About this video

• Video Title: Brad Jacobs, QXO, XPO, United Rentals & United Waste | David Senra
• Channel: David Senra
• Speakers: David Senra, Brad Jacobs
• Duration: 02:03:15

Overview

This video features an interview with Brad Jacobs, founder of multiple billion-dollar companies, including XPO, United Rentals, and United Waste. The discussion covers key lessons from his mentors like Ludwig Jesselson, the importance of embracing challenges, recruiting top talent, maintaining a long-term reputation, and finding context in life through practices like meditation. Jacobs shares insights into his business strategies, emphasizing the power of people, intelligence, and technology, as well as his approach to leadership, feedback loops, and efficient operations. The conversation also touches on personal philosophies regarding perfectionism, work-life balance, and the drive to succeed.

Key takeaways

• Mentorship and Core Principles: Brad Jacobs learned crucial lessons from his mentor, Ludwig Jesselson, emphasizing the importance of "getting the major trend right" and the value of long-term, honest relationships.
• Problems as Opportunities: Jacobs, like other successful figures such as Henry Kaiser and Jeff Bezos, views problems not as obstacles, but as opportunities for growth and value creation, highlighting the importance of a positive mindset.
• The Power of People: A recurring theme is the critical role of recruiting and building a team of "A+ players" or "superlative people," as both Jacobs and Steve Jobs believed that exceptional talent is the key to extraordinary results.
• Continuous Improvement and Feedback: Jacobs stresses the importance of feedback loops from all constituents of a business—employees, customers, and investors—to foster continuous improvement and adapt to challenges.
• Technology as a Driver of Growth: A consistent thread throughout Jacobs' career is the strategic application of technology to improve efficiency, automate processes, and gain a competitive edge, a principle seen across various industries he has invested in.
• The Importance of Passion and Going All In: The conversation underscores that true success stems from genuine passion and a commitment to "going all in" on one's pursuits, rather than merely tolerating work.
• Effective Leadership and Meetings: Jacobs advocates for a collaborative approach to leadership, particularly in meetings, where agendas are group-sourced and open discussion is encouraged to foster collective problem-solving and learning.
• Time Management and Focus: Drawing parallels with figures like Warren Buffett and Fred Smith, Jacobs emphasizes the necessity of brutal discipline in managing time, saying "no" to distractions, and focusing on high-impact activities.

Brad Jacobs structures his company meetings, specifically his monthly operating reviews (MORs), to ensure maximum efficiency and engagement through the following methods:

• Pre-read Materials: All necessary materials are sent out in advance via an app like QuestionPro, eliminating the need for PowerPoint presentations during the meeting itself.
• Group-Sourced Agendas: Instead of the CEO dictating the agenda, all participants fill out an app after reading the materials, identifying key takeaways and submitting questions they deem important. These rated questions (on a scale of 1-10) form the meeting's agenda, ensuring topics are relevant and prioritized by the group.
• Limited Participation Time: While he typically opens with an hour-long overview, the majority of the 10-hour meeting is dedicated to other participants' input.
• Focused Discussion: Attendees are expected to be fully engaged, with devices turned off, focusing on the person speaking and engaging in debate on each point and action item.
• Respectful Disagreement: The culture encourages different perspectives and constructive debate, allowing for vulnerability and the possibility of being proven wrong, which is seen as a positive learning opportunity.
• Structured Feedback: After discussing business items, Jacobs uses a series of questions to facilitate personal and team reflection, including identifying MVPs, discussing individual contributions, and having team members state their personal resolutions for improving the company.
• Positive Reinforcement: The meetings conclude with a process of silent, mutual appreciation and expression of gratitude among team members, fostering a positive and supportive environment.
• Limited Group Size: He limits these key meetings to 20-25 people, finding this size optimal for diverse opinions and dialectical discussions without leading to unproductive "peacocking" or a lack of vulnerability.

Here's a tweet summarizing the video:

🚀 Insightful chat with Brad Jacobs on building billion-dollar companies! Key takeaways: embrace problems, recruit A+ talent, leverage technology, and always stay passionate. Learn from mentors, stay focused on core principles, and "go all in!" #Business #Entrepreneurship #Leadership #BradJacobs

(Optional additions you might consider for more impact: include a specific quote or tag the speaker if they have a Twitter handle.)

Brad Jacobs discusses competition in a few key ways, often related to his business strategy and philosophy:

• Identifying Industries Ripe for Consolidation: When looking for his next venture, he seeks out industries that are large, growing, fragmented, and where companies can be acquired at reasonable prices. This implies an interest in industries where he can gain a competitive advantage through consolidation and operational improvements.
• Leveraging Technology: He prioritizes industries where technology, AI, and automation can provide a significant edge over competitors who are slower to adopt these advancements. His approach is to capitalize on technological trends rather than being disrupted by them.
• "Kill the Competition Instead of Killing Each Other": This is a direct quote from his book, highlighting his philosophy on internal team dynamics. It suggests that the focus should be on outperforming external competitors by having a cohesive, well-functioning management team that works collaboratively rather than engaging in internal conflict.
• Focusing on Core Levers: For publicly traded companies, he identifies the critical levers for success as driving organic revenue growth (outpacing competitors) and margin expansion. By excelling in these two areas, companies can create significant shareholder value and naturally gain an advantage over less efficient competitors.

To find industries with less direct competition or where he can create a significant advantage, Jacobs looks for:

1. Fragmentation: Industries with many smaller players offer more opportunities for consolidation.
2. Potential for Technological Disruption: Industries that haven't fully adopted modern technology (like AI, automation, or advanced logistics) are ripe for disruption by a more tech-forward approach.
3. Operational Improvement Opportunities: Industries where he can apply his "toolkit" to improve pricing, procurement, HR, technology, and overall efficiency offer a path to outperform existing players.