Q. Please give our readers an introduction to your business. Include what your business is all about, where you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
A. Dymic Digital is a marketing agency based in Los Angeles County, California. Our services include online reputation management, web development, local search marketing and search engine optimization. We do business throughout the United States and across all industries.
Q. Give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
A. I am an entrepreneurial executive that started out in venture capital and am known for my aptitude for new technology. As a venture capitalist, I experience much success in creating businesses from the ground up and saw them flourish. My talent for entrepreneurship was recognized in the digital marketing industry and I was offered the role of Director of International Business Development at an internet marketing start-up, where I played a major role in an accelerated growth into an Inc. 500 enterprise. My reputation now is that of an accomplished leader, with a strong history of success orchestrating the growth of new ventures in diverse industries.
Q. What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
A. With a background in venture capital, I suppose I’ve always been known as an entrepreneurial executive with an aptitude for new technology. Following my achievements in developing new companies, I welcomed a position as “director of international business development” for a start-up internet marketing agency back in 2011, where I played a major role in its accelerated growth into an Inc. 500 enterprise. A couple years later, an opportunity arose to start my own company with a couple friends (who also happen to be internet marketing veterans) that shared the same vision of what a digital agency should be. We knew that effective marketing these days is so much more than merely promoting a company online. With a client-first approach, their success is our success.
Q. What three pieces of advice would you give to up and coming entrepreneurs?
A. Expect the unexpected: The first year in business was extremely unpredictable and volatile. It’s important to plan for a bumpy road, so you will have the patience to weather the storm.
Value your time: There was a moment as our company started to grow when I realized I wasn’t setting aside enough time for creativity. Fortunately, I began reading a book by Chet Holmes that had a chapter on this same topic, which convinced me that I needed to make some changes to my routine. As an entrepreneur, I’ve always been driven, but keeping myself creative as well wasn’t something I consciously realized was of high importance. The reality is, being a startup in the ad/tech space demands creativity, as we must always remain on the leading-edge to stay relevant.
As they say, do what you love and you will be successful; this is how I keep myself creative and driven simultaneously.
Q. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
A. Ambition
Stamina
Foresight
Q. How many hours do you work a day on average?
A. 10
Q. To what do you most attribute your success?
A. Passion for business development
Q. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
A. Training sales representatives to identify and reach out to businesses that could benefit from our services.
Q. Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
A. Myself and my 2 business partners funded the business with our own resources.
Q. What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
A. Hire talented people
Q. Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
A. Having more time and resources to invest in new business ventures, while maintaining more of a part-time role keeping an eye on Dymic. Ideally a very dependable manager will rise up at our company and take over some of my day to day responsibilities by then.
Q. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
A. Salesforce’s ability to dominate their vertical has always impressed me. Even though they are both massive in size and publicly traded now, they still do a great job connecting with their clients. For example, they once invited me to a local mixer where they provided insight to their company’s methodologies, while getting to know my business inside & out. This angle proved to be effective in selling me additional services and strengthened our relationship as well. I admire Salesforce tremendously, and apply their ways of doing things whenever possible.
Q. How important have good employees been to your success?
A. Very important, as you’re only as strong as your weakest link. Hiring the wrong people can be a huge waste of resources and time, while hiring good employees helps a company grow efficiently.
Q. How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
A. Until a better one takes its place
Q. What motivates you?
A. Being in a comfortable position to raise a family
Q. What are your ideals?
A. To be an honorable person and an inspiration to others. Good leaders must lead by example. By walking your talk, you become a person others want to follow.
Q. How do you generate new ideas?
A. My vivid dreams have often inspired some of my greatest ideas.
Q. How do you define success?
A. Achieving the goals you have set for yourself.
Q. How do you build a successful customer base?
A. Effectively selling great products and then delivering outstanding customer service is the best recipe for an excellent retention rate.
Q. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
A. I enjoy the feeling of accomplishing the goals I set in place for myself as I move forward and the respect that I earn from others while doing so.
Q. What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
A. Like most startups, there tends to be a tough stretch in the beginning – often one that isn’t profitable. That said, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as that moment when you finally have more money coming in than going out!
Q. What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
A. I believe what separates entrepreneurs from others, is their higher level of self-confidence & drive, coupled with a fundamental desire to control their own destiny.
Q. What kind of culture exists in your organization? How did you establish this tone and why did you institute this particular type of culture?
A. We like to be easygoing with our employees so they don’t feel micromanaged. When you hire hardworking people, there’s no need to nitpick. We believe a stress-free environment allows employees to work effectively and also feel more respected.
Q. In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
A. Ambitious
Q. If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
A. Finish college before pursuing a career.
Q. How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
A. I feel that I have been an inspiration to some of my younger family members, but it has also unfortunately left less time to spend with them.
Q. What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?
A. My greatest fear is failure, which causes me to always work as hard as I can to prevent it.
Q. How did you decide on the location for your business?
A. We wanted to be located in an area with a lot of opportunity, that was also centrally located between the co-founders’ homes.
Q. Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
A. I believe some people are born with more ambition than others. There are also events in life that can inspire or motivate someone to be more driven than others.
Q. Who has been your greatest inspiration?
A. My grandmother grew up during The Great Depression and was a single mother that raised 5 children, yet was still able to rise above all odds against her and become one of the highest-ranking officials in the justice department before retiring in her early 50’s. To this day, she has always looked over my business endeavors and offered plenty of constructive criticism along the way.
Q. What book has inspired you the most? (OR what is your favorite book?)
A. Awaken The Giant Within by Tony Robbins
Q. What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?
A. Buying property during the last real estate bubble.
Q. How can you prevent mistakes or do damage control?
A. Mistakes are inevitable, learning from them is good damage control.
Q. What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
A. I have travelled to 20 countries, and I also play golf.
Q. What makes you happy?
A. Spending time with those I am closest to.
Q. What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?
A. Time.
Q. If you were conducting this interview, what question would you ask?
A. What do you find yourself thinking about most?