Building A $700 Million Empire From Collecting Garbage w/ Brian Scudamore (Founder & CEO)

The Dealroom with Shamus Madan

In this episode, Shamus Madan talks with Brian Scudamore about his entrepreneurial journey, the expansion of The Rubbish Boys, and the role of franchising in business growth. They discuss Elon Musk's strategy of firing and rehiring employees, Brian's experiences on the Oprah and Ellen shows, and Shamus's podcasting journey. They also discuss handling rejection and creating a $700,000,000 business.

When Brian Scudamore was four, he drew a picture of himself hauling away junk. Little did he know he'd become a millionaire from doing so. Fifteen years later, he got to work on his idea investing a thousand dollars, $700 for a pickup truck and the rest for some business cards and flyers.

At the time, his girlfriend had an idea to call the local newspaper to tell his story, which made the front page, and in 24 hours, he had a hundred job offers. The business took off, but he wasn't satisfied. He dreamed bigger and did not have the right people in place for the business. So he fired all of his employees, took a piece of paper, and wrote what he envisioned for the future.

Today he is turned that paper into an empire that owns multiple brands, nearing a value of a billion dollars using a franchising model.

Listen to the full story, and if you enjoyed the episode, share it with a friend and tag me on Twitter below.

Twitter of Host (Shamus Madan): @mbitpodcast

Twitter of Guest (Brian Scudamore): @BrianScudamore

Order Brian's book WTF here: https://www.amazon.com/WTF-Willing-Fail-Failure-Success-ebook/dp/B07JXY3823

NOTE: Podcast intro and outro background music on behalf of Superhero (Heroes & Villans) by Metro Boomin.

(0:00) Introduction and guest Brian Scudamore's entrepreneurial journey (2:31) Discussion on the concept of The Rubbish Boys and business expansion (5:46) The role of franchising and handling layoffs in business growth (9:47) Elon Musk's strategy of firing and rehiring employees (11:14) Brian's experiences on the Oprah and Ellen shows (13:24) Shamus Madan's journey in Podcasting and advice for young entrepreneurs (15:04) Handling rejection and the story of creating a $700,000,000 business (15:48) Closing remarks, gratitude, and how to connect with Brian Scudamore (16:00) End of episode