Straight Talk on Monetizing Your Business
“Rich Galgano founded Windy City Wire when he was 25 years old and eventually sold it for half a billion dollars,” shares Sam Thompson, a Minneapolis business broker and the president of M&A firm Transitions In Business. “This episode covers how to pick the right partner, recovering from a failed sale, and the importance of timing your exit when your business is thriving.”
When Rich Galgano was 25, he left a sales job in wire distribution to start Windy City Wire. Within nine months, he was doing over $1 million in sales—while fighting a lawsuit from his former employer. Fast forward 30 years, and Galgano had built the dominant low-voltage cable distributor in the U.S., sold it for just under half a billion dollars, and stayed on as CEO.
In this episode of Built to Sell Radio, you discover how to:
- Differentiate a commodity product in a sea of sameness
- Pick the right partner—and avoid the wrong one
- Structure a minority recap to take chips off the table without losing control
- Handle a failed sale and come back stronger
- Buy your company back (and why it may save your life)
- Time your exit when the business is thriving
Galgano’s story is a masterclass in pulling yourself up by the bootstraps. From gambling addiction to patents disputes, partner exits, and private equity offers—he’s seen it all.