Blue Billions

Justin Tousignant is the founder of Black Bear Seamless Flooring, one of the most durable B2B service businesses in New England, serving food and beverage, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and automotive facilities. In 2008, his college roommate lent him $5,000 to launch a rebrand — he knew the math wasn't in his favor in year one, so he asked a different question: what could he survive doing for three to five years? Black Bear, which started as a painting company doing residential work and insurance restoration, is the answer.
Inside: why he niched down into industrial and commercial flooring instead of chasing every job, why he won't go back to B2C (his reason is blunt), what hiring slow and firing quick actually looks like in practice, why he shuts the entire company down for a full day each year to walk the team through every number, and the AI traffic stat that should change how you think about your marketing.

Chapters
00:00 - Intro
03:25 - How Black Bear Started as a College Side Hustle
12:30 - The $5,000 Loan That Rebranded the Business
13:20 - From Painting and Insurance Restoration to Pure Industrial Flooring
14:23 - Why He Niched Down Instead of Chasing Every Job
21:04 - The Biggest Threats to a Flooring Business
26:08 - How Customers Actually Find Black Bear
27:49 - The AI Traffic Stat That Should Change How You Think About Marketing
30:44 - Why They Stopped Hiring for Skill Set
32:52 - Hire Slow, Fire Quick — What That Actually Looks Like
35:16 - Why They Shut the Company Down One Full Day a Year
66:11 - The Biggest Problem to Solve at the Next Level of Growth
70:01 - What Black Bear Looks Like Three Years From Now
71:24 - His Advice for Anyone Trying to Build What He Built


Resources & Links
Venveo — the marketing team behind this show and behind the brands you hear about on it: https://venveo.com/
Sales Radar — find and win commercial construction project leads before they hit the bid boards: https://SalesRadar.com

FOLLOW BLUE BILLIONS
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BlueBillX
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluebillions_/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bluebillx
X: https://x.com/BlueBillX_

FOLLOW ZACH
Instagram: @zachwillx
FOLLOW JUSTIN TOUSIGNANT & BLACK BEAR SEAMLESS FLOORING
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackbear.seamless/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackBearSeamlessFlooring 
Tiktok: @blackbear.seamless
LinkedIn (BB): https://www.linkedin.com/company/blackbearseamless/ 
LinkedIn (JT): https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-tousignant/ 

Steve Akian is the founder and owner of Akian HVAC & Electrical, a 50-person home services company outside Boston that finished 2025 at just under $12M — with a goal of $13.5M in 2026. He got fired from his last job in his 20s and sold his first job the very next day. The truck that started the company was hand-lettered in his backyard by a buddy over a few beers on a weekend; that lettering hangs in his office now.

Inside: why Tesla paying electricians $300K a year is reshaping what every trades shop has to charge, why Steve thinks private equity — not a competitor — is the biggest headwind in the trades right now, what he saw when prefabrication cut 40% of labor costs overnight at his old company, why he's telling his team the window to get very good at what they do is right now, and a real conversation on anxiety, meditation, and what it costs to run a company where 50 families depend on the payroll.

Chapters

• 00:00 - Intro
• 06:10 - He Got Fired — Then Sold His First Job the Next Day
• 07:35 - Why He Pulled Back From TV Ads and Moved to Programmatic
• 14:39 - The AI Rule His Office Staff Uses Every Day
• 19:36 - How They're Handling Price Resistance in 2026
• 21:19 - Why Generators Became a Core Service Line
• 21:51 - Why Private Equity Is the Biggest Threat in the Trades Right Now
• 23:59 - Anxiety, Meditation, and Running a Company 50 Families Depend On
• 39:08 - Where the Trades Are Headed as AI Reshapes Every Industry
• 42:10 - How Prefabrication Cut Labor Costs 40% Overnight
• 44:08 - What He'd Tell Himself Starting Out
• 46:50 - The Plan to Hit $13.5M in 2026
• 47:31 - His Advice for Anyone Trying to Build What He Built

Resources

Venveo: the marketing team behind this show and behind the brands you hear about on it: https://venveo.com/

Sales Radar: find and win commercial construction project leads before they hit the bid boards: SalesRadar.com

FOLLOW BLUE BILLIONS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BlueBillX

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluebillions_/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bluebillx

X: https://x.com/BlueBillX_ 

FOLLOW ZACH

Instagram: @zachwillx

FOLLOW STEVE AKIAN & AKIAN HVAC & ELECTRICAL

Website: https://www.akianplumbing.com/about-us/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr._akian/