Real Talk. Real Growth. Real Results in the Mid-Market
Jane Gentry consulted in enterprise for 20 years. And, after being a CEO in a mid-sized company, she realized why they say it is loneliest at the top. Mid-market CEOs learn their craft through trial and error or by reaching outside their organization for help. She launched CEOs Unscripted as a bi-weekly podcast by mid-market CEOs for mid-market CEOs. Our purpose is to provide insight into the unscripted, unfiltered journeys of CEOs and Founders as they talk about their wins, losses, lessons and playbooks for growing and scaling their organizations. There is no better forum than learning from your peers.
All content for CEOs Unscripted is the property of Jane Gentry and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Real Talk. Real Growth. Real Results in the Mid-Market
Jane Gentry consulted in enterprise for 20 years. And, after being a CEO in a mid-sized company, she realized why they say it is loneliest at the top. Mid-market CEOs learn their craft through trial and error or by reaching outside their organization for help. She launched CEOs Unscripted as a bi-weekly podcast by mid-market CEOs for mid-market CEOs. Our purpose is to provide insight into the unscripted, unfiltered journeys of CEOs and Founders as they talk about their wins, losses, lessons and playbooks for growing and scaling their organizations. There is no better forum than learning from your peers.
From Carpenter’s Son to $500M CEO: Growth by Fundamentals, Not Fads — Troy Place (Place Services Inc.)
CEOs Unscripted
57 minutes
2 months ago
From Carpenter’s Son to $500M CEO: Growth by Fundamentals, Not Fads — Troy Place (Place Services Inc.)
What does it really take to scale from $60M to $500M without turning your company into a bureaucracy? In this candid conversation, Troy Place (CEO, Place Services Inc.) and host Jane Gentry unpack the unsexy fundamentals behind year-over-year $100M growth: fast decision-making, quality that the customer defines, ruthless focus on profitability, hiring well, and operationalizing culture you can feel.
You’ll learn:
Why a poor decision beats no decision—and how indecision quietly kills growth
The exact fundamentals Troy returns to: sell profitably, deliver consistent quality, hire right people/right seats
How PSI applies EOS (the real-world, non-dogmatic version) and a one-page Proven Process
Practical ways to operationalize culture (new-hire lunches, values-based reviews, peer “praise cards”)
How CEOs avoid becoming the decision bottleneck and build a true decision matrix
Why shiny objects (and premature “college-level” process) derail teams still learning basics
Building leadership capacity while raising nine kids and aiming for a 100-year company
If you’re a mid-market CEO or operator, this is a playbook for durable growth—no fluff, just what works.
📌 Guest: Troy Place, CEO, Place Services Inc. (nationwide commercial & industrial construction; GC + 12 in-house trades)🎙 Host: Jane Gentry — CEOs Unscripted
Chapters:
00:00 Growth snapshot: $60M → $500M (2018–2024) & the case for fundamentals02:38 Show intro & why mid-market leadership is lonely03:08 Troy’s backstory: 3rd-gen carpenter → founder during a recession06:17 What PSI does: GC + 12 in-house trade divisions, nationwide08:19 EOS in practice & the one-page Proven Process11:44 Breaking growth ceilings; the single non-negotiable (fundamentals)13:53 The CEO as (former) bottleneck: discipline, accountability & letting teams fix it16:00 Decision rights & empowering without punishing mistakes18:08 “A bad decision > no decision” (and why indecision kills)21:38 The CEO’s job: decisions, fundamentals & culture you can feel25:33 Operationalizing culture: new-hire lunches, values-based reviews30:23 Peer praise cards & reinforcing the right behaviors31:59 Planning for durable growth; learning from outsiders33:42 Bootstrapping leadership: advisors, books, podcasts, Vistage36:16 Growing the leader as the company scales41:43 When EOS goes wrong: college-level process for elementary-level teams44:39 Shiny object syndrome & long-tail costs45:21 The fundamentals: profit first, quality every time, right people/right seats48:50 What he’s reading & advisory boards50:18 Early lessons from dad: “figure it out” mindset51:41 Message to young leaders: learn to grind52:10 Wish I’d done earlier: build an advisor bench53:29 Getting unstuck: borrow other points of view55:21 Motivation: build a 100-year company56:46 WrapBook Referred in the Podcast: https://www.amazon.in/Game-Changing-Advisory-Boards-Leveraging-Sustainable-ebook/dp/B00CJH8DGKHost: Jane Gentry - https://www.linkedin.com/in/janemgentry/Guest: Troy Place - https://www.linkedin.com/in/troy-place-3b480242/
CEOs Unscripted
Real Talk. Real Growth. Real Results in the Mid-Market
Jane Gentry consulted in enterprise for 20 years. And, after being a CEO in a mid-sized company, she realized why they say it is loneliest at the top. Mid-market CEOs learn their craft through trial and error or by reaching outside their organization for help. She launched CEOs Unscripted as a bi-weekly podcast by mid-market CEOs for mid-market CEOs. Our purpose is to provide insight into the unscripted, unfiltered journeys of CEOs and Founders as they talk about their wins, losses, lessons and playbooks for growing and scaling their organizations. There is no better forum than learning from your peers.
