Justin GordonFounder, The LA Grind & The SF Grind

Building Tough Companies? You Need This Mindset

21 May 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:53

In this brief dialogue, Speaker B explains his comparative advantage in operating within tough, blue‑collar‑oriented businesses that blend physical operations with software and rely heavily on volatile Google ad revenue. He frames these environments as a "high magnitude of suck"—industries that many find unpleasant but he finds ordinary because of his tolerance and skill set. Speaker A probes this idea, asking whether seeking out such high‑suck sectors is a deliberate strategy. The exchange highlights the importance of matching one’s personal resilience and unique skill set to demanding business contexts.

I can crank like a podcast. This is so fun and I enjoy it and like I can crank more episodes.
Comparative advantage, man. Like do things that come easily, easily to you that other people find challenging. And it turns out that dealing with like building blue-collar businesses where you're dealing with, you know, characters that may be a little exotic and rough around the edges at times while also building software companies within them and kind of living and dying on the vicissitudes of Google ad markets is a specific skill that I happen to have. So, you know, some people find those things unpleasant. I find them kind of ordinary.
I think you described it as like what, a high magnitude of suck? Type of industry? Is that what you looked for or something like that?
You know, it's— this is actually funny. I think about this all the time. I definitely like have certainly have like an internal picture of myself as an above-average glass chewer. Like I can chew glass harder and faster and more vigorously than most of the Next folks. But like on some level, like that also makes me a sucker. It's like, why don't you go do things that require a little less suffering?