Bill Green is an author, and the Founder and CEO of The Crestar Group of Companies. Crestar is comprised of private equity, specialty finance, and real estate businesses. Bill is also the CEO of LendingOne, which was founded in 2014. LendingOne provides real estate bridge and rental loans for non-owner occupied real estate investors properties. Prior to forming Crestar, Mr. Green was with Interline Brands, founding the company in 1977. For twenty-five years he led Interline as its CEO from a small retail outlet to one of the largest industrial distribution companies in the country. Today, Interline Brands is owned by The Home Depot. Bill is a member of Young Presidents Organization and has served on numerous non-profit boards over the years. Currently, he serves on The Foundation Board of Trustees for The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Q: What inspired you to write your manuscript?
A: My success story is pretty cool, but I never planned to write a book about it. My dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, asking me the same questions over and over again. I began to worry that the same thing would eventually happen to me. I wanted to insure that my kids and grandchildren knew the details of my life story, with all of its crazy twists and turns, successes and mistakes. So, I started writing, and when I thought I had a good outline I locked myself in a hotel room in Florida for 3 days and dictated my story and my most important business lessons into my iPhone. I sent the recording to a transcriptionist and it turned out to be 375 pages. After some professionally editing I felt I had a great keepsake for my family. But then I shared it with a friend who said “Bill—this is a book—a really good one!” That is how my book came to be.
Q: Describe your book in one sentence.
A: I think of “All In” as a road map that shares my scrappy street smarts with the world and with aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs.
Q: What is your #1 piece of advice to an aspiring writer/entrepreneur?
A: To aspiring entrepreneurs—read my book! My 2 favorite endorsements:
“Bill Green’s inspiring All In, 101 Real-Life Lessons is not a book! It is the personal and intimate conversation between you, the reader, and the author, who shares one of the most amazing and motivating journeys to success. If you want to succeed beyond your wildest dreams, PLEASE read and follow these 101 priceless lessons” –Dwight Carey, CEO American Productivity Group and Asst. Prof. of Entrepreneurship Temple University
“All In is full of real-life, hard-won, street-smart lessons that are entirely applicable and transferable to any business.” –Bernie Marcus, Founder, Former Chairman & CEO The Home Depot
Q: Are you currently writing anything else?
A: I am currently writing a weekly article for Inc.com although I do plan on writing a 2nd book within the next couple of years.
You have the Big Idea, the drive and ambition. You see the market, and you’ve identified the customers. You want to be wildly successful. You wonder, how certain entrepreneurs have achieved success without a fancy education or unlimited access to capital. Enter Bill Green, a serial entrepreneur. Using his own impressive business achievements (and his few fiascos), Green provides the reader with the practical tools needed to launch their Big Idea or improve their existing business. In a unique, humorous, and impassioned style, Bill shares 101 key insights he has gleaned over a 40-year business career that began with a single flea market table. He shares the lessons he learned that allowed him to leverage his flea market business table into one of the largest industrial distribution companies in the country and how he subsequently successfully invested in or founded numerous companies across multiple end markets. His message is universal and is the ideal road map for anyone who might wonder how the Bill Greens of the business world do what they do so well.