Brian Scudamore

1-800-GOT-JUNK: ~$400-500M revenue, 100% owned

As a counterpoint to disruptive startups, Sam describes Brian Scudamore, who owns 100% of 1-800-GOT-JUNK with roughly $400-500M in revenue and isn't doing anything especially innovative, just operational excellence. It illustrates that not every great business needs to be a venture-scale disruption.

“Sean interviewed this guy named Brian who owns 100% of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. The revenue might be $400 or $500 million and he owns all of it. So he's, who knows, he's probably worth $2 or $3 billion and has probably a pretty calm life.”

1-800-GOT-JUNK, but for lawn care or irrigation

Shaan relays that 1-800-GOT-JUNK founder Brian Scudamore (who owns all of a ~$500M/yr company) said if he started over he'd build the same model for lawn care or irrigation. Beshore agrees these unsexy niches are exactly the opportunity.

“we— either me or some— one of us asked him where opportunity is, and he goes, man, if I had to do the same thing, I would do 1-800-GOT-JUNK, but I would do it for, uh, lawn care or for irrigation.”

Steal thisApply the 1-800-GOT-JUNK franchise/branding playbook to lawn care or irrigation.

Girlfriend's PR tip put GOT-JUNK on the front page

Early on, Brian's girlfriend told him to pitch the press his 'couldn't find a job so I made one' story. The next day they were on the front page of Vancouver's largest paper, the truck and phone number visible, and the phone rang off the hook.

“Actually, my girlfriend at the time said, you had trouble finding a job, you created your own, get out there and tell the press that story because I think they're going to eat this thing up. And the next day we were on the front page of the Vancouver Province, the largest newspaper in the city. Our truck, our phone number, it was unbelievable. And the phone rang off the hook.”

The $753 junk truck spotted at a McDonald's drive-through

Brian's origin story: stuck in a McDonald's drive-through at 18, he saw a beat-up pickup full of junk and decided to buy his own truck for $753 to fund college. He insists the story is 100% true, not a polished retelling.

“I was in a McDonald's drive-through. There's a beat-up old pickup truck while I'm in the drive-through. I see this truck and I look over at it and I'm like, wow, that would be a great idea. It's filled with junk. Maybe because I'm having a hard time finding a job, why don't I just buy my own truck? And for $700, it was actually $753 to be precise. I bought that truck”

Make your phone number your name

A guy once told Brian 'your name has to be your phone number.' He emblazoned 738-JUNK, then 1-800-GOT-JUNK, on his trucks; whenever they got press, viewers remembered the number because it was visual and memorable.

“I remember meeting a guy once who told me, you know, your name has to be your phone number. And I remembered that. And I came up with this phone number that I called the telephone company and tried to get something. You know, 3 numbers and junk. And I emblazoned the side of my truck with this phone number”

Steal thisMake your brand name and your contact handle the same memorable string so every impression doubles as a call to action.

Rebranding cost half his revenue in a year, but he stuck with it

When Brian switched from 738-JUNK to 1-800-GOT-JUNK, market revenue shrank by half within a year as customers thought a copycat competitor had appeared. He treated it as short-term pain for long-term gain.

“I saw the, the revenue in my market shrink to half within a year because as we switched over to 1-800-GOT-JUNK, I'd even have friends and family say to me, even though the trucks look the same, it was just a different phone number, oh, there's this competitor out there, you gotta watch them, they look just like you, they're called 1-800-GOT-JUNK. So people got fuse between the brands. And I knew that it was short-term pain for long-term gain, and we stuck with it.”

Paying for a logo before he could even get the phone number

Brian made 60 calls chasing the 1-800-GOT-JUNK number, owned by Idaho's DOT, while already paying a design firm to build the brand before he had any number. A clerk named Michael finally signed it over for free, then vanished.

“I had made 60 phone calls trying to get the number. I had hired a design company and actually was paying invoices on them designing a logo and a brand for 1-800-GOT-JUNK before I had the number or any indication that I could even get the number because that's how much I believed in my vision or my destiny.”

Paying for a logo before he could even get the phone number

Brian made 60 calls chasing the 1-800-GOT-JUNK number, owned by Idaho's DOT, while already paying a design firm to build the brand before he had any number. A clerk named Michael finally signed it over for free, then vanished.

“I had made 60 phone calls trying to get the number. I had hired a design company and actually was paying invoices on them designing a logo and a brand for 1-800-GOT-JUNK before I had the number or any indication that I could even get the number because that's how much I believed in my vision or my destiny.”

The 'Can You Imagine' wall that landed them on Oprah

Brian put a vinyl 'Can You Imagine?' decal on an office wall and wrote 'featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show.' His PR hire Tyler made it his mission, pitched Harpo for 14 months in a blue wig, and got them on the show.

“one of the things I put up on the wall was imagine being featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. That was the first so-called quote unquote, can you imagine? Put this quote up on the wall. Can you imagine being featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show with my name below it as my commitment that I was going to make that happen?”

Steal thisWrite your most audacious goals on a visible wall with your name attached, then let the team will them into reality.

1-800-GOT-JUNK on 10 million Starbucks cups for free

A marketing manager pitched Starbucks a 'The way I see it' quote from Brian. The 1-800-GOT-JUNK brand ended up on 10 million Starbucks cups for free, born from another 'Can You Imagine' wall idea.

“The 1-800-GOT-JUNK brand ended up on 10 million cups with Starbucks for free because Andrea Baxter had the freedom to conceive something unusual and big that she wanted to make happen. And she did. The quote was, you are what you can't let go of.”

Firing all 11 employees and rebuilding from scratch

At 24, with 5 trucks and $500K revenue, Brian felt he'd hired '9 bad apples.' He apologized to the whole team, let everyone go, and rebuilt alone, learning that business is all about finding the right people and treating them well.

“I had 11 employees and they say one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. I had 9 bad apples and I just didn't know what to do. I mean, these were people who just weren't the clean-cut, professional, happy, smiley people that I saw in the vision for my little company.”

Hire happy people: spend a day in the truck with them

After the reset, Brian's litmus test was spending a day in the trucks with a candidate to see if they were cheery and fun with customers. He hires on culture and positive attitude first, skill second.

“And so my litmus test was spend a day in the trucks with them driving around. Did I have fun? Were they smiley and happy with customers? Do they love life versus complaining about everything that happens to them?. And I just looked for cheery, optimistic people.”

Steal thisScreen for attitude by working alongside a candidate for a day before hiring; treat it like finding a friend, not filling a seat.

The beer and barbecue test for executive hires

Brian hired an ex-Starbucks US division president on pedigree but skipped his own culture test. His heuristic: would you want a beer with them, would they fit at a company barbecue, would they put on a blue wig and dance?

“Did they pass the beer and barbecue test? Would I see myself wanting to have a beer with them, hanging out with them, becoming friends? Do they fit in at a company barbecue? Would they put on a blue wig and dance around? Whatever the case might be. This person wasn't the perfect fit.”

Steal thisApply the same culture-fit bar to senior hires as junior ones; a bad fit at the top is just as devastating.

Down $40 million in revenue in a single year

Brian and his misaligned president nearly bankrupted 1-800-GOT-JUNK, losing $40 million in revenue in one year. The 2007-2008 financial crisis hurt, but he says the real cause was the two of them not sharing the same vision.

“together this president and I had almost bankrupted 1-800-GOT-JUNK. We were down $40 million in revenue in one year, the financial meltdown of 2008. 2007 and 2008 didn't help, but that wasn't the real reason. We weren't joined at the hip. We weren't firing on all cylinders together and believing in the same vision.”

The two-in-the-box model: vision plus execution

Brian wrote a precise 'painted picture' of his ideal partner before knowing the person, and three unrelated contacts independently named Eric Church. They run a 'two-in-the-box' model: Brian owns vision and culture, Eric owns strategy and execution.

“We call it a two-in-the-box model where two heads are better than one. I've got the vision and the culture side of the business. He's got the strategy and execution. And of course, there's some overlap between us.”

Steal thisPair a visionary founder with an execution-focused operator and define exactly who owns what.

The two-in-the-box model: vision plus execution

Brian wrote a precise 'painted picture' of his ideal partner before knowing the person, and three unrelated contacts independently named Eric Church. They run a 'two-in-the-box' model: Brian owns vision and culture, Eric owns strategy and execution.

“We call it a two-in-the-box model where two heads are better than one. I've got the vision and the culture side of the business. He's got the strategy and execution. And of course, there's some overlap between us.”

Steal thisPair a visionary founder with an execution-focused operator and define exactly who owns what.

Turned down $75-100M from Waste Management: 'I wouldn't sell for a billion'

On a fishing trip, Waste Management executives offered Brian $75-100 million for 1-800-GOT-JUNK. He declined, saying he wouldn't sell for a billion, because building something special mattered more than the money.

“there I was out on a boat with two very senior garbage executives and they offered, you know, $75 to $100 million is what they were talking to buy my little business. And I said, you know, I wouldn't sell it for a billion. The money wasn't ever a motivator. It was building something special, accomplishing the impossible.”

Start over in a low-barrier, fragmented home service

Asked what he'd build from scratch, Brian would pick a low-cost, low-barrier, highly fragmented home service like window washing, irrigation, landscaping, or carpet cleaning, then borrow equipment and go door to door.

“I would pick something with low-cost low barrier to entry, a highly fragmented business like window washing. If I couldn't do any of these brands, I'd find something different, you know. Is it in home irrigation or landscaping or lawn care or carpet cleaning? Who knows? But I would find something where I could buy or even borrow some equipment, and I'd get out there and I'd start going door to door and selling myself.”

Steal thisPick a boring, fragmented home service, borrow cheap equipment, and sell yourself door to door to bootstrap.

A brand is the story it tells

Brian Scudamore's core branding principle: whether Starbucks, Airbnb, or 1-800-GOT-JUNK, a brand is the story it tells and the hard part is living up to it.

“I think I realized early on in building a business that a brand is the is the story that it tells. Now, as a brand, whether you're Starbucks or Airbnb or 1-800-GOT-JUNK, you have to live up to the story.”

Steal thisDefine the story your brand tells, then build operations that live up to it.

The $753 truck that started a $500M company

Scudamore's origin: at a McDonald's drive-through he saw a beat-up truck full of junk labeled 'Mark's Hauling' and bought his own truck for $753 to pay for college, with no vision of what it would become.

“And for $700, it was actually $753 to be precise. I bought that truck, saw a classified ad, went out and checked it out and off I went to build a business.”

Rebranding to 1-800-GOT-JUNK cut revenue in half for a year

When Scudamore switched from 738-JUNK / The Rubbish Boys to 1-800-GOT-JUNK, customers got confused - even friends warned him about a 'competitor' that looked just like him - and local revenue shrank to half within a year before paying off.

“I saw the revenue in my market shrink to half within a year because as we switched over to 1-800-GOT-JUNK, I'd even have friends and family say to me, even though the trucks look the same, it was just a different phone number, "Oh, there's this competitor out there. You gotta watch them. They look just like you. They're called 1-800-GOT-JUNK."”

Steal thisExpect short-term pain on a rebrand; commit if the long-term brand is worth it.

8 years to first $1M; now $1M on any given day

Scudamore's flywheel illustration: it took 8 years to reach $1 million in revenue, but the company now does $1 million on any single day, like dieting where results only show after 12 weeks.

“While it took 8 years to get to $1 million, we do $1 million on any given day, like today. So it took 30 years to ramp up to that point, but you just build this flywheel momentum by sticking with something.”

The 'Can You Imagine' wall that landed 1-800-GOT-JUNK on Oprah

Scudamore put a 'Can You Imagine' vinyl wall in the office; a PR hire named Tyler wrote 'get on Oprah,' wore a blue wig to pitch, and 14 months later Harpo Studios called for a hoarder segment - the phones lit up after it aired.

“So he made it his mission to get on the phone and send emails and do all those sorts of things to pitch Harpo Studios. And we tried every which way we could to get in touch until 14 months later.”

Steal thisMake audacious goals visible on a wall so the team can self-assign and chase them.

A marketing manager's vision board put the brand on 10M Starbucks cups

Marketing manager Andrea Baxter wrote a 'Can You Imagine' goal of getting on a Starbucks cup; she pitched their 'The way I see it' campaign and landed Scudamore's quote - 'You are what you can't let go of' - on 10 million cups for free.

“The 1-800-GOT-JUNK brand ended up on 10 million cups with Starbucks for free because Andrea Baxter had the freedom to conceive something unusual and big that she wanted to make happen and she did. The quote was, "You are what you can't let go of."”

He fired all 11 employees and rebuilt from one truck

At 24, with 5 trucks and $500K revenue, Scudamore felt 9 of his 11 employees were the wrong people; he apologized to the whole team, let everyone go, and rebuilt alone, learning to be 'slow to hire, quick to fire' and hire on attitude and cultural fit.

“I had 11 employees and they say one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. I had 9 bad apples and I just didn't know what to do.”

Steal thisHire slow and fire quick; never compromise on the quality of people you bring in.

The ex-Starbucks president hire that nearly sank the company

Scudamore landed an ex-president of Starbucks US as COO and thought he'd won the lottery, but skipped his own 'beer and barbecue' fit test; one wrong person at the top of a $100M+ company proved as devastating as a bad 11-person team.

“But you grow a business that's well over $100 million and you've got one person that isn't quite the right fit and they're at the top, that can have the same devastating effects.”

Steal thisApply your culture-fit test hardest to senior hires - a bad fit at the top is the most dangerous.

Down $40M in revenue in one year from a misaligned president

Scudamore and his hired president nearly bankrupted 1-800-GOT-JUNK, losing $40 million in revenue in a single year; the 2007-08 financial crisis hurt, but the real cause was the two leaders not being aligned on vision.

“together this president and I had almost bankrupted 1-800-GOT-JUNK. We were down $40 million in revenue in one year. The financial meltdown of 2007 and '08 didn't help, but that wasn't the real reason.”

Describe the exact person you need and the network delivers them

Scudamore wrote a few-paragraph 'painted picture' describing his ideal leader, posted it to LinkedIn, and three unrelated people independently replied with the same name - Eric Church - who became his 'two-in-the-box' partner; revenue then quadrupled.

“I was so clear that I had 3 people unrelated in different parts of the country reach out and said, the person you describe is Eric Church. They didn't refer 5 names. Names of execs that they thought would fit the bill. These people said, you're describing Eric Church.”

Steal thisWrite a vivid description of the exact hire you want and broadcast it - specificity acts as a magnet for the right referral.

Turned down $75-100M from Waste Management; 'wouldn't sell for a billion'

On a fishing trip, two senior Waste Management executives offered Scudamore $75-100 million for his business; he told them he wouldn't sell it for a billion because money was never the motivator - building something special was.

“and they offered, you know, $75 to $100 million is what they were talking to buy my little business. And I said, you know, I wouldn't sell it for a billion. The money wasn't ever a motivator.”

If starting over: a low-barrier, fragmented home-service business

If he had to start from scratch at 21 with no money, Scudamore would pick a low-cost, low-barrier, highly fragmented home service - window washing, irrigation, landscaping, lawn care, carpet cleaning - borrow equipment, and sell door to door.

“I would pick something with low cost, low barrier to entry, a highly fragmented business like window washing. If I couldn't do any of these brands, I'd find something different. You know, is it in home irrigation or landscaping or lawn care or carpet cleaning?”

Steal thisTarget a low-cost, highly fragmented home-service niche; borrow equipment and go door-to-door to start.