Podcast Summary: Making It with Jon Davids

Episode 237: This Will Kill a Business Before It Even Starts | Brian Scudamore, 1-800-GOT-JUNK
Release Date: December 19, 2025
Length: ~10 minutes (content portion)

Overview

This episode dives into the founding journey of Brian Scudamore, creator of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, chronicling his path from scrappy beginnings to $100M in revenue. Host Jon Davids and Brian explore the perils of overthinking, the power of speed in entrepreneurship, pushing through self-doubt, and the crucial turning points that led to the company’s explosive growth. Listeners are treated to actionable insights on starting and scaling a business, the value of self-awareness, and the commitment needed to succeed against the odds.

Key Discussion Points

1. The Danger of Delay: Start Before Doubt Sets In

• Momentum Over Perfection

  • Jon highlights a common entrepreneurial pitfall: waiting too long to act on an idea (00:09).
  • Brian stresses that inaction breeds self-doubt and external negativity:

    "The longer you take, the more doubt can sprout in your brain. People will tell you either yourself or those around you, not a good idea... So to get around that doubt, starting something quickly, before anyone has a realization it's a bad idea." (00:32, Brian)

• Low-Risk Entry

  • Brian advocates starting businesses with minimal cash to lower the emotional risk of failure:

    "If you can start a business with low cash so that if, God forbid, you lose everything, you're not really losing that much, you can start again. That's the way to start a business." (01:16, Brian)

2. Early Hustle and Learning by Doing

• First Summer’s Earnings

  • In his first summer, Brian netted only $1,700:

    "All I remember was my net was seventeen hundred dollars, which was not a lot... it wasn't very good." (01:39, Brian)

  • Yet, it was the independence and learning that mattered:

    "It was enough to get me excited to go, hey, maybe I can do better next year." (01:57, Brian)

• Choosing Entrepreneurship Over School

  • Brian left college after realizing traditional education didn’t suit his learning style:

    "I'm a very ADD type, and I had a hard time sitting in classes that I didn't enjoy. But... I realized that I'm learning more by talking to my peers and connecting than I am studying." (02:41, Brian)

• Family Difficulties

  • Brian’s father, a liver transplant surgeon, was skeptical about Brian's choice to leave school:

    "He looked at me and said, you're crazy, and tried to talk me out of it. And I said, I got a plan. And I went out and bought a second truck. And off I grew." (03:17, Brian)

3. Advice for Young Entrepreneurs

• Navigating Parental & Self-Expectations
  • Jon asks how Brian counsels his own children about entrepreneurship and school (04:18).
  • Brian stresses individual self-awareness:

    "If someone's dream is to become a liver transplant surgeon like my dad, don't drop out of school... If someone wants to go into entrepreneurship... Maybe go give it a shot." (04:42, Brian) "And at the end of the day, you can always go back to school. ...This is where I got my education as an entrepreneur, I believe you need to learn by doing." (05:24, Brian)

4. Turning Points: Proving Commitment & Overcoming Plateau

• Scaling Up with Confidence

  • Brian bought a second truck right after dropping out:

    "The main reason I added a second truck was... I wanted to prove to my dad, you know what, dad, I'm all in. I'm going to double the business." (05:53, Brian)

  • He points out that it took around 15 years for his father to acknowledge the wisdom of this decision.

• The Beneficial Adversary

  • Jon asks if Brian’s dad’s skepticism was motivating:

    "It helped me further see inside myself, like, I'm committed and I want to do this and I'm going to do this... I might have had something to prove in my early 20s." (06:39, Brian)

• Stuck at $1 Million: The Power of Vision

  • After eight years and reaching $1M in revenue, Brian felt outclassed by peers in the Entrepreneurs' Organization.

    "I was surrounded by entrepreneurs with much more glamorous businesses... I felt like I wasn't good enough." (07:25, Brian)

  • This led to creating the "painted picture," a vivid written vision that inspired him and his team:

    "I wrote down the future on one page... I started to see that five year vision come to life... it gave me a destination and off I went, made it happen." (07:43, Brian)

5. The Five-Year Vision

• Bold Goals and BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals)
  • The five-year plan included expansion to the top 30 metro centers, being the "FedEx of junk removal," and getting featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

    "I said we'd be on the Oprah Winfrey Show. This big BHAG... most people said to me, brian, you're smoking hope dope. Like this is not happening. And I said no, it will. You watch." (08:41, Brian)

  • The painted picture inspired recruitment and buy-in even when the goals felt out of reach:

    "Having the picture drew people in who wanted to be a part of the game... I don't know how we're going to get there, but we're going to find a way. And we did." (08:56, Brian)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the risks of waiting:

  "The longer you take, the more doubt can sprout in your brain." (00:32, Brian)

• On starting small:

  "If you can start a business with low cash... you can start again. That's the way to start a business." (01:16, Brian)

• On learning by immersion, not classroom:

  "I'm learning more by talking to my peers and connecting more than I am studying with a professor." (02:54, Brian)

• On vision as leadership:

  "Having the picture drew people in who wanted to be a part of the game... we're going to find a way." (08:56, Brian)

Timeline of Key Segments

• 00:09 – 01:32: The importance of speed and avoiding overthinking
• 01:32 – 02:25: Brian’s early entrepreneurial results and his decision to leave school
• 02:25 – 03:39: Big decisions and difficult conversations with family
• 04:17 – 05:39: Advice for young entrepreneurs (and Brian’s parenting philosophy)
• 05:39 – 06:26: Expansion, second truck, demonstrating commitment
• 06:26 – 07:14: Using adversity (his dad’s skepticism) as fuel
• 07:14 – 08:22: Plateau at $1M revenue, the "painted picture" moment
• 08:22 – 09:19: Five-year vision and the power of bold goals

Takeaways

• Act fast before self-doubt or naysayers take root.
• Invest just enough to test your idea; avoid betting the farm on an unproven venture.
• Education comes in many forms. Learning by doing, for some, often surpasses what’s taught in a classroom.
• Set vivid, aspirational goals. Written visions attract collaborators and build momentum.
• Skeptics can serve as valuable motivators if you use their doubt as fuel.