This is a post by Jesse Pujji. Jessi a serial entrepreneur that lives in the US. He has:
- Bootstrapped to an 8-figure exist with his previous startup, Ampush
- Is currently building GatewayX, a venture studio that he plans to bootstrap to $1B+
- Executive Chairman & Founder of GrowthAssistant.com
- ex-McKinsey Consultant
Guest Author: Jesse Pujji
You never heard of my mentor, but he:
• Built a $10B company
• Acquired 12 MEGA brands
• Gets home daily by 6pm
• Built one of the most amazing cultures I’ve witnessed
6 most important lessons I learned from him:
Ric Elias is one of the most successful + least-known entrepreneurs of our generation.
His company Red Ventures is the largest digital media company in the US.
He’s also one of the most humble, kind-hearted people I know. And an amazing mentor.
Alright…
1. Lesson 1:
You own your business, your business doesn’t own you
2017, I was feeling stuck after many years of running Ampush.
He encouraged me to use my work for personal growth + ask my team to do the same.
He reminded me that as the CEO/founder I can change anything
2. Lesson 2:
Culture is what you tolerate.
No matter how hard I look, I can’t find a better definition of culture.
Allow complacency? People will stop growing.
Tolerate people not knowing their numbers? They won’t know them.
And If you let people be themselves, they’ll surprise you.
High bar + kindness = great culture.
3. Lesson 3:
Pursue the 3 Fer
Biz leaders often debate things like profit vs growth
Ric prefers to greenlight initiatives where we somehow deliver 3 wins. e.g., it has to drive growth, profit and learning
4. Lesson 4:
People are the purpose
6 months into our partnership, Ric asked “how come you never call and share your challenges?”
Me: “I’m like 2% of your business, it’s not worth your time”
Ric: “but you are my friend and I’m here to support you”
That left a HUGE impact.
Side note: He has quietly funded scholarships for ~500 DACA students through his Golden Door Scholars program and built a nonprofit called Road to Hire that has trained 1700 young people to date
Part of Giving Pledge, committing to giving away >50% of his wealth. Raised $5M (half his own) to help Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
He never forgets People are the purpose.
He taught me that there is more to business than just capital, profit, and growth.
5. Lesson 5:
Tell me how someone is paid and I’ll tell you how they’ll behave
The most important behaviors are the ones people do when no one is looking.
Incentives are that invisible hand driving what people do.
6. Lesson 6:
Top down P&L targets are arbitrary, and dangerous.
“Ric, we will pursue a 25% EBITDA margin this year”
“Jesse, why not 35%? why not 15%?
Whatever target you choose, you will take actions to land there.
Instead, focus on being great at the actions, focus on
being intentional.
Target the actions you’ll take, accomplish, or other causal metrics instead of an end goal and you’ll surpass your wildest dreams of profit margins!
Those are the 6 Lessons.
When it’s all said and done, I truly believe Ric & Red Ventures will have many books written about them.
I’m grateful to know Ric, count him as a mentor & to have learned all these amazing lessons from him.
Check the post below for a recording of my recent conversation with him.
