Ep 504 Exit Story: One Founder's War with Private Equity—and the $500M Ending

·1 hr 11 min·5 clips

Rich Galgano discovered his severe heart ailment only because a bank required a life insurance policy for his business buyback.

This episode of Built to Sell Radio features host John Warrillow interviewing Rich Galgano, founder of Windy City Wire, who sold his low-voltage cable business for nearly $500 million. Galgano recounts building a dominant company in a commoditized industry and navigating complex financial deals. He started the business in 1994 at age 21 after working in sales and seeing an opportunity in low-voltage wiring for construction projects. Galgano and his partner Gary Keller grew the company to become the largest low-voltage wire and cable supplier in the United States, serving major clients like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. The first major financial event was a 2006 minority recapitalization where they sold 33% of the company at a $43 million valuation to take personal chips off the table. Galgano rejected traditional leveraged buyout offers from private equity firms, describing those structures as making founders "indentured servants." Instead, he partnered with Steidler Equity Partners, a unique firm that took a minority stake without demanding board control as long as the business kept growing. A key differentiation strategy was introducing color-coded low-voltage wire, which simplified installations for customers and created a competitive edge. The company later patented the "Rack Package," a innovative box-and-dispenser system for wire that took years to secure from the patent office. In 2012, a planned sale process through an investment banker failed when the private equity fund backing them needed to exit, teaching Galgano about timing and fund lifecycles. He emphasizes the critical importance of retaining operational control after taking on investors and structuring deals where incentives are aligned between founders and capital partners. The conversation is direct and instructional, blending war stories with tactical advice on finance and strategy. This episode is ideal for business founders considering growth capital or a sale, especially those in competitive industries. Listeners seeking a purely inspirational narrative without operational details might find it less engaging.

As heard by us

A founder exit story that turns private equity into clear deal mechanics.

Rich Galgano's exit story is built around a plain but difficult question: how does a founder sell a commoditized business without handing over the entire machine?

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Why you'd press play

If you want the deal mechanics behind a founder exit worth just under half a billion, start here.

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