Ditch Digger CEO with Gary Rabine

Check out https://www.DitchDiggerCEO.com/ for this week's TOP 8 Business Growth strategies and subscribe to our newsletter to download Gary’s 13 Keys to Creating a Multi-Million Dollar Business.

Follow us on Instagram @DitchDiggerCEO (https://www.instagram.com/ditchdiggerceo/) for more helpful Business Growth tips.

Our goal is to inspire everyone to start their own business and help you grow it to millions or even billions in value so if you feel any benefit from this episode please let us know by leaving an iTunes review, sharing this episode on social media and emailing a link to anyone you think would also find benefit here. Thank you.

"Human Capital Leads to Innovation Which Creates Wealth" - Jose Vargas

Our guest this week is Jose Vargas. He is a serial entrepreneur and investor, building and growing technology companies for over 18 years. Former co-founder of AutoWeb (acquired by Autobytel), BlueKite (acquired by Xoom Corporation/PayPal), MedicareSupplement.com (acquired by Tranzact), BrokersWeb (acquired by VantageMedia) and MailCreations.com (acquired by Livedoor). Currently board member at PeopleFund a technology VC, HealthCare.com and AutoWeb NASDAQ [AUTO]. Jose lives in Miami with his wife and children and is an active member of the Young President Organization (YPO) and supporter of a number of philanthropic efforts.

4:36 Jose’s background- from Venezuela to the States and beyond.

10:08 What happened to Venezuela? The impact of socialist regimes.

22:04 Starting businesses- it’s all about trial and error.

36:30 Mergers and Acquisitions.

44:00 After the first success- dealing with fear.

47:40 Experiencing NY young and rich.

48:40 Working on HealthCare.com.

58:50 Seed investing- People Funding.

1:06:50 Getting great at exiting- How to know when you’re ready to sell.

1:12:00 Important mentors and helping others grow.

1:22:00 Jose’s core values- a discussion on karma.

1:23:53 The success Jose is most proud of.

1:25:23 Are there any other places in the world which offer the same opportunities for success as the USA?

1:25:50 The most important book to Jose.

1:28:20 Quinton’s True Takeaways

To take a look at some of the books mentioned by Jose, click on the links below!

Be My Guest

The Philosophy of Spinoza

Awaken The Giant Within

Mastery

FIVE SUPREME SECRETS OF LIFE

For more information on PeopleFund, click here.

Connect with Gary Rabine and DDCEO: 

Visit the DDCEO PODCAST 

Visit the DDCEO BLOG

Like DDCEO on Facebook

Follow DDCEO on Twitter

Follow DDCEO on Instagram

Check out https://www.DitchDiggerCEO.com/ for this week's TOP 8 Business Growth strategies and subscribe to our newsletter to download Gary’s 13 Keys to Creating a Multi-Million Dollar Business.

Follow us on Instagram @DitchDiggerCEO (https://www.instagram.com/ditchdiggerceo/) for more helpful Business Growth tips.

Our goal is to inspire everyone to start their own business and help you grow it to millions or even billions in value so if you feel any benefit from this episode please let us know by leaving an iTunes review, sharing this episode on social media and emailing a link to anyone you think would also find benefit here. Thank you.

“B people hire C people but A people hire A+ people” - France Hoang

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“3 Things That Create A Dynamic Culture - Care, Trust, and Help” - Barry Schlouch

“B people hire C people but A people hire A+ people” - France Hoang

Francis Q. Hoang (@FQhoang) is a veteran entrepreneur who has been on the founding teams of companies that have generated over $600 million of combined sales and employed over 1,200 professionals across the fields of law, aerospace, defense, government services, and technology. (https://boodle.ai/)

France has over 20 years of national security experience, with service in every branch of the U.S. Government. He clerked for Judge Thomas Griffith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and was appointed by President George W. Bush as an Associate White House Counsel and Special Assistant to the President. 

France graduated in the academic top 1% of his West Point class, received a Masters in Criminal Justice from Washburn University, and graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center. He somehow also managed to pass both Ranger School and the CPA Exam.

France was born in Saigon, Vietnam, immigrated to the United States at the age of 2, and was raised in Tumwater, Washington.

Shownotes:

2:00 France’s childhood

6:00 What inspired France to serve

14:30 How do those West Point values affect your life?

17:00 Life after West Point Graduation

21:00 Frances mindset to get through Ranger School

24:30 After Ranger school

26:00 How the special forces are the entrepreneurs of the military

42:00 How did your culture assist in growing to your current size?

48:30 How to split time between working for two high performance businesses

54:00 France's biggest passion today

Connect with Gary Rabine and DDCEO: 

Visit the DDCEO PODCAST: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ditch-digger-ceo-with-gary-rabine/id1440312967?mt=2 

Visit the DDCEO BLOG: http://ditchdiggerceo.com/ 

Like DDCEO on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DitchDiggerCEO

Follow DDCEO on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DitchDiggerCEO 

Follow DDCEO on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DitchDiggerCEO 

“3 Things That Create A Dynamic Culture - Care, Trust, and Help” - Barry Schlouch

Barry Schlouch is Co-founder and President of Schlouch Incorporated, a 270-person site design and construction firm headquartered in Blandon, Pennsylvania, USA. He is the author of the book “Excellence In Construction,”  (https://www.amazon.com/Excellence-Construction-achieving-success-everyday/dp/1481287486) a speaker, consultant and mentor to both businesses and individuals interested in achieving excellence in business and life. His website is http://barryschlouch.com/ 

Schlouch Incorporated provides site construction services throughout Pa & surrounding states. Our services include site design, survey, excavating, utilities, concrete & paving for commercial, residential, energy, & public sectors. Schlouch performs $65 million in annual revenues, employs 270 talented team members, and owns 175 pieces of heavy construction equipment.

Barry and Deb Schlouch founded Schlouch Incorporated in 1983 in the basement of their home in Berks County, Pennsylvania to do excavating and utilities. They didn’t own any equipment at the time and had no firm jobs on the books. Schlouch’s first job in 1983 was a $15,000 assignment to prepare a site for Wendy’s Restaurant in West Reading. Since then, they have gone on to add design, survey, blasting, concrete and paving. Their vision and confidence was the beginning of what has become one of the leading total site preparation specialists in Eastern Pennsylvania.

Today, Schlouch is a company with 275 employees and 300 plus pieces of equipment including 150 pieces of heavy equipment. The company enjoys repeat business from most major local and regional owners, developers and contractors as well as from many national firms handling construction management in the area. More than 60% of Schlouch’s business each year comes from repeat customers, a testimonial to Schlouch’s quality work, on-time performance and competitive pricing.

Schlouch has never lost sight of its roots. While the company receives many multi-million dollar contracts each year, Barry and Deb are proud to say that their firm still does excavation for basements and small residential and commercial projects and has a skilled team with their own equipment just to handle those tasks.

Shownotes: 

4:00 How did you get your start?

8:30 How did you create such a great place to work? A place voted best place to work in Pennsylvania OVER Harley Davidson and Hershey foods

12:30 How does culture change for the better? 

15:00 The 3 things that create a dynamic culture - Quote/clip

22:00 Maintaining such a high customer retention rate

28:30 Why did you write your book?

32:00 Most important mentors

37:00 The importance of mentoring people

42:30 Barry's most important failures

45:00 Worst day in business life

49:30 Defining your vision

51:00 Best mindset for an entrepreneur

57:00 How do you stay so competitive?

58:30 Thoughts on the American free enterprise system

Check out https://www.DitchDiggerCEO.com/ for this week's TOP 8 Business Growth strategies and subscribe to our newsletter to download Gary’s 13 Keys to Creating a Multi-Million Dollar Business.

Follow us on Instagram @DitchDiggerCEO (https://www.instagram.com/ditchdiggerceo/) for more helpful Business Growth tips.

Our goal is to inspire everyone to start their own business and help you grow it to millions or even billions in value so if you feel any benefit from this episode please let us know by leaving an iTunes review, sharing this episode on social media and emailing a link to anyone you think would also find benefit here. Thank you.

“Always strive to be quicker, better and more reliable than competitors.” - Stéphane Rambaud

“Build an exceptional company by doing MORE of what you are great at.” - Stéphane Rambaud

A third generation freight forwarder, Rambaud began his career in 1986 at Phoenix International, a Chicago-based privately held freight forwarder. He was instrumental in Phoenix International's global expansion, especially with the creation of an Asia office network in 1995. 

While at Phoenix International, Rambaud held a variety of positions including executive vice president, chief operating officer, and president and CEO. 

After C.H. Robinson's acquisition of Phoenix International in 2012, he led the global forwarding integration between the two companies.

Rambaud is a member of the Global Young Presidents' Organization, the Economics Club of Chicago, and studied International Commerce at Académie Commerciale Internationale in Paris, France.

Shownotes:

3:00 Stéphane's childhood

6:30 How Stéphane came to America

14:00 Here is what entrepreneurs you should implement now

23:30 How did your partnerships work out?

27:00 Getting partners to buy into plan

30:30 Stephan's definition of luck

32:30 Big differentiators

35:30 Building the company culture

40:00 Maintaining culture through the sale

44:00 Most important mentors

47:00 Growing a business in America

58:00 Collecting and restoring classic european cars

1:07:30 Quinton's True Takeaways

Connect with Gary Rabine and DDCEO:

Visit the DDCEO BLOG: https://www.DitchDiggerCEO.com/

Follow DDCEO on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DitchDiggerCEO

Like DDCEO on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DitchDiggerCEO

Follow DDCEO on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DitchDiggerCEO

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh03Px5ez_xe_oE_iJMMNIg

Check out https://www.DitchDiggerCEO.com/ for this week's TOP 8 Business Growth strategies and subscribe to our newsletter to download Gary’s 13 Keys to Creating a Multi-Million Dollar Business.

Follow us on Instagram @DitchDiggerCEO (https://www.instagram.com/ditchdiggerceo/) for more helpful Business Growth tips.

Our goal is to inspire everyone to start their own business and help you grow it to millions or even billions in value so if you feel any benefit from this episode please let us know by leaving an iTunes review, sharing this episode on social media and emailing a link to anyone you think would also find benefit here. Thank you.

“A true entrepreneur is someone with an idea that hasn’t been done before.” - Ray H. Neisewander III

Chairman & CEO, Raynor Garage Doors

Ray H. Neisewander III currently serves as the Chairman and CEO for Raynor Worldwide, Inc. Ray's career has been committed to the family business since 1986, when he joined the Raynor Executive Management Team and Board of Directors. He has held several positions in the family's enterprises, including Raynor's Motorsports Group, KWIK-WALL division, and Holiday Inn franchise.

Ray III enjoys advising and speaking on topics relevant to family business, including strategy development and execution, succession and contingency planning, governance, organizational development, compensation, and generational transitions. He has participated in conferences at the Loyola Family Business Center/Chicago, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and Young Presidents Organization (YPO) International.

Ray III resides in Dixon, with his wife, Cindy. They have five children, Brittany, Brandon, Jonathan, Jacob, and Rayuel. 

3:00 How Gary met Ray

17:30 Elvis connection

23:00 How Raynor grew

30:00 How to identify the best opportunities

36:00 The biggest problem with handing off a company to the next generation

40:00 Combining culture with a third generation business

43:00 Thinking of the team as extended family

46:00 Maintaining work ethic through three generations

49:00 Avoiding the temptation of giving your kids everything

55:00 Living life to the fullest

1:01:30 The importance of faith

1:04:00 The huge advantage of a great life partner

1:06:00 Garage Mahal

Connect with Gary Rabine and DDCEO:

Visit the DDCEO BLOG: https://www.DitchDiggerCEO.com/

Follow DDCEO on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DitchDiggerCEO

Like DDCEO on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DitchDiggerCEO

Follow DDCEO on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DitchDiggerCEO

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh03Px5ez_xe_oE_iJMMNIg 

Check out https://www.DitchDiggerCEO.com/ for this week's TOP 8 Business Growth strategies and subscribe to our newsletter to download Gary’s 13 Keys to Creating a Multi-Million Dollar Business.

Follow us on Instagram @DitchDiggerCEO (https://www.instagram.com/ditchdiggerceo/) for more helpful Business Growth tips.

Our goal is to inspire everyone to start their own business and help you grow it to millions or even billions in value so if you feel any benefit from this episode please let us know by leaving an iTunes review, sharing this episode on social media and emailing a link to anyone you think would also find benefit here. Thank you.

“The best leaders are trusted and respected” - Sam McBride

Sam McBride (@samacmcbride) is Chief Operating Officer at @RXBAR, a Chicago-based food manufacturer, overseeing the organization’s supply chain, sales, marketing and operations teams.

With a passion for growing consumer products companies, Sam joined RXBAR as employee number four. Sam grew RXBAR’s top line growth though retail distribution and e-commerce from $2m to $130m in just three years, helping fuel its acquisition by Kellogg for $600m in 2017.

Prior to RXBAR, Sam led the sales and marketing teams at Rabine Group, overseeing 12 operating companies with $180mm in annual revenue.

As RXBAR continues its domestic growth, international expansion and product innovation, Sam sets the tone for his team, empowering them to foster unrivaled brands.

Sam has an incredible mind for driving growth and he shares some of his most effective and powerful strategies. If you have any inkling of growing your business this episode is NOT to be missed! 

4:00 Sam's upbringing

6:30 How did you decide to become an entrepreneur?

8:30 What characteristics did you pick up early that assisted you in your career?

10:45 How did your first jobs affect you?

15:00 How did you meet Gary?

19:00 How did you get involved with RXBar?

27:45 The origin of No BS (No bad stuff)

32:30 The unique influencer marketing strategies that helped RXBar sales explode

41:15 Figuring out the distribution strategy

47:00 The value of making a physical thing that you can give people

48:00 Going from revenues of $2m to $130m in 3 years. 

54:00 Key systems to drive growth

56:00 How did you get acquired by Kellogs?

60:00 Where are you going to be in 10 years?

1:03:00 What should new entrepreneurs know? 

1:04:30 Most important mentors

1:08:30 Balancing family life and business. 

Quote: The importance of self awareness

1:14:00 Could you have this success in any other country?

1:15:30 Quinton’s True Takeaways

Check out https://www.DitchDiggerCEO.com/ for this week's TOP 8 Business Growth strategies and subscribe to our newsletter to download Gary’s 13 Keys to Creating a Multi-Million Dollar Business.

Follow us on Instagram @DitchDiggerCEO (https://www.instagram.com/ditchdiggerceo/) for more helpful Business Growth tips.

Our goal is to inspire everyone to start their own business and help you grow it to millions or even billions in value so if you feel any benefit from this episode please let us know by leaving an iTunes review, sharing this episode on social media and emailing a link to anyone you think would also find benefit here. Thank you.

"If they (clients) complain when you're making money, they will be terrible if you ever lose money" - Tony Saliba (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonysaliba/)

Tony Saliba (@ajsmarketwizard) is the Chief Executive Officer at Matrix Holding Group & Mercury Digital Assets

Considered a pioneer and leader in the Chicago derivatives market, was the only options trader to be profiled in the best-selling 1989 book “Market Wizards.”

He has been a pioneer and active participant in the Chicago derivatives markets for over 20 years. He holds exchange memberships on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (serving on the Board of Directors from 1987-1990), The Chicago Board of Trade, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. 

3:00 Tony’s background

7:30 What did starting early teach you about grit?

16:30 The value of Caddying 

24:00 The spread

27:00 When and how to break out of a business relationship

39:00 The 70 month streak

47:00 Necessity is the mother of all invention.

50:30 How to fly five million miles in a year

56:00 Ethics of competing with a previous business

1:00:00 Running your business like a family

1:07:00 Did the Chinese try to take over the Chicago stock exchange?

1:19:00 Thoughts on a $15 minimum wage

1:26:00 How has the free enterprise system aided your success?

1:38:00 True Takeaways

1:30:00 Created Uber in 2003 but was 4 years too early

About Host:

In the Spring of 1981, Gary Rabine was a senior in high school trying to decide which way his future would go. While his friends were busy preparing for college, Gary was dreaming of starting a landscaping or paving business. With the experience he gained laboring and running heavy equipment for his dad's small business, he new he could do it. 

One afternoon in his schools cafeteria, surrounded by college-bound friends, Gary was asked what his college plans were. When he replied that he planned to save money to start a business, a smart ass friend eagerly termed him a "Ditch-Digger", loudly laughing “Gary's going to be a Ditch Digger”. 

Gary harnessed this memory and used it to motivate him to walk his own path. 37 years later, Gary Rabine has grown Rabine Paving and many others businesses which are now the Rabine Group of Companies. This podcast is about stories like his. From "ditch-digger" to the founder/CEO of a national facilities services empire.  

Check out https://www.DitchDiggerCEO.com/ for this week's TOP 8 Business Growth strategies and subscribe to our newsletter to download Gary’s 13 Keys to Creating a Multi-Million Dollar Business.

Follow us on Instagram @DitchDiggerCEO (https://www.instagram.com/ditchdiggerceo/) for more helpful Business Growth tips.

Our goal is to inspire everyone to start their own business and help you grow it to millions or even billions in value so if you feel any benefit from this episode please let us know by leaving an iTunes review, sharing this episode on social media and emailing a link to anyone you think would also find benefit here. Thank you.

“If you always do, what you always did, you'll get what you always got” - Garry McCarthy

Garry McCarthy was one of the earliest candidates to declare a run against Mayor Rahm Emanuel, before he made the surprise decision in September that he would no longer seek to serve a third term. The native New Yorker ran the Chicago Police Department under Emanuel for more than four years.

Garry’s public service includes 25 years (1981-2006) as an officer on the New York Police Department, including six as deputy commissioner for operations; five years as police director in Newark, N.J. (2006-11) and four years as Chicago police superintendent (2011-15).

Garry is a proven leader and he shares some of his deepest leadership knowledge and wisdom during this episode. 

Our co-host this episode is Nick Lodge. 

Shownotes:

2:49 Story of the second R in Garry

4:00 Garry's upbringing

7:27 How Garry knew being a policeman was the right path for him

19:51 Did 9/11 change your political views? - NY Has foiled 30 plots since 9/11

22:20 How Garry came to work in Chicago

29:51 How they achieved such a significant decrease in crime in Chicago

35:21 What makes a great police officer?

42:18 How would you change things if you were elected major?

49:31 Is there way to create more jobs in these underserved neighborhoods?

54:00 How do you convince businesses to stay with the possibility of paying more taxes?

1:01:23 How Garry used technology to benefit his police force

1:03:00 Where did you get your leadership principles?

Connect with Gary Rabine and DDCEO:

Visit the DDCEO BLOG: https://www.DitchDiggerCEO.com/

Follow DDCEO on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DitchDiggerCEO

Like DDCEO on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DitchDiggerCEO

Follow DDCEO on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DitchDiggerCEO

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh03Px5ez_xe_oE_iJMMNIg