Trades Talk Podcast

Michael Ding: Inside the $35 Million Series A That Could Triple Construction Productivity

This week on Trades Talk, Justin White brings Michael Ding back for round two. A year ago, Michael was a founder building Bobyard for landscape takeoffs. Today he's the CEO of one of the most talked about AI startups in construction, fresh off a $35 million Series A with Joe Lonsdale (Palantir co-founder) on the board.
In this episode:
Why the average construction worker is 3X less productive than the rest of the US economy, and what that gap actually unlocks
What it took to raise the largest software Series A in construction history (no pitch deck, no data room, fully oversubscribed)
Why Bobyard builds a custom AI model for every trade, from landscaping to electrical conduit routing to MEP
The YSD hiring philosophy doubling revenue every quarter, and the bonus structure that turns recruiters into operators
Michael's takeaway is simple. AI models are middle to middle, humans are end to end. Your company is running optimally when everybody is only doing the things that only they can do.
If you are running a trades business, evaluating AI tools, or trying to understand where pre-construction software is actually going, this one is required listening.
JW Group Website: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/ Justin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-white-%E2%98%85-35b7a210b/ Justin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinwhiteceo/ Justins Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@justinwhiteceo Michael LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-ding-933185189 Bobyard Website: https://www.bobyard.com/ K&D Website: https://kndlandscaping.com/ K&D Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kanddlandscaping/ Disruptors Community: https://www.skool.com/disruptors Disruptors Advantage Newsletter: https://disruptors-advantage.beehiiv.com/ 5th Annual K&D Water Summit: https://www.eventzilla.net/e/5th-annual-central-coast-water-summit-2138673574 Leanscaper: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/leanscaper

Austyn Roth: From Mowing Lawns at 11 to Selling Lucky Landscaping at 23

This week on Trades Talk, Justin White sits down with Austyn Roth, founder of Lucky Landscaping in Jupiter, Florida. Austyn started mowing lawns at 11, financed a golf cart at 14 with a 10 percent loan from his dad, hired a driver at 15 because he was too young to drive, and sold the company to Landscape Workshop before he turned 23.
In this episode:
How a teenage debt strategy turned a push mower into a multi million dollar Class A commercial route
The 5 mile radius rule that built $4 million in revenue from just 15 customers
Why Austyn said no to install work — and watched his maintenance margins jump
Why his next company, Lucky Portables, is being built to be owned by the employees
Austyn's trade secret is simple. Hire people better than you, every single time. If you don't train your replacement, you stay stuck where you are.
If you're a young founder, a maintenance company chasing route density, or an operator wondering what life after the sale actually looks like, this one is a fast yes.
JW Group Website: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/ Justin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-white-%E2%98%85-35b7a210b/ Justin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinwhiteceo/ Justins Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@justinwhiteceo K&D Website: https://kndlandscaping.com/ K&D Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kanddlandscaping/ Disruptors Community: https://www.skool.com/disruptors Disruptors Advantage Newsletter: https://disruptors-advantage.beehiiv.com/ 5th Annual K&D Water Summit: https://www.eventzilla.net/e/5th-annual-central-coast-water-summit-2138673574 Leanscaper: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/leanscaper

Weekly Update #52: The Year One Lessons That Are Reshaping K&D

On this Weekly Update of Trades Talk, Justin White hits the one year mark with a wide angle State of the Industry, plus the four biggest lessons from year one and where the Friday show is headed in season two.
Multiples, margins, organic growth, AI, fuel costs, retention, and a contrarian take on the EOS org chart. The whole landscape industry in 35 minutes.
In this episode, we cover:
The current M&A multiples by EBITDA tier and what is actually getting funded in 2026
Why platform players are compressing recurring revenue pricing, and the only three ways to break out
Why having 9 to 10 direct reports beats one or two when you have AI in your stack
Season two starts here, weekly AI briefings with Sean drop on Fridays going forward
The takeaway is simple. Organic growth, real differentiation, and AI fluency are the three things separating the companies winning right now from the ones falling behind. Pick all three.
If you are building, scaling, or trying to figure out where the industry is going next, this one is your year-end report card and your year-two playbook in one.
Weekly Updates are powered by Kress!
🆕 Register now: NALP,  NALP Elevate AI Executive Stack Workshop, Nov 8 in Tampa Lawn & Landscape Technology Conference, July 22-24
JW Group Website / Justin LinkedIn / Justin Instagram / Justins Youtube K&D Website / K&D Instagram Disruptors Community Disruptors Advantage Newsletter 5th Annual K&D Water Summit Leanscaper

Kendel White Part 2: From the 2008 Recession to a $1 Billion BHAG

This week on Trades Talk, Justin White brings Kendel White back for Part 2 of the K&D origin story. If Part 1 was about building it, Part 2 is about almost losing it, betting everything on a comeback, and handing the company off to the next generation in a way most founders never get right.
In this episode:
The 2010 Driscoll's job K&D still maintains 16 years later — and the maintenance bid trick that won it
The $750,000 VA boulder change order that almost broke them, then bailed them out at 80 percent margin
Why Kendel handed the CEO title to his 25 year old son at 50 — and what every founder gets wrong about the handoff
The watermelon vs grape equity move that turned three kids into co-owners before the company was worth chasing
Kendel's trade secret is simple — stop trying to sell people stuff. Show up to help, listen, refer them out when it's the right call, and let the relationship do the rest. It's the principle behind every K&D win for forty years.
If you are a founder, a second generation, or anyone watching the next wave of family businesses figure out succession in real time, this two part series is the playbook.
JW Group Website: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/ Justin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-white-%E2%98%85-35b7a210b/ Justin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinwhiteceo/ Justins Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@justinwhiteceo Kendel LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendel-white-a7a61616/ K&D Website: https://kndlandscaping.com/ K&D Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kanddlandscaping/ Disruptors Community: https://www.skool.com/disruptors Disruptors Advantage Newsletter: https://disruptors-advantage.beehiiv.com/ 5th Annual K&D Water Summit: https://www.eventzilla.net/e/5th-annual-central-coast-water-summit-2138673574 Leanscaper: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/leanscaper

Weekly Update #51: The 7 Day Workflow Sprint That Sets Up Agentic AI

On this Weekly Update of Trades Talk, Justin White breaks down the 7 day sprint K&D just kicked off to document every leadership workflow, and why that boring exercise is the real unlock for agentic AI.
Plus a look at Claude's new Opus 4.8 model, the content strategy that is quietly compounding K&D's brand, and a sneak peek at a big Disruptors announcement dropping June 1.
In this episode, we cover:
The 7 day sprint documenting all 9 leadership workflows, and why SOPs are the foundation agentic AI is built on
A real automation in action: the one to one meeting that now schedules itself, chases the prep form, reschedules, and follows up with zero humans in the loop
When to use Opus 4.8 and when it quietly burns tokens you did not need to spend
Why clients now search Instagram and TikTok like Google, and the quality over quantity content shift working for K&D
The takeaway is simple. Architect your AI before you implement it. Document the workflow first, automate second, and be very careful who you trust in a world full of AI gurus who have never run a business.
If you are trying to actually apply AI inside your company instead of just talking about it, this one is your playbook.
Weekly Updates are powered by Kress!
JW Group Website / Justin LinkedIn / Justin Instagram / Justins Youtube K&D Website / K&D Instagram Disruptors Community Disruptors Advantage Newsletter 5th Annual K&D Water Summit Leanscaper

Kendel White Part 1: A $100 Truck, a Sears Credit Card, and the Beginning of K&D Landscaping

This week on Trades Talk, Justin White sits down with the K in K&D, his dad, Kendel White, co-founder of K&D Landscaping, for Part 1 of a 2-part father-son conversation that traces the origin story of one of the premier landscape companies on the Central Coast.
Kendel takes us all the way back to 1986. 22 years old, freshly married to Justin's mom, working as a catering chef at Pajaro Dunes for nine bucks an hour, and looking around at his executive chef mentor pulling 60-hour weeks and thinking, "there has to be a different way." That different way started with a $100 rust bucket truck, a Sears credit card, a handheld blower, a weed eater, a Craftsman mower, and four residential yards at sixty dollars a month each. From that low bar of entry, K&D was born.
In this episode, we cover:
How a $100 rust bucket truck and a Sears credit card became the company K&D is today
The three simple rules Kendel still believes built it all, and why most contractors break them by Friday
The Gary Haney quote on a job site trailer that shaped how Justin runs the business at 35
Why Kendel still takes the leads no one else wants, and closes them at twice the company average
Kendel's biggest takeaway in Part 1 is simple. You do not need capital, a degree, or a master plan to build a landscape company that lasts. You need a truck that runs, a willingness to answer the phone, and the discipline to do what you said you were going to do every single day for 30+ years. The compounding of those three things is what built K&D.
This is the setup. Part 2 picks up in 2007 right before the recession hits, and Kendel walks us through draining retirements, second mortgages, surviving 2008, and how he handed the CEO title to a 25 year old Justin while still in his 50's- a transition story most founders never get right.
If you are starting out, scaling out of residential, thinking about how to bring family into the business, or wrestling with how to hand a company off without losing what made it great, this episode is the foundation.
Come back next week for Part 2.
JW Group Website: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/ Justin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinwhiteceo/ Justins Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@justinwhiteceo K&D Website: https://kndlandscaping.com/ K&D Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kanddlandscaping/ Disruptors Community: https://www.skool.com/disruptors Disruptors Advantage Newsletter: https://disruptors-advantage.beehiiv.com/ 5th Annual K&D Water Summit: https://www.eventzilla.net/e/5th-annual-central-coast-water-summit-2138673574 Leanscaper: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/leanscaper

Weekly Update #50: Lessons from Peter Lemon, a Tour of Cal Poly, and Why Consistency Wins

On this Weekly Update of Trades Talk, Justin White celebrates 50 episodes from the shoreline of Lake Nacimiento with a debrief from this week's Cal Poly tour and the biggest lessons from the Peter Lemon episode.
From applied research labs solving real industry problems to feeding your people and protecting your culture, this one is part field report, part leadership playbook, part rallying cry for the next 50 episodes.
In this episode, we cover:
Peter Lemon's "feed your people" rule — and the 48 percent turnover year that proved it the hard way at K&D
Inside Cal Poly's applied research engine, $1.5 billion in new housing, and why this is the future of the trades
Why Justin does not read resumes — consistency, hunger, and grit beat experience every single time
What's coming next: Sean's weekly AI update launching at episode 52, Disruptor Day June 11, Water Summit June 12
The takeaway is simple. Consistency beats intensity. Hunger beats experience. Respect for the people doing the work beats every leadership book ever written.
Weekly Updates are powered by Kress!Disruptors Day
JW Group Website / Justin LinkedIn / Justin Instagram / Justins Youtube K&D Website / K&D Instagram Disruptors Community Disruptors Advantage Newsletter 5th Annual K&D Water Summit Leanscaper

Peter Lemon: How Graniterock Built a 126 Year Legacy in the Trades

This week on Trades Talk, Justin White sits down with Peter Lemon, CEO and President of Graniterock, the 126 year old vertically integrated construction and aggregates company headquartered right here in Watsonville. From the Wilson Quarry, the largest hard rock quarry this side of the Mississippi, to bridges, roads, asphalt, concrete, and logistics across the Bay Area and Central Coast, Graniterock has helped build the infrastructure of an entire region.
In this conversation, Peter shares the leadership principles, capital strategy, and culture of innovation that have kept Graniterock thriving across three centuries of work. He breaks down how safety became the foundation of their culture, how saying yes to every opportunity took him from intern to CEO, and what it actually takes to lead a workforce through wave after wave of technology change.
In this episode, we cover:
Why safety culture is the leading indicator for every other culture decision a trades company makes
How Peter's career path from civil engineering intern to CEO was built on saying yes to whatever the company needed next
Inside the Wilson Quarry, a mile long, half mile wide operation moving up to 4 million tons of rock a year
The 126 year arc from donkeys and pickaxes to locomotives to the 1980s "Rock ATM" to machine learning and now AI
Graniterock's capital deployment philosophy, including why you should not waste analysis on must replace decisions and where to spend that energy instead
How to build a culture of innovation in an industry that can be stuck in the mud, and the "trust currency" required to make change stick
The train the trainer model and why field credibility beats a professional trainer in a classroom every time
Where AI is already a no brainer for contractors, including contracts, communication, and translating jargon, and where physical trades still need humans in the loop for years to come
Why family referrals are Peter's true measure of community success and how that drives Graniterock's nonprofit and event engagement
Peter's trade secret: "Food is love, gear is great" and why the personal exchange matters more than the gift itself
Peter's biggest takeaway is simple. Take care of your people, communicate change clearly, mitigate their concerns honestly, and the rest will follow. Whether the technology is a new loader, a robotic mower, or an AI agent, the companies that win are the ones that bring their people with them.
If you are building a trades business that you want to last for decades, or you are wrestling with how to lead your team through this next wave of technology change, this episode is full of lessons from someone running the playbook for 126 straight years.
JW Group Website: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/ Justin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinwhiteceo/ Justins Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@justinwhiteceo K&D Website: https://kndlandscaping.com/ K&D Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kanddlandscaping/ Disruptors Community: https://www.skool.com/disruptors Disruptors Advantage Newsletter: https://disruptors-advantage.beehiiv.com/ 5th Annual K&D Water Summit: https://www.eventzilla.net/e/5th-annual-central-coast-water-summit-2138673574 Leanscaper: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/leanscaper