Steve Greenspon is a three-time entrepreneur who has built and sold companies across the consumer goods and building materials industries. His expertise spans retail, logistics, warehousing, finance, product development, executive leadership, and team building, skills honed over decades of running and scaling businesses, including his most recent company, which he successfully exited earlier this year. Steve has led organizations through rapid growth, global expansion, and major industry shifts, earning a reputation for transparent leadership and strong operational discipline. Outside the boardroom, Steve is an avid marathon runner and triathlete, and he occasionally takes the stage as an open-mic stand-up comedian. In this episode, Brad and Steve discuss: Steve’s early exposure to entrepreneurship through his family business and the lessons he learned working for his fatherHow he scaled LDR Industries from $30M to $85M in revenue in just five yearsWhy entrepreneurs need to understand risk, diversification, value creation, and what buyers truly look forThe realities of owning a business, including burnout, risk, leadership challenges, and knowing when it’s time to exitHow relationships, transparency, and treating people well shaped his leadership philosophy Key Takeaways: Entrepreneurship is fueled by relationships. Steve credits much of his success to treating people respectfully, vendors, customers, employees, and delivery drivers, and explains how seemingly small interactions compound over time into business-changing opportunities.Scaling a business requires relentless learning. Even after decades of building companies, Steve repeatedly found that “every time I thought that I had made every single mistake… I found a way to make more mistakes.” Continuous learning is part of the journey.Future buyers want stability, scalability, and low risk. Whether strategic or private equity, buyers evaluate customer concentration, product diversification, strong management teams, and the sustainability of future growth.Entrepreneurship demands sacrifice and realism. Steve shares candidly about the personal toll of entrepreneurship, emphasizing the importance of balancing ambition with family and personal well-being.Success is not linear. Even with three exits, Steve stresses that luck, timing, preparation, and resilience all matter: “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” “And sometimes, if you take a minute to really evaluate your surroundings and to refocus by maybe reaching out to your support group and help having people help you think things through, you can discover that it's not quite as bad as you think it is.” - Steve Greenspon Connect with Steve Greenspon: Website: https://www.newair.com/, https://adhomegoods.com/, https://www.keelerbrasscompany.com/belwithkeeler, https://roq-innovation.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greenspon/ Connect with Brad Foley: Website: https://www.hrvaluepartners.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradfoley/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hrvaluepartners/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hrvaluepartners/ Email: brad@hrvaluepartners.com Show notes by Podcastologist: Francine Poblete Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.
