David Royce - 4x Exited Entrepreneur ($500M) | Following Your Dreams Can Keep You Broke

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David Royce is a serial entrepreneur who turned a door-to-door pest control hustle into a billion-dollar empire. He built and sold Moxie, EcoFirst, and Alterra for a combined $170M+—with individual exits of $13M, $30M, and $130M—before launching Aptive Environmental, now one of the fastest-growing service companies in America with 3,700+ locations. Known for scaling “boring” businesses into goldmines, Royce mastered the art of growth through elite teams, strong culture, and bulletproof systems. His playbook is the blueprint for turning everyday industries into nine-figure wins.

➡️ Show Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-royce-22539425/ 

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Hubspot - https://hubspot.com/  

Cornbread Hemp - https://cornbreadhemp.com/success (Code: Success)

iDigress Podcast - https://idigress.show 

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Indeed - https://indeed.com/clary

➡️ Talking Points

00:00 – Intro

01:27 – Accidental Entrepreneur?

03:04 – What Made David a Sales Star

04:22 – Passion vs Profit

08:24 – From Employee to Founder

11:50 – Building a Service Business

13:37 – Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made?

17:04 – Near Bankruptcy and the Comeback

19:14 – 7,500 Customers in Year One

25:26 – Sponsor Break

27:23 – The 3 Phases of Business

31:51 – How His 4 Companies Evolved

37:39 – Lessons from 4 Exits

40:54 – Hiring Rockstar Executives

44:27 – Sponsor Break

46:05 – When Will He Exit Again?

54:41 – Why Founders Can’t Switch Off

58:54 – Redefining Success

1:08:41 – How David Learns

1:13:52 – Will His Kids Take Over?

1:15:56 – What’s Next for David

1:16:48 – One Lesson for His Kids

Welcome to the Success Story Podcast, hosted by entrepreneur, business executive, author, educator & speaker, Scott D. Clary (@scottdclary). On this podcast, you'll find interviews, Q&A, keynote presentations & conversations on sales, marketing, business, startups and entrepreneurship. Scott will discuss some of the lessons he's learned over his own career, as well as have candid interviews with execs, celebrities, notable figures and politicians. All who have achieved success through both wins and losses, to learn more about their life, their ideas and insights. He sits down with leaders and mentors and unpacks their story to help pass those lessons onto others through both experiences and tactical strategy for business professionals, entrepreneurs and everyone in between. To get more of the Success Story podcast, go to www.successstorypodcast.com.