Why Your Best People Are 8,000 Miles Away | Lazy Leverage #84

12 snips

Dec 4, 2025

Jacob Klein, a savvy real estate entrepreneur behind Incline Homes, reveals how his Filipino team dramatically outperforms local workers. He discusses revolutionizing construction by delivering luxury homes at a fraction of the cost, powered by global talent and AI. Jacob shares his journey from micromanaging to embracing a systems-oriented approach, highlighting the importance of outsourcing and evolving leadership roles. With insights on automation and process documentation, he demonstrates how smart hiring can reignite passion and drive business success.

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ANECDOTE

From Flips To Affordable Luxury Homes

Jacob built Incline Homes after seven years flipping ~300 double-wide homes and launched a new construction arm to deliver luxury quality at bottom-10% pricing.
He compares the approach to IKEA: lower cost with acceptable trade-offs so more people can access better housing.

ANECDOTE

Burnout From Local Talent Turnover

Jon describes burning out on unreliable local construction staff and finding mini liquor bottles in desks of $30/hr employees.
After hiring global talent and blending local with remote, his team became more engaged and proactive, even calling old leads on slow days.

INSIGHT

Wear The Hat Your Function Needs

Different functions in a company require different leadership hats depending on operational maturity.
Jacob must choose when to be coach, recruiter, or hands-on operator as each area matures.

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According to Jacob Kline of Inkline Homes, his remote Filipino team members outperform his local American workers at a fraction of the cost, and they actually ask for more work on slow days.

After seven years flipping 300 double wide mobile homes in Florida, Jacob's building something radical at Incline Homes: luxury construction quality at bottom-10% pricing. Think IKEA's disruption of furniture, but for housing. His secret weapon isn't cheaper materials or cutting corners. It's ditching the traditional overhead-heavy construction model for a lean operation powered by global talent and AI.

Jacob shares how yesterday's leadership strengths become today's constraints. He learned this the hard way. His obsession with controlling every detail nearly tanked his business when he couldn't find quality project management. The breakthrough came when he realized his need for control was the actual bottleneck, not the lack of talent.

Jon's experience mirrors this evolution. He was drowning running a construction business with unreliable local talent (finding mini liquor bottles in desks of people making $30/hour). Global talent didn't just solve his staffing problem. It, in fact, reignited his passion for business. His Filipino team members think about improving the business in their free time, calling old leads for reviews without being asked.

As businesses scale, founders must evolve from doing everything to orchestrating systems. Jacob discovered his construction expertise was limiting growth because he couldn't delegate effectively. Once he let go and trusted global talent with core functions, his capacity exploded.

This isn't about replacing American workers, but strategic allocation. Jacob’s example demonstrates the value of paying local talent more for high-touch work while global talent handles the systematic, repeatable tasks. The result: better service, happier teams, and margins that allow truly affordable housing without sacrificing quality.

Key Topics:
(01:14) Introduction to Incline Homes and the IKEA Approach to Construction
(04:22) Global Talent Outperforming Local Workers
(08:42) “You Need An Apprentice, Not An Assistant”
(12:42) Self-Awareness of Your Level of Operational Maturity
(21:35) When to Hire Managerial Talent
(27:07) Scaling to Your Current Revenue
(39:25) Sagan's Talent Pool and Hiring Innovation
(41:00) Building Solutions for Your Own Problems