Perfectly Mentored with Jason Portnoy EP69: Dee Deng: How to Lead Your People While the World is Ending
COVID-19 has made the already-tough path of entrepreneurship nearly impossible. But the only person stopping your growth is you - put the focus on delivering value and learning from your many mistakes and watch your business thrive, coronavirus or no.
Dee Deng is the co-founder and CEO of Right Hook Digital, an ecommerce growth & performance marketing agency that manages millions in ad spend for their growth clients across Australia and the USA. Obsessed with "delivering wow," Dee leads his agency team of 50 while traveling the world sharing his team's learnings & insights and educating brand owners on how to scale profitably and sustainably. Most recently, Right Hook has been listed as one of Australia's Fastest Growing Companies of 2019/2020 by the Australian Financial Review.
On this episode of the Perfectly Mentored podcast, Jason and Dee break down the mechanics of a high-functioning and fast-growing business, approaching Internet marketers with a grain of salt (and helping clients do so, too), and what it takes to be an effective leader and mentor in a time of crisis like the pandemic. Listen in for a much-needed dose of reality and solid, grounded wisdom in a currently confused world.
Topics Covered:
- Who is Dee Deng? [00:15]
- Why is risk the common factor in the marketing industry? [03:32]
- How much of your incredibly accelerated scaling was done on the fly? [06:52]
- What's your advice for those who are stuck in place? [07:55]
- Where's the balance between not waiting around and making sure your people have a checklist? [09:35]
- As a solo entrepreneur, what's the first hire? [11:01]
- How did you learn to let go of some control? [12:22]
- What's the secret to being the boss who gives value, but not the one who just hangs around? [14:28]
- How does Right Hook approach employee training? [17:15]
- Are entrepreneurs who expect a life of easy luxury on the right track? [19:25]
- Is "no" a good motivator? [23:33]
- Why does marketing attract fake experts? [26:11]
- How do you help clients sift through the BS? [28:27]
- What does each client need to be educated on? [32:13]
- How did your leadership discuss plans for COVID-19? [35:56]
- What advice do you have for leaders facing a crisis? [41:34]
- How much are you telling your employees right now? [43:38]
- Why is growth important to you while the world is in turmoil? [44:42]
- Is selfishness sometimes a good thing? [46:04]
- Wrap up [47:46]
Connect with Dee Deng
Connect with Jason Portnoy
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