• Built to Sell

  • Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You
  • By: John Warrillow
  • Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
  • Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (2,433 ratings)

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Built to Sell  By  cover art

Built to Sell

By: John Warrillow
Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
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Publisher's summary

A business parable about how to create a start-up that won't trap you when you want to sell it. According to John Warrillow, the number one mistake entrepreneurs make is to build a business that relies too heavily on them. Thus, when the time comes to sell, buyers aren't confident that the company-even if it's profitable-can stand on its own. To illustrate this, Warrillow introduces us to a fictional small business owner named Alex who is struggling to sell his advertising agency. Alex turns to Ted, an entrepreneur and old family friend, who encourages Alex to pursue three criteria to make his business sellable:

  • Teachable: focus on products and services that you can teach employees to deliver.
  • Valuable: avoid price wars by specializing in doing one thing better than anyone else.
  • Repeatable: generate recurring revenue by engineering products that customers have to repurchase often.

©2011 John Warrilow (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp

What listeners say about Built to Sell

Average customer ratings
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Built To Sell - Good Content, Distracting Delivery

While I picked up some good information from the contents of the book, the narration was so poor that I had to re-listen to each chapter because the performance was so amateur and affected that I found myself getting distracted from the delivery.
I would recommend the hard copy of the book and steer clear of the audio version.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I realized, I was goin in a wrong dirrection...

Any additional comments?
To build a #scalable #company you must understand how your buyers think and from now to build a company what they will want to #buy.
#tagsgiving, #sweepstakes

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great primer on selling your business

I loved listening to the fictional story, lots of ideas I never thought of before, so I highly recommend listening to this

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Highly Recommended Reading for Business Owners

Every once in a while a book comes along that makes you question your convictions. "Built to Sell" made me question the way I have been running my business for 6 years. It was a Godsend and I recommend it to every small business owner.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Just a little long.

Maybe look up a summary or something instead. Some important points but length not justified

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great insight

Recommended to those entrepreneurs that aren't focusing on the exit strategy. It covers the basic focusing topics for a well thought out exit focus

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Awesome

awesome book. love the format as well. I plan on using this guideline from day one of running my own company. thank you

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great story. good for any entrepreneur

loved the story... the reader I didn't enjoy as much but I got used to it

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

the reader is positively AWFUL.

the story is a great message, but the guy reading is horrible. i couldn’t even make it past the first 3 chapters because that guys voice makes me want to stab my ear drums. i wish audible gave refunds on credits. i feel bad for that guys wife!

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Brings a new perspective

This title was a great listen, the story is fabricated with real life examples of guidance. Overall very insightful and helpful tips included

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