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The Jordan Harbinger Show

175: Brian Scudamore | How Failure Can Be Your Key to Success

The Jordan Harbinger Show

Jordan Harbinger

Business, Education, Science

4.812.3K Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2019

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Brian Scudamore (@BrianScudamore) pioneered the industry of professional junk removal with 1-800-GOT-JUNK? at age 18, scaled that success into three more home-service brands, and is the author of WTF?! (Willing to Fail): How Failure Can Be Your Key to Success.

What We Discuss with Brian Scudamore:
  • How Brian turned a trash removal business that began with a $700 investment into an international, multimillion dollar service franchise.
  • The $29 gimmick Brian used to prove to his franchise partners they didn't need to spend big bucks on traditional marketing tactics to get their small business known.
  • Why high school dropout Brian didn't sell his business and retire in his 20s -- even when competitors offered him millions of dollars.
  • Brian's WTF (willing to fail) philosophy that has allowed him to harness the smaller failures along the way to avoid ultimate catastrophe in the long run (with examples).
  • Practical exercises you can use -- for entrepreneurship as well as personal enrichment -- to similarly WTF your way forward.
  • And much more...

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome to the show, I'm Jordan Harbinger.

0:02.3

As always, I'm here with my producer, Jason DeFilippo.

0:05.2

We live in the hypercritical age of social media,

0:08.5

where everyone shares their highlight reel

0:10.8

and no one shares their pitfalls.

0:12.6

Everyone's afraid to make or to share their missteps.

0:15.5

But what if mistakes were normalized

0:17.4

as part of growing and achieving more than you ever believed

0:19.9

was possible?

0:21.0

Wouldn't it be amazing if you could turn

0:22.9

your internal critic around?

0:25.3

At 18 years old, Brian Scootamore dropped out of high school

0:28.2

and founded 1-800-GOT-Junk with 700 bucks and a beat-up pickup truck.

0:33.1

The WTF, or willing to fail philosophy that Brian and I

0:36.5

discussed today on the show, can help us live more courageously,

0:39.5

to be more resilient, and ultimately,

0:42.1

drive towards our own success.

0:44.5

It's what has enabled him and me for that matter

0:46.8

to bounce back from failure and even find a little gratitude

0:49.7

in my biggest flops.

0:51.4

Besides, this is a pretty fun story,

0:53.2

and I think you'll enjoy the conversation.

...

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