{"podcast":{"title":"Acquiring Minds","slug":"acquiring-minds-3909119","podcast_index_feed_id":3909119,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/acquiring-minds","website_url":"https://acquiringminds.co","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/L4RqrWQWQ35dO2yrZK1oM8-GSsnKnU7x_9oLElypgrQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8zYjk2/ZDQwODk5YzNlY2Mw/MTIxN2FkMmYwZTRj/MjMwNS5qcGc.jpg","author":"Will Smith","episode_count":463,"summary":"Buying a business is an amazing path for many successful entrepreneurs. Learn how to buy a business from the entrepreneurs who have already done it. 2x per week: stories, insights, & valuable advice about acquisition entrepreneurship. Hosted by Will Smith, who is on his own path to acquire a business. Also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AcquiringMinds Sign up for episode summaries at: https://acquiringminds.co","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/acquiring-minds-3909119"},"episode":{"title":"Bricklayer to Blue-Collar Empire","slug":"bricklayer-to-blue-collar-empire","published_at":"2026-03-12T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/acquiring-minds-3909119/bricklayer-to-blue-collar-empire","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/acquiring-minds-3909119","url":"https://acquiringminds.co/articles/justin-escajeda-escajeda-holdings","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/b37daf48/920fb97f.mp3","summary":"After building a masonry business over 5+ years, Justin Escajeda bought his first company in 2018 and never looked back. Register for the webinars: From Owner to Owner: Business Transition Lessons - TODAY - https://bit.ly/46K82p5 Topics in Justin’s interview: His early career as a stone mason Growing his side jobs into a company Liquidating his real estate investments Focusing on masonry niches Acquiring his first business for a 1.3 multiple Recruiting managers based on work ethic His flat compensation and guaranteed bonus structure How he prevents fraud and mismanagement Keeping company names the same after buying The personal cost of overseeing 11 companies References and how to contact Justin: LinkedIn Escajeda Holdings Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business: Email Nick Akers at nick@inzotechnologies.com , and tell him you’re a searcher Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory: The Acquisition Lab Work with an SBA loan team focused exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses: Pioneer Capital Advisory Connect with Acquiring Minds: See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn Follow Will on Twitter Edited by Anton Rohozov Produced by Pam Cameron","meta_description":"After building a masonry business over 5+ years, Justin Escajeda bought his first company in 2018 and never looked back. Register for the webinars: From O…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":5676,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/acquiring-minds-3909119/episodes/bricklayer-to-blue-collar-empire/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/acquiring-minds-3909119/bricklayer-to-blue-collar-empire.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}