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  • #222: Avis – They Try Harder…

    #222: Avis – They Try Harder…
    2025/09/10
    Avis found a loophole for selling used cars at whatever price he wanted. This became the norm for all rental companies. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [ECO Office Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, Dave Young, here alongside Stephen Semple. And again, breaking from tradition, if you listen to the episode just before this, which is the Hertz Rental Car, you realize that we have a spoiler. Stephen told me the topic of this podcast, gosh, a whole podcast ago. Stephen Semple: That's it. Dave Young: We talked about Hertz Rental cars, and now we're going to tell the story of Avis, number two, but they try harder. Stephen Semple: If you haven't listened to Hertz, I recommend go back and listen to it because these two stories kind of tie together. And it is interesting. We think about Avis as number two. They're not number two any longer. They're now number three. It's now Enterprise, Hertz, Avis. But that's a whole different thing. Avis is still... Look, it's a massive business. They have 5,500 locations. They do 5 billion in sales. They're a big deal. And they were founded by Warren Avis in Detroit in 1946. So just shortly after the end of World War II. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: So the war's over. Troops are returning home. Cars are now being produced for the domestic market. Because, if you remember, one of the things we talked about in the last episode was you could not sell a car domestically. All car production was going into the war effort. We've got people returning home. Roads are being built. The suburbs are the place to be. Cars are now being produced for the domestic market, and sales are exploding for cars. It's going crazy. And so Warren decides to open a Ford dealership. He sinks 10 grand of his own money in. He gets a $75,000 loan. But there's one problem with being a new car dealer at this time. The federal government puts a cap on what you can charge for a car. So there's price controls on cars. So it's actually hard to make a living selling new cars because the margin is really thin, even though lots of people want to buy it. Dave Young: If you're renting cars, you're selling them over and over and over almost. Stephen Semple: Well, you're really close. Warren finds a loophole that you can hold onto a car for six months, and then sell it as a used car, no restriction. So this is what he starts doing. However, this creates an expensive inventory problem. So it's hard to do and hard to grow because he's holding onto the cars for six months. Around this time, Warren Avis rents a car from Hertz. Now, if you remember in the Hertz episode, while Hertz did amazingly well during the war because you couldn't get a car and they had cars for rent, at the same time they couldn't replace their cars. So the cars by this time were pretty rough. Dave Young: Yeah. Oh, I bet. I mean, usually rental cars now, you don't have to have very many miles on them to have them be a little rough. Stephen Semple: And Hertz was also in what was now becoming poor locations because Hertz had located in downtown locations, and now people are moving out to the suburbs. So it was out of the way, kind of a crappy car. So Avis decides to take his new cars that he has on the lot, rent them, and then sell them as used at the six-month mark, which means he would always have new cars for rent. Dave Young: Yeah, this is the business model they're all in now. Stephen Semple: Yes.
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    15 分
  • #221: Hertz –

    #221: Hertz –
    2025/09/03
    Snippet Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast. Teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Simple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is ... Well, it's us. But we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients, so here's one of those. [Travis Crawford Ad] My name is Travis Crawford, and my company wouldn't be here if it wasn't for one person. 17 years ago, I was at a friend's wedding with my girlfriend at the time. As the evening wore on, I got to complaining about how plumbing and HVAC companies got it all wrong. I knew I could do it better than they could, and she said, "Okay, then do it." I must've given her eight reasons on the spot why I couldn't do it, and she shot down every one. "Those problems are easy to fix," she said. "Stop being soft and go do it." First it was just me and a van, and then one more guy, and then one more truck. 17 years later, we have a team of more than 60, each one as energized as I was that night, to do it better than anyone in town. That girlfriend is now my wife. She doesn't work here, but this company would not be here without her. And to me, that makes all the difference in the world. Travis Crawford. HVAC.com. Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast. Dave Young here alongside Stephen Semple, and we're talking about empires. We're talking about big businesses that started out as usually smaller businesses. None of them ever start big, Stephen, when are we going to talk about businesses that just started huge? Stephen Semple: I don't know that they're as interesting, Dave Young: But today we're talking about Hertz Rental Car. Stephen Semple: Yes. Hertz Rental Car. Dave Young: And in my mind, they've always been the big one. They're the big guy. They're the top dog. Stephen Semple: Well, actually in the market today they're number two. Enterprise is the largest one, and they're number two, and then Avis is number three. Dave Young: But the Enterprise combined ... They conglomerated a bunch of them, right? Stephen Semple: Yeah. And there's even a few that are under Hertz as well these days. None of them are just one banner anymore. Dave Young: Yeah. Everything's becoming one brand. Stephen Semple: They're big. They do over nine billion in revenues in 160 countries, and they're part of the S&P 600. So they're a big deal. Dave Young: They've been big for a while. Stephen Semple: They've been big for a long time. Dave Young: I remember when Avis started, this was back in the Mad Men era. The big idea, the big advertising slogan for Avis was, "We're number two, but we try harder." So at that point, Hertz was number one. Stephen Semple: Yeah. We'll find out as we go into the story, Hertz was the first national brand as well. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: So they really, and in many ways, kind of created the car rental business as we know it today. Dave Young: Awesome. Stephen Semple: They were founded by Walter Jacobs in 1918 in Chicago. And as I was saying, today they do like nine billion in revenue. So it's 1918 in Chicago, and the Model T Ford has been out for 10 years. There's about six million cars on the road, which is about 60 cars per 1000 people in the United States at that time. So they're pretty new, but you'll see a car. They're not foreign, but they're not new. It's kind of at that stage where you'll see them. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: So now back to Walter Jacobs. Walter's this real car junkie, and he had started out actually working on an assembly line, and now he owns a Ford car dealership. He really sees cars as the future. And when he opens the dealership,
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    18 分
  • #220: LeNoble Lumber (con’t) – 3 Generations Strong

    #220: LeNoble Lumber (con’t) – 3 Generations Strong
    2025/08/27
    LeNoble has prided itself, since generation #1, that because it is hard to do, it has to get done. Then mastered the how... Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Simple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [Tapper's Jewelers Ad] Rick: Told you, Brian. Brian: Told me what? Rick: This is part two of last week's episode. Brian: Oh, yeah. And it was getting good. Rick: If you missed it, go back and listen to part one first. Take it away, fellas. Stephen Semple: There's got to be some really interesting, unique challenges to delivering your products and whatnot in Manhattan. Dan LeNoble: Yeah, Manhattan, it's just tough dealing with the congestion, the amount of people and everything like that. It is not an easy place to do it. If it was easy, everyone would do it. But what we've spent a lot of time and resources doing are hiring the right people to do the job. And Ben does a lot of our hiring as well as a few other key people in our organization and finding people that want to do it the right way, don't want to cut corners, don't want to, I'm going to park the truck on the corner here and they can come find me. Getting good drivers, good yard guys, that's the world of difference. It's simple to say no, but how do we get to yes. Stephen Semple: That's interesting. Dan LeNoble: And getting those key people has really been, I think that's what transforms us. I think our people are our single greatest asset that we have. Everyone around us it makes our life that much easier because of their skill and professionalism. Jessica LeNoble: Our dispatch team is incredible when it comes to navigating what truck goes where if there was a mistake, how to fix it. And there's never... I shouldn't say never, but there's not a blame game. If I go downstairs and I'm like, "Hey, this happened." The first thing out of the dispatcher's mouth is, "All right, what do we have to do to fix it? How do we get this done so that way they're happy?" Stephen Semple: Well, in this dispatch thing, I just want to give some background that people may not realize is in the construction space, in the home services space, I have lots of clients who are in the suburbs of a city, whether it's Philadelphia or Toronto or Vancouver or Los Angeles, who will say, "Yeah, we do not go into the downtown core because it's a pain in the neck. It's too hard. It's too difficult. There's all these challenges." I think both Jessica and Dan, you guys hit the nail in the head. What you're recognizing is one of your competitive advantages is dispatch. And also people getting that parking around the corner and they'll find us ain't good enough. You've got, yes, the city's challenging and you just have to overcome that challenge. Jessica LeNoble: We've never been outside of the city, so this is what we know. Stephen Semple: Right. Right. Dan LeNoble: I think also one of the things that is giving them the tools to use, and what I mean the tools in this case is just some of the logistics with trucks. It's easier to just have these massive tractor trailers that you can load up with however many stops and it just goes on its run. But when you're dealing with these narrow city streets and you have to make these sometimes, not huge deliveries, having a smaller truck that's nimble and can actually maneuver gives you a little advantage. So for a company our size, we're operating 42 vehicles that range anywhere from little box trucks up to those big trailers and everything in between.
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    23 分
  • #219: LeNoble Lumber – 3 Generations Strong

    #219: LeNoble Lumber – 3 Generations Strong
    2025/08/20
    Jessica, Dan and Ben took on the responsibility of the family business and are driving it into the future. Three more generations please. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is... Well, it's us. But we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [No Bull RV Ad] Stephen Semple: Hey, it's Stephen Semple here with the Empire Builders Podcast, and we're giving Dave Young the day off. And in replacement of Dave, I've got three really fun people that I know you're going to love hearing their story, three folks from LeNoble Lumber. And I'm going to let them introduce themselves and tell us a little bit about each one of them because we've got me plus three people. So this is a little bit different, but I know everyone's going to find this an awesome story. So because we're all really super polite people, it's ladies first, which means Jessica, you're up first. Jessica LeNoble: I'm Jessica LeNoble. I am the last one to join the business of the three. I've been here for almost a year now. Dan, who you'll meet in a minute, is my older brother. And it's just great to be here. Stephen Semple: All right, awesome. Thanks, Jessica. Well, Dan, you've been teed up here now. She teed you up. Dan LeNoble: Hi. So I'm Dan LeNoble. I'm vice president of LeNoble Lumber. As said before, Jessica is my younger sister. Ben is also my partner over here. I've been full-time with the company for over 15 years now. And just excited to be here as well. Stephen Semple: All right, awesome. And Ben. Ben Bernstein: Yep. Stephen Semple: Now, I know this is a podcast. We can't see that Ben's wearing his very special, bright, lime green, fluorescent tuxedo because he's calling in today from the shop. So Ben, let us know a little bit about you. Ben Bernstein: Yeah, my name is Ben Bernstein. I am co-vice president with Dan. I have been with the company since 2013. All of us are just very happy to be here, excited to be on the podcast. Stephen Semple: And here's the thing that I think is really special before we get into things is you guys are kind of in a pretty special place when it comes to businesses in America and the world. The business was established in, if I remember correctly, I think it was 1965. Dan LeNoble: Correct. Stephen Semple: By Paul, right? And you guys are generation number three, really, to be coming through the business. Isn't that correct? Jessica LeNoble: Yep. Dan LeNoble: Yeah, to this company, we're the third generation, but the three of us, in terms of the lumber industry, we go back even further than that. I know for a fact Jess and myself we're at least fifth generation in the lumber and I believe Ben is also further along as well. So we're third generation to this business, but we kind of joke that we don't have blood, we have sawdust in our veins. Stephen Semple: But I don't think a lot of people realize the success rate of a business still being successful and in the hands of the third generation is really rare. There is actually not many businesses that have managed to do that. It's amazing how often either the business has rolled up or it's been sold to somebody else or has been merged with something and has kind of disappeared. But for this to be around and still prosperous and happening in generation three is really, really special. And you guys should pat yourself on the back on that, that you've been able to do all of those transitions. Ben Bernstein: Well, I think the credit for that really goes to the generations before us that have seen the vision of see...
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    24 分
  • #218: Frappuccino – Not A Brand???

    #218: Frappuccino – Not A Brand???
    2025/08/13
    Starbucks was having a students going home issue and needed to keep selling coffee, so they copied and perfected as Seattle treat. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us. But we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients, so here's one of those. [Maven Roofing Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast. I'm Dave Young alongside Stephen Semple. And man, this topic takes me back. I feel like in the early days of the Empire Builders Podcast, we talked a lot about coffee and coffee products. Stephen Semple: We did. We did. Dave Young: And today, you told me we're going to talk about Frappuccino. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: And my big question is is that a brand? Stephen Semple: No, it's a name. It's a product name. And it's actually owned by Starbucks. And yep, Starbucks, I looked this up, Dave, guess what episode Starbucks was? Guess how far back we got to go? Dave Young: I don't know, single digits? Stephen Semple: Yes, episode five. It's like four years ago we talked about Starbucks. Dave Young: And they own the word Frappuccino? Stephen Semple: They own the word Frappuccino. No one else can use the name. They didn't create it. And it's funny, when I learned this, I went, "No, no, no." Because Tim Hortons and things like that, they use Frappuccino. And then I noticed they don't. It's called things like frozen caps or frozen cappuccinos. No one actually uses the name Frappuccino, even though in my mind they did. Dave Young: I feel stupid. You don't hear why? Stephen Semple: Why is that? Dave Young: It's a portmanteau of frozen and cappuccino. I never figured that out before. Stephen Semple: Well, it's actually not quite that. Dave Young: Isn't it? Okay. Stephen Semple: No, it's going to be something a little bit more interesting. You're close, but it's a little bit more interesting than that. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: So it's kind of an interesting story, and it's a huge category in Starbucks. And in fact, when the idea was first introduced to Howard Schultz, he hated it. He was like, "No, we're not doing this. I'm a coffee purist. We're not doing this frozen drink thing with the star and all this other crap." But our story actually starts with the relocation of George Howell from Berkeley to Boston in the early-1970s. Because George is a real coffee nerd. I mean real coffee nerd. There's stories of George pulling into a diner and wanting to have a coffee and smelling the burnt coffee in the diner. And basically, he'll ask for a pot of hot water and he'll pull out his beans, pull out a coffee grinder, and his French press, and to start to make coffee. And people would gather around, like, "What the hell are you doing?" Dave Young: To show them how to make coffee. Stephen Semple: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So it's the 1970s, and there's not much of a coffee culture yet in United States. But there was in Berkeley, which he just left. And Berkeley was kind of ground zero for the coffee culture in the United States. Dave Young: I see what you did there. Grounds, zero. Stephen Semple: I didn't even think about that. And he's moving to Boston. Now, ironically, Boston is kind of the starting point for coffee consumption in the United States, but it's really still not good coffee. George wanders the Boston area visiting literally every cafe and ordering coffee, and it's terrible. He tries all of them, and he's continually disappointed. And George not only misses coffee, but the culture of coffee,
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    19 分
  • #217: Sesame Street – Breaking Boundries

    #217: Sesame Street – Breaking Boundries
    2025/08/06
    Using TV addiction to educate children. Sesame Street broke boundries and changed rules to bring education to every child. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is... Well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [Seaside Plumbing Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast, the podcast where Stephen Semple and Dave Young, that's me, Stephen Semple is him, we talk about businesses and how they grew and what made them empires. And normally during our little countdown to the recording, Stephen hands me the topic. He whispers in my ear what we're going to talk about today, and he didn't do that. So I still have no idea, but my enthusiasm is high because before we started recording, he said, "I've got some really good ones that we're going to record today." I'm thinking, "Finally. Finally, some good..." No, I just, they're all good. But you've got me on the edge of my seat, Stephen. You said I would be able to get this without the timer, without the countdown. Stephen Semple: That's it. So it starts off this way, "Can you tell me how to get, how to get to..." Dave Young: Sesame Street? I can sing it. Stephen Semple: Yes, that's it. Well, I could sing it as well, but no one wants to hear me sing. Dave Young: Sunny day, dah, dah, dah. Oh, yeah. Oh, Sesame Street. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: Cool. Stephen Semple: Yes. We're going to talk about Sesame Street. Now- Dave Young: Are we going to do voices? Stephen Semple: You might be able to. Dave Young: Here's the countdown, 5, 4... Four countdowns. Three. I don't think The Count did countdowns, did he? Stephen Semple: No, he never did, I don't think. But it's a nonprofit. It's owned by a nonprofit. Dave Young: [inaudible 00:02:59]. Stephen Semple: But a 1996 survey found that 95% of all American preschoolers had watched it by the time they were three years old. Dave Young: Sure. I believe that. Stephen Semple: Ninety-five percent. Now, when you hit a number like that, holy crap. I started looking at some of these things and went, "This is a story that we've got to explore." So Sesame Street first aired on November 10th, 1969 on Public Television. And put in perspective, that's the year that a man landed on the moon. That's what we're going back to. Dave Young: So here's the funny thing, I wasn't even a preschooler. I was six. I'd watch it today if it was still on. Stephen Semple: It's amazing. Dave Young: All the Spanish I know came from Sesame Street. Stephen Semple: There you go. Dave Young: I can count to 10. Stephen Semple: There you go. Amazing, eh? Dave Young: Yeah. So 1969... Stephen Semple: It changed television. And it's estimated that it's contributed to the education of over 150 million kids. It's the home of Elmo, and Tickle Me Elmo is one of the best-selling toys of all time, and all this was created and owned by a nonprofit. And the creators were Joan Cooney, Lloyd Morrisett, and of course, Jim Henson was a big contributor in the early days. And Joan was a documentary TV producer for Public Television. And the story basically starts in 1966, and Joan Cooney had just completed a documentary on a school in Harlem that was trying to close the gap in results with white counterparts. And if you think about it, in the mid-1960s, a lot is happening. The Civil Rights Movement is in full swing, but there's still this big gap. And Black first-graders are scoring lower on tests than 85% of white kids.
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    19 分
  • #216: Oliva Gibbs Law – Part 2

    #216: Oliva Gibbs Law – Part 2
    2025/07/30
    Zach Oliva truly understands commitment and dedication to growing something you believe in. He practices active recommitting to stay on goal. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is... Well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [Oliva Gibbs Ad] Rick: Told you, Brian. Brian: Told me what? Rick: This is part two of last week's episode. Brian: Oh yeah. And it was getting good. Rick: If you missed it, go back and listen to part one first. Take it away, fellas. Stephen Semple: Hey, it's Stephen Semple here, and as the guys just alluded to, this is part two of an amazing podcast on Oliva Gibbs energy law. And not to give too much away, in case you don't want to go back and listen to the first episode, although I think you should. Oliva Gibbs basically in about a 15-year period of time, went from three lawyers to now there are six offices and 60 people. And in this podcast, we are going to go down some really interesting rabbit holes. This has turned out to be one of my favorite podcasts, and I know you're going to enjoy it. Zach Oliva: So I think probably for the five years before COVID, I would take these trips and it would be called a think week or weekend or whatever, and I would get a flip phone and I would go to a cabin in rural Texas. Stephen Semple: Well, you just dated yourself there. You got a flip phone. Zach Oliva: Yeah, I still have a flip phone. I have a flip phone. I use a flip phone every weekend. I've been using a flip phone every weekend for seven years. I would use my flip phone and I would go on these trips and I would take my dog and just hang out at this cabin. I would read a bunch of books about business strategy or investing or whatever, and I would think through issues. And I had really good ideas that would come up during those think weeks. And I think that where I failed in a lot of those was I would come back and I would try and implement those ideas completely on my own. And so I didn't know yet the importance of getting buy-in from the team and all that stuff. And so it caused actually a lot of frustration. The great thing about Strategic Coach is now I have think weeks all the time because I just have free days where I'm taking time off. But I still use a flip phone every weekend since probably the last six or seven years. It's amazing. Stephen Semple: So one of the things I wanted to ask you about, because it's really easy to say the whole thing of, "Okay, I'm going to go and I'm going to hire some professionals, I'm going to hire some experts, but not everybody has success doing that and for a bunch of reasons." And you've had great success doing it. So if you are going to give somebody advice saying, "Look, you're going to grow your business, go out and hire some experts that are great at helping grow the business." What advice would you have for folks in terms of, I guess, finding, selecting, and working with those professionals so that they have the type of success that you and Brad have had? Zach Oliva: I think where I've seen people fail and hiring things like advisors or coaches or things like that is they don't understand the nature of commitment. And so when a few years ago I worked with an awesome performance coach named Christopher Doris, and he coaches professional golfers, NFL players, entrepreneurs, stuff like that. And his big thing is what does all in look like here? And why would you do anything if you're not all in? And Stephen, do you know what the nature of commitment is? Stephen Semple: Well,
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    24 分
  • #215: Oliva Gibbs Law – Part 1

    #215: Oliva Gibbs Law – Part 1
    2025/07/23
    Zach Oliva had just graduated from law school when Ohio discover a huge natural gas shale. Well, he went digging where no other lawyers were... Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. Here's one of those. [Oliva Gibbs Law Ad] Stephen Semple: Hey, it's Stephen Semple with the Empire Builders Podcast. We're doing something a little different this week. We've given Dave the day off, and I've got a really special guest with me, Zach Oliva. He's the co-founder of the law firm Oliva Gibbs, in Texas. They're an energy law firm. You guys, you've done something special in terms of what you've grown into. How many lawyers are you now, Zach? Zach Oliva: I think probably close to 60 attorneys across six offices in the U.S. It's been a lot of fun. Stephen Semple: You always know you've grown to a size when it's like, "I think it's 60." Zach Oliva: Yeah. Well, we're always looking for rock stars. I know that there's probably some offers that went out this week, not sure what the status of those are and things. We're blessed with a really great team. Stephen Semple: How long have you guys been around for now? When was the firm established? How many years ago now? Zach Oliva: 2013, actually. Stephen Semple: 2013? Zach Oliva: 12 years, yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah, that's phenomenal. In 12 years, it has grown from yourself and Brad to basically being now 60 odd lawyers, and being in that magic- Zach Oliva: Yeah. Well, we started the business with another partner who has since retired. Stephen Semple: Okay. All right, there was three. Zach Oliva: I think I was 26 years old. I was reflecting on that the other day. I think I was 26, which, I was pretty dumb then, so I didn't know how stupid of an idea. I also didn't have kids, which makes the decision a little bit different. Stephen Semple: Tell me about how all of this started, because the thing that's also interesting is the area you've gone after, oil and gas. Look, it's not the glamorous space. It would be a bit of an easy one to overlook and not get excited about, and you guys have built this amazing business. As we've worked together, I've learned more and more about how it's actually a far more interesting and innovative industry than people give it credit for. How did it all get started? Zach Oliva: Well, I was in law school in Ohio, where I grew up, and Ohio got just destroyed by the Great Recession. I got out of law school around 2011, and there were no jobs. I was reading the paper, and I noticed that in the paper, they kept talking about this thing called the Utica Shale and the Marcellus Shale, which, they were calling it the most prolific natural gas discovery ever in the country. It was under Ohio, so under the land, under the state of Ohio and New York, and parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and no law firms in Ohio at that time had an oil and gas practice. I was going to these firms, saying, "Hey, I think there's going to be something here. I would love to come work for you, even for free, because I really think that this is going to be a big industry in Ohio. By the way, there are no big industries in Ohio anymore. If anything's going to work, it's going to be this one." None of them were interested in a kid fresh out of law school working for free, doing something that they had no idea how it worked, which, I don't blame them at all. I had a professor who was a really bright guy, and he was really knowledgeable about the country. He was previously an advisor,
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    22 分