向三位年轻百万富翁请教：他们如何分别实现年收入180万美元、500万美元和1200万美元

我们有一个很流畅的数据收集流程，他们可以用语音来生成报告。

And we've got a pretty slick data collection process where they can use their voice to produce their report.

我们有人工智能在读取他们做的每件事、说的每句话。

We've got AI reading everything that they do, everything that they say.

然后，在流程结束时，当他们提交报告，我们会标记出那些最适合作为训练材料的报告。

And then at the end of the process, when they submit their report, we will flag the reports that are the best training material.

当你晚上躺在床上想，如果我们能做到这个、这个和这个，也许五年后我们能卖掉，或者我每年能有这么多收入，或者不管那个数字是什么，那个虚荣的东西，对你来说，那是什么？

When you're laying in bed at night and you're thinking, if we can do this, this, and this, maybe in five years we could sell, or maybe I can have this much annual income, or, like, whatever that number, that that vanity thing is, for you, what is that?

天哪，我觉得对我来说是财务上的改变。

Man, I think for me Financial change.

这是第三次了，我觉得我做这个是因为我选择了它。

Third time around, and I feel like I'm doing this because I chose this.

我想做这个。

I wanted to be doing this.

所以这有点像，我们能构建哪些以前从未可能实现的酷炫功能？

So it's kind of about, like, what are all the cool capabilities that we could build that have never been possible before?

好的，没问题。

Well, okay.

不过你得说具体点，当你想到这些的时候，你心里想的是什么？

And be specific though, when you're, like, when you're thinking about this, you're like, what what is that?

就是，什么真正让你兴奋？

Like, what really gets you going?

我觉得是给这些技工创造真正的好工作，帮助普通人取得非常非常出色的成绩。

I think making, like, really great jobs for these tradesmen, helping them like, ordinary people achieve, like, really, really extraordinary performance.

对。

Yeah.

我就是特别兴奋，因为我们能做到的事情，以及我们如何能赋能那些从未在一家真正关心流程的公司工作过的人。

I'm just, like, super excited about what we're gonna be able to do and, like, how we're gonna be able to empower people who have never really worked for a company that gave a crap that much about the process.

有一家很酷的公司，我忘了名字，他们在《华尔街日报》《纽约时报》或者其他大型全国性报纸上登了广告。

There was this really cool company, I forget the name, but they took out an ad in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, or some huge national publication.

他们利用了这个想法，就像你知道的，你爷爷带我逛城市，他说，你看到那栋楼了吗？

And they played off this idea of, like, you know how, like, your grandfather walked me around the city, and he's like, you see that building?

那是我做的。

I made that.

你懂的吧？

You know?

他只是建筑队里的一员。

And he was just part of the construction crew.

对，就是这样。

Or, like Yeah.

你看。

You know, look.

大概五十年前，我们装了这个东西，因为大家心里都有一种自豪感。

About fifty years ago, we installed this thing because and there's, like, this pride.

他们打的那则广告也是想招人，问题是，你真的好意思跟孩子吹牛说，你只是把B2B软件稍微改进了一点点吗？

And the ad that they put out because they were trying to recruit people do you really wanna brag to your kids that you made b to b software just a little bit better?

你知道的，类似这种小事。

You know, something like that.

对。

Yeah.

而且我在想，是不是可以找到一些很酷的、以使命为导向的角度来做这个招聘。

And like, I wonder if there's like some cool, like, mission driven, like, angles that you could take to this, like, recruiting.

因为当你说，我热衷于给普通人一个机会去做一些有趣的事情。

Because when you talk about, like, I'm passionate about giving, like, everyday guys, like, a chance to, like, do something interesting.

不。

No.

这是个有趣的想法。

It's an interesting idea.

而且我觉得肯定有一种自豪感，比如，哦，我们做的是……你知道，这也挺有意思的，因为我们做了很多高端房产的项目。

And I think there's definitely a point of pride over, oh, we work on you know, it's kind of fun too because we work on a lot of high end properties.

所以这就像是《富贵人家》那种类型的，我们就是做那些房产的。

So this is, you know, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous type of stuff where we work on those properties.

我们把那些发电机装进去。

We put those generators in

还有那些关键医院之类的。

And the mission critical hospitals, whatnot.

对。

Yeah.

还有那些。

And that.

对，这是很重要的职责。

Right, there's such an an important duty.

话说我今年执教高中篮球队，我们的明星球员，打大前锋的那个，他要毕业了。

Seems like like I coached high school basketball this year, and our star player, the power forward, he's graduating.

我们就问，你想不想去大学打球？

We're like, do you wanna go play in college?

我们可以帮你安排见一些球探。

We can get you in front of some scouts.

结果他说，他要去读职业技术学校。

And he's like, I'm going to trade school.

他说，我

He's like, I'm

不会去，技校又没有

not gonna the trade school doesn't have

篮球队。

a basketball team.

他想去工作，你知道的，他想成为，比如，一名电工，但他想干的，像是，疯狂的事情，比如挂在直升机外面，在某个疯狂的地方做维修。

He wanted to go work for you know, he wanna become, like, an electrician, but he but, like, feel like, crazy stuff, like hanging out of a helicopter, doing some repair and some crazy site.

这让我意识到，你知道，可能有很多人，他们有天赋，无论是退伍军人，还是前运动员，他们有点喜欢做某些类型的工作，报酬很好，而且不用去上四年大学。

And it made me realize, you know, there's probably a lot of people who are, have the talent, you know, whether it's veterans, whether it's ex athletes, they kinda like the idea of doing certain types of work, getting paid really well for it, not having to go to a four year university.

我想知道你怎么能更快地发掘更多这样的人，或者他们今天去哪里，你可以利用那个渠道。

And I wonder how you can surface more of them faster or where they're going today that you can tap into that flow.

我觉得技工行业的污名已经消失了。

I think the stigma of the trades is gone.

我觉得那已经成为过去了。

I think that is behind us.

就像我们小时候被灌输的那些观念，比如你必须上大学，还得是所好大学，等等等等。

Like, the things that we were told when we were, you know, coming up, like, you know, you gotta go to college, better make sure it's a good one, yada yada.

我觉得这种观念还有残留，但我觉得对技工行业的偏见已经过去了。

I think that there's some of that still there, but like I think the stigma of going into the trades is behind us.

现在正是技工手艺大放异彩的机会。

And now it's like, this is the opportunity for the tradesmen's craft to shine.

对。

Right.

我们正在努力给他们提供工具，让他们真正能做到，并且能成长得更快，学得更快。

And we're trying to give them the tools so that they really can, and so that they can grow faster, learn faster.

但还没有人围绕技工学校建立起一个强大的品牌。

Well, nobody's built a great brand around the trade school.

对吧？

Right?

确实没有。

Like No.

那哈佛呢？

Is there a what's Harvard?

斯坦福在这方面怎么样？

What's Stanford for for that?

对吧？

Right?

就是那种能让你引以为傲的学校，让你觉得能像海军海豹突击队那样毕业，然后去干一番惊天动地的大事业。

Like where could you be proud that you got into, that you're going, that you're coming out like a Navy Seal who's gonna be able to do all these amazing things?

对我来说，这比你们现在做的业务机会更大，因为

That to me is a even bigger opportunity than what you're currently doing because

那差不多是十五万美元的规模。

that's like a $150,000.

是的。

Yeah.

它适用于各种行业。

It serves all kinds of industries, you know.

而且有些是非常小众的，你懂的，它们跟特定的行业绑定。

And there are some, they're really niche, you know, and they're they're with that specific trade.

对。

Yeah.

所以没有一个大的、人人都知道的。

And so it's there's not like a big one that everybody would know.

哦，那是认可的标志，但总体上没有一个技工行业的哈佛，我确实认为那是个绝佳的机会，对。

Oh, that's the stamp of approval, but there's not a Harvard of the trades in general, which I do think there's like an excellent opportunity Yeah.

而且我很乐意去做这件事。

And I would love to work on that.

我觉得我现在就在朝那个方向努力，我需要深入理解它，并且已经为宇宙的四分之一解决了问题，这样我们才能考虑，好吧，下一步怎么提升这个？

I feel like right now I'm working toward that, and I need to understand it at a level of depth and have solved it for one quarter of the universe so that we could think about, okay, what what would how would you next level this thing?

你非常有活力，而且这种能量很有感染力。

You have very kinetic and contagious energy.

我有种感觉，未来四五年，你会比现在进步很多。

I I have a feeling that in the next four or five years, you're gonna be significantly further along than where you are now.

这很明显。

It's very evident.

选了一个很棒的地方，太酷了。

Picked an amazing space, and it's so cool.

你知道，我们之前那个嘉宾是做加盟的，而你是在做通过搜索和收购来创业。

You know, we had a guy the last guy was like a franchise guy, and you're you'd you're doing entrepreneurship through search and acquisition.

我就是喜欢各种不同的风格。

I just love all the different styles.

所以很感谢你能来，兄弟。

So I appreciate you coming on, man.

对。

Yeah.

谢谢你们邀请我。

Thanks for having me.

好的。

Alright.

我们很感激你。

We appreciate you.

谢谢。

Thank you.

嘿。

Hey.

我们快速休息一下。

Let's take a quick break.

你有没有过这种感觉：策略定好了，简报写好了，大家也都对齐了，然后你发现还是得有人坐下来，真正把那些内容都做出来？

You know that feeling when strategy is done, the brief is written, everyone's aligned, and you realize someone still has to sit down and actually create all the content?

那个人通常就是你，而且明天就要交。

That someone is usually you, and it's due tomorrow.

那么，HubSpot的Breeze助手可以帮上忙。

Well, the Breeze assistant from HubSpot can help.

它直接在HubSpot里面就能用。

It works right inside HubSpot.

你可以起草活动文案、博客文章、邮件，全部用你的品牌语气，全部用你真实的客户数据。

You can draft campaign copy, blog posts, emails, all in your brand voice, all using your actual customer data.

所以你不仅是在创作内容，而是在创作能转化的内容。

So you don't create just content, you create content that converts.

去 hubspot.com 看看吧，这是为成长型企业打造的智能客户平台。

Check out hubspot.com, the agentic customer platform for growing businesses.

我们还有一位嘉宾。

We have someone else.

欢迎。

Welcome.

最近怎么样？

How's it going?

很好。

Good.

坐姿很端正。

Excellent posture.

是的。

Yeah.

哦，对。

Oh, yeah.

对。

I Yeah.

你夸我姿势好。

You scream good posture.

收到。

On it.

看看这家伙。

Look at this guy.

天哪。

Jeez.

我得提升一下水平了。

Up my game.

这里稍微有点。

Little bit here.

对。

Yeah.

谢谢。

Thank you.

对。

Yeah.

好的。

Alright.

你叫什么名字？

What's your name?

大家好，最近怎么样？

What's up, guys?

我是凯文。

I'm Kevin.

凯文。

Kevin.

对。

Yeah.

欢迎。

Welcome.

谢谢。

Thank you.

欢迎来到《大胆一试》。

Welcome to shoot your shot.

先给我们一个大的数字吧。

Hit us with the big number to start.

所以大是相对的。

So big's relative.

我的数字是180万。

My number is 1,800,000.

我觉得我这个情况有点特别，因为我大概两三个星期前刚把我的公司卖了。

My I think I'm a little unique with this setup because I actually just sold my business about two, three weeks ago.

不错。

Nice.

恭喜。

Congrats.

我卖了。

I sold it for.

起步公司，先报个价。

Starter business on the board.

等等。

Wait.

所以

So

你刚刚以180万退出了？

you are You just exited at 1.8?

刚以180万退出。

Just exited at 1.8.

是的。

Yeah.

那是成交价。

Was on sale price.

你

Did you

卖了180万美元？

sell for $1,800,000?

那是一家特许经营企业，叫Smash My Trash。

It was a franchise business called Smash My Trash.

Smash My Trash。

Smash My Trash.

我听说过

I've heard

听说过这个。

of this.

你听说过这个吗？没有。

Have you heard this No.

Smash My Trash是什么？

What is Smash My Trash?

解释一下。

Explain

基本概念是这样的：很多产生大量垃圾的公司，比如工业企业、仓库、工厂之类的，会把很多垃圾扔进那种敞口的垃圾箱里，就是那种长方形的，能装大约40立方码的东西。

it So to 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.

定价模式是，每次你把它装满，需要换一个新的，就得花钱换，这可能要花一千美元。

The pricing model is that every time you fill it up and you need a new one, have you to get it replaced and that can cost like a thousand dollars.

对。

Yeah.

以前我们喜欢爬到我们的垃圾箱上面，然后跳上跳下的。

Used to like get on top of ours and like jump up and down.

就是这样。

That's it.

想象一下。

Imagine.

想象一下。

Imagine.

有个巨大的东西过来把垃圾压扁了。

Giant thing came and smashed the trash down.

我本来还想雇个人来帮我跳上去踩垃圾呢。

I thought I was gonna like hire a subboy to come and jump on the trash for me.

就是这样。

That was it.

不。

No.

所以我们有这些卡车，倒车靠近垃圾箱。

So we have these trucks that back up to the dumpster.

就像你说的，Shaan，后面有个吊车，上面有个旋转的尖刺，伸进去把垃圾往下压。

Like you said, Shaan, there's a crane on the back with this spinning spike yarn that goes in, pushes the trash down.

基本上是这样的，比如说你一个月收十次垃圾，一千块钱。

The deal is basically, let's say you get 10 pickups a month, a thousand bucks.

那你一个月在垃圾上就要花一万块。

That's $10,000 a month you're spending on trash.

我们可以帮你降到大概五次，然后省下来的钱我们跟你平分。

We'll get you down to just round numbers five, and we'll split the savings with you.

等等。

Wait.

所以大公司一个月在垃圾上要花一万块？

So one a large company will spend $10 a month in trash?

对。

Yeah.

或者更多。

Or more.

谁？

Who?

比如仓库那种？

Like a warehouse?

大型工厂、生产设施，像加州的农业区，我在那边做了很多工作。

Big factories, production facilities in like agricultural California is where I was doing a lot of work.

有些公司，你直接去停车场看看。

Companies that are like, you just go to the parking lot.

后面有个大垃圾箱。

There's a huge dumpster back there.

那就是机会所在。

That's that was the opportunity.

这就是机会。

That's the opportunity.

就是把垃圾压紧，这样每次清运的次数就少了，因为你是按次付费的。

Is to smash the trash down so you have to do less pickups per per thing because you're paying per pickup.

就是这样。

That's it.

那这种垃圾压缩车已经存在了吗？

And do smash smashing trucks exist already?

当时是个新概念。

Was a new concept.

所以这是个加盟项目。

So it's a franchise.

这个人想出了这个点子，发展得很快，然后决定做加盟。

This guy came up with the idea, started growing fast, decided to franchise it.

所以这种车当时其实并不存在。

So these didn't really exist.

欧洲有，但它们是装在建筑物侧面的那种。

They exist in Europe, but they're, like, mounted to the side of the building.

所以那些公司会把垃圾箱倒着开过去。

So those companies would back the dumpster up.

所以他们的想法就是把这些东西装到卡车上，让它们到处跑，做成一种移动服务。

So the insight was throw these things on a truck, have them drive around, and do it as, like, a mobile service.

你买了一个加盟店，现在又把加盟店卖了。

You bought a franchise and then now sold your franchise.

对。

Correct.

一个地点？

One location?

多少个？

How many?

五个地点。

Five locations.

五个地点。

Five locations.

加盟费是多少？

How much did it cost to buy in?

我是分批买的。

I bought it in chunks.

所以我的投入大概是18.5万。

So my think my buy in was like a 185 k.

一次性付清？

Upfront?

一次性付清。

Upfront.

那你之前怎么有那么多钱？

And then I How did you have money before?

我在科技行业工作。

I worked in tech.

我以前是做SaaS的，有W-2工资。

I was like somebody who worked in SaaS and had like the w two

销售还是做什么的？

sales or what were you doing?

对。

Yeah.

主要是销售和产品这类工作。

It was in like sales and product and stuff like that.

就是那种典型的湾区拿W2的工作。

Like the kind of classic Bay Area w two thing.

这太有意思了。

So this is so interesting.

所以你就坐在办公室里。

So you're just sitting there at the office.

有一份好工作。

You got a good job.

你在科技行业工作，却想着要出去跟垃圾打交道。

You're working in tech, and yet you're like, I need to get out there amongst the trash.

是什么样的一系列事件让你辞掉这份安稳的工作，去买下Smash My Trash的加盟权？

What was the what was the chain of events that led you to, like, quit this safe thing and go buy into Smash My Trash franchise?

对。

Yeah.

有几件事。

There's a couple of things.

就是那种越来越不满的感觉。

So it's like a growing sense of dissatisfaction.

我，嗯，我有点开始意识到，我比较晚才明白我想为自己工作。

I, like, I kinda started to realize late in life that I wanted to work for myself.

而且我当时也在那种创业圈里，就是追下一轮融资，最后要退出什么的。

And I was also, like, in this venture world where you're, like, going after, like, the next round of funding, this eventual exit.

但我没意识到，很多世界上的生意，像那种现金流好的蓝领生意，是怎么运作的。

And didn't I was blind to the way that a lot of the world worked in terms of cash flowing blue collar businesses.

我慢慢开始对那个感兴趣了。

And I started to get bit by that bug a little bit.

我开始听到一些相关的东西，然后就感兴趣了。

I started hearing stuff about that and I got interested.

然后真正让我改变的是我结婚去度蜜月的时候。

And then it was really when I got married and went on my honeymoon.

我当时拖到最后一刻才订蜜月行程。

And I waited till like the last minute to book our honeymoon.

所以我们住的地方比我们原本会选的更高级，可能不太该去那种地方。

So we stayed at places that like we probably shouldn't have gone to that were nicer than we otherwise would have.

在泳池边开始跟人聊天，然后我就想，

Started talking about started talking to people there at the pool and stuff and been like

不会吧。

No way.

这些人说那些家伙很垃圾。

These people call the guys are trash

对。

Yeah.

有人靠做那些不太常见的生意赚现金。

People make cash doing businesses that are off the beaten path.

你还记得吗，他们当时在说什么？

Do you remember like, what were they what were they saying?

他们是做什么的？

What did they do?

有一个人做房地产，另一个人做餐车，但他是认真做餐车生意的，开了好多家。

So one guy did like real estate, one guy did like a food truck, but like did like a food truck, like as a serious operation, like had many of them.

其实在我单身派对上，这个想法就已经埋下了种子。

I'd also had the seed planted on my bachelor party.

当时我和一个做私募的朋友在一起，他比我先入行，还先把我这个垃圾生意给做起来了。

I was there with my friend who was in private equity, and he actually got in and smashed my trash before me.

明白了。

Gotcha.

所以是他埋下的种子，而且他是做私募的。

So he planted the seed, and he's a private equity guy.

那这180万里面，是不是占了你储蓄的一大块？

Of the of the one eighty, how much of was that a huge chunk of your savings?

我自己出了85万。

I did 85 myself.

有个朋友借了我70万。

A buddy gave me 70.

然后这些算是股权部分，我还办了一笔35万美元的SBA贷款。

And then so that was like the equity, and then I did a $350,000 SBA loan

但是，你当时资金也还比较充裕吧。

But but were you as well.

你是说，这个能行得通吗？

You like, this has work?

这必须得成功才行？

This has to work?

还是说这只是个稳妥的选项，比如我投一小笔钱试试。

Or was this like a safe, like, I'm putting a small amount in.

我是在做对冲，留条后路。

I'm I'm hedging.

感觉像是一个相当安全的副业赌注。

Felt like a pretty safe side bet.

我本来可以投入更多，但那样会让我觉得不舒服。

I had more than that that I would have been able to, but it felt uncomfortable.

好的。

Okay.

所以你就决定进去了。

So you you decide to go in.

你买了一个。

You buy one.

然后发生了什么？

What happens?

其实我一开始就买了三个。

So I actually bought three out of the gate.

好的。

Okay.

我一口气买了三个区域。

I bought I bought three territories out of the gate.

在特许经营领域，很多时候人们选的是餐厅，很明显就是一个单店。

Now territories in franchise world, like, lot of times people picked up restaurants where, like, it's clearly a unit.

但这是区域性的。

This is area.

所以，其实就是一个生意。

So I mean, it's really one business.

这些区域划分有点随意。

The areas are a little arbitrary.

这是多少年前的事了？

How many years ago was this?

这是在

This is in

2022年，我开始做的。

2022, I got started.

好的。

Okay.

所以是四年前。

So four years.

四年前。

Four years ago.

开始的。

Got started.

我之所以进入这个行业，部分原因是我想要找到一种能直接看到付出和回报之间联系的事情，就是那种努力了就能看到钱进账的感觉。

And part of the reason I got into it was I was interested in something where I could draw a direct line between, like, brute force effort and cash in the bank.

我觉得在科技行业，我离那种直接的联系太远了，就像隔了很多层。

I felt like in tech world, I was so many layers abstracted away from like That's

就像那种经典的

like a classic warm

自助餐指标。

buffet metric.

对吧？

Right?

靠蛮力直接换钱。

Brute force to cash on the bank.

是的。

Yeah.

没错。

Exactly.

那你是什么意思？

So what what do you mean?

你的意思是，比如我打的电话越多，赚的钱就越多。

You just meant like, if more people I call, the more money I'm gonna make.

对。

Right.

就像，我有一个稳赚不赔的提议。

Like, I had this no brainer offer.

我认识一些人，他们肯定用得上这个，而且百分之百能赚钱。

I had these people who definitely could use this and 100% could make money.

我只需要让他们相信我。

And all I needed to do was go get them to believe me.

然后我就能开始赚钱了。

And I could just start making cash.

这又不是那种承诺未来结果的空头支票。

And it wasn't like this promise of some future outcome.

我觉得这真的很让人有动力。

And I found that really motivating.

好的。

Okay.

所以我花钱请了海外的人，在谷歌卫星视图上放大，在每个垃圾箱上放标记。

So I paid somebody overseas to like zoom in on Google satellite view and put pins on every dumpster.

这就是我的计划。

And like that was my plan.

我会从核桃溪一路开到圣何塞再到萨利纳斯，单程一个半小时到两个小时，每天如此，而且就是去闯进去。

And I would drive from Walnut Creek down to San Jose to Salinas like hour and a half, two hours each way every day and just like trespass.

进到仓库里，试着跟负责垃圾桶的人谈谈。

Go into warehouses, try to talk to like the person there who's in charge of the dumpster.

对。

Right.

就是靠意志力把它变成现实，开始开车超出自己的地盘。

And just kinda willed it into existence, started driving beyond the confines of

我的地盘。

my territory.

你去，你开车。

You go, you drive.

好。

Okay.

承包商给你一个密码。

Contractor gives you a PIN.

你开车到那个密码锁的位置。

You drive to the PIN.

你到了那里。

You get there.

没人邀请你。

You weren't invited.

咚咚咚。

Knock knock.

现在怎么办？

Now what?

所以连敲门都不用。

So not even knock knock.

直接开到后面垃圾桶那里。

Drive right around to the back where the dumpster is.

好的。

Okay.

所以我是慢慢摸索出来的。

My so I built this up over time.

我学到了教训。

I learned.

对。

Yeah.

你不想去那儿，因为办公室那边肯定会拒绝你的。

You don't wanna go to because the office they're gonna, you know, they're gonna tell you no.

所以我通常会戴上一顶红色的安全帽，拿着写字板，走到后面去，尽量找到正在往垃圾车里装东西的人。

So what I would do is I had a red hard hat that I would put on, get the clipboard going, walk into the back and try to find the person who's physically loading the dumpster.

你戴着那顶红色安全帽，就开始问问题。

You got the red hard hat on, start asking questions.

大多数时候他们都会

Most of the time they would

直接告诉我

just tell me

如果你能干活的话，兄弟，这附近根本没有施工的地方。

if you can work Dude, there's no construction around here.

你是这家公司的垃圾清运承包商。

You're the trash contractor for the company.

对，他们就是不确定。

Right, they're just not sure.

他们就会想，这家伙问我收几次垃圾？

They're just like, this guy's asking me like, how many pickups do you get?

谁负责这个？

Who's in charge of it?

我开始估算这个客户的规模，收集一些信息，然后带着这些信息去前台，再想办法找到决策者。

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.

你多久才赚到第一笔钱？

How many months until your first dollar?

马上就赚到了。

Right away.

马上就赚到了。

Right away.

而且第一笔

And the first

第一笔销售让你有多兴奋？

How thrilling was that first sale?

哦，那感觉太棒了。

Oh, it was great.

哦，太棒了。

Oh, it great.

我当时正和邻居们在一起，因为那些合同挺大的，我是说，对我来说，当时每月几千美元的经常性收入。

I was like out with our neighbors when they first cause these are like kind of chunky contracts, we're talking about like large, I mean, for me at the time, a couple thousand bucks a month of recurring revenue.

所以只要两三个、四个客户就能基本覆盖我的债务和司机费用。

So it only took two, three, four accounts to basically pay my debt service and my driver.

你一开始就有司机了？

You had a driver right off the bat?

我一上来就雇了个司机。

I hired a driver right off the bat.

对。

Yeah.

那Smash My Trash是给了你一套操作指南，还是你自己琢磨出来的，比如‘我要戴红安全帽’这种？

And did Smash My Trash give you this playbook or you were just like, I'm gonna red hard hat this?

还是他们跟你说，‘嘿，这就是为什么要这么做’？

Or they were like, hey, here's why you do it.

他们没跟我说红安全帽的事，但基本操作指南是给了的。

They didn't tell me about the red hard hat, but they gave you the basic playbook.

然后我在开业前，去拜访了几个其他加盟商，包括我提到的那个哥们，就问他们，‘你们是怎么做的？’

And then I, before I opened, went around to a couple other franchisees including my buddy I mentioned, and just was like, show How me do you guys do it?

什么方法有效？

What works?

这有点像，你有没有看过那些视频，我朋友Neville Madora，他是个印度人。

It's sort of like, have you ever seen those videos where someone's my friend Neville Madora, he's an Indian guy.

每年西南偏南音乐节的时候，他都会打扮成酋长的样子。

And during South by Southwest, every year, he dresses up like a sheik.

就是穿着那种白色的长袍。

Like, he wears, like, a white thing.

还有一件背心。

Has one vest.

再戴一顶帽子。

And a hat.

然后他就一副‘我懂了’的样子。

And then he's just like, I get it.

然后Instagram上还有那种视频，就是有人想装成DJ的样子，随便穿穿。

And then there's like these Instagram videos of guys who like they're like, I'm just gonna like look like a DJ, whatever that means.

对。

Right.

然后他们就混进夜店了。

And then they get into the club.

这就像是那个的翻版。

That that's like this version of that.

没错。

Exactly.

人们就是不爱问问题。

People just don't ask questions.

所以，这太棒了。

So you this is amazing.

好的。

Okay.

你说你现在把生意卖了。

So you said you sold the business now.

第一年，你还记得大概的盈亏情况吗？

Year one, do you remember kinda like what was the p and l?

比如，你第一年做生意赚了多少？

Like, what'd you what'd you make in first year of business?

这很难说。

It's hard to say.

因为第一年，我又买了两家加盟店。

I because in the first year, I bought the two additional franchises.

有一天我开车超出了我的区域范围，然后发现了那个垃圾金矿。

So one day I drove beyond the bounds of my territory and I found like the Trash Gold Mine.

我买下了那两家加盟店，又买了两辆卡车。

And I bought those two franchises and bought two more trucks.

所以所有的现金都又投进去了。

So all the cash went right back in.

这三个区域都成功吗？还是有一个很糟糕，但另一个很棒，弥补了

Were all three territories successful or one sucked, but another one was amazing and made up

它？

for it?

差不多就是这样。

That was kind of it.

有一个特别好的，一个还行的，一个中等的。

There was a great one, there's an okay one, there's a medium one.

然后我又加上了两个特别棒的。

And then I added on like these two amazing ones.

所以我得买两辆卡车，还得买两个新区域。

So I had to buy two trucks, had to buy two new territories.

所以所有的现金又都投进去了。

So all the cash went right back into that.

我觉得头两年我大概做了六十到八十万的营业额。

I think I probably did like 6 to 800 k of top line in those first two years.

哇。

Wow.

回头看，最头疼的是什么？

What was the biggest pain in the ass looking back?

卡车。

The trucks.

是操作员的问题吗？

The operators or

其实不是操作员的问题。

Not even the operators.

修车才是让我最头疼的事，我真的不想碰。

Fixing the trucks when there's issues was something I just don't want.

那车很大，还带着液压设备，后来我就干脆想开了，直接雇了个修车师傅。

It's a big truck with hydraulic equipment, And I eventually just kind of adopted the philosophy that, like, I had a mechanic.

他收我多少钱就多少钱，虽然可能收贵了。

He was gonna charge me what he charged me, and I he was probably overcharging me.

但只要车出了问题，我就多花钱让他修。

But when there was an issue, I would just overpay for it.

你当时也没太多选择，没法到处比价吧。

You didn't exactly have, like, a lot of, like, shopping around you could do for smashing

对。

Yeah.

我就是想赶紧把事情搞定。

I just wanted to get it done.

就像我们很多客户一样，他们每个月付给我们很多钱。

Like a lot of our accounts, they're paying us a lot of money every month.

如果我们不能及时服务他们，我愿意多花钱去解决这个问题，不想让它成为我们一直要操心的事。

And if we can't get to them, I just was willing to pay a lot to just solve that problem and have it not be something we deal with.

那你去年到底赚了多少，实际到手收入是多少？

So how much profit did how much take home income did you do your last year?

所以前两年和后两年完全是两个不同的阶段。

So it was kind of like the first two years and the last two years were very separate chapters.

前两年我每天都在那边，一分钱都不拿，把所有利润都再投资到新车和新区域上。

First two years, I was down there every single day, not taking anything out, reinvesting everything into new trucks and new territories.

后两年，基本上从2024年到2026年夏天，大概有45万的息税折旧摊销前利润，但其中15万要还贷款。

The last two years, basically 2024 to twenty twenty six summer, it was like maybe around like four fifty EBITDA, if you wanna call it that, but 150 ks that was debt service.

所以实际上我拿到手的差不多是30万。

So really my take home was like 300 ks.

那为什么要卖呢？

So why sell?

感觉像是个起步生意。

It felt like a starter business.

它一直是我的起步生意。

It was always kind of my starter business.

我进入这行是因为我以为这会是一条直路。

I got into it because I thought it would be like this direct line.

但它在很多方面都让我压力很大。

It just weighed heavily on me in a number of ways.

比如，这些贷款，我为另外两辆卡车贷了款。

Like one, these loans, and I got loans for the second two trucks.

所以这是第一笔35万美元的SBA贷款。

So this is that first 350 k SBA loan.

我为其他卡车又贷了款。

I got subsequent loans for the other trucks.

那是个人担保。

That's a personal guarantee.

我每天都惦记着这件事。

It's in my head every day.

很多人没意识到，加盟协议里也有个人担保，要求你每月按收入的一定比例支付特许权使用费。

A lot of people don't realize franchise agreements also have a personal guarantee where you owe them royalties every month as a percentage of revenue.

我觉得大多数人都知道加盟这回事，但还有最低特许权使用费，意思是你要么支付收入的一定百分比，要么按计划支付固定金额，哪个高就付哪个。

I think most people know that with franchises, but there's minimum royalties, which means you either pay some percent of your revenue or this fixed amount on a schedule, whichever is higher.

而且那是为期十年的协议，也包含个人担保。

And that's a ten year long agreement that also has a personal guarantee.

所以我总觉得我能应付，但这也让人有压力。

So I always felt like I could handle that, but that's like also weighs on you.

而且每天都有那些大卡车在外面跑，一年总有那么几次，我会接到电话说发生了什么不好的事。

And just like having these big trucks out every day where like a couple times a year, I'd get a call that was like something bad happened.

当那笔钱到账时，你感觉怎么样？

What did it feel like when the wire hit?

其实有点平淡。因为我已经和我的会计师商量过了。

It was kind of anticlimactic a little So I had already like I'd worked with my accountant.

我就说，好吧。

I'm like, alright.

告诉我，税后，扣除所有费用后，具体是多少。

Tell me, like, after tax, after everything, what the number is.

我已经在谷歌表格里看到过那个数字了。

I had, seen that number in a Google Sheet.

所以当它真的发生时，我非常高兴。

And then when it happened, I was very happy.

我和我妻子，碰巧第二天就计划去旅行。

My wife and I for like, we had a trip just coincidentally planned for to go somewhere the next day.

所以我们确实享受了一下。

So we did get to enjoy it.

但现在，又回到平常了。

But now it's just, back to baseline kind of.

对。

Right.

我感觉如释重负，不用再承担那种责任了，而且我现在手机也不在身上。

I feel the relief of not having like the responsibility and like, I don't have my phone on me right now.

我习惯了那种

I'm used to like

你这是在裸奔吗？

You're walking around your raw dogging?

你现在

You have

没带手机？

no phone right now?

没带。

No phone.

我的意思是，平时我会很焦虑。

What I'm saying is normally I would be Stressed.

甚至都焦虑了。

Even stressed out.

在背后。

In the background.

我回去的时候，手机上可能就像有炸弹爆炸一样，你知道，就是出了什么差错。

I could go back and there could be just like a bomb dropped on me on my phone where, you know, something went wrong.

谁买了？

Who bought it?

是别人想要更多的地盘，还是说，是谁，谁……

Was it just somebody else who wanted even more territories or it's like who who's

买家？

the buyer?

是邻近的加盟商。

Was the neighboring franchisees.

所以这是件好事，你知道，我对他们付的金额很满意。

So it's a great thing where, you know, I was happy with the amount they paid.

我觉得他们买得很划算，因为他们可以直接把它并入自己的业务里。

I think they're gonna they got a great deal on it for them because they're just gonna be able to fold it into their thing.

对。

Right.

很多特许经营的并购就是这样发生的。

It's how a lot of franchise M and A ends up happening.

我感觉你在打什么主意。

I have a feeling that you're plotting.

你一直在琢磨某件事。

You have something that you've been that you've been thinking about.

是什么？

What is that?

有哪些事情？

What are the list of things?

还有，你卖之前就知道那是什么吗，还是说有了空间和时间才想明白的？

Also, did you know what that was before you sold or the space gave you the time to figure it out?

所以头两年真的是拼了命地跑。

So the first two years were a dead sprint.

后两年，我就把它调成被动模式了。

The last two years, I got it in passive mode.

那时候有了两个孩子，所以没法天天去那边。

Had two kids, and so I wasn't able to go down there every day.

所以我做了很多事，让它真正变成被动收入。

So I did a lot of stuff to make it like truly passive.

那段时间我花了很多心思在琢磨下一步怎么走。

And I spent a lot of that time trying to figure out my next move.

具体是什么我就不多说了，但我确实在筹备一些东西。

I don't wanna say too much about what it is, but I do have something in the works.

你还考虑过哪些别的机会，但最后没去做？

What other opportunities did you consider doing that you did not?

我特别感兴趣的一个概念是，怎么把一笔投资回报率算得明明白白，让人一听就觉得稳赚不赔，唯一的障碍就是他们不信你，而证明给他们看的成本又很低，甚至免费。

So what I got really interested in was like this concept of how you could sell somebody a financial ROI no brainer, where the only objection is that they don't believe you, and it would be like cheap or free to prove it to them.

所以我当时就在看各种类似的东西。

And so I was looking at all kinds of stuff like that.

比如说，我觉得你可以帮别人审核水电费账单。

Like, I think you can like audit people's utility bills.

我觉得做电商网站的速度优化这个想法也挺有意思的。

I think the idea of doing like site speed optimization for e commerce is kind of interesting.

我当时觉得那是个挺有意思的玩法，而且如果你不是特别聪明，只想努力干活的话，这个路子还挺直接的。

That was like the insight that I thought was like a fun playbook to run that was like pretty straightforward if you're not that smart and you just wanna work hard.

我觉得你的做法里特别聪明的一点，也是很少有人做到的，就是在生意上，大多数人想的是产品。

What's really smart about your approach that I think very few people do is in business, what most people do is they think about the product.

他们就会说，哦，我喜欢那个产品，或者我了解那个产品，或者我喜欢这个行业。

They're like, oh, I love that product, or I know about that product, or I love this industry.

他们会想自己的大学专业或者类似这种没用的东西。

They think about their college major or stupid shit like that.

你是倒着来的，先想清楚自己每天想做什么样的销售流程。

You work backwards from like, what type of sale process do I wanna do every day?

因为那将占据我作为创业者生活的90%，就是不断去推销、拉生意。

Because that's gonna be like 90% of my existence as an entrepreneur is just going, trying to sell, get more business.

对。

Mhmm.

所以你就想，哪里可以靠蛮力，你知道，通过打电话或者多跑几个网站，把钱赚到银行账户里。

And so you were like, where's somewhere that I can just brute force, you know, get dollars in the bank by going and, you know, calling or showing up on more sites.

然后刚才你也说了，我想给出的推销方案是，你肯定会赚更多钱。

And then even just now, you're like, and the pitch I wanna be giving is a, you definitely are gonna make more money.

我只需要向你证明这一点。

All I gotta do is prove it to you.

而且我可以用很小的成本向你证明，或者通过一个快速的演示让你看到价值所在。

And I can prove it to you on a cost that's very little to me or a quick quick demo from my side to show you that the value is there.

我觉得很少有人采取销售优先的策略，但作为创业者，你在生意中经历的一切其实主要就是发展业务。

And I think so few people take a sales first approach, but as an entrepreneur, that's actually all you experience in the business is just growing the business mostly.

产品本身其实很同质化。

Like, the product is very, like, fungible.

你可以把产品换掉。

You could swap the product out.

对。

Yeah.

对我来说就是这样，我觉得和你们一样，我喜欢商业。

That I so what it is for me is I just I think like you guys, I like business.

我是个商业迷。

Like, I'm a business nerd.

我喜欢招聘。

I like hiring.

我喜欢销售。

I like selling.

我喜欢琢磨系统和流程。

I like figuring out the systems and the processes.

所以当你有了这些，你就有了一种奢侈，可以选择一个你觉得经营起来既愉快又简单的生意。

So when you have that, you kinda have the luxury of being able to pick a business that you think would be enjoyable and straightforward to run.

你打算什么时候开始？

When are you gonna start it?

我已经着手做新事情了。

I already started the the new thing.

也就是说，你卖出去才三周。

So you only and that's only three weeks ago that you sold.

对。

Yeah.

面对这个新项目，你的心态有变化吗？

Do you have a new mindset with this new one?

有了之前的经历之后，你现在有什么不同的想法吗？

Like, what's changed now that you had that experience?

你正在着手做新的项目。

You're going into the new one.

关于怎么做，你有没有定下什么新规矩？

Do you have any new rules on how

你想怎么做？

you wanna do this?

白手起家。

Bootstrapping.

白手起家。

Bootstrapping.

我发现，这可能只是因为我比我想象中更厌恶风险。

I found, and this is probably just because I'm more risk averse than I care to admit.

但是，个人担保与加盟协议绑定在一起的想法，我真的觉得这是一条不归路，你知道，就是那种不可逆的决定。

But like this idea of the personal guarantee being tied to a franchise agreement, I really felt like the one way door, you know, irreversible decision thing.

所以我觉得以后，我会尽量白手起家，尽量保持我的选择余地。

So I think going forward, I'm gonna try to bootstrap as much as I can and keep my options open as much as I can.

有趣的是，也许你的科技同事会说，这风险很大。

What's funny is like maybe your tech coworkers were like, that's this is very risky.

你知道吗？

You know?

你做的事情简直太疯狂了。

This is, like, insane what you're doing.

我通过和这里的很多创业者聊天以及生活中的经历发现，大多数创业者——我自己并不觉得自己是个很爱冒险的人。

What I've noticed talking to a lot of entrepreneurs on here and through my life is that most entrepreneurs I don't consider myself to be a very risky person at all.

而且大多数人也这么说。

And most say that as well.

他们都说，我不是那种爱冒险的人。

They're like, I'm not that risky.

而且，这里有个概念，就是不确定性和风险是有区别的，不确定性总是存在的，而风险是可以降低的。

And, like, it's this idea of, like, there's a difference between uncertainty, which always exists, and risk, which you can reduce.

不确定性永远存在，你只需要学会适应它。

Uncertainty always exists, and you just gotta get comfortable with that.

但你绝对可以限制风险。

But you can definitely can, like, limit the risk.

而承担那些个人担保，实际上风险相当大。

And taking those person personal guarantees, that's actually quite risky.

所以听你说你是个风险规避型的人，还挺有意思的。

And so it's funny to hear that you're a risk adverse person.

就像伟大的拳击手。

It's like great fighters.

他们不会以在比赛中冒多大风险为傲。

They don't pride themselves on how much, like, how much risk they're taking in a fight.

这其实都是自卫。

It's all it's really it's a self defense.

打中别人，别被打中。

Hit and don't get hit.

对吧？

Right?

而且，最好的拳击手，比如弗洛伊德·梅威瑟，保持不败战绩。

And, like, the best fighters, if you look at, Floyd Mayweather, undergoes undefeated.

他其实都没怎么被打中。

He didn't even really get hit that