Whitehead started Sprout Pharmaceuticals and created the drug ADDYI, which has become known as the "female Viagra".
Ep. 117 The Man Behind the $1.3B Sale of Wind Mobile
15 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony Lacavera has started 12 businesses, six of which he has exited. His exits have ranged in value from the $6 million he got for one of his recen...
Ep. 116 Bitcoin - The Investor vs. The Acquirer
09 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Back in 2013, Dave Ripley became fascinated with Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency market was gaining notoriety and Ripley and a friend decided to start Gli...
Ep. 115 How to Get Negotiating Leverage When You're Desperate
02 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Muench started C-Labs in 2008 to go after the burgeoning opportunities presented by the Internet-of-Things (IOT). He began by writing custom sof...
Ep. 114 Selling a Main-street Business
18 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jim McManaman started his accounting firm in a small town of 3,000, so when he decided to sell, he had to figure out how to do it without tipping off ...
Ep. 113 How to Get More Than 1 Times Revenue for a Company with No Hard Assets
11 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Etienne Borgeat co-founded PCO innovation, an IT consulting firm, in 2000. By 2016, the firm had 600 full-time employees and offices around the world,...
Ep. 112 The Strategic vs. The Financial Buyer
04 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Franceski and his two partners built DocStar up to 45 employees when they decided to shop the business to some private equity (PE) investors. The ...
Ep. 111 How to Sell a Consulting Firm
27 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Susan Hrib started an oil and gas industry consulting firm called Signum back in 1994. Recently Hrib received a call from an industry contact who said...
Ep. 110 How Mainspring Went From a Valuation of 1 to 5 Times Revenue
20 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In 2014, Hank Goddard got an offer of one times revenue to buy his software company, Mainspring Healthcare Solutions. Goddard said, "No, thank you"....
Ep. 109 How to Exit a Consulting Business
13 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sohail Khan built J.V. Global Consulting into a $3 million consulting business, offering training boot camps and consulting on how to set up joint ven...
Ep. 108 Lessons from Home Depot's Acquisition of a $100 Million Juggernaut Blinds.com
06 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jay Steinfeld started selling blinds online in 1993. The e-commerce pioneer went on to build Blinds.com into a $100 million category killer before Hom...
Ep. 107 Negotiation Secrets From Three Exits
30 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Martell started Spheric Technologies to help Fortune 500 companies build website portals, an emerging business back in 2004. Within four years, M...
Ep. 106 Cashing Out of the Oil Business
23 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Terry Lammers took over the family oil wholesaling business in 1991. By 2010, Tri-County Petroleum was selling $42 million worth of gas and oil, when ...
Ep. 105 Why Did This $3MM Company Sell For 5X Revenue?
16 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Brian Ferrilla started Resort Advantage in 2006 to help casinos adhere to new anti-money laundering laws. Criminals were laundering money through casi...
Ep. 104 The Other Reason Owners Decide to Sell
09 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In 2012, Randy Ambrosie was hired to run 3Macs, a Montreal-based wealth management firm with $4 billion in assets under management at the time.
Ep. 103 The Acquisition of the Company Behind Chicago Bulls Sunglasses
02 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you own Chicago Bulls sunglasses—or sunglasses from just about any other NBA team—you owe your eyewear to Jason Bolt.
Ep. 102 The Downside Of Being Upfront With Employees
19 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In 2011 Josh Holtzman, the founder and CEO of American Data Company, gathered his employees into a conference room to announce "Fifteen Cubed", a comp...
Ep. 101 The Doer vs. The Deal Maker
12 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Entrepreneurs can be categorized into two groups. On one hand, you have the doers. These are the people who organically grow a business over time. The...
Ep. 100 How a Vision Board Drove One Owner to Sell
05 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A few weeks ago, Shaun Oshamn sold iSupportU, a Colorado-based IT support business. Oshamn started the business at the age of 32 and knew he wanted to...
Ep. 99 Why Hitting $10MM In Annual Revenue Matters
28 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jill Nelson built Ruby Receptionists, a call answering service, into an $11MM business when she met with an investment banker who told her the technol...
Ep. 98 How Cigar City Brewing Got Oskar Blues To Triple Their Acquisition Offer
21 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Joey Redner started Cigar City Brewing in Tampa Bay in 2009 with a vision of being the first quality craft beer in Tampa at a time when craft beer was...
Ep. 97 How EBITDA adjustments impact the value of your business
14 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ari Ackerman started Bunk1 in 1999 to give parents a way to keep in touch with their kids while they were at summer camp. Over 17 years, Ackerman grew...
Ep. 96 The Philosophy of Building to Sell
07 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Faggella started Science of Skill, an e-commerce website selling self-defense videos and paraphernalia, in 2013. His goal was to sell the business...
Ep. 95 The (Awfully) Thin Line Between Success and Failure
31 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Shelley Rogers started Admincomm Warehousing to help companies recycle their old technology. Rogers purchased old phone systems and computer monitors ...
Ep. 94 From Nothing to $25 Million in 12 Months
24 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
SnapSaves was created by Toronto-based company Buytopia, which has a deal-of-the-day business model similar to that of Groupon.
Ep. 93 What's Your Company's Name Worth
17 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 2000s, Carl Gould gained notoriety in New Jersey for building upscale modular and log homes under the banner Outdoor Imaging. Gould inves...
Ep. 92 America's Condom King Sells His Business
10 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Glickman started hawking "Jumbo Brand Condoms" from his Tuft's dorm room in 1989 under the moniker "a safe jumbo is a happy jumbo." His brand gre...
Ep. 91 10 X Earnings By Future Proofing Your Buyer
03 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Melbourne-based David Trewern grew DT, a digital advertising agency, to $10 million in annual revenue before he sold it to STW Group in 2007 for almos...
Ep. 90 When to Tell Employees You're Thinking of Selling
26 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Lois Melbourne and her husband started Acquire Solutions, a software business that helped large companies manage their employees. After 18 years, th...
Ep. 89 What UPS looks for when making an acquisition
19 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Acquirers are a secretive bunch. They typically operate behind confidentiality agreements with their motives and tactics disguised from the public. ...
Ep. 88 What Happens When the Big Dog Sells
12 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony Amos and his brother started HydroDog, an Australian company offering a mobile dog washing and grooming service. For $10, the Amos brothers wo...
Ep. 87 The success rate statistics on selling your business
05 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How many people will you have to approach about buying your business before you end up getting an offer? In this week's episode, you'll hear from John...
Ep. 86 The Speedy Sale
29 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Lok packaged a set of table tennis video tutorials into a membership website and charged a subscription fee to join. Over eight years, Lok managed...
Ep. 85 3 Acquisition Offers, 1 Surprising Decision
08 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Mortgage Reports publishes information about mortgages for home owners. Site founder Dan Green, capitalized on the internet traffic they generated...
Ep. 84 Wisdom From The Sale Of Six Businesses
01 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Laura Gisborne has started nine companies and sold six of them, including The Art of Wine, the subject of this week's episode. The Art of Wine is a ta...
Ep. 83 Do You Want An All-Cash Offer?
22 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Most sellers want to be paid all of their money up front, and most buyers want to avoid paying anything up front. Deals usually get done somewhere in ...
Ep. 82 A Big Chunk of Something Small vs. a Small Slice of Something Big?
15 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever noticed the ads that run before you watch an official online video clip from shows like Saturday Night Live or Jimmy Kimmel? You can th...
Ep. 81 Four Mistakes To Avoid When You Get An Acquisition Offer
08 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ian Ippolito started Rent a Coder as an online marketplace for hiring technical talent. He quickly expanded to go beyond technical professionals and r...
Ep. 80 From Start-Up To Exit In Three Years
01 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Shankman started Help A Reporter Out (HARO) to connect experts with journalists who needed people to quote for stories. HARO sent a simple email...
Ep. 79 How To Double An Acquisition Offer For Your Business
25 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Bobby Albert took over the family moving business when his father died unexpectedly. Determined to succeed, he transformed his father's five-person bu...
Ep. 77 The $15 Million Lesson
11 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Julie Pickens and her partner Mindee Hardin created Boogie Wipes, a moistened tissue Moms use so their sick kids can avoid a raw nose in cold season. ...
Ep. 76 Is Your Business Worth Less Than You Think?
04 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Bert Martinez is a best-selling author and a national radio host who has sold a dozen businesses in his career. In this episode, you'll hear the story...
Ep. 75 How Shapeup Got Richard Branson To Boost His Acquisition Offer By 50%
28 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Rajiv Kumar and Brad Weinberg started ShapeUp, a software company designed around getting people to improve their health. Instead of going direct to c...
Ep. 74 Would You Have the Audacity to Turn Down $40MM for a $9MM Company?
21 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In 1992 Stephanie Breedlove started a payroll company to make it easier for parents to pay their nannies. It began small and she self-funded their gro...
Ep. 73 The Second Most Important Thing to Negotiate When Selling Your Business
14 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When you get an acquisition offer for your business, it is natural to focus on the offer price, but your employment contract can be a key element of y...
Ep. 72 Raising Money? Avoid This Sleazy Investor's Trap
07 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Barry Hinckley founded Bullhorn with his two partners Art Papas and Roger Colvin. The software company built an application recruiters used to manage ...
Ep. 71 An Interview with The E-Myth's Michael Gerber
30 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The first book I ever read about entrepreneurship was The E-Myth by Michael Gerber. I loved it. Gerber's knack for simplifying the complex art of star...
Ep. 70 Inside the Mind of a Private Equity Investor
23 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Frank Cottle led an investor group to buy Hi-Mark Software for 10 times EBITDA. Cottle then sold a chunk for 15 times and ultimately sold his last tr...
Ep. 69 A Cautionary Tale
16 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Most of our Built to Sell Radio episodes have been success stories but this week's show is a cautionary tale of what happens when you don't plan ahead...
Ep. 68 How to structure your earn-out
09 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Stephenson and his partners grew their conference business, Media Edge Communications, to north of $10 million in annual revenue when they were a...
Ep. 67 The 8:1 Flip
02 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Huey bought The Learning House, a company that creates online courses on behalf of colleges, for $2.7MM in 2007 because he saw the opportunity t...
Ep. 66 Are you stacking a few Benjamins?
26 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Saul Sehy is the host of Stacking Benjamins, a popular personal finance podcast on which he has interviewed everyone from Jean Chatzky to David Ba...
Ep. 65 The downside of accepting shares as payment from your acquirer
19 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Doug Chapiewsky built CenterPoint Solutions Inc. into an Inc. 500 company with $5 million in revenue and more than $3 million in EBITDA before he sold...
Ep. 64 Two to Tango
12 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Manny Fernandez started HomeBuyingCenter.com in 2007, just as the real estate market started to wobble in the United States. As it turned out, his tim...
Ep. 63 What Do You Need From The Sale Of Your Business?
05 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Of course you want an all-cash offer at a beefy multiple with no strings attached, but what do you really need from the sale of your company? That's a...
Ep. 62 How One Pivot Doubled The Value of This Business
28 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
James Garvey and his partner grew Objective Loyalty from a standing start in 2005 to $2.5 million in EBITDA before they decided to sell their email ma...
Ep. 61 How To Structure Your Earn-Out
21 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
An earn out is a way to bridge the gap between what you want for your business and what a buyer is willing to pay. In an earn out, a portion of the sa...
Ep. 60 When To Sell Your Business
14 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Peach New Media was launched in 2001 by Dave Will, who carried the title "Chief Peach" until he sold the business in 2015. Will had built his learning...
Ep. 59 Think Twice Before Starting That New Division
07 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jim Beach sold American Computer Experience for $200 million, which sounds like a fantastic exit, but when I asked Beach if he had any regrets I was s...
Ep. 58 The Surprising Truth About Who Will Buy Your Company
24 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In 1999, Andrew Weinreich sold Six Degrees, a social networking site based on the same idea that sparked the likes of LinkedIn and Facebook, for $125 ...
Ep. 57 How To Quadruple The Value Of Your Business
17 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Intellectually, you know you need recurring revenue, but how do you build an annuity stream in an industry where subscription billing is not the stand...
Ep. 56 The $20 Million Mistake
10 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Rod Drury is the founder and CEO of Xero, a cloud-based accounting platform that competes head on with Intuit's QuickBooks. Started in 2006, Xero now ...
Ep. 55 Lessons From A £20 Million Exit
03 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever stayed in a fancy hotel and wondered how much they pay Aveda for those little bottles of shampoo? Turns out, there is a company called P...
Ep. 54 The Competitive Threat
27 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A direct competitor can often be the most likely buyer for your business. A competitor already knows your industry and may see your company as a way t...
Ep. 53 Who Would Buy Your Business?
20 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Part of building to sell is knowing who you are going to sell to. If you don't start thinking about your potential buyers list early, you may end up...
Ep. 52 Selling The Baby In The Bathwater
13 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
If you run a service, my guess is you've dreamt of owning a product business instead. Service businesses are such a mess – demanding clients, scope ...
Ep. 51 Your Training Wheels Business
06 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Have you thought about when you want to sell your company? A lot of owners think selling equates to retirement, but selling your business and retiring...
Ep. 50 The 50% Bump
29 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When Mark Carlson put Minnesota Mailing Solutions on the block, he got two offers for around $3 million, which represented about four times his pre ta...
Ep. 49 The External vs. Internal Sale
22 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When the time comes, do you want to sell your business externally, or internally to your employees or family members? Once you decide, a little piece ...
Ep. 48 The Biggest Mistake Most Owners Make When Selling Their Company
15 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Mike McCarron sold MSM Transportation to the Wheels Group for $18.6 million. After receiving the letter of intent (LOI) he signed it immediately. If M...
Ep. 47 Why Was This Money-Losing Business Worth $10 Million?
08 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
For most of its 17 years, Imaging Path was a successful IT services contractor that peaked at more than $16 million in sales. Imaging Path founder and...
Ep. 46 The Apple Acquisition
01 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Carl Silbersky sold his facial recognition software company Polar Rose to Apple in 2010 for a reported $29 million. The negotiation was relatively smo...
Ep. 45 Raising Money Vs. Going It Alone
25 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Katherine Hague, co-founded ShopLocket in 2011 and sold her business two years later to PCH, a billion dollar Irish company. Hague was a prodigious fu...
Ep. 44 Multiple of What?
18 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis Hart sold his advertising agency, Apex Media, for 7.1 times EBITDA. Selling for 7X sounds like a great exit but it disguises the complexity of ...
Ep. 43 The Ambush
11 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
How much would someone have to pay you to buy your business today? That's the question Kris Jones was asked when billionaire Michael Rubin approached ...
Ep. 42 How One Email Triggered Seven Acquisition
04 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Back in 2011, Nathan Latka started Heyo, a social media company that helped businesses advertise on Facebook. By 2016, Heyo had raised $2.5 million in...
Ep. 41 The Fishing Trip
27 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When John Bowen received a $37 million offer to buy his business, he thought it was too good to be true. As it turns out, it was. Bowen had received a...
Ep. 40 Is Your Partnership A Ticking Time Bomb?
20 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
John Maddox co-founded the digital agency Ten Fast Feet in the depths of the financial crisis. Despite his timing, Maddox was able to grow the busines...
Ep. 39 A Brand That's Built to Sell
13 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
If you have ever put a label on a sippy cup, chances are Julie Cole’s company, Mabels Labels, produced it. Cole and her three partners built Mabel’...
Ep. 38 Selling Your Company vs. Selling Your Product
06 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Natalie Susi started Bare Organic Mixers to supply low-cal cocktail mixers to bars and restaurants in southern California. Susi got her product into 3...
Ep. 37 $250K to $180M
30 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Aaron Houghton sold iContact in 2012 for $180 million. The first round of growth was financed by something called convertible debt, which Houghton rec...
Ep. 36 The $20 Million Expiry Date
23 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In eight years Ryan Born built Audio Micro, which began operations in his spare bedroom, into an Inc. 500 company. Born went on to sell his business f...
Ep. 35 Playing Chicken
16 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Hoffman sold Competitive Technologies, a business intelligence company serving the travel industry, to American Express in a nine-figure exit. Af...
Ep. 34 The Strategic
09 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Most financial acquirers will arrive at an offer for your business by calculating the profit they expect you to make and deciding what they are willin...