Join Disruptors: https://www.skool.com/disruptors/about Year two kicks off here. Justin debriefs the LeanScaper event in Chicago and pulls three takeaways straight from the room. The 131 rule from Dan Martell for handing problems back to your team instead of being the firefighter. Why trust is the foundation under every high performing company, with a nod to Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team. And the calendar audit that was Justin's biggest aha of the week: 14 days, 15 minute blocks, rate your energy, then apply the four Ds.

From there he digs into the issue squeezing landscapers right now. Profitability compression in an inflationary boom. Two operators, different sizes, same problem. Justin makes the case that the bottleneck is almost always at the top of the bottle, why hiring your heroes beats defaulting to a consultant, and how a simple system like EOS and a Level 10 meeting can break a leader's ceiling.

Brought to you by Kress. Fully electric, now fully autonomous, deploying at scale at K&D. Want a demo or an intro to the right person in your market? Email justin@jwhitegroup.com and Justin will connect you directly.

Upcoming events: Lawn & Landscape Technology Conference, July 22 to 24: Lawn and Landscape Tech Conference Sign Up NALP Elevate, Tampa, November 8 to 11, featuring an AI experience for executives hosted by Justin: https://www.landscapeprofessionals.org/Elevate

See you next week, right here on the Weekly Update. Connect with Justin: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-white-%E2%98%85-35b7a210b/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinwhiteceo

This week on Trades Talk, Justin White brings Michael Ding back for round two. A year ago, Michael was a founder building Bobyard for landscape takeoffs. Today he's the CEO of one of the most talked about AI startups in construction, fresh off a $35 million Series A with Joe Lonsdale (Palantir co-founder) on the board.

In this episode:

• Why the average construction worker is 3X less productive than the rest of the US economy, and what that gap actually unlocks
• What it took to raise the largest software Series A in construction history (no pitch deck, no data room, fully oversubscribed)
• Why Bobyard builds a custom AI model for every trade, from landscaping to electrical conduit routing to MEP
• The YSD hiring philosophy doubling revenue every quarter, and the bonus structure that turns recruiters into operators

Michael's takeaway is simple. AI models are middle to middle, humans are end to end. Your company is running optimally when everybody is only doing the things that only they can do.

If you are running a trades business, evaluating AI tools, or trying to understand where pre-construction software is actually going, this one is required listening.

JW Group Website: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/ Justin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-white-%E2%98%85-35b7a210b/ Justin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinwhiteceo/ Justins Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@justinwhiteceo Michael LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-ding-933185189 Bobyard Website: https://www.bobyard.com/ K&D Website: https://kndlandscaping.com/ K&D Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kanddlandscaping/ Disruptors Community: https://www.skool.com/disruptors Disruptors Advantage Newsletter: https://disruptors-advantage.beehiiv.com/ 5th Annual K&D Water Summit: https://www.eventzilla.net/e/5th-annual-central-coast-water-summit-2138673574 Leanscaper: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/leanscaper

This week on Trades Talk, Justin White sits down with Austyn Roth, founder of Lucky Landscaping in Jupiter, Florida. Austyn started mowing lawns at 11, financed a golf cart at 14 with a 10 percent loan from his dad, hired a driver at 15 because he was too young to drive, and sold the company to Landscape Workshop before he turned 23.

In this episode:

• How a teenage debt strategy turned a push mower into a multi million dollar Class A commercial route
• The 5 mile radius rule that built $4 million in revenue from just 15 customers
• Why Austyn said no to install work — and watched his maintenance margins jump
• Why his next company, Lucky Portables, is being built to be owned by the employees

Austyn's trade secret is simple. Hire people better than you, every single time. If you don't train your replacement, you stay stuck where you are.

If you're a young founder, a maintenance company chasing route density, or an operator wondering what life after the sale actually looks like, this one is a fast yes.

JW Group Website: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/ Justin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-white-%E2%98%85-35b7a210b/ Justin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinwhiteceo/ Justins Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@justinwhiteceo K&D Website: https://kndlandscaping.com/ K&D Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kanddlandscaping/ Disruptors Community: https://www.skool.com/disruptors Disruptors Advantage Newsletter: https://disruptors-advantage.beehiiv.com/ 5th Annual K&D Water Summit: https://www.eventzilla.net/e/5th-annual-central-coast-water-summit-2138673574 Leanscaper: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/leanscaper