Reflections of a CEO

In this episode: 

For this episode of Reflections of a CEO, I’m joined by Jakt’s President, Cody Musser, to talk about our 2018 financial report. Join us for a look behind the scenes where we hold nothing back: including our exact revenue, expenses, and profit. 

- Why we share our financial reports with you 0:32

- Hitting the goal for 2018 2:40

- Accrual v. cash 4:05

- Breaking up your leftovers 19:06

- How much is allocated to marketing 21:58

In this episode:

Business is a long game. Here’s how CEOs and business owners can prepare --mentally, emotionally, and physically-- to play it for decades. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. In this episode, I discuss optimizing yourself, knowing your limit, and being very mindful your time.

- Context of my week 0:18

- Breaking up optimization into three parts 1:45

- Choosing who you surround yourself with 7:45

- Asking myself, “Am I productive or am I busy?” 9:31

- Pay attention to what your body needs 12:14

In this episode:

There will always be times that you won’t be on your game. In this intimate episode, I talk about getting back on your feet, avoiding burn out, and self-awareness. If you’re an entrepreneur or a CEO, you’ll get new ways to deal with adversity when running a business.

- What it’s like to experience this in business 0:58

- Becoming more self-aware 3:17

- Finding things that work for you 4:44

- Dealing with what’s bothering you 8:53

- Coping with loneliness in entrepreneurship 15:30

- Being in a good mindset for your own benefit and your business’ 18:01

In this episode:

I am tremendously excited to introduce the newest Polpo Group company to the world. I talk about how we will bring radical value to agencies, automation, the power of experience, finding markets, and much more!

- Some context for Polpo Group 1:10

- The new business under Polpo 1:54

- Finding a market for agencies 6:08

- Testing price models 12:48

- The benefit in Polpo Group 18:06

- Why I’m documenting this development 25:28

In this episode:

Cody Musser joins me for a special edition of Reflections of a CEO. In this episode, we discuss how we plan and strategize at Jakt, defining objectives, and holding ourselves accountable - even when it sucks.

- What makes a good initiative? 2:27

- How many initiatives should a company have? 9:55

- Jakt’s 3 initiatives for 2019 12:41

- Proactive vs. reactive outreach 15:49

- Improving the quality and capability of our work product 18:35

- Reducing monthly downside potential 23:25

- How to break up your initiatives into manageable chunks 31:15

- How to approach your initiatives so it’s not overwhelming 34:06

- Good actions you should take 48:30

In this episode: 

- How did it all start? 0:32

- What is the core principle to Polpo Group? 5:08

- Naming it The Polpo Group 5:54

- Building a core competency between businesses 7:26

- The guiding principles behind Polpo companies 9:58

For more...

Here's my blog: https://anthonytumbiolo.com/blog/

I started Jakt, a digital product & innovation studio based in NYC back in 2012.

I built it entirely from scratch as its CEO into the $4M/year business that it is today.

And it’s definitely been a hell of a ride.

I’ve gone through the highest of highs and lowest of lows during all these seven years. 

There were times I felt happy and fulfilled as I’ve ever been, just as times when I thought I couldn’t possibly sink any lower.

As of June of 2019 though, I’m no longer Jakt’s CEO.

The business was acquired by a much larger agency who also offered me a spot in its board of directors.

I’m moving onto a new stage in life and I couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come.

In today’s episode, I’m actually a guest in a friend’s Podcast. 

He invited me to come over to share my story, learnings, and personal reflections from building a business with a virtual room of people.

Here’s what we touched on:

- The moment that spurred me to follow entrepreneurship (6:10)

- How my end-goal changed over time as I grew Jakt (10:50)

- When did I start noticing the company’s success (14:00)

- Should you invest in a sinking ship or fail quickly and pivot somewhere else? (18:00)

- Why sales are SO important (22:00) 

- How did we approach our potential leads to generate new business and close them (30:00)

 Has this ever happened to you?...

You’re on a sales call, pitching your agency’s services to your newest lead…

And they… don’t really seem to care?

No matter what you say, or how you position your value… they just don’t buy in?

You leave the call disappointed. You just missed an opportunity to bring in more business.

Frustrating, isn’t it?

This happened to one member of our community of agency owners:

“As the call went on, I realized I had no idea what I was doing…”

And so he asked me:

“Anthony, how did you get better at sales?”

So, in today’s podcast, I’ll touch on:

When I first started my agency Jakt back in 2012, I didn’t know what I was doing.

Sure, I could code and take care of the production work, but the business side of things? 

I was figuring that out as it came.

NYU taught me about many things... but running a profitable agency wasn’t one of them.

And in 2015, I realized it didn’t prepare me to fire someone either.

To this day, I can admit it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.

I actually talked myself out of making the decision -- even when I believed it was the best for the business -- for a whopping SIX months before I finally sat down and took action.

If you’re struggling with that right now…

Or you’ve already fired someone, and you’d like to know another’s POV and experience...

This is for you.

I’ll touch on…

- Why I made the decision to let this employee go (3:03)

- The reasons why I talked myself out of it for so long (4:22)

- What helped me get through my mental barriers and stories to take action (7:42)

- The lesson I learned from that experience (13:10)

- Why you’re doing people a disservice if you don’t fire them quickly (13:49)

 It was 2016. We had just closed at $2M in revenue last year, and I was feeling great.

I couldn't know I would be considering shutting down Jakt a couple of months later.

Some of the events that unfolded that year almost broke me.

More than half of our team left us in a short period. Clients were leaving us too. And, to top it all off, I couldn’t seem to close any new business...

If you’re an entrepreneur, you might relate to this.

You might have hard times and think about shutting everything down because it’s not worth the stress, anxiety, or depression.

Reality is though: you’re not alone here.

Just as you, other people have been through their fair share of shit.

And if I got through mine, you can definitely get through yours.

In this podcast, I share with you the story of how I almost decided to shut down Jakt for good, 

because I want to remind you that you’re not alone on this journey. And that things breaking might be a good thing for ONE special reason…

I’ll touch on: