Owen sits down with Arch, a 33.5-year military veteran (Marine Aviation & MARSOC) and founder of a commercial and residential general contracting business in Tampa, Florida. Arch shares how he applies the "irreplaceable" leadership and systems experience from his military career directly to his construction company.
They discuss the power of "victorious warriors win first, then go to war"—using military-style "backwards planning" and robust checklists to prevent errors before breaking ground . Arch also shares the "significant loss" he took on his very first job from unsigned change orders, and how that expensive lesson shaped his "contracts are in stone" mindset . This is a masterclass in building a scalable company through systems, leadership, and a plan to win.
🕒 Timestamped Key Points
- [02:46] Why his first partnership didn't work out
- [04:16] 33.5-year military background: leadership & project management
- [04:31] Hiring a bilingual PM (Carlos) was the key to working ON the business
- [06:21] Background in masonry: "Marine Corps was easy" compared to it
- [10:07] Transferable skill: Using aviation checklists to guarantee results
- [10:25] Debriefing: Figuring out "what worked, what didn't work"
- [12:33] "Victorious warriors win first, then go to war" (pre-con planning)
- [17:31] The $25,000 mistake from 3 different plan datums
- [21:11] The "bitch session" that built office/site collaboration
- [26:31] Expensive lesson: "Learned it the hard way on job one"
- [27:21] Taking a "significant loss" from unsigned change orders
- [35:31] Next hires: 3 full-time superintendents & 1 construction admin
- [37:05] The goal: Scaling to the $25M-$30M range
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