How to Protect and Grow Wealth After Selling Your Business

Building and selling a company is hard—but managing wealth afterward is a completely different challenge.

Jay Jacobs knows this firsthand. An OG member of The Lifestyle Investor Mastermind, and my very first Private Client, Jay founded RAPID Manufacturing in 2001 and grew it over 17 years into the world’s largest prototype sheet metal manufacturer and the second-largest prototype CNC machining business. RAPID’s success was fueled by leveraging modern technology—and after selling the company for 9-figures, Jay launched Paperless Parts to give other manufacturers access to the same kinds of tools. Today, Paperless Parts is the #1 quoting and estimating software in manufacturing, with $25M ARR.

But even with all that success, Jay faced a new reality after his exit: the skills that made him a world-class entrepreneur weren’t the same ones he needed to protect and grow his wealth.

As an entrepreneur, he was used to taking calculated risks, moving fast, and having full control over outcomes. As an investor, the rules were different—success meant slowing down, saying “no” more often than “yes,” and trusting others to be good stewards of his capital. The optimism and risk tolerance that served him in business could quickly become liabilities in investing.

In this conversation, he shares how he made that transition—building a passive income stream to replace his paycheck, creating guardrails to avoid costly mistakes, and designing a life filled with impact, travel, and passion projects. You’ll hear the mindset changes that guide his decisions, the relationships that open up high-quality deal flow, and the lessons that can help you avoid the costly mistakes that wipe out fortunes.

Key Takeaways with Jay Jacobs

02:44 Managing Money After a Big Exit (Harder Than it Looks)
05:15 Entrepreneur ≠ Investor
06:51 There’ll Always be Another Deal
07:39 How Massive Wealth Can Vanish Quickly
08:44 You Don’t Need to Be the Best Investor
10:10 Finding the Right “Jockey” for Your Money
12:32 Funding Passions with Passive Income
14:46 Scaling to $25M ARR in Manufacturing Software
19:24 Hiring Ahead of the Curve for Emerging Markets
23:29 Investing in Humanoid Robots
23:26 Why the Pie Gets Bigger When You Share It
25:04 Turning Passion Projects into Businesses
28:35 Giving Yourself Permission to Upgrade Your Lifestyle
31:43 Creating Once-in-a-Lifetime Family Experiences
34:21 Stem Cells, Longevity, and Health Investments
37:43 Masterminds & Peer Groups That Pay for Themselves
42:46 The Executive Assistant Who Runs His Life

To access the full show notes, visit http://justindonald.com/252

#entrepreneur #investing #wealthbuilding

===========================
About Jay Jacobs
===========================

In 2001, Jay started and led a small five-person sheet metal shop into a world leading custom manufacturing company (RAPID) employing over 300 team members with nearly $50M in sales before a nine-figure exit in 2017.

Current businesses where Jay is a Founder, Partner and/ or Owner include venture backed startup Paperless Parts Inc (Software as a Service – SaaS); Airfield Place in seacoast NH, a 65,000 sq ft community of Fitness, Wellness, Recovery, and Longevity focused businesses; an Intellectual Property (IP) licensing company; an indoor rock climbing gym; and commercial real estate. On the side, Jay hosts a podcast, “The Job Shop Show”, which allows listeners to eavesdrop on conversations between manufacturing company owners.

===========================
Subscribe & Connect
===========================

Subscribe to our channel and receive the latest YouTube interviews!
   / @thelifestyleinvestor  

The Lifestyle Investor Podcast on:
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1chSXFl...

Connect with Justin Donald!
Facebook:   / justin.donald.79  
LinkedIn:   / justinwdonald  
Instagram:   / justindonald  
Twitter:   / jwdonald1