Best Wealthfront Podcasts (2026)

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Ep 527 How to Avoid an Earn-Out (Even in a Service Business) 1:34:18

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4h ago1:34:18

1:34:18

Most business owners hit a fork in the road. Stay "on the tools" and keep making great money. Or start feathering back your personal involvement so the business can grow beyond you. In this episode of Built to Sell Radio, Dr. Michael Filosi walks through how he made that shift in a dental practice, without jeopardizing cash flow. He didn't rip the …

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Ep 526 Best of 2025: 4 Moments That Change How You Exit 36:48

4h ago36:48

36:48

Built to Sell Radio just dropped a year-end special that pulls the strongest moments from 2025 into one episode. Across four formats (Exit Story, Inside the Mind of an Acquirer, Mastering the Deal, and After the Deal), you discover how to Choose exit value over lifestyle income before comfort caps valuation Spot the "founder-dependent" trap that sc…

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Ep 525 How to Know When to Get Out: What to do when Shopify threatens, Selling vs. hiring a CEO. A controlled process instead of massive auction and getting your cash up front. 26:01

17d ago26:01

26:01

If you're feeling a little queasy about the pace of change, you're not alone. AI is accelerating competition in almost every market, and it's making some business models feel irrelevant almost overnight. In this episode of Built to Sell Radio, John Warrillow talks with Ryan O'Leary, who saw a similar wave coming in payments when Shopify started bun…

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E241: SpaceX $800b tender and $1.5 trillion IPO, Disney into OpenAI for $1b, Boom Supersonic jet turbines for data centers, + more 17:48

13d ago17:48

17:48

Send us a text Invest in pre-IPO stocks with AG Dillon & Co. Contact [email protected] to learn more. Financial advisors only. www.agdillon.com 00:00 - Intro 00:06 - SpaceX Tender Offer & IPO Plans 00:43 - SpaceX Revenue Outlook 01:54 - Airwallex $330M Raise 02:54 - Disney $1B OpenAI Investment 03:53 - OpenAI Enterprise Adoption Surge 04:54…

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Ep 524 3 Non-Negotiables to Walk Away Clean, Turn Your Expertise into Recurring Revenue, and Avoiding a Deal-Killing Clause. 1:14:44

24d ago1:14:44

1:14:44

Most experts who start a practice or studio end up trapped by their own success. The schedule is packed, the waitlist is long, but every dollar still depends on them showing up. In this week's episode of Built to Sell Radio, John talks to a physical therapist who turned a fully booked, owner-dependent practice into a boutique fitness business with …

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Ep 523 15 x EBITDA for a Service Firm 59:37

20d ago59:37

59:37

In this episode of Built to Sell Radio, John Warrillow sits down with Ujwal Arkalgud, who built the same company twice. Chapter one was a classic problem: a profitable, founder-heavy services firm with impressive EBITDA but a ceiling on valuation. Chapter two began when he turned that service into a productized offering, transformed how customers b…

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E240: xAI $230B valuation, Databricks $134B valuation; Revolut $75B tender; Wealthfront IPO; raises from Physical Intelligence, Black Forest Labs, Moonshot AI, others 38:48

21d ago38:48

38:48

Send us a text Invest in pre-IPO stocks with AG Dillon & Co. Contact [email protected] to learn more. Financial advisors only. www.agdillon.com 00:06 - Databricks $134B Primary at 32x 2025E Sales 02:20 - Revolut $75B Tender (+56% vs Aug 2025) 04:30 - Physical Intelligence (Pi) $5B Primary (+>2.5x in <1 Year) 06:32 - Black Forest Labs $3.25B…

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Ep 522 The difference between 4x vs.8x EBITDA, Customer Concentration Discounts, PE Re-trades with Eric Wiklendt on this special edition of Inside the Mind of an Acquirer 1:14:06

1M ago1:14:06

1:14:06

For many owners, private equity feels like a black box: a buyer shows up with a multiple, some debt, and a term sheet, and it is hard to tell whether you are getting a fair shake or being set up for a painful re-trade later. In this Inside the Mind of an Acquirer episode of Built to Sell Radio, John Warrillow sits down with Speyside Equity managing…

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E239: AI Giants Surge: Anthropic $350B, xAI $230B, Databricks $130B+, Ramp $32B, Kraken $20B, Kalshi $11B, Suno $2.45B, more 21:07

1M ago21:07

21:07

Send us a text Invest in pre-IPO stocks with AG Dillon & Co. Contact [email protected] to learn more. Financial advisors only. www.agdillon.com 00:00 - Intro 00:08 - Anthropic Mega-Scale Infra + $350B Valuation Surge 01:44 - xAI $15B Raise at $230B Valuation 02:45 - xAI Saudi Arabia 500MW Data Center 03:57 - xAI Grok 5 to be Released in Q1 …

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Ep 521 10x Outcome Selling Tiny to Private Equity and how to make the 'Cruise vs Double Down' Decision 1:00:47

1M ago1:00:47

1:00:47

Andrew Roberts spent two decades turning a bootstrapped family company from Brisbane into one of the most widely used text editors on the web, then faced the hardest call of his career: keep a comfortable, profitable business or push for a bigger exit with venture capital and private equity in the mix.…

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E238: Thinking Machines eyes $60B valuation; Cursor locks $29.3B valuation; Blue Origin lands first rocket booster; Raises from Clio, Skims, Scribe, WisdomAI, Wonderful 16:41

1M ago16:41

16:41

Send us a text Invest in pre-IPO stocks with AG Dillon & Co. Contact [email protected] to learn more. Financial advisors only. www.agdillon.com 00:00 - Intro 00:07 - Thinking Machines Lab Eyes $50-60B Post-Money Valuation 01:00 - Anysphere (Cursor) $2.3B Raise Triples Valuation to $29.3B 02:14 - Clio (LegalTech) Hits $5B Valuation on $500M …

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Ep 520 How Chris Hutchins convinced Google to buy Milk—and Wealthfront to acquire Grove—despite not generating much revenue (and no EBITDA) 55:53

2M ago55:53

55:53

A strategic acquirer is a company buying to advance its own roadmap, distribution, or capabilities—unlike financial buyers (private equity, family offices) who buy primarily for cash flow. To a strategic, value may sit in what you've built, not what you've earned. Chris Hutchins' story makes the point. He co-founded Milk, acquired by Google, and la…

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E237: Tether $20b buyback!; Ripple $500m raise at $40b valuation; Crusoe tender at $13b valuation; Anthropic forecasting $70b in annual revenue; SpaceX Starlink at 8m customers; AI legal Harvey raises ... 13:56

2M ago13:56

13:56

Send us a text Invest in pre-IPO stocks with AG Dillon & Co. Contact [email protected] to learn more. Financial advisors only. 00:00 - Intro 00:07 - Tether $10B+ Profit Fuels $20B Buyback Ambition 01:05 - Ripple $500M Raise at $40B Valuation Boosts Global Payment Push 01:53 - Decagon Eyes $4-5B Valuation on 100x ARR Multiple 02:38 - Crusoe …

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Ep 519 How to Avoid the Unforced Errors That Can Wipe Out Your Equity 54:15

2M ago54:15

54:15

Spencer Dennis was an elite golfer whose playing career ended with spine surgery in his teens. He became a tour-level coach, running high-performance programs for juniors, college players, and pros. Managing parents, trainers, and recruiters through texts and email was chaos, so he built CoachNow to guide athletes between sessions. CoachNow caught …

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E236: Mercor $350M Series C quintuples valuation to $10B amid AI data pivot; OpenAI restructuring to PBC unlocks $40B fundraising at $500B valuation; SoftBank greenlights $22.5B final tranche to OpenAI ... 14:41

2M ago14:41

14:41

Send us a text Invest in pre-IPO stocks with AG Dillon & Co. Contact [email protected] to learn more. Financial advisors only. 00:00 - Intro 00:08 - Mercor $350M Series C Quintuples Valuation to $10B Amid AI Data Pivot 01:47 - OpenAI Restructuring to PBC Unlocks $40B Fundraising at $500B Valuation 03:14 - SoftBank Greenlights $22.5B Final T…

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Ep 518 Growth Equity, Control, and When Rolling Equity Fails — John Ruffolo (Inside the Mind of an Acquirer) 48:01

2M ago48:01

48:01

If you're considering your endgame, you're probably looking at private equity. Most PE firms use a familiar formula: buy a majority stake and ask the owner to "roll equity"—re-invest part of the proceeds—into the newco they're building. The downside: you become a minority shareholder in a business you no longer control. There's another path: growth…

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E235: Kalshi fields $10B+ valuation offers post-$5B raise; Crusoe $1.38B raise at $10B+ valuation fuels AI infra expansion; Redwood Materials $350M Series E at $6B valuation boosts battery recycling; OpenEvidence ... 15:02

2M ago15:02

15:02

Send us a text 00:00 - Intro 00:07 - Kalshi Fields $10B+ Valuation Offers Post-$5B Raise 01:12 - Crusoe $1.38B Raise at $10B+ Valuation Fuels AI Infra Expansion 02:31 - Redwood Materials $350M Series E at $6B Valuation Boosts Battery Recycling 04:04 - OpenEvidence $200M Series C at $6B Valuation Drives Medical AI Adoption 05:35 - Cohere $7B Tender …

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Ep 517 The Surprising Truth of a 9-Figure Exit — and How Not to Lose $23 Million (After the Deal) 55:55

2M ago55:55

55:55

If you've ever noticed those ads inside a mobile game, you have Zain Jaffer to thank. He co-founded Vungle and helped popularize rewarded video ads—the ones that revive your character or hand you in-app currency after you watch. In this Built to Sell Radio episode, Zain explains how he rode the smartphone wave to a $780M all-cash exit to Blackstone…

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E234: Anysphere $1B raise talks at $27B valuation amid AI coding boom; Deel $300M Series E at $17.3B valuation fuels $1.2B ARR growth; Oura $900M Series E doubles valuation to $11B on 5.5M ring sales; ... 16:57

3M ago16:57

16:57

Send us a text 00:00 - Intro 00:08 - Anysphere $1B Raise Talks at $27B Valuation Amid AI Coding Boom 01:07 - Deel $300M Series E at $17.3B Valuation Fuels $1.2B ARR Growth 02:31 - Oura $900M Series E Doubles Valuation to $11B on 5.5M Ring Sales 04:02 - Zepto $450M Raise Hits $7B Valuation in $42B Indian Quick-Commerce Surge 05:22 - Kalshi $300M Rai…

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Ep 516 How Joyride Fetched 7x Revenue for a Business Selling Abandoned Cars (Exit Story) 39:19

3M ago39:19

39:19

Most cities have a problem: what to do with cars that get towed and never picked up. They pile up in impound lots—taking up space and tying up cash. Stan Markuze helped solve that problem by co-founding Joyride Auto, an online auction platform where repair shops, scrap dealers, and car enthusiasts can buy those abandoned vehicles directly from the …

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E233: xAI $20B GPU financing structure nears close; Reflection AI raises $2B round builds open-source frontier lab; n8n $180M series C drives 7x valuation jump to $2.5B; Base Power $1B raise targets 200k ... 11:50

3M ago11:50

11:50

Send us a text Invest in pre-IPO stocks with AG Dillon & Co. Contact [email protected] to learn more. Financial advisors only. 00:08 - xAI $20B GPU Financing Structure Nears Close 01:42 - Reflection AI Raises $2B Round Builds Open-Source Frontier Lab 02:37 - n8n $180M Series C Drives 7x Valuation Jump to $2.5B 03:26 - Base Power $1B Raise T…

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Ep 515 Inside the Mind of an Acquirer with Valtech's Randy Woods 1:01:34

3M ago1:01:34

1:01:34

After a 23-year journey building Non-Linear Creations into a marketing giant with more than 120 employees, Randy Woods sold it in 2017 to Valtech. Valtech is a distinguished digital agency offering marketing, digital technology, and business transformation consulting services. Post-sale, Woods now serves as the SVP of Strategic Growth Opportunity a…

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E232: Wealthfront's robo-advisor IPO sprint: $88B AUM, $194M profits; OpenAI's instant checkout: Etsy surge 16%, taps 700M users; OpenAI H1 2025: $4.3B sales vs $2.5B burn, breakeven by 2026?; Cerebras ... 18:14

3M ago18:14

18:14

Send us a text 00:00 - Intro 01:16 - Wealthfront's Robo-Advisor IPO Sprint: $88B AUM, $194M Profits 02:43 - OpenAI's Instant Checkout: Etsy Surge 16%, Taps 700M Users 03:51 - OpenAI H1 2025: $4.3B Sales vs $2.5B Burn, Breakeven by 2026? 05:23 - Cerebras' $1.1B Pre-IPO Raise: $8.1B Val, Q2 Rev 11x YoY 06:39 - Black Forest Labs' $4B AI Image Raise: F…

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Ep 514 Why the Old Private Equity Playbook is Dead - Inside the Mind of an Acquirer with Lee McCabe 46:55

3M ago46:55

46:55

Today's episode of Built to Sell Radio is part of our Inside the Mind of an Acquirer series. John Warrillow interviews Lee McCabe, a former Meta and Alibaba executive turned private equity investor—now an advisor helping PE firms modernize how they create value. McCabe argues the old model of buying cheap, piling on debt, and hoping for multiple ex…

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E231: Tether's $500B valuation; OpenAI-Nvidia $100B AI powerhouse deal; Stripe buyback at $106.7B; TikTok US valuation at only $14B!; Fermi's $13B IPO for AI data center energy; 1X robotics' $10B+ valuation; ... 7:07

3M ago7:07

7:07

Send us a text 00:00 - Intro 00:08 - Tether's $500B Valuation 00:54 - OpenAI-Nvidia $100B AI Powerhouse Deal 02:10 - Stripe BuyBack at $106.7B 02:48 - TikTok US Valuation at Only $14B! 03:45 - Fermi's $13B IPO for AI Data Center Energy 04:18 - 1X Robotics' $10B+ Valuation 05:21 - Anthropic for Microsoft AI Copilot 05:51 - Databricks-OpenAI $100M En…

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Ep 513 Exit Story: How Dave Sifry Lost $100 Million, Lessons from Starting 9 Companies, the Dangers of Raising Money, and Why He's Doing It Differently with Warmstart 58:43

3M ago58:43

58:43

Dave Sifry has founded nine companies, including Technorati and Linuxcare, raising more than $170 million along the way. In this episode of Built to Sell Radio, he reveals how he went from being worth more than $100 million on paper to watching that value disappear — and what he'd do differently if he had the chance again. Despite those scars, Sifr…

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E230: Web browser battle is heating up between Chrome, Perplexity, OpenAI?; Groq is a monster, love the company; Underwriting private market humanoid robotic stocks 42:13

3M ago42:13

42:13

Send us a text Nick Fusco = CEO at PM Insights, a pre-IPO secondary market pricing company …X - @TheFuscoKid …LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/nickfusco Evan Cohen = Founder/COO of withVincent.com, a media company focused on alternative investments …X - @evvcohen …LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/evcohen Clint Sorenson = Chief Investment Officer at Wea…

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E229: Groq's $750M funding, $6.9B valuation; Figure's $1B+ robotics raise, $39B valuation; Workday's $1.1B Sana acquisition for AI agents; Irregular's $80M AI security boost; xAI's 64M user milestone; ... 11:50

4M ago11:50

11:50

Send us a text 00:00 - Intro 00:55 - Groq's $750M Funding, $6.9B Valuation 02:23 - Figure's $1B+ Robotics Raise, $39B Valuation 03:20 - Workday's $1.1B Sana Acquisition for AI Agents 04:12 - Irregular's $80M AI Security Boost 05:34 - xAI's 64M User Milestone 06:27 - OpenAI's New ChatGPT Usage Report 07:59 - OpenAI to Cut Microsoft Rev Share 08:45 -…

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Ep 512 Exit Story: Selling iLab for 6× ARR, Choosing Strategic Over PE, and Life After an Eight-Figure Exit 57:06

4M ago57:06

57:06

In 2006, Tad Fallows and two friends spotted a problem inside Harvard's cancer labs: researchers were spending more time managing freezers, fruit flies, and mice than actually doing research. They built iLab, a SaaS tool for universities and hospitals, bootstrapped it to high–7-figure ARR, and eventually sold to Agilent Technologies for roughly six…

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E228: SpaceX to enter the cell service business; Anduril wins $1.26b of new deals; OpenAI + Microsoft work out non-profit to for-profit switch; Will AI/robotics yield a decade long bull market? 21:31

3M ago21:31

21:31

Send us a text 00:00 - Intro 00:02 - SpaceX to enter the cell service business 04:26 - Anduril wins $1.26b of new deals 12:43 - OpenAI + Microsoft work out non-profit to for-profit switch 17:33 - Will AI/robotics yield a decade long bull market? Nick Fusco = CEO at PM Insights, a pre-IPO secondary market pricing company …X - @TheFuscoKid …LinkedIn …

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E227: Klarna's $15.1B IPO + Up in Public Markets (as of Thu, Sep 11); Cognition's $400M Raise at $10.2B Valuation; ElevenLabs' $100M Tender at Doubled $6.6B Valuation; Replit's $250M Funding at $3B Valuation; ... 11:55

4M ago11:55

11:55

Send us a text 00:00 - Intro 00:51 - Klarna's $15.1B IPO + Up in Public Markets (as of Thu, Sep 11) 01:51 - Cognition's $400M Raise at $10.2B Valuation 02:43 - ElevenLabs' $100M Tender at Doubled $6.6B Valuation 03:05 - Replit's $250M Funding at $3B Valuation 04:05 - X Square Robot's $140M Raise, New Robot OS Released 04:41 - Mistral Finalizes $1.5…

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Ep 511 Exit Story: Why Ronan Berder Walked Away from Techstars and Sold Wiredcraft for 67 Million Euros 1:09:48

3M ago1:09:48

1:09:48

Ronan Berder built Wiredcraft to 140 people, then sold to Publicis for a reported 67 million euros. This Exit Story traces the moment he walked away from Techstars and a product dream to double down on services—and why that decision paid off.By John Warrillow

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E226: Revolut $75b valuation after 72% yoy revenue growth, 35 million customers; AI App investment cases - Sierra AI Agents and OpenEvidence 25:18

4M ago25:18

25:18

Send us a text 00:00 - Intro 00:11 - Revolut $75b valuation after 72% yoy revenue growth, 35 million customers 11:09 - AI App investment cases; Sierra AI Agents and OpenEvidence Nick Fusco = CEO at PM Insights, a pre-IPO secondary market pricing company …X - @TheFuscoKid …LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/nickfusco Evan Cohen = Founder/COO of withVinc…