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Founder / Operator·Building Products

Harley Magden

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Window Nation

Baltimore, MD

HM
Why they matter

Built Window Nation from a single showroom to a national platform and sold it to two different PE firms, giving him rare operator-side insight into building-products roll-up diligence and post-close execution.

Background

Harley Magden co-founded Window Nation in 2006 with his brother Aaron, growing it from a single Maryland showroom into one of the largest non-franchise replacement-window installers in the U.S. with 20+ markets and over one million window installations. He led the company as CEO through two private-equity ownership cycles, sold to Cortec Group in 2018 and to AEA Investors in 2021, before pivoting into the luxury auto sector, where he now runs Magden Motors and, as of 2025, co-owns Marshall Goldman Motor Sales.

Notable deals

  • 2018
    Cortec Group acquires Window Nation (fifth platform investment of Cortec Fund VI); Magden and brother Aaron retain significant ownership and continue leading the company
  • 2021
    AEA Investors' Middle Market Private Equity team closes acquisition of Window Nation Holding, LLC from Cortec Group; Magden brothers retain operational control
  • 2025
    Harley and Aaron Magden acquire Marshall Goldman Motor Sales from private equity, merging it with their Magden Motors dealership; Harley becomes Managing Partner and Chief Marketing Officer

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Cleveland native; co-founded Window Nation in 2006 with brother Aaron, learning the trade in their father's window business.
  • Grew Window Nation into a 20+ market, 500+ employee direct-to-consumer window/door/siding/roofing installer with 1M+ installations.
  • Sold the business twice as founder-operator: to Cortec Group (2018) and to AEA Investors (2021), retained equity and operating control through both.

Current focus

  • Runs FRB Holdings, his personal investment vehicle (portfolio includes seven restaurants).
  • Pivoted into luxury/exotic autos: built Magden Motors, then acquired Marshall Goldman Motor Sales (Aug 2025), merging the brands and expanding beyond Cleveland/Baltimore into Beverly Hills and Newport Beach.

What he cares about

  • Direct-to-consumer sales engines and marketing-led growth (his stated differentiator at Window Nation).
  • Founder-friendly deal structures that let operators keep control post-close. He did this across two separate PE sponsors.
  • Family business continuity (kept his brother as partner throughout; structured Marshall Goldman deal to keep the founding family involved).

Sensitivities

  • He's fully exited building products/window distribution, approach as a market expert/advisor angle, not a re-recruitment pitch.
  • Current attention and capital are focused on the auto dealership platform; gauge bandwidth before assuming deep engagement.

Questions to ask

  1. What made Cortec and then AEA the right partners at each stage, and what would you do differently structuring a founder rollover today?
  2. Where do you see consolidation opportunity left in residential building-products distribution post-2021?
  3. What operational levers (marketing, install labor, financing) most moved EBITDA at Window Nation that a diligence team might underweight?

Outreach draft

Subject
Your Window Nation build-and-exit playbook
Hi Harley, I'm reaching out from a private equity firm focused on the building-products and home-services space. Your run building Window Nation from a single Maryland showroom into a 20+ market platform, and navigating two sponsor transitions along the way, is exactly the perspective we're looking for as we evaluate opportunities in residential distribution and installed-services roll-ups. Would you be open to a 30-minute call to share what you learned about scaling the sales engine and working with PE partners at each stage? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Your Name]

Linked companies

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