The Boardroom Buzz: Grow, Sell, or Exit Podcast

The Blue-Collar Twins sit down with Scott Nelson, founder of Central-Jerseys iconic Oceanside Servicethe turquoise-truck HVAC firm he bootstrapped for 36 years before handing the keys to private equity earlier this spring. Scott unpacks the branding bets, golden-handcuff culture, and 20 %-margin playbook that turned a $600 van into a top-1 % contractor (and a life-changing buyout).Buzz EP 203 Scot N Mix

Youll hear:

• Branding on Wheels why he painted every truck Caribbean blue (and wrapped the last two).
• 25-Minute Rule slashing windshield time to keep service profit-positive.
• Earn While You Learn duct-cleaning crews as a talent farm for techs and installers.
• Golden Handcuffs split-dollar life insurance that locked managers in for 15 years.
• Pricing for 20 % Net escaping the HVAC industrys 1.5 % average.
• PE Negotiations walking from the table until the acquirer funded his staffs benefits.
• Life After the Sale why he turned down a six-figure consulting gig to just be Grandpa Scott.

Stick around for Dylans quick CTA to Paul Giannamores Private-Equity Masterclass playlistthen audit your own billable hour before the next heat wave hits.

From PE Teachers to Pest Control Owners: The Julio Twins Share Their POTOMAC Experience

https://youtu.be/HAx9noqsqTo

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulgiannamore

www.potomaccompany.com

https://bluecollartwins.com

Produced by: www.verbell.ltd

Timestamps (podcast.co-ready)

00:00 Cold-open: I never worried a second about competitionjust do me.

00:35 Jason & Jeremy welcome 36-year HVAC veteran Scott Nelson of Oceanside Service

01:40 One-man startup to 24 trucks & 32 staff: the scale story

03:00 Turquoise trucks, spotless wheels: branding that sells before you speak

04:50 The 25-minute territory rule and killing windshield waste

06:20 Community roots: firefighter networks & word-of-mouth growth

08:15 Mindset: The worlds easypeople make it hard.

10:30 Relationship > transaction: serving three homeowner generations

12:00 Air-duct crews as a paid training academy (Earn while you learn)

14:20 Recruiting from vo-techs; achieving near-zero turnover

16:25 Golden Handcuffs: $500 k split-dollar life policies for key managers

19:10 Overpaying staff & investing in real estate instead of raises for himself

21:30 Grooming his son to take over; stepping back from fire-service leadership

24:00 Private-equity courtship, the NDA era, and negotiating staff benefits

27:40 Charging for value: hitting 20 % net vs. industrys 1.5 %

30:50 Crushing costs: $500 k in insurance & healthcare, total transparency with crew

33:00 Advice to a $500 k contractor: know your P&L and ditch new-construction work

35:15 Tech stack: why ServiceTitan (at $7 k/mo) was worth every penny

37:00 Recession-resistant revenue: maintenance plans & premium system sales

40:30 Post-exit life: Most of my hair, half my sanityand all my family time.

42:00 Parting shot: watch your kids grow up and work on (not in) the business

Lifeguard buddies turned blue-collar founders Jason & Jeremy Julio reconnect with longtime friend John Majeski—once a Manhattan finance analyst, now the force behind four thriving SERVPRO franchises across New Jersey. John breaks down the gritty first three-year slog, the culture playbook that powers his team, and the BHAG that keeps everyone rowing: “Be the #1 SERVPRO in the Northeast by 2034.

You’ll hear:

• Career 180° – ditching Wall Street for sewage back-flows and never once looking back.
• Buying, Not Building – why acquiring an eight-month-old franchise beat starting from scratch.
• The ‘World’s Strongest Man’ Analogy – John’s trick for pushing past those brutal year-one cash-flow dips.
• Decentralized Command – Jocko Willink–inspired leadership that lets techs solve problems in real time.
• KPIs That Matter – estimate-conversion, labor spend, and the charity challenges that magnetize talent.
• Road to #1 – four territories in Monmouth, Bergen & Hudson Counties—and the expansion filter he uses before every new deal.

Stick around for Dylan’s quick CTA to Paul Giannamore’s Private-Equity Masterclass playlist—before you sprint, paddle, or pedal to your own big, hairy, audacious goal.

From PE Teachers to Pest Control Owners: The Julio Twins Share Their POTOMAC Experience

https://youtu.be/HAx9noqsqTo

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulgiannamore

www.potomaccompany.com

https://bluecollartwins.com

Produced by: www.verbell.ltd

Timestamps (podcast.co-ready)

00:00 – Cold-open: John on culture (“You’ve got a culture whether you admit it or not.”)

00:35 – The Blue-Collar Twins’ welcome their “lifeguard brother” to the Buzz

01:40 – 28-year friendship recap: beach stands to boardrooms

02:30 – Finance burnout & the call to entrepreneurship

04:00 – Picking SERVPRO over Rainbow & PuroClean: brand power wins

06:00 – Mentor Larry Levy’s push: “Quit, build something of your own”

08:00 – Year-one reality check: 7-day weeks, $1.5 k left in the bank

11:00 – Acquiring an eight-month-old franchise (father bails sons out)

12:00 – Fire, water, mold 101—explaining restoration to homeowners

14:00 – Delegation pains and the first full-time hires

15:30 – Sandy & other storms: moments that forced scale-ups

16:10 – Learning on the fly: history major → KPI geek

18:30 – Athletics → entrepreneurship: training, planning, grit

21:00 – Community marketing: beach clean-ups, charity paddles, Eli Manning match

22:45 – Extreme-challenge rundown: 17-mile paddle, 216-mile bike, next 100-mile ultra

27:00 – Four-franchise footprint; city-versus-suburb logistics

29:30 – Building culture: decentralized command & trust lattices

33:40 – BHAG revealed: #1 SERVPRO Northeast by 2034

38:00 – Exit philosophy: build it right and every option stays open

39:00 – Most fulfilling metric: techs who go from basement to first home

40:30 – Core KPIs: estimate conversion & labor as % of sales

41:40 – Wrap-up, Paul's Masterclass CTA & closing credits

Meet Jason & Jeremy Julio—the Blue-Collar Twins—as they trade gym whistles for board-room banter and join producer-turned-host Dylan Seals behind the mic. In their debut as co-hosts they unpack:

• Side-Hustle Genesis – the late-night kitchen-table brainstorm that birthed Last Bite Mosquito & Tick.
• Scaling While Clocked-In – juggling lesson plans, beach-club shifts, and 55 techs by reinvesting every dollar.
• The Potomac Playbook – how CIMs, buyer psychology, and a discipline 90 % of sellers flunk drove an eight-figure deal with Viking Pest / Anticimex.
• Seller Blind Spots – retention metrics, seasonality traps, and the DIY mistakes that leave millions on the table.
• Round 2: Ruff Stuff – their new dog-waste start-up, why it’s today’s mosquito moment, and the five-year path to another flip.
• Level-Up Rituals – ultra-marathons, charity paddles, and mindset hacks that keep their teams resilient and hungry.
• Coming Up – teaser for next week’s Servpro deep-dive with restoration king John Majeski.

Stick around for Dylan’s quick CTA to Paul Giannamore’s Private-Equity Masterclass playlist—then fire up that 100-mile mindset of yours.

From PE Teachers to Pest Control Owners: The Julio Twins Share Their POTOMAC Experience

https://youtu.be/HAx9noqsqTo

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulgiannamore

www.potomaccompany.com

https://bluecollartwins.com

http://www.ruffstuffnj.com

Produced by: www.verbell.ltd

Timestamps

00:00 - Cold-open – Jason Julio on fear & resilience

00:35 - Dylan Seals grabs the mic & introduces the Blue-Collar Twins

01:40 - First meeting in San Juan, karaoke-loving “Mexican,” and Potomac memories

03:10 - Humble beginnings: Long Branch childhood, teaching careers, twin dynamics

04:15 - Multiple side-hustles & the light-bulb moment: “What about mosquito control?”

05:00 - Rejecting the franchise route; deciding to build Last Bite from scratch

06:50 - One truck to statewide: early scaling playbook & brand evolution

07:25 - TCNJ football days & how college camaraderie shaped their operator roles

14:40 - Level-up charity challenges: 217-mile bike ride, Eli Manning match, next 100-mile ultra

24:20 - What happens after you call an M&A advisor—Potomac’s diligence process demystified

26:40 - Yin-and-yang leadership: Jason’s strategy vs. Jeremy’s operations

28:50 - “90 % of owners aren’t ready”: systems, books, and timing the peak before you list

31:15 - SIMs, buyer meetings, and Potomac’s gatekeeping of your calendar

33:00 - Strategics vs. Private Equity 101 & the lure of the “second bite”

35:20 - Exit revealed: Viking Pest (Anticimex) acquires Last Bite; why seasonality mattered

36:55 - Navigating the 12-month earn-out and protecting customer retention

41:25 - Rough Stuff launch: why dog-waste is today’s mosquito moment & barriers are low

42:35 - Is America too lazy to scoop poop? Market adoption math & service pricing

44:30 - Five-year plan: grow Rough Stuff to $4–5 M and flip again

50:55 - Boardroom Buzz community shout-out & podcast mission going forward

52:45 - “Episode 201—big shoes to fill” – official hand-off & next-week teaser

53:20 - Dylan’s outro, CTAs to Potomac & the Private-Equity Masterclass playlist

54:00 - Closing credits & final reminders to connect with Potomac M&A

Meet Jason & Jeremy Julio—the Blue-Collar Twins turned eight-figure sellers— as they step in as your new co-hosts of The Boardroom Buzz. In their maiden voyage they flip the script, putting mentor Paul Giannamore in the hot seat to uncover the back-alley hustle that took him from inner-city Chicago to building Potomac M&A into a middle-market powerhouse.

You’ll hear:

• How the twins scaled a New Jersey pest-control roll-up while teaching full-time
• Paul’s early days flipping farm gear, tech-banking in the dot-com frenzy, and spotting gold in fragmented service markets
• Why CEOs should obsess over root-cause thinking (and Paul’s daily “thinking walks”)
• The inside story of hiring Franco “The Mexican” and building a 25-deal pipeline
• What makes fire-suppression, lawn, and niche res-service verticals today’s M&A greenfield

Stick around for Paul’s blunt take on leverage, buyer psychology, and the mindset shift owners need three years before an exit.

From Gym Teachers to Service Leaders: The Julio Twins' Story | Last Bite Mosquito, Viking Pest https://youtu.be/DAYxtzhswxs

From PE Teachers to Pest Control Owners: The Julio Twins Share Their POTOMAC Experience https://youtu.be/HAx9noqsqTo

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulgiannamore

www.potomaccompany.com

https://bluecollartwins.com

Produced by: www.verbell.ltd

00:00:00 Cold-open – Paul on “no pep-talks, only strategy.”

00:00:56 Jason & Jeremy Julio frame the episode’s purpose.

00:02:56 Teacher-to-$15 M exit – twins recap scaling while holding day jobs.

00:04:53 Paul’s childhood: Chicago schools → Italy & Spain.

00:09:10 Cornell years, full scholarship & skipping community college.

00:11:55 First deal – buying a combine attachment at a farm auction.

00:18:20 Dot-com boom: Lehman → Credit Suisse tech-M&A under Frank Quattrone.

00:24:40 Private-equity at American Capital → founding POTOMAC (2003).

00:27:05 Discovering pest-control M&A; the Orkin/Terminix duopoly era.

00:31:05 Philosophy: “Put the seller first—profit follows.”

00:34:50 Shift from deal-maker to “psychodynamic” CEO coach.

00:38:00 Legacy talk – “Play the hand you’re dealt better than anyone.”

00:40:55 Enter “the Mexican” — Franco’s gladiator-style interview story.

00:46:25 Daily routine & thinking leverage (25 k steps, no morning calls).

00:54:00 Smashing limiting beliefs: four-minute-mile analogy for owners.

00:59:40 What’s hot in M&A: lawn-care roll-ups; fire-protection next.

01:06:05 Advice to 18-year-old Paul: guard health, seek balance.

01:08:10 Top travel picks – Istanbul, Switzerland, Japan keep calling.

01:12:50 Dylan Seals outro – CTA to POTOMAC M&A Masterclass playlist.