Video · 2026-08-19 · 56m · 5 moments

Asking 3 millionaires how they make $1.8M, $5M, & $12M/year

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Definition◆

Companies that produce a lot of trash can reduce their monthly waste costs by half by having a mobile service compact their dumpsters with a hydraulic crane, splitting the resulting savings with the client.

Smash My Trash is a franchise where a truck with a hydraulic crane compacts industrial dumpsters, reducing pickup frequency and splitting the cost savings with the client.

transcript

Kevin: Yeah. So, the basic concept is companies that produce a lot of trash, industrial businesses, warehouses, factories, things like that, throw away a lot of stuff in these open top dumpsters that are these rectangles that hold like 40 cubic yards of stuff. The pricing model is that every time you fill it up and you need a new one, you have to get it replaced. And that can cost like $1,000. Yeah. I used to like get on top of ours and like jump up and down. That's it. Imagine if a giant thing came and smashed the trash down. I thought I was going to like hire someone to come and jump out the trash for me. That was it. No. So, we have these trucks that back up to the dumpster. Like you said, Sean, there's a crane on the back with this spinning spike yarn that goes in, pushes the trash down. The deal is basically, let's say you get 10 pickups a month, 1,000 bucks. That's $10,000 a month you're spending on trash. We'll get you down to just round numbers, five, and we'll split the savings with you.

Mechanism◆

The most effective way to cold-sell a B2B industrial service is to use a deceptive prop like a red hard hat to bypass the front office and access the operational decision-maker at the back of the facility.

Kevin used a red hard hat and clipboard to walk into the back of industrial facilities, gather intelligence from workers, and use that information to close deals with the actual decision-maker.

transcript

Kevin: So, I built this up over time. I learned you don't want to go to the office because the office they're going to, you know, they're going to tell you no. So, what I would do is I had a red hard hat that I would put on, get the clipboard going, right? [laughter] walk into the back and try to find the person who's physically loading the dumpster. You got the red hard hat on. Start asking questions. Most of the time they would just work. He's like, "Dude, there's no construction around here." You're the trash contractor for the company, right? They're just not sure. They're just like, "This guy's asking me like, "How many pickups do you get? Who's in charge of it?" I start to kind of size the account, get some info, and then I would go to the front armed with info, and then I would, you know, work my way to the decision maker.

Claim

A franchise only makes sense if it provides a genuine secret sauce or defensible power, is well-suited for a multi-unit consolidation rollup, or serves as necessary training wheels for an entrepreneur who would not otherwise take the leap.

Kevin believes doing a franchise makes sense in only three scenarios: the franchisor has a true secret sauce, the model is designed for rollups, or the franchisee needs the training wheels to get started.

transcript

Kevin: I think there's three situations where doing a franchise makes sense I think the first one is if the franchiseor actually has some secret sauce and like the nerdy way that I think about it is if you listen to like the acquired podcast they do the seven powers if the franchiseor gives you a seven one of the seven powers. It could be worth it. So that's brand with like the Midas touch or it's like cornered resource like the Chick-fil-A recipe you can only get at Chick-fil-A. That's worth it. Those are rare and in high demand. The second one is if you are going into it to do like a rollup. Franchises are friendly for roll-ups, I think, because you just have carbon copies of each other. Like the systems are like the integration is the hard part of a lot of roll-ups. The integration of a franchise is just like the people stuff. It's pretty straightforward to roll up and it's like a walled garden. Like if you're in the system and you have the appetite and the capital to do a rollup, you can do it in a lot of cases and a lot of franchises are ripe for consolidation because they're incentivized to sell a lot of units because they make franchise fees on each unit. And then what that means is in a couple years it's just like begging for consolidation. And the third reason is basically my reason which like if you're literally not going to do anything else. You're not going to do something unless you feel like you have the training wheels of a franchise. That's what it took for me to do it.

Fact

Hardware consumer products have become one of the least risky entrepreneurial ventures because founders can leverage 3D printing, online engineering tutorials, AI tools, and affordable contract manufacturers to build complex products for less than $3,000.

Noom asserts that manufacturing hardware is now accessible and low-risk because 3D printing, online tutorials, AI, and direct access to contract manufacturers allow founders to build complex electronics for a few thousand dollars.

transcript

Noom: Did you say you 3D printed this? Yeah. So the way I started the business is cuz like dude listen hardware used to be I think one of the most risky things you can get into making like a hardware device. Like you'll look at Shark Tank like people are like yeah I spent like a h 100red grand making this and it's like that was a big mistake. How much did you spend to make the first handful? I spent less than $3,000. And the idea was like there are like three things that like aligned in this age we're living in that makes it probably now one of the least risky things that you can do making like a hardware consumer product. First having all the access to like information like engineering at this point is like low-key kind of easy like okay don't clip that but with chatebt with YouTube like I didn't know how to make electronics. I didn't know how to make a PCB.

Mechanism

Founders must consult with brokers or bankers one to two years before a planned exit to identify the specific metrics that make a business attractive to buyers, then spend those years optimizing the company for that valuation.

The hosts advise Noom that if he wants to sell in a few years, he should speak with brokers and study comparable exits now to understand the exact metrics he needs to hit over the next 24 months to maximize his exit multiple.

transcript

Host: A lot of times people only do that when they're ready to sell when you should have done it three years earlier and you find out you're like, I have a number in my mind. Just tell me what I need to achieve to make that number possible and I'm just going to go do that for two years. Tell me three companies you looked at that are like this. What did they sell for? why did they get that model they got? When did they do it? And you're like, "Okay, it could be like this revenue, this cash flow, and you know, these are the the five or six other metrics. I'll just do that for 3 years and and then I'll look up and be like, okay." Yeah. No, I would. So, I would talk to Quietite. They're more of a online brokerage, but they're easy to talk to... But I would not delay this. What Sam said is absolutely right. You don't talk to them when you're it's time to sell. You first talk to them a year or two before to actually understand what you need to do in the next 24 months to be a sellable business in the end.

provides context · 1

Highlight slides

Smash My Trash: Cut Dumpster Costs in Half✦ from: Companies that produce a lot of trash can reduce their monthly waste costs by half by having a mobile service compact their dumpsters with a hydraulic crane, splitting the resulting savings with the client.The Savings Math✦ from: Companies that produce a lot of trash can reduce their monthly waste costs by half by having a mobile service compact their dumpsters with a hydraulic crane, splitting the resulting savings with the client.The Red Hard Hat Technique✦ from: The most effective way to cold-sell a B2B industrial service is to use a deceptive prop like a red hard hat to bypass the front office and access the operational decision-maker at the back of the facility.Intelligence Gathering at the Back✦ from: The most effective way to cold-sell a B2B industrial service is to use a deceptive prop like a red hard hat to bypass the front office and access the operational decision-maker at the back of the facility.Armed With Data, Close at the Front✦ from: The most effective way to cold-sell a B2B industrial service is to use a deceptive prop like a red hard hat to bypass the front office and access the operational decision-maker at the back of the facility.

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Video · a16z Podcast

Companies that produce a lot of trash can reduce their monthly waste costs by half by having a mobile service compact their dumpsters with a hydraulic crane, splitting the resulting savings with the client.

The most effective way to cold-sell a B2B industrial service is to use a deceptive prop like a red hard hat to bypass the front office and access the operational decision-maker at the back of the facility.

A franchise only makes sense if it provides a genuine secret sauce or defensible power, is well-suited for a multi-unit consolidation rollup, or serves as necessary training wheels for an entrepreneur who would not otherwise take the leap.

Hardware consumer products have become one of the least risky entrepreneurial ventures because founders can leverage 3D printing, online engineering tutorials, AI tools, and affordable contract manufacturers to build complex products for less than $3,000.

Founders must consult with brokers or bankers one to two years before a planned exit to identify the specific metrics that make a business attractive to buyers, then spend those years optimizing the company for that valuation.

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