The Ledger

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Disclosure
Jacobs only hires 'raw capitalists' who are absolutely motivated by money
“I want my company, people who are absolutely motivated by money, who are raw capitalists, who are people who want to make money for themselves and their families, and that we can figure out a way that by being part of our company, they can help us make money f…”
Brad Jacobs Aug 4, 2026 ▶ 1:26:45 The Mindset Behind Building a Great Little Business | Brad Jacobs
Disclosure
Jacobs structures executive equity to double-vest above the 85th percentile
“If our shareholder returns are less than 55% or so, I don't want it to vest. If it's 65%, it vests some. If it's 75%, it vests more. If it, if it's 85%, 90%, 95%, I want it to, I want them to make, I want it to double vest.”
Brad Jacobs Aug 4, 2026 ▶ 1:28:31 The Mindset Behind Building a Great Little Business | Brad Jacobs
Disclosure
Jacobs: Board members can contact any employee anytime without supervision
“Any board member can reach out to any person in the company anytime they want and ask them anything they want. And there's no supervision or people have to accompany them or none of that.”
Brad Jacobs Aug 4, 2026 ▶ 1:11:52 The Mindset Behind Building a Great Little Business | Brad Jacobs
Disclosure
Jacobs's companies run budgeting and plan tracking every single day
“We don't do budgeting once in a while. We do budgeting every day. Every single day where we've got our numbers, that our plan is our plan, and where are we tracking versus the plan?”
Brad Jacobs Aug 4, 2026 ▶ 1:18:43 The Mindset Behind Building a Great Little Business | Brad Jacobs
Disclosure
Jacobs: QXO targets one to two turns of EBITDA in debt
“In my new company that I'm forming, QXO, we're going to have, I think our target, a healthy target should be one to two turns of debt.”
Brad Jacobs Mar 19, 2024 ▶ 32:44 Brad Jacobs: How To Build a Billion Dollar Company
Disclosure
Jacobs gives board directors unchaperoned access to all company employees
“Any board member can reach out to any person in the company anytime they want and ask them anything they want. And there's no supervision or people have to accompany them or none of that.”
Brad Jacobs Mar 19, 2024 ▶ 1:10:31 Brad Jacobs: How To Build a Billion Dollar Company
Disclosure
Jacobs structures executive equity to double-vest only at top-tier shareholder returns
“So that if our shareholder returns are less than 55% or so, I don't want it to vest. If it's 65%, it vests some. If it's 75%, it vests more. If it, if it's 85%, 90%, 95%, I want it to, I want them to make, I want it to double vest.”
Brad Jacobs Mar 19, 2024 ▶ 1:26:37 Brad Jacobs: How To Build a Billion Dollar Company
Disclosure
Jacobs targets one to two turns of debt for QXO
“In my new company that I'm forming, QXO, we're going to have, I think our target, a healthy target should be one to two turns of debt.”
Brad Jacobs Aug 4, 2026 ▶ 32:43 The Mindset Behind Building a Great Little Business | Brad Jacobs
Disclosure
Jacobs is investing $900M of his own money into QXO
“Last week we had a call with my 75 co-investors in my new company, QXO. So my wife and I are putting in nine hundred million dollars and then Sequoia And a few dozen friends and family, like really friends and family, like my sister and my brother and my niece…”
Brad Jacobs Aug 4, 2026 ▶ 57:08 The Mindset Behind Building a Great Little Business | Brad Jacobs
Disclosure
Jacobs: Integration begins at agreement signing and standardizes immediately upon closing
“I integrate from the moment that we agree to buy a company, we're starting the integration process. And the day we close the acquisition, Gazaam. We're in there and we're standardizing everything as much as we possibly can.”
Brad Jacobs Aug 4, 2026 ▶ 1:07:02 The Mindset Behind Building a Great Little Business | Brad Jacobs
Disclosure
Jacobs asks target executives if they would buy the company themselves
“I like to interview the top 15 or so people, one on one, like an hour, hour and a half. And I like to ask them, if this was your money, would you buy this company? And what would, if you did buy it, what would you change? What would you do differently?”
Brad Jacobs Aug 4, 2026 ▶ 1:08:38 The Mindset Behind Building a Great Little Business | Brad Jacobs
Disclosure
Jacobs is investing $900M of his personal capital into QXO
“Last week we had a call with my 75 co-investors in my new company, QXO. So my wife and I are putting in nine hundred million dollars, and then Sequoia And a few dozen friends and family, like really friends and family, like my sister and my brother and my niec…”
Brad Jacobs Mar 19, 2024 ▶ 55:46 Brad Jacobs: How To Build a Billion Dollar Company
Disclosure
Jacobs requires his companies to perform budgeting every single day
“We don't do budgeting Once in a while. We do budgeting every day. Every single day where we've got our numbers, that our plan is our plan, and where are we tracking versus the plan?”
Brad Jacobs Mar 19, 2024 ▶ 1:17:21 Brad Jacobs: How To Build a Billion Dollar Company
Disclosure
Brad Jacobs did three hours of weekly therapy to improve business decisions
“I did a couple years of therapy for three hours a week for a couple years, so I have spent a lot of time reflecting on how I think, what my automatic thoughts are, what my biases are, what my cognitive distortions are, and I'm aware of those. And I apply vario…”
Brad Jacobs Aug 4, 2026 ▶ 4:29 The Mindset Behind Building a Great Little Business | Brad Jacobs
Disclosure
Brad Jacobs self-identifies as a musician rather than a businessperson
“I define myself, I self-identify as a musician, more than a business person, which you might find odd, because I've spent a lot of time building big businesses and running large enterprises, but When I think about myself as a music, musician who happens to be …”
Brad Jacobs Aug 4, 2026 ▶ 17:36 The Mindset Behind Building a Great Little Business | Brad Jacobs
Disclosure
Jacobs underwent three hours of weekly therapy to improve business decision-making
“I did a couple years of therapy for three hours a week for a couple years, so I have spent a lot of time reflecting on how I think, what my automatic thoughts are, what my biases are, what my cognitive distortions are, and I'm aware of those, and I apply vario…”
Brad Jacobs Mar 19, 2024 ▶ 6:16 Brad Jacobs: How To Build a Billion Dollar Company
Disclosure
Jacobs: Stepping down from United Rentals caused sole depressive episode
“The only time in my life that I've been depressed, but I was really depressed, was in the mid-two thousands, when I had stepped down from being CEO of this big company, United Rentals, and now I didn't have anything to do.”
Brad Jacobs Mar 19, 2024 ▶ 12:13 Brad Jacobs: How To Build a Billion Dollar Company
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