Podcast Summary: The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex

Episode: From Broke College Kid to $500M Pest Control Empire — David Royce Explains
Host: Paul Alex Espinoza
Guest: David Royce, Founder and Chairman of Aptiv
Date: December 29, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features David Royce, the founder and chairman of Aptiv, who shares his transformative journey from a broke college student to building a $500M pest control empire. Royce and host Paul Alex dive deep into the realities of "boring" businesses, the power of building systems and culture, entrepreneurship in blue-collar industries, and essential advice for anyone seeking to scale beyond small business.

Royce breaks down pivotal strategies that enabled his company to outpace traditional models, leveraging relentless sales training and work culture innovation to become one of North America's largest pest control firms.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Breaking into Pest Control: From College Struggle to Sales Leader

• David’s Start: Became involved with pest control by chance after a friend's success story. "[Pest control] was never on my radar. I never grew up thinking about bugs...I was a broke college student..." (02:24)
• Early Failure and Commitment: Initially struggled with zero sales for days; responded with dedicated study and practice, leading to rapid sales success.
  • Memorable Quote: "I just committed, I'm going to read 90 minutes every single day...by the end of that summer, I was the top sales rookie in the entire company..." —David Royce (02:24–04:10)
• Mentorship’s Power: His first boss’s advice and mentorship guided him to entrepreneurship.

2. Growing Through Experience (05:09–08:28)

• Experiential Learning: Gained perspective from both a large company and a startup. Unique mix of hands-on experience, business school, and mentorship shaped his approach.
  • "A lot of times when a brand new startup...you get to see a lot more going on than you would maybe just in a single department at a larger business." —David Royce (05:33)
• Systems Thinking: Inspired by Michael Gerber’s The E-Myth to create systems, not just “work in the business.”

3. Leading Others: Sales, Culture, and Servant Leadership (08:44–09:45)

• Servant Leadership: Focused on helping others rise, creating effective training through methods like videotaping and hands-on coaching.
  • "There was something in me that really loved giving back and training new sales reps...it felt really, really good to help." —David Royce (08:44)

4. Serial Entrepreneurship and Strategic Exits (11:52–16:38)

• Multiple Companies, Similar Models: Royce built and exited four pest control companies, refining operations each round.

• Asset Deals: Sold off customer bases but retained executive and sales talent to incubate future ventures.

• Scaling Experiments: Expanded quickly by decentralizing management, opening multiple state locations with trusted managers.

  Notable Business Model Insight:

  • "I sold the first one, just sold off the customer base...But I kept the golden goose, which was the salesforce, the executive team, and a key operator in each location." —David Royce (12:22)

• Learning from Silicon Valley: Modeled recruiting and workspace infrastructure after tech giants, building an innovative HQ and offering unique incentives and experiences (e.g., retreats, NBA events).

• Culture as a Magnet: "[It] really attracted the very, very best talent...it may be pest control, but this company really cares about its people, and they're having a lot of fun." —David Royce (16:19)

5. Pillars of Competitive Advantage (17:52–22:38)

• 1. Salesforce—relentless training, not just hiring en masse; structured, data-driven approach led to outsized success rates.
  • "If somebody came over for another company, they would sell 70% more with us the next summer..." —David Royce (18:15, see also 00:15)
• 2. Service Innovation—used direct customer feedback from 60,000+ door knocks to differentiate offerings.
• 3. In-house Software—created a 60-person dev team to build tailored CRM/ops software, boosting productivity and retention.
• Gamification: Launched national “sales tournaments” to spike engagement and performance.
  • "We could drive sales an extra 20 to 30% on sales or tournament days..." —David Royce (21:53)
• Cultural Investment: Inspired by Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness, they built a culture-focused hiring and retention system.

6. Advice for Entrepreneurs: Scaling and Standing Out (23:37–25:40)

• Work ON, Not IN, Your Business: Most small business owners limit growth by immersing in daily tasks, not building scalable systems.
  • "The true test of scale is: leave for 30 days...if you come back and your company's still there, that's how you know you have a business that can actually scale." —David Royce (00:37, 25:40)
• Be a Systems Builder: Document processes, delegate, and scale beyond personal capability.

7. Choosing an Industry and Recipe for Success (26:43–32:49)

• Strategic Industry Selection: Advises gaining experience first; notes the explosion of online resources for research and skill-building.
• Boring Businesses, Big Opportunity: Emphasizes that “stealth wealth” comes from overlooked sectors (home services, blue collar, trades).
  • Referenced Wall Street Journal article showing many top 0.1% earners are in blue-collar fields.
  • "[Private Equity] ...are rolling up a lot of these businesses right now. Try to find an industry where it's early...like the second or third inning..." —David Royce (29:37)
• The Silver Tsunami: Baby Boomers retiring creates opportunities to acquire and grow established businesses at fair valuations.

8. Maximizing Impact: A, B, and C Task Framework (33:00–34:35)

• Time Management for Scale:
  • A: Important, not urgent (strategy/high-impact growth tasks)
  • B: Important and urgent (e.g., key hires, but delegatable)
  • C: Urgent, not important (busywork, bill-paying)
  • "You got to get out of that mentality of...how am I focusing on the right things to be able to grow..." —David Royce (33:00)

9. Advice to His Younger Self and the Audience (35:25–36:47)

• Hard Work Meets Obsession: Relentless effort and pursuit of mastery trump passion alone.
  • "If you're willing to work really, really hard and focus and become obsessive at what you do, you've got the best chance." —David Royce (35:25)
• Pursue Excellence: True happiness is striving for your potential. Work hard early, then adjust priorities as family and life progresses.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Relentless Improvement:

  "Most people love what they're good at...when you're constantly trying to get better, I really believe that we're happiest when we're striving for our true potential."
  —David Royce (35:52)

• On Culture & Talent:

  "It may be pest control, but this company really cares about its people, and they're having a lot of fun."
  —David Royce (16:19)

• On Scaling Beyond Yourself:

  "The true test of scale is: leave for 30 days...if you come back and your company's still there, that's how you know you have a business that can actually scale." —David Royce (00:37, 25:40)

• On Picking an Industry:

  "Go get experience...and then develop a competitive advantage where you're really good at something. And then...you're much more likely to get investors behind you..."
  —David Royce (27:12)

• On Small Business Mentality:

  "[Most entrepreneurs] get focused working in the business instead of on the business."
  —David Royce (00:37/23:37)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• David’s Early Sales Struggles and Breakthrough — (02:24–04:10)
• Experiential Learning and Key Mentorship — (05:09–08:28)
• Leading and Training Sales Teams — (08:44–09:45)
• Serial Company Building, Asset Deals, and Retaining Talent — (11:52–16:38)
• Culture as Recruitment & Retention Edge — (16:38–17:52)
• Three Competitive Pillars: Sales, Service, Software — (18:15–22:38)
• Scaling Advice: Working ON vs IN the Business — (23:37–25:40, reemphasized at 00:37)
• Industry Selection and Blue Collar Opportunities — (29:36–32:49)
• Time Management/Task Categorization (A, B, C Framework) — (33:00–34:35)
• Advice to Young Entrepreneurs and His Past Self — (35:25–36:47)

Final Takeaways

• Success does not require reinventing the wheel—systematize, obsessively train, and nurture people even in "unsexy" industries.
• Culture and clear, value-driven leadership attract and retain top talent, fueling extraordinary growth even in blue-collar sectors.
• For those looking to enter or scale a business, deliberate preparation, real operational experience, and focus on "A tasks" are key to breaking out from the cycle of small business struggle.
• The best opportunities may lie off the beaten (tech) path, in overlooked, evergreen industries ripe for innovation.

Connect with David Royce:
LinkedIn

Summary by The Level Up Podcast Summarizer.