2x ETA, the 1st a crucible of hard lessons. 2+ yrs into the 2d, a 35 yr old co. Ex BigLaw, F50, PE. 60 yo, 👀 longevity, joy w my wife and 4 grown kids
Orlando, FL
Joined December 2022
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It’s time for a re-introduction.
I’m Joe Springsteen. I run Mallard — an exterior and window cleaning company in Florida — and I’m obsessed with building a durable, high-performance B2B service business in a market that doesn’t forgive sloppiness.
We clean apartments, commercial properties, major resorts and portfolios at scale.
But what I really build is teams.
After acquiring a 30+ year old company in a hot market, one thing became obvious:
Service businesses don’t fail because of pressure washers.
They fail because of leadership, systems, and financial discipline.
I’ve failed on all of those, trust me.
So that’s what I work on.
Rap Sheet:
Owner/Operator, Mallard • Acquired & scaling a legacy exterior cleaning company • B2B focus (asset managers & commercial portfolios) • Occasional speaker on buying and growing service businesses • Builder of teams that execute in the Florida heat
Currently:
– Scaling commercial services w 22% rev and 24% EBITDA YoY growth
– Reworking systems (CRM, dispatch, payments, field ops)
– Negotiating smart partnerships
– Building a fleet that makes sense
– Obsessed with margins, retention, brand and intentional travel 12 wks / yr
Happily married with 4 kids and 2 dogs between us. Business builder. Operator first, talker second.
On my feed:
Service business economics, ETA strategies, blue collar leadership, B2B marketing, the occasional contrarian take, successes but more failures.
No generic shit.
Dog and travel photos.
Joe Springsteen retweeted
I'm in my 40s. The most scared/disoriented people in my network are the ones that have the following resume => went to an Ivy League school, went into consulting for Bain or BCG or investment banking for a bulge bracket bank then MBA at Harvard/Stanford and then career progression in high income tech W2 or hedge funds/private equity.
A number of these individuals in the last 5 years have been unexpectedly let go in their early 40s with 2-3 kids in private school and a burn rate they socially struggle to walk away from (kids have close friends now, business connections at the private school their kids go to, living in a high cost location makes it easier to network, etc).
These are the people literally have only been told they are excellent their entire lives and now are in year 3-4 (no exaggeration) of trying to land a new job. Some are willing to "settle" for working for mid 6 figures (some even less) just to cover their burn rate with a young family.
AI probably makes this dynamic happen earlier in one's career going forward for some of these perfect resumes individuals. Good chart from @Jack_Raines in his book Young Money
Best times to catch up on X:
- between sets at gym
- taking a dump
- scheduled auto queue of content created 2 weeks ago
Gotta keep it real people.
Get some exercise today!
Chest shoulders and tri’s rotation: bench press / incline / upright shoulder press. Cycle 3 sets each w increasing weight. Then tricep extensions 6 sets.
Yep I was told by a very well known SBA pref lender that they didn’t touch residential landscaping acquisitions circa 2022.
This guy is THE CAR AND FLEET GUY.
I love working with him. He’s proactive, smart and creative.
BTW I pay him not vice versa. This is a pay it forward for an awesome dude nailing his niche.
2023: Wells Fargo let me go as part of a larger displacement.
That same year, I accepted a job at Silicon Valley Bank the day it collapsed.
Then a Ford opportunity disappeared in a hiring freeze.
I decided no institution would decide my future again.
So I started Motosaic.
Since then, I've helped buy 250+ vehicles and save more than $1,000,000 on them.
I started with six months of severance and an idea.
This was the dream. I wanted to build something on my own terms, and I get to do it in America, where a layoff can turn into a business.
God, I love this country.
