From garage to a $250 million global aerospace supplier—and then do it again and again as an investor and mentor.

In this episode, Jerry Jendusa, founder of EMTEQ and now head of Breakthru, shares how a mix of listening to customers, discipline, and people-first leadership drove his growth journey. From bootstrapping to $100 million in sales and $250 million exit, Jerry reflects on lessons learned:

• people trump process
• process trumps product
• customers trump capital
• debt trumps equity.

A proud Wisconsin native, Jerry also discusses building bridges in polarized times through shared purpose and growth.

Favorite Quotes

“We learned, sometimes the hard way, to prioritize people and process—but learned fast. At the end of the day, people create the process, so people always trump process.”

“We set out to raise customers, not capital. We wanted to live inside customers’ value stream: their minds, habits, and pain points.”

“Equity is far more expensive than debt. The smarter you are about leveraging debt, the faster your equity can grow.”

“I still meet $5-million companies who brag, ‘I pay cash for everything.’ My reaction? ‘Are you serious?!?’ That’s not strength—it’s stagnation.”

“To my younger self: don’t start a business—buy one.”

Key Themes

People over process: Sustainable scaling begins with the right team, not the right manual.

Customer intimacy: The best capital is customer trust, not investor cash.

Smart leverage: Knowing when (and how) to use debt accelerates equity growth.

Scaling culture: Values, discipline, and a bias for listening build companies that last.

Key Takeaways

Growth follows focus—on people, customers, and disciplined risk.

Process matters, but only when people buy in.

Debt, used wisely, can be a growth engine.

Entrepreneurs don’t need to invent something new—they can scale what already works better.