Betting on Tampa

In 2010, Isaac Lidsky grew sick of working 80-hour weeks at a law firm. Lidsky and his wife were expecting triplets, and he needed a change of pace. So he started talking to his Harvard Law school roommate, Zac Merriman, about what business they could buy that was “at or near all-time lows,” Lidsky says. That's how they landed on construction.

In June 2011, they found a small mom-and-pop construction company in Orlando that specialized in foundations and masonry work, but was struggling in the recession. They bought it, hoping to improve its value and scalability. “That was the challenge we undertook,” Lidsky says.

It wasn't easy. Lidsky, 35, says they learned the business from scratch. Although his law degree provided him with skills for negotiating contracts, “It was not the most logical career move for me,” he admits.