Nick Friedman
Co-founder of College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving and co-author of Effortless Entrepreneur
Nick Friedman (Co-founder of College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving and co-author of Effortless Entrepreneur) has appeared as a guest on 1 episode in TMT. Topics they speak about most include Entrepreneurship, College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving, Shark Tank.
In their words
Positions and remarks grouped by topic, each with the exact quote and where it was said.
Entrepreneurship
Friedman cites Nick Saban's view that complacency leads to bad decisions as a reason not to coast after success.
“He said, complacency leads to bad decisions, bad decisions lead to bad outcomes”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 50:19
Friedman argues that growing his existing $300 million business by 10 percent outweighs starting new ventures.
“So if we grow that business... 10%, that's $30 million growth. Like, you know how hard it would be to get a business to go from zero to $30 million”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 45:53
Friedman admits he held his organization back by generating too many ideas and forcing them on his team.
“I've been somebody that's sort of holding the organization back because I'm coming up with too many ideas and I'm forcing them on the organization”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 45:53
College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving
Friedman states that becoming a billion-dollar brand is College Hunks' 'impossible vision.'
“they no longer represent us becoming a billion-dollar brand, which is our impossible vision, right?”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 44:50
Friedman says the company is exploring AI concierge tools to check in with clients during moves and fix problems in real time.
“we're actually looking at AI solutions now to, uh, you know, kind of almost be a concierge throughout the move process, check in with the client”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 16:21
Friedman says College Hunks has roughly 200 franchisees and about $300 million in annual sales.
“We now have roughly 200 franchisees around the country, 300 million annual sales”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 4:05
Shark Tank
Friedman says Shark Tank was not a major driver of success but opened the founders' minds to leveraging mainstream media.
“Maybe not a ton of our success, but I think what it did do is it opened our mind to mainstream media and the way that we could leverage that”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 23:44
Friedman believes Shark Tank made entrepreneurship more tangible for families and benefited the American economy.
“I think it brought the spotlight into the kitchen table and families in particular about entrepreneurship”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 21:00
Friedman recounts that Robert Herjavec offered $250,000 for 10 percent, which he considers a fair offer at the time.
“we ended up getting an offer from Robert Herjavec, which was probably a fair offer. I think it was like 10% for 250 grand”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 20:08
Occupational burnout
Friedman evaluates his life across six areas, admitting he has most neglected fitness and faith.
“I've boiled down to what I call six Fs, family, faith, friends, fitness, finance, and fun”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 37:38
Friedman says his worst personal and business decisions were made when he was burnt out.
“the times where I made the worst decisions, whether it was personal decisions or business decisions or, you know, self-sabotaging, you know, decisions, it was because I was, I was burnt out”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 34:12
Effortless Entrepreneur
Friedman says that on rereading Effortless Entrepreneur, about 90 percent remains relevant, though he would tone down its edge.
“I reread it recently. I'll say 90 percent of it's still relevant”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 54:32
The Science of Scaling
Friedman recommends Benjamin Hardy's frame-floor-focus model, in which impossible goals with unrealistic timelines force narrower choices.
“the concept is frame, floor, focus. So the frame is setting what he calls impossible goals with an unrealistic timeline”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 45:08
Stress-induced alopecia
Friedman recounts losing a patch of hair from stress in the first year of the business.
“the best the doctor could tell me is it was like stress-induced alopecia. It was like a patch of my hair. fell out”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 28:33
Purple Cow (book)
Friedman argues that a catchy name and colors are only the sizzle, and the service quality must match.
“the name and the colors is kind of the sizzle, but you're going to eat the cow. You need the steak, too”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 8:02
Brand positioning
Friedman explains that the company redefined 'hunks' as an acronym that serves as its brand promise.
“we made it into an acronym. We said it stands for Honest, Uniform, Nice, Knowledgeable Service. So that's become our brand promise”
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick Friedman (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 6:27
Appearances
Episode #168: He Turned Down Shark Tank and Built a $300M Business... But Was It Worth It? Featuring Nick FriedmanThe Dylan Gemelli Podcast · Sep 30, 2026 · 56 min
Dylan Gemelli talks with College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving co-founder Nick Friedman about building the company, Shark Tank, stress, burnout and scaling.
Often appears with
- Dylan Gemelli · 1 shared episode