The Industrial Side

por Brian Kabisa

Temporada 1

Metal, Margins, and Mission-Critical Parts with Mick Montesi

Mick Montesi runs an aerospace components manufacturer supplying structural metal parts to defense, commercial, and space OEMs like Boeing and Airbus. In this episode, Mick breaks down what it actually takes to become an approved aerospace supplier, why the onboarding process can take up to two years, and how his company competes on speed and in-house capability rather than price. What we cover: What an aerospace components manufacturer actually does and who the end customers are Why defense and commercial customers have completely different priorities (speed vs. price) How Mick's company wins work through in-house heat treating, painting, and welding instead of outsourcing The two-year supplier onboarding process and why most companies buy their way into aerospace instead of starting from scratch How quality control works when a single defect can be a life-and-death issue, including in-process inspection, first article inspection, and third-party source inspectors The difference between AS9100 and NADCAP certifications, and why not having the right certifications in-house can cost you the job How staffing and capacity planning work when no two parts made in a day look the same The mix of sheet metal and CNC machining that makes Mick's company unusual among competitors Why CapEx requirements and long growth timelines make aerospace one of the hardest industries to break into Connect with Mick: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickmontesi/ Company inquiries: Quotes@ValleyTL.com

T1 · E17

21 jul 2026

25:33

Cheap or Fast: Why You Can't Have Both in Global Shipping w/ Kaufman Logistics

Sammy and Elizabeth Kaufman run Kaufman Logistics, a freight forwarding, customs brokerage, and 3PL company handling the physical movement and compliance side of importing goods into the US. In this episode, Brian sits down with the husband and wife duo to break down an industry most business owners rely on constantly but rarely understand. What we cover: What freight forwarding actually is, and how it differs from customs brokerage and 3PL (most companies think these are the same thing) Why nearly every shipment starts with the importer, not the manufacturer, and why control over the shipping process matters more than people realize The real tradeoff in logistics: you can have it cheap or fast, but not both, and how to figure out which one your business actually needs Why smaller and mid-sized buyers often get better treatment from a boutique freight forwarder than they would going direct to a large manufacturer The two things Sammy wishes every customer knew before calling: understanding your shipping terms, and calling before your goods are already on the water What a customs exam actually looks like, and why some shipments get flagged even when nothing is wrong (the granite from Italy story is a good one) Why cheap sourcing decisions early on (Alibaba, unclear suppliers) tend to get expensive fast once goods hit US customs The difference between a freight forwarder who just makes deals happen and one who holds every license in house, air, ocean, customs, and trucking Notable line: "Cheap becomes expensive a lot of times." Sammy's grandfather's rule for supply chain decisions, and it shows up constantly in this conversation. Want to learn more? Reach out to the Kaufman team at info@kaufmanlogistics.com

T1 · E16

14 jul 2026

36:57

A 1% Price Increase Equals 8% More Profit: Anderson Lemos on Pricing Strategy for Manufacturers

Anderson Lemos spent 17 years in manufacturing, ten of them on the floor as a manufacturing and applications engineer, before moving into commercial roles. Today he helps manufacturers price their products and aftermarket parts the right way, so their plants produce healthy margins instead of guessing. We get into why pricing in manufacturing is inherited instead of designed, why a McKinsey study found a 1% price increase can drive an 8% increase in profit, and why so many manufacturers are sitting on parts that have been mispriced for years without anyone noticing. What we cover: Why pricing is one of the most underleveraged levers in manufacturing The "smoke detector battery" problem: why nobody touches pricing until it's a crisis Why aftermarket parts carry far higher margins than new equipment, and why that matters How to tell if you're overpriced versus underpriced on a given SKU Commercially available parts vs proprietary vs semi-proprietary, and how each should be priced differently Why a bad price on one item can cost you sales on everything else a customer would have bought from you How to arm your sales team with a defensible pricing strategy instead of "it costs this because it costs this" Real numbers: companies with a real pricing strategy seeing 5 to 8% improvement, sometimes millions of dollars a year Why cutting a SKU isn't always the right call, even when it barely sells The first step for any manufacturer who's been pricing the same way for 20 years Notable quote: "Pricing in manufacturing is kind of one of those things you hear it often in manufacturing. We've always done it this way. Pricing is inherited, it's not designed in manufacturing." Connect with Anderson: LinkedIn: Anderson Lemos (https://www.linkedin.com/in/andersondlemos/)

T1 · E15

7 jul 2026

28:33

The Prison Had No WiFi: Lessons in Building Digital Tools for B2B Distribution

Justin Samaniego runs product and digital strategy at Medline, one of the largest medical distribution companies in the world. Before that, he spent years in industrial B2B distribution, moving from sales rep to sales ops to building digital tools from scratch. This conversation is for any distributor or manufacturer wondering if "going digital" means replacing your sales team. It doesn't, and Justin explains why. What we cover: Why the smartest distributors don't try to automate everything, they automate the repeat, predictable orders and free up reps for the complex problems The MVP approach to digital tools: build with your employees first, since they represent your customers and know the pain points How Justin found his first use case by going after customers who physically couldn't be visited, including correctional facilities that needed offline, self-service tools Why over-indexing on full-time employee support for small accounts can quietly bleed margin The real cost of tribal knowledge: what happens when a 15-year sales rep leaves and takes the whole customer relationship with them Why CRM data isn't valuable because it's "complete," it's valuable because it lets you spot what a customer should be buying but isn't The difference between treating reps like funnel operators versus treating them like analysts who actually think about the account Where to start if your whole sales process lives in one rep's head and phone If you're running a distribution or industrial business with no in-house product or digital team, this episode is a practical playbook: start small, find one segment with a real problem, build trust before you build automation. Connect with Justin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinsamaniego/

T1 · E14

30 jun 2026

35:50

What Buyers Actually See When They Look at Your Company

Ryan Kirby, Partner at Alderman & Company, on What It Actually Takes to Sell an Aerospace & Defense Business Ryan Kirby is a Partner at Alderman & Company, an investment bank focused exclusively on aerospace and defense M&A. He's spent his career on the sell side, helping owner operators position their companies, find the right buyer, and walk away with the best outcome, not just the highest number. In this episode, Ryan and Brian get into the real mechanics of selling a business in A&D, and most of it applies well beyond that industry. What we cover: Why customer concentration scares buyers, and how to reframe it (program-level diversification within one large customer can change the story) The succession planning problem: why "retiring before you sell" is the cleanest path, and why rolling equity changes the calculus entirely The buyer landscape, broken down plainly: independent sponsors, private equity, strategic buyers, and public strategics, and who tends to pay the most (and why) Why private equity gets a bad rap from some owners, and the real pros and cons of selling to a buyer who plans to sell again The uncomfortable truth about creating "fear" in a buyer to drive up price Why some bankers will tell you what you want to hear, and what that actually costs you over a 1-2 year engagement Why aerospace and defense M&A is having its busiest stretch on record, and what's driving it across space, defense, commercial, and business aviation The folder of inbound buyer emails most owners have sitting in a drawer, and why you should never delete them Notable stat: One recently public A&D-focused platform reported a pipeline of 1,500 potential deals on their earnings call. Connect with Ryan: Email: RK@aldermanco.com Phone: 386-866-4864 Website: aldermanco.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-kirby-880875174/

T1 · E13

23 jun 2026

41:12

Line by Line, Vessel by Vessel: Operations Inside a Marine Supply Distributor with Jessica Stahl of Metric Marine

In the third installment of our Metric Marine series, Brian sits down with Jessica Stahl, COO of Metric Marine, for a deep dive into the operational engine behind one of South Florida's leading marine supply distributors. If the first two episodes covered vision and marketing, this one gets into the gritty day-to-day of how a distribution business actually wins or loses. In this episode: How Metric Marine handles 1,500–3,000 RFQs per month and what it takes to turn them around within the hour Why speed matters more than price — and when price is simply out of your control The Punch Out model explained: what it is, how Metric lost business by not being ready for it, and how they got that business back The sales-to-operations handoff and why treating a quote like a document instead of a promise can sink a company What Jessica learned sitting on the procurement side of the table — and how that shapes how Metric operates today Why consistency, not charm, is what keeps you in a customer's historical data and drives repeat orders Seatrade, golf tournaments, and the case for showing up without an agenda Key quote: "Sometimes we learn the most from when something doesn't go right — and that's what customers remember the most too." Connect with Jessica Stall on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-stahl-6b815a8a/) or reach Metric Marine at metricmarine.com.

T1 · E12

9 jun 2026

41:20

The Balance Sheet Basics Every Business Owner Is Ignoring — with Patrick Dichter of Apple Tree Business Services

Brian sits down with Patrick Dichter, owner of Apple Tree Business Services, to break down what small business owners — especially those in manufacturing, distribution, and home services — actually need to understand about their financials. Patrick works with companies ranging from $250K to $20M in revenue and shares the accounting blind spots that cost owners real money. Topics covered: P&L vs. balance sheet — which one matters more, and why inventory-heavy businesses can't ignore the balance sheet "Checkbook Charlie" — the most common stage new business owners get stuck in The right amount of cash to keep on hand, and how to think about gross profit margins by industry Why accounts receivable is a full contact sport and how slow invoicing silently kills cash flow The strategic case for paying your bills slowly — and when to break that rule Cash vs. accrual accounting: what the purists get wrong for small businesses Common QuickBooks mistakes that quietly wreck your financials (CRM integrations, unmatched deposits, proposal invoices) Why commingling personal and business expenses is a serious problem — especially at sale What accounting team you actually need at $2M, $5M, and $10M in revenue How to think about gross margin as your highest-leverage financial lever Exit planning: the real reason high margins can be a red flag for buyers Connect with Patrick: Website: appletreebusiness.com Twitter/LinkedIn: @PatrickDichter

T1 · E11

2 jun 2026

24:32

80 Years and Still Building: What Running a 26-Person Sign Shop Teaches You About Growing a Trade Business

Dan Verboski didn't grow up dreaming about signs. He left the State Department in 2017, looked for a business to buy, and ended up in Tyler, Texas taking over a 72-year-old sign company he knew nothing about. Leon Signs is now 80 years old and Dan runs a 26-person operation making custom, large-format lighted signs for banks, churches, restaurants, and national rollouts across East Texas. In this episode: Why 87% of Dan's revenue comes from repeat customers and what that says about how to protect a geographic moat The "blessing and curse" of being a specialty trade business — high inbound, but nearly impossible to scale fast because every hire takes years to develop How Leon Signs tells customers their confirmed install date within days of signing and hits it 95% of the time The 4-year, 9-month warranty call — a simple touchpoint that keeps customers close right before the relationship would go quiet Why Dan almost lost people he shouldn't have when he bought the company, and what he would do differently EOS and how a 10-year vision connects to a 90-day sprint for an 80-year-old trade business What people get wrong about manufacturing and the trades — and why "you'll be poor" is the wrong assumption Connect with Dan on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/danverboski/) & check out Leon's Signs here (https://www.leonssignsinc.com/)

T1 · E10

26 may 2026

30:13

Dirty Hands, Clean Books: JD Beck on Buying and Running a Plumbing Business

Brian sits down with JD Beck, owner of Mountain Valley Plumbing and HVAC, to talk about what it actually takes to go from employee to business owner in the trades. JD's path wasn't a straight line. After four years as an Army engineer officer building runways and forward operating bases, he spent five years climbing the ladder in commercial elevators — field supervisor, department manager, covering Colorado and Wyoming. Good career, good trajectory. But the ceiling was closing in and nothing on the table felt right. So he bought a plumbing and HVAC company instead. Getting there was messier than expected. Deals fell through. A mechanical contractor he had under LOI unraveled in due diligence. A company he thought was locked up sold to someone else. He kept working his day job the whole time, visiting sellers at night when they didn't want him around their employees, grinding through the process until something finally stuck. This episode is for anyone who's ever thought about trading a paycheck for ownership — especially in the trades. In this episode: Why a successful corporate career isn't enough if the ceiling is closing in What the deal process actually looks like before you get to yes Why keeping your job during the search is one of the smartest moves you can make The deals JD almost did — and why he's glad they fell apart What drew him to plumbing and HVAC over other industries Follow JD on X at x.com/dirtyhandsops?s=20

T1 · E9

19 may 2026

40:26

Selling the Unsexy: How to Market a Boring Business and Win

What do screws, ship supplies, and mouthwash have in common? They're all "boring", and yet, they can all be marketed brilliantly. This week, Brian sits down with Jochebed Zakrzeswki, Director of Marketing at Metric Marine and brand strategist for B2B & ecommerce businesses, to talk about how businesses in dull industries can find their voice, attract the right customers, and grow without losing what makes them human. In this episode: Sell the emotion, not the product — Why Metric Marine doesn't call itself a ship chandler, and what they sell instead (hint: it's trust and peace of mind). The messaging-first framework — Before you can get loud, you have to know what you're saying. Jochebed breaks down how to find your differentiator and make it stick. Being human is your competitive advantage — Why AI-polished content is making everyone sound the same, and the cold email that finally broke through by saying "God damn it, Jochebed." Marketing is math, not just creativity — The myth that marketing is purely a creative field, and why the best marketers live in the balance between analytics and ideas. Master two channels before touching a third — Jochebed's minimalist marketing framework: find where your audience actually lives online (and offline) and own that space first. Stop rushing the sales cycle — Why understanding your realistic conversion timeline is the antidote to pushy sales, and how patience builds lasting customers. Why Reddit is the new Google Ads circa 2005 — The underpriced B2B opportunity hiding in subreddits, and how AI tools are already mining Reddit for brand signals. Connect with Josh at www.imjochebed.com or LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/imjochebed

T1 · E8

12 may 2026

35:30

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