Built to Sell Radio

Tom Pisello built Alinean, a consulting company which offered a set of tools to help salespeople express the value of picking their solution. The business was cruising with about half of its revenue coming from recurring licensing fees and the other half from consulting when disaster struck the Pisello's family.

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 $3 billion. Until the bubble burst.

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

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

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 him. Anyone would be upset, but you'll be surprised at what Deutschmann did next.

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

After falling ill, Nation Leagues owner, David Heimlich, needed to sell his business – but to his surprise, it was worthless. He learned the hard way why you can't be the center of the business.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 decided to look for a deep-pocketed acquirer.

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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 business.

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 to buy.

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 biggest digital marketing agency in the world.

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

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

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

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 billion. Now, he's sharing his secrets – from both sides.

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

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

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

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 the battle.

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

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.

Procrastinating the sale of your business? One entrepreneur shares a cautionary tale that reveals the best time to sell your company may be when someone's willing to buy it.

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-of-View.

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

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

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 that really the best way to maximize an acquisition offer?

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 about to be signed, the deal took a strange turn

Washington state's legalization of recreational marijuana sounded like an entrepreneur's dream, but the reality had Brandon Neth looking for an exit after only 5 years.

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

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.

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.

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 answers.

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

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 tough decision to make.

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

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