Where does your entrepreneurial spirit come from? Is it in your blood? For whatever reason that I still haven’t figured out, I’m in a family of business owners. So for this week’s episode of Escape Velocity, I wanted to try something a little different. I sat down and interviewed Pierre Martell, the CEO of Martell Custom Homes. Yes… I interviewed my brother. A lot of people ask me about my family and about my upbringing. I love talking about them! Couldn’t be prouder. And a lot of people know about Pierre too. He’s built quite a name for himself. Pierre’s company is one of the largest and fastest-growing custom home builders in Canada, now spread across multiple cities, and servicing high-end professionals that want to build their dream home. And – get this – he only has 9 employees! (though… he subcontracts hundreds more) I’m super proud of him, so it’s awesome that I get to share his greatness with you. Tune in and learn more about what us Martell’s have in common – and a bit about what we don’t. In this episode, Pierre is really generous with sharing insights. I mean, he has to be, right? He’s my brother. 🙂 Anyway, we chat about: - His first business venture at only 8 years old - How he bought a car when he was 12 and traded his way up to a Mustang - The necessary pains of rebranding his business - Pivoting from competing on price to attracting high-end customers - Why it’s worth paying more to hire the best - Owning your mistakes with integrity - …And how I had to kick his ass a few times (truth!) Pierre’s story is one of growth. He took an idea, earned the street smarts to make it work and then… hustled. Never giving up, always adapting. Just… Hustle, hustle, hustle. 24/7. He grew from renovating small townhouses in one district to building million-dollar homes for wealthy clients all across the country. Pierre has really achieved something remarkable with his business, and it’s been such a blessing to watch his company grow from an idea shared around the barbecue into the respected, well-oiled machine that it is today. I love my family, and I love putting them in the spotlight. I’m super proud of him and everything he’s achieved! So give him a little love and check out the latest episode. And here’s a question for you: Do you think we look alike? Drop a comment on the video and let me know! -- Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome. + Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell + Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell + Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell