Welcome To Philadelphia And Big Events

Announcer 0:00

860 a.m. Philadelphia, and WPENHD2, Burlington, Philadelphia. The following programming is sponsored by Marc J. Bernstein. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of this station, its management, or Beastly Media Group.

Announcer 0:16

Entrepreneur, founder, author and financial advisor, Marc Bernstein helps high-performing business owners turn their visions into reality. At March Forward, Marc and his partners and associates think out of the box to partner with their clients in regards to their visions for their lives, their businesses and their legacies. And through his innovative work with the Forward Focus Forums, Marc connects entrepreneurs to resources that help to fuel their success. Founders’ Forum is a radio show and podcast where entrepreneurs share their journeys, revealing the stories behind their successes, and the lessons they’ve learned. Join Marc and his guests for a mix of inspiration, valuable insights, and a bit of fun! Now, let’s dive in...

Marc Bernstein 1:00

Good morning, America. How are you? How are you, Philadelphia? We're in Philadelphia today, and with my guest Justin, who I'll introduce in a minute. And it is the home, I think it's the home, the main center for the America 250 semi-quincentennial. I've practiced saying that word a lot. And it's um so there's a lot going on here coming up. The World Cup's coming, the All-Star Games coming, the uh um all kinds of other good celebrations in Philadelphia. And Justin came in from Pittsburgh and you stay in near Independence Hall, you said. Yeah this morning, yeah. Uh yeah, we had a little microphone problem with you there. Okay. Okay, thanks. Gotcha now. Um so Justin um is an entrepreneur like everybody pretty much on the show, but I'm going to introduce him formally in a minute. But I the question I want to ask you, it's a leading question, and I have some answers. I wrote a book called The Fiscal Therapy Solution, talks a lot about entrepreneurs

Life After Selling A Business

Marc Bernstein 2:05

and retirement. But I wanted to ask you, you know, what is what is life after your business in in your case? Yes. Because you recently did an exit, and that's one of the reasons I wanted to have you on. And we're gonna record another show today which you're gonna accompany me on. And he also did the same thing.

Justin Tennant 2:25

Yeah.

Marc Bernstein 2:25

So what what what is what what's your view from where you are on life after your business?

Justin Tennant 2:30

Well, I mean, it's a great question. It's a it's a loaded question, I think. Because it's uh it's something that uh, you know, you're not really prepared for, especially me at at 47 years old. Um, you know, I exited it relatively early, I believe. Um, but when private equity was coming through my industry, there's not a lot of scalable businesses. And you know, we are we were working in a very niche uh area of the medical supply industry. So uh they probably were only gonna take one swipe at it to consolidate. So it was either you're on board or you're not on board. Um but I mean it they, you know, everything was very competitive offer everything. We were very happy with the way the exit went. Um but um and I'm in year two of my transitioning out of my own business, which is uh, you know, it's weird to say after you found it and you lived in it for 14 years. Um but you know, it's it's it's a journey. Um, you know, being an entrepreneur, you don't really have time to form hobbies. You know, your your business is your hobby. Right. Right. So it's it's it's it's learning what to do with your time. Um, you know, right now my wife and I are finally getting into philanthropy. I mean, there's a couple of causes in Pittsburgh that we're supporting.

Marc Bernstein 3:46

Nice.

Justin Tennant 3:47

Um you know, we're getting into some real estate investing, some, some uh short-term rentals. Um that keeps us interested in in different areas of the of the uh country that we like to visit ourselves. Um and then, you know, me personally uh I you know I don't have a lot of tread on my tires when it comes to startups anymore, but I know how to execute a startup. It's the you know, the physical toll. It's it's for me, I always call it a young man's game, right? But I have all the knowledge and I've been through it all from founding the business to scaling to exiting to transitioning out to uh helping further consolidate the industry. Um so I would like to find some way to pay that forward in some type of advisory consulting role or uh becoming a an active investor in a startup. I mean, that's really what what what's gonna light my fire again.

Marc Bernstein 4:39

Nice. So this so this is a little different kind of interview for me because usually we we start at the beginning and go to the end. I st wanted to start at the end because I thought you have some great perspective. Yeah, and I think that'll filter into our conversation throughout the show today. Great.

From Mill Town To Banking Career

Marc Bernstein 4:53

Um so let's go back to the beginning. And to do that, I have your formal um biography, but I'm going to read the note that you originally wrote to me when we met on LinkedIn, which is how I meet a lot of my guests. Yeah. Uh I will just say this this is Justin Tennant. He is founder and lead executive of Surgical Product Solutions, was lead executive of Surgical Product Solutions. And uh he's an entrepreneur, investor, and business advisor advisor who's now specializing in helping founders navigate the entire business cycle, life cycle. But here's what he wrote to me. I come from a second generation steel mill family in the blue-collar town of Weirton, West Virginia, where where I learned early on that nothing is given, it's earned. I'm a proud University of Pittsburgh alumnus, but my path was untraditional. I paved my own way through school, working full-time during the day and taking night classes at Pitt to earn my degree. The foundation of discipline followed me into my early career at BNY Mellon, where I rose to become one of the youngest vice presidents of the bank at the time. See, to me, this is very all very interesting part of your story. His true calling, I'll turn turn it to the third person now, was entrepreneurship. At 29, he left the corporate world, and at 30, he founded Surgical Product Solutions SPS from the ground up ground up with no outside assistance. Which is I'm glad you wrote that because people don't realize that because there's so many businesses that do have help. Yeah. And you did it on your own. It was pure bootstrap. Yeah. I know you had a partner, um, but you you you were the lead and you you you led that from the ground up. Over the next 15 years, they scaled SBS into a national enterprise with over 80 employees grossing over over 40 million annually. I want to emphasize that in a 15-year period, with businesses in all 50 states. He had the honor to be recognized for this growth as a finalist for the Ernst Young's Entrepreneur of the Year in 2023, which my commentary is a very big deal. In 2024, he successfully exited his business through a sale to Shure Capital Partners, a private equity firm out of Chicago. Following the sale, he's worked closely with them through the complexities of consolidation and recapitalization. He lives in Pittsburgh today with his wife, Brooke, and their four wonderful children. And as he mentioned, his current passion is paying it forward. He's eager to share the knowledge, the scars, the successes, and his journey to help others succeed in both business and life.

Justin Tennant 7:26

Yeah. Well, I appreciate that. That sounds a lot neater than the journey's been. Right. Well, I understand. I understand. Yeah.

Marc Bernstein 7:33

Well, that's you know, that's you know, I always tell people we don't have we don't have to say this because a lot of shows people we skip to look like kind of because we're doing it quickly, and they say, Yeah, you know, so we had this, this, this an issue, and then after that, we kind of started growing. And I said, Oh, it was all easy after that, right? Yeah. Of course, everybody laughs, you know. You know, so as you know. So so let's start at the beginning from uh we I kind of told your background, but sure. I know you were the first to do many things in your family. You were there's something about you that won that that wanted to do something big.

Justin Tennant 8:06

Yeah. So, you know, growing up in a small mill town of Weerton, West Virginia, uh the you know, it was a one-horse pony or one one horse town, uh, the still mill was employed everyone's father, right? So when I was younger, it it it was it was good middle town living, and then the still mill eventually went under and and the town kind of went to the house. Your parents live there, by the way. They still live there, yes. Um it's since transformed to a suburb of of Pittsburgh because it's only about 40 miles outside of Pittsburgh. Um but you know, the town kind of crumbled with the steel mill. And uh I didn't want to live that way, you know. I I and my only way out was through education. Um you know, I left my house at 18. I funded most of my way, my own way through through college. Uh, but you know, my dad being a second generation steel mill, he taught me a lot about work ethic um and taking pride in your work and outworking your competition. Um and I, you know, I got a job at 16 and I've been working full-time my entire life since then until now. So um it's kind of a you know, transitioning out is is kind of a sh shock to me in that sense as well as, you know, I've been working full-time since I was 16 years old. Um but that worth ethic is is w I say my my competitive advantage when I started my company because you know, learning how to work and work efficiently and work be kind of a perfectionist and and putting in more hours in your competition, uh you know, even Elon Musk says that you know, there's only 24 hours in a day, right? So um you need to outwork that competition if you want to get ahead from a startup perspective.

Marc Bernstein 9:59

Um so you when you got out of college, you started in the mortgage industry, I understand. Yeah. And uh do you want to comment on that?

Justin Tennant 10:06

Yeah, I mean when I I I you know I I was a business management major with economics minor, finance minor. Um but I graduated in September 2001. 9-11 happened right after I graduated, so the uh the market uh the job market wasn't existing. So uh the Morgan's industry was at that time was starting to just boom because of interest rates coming down so low. Uh so it was it was kind of something I just fell into.

Marc Bernstein 10:38

Gotcha. So and from there you went to Bank of New York Mellon. Yeah. And I I find this interesting because I think this this is the experience you had there, I think, is something that might be helping you today because you you apparently you were working on the post-merger integration between BNY and Mellon. Yes. Yeah.

Justin Tennant 10:57

So uh I joined Bank of New York Mellon uh one year after they merged. So it was Mellon Bank and Bank of New York, two banks, and they merged into one. It was really an acquisition. Bank of New York acquired Mellon, but they kept the brand the same. Um and so the first year of the you know merger was just on paper. Second year is you know, you have two banks that have duplicated everything systems, people, processes. Uh, I was put on a team just because of my, you know, Swiss Army knife of of skills within business um at that time um to you know be on a team where we evaluate the duplicated processes, systems, people, and kind of merge them together or find best best practices uh or eliminate one and move completely over to another. So I learned a lot of decisions to make there. A lot of I saw a lot of, you know, on that team I was more of a financial analyst, but I I learned the importance of data when it comes to decision making. Um I learned how people evaluate business at a high level, how people evaluate people within business, how systems work. I learned a lot in that process. I mean, I didn't particularly like the job because I was working eight and ninety hours a week. But uh how long were you there? I was there for five years, yeah. But I I it it definitely is where I got my chops, my business chops. I had the education before that, that's where I earned my chops.

Marc Bernstein 12:24

And you left there uh why did you leave there?

Justin Tennant 12:27

I left there just because I was, you know, I was getting to that point where I was grinding for somebody else. I was working, like I said, 70 to 90 hours for a salary. There was no additional and you know, I just felt like I could if I'm gonna be working this hard, why not work for myself? Makes a lot of sense.

Marc Bernstein 12:46

So I thought you mentioned another issue before to me, but we don't have to get into that, but uh but I figured that was the ultimate reason why you did that. So um so then

Building A Medical Supply Resale Business

Marc Bernstein 12:55

you you found a partner and you started, you got into um and and I think he had uh medical device sales experience, right?

Justin Tennant 13:03

Yes, yes. I bet my partner Stephen DeRosi um through a mutual friend. Uh and it just so happens that you know Steve is an entrepreneur himself. I mean, he's he just bleeds it. I mean, he when I met him, he had five business ideas to present to me. Okay. Uh and you know um the medical thing really it wasn't the idea that he pitched wasn't really how the business turned out, but it it it was what springboarded us in that direction.

Marc Bernstein 13:35

And and what exactly did you do in that for our listeners? What did what did you do in the industry?

Justin Tennant 13:41

So surgical product solutions, we call ourselves an independent distributor of medical devices. So we don't have any relationships with any manufacturers. We buy all our supplies on the open market, majority of it comes from hospitals as surplus or abandoned product. Um and we sell surgical devices that are used one-time use. Uh so they're opened up in surgery, so they have to be sterile. Um, so they only have a shelf life of three years, sterility life. So if a hospital is not using it, it eventually goes into garbage because the sterility runs out. So they have an urgency to kind of salvage it off to get some of their money back. Uh, and that's where we come in. We come in and we buy it at 20 cents on a dollar, we put it back out in the market to smaller hospitals who can't get the volume discounts that the large ones can, and we give it to them at a discount.

Marc Bernstein 14:32

And they have but they have to use them within that that lifespan.

Justin Tennant 14:35

Yeah. So we that's why we cater more to like outpatient surgery centers and smaller hospitals because they don't really stock a lot of inventory because they can't buy that much.

Marc Bernstein 14:46

So you they're gonna use them quickly.

Justin Tennant 14:48

They're gonna use it very quickly, yeah. And and they appreciate the discount that we provide. And it we came uh on the market, we had we had one competitor, so we kind of helped pioneer it.

Marc Bernstein 14:59

But I was gonna say probably not a lot of companies doing it.

Justin Tennant 15:02

No, no. Yeah. I mean, I again I've come from banking, it was a whole new world to me that I didn't even know

The Ad Break And Return

Justin Tennant 15:08

existed.

Marc Bernstein 15:08

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Guess what? I told you time flies when you're having fun on the show. It's already time for a commercial break. So we're gonna take a quick break. Be right back with Justin Tennant. Thank you.

Announcer 15:17

The Satell Institute is the leading CEO member organization dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility. Under the vision and leadership of its founder—entrepreneur and philanthropist Ed Satell—the Institute brings together CEOs in Philadelphia and other cities to support the Nonprofit organizations that do heroic work in our communities. The Satell Institute believes that “community is every leader’s business.” SI’s members-only meetings and private CEO conferences give members the opportunity to hear from world-class thought leaders on crucial topics like AI, education, corporate philanthropy and more. In addition, CEO members get the opportunity to share ideas and experiences with their peers— like-minded CEOs who believe in the importance of giving back to the community and who understand the benefits companies get from embracing Corporate Social Responsibility. The Satell Institute charges no dues or fees — in order to join, member companies simply make a long-term commitment to the nonprofit of their choice. To find out more about membership, —and why so many leading companies are now part of the Satell Institute — visit the organization’s web site at satellinstitute.org. As Ed Satell says, “Think WE, not just me.”

Trust, Quality Control, And Hard Lessons

Marc Bernstein 16:35

We're back on Founders Forum. I'm watching TJ Bop in there in the uh in the in the engineers uh room there. I'm glad you're having a good time, TJ. It's always a good time. There you go. I like it. So uh anyway, Justin. So you you you and your partner Steve started this business. Yes. And you had a niche business. Correct. And you overtook it, and then it was easy from that point on. Yeah.

Justin Tennant 17:00

Uh yeah, we spent a lot of time. I mean, uh I used to eat breakfast at his kit kitchen table with his kids. I mean, I used to go over his house every day. Uh you know, I didn't work, I didn't pay myself for three years because we were just reinvesting in the my wife supported my family, thank God for her. Um at that time. But, you know, we would just grind until we got proof of concept. We found proof of concept. Uh we were lucky enough to go and and and have a kind of a family friend loan us some money that we eventually paid back um to buy more inventory and uh start hiring people. And I think if if there's a lucky horseshoe for us, if there's you know some guardian angel, we found some really good people early. Like our first three or four hires, uh they were bought into the idea of the company and wanted to, you know, they had an entrepreneur mindset themselves.

Marc Bernstein 18:01

Salespeople, yes.

Justin Tennant 18:02

Salespeople, yes, yes. Uh, but you know, they helped us pave the path forward and they came up with their own ideas and I mean it was it was a think tank and it was very um, you know, collaborative early on.

Marc Bernstein 18:17

I was as you were saying as you started, I was thinking collaborative. I should mention that word myself.

Justin Tennant 18:21

So and and and some of them still work for the company t to this day. Oh nice. Yeah.

Marc Bernstein 18:27

Do they um well let me ask you this. So obviously there were challenges. What kind of challenges did you have along the way? Which ones occurred to you, and what kind of what did you learn from those challenges? What kind of strengths did you bring that you're probably able to talk about today?

Justin Tennant 18:42

Yeah, I think our biggest challenge early on was learning our customer and what was important to them. Um you know, we were coming out of the gate, hey, we got cheap medical devices. That doesn't always ring well for a hospital, right? I mean that their antenna goes up for uh it it they respond in a wrong way when it comes to that. So we had to learn what was important to them. And you know, risk is very important to them. You know, so we had to build early on, we learned to build our quality control process around what makes our customers comfortable to buy from us. Um, we learned how to go through value analysis and how to convey that to them in a proper way and have them trust. I mean, healthcare is all about trust. Um, if you could build a trusting relationship, number one, in they could trust what you're providing, and number two, you're deliverable. So you have to deliver perfectly. We learned that as well as uh you know, a lot of these hospitals were doing just-in-time ordering with us, meaning they didn't stock the shelf they bought for the surgery the next day. So if you messed up that shipment, they had a cancel of surgery, you lose a you lose a customer for life.

Marc Bernstein 19:46

Right.

Justin Tennant 19:46

But if you deliver, you're saving them so much cash flow for not having to stock, they'll be married for you for life. Right. So that's kind of the healthcare market. Did you lose a customer along the way? We lost a few along the way, yeah.

Marc Bernstein 19:58

And uh a quick way to learn, right?

Justin Tennant 20:00

Yeah, and then then

Hiring Great People And Culture

Justin Tennant 20:01

you know, once we got large enough, we started to uh realize that the manufacturers don't really like us, right? Because we're competing with them, we're competing with their reps with our own devices uh and undercutting them uh in certain accounts. So we had to learn to deal with that as well. Uh you know, when you got Johnson and Johnson who's a 40 billion of just and we're just a little gnat compared to them. I mean it's it's a little nerve-wracking to learn how to stay in your lane and and learn how to, you know, not bump up too hard against these large companies who see you as a threat.

Marc Bernstein 20:39

Right, right. So one so one lesson was really understanding your customers, learning how to create the your value proposition for them and convey it properly. And um what anything else? What other I'm sure there's lots of other lessons learned along the way.

Justin Tennant 20:56

Yeah, I think for me uh it's that. I mean, understanding who your customer is, you know, and and not really trying to sell them on what you think they want, actually understanding what they want and then building your service or your product around that. Number one. Number two is don't be afraid to invest in really good people. Uh we learned that along the way too, is we we you pay for just like sports, you pay for talent. And uh we were never cheap when it came to investing in people.

Marc Bernstein 21:29

You learned that early on. Yes. Um I'm sure uh because your company's still going, you're still involved in it, even though you're no no longer um the the co you know the the sole owners. Yeah. But but you I assume there's a certain culture that you built that that that is that continues today. Yes. How would you describe that culture?

Justin Tennant 21:50

It's a winning culture. And again, I mean that that that starts from ownership. You know, we we you know when you're a startup, you you there's there's no Need to create urgency because urgency is already there. You're buying time each day you survive, right? Uh and and everyone has a limited amount of capital. So you're urgent every day and you're want to be a perfectionist every day. But that carries on. If you have strong people that you eventually move into management, that culture exists through them. Right? And it's once you you know, hey, this is just like football coaches, man, you set a standard of performance and it you just hold everyone accountable to that mark. Uh and and you live and die by that standard.

Marc Bernstein 22:36

Yeah. So that's and that culture, and I assume that I'm assuming that the the purchases you're still involved, but that culture's maintaining itself. Yes, yes, yes, because uh that's one of the hardest things in private equity.

Justin Tennant 22:50

It is, it is, and that's you know, some of our top managers who I'm who's eventually taking over the uh operations of my company, they are those first three hires. Uh-huh. So they they they came up with me. So that you know, they're preaching it and living it every day still.

Marc Bernstein 23:09

That's gotta make you feel proud because that doesn't happen that often where a company's acquired and you your people were so enmeshed in in a in a positive way in the culture and in the things that you showed them that you know that that's gonna continue. You can have confidence that that's going on.

Justin Tennant 23:25

100%. Um like I said, I mean, if there was our our you know, our golden horseshoe uh it it's that that we found some really good people early on that uh you know gave us a real big competitive advantage. And still

Founder Advice, Vision, And Legacy

Justin Tennant 23:42

does.

Marc Bernstein 23:43

We I'm I'm gonna reverse myself again what I usually do. I'm gonna ask you a question that I'd often ask you at the end because I think it's a good place to do it, because you're what you're doing today is helping other entrepreneurs and startups and and um you've you've shared some valuable lessons. Um if you could advise them today on one thing, or and the other way we phrase the question is if you could advise your younger self, um what would you say to them and and or you?

Justin Tennant 24:13

I think you know when you're pioneering a new startup, um each day is a new adventure, right? Because everything's a little unexpected, you can't really plan for it. But I would I would say you know, don't be timid in your decision making. You just go for it because what I've learned is the downside isn't always as bad as you think it is, right? Right. If you there's always a point to recover. You know, if you're monitoring your business well, you're gonna see whether's uh uh a uh a decision's you know working or not. Uh and and you have room to pivot. So what I see a lot of people, they're just timid when it comes to getting off the ground. And that's you know, the early part of startup is when you should not be timid. You have to go all in.

Marc Bernstein 25:06

Yeah. And the worst thing that happens if you make a mistake is you learn. Yeah, exactly. Right? Yeah.

Justin Tennant 25:15

Yeah, exactly. I mean that it's all a learning process. Um and like I said, it's the sky's never you know as gray as you think it is gonna be.

Marc Bernstein 25:25

Um Justin, as as happens on the show, we only have a few minutes left. Tell me about your three-year vision. So this is June of 2026. If you and I are talking, it's June of 2029. We're looking back on the last three years. What would have to happen for for you in your life to feel that that was a successful three-year period?

Justin Tennant 25:42

Yes, number one is you know, catching up on family time. I do I have four wonderful children, wonderful wife, that you know, I wasn't always present for some of the moments, so it's catching up on that family time is very important to me. Number two is is paying it forward. Uh, like you mentioned, I mean, uh the steps on the the where I want to see myself next is you know, helping out those entrepreneurs, those young entrepreneurs who are pioneering, who uh, you know, are out there alone. Uh you know, I could give them a compass, right? I I could I could show them certain paths, I could help them make a decision. Um because it is a lonely, it's a lonely road. Right. Yeah.

Marc Bernstein 26:23

Are you are you um are you uh you're do you consider yourself an ongoing learner, a lifelong learner? Oh 100%.

Justin Tennant 26:31

I mean I I if you're you know, it's just how my brain operates is you know, I I it's thirsty for information every day.

Marc Bernstein 26:39

How how do you get your information? Do you read, do you listen to podcasts?

Justin Tennant 26:43

Um I think all of those are the same. No, just kidding. I'm more of an audio book kind of guy. Um I do like to read. Um but I I really stay up on current events and trends and market trends uh mostly. Gotcha.

Marc Bernstein 27:00

Uh last question I have is your um what do you what what do you what do you what would you like to think about your legacy?

Justin Tennant 27:07

You know, that's a good question because it's kind of you don't really think about a legacy at 47 years old, right? Um, for me it it is it comes down to providing opportunity, not only for my family and and you know, living a lifestyle that we never dreamed that we would live at this point, but also for the people who took that journey with me. You know, uh this company changed a lot of people's lives in a positive way.

Marc Bernstein 27:33

Yeah, so well that that is that is a legacy already, which is a great thing. And I know you're young, but I know it's uh you've already created one. So congratulations. Thank you so much. Thanks for being here, Justin. Thanks to you to all of you for listening today on Founders Forum, and we'll see you again next week. I think.

Announcer 27:49

We hope you enjoyed your time with Founders Forum today and you found value to take with you throughout your day. Join us again next week for another episode of Founders Forum on WWDB Talk Radio and always at the Founders Forum show page at WWDVAM.com.

Announcer 28:07

Founders’ Forum was brought to you in part, by March Forward, LLC. We partner with entrepreneurs like you to assist in accomplishing your future vision. Your life. Your business. Your legacy. Comprehensive wealth planning that starts with you -- not a product. We hope you enjoyed your time with Founders’ Forum and that you found something of value to take with you throughout your day. Join us again next week for another episode of Founders’ Forum on WWDB 860 AM Philadelphia, or on your favorite podcast streaming service. Securities offered through DFPG Investments, LLC (“DFPG”) Investment Advisory Services offered through Diversify Advisory Services, LLC (“Diversify”). DAS and DFPG are affiliated entities. March is unaffiliated with DAS and DFPG. Member FINRA/SIPC The information provided in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as investment advice. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of Diversify or DFPG.