I sat down with Dave Pulcini on the SixPoint Financial Partners podcast to talk about how Takedown Eventures came to be. Dave wanted to know the real story — not the polished version, but the messy, honest, start-from-nothing version. So I told him.
Start with what you have, not what you wish you had
It started with a borrowed painting trailer. That was it. No investors, no business plan binder, no fancy office. I had a trailer, a willingness to work harder than anyone else on the job site, and a conviction that if you take care of people first, the business follows.
I had a borrowed trailer, a willingness to outwork everyone, and a conviction that if you take care of people first, the business follows.
That conviction did not come from a textbook. It came from years of watching what happens when businesses treat their people like line items instead of human beings. I decided early on that Power Crew Electric would be built differently. Every decision — from who we hired to how we handled a bad day — would be filtered through one question: is this good for our people?
Put people at the center of every decision
The biggest mistake I see home service owners make is chasing revenue before culture. They hire fast, train light, and wonder why turnover is killing their margins. I went the opposite direction. We built culture first and let the revenue follow.
At Power Crew, we served over 24,000 customers. That does not happen because of one great leader — it happens because of a team that believes in the mission. Every technician understood that when they knocked on a homeowner’s door, they were not just there to fix a problem. They were there to deliver an experience that made that person feel valued, respected, and taken care of.
Use the Three E’s to create experiences that stick
One of the frameworks I shared with Dave is what I call the Three E’s. It is the operating philosophy behind everything I do now — whether I am running a training workshop, coaching a business owner, or speaking at an industry event.
📚 Educate
Invest in your people relentlessly. Run workshops, do ride-alongs, create training content. A team member who understands the “why” will outperform someone who only knows the “what” every time.
⚡ Excite
Create moments that people remember. Team celebrations after a big quarter. Conference keynotes where ideas spark action. The goal is always to leave people better than you found them.
💪 Empower
Give people the tools, training, and trust to make decisions. When your team feels empowered, they don’t just work for you — they work with you toward something bigger.
Turn passion into purpose by showing your work
Dave Pulcini asked me something toward the end of our conversation that stuck with me: “How do you keep the passion alive after all these years?”
The answer is purpose. Passion without purpose burns out. But when you tie what you love to something bigger than yourself — building a team that provides for their families, serving homeowners who trust you with their biggest investment — that fuel does not run out.
Passion without purpose burns out. But when you tie what you love to something bigger than yourself, that fuel never runs dry.
Watch the full conversation with Dave Pulcini on SixPoint Financial Partners above. If you are a business owner who wants to build something that matters, I think you will find something useful in it.
Want to bring this kind of training to your team? Learn more about my workshops and consulting on the Services page, or schedule a free strategy session.