How a 28-year-old turned garbage into a $67.5 billion-dollar company:
No college degree, no VC funding, one secret:
No college degree, no VC funding, one secret:
Picture this... It’s 1962 (eek 59 years ago) and you’re fresh out of the army.
You’ve got only a high school diploma to your name. No hard skills. And you’ve certainly got no money.
Anyone with a brain would first lock down a job, right?
You’ve got only a high school diploma to your name. No hard skills. And you’ve certainly got no money.
Anyone with a brain would first lock down a job, right?
Not this guy.
Meet Harry Wayne Huizenga. Founder of Waste Management, who went from college dropout to building the world's largest garbage company.
They did $15Billion in revenue just in 2020.
One man's trash right?
Meet Harry Wayne Huizenga. Founder of Waste Management, who went from college dropout to building the world's largest garbage company.
They did $15Billion in revenue just in 2020.
One man's trash right?
Wayne went into the army, got out, spent the next five years hopping from odd job to odd job, trying to make ends meet.
On paper, it didn’t look like he had much going on for him. But all that changed one day...
On paper, it didn’t look like he had much going on for him. But all that changed one day...
While he and his father were out to lunch, they ran into a high school classmate of his father’s who owned a garbage collection business.
He was in the market for a new manager, offered Wayne the job.
His new boss assured him that this gig would only be for three weeks.
He was in the market for a new manager, offered Wayne the job.
His new boss assured him that this gig would only be for three weeks.
Three weeks turned to three months and Wayne was still driving out to Pompano Beach every day to dispatch garbage trucks.
A few days later, he saw the ad that started it all.
‘Refuse Route for Sale. Revenue: $500 a Month’
A few days later, he saw the ad that started it all.
‘Refuse Route for Sale. Revenue: $500 a Month’
He remembered the words his father told him. ‘You can’t make real money working for someone else’.
So he decided to get skin in the game.
He reached out to the seller. After negotiating seller financing, he was able to get his first route for $0 down.
So he decided to get skin in the game.
He reached out to the seller. After negotiating seller financing, he was able to get his first route for $0 down.
Now if you follow me on Tik Tok you know EVERYONE LOVES to tell me this isn’t doable.
Well my dears, people have been buying businesses with zero dollars down since the 1960s.
With an additional $5k loan from his father and a single truck, Wayne became a garbage co owner.
Well my dears, people have been buying businesses with zero dollars down since the 1960s.
With an additional $5k loan from his father and a single truck, Wayne became a garbage co owner.
Wayne would wake up at 2 AM every day (Jeezus), hop in his garbage truck, and make his collection rounds on his routes.
Then he’d return at noon, don a suit, and head into town to score more business.
Then he’d return at noon, don a suit, and head into town to score more business.
But hustle culture wasn’t all there was to Wayne’s business plan. If it was, he wouldn’t have been able to build two more Fortune 1000 companies in his 50s. Which he did.
No, Wayne had a secret sauce.
No, Wayne had a secret sauce.
M&A – aka buying businesses.
In Wayne’s time, the garbage collection industry was fragmented.
In Wayne’s time, the garbage collection industry was fragmented.
The market was filled with many small players.
Wayne had the idea that if he could buy out his competition and merge all their businesses into one, he could dominate the market.
Instead of trying to dominate his competitors, he bought them.
Wayne had the idea that if he could buy out his competition and merge all their businesses into one, he could dominate the market.
Instead of trying to dominate his competitors, he bought them.
Before he walked away from WMI in 1984, Wayne acquired 133 other garbage disposal companies.
Their trucks, accounts, resources…he made it all his.
Their trucks, accounts, resources…he made it all his.
Today, not only was Wayne a billionaire, he made his son one too.
Waste Management also services nearly 21 million customers across three countries with 26,000 trucks and hundreds of landfills and recycling plants.
It's collectively done more than 100Billion in revenue.
Waste Management also services nearly 21 million customers across three countries with 26,000 trucks and hundreds of landfills and recycling plants.
It's collectively done more than 100Billion in revenue.
The lesson here?
As humans, we are wired to see our competition as the enemy, especially in business.
But they don’t have to be.
I mean, why go toe-to-toe with other businesses when you can convert them and use their resources to grow yours?
As humans, we are wired to see our competition as the enemy, especially in business.
But they don’t have to be.
I mean, why go toe-to-toe with other businesses when you can convert them and use their resources to grow yours?
OH and NBD, he used the exact same strategy to build Blockbuster... want us to break it down?
Wayne's strategy worked in other industries, too
He grew another boring business of his to billions in revenue: Blockbuster
Want more details on Wayne and his M&A strategy? I covered it in my newsletter last week:
contrarianthinking.co/he-built-a-29b…
He grew another boring business of his to billions in revenue: Blockbuster
Want more details on Wayne and his M&A strategy? I covered it in my newsletter last week:
contrarianthinking.co/he-built-a-29b…
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