founder's journal

How the Founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK Built His $700M Empire

Episode 8: Today, host Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) is solo again for another special episode of The Crazy Ones, this time featuring founder and CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK and 02E Brands, Brian Scudamore (@BrianScudamore). Brian bought a used truck and started 1-800-GOT-JUNK in 1989 as a college dropout. Today, 1-800-GOT-JUNK makes $600 million in revenue, and Brian has also created the parent company 02E Brands which brings in an addition $100 million with its other businesses. Listen to hear Brian explain how he grew 1-800-GOT-JUNK from the ground up with a mixture of brilliant publicity tactics and smart hiring, as well as how Brian thinks about his role as a leader as his company grows.

#TheCrazyOnes #Startups #Entrepreneur

Listen to The Crazy Ones here: https://link.chtbl.com/OV4W93_W

Subscribe to Morning Brew!

Sign up for free today: https://bit.ly/morningbrewyt

Follow The Brew!

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/morningbrew/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/MorningBrew

Tik Tok – https://www.tiktok.com/@morningbrew

Follow Our Hosts!

Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista)

Sophia Amoruso (@sophiaamoruso)

Jesse Pujji (@jspujji)

00:43 – Intro

03:12 – How Brian started 1-800-GOT-JUNK

05:37 – 02E Brands’ reach and annual revenue

06:40 – Brian’s passion and what keeps him motivated

10:50 – How Brian got onto the Ellen Degeneres Show

14:37 – Brian’s opinion on PR to promote your business

16:20 – Brian’s decision to lay off his whole team in 1994

19:23 – Why Brian places a high importance on hiring for culture fit

21:44 – The most important decisions Brian made to allow his business to grow

25:54 – How 02E’s brand franchising works

29:53 – How Brian determined the price of services for 1-800-GOT-JUNK

32:07 – The systems Brian implements so that his ADD doesn’t derail him

34:48 – How Brian’s management of the business has changed as the company has grown

41:13 – Brian’s transition to being less hands-on with the day-to-day operations as his company grew

42:48 – Startup AMA: How do you think about what to do with the cashflow of your business?

Links: