Building and Selling a Business - Stu Block - #006

Stu Block is a CPA and environmental accountant who founded Sustas LLC, an ESG and sustainability consulting firm based in Boise, Idaho. He built the firm from scratch after leaving Ernst & Young, landed clients including Amazon, and grew and sold the company in just a few short years. He is currently the Energy and GHG Inventory Leader at GE Vernova, and is launching a new business on the side as well: Warm Springs Financial Group — with the tagline "Finally, a CPA who knows your name in July."Stu, you're a gangster. Thanks for the great stories and advice. 0:00 — Intro & Stu's background: CPA, environmental accounting, Ernst & Young 10:00 — Building an independent consulting firm: "You are the product" 23:00 — Origin story: solar panels on a frat house roof and how it led to entrepreneurship 26:00 — Networking strategy, maintaining relationships, and why phone calls still win 35:00 — Working inside big companies: small wins, communication styles, and ego at the door 41:00 — Pricing yourself, rate negotiation, and scaling the solo practice 46:00 — Sales mindset: confidence vs. desperation and why "sell" isn't a dirty word 51:00 — Finding a co-founder, building the partnership, and what happened at the exit 59:00 — What's next: Warm Springs Financial Group and "the CPA who knows your name in July"