The Sweaty Startup with Nick Huber

Update: 2025-05-29

Description

I am thrilled to have Nick Huber, the founder of TheSweatyStartup.com, a serial entrepreneur, investor, and popular content creator focused on small business ownership. Nick cofounded and operates his primary business, Bolt Storage, a commercial real estate firm, which owns 1.9 million square feet of self-storage facilities across 62 locations in 11 states. He is the author of the new book, The Sweaty Startup.

In this episode, Nick Huber, founder of The Sweaty Startup and Bolt Storage, shares his journey from building a “boring” service business to managing 1.9 million square feet of self-storage facilities and investing in global talent through Somewhere. Nick unpacks why most people shouldn’t be entrepreneurs, how to find your first sweaty startup idea, and the underrated power of consistency and confidence. He dives into the dangers of passion-driven businesses, the long road to leverage, and how to build wealth through simplicity, not scale, and much more!

Timestamps

[01:30 ] Why Nick invested in “Somewhere” after being a customer
[03:10 ] Raising $20M to acquire a business – Nick’s first big acquisition
[04:50 ] Why he wrote “The Sweaty Startup” and its core message
[06:15 ] The myth of needing a world-changing idea to become wealthy
[07:40 ] How to pick a “sweaty startup” idea from Nick’s curated list
[09:10 ] Why using credit cards or debt to start a business is risky
[10:35 ] Why most people shouldn’t become entrepreneurs
[12:05 ] The idea of building equity without launching a business
[13:45 ] Why Nick’s kids won’t be doctors or lawyers
[15:00 ] What beginners misunderstand about leverage
[17:00 ] Climbing the leverage ladder – Nick’s early journey
[18:45 ] Entrepreneurship is a long-term game: the snowball analogy
[20:30 ] Advice for founders affected by AI disruption and uncertainty
[22:10 ] Breaking analysis paralysis and how to start earning today
[24:00 ] Should you copy a successful business? Yes – with integrity
[25:15 ] Why following your passion is terrible business advice
[26:40 ] Making fast decisions vs. being over-prepared
[28:15 ] How to spot and fire bad customers
[30:00 ] Example of testing a business idea: local house painting
[32:00 ] Confidence over intelligence – underrated entrepreneurial trait
[34:00 ] The danger of crabs-in-a-bucket mindsets and bad environments
[36:00 ] First hires: why you should start low-risk and go offshore
[38:10 ] Nick’s evolving definition of success
[41:00 ] Why “The Sweaty Startup” was written as a reminder to himself