Become a Young Successful Entrepreneur

Name: Brenton Gieser
Company: http://convospark.com/
Blog: http://brentongieser.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/brentongieser

Today I speak with my good friend Brenton Gieser about relationships, startups, and his experience with building a digital marketing agency.

The first video dives into detail about our relationships as entrepreneurs.  I feel Brenton is unique in his relationship in that his girlfriend is deeply involved with his startup and acts as his driver and motivator.  They often work together at coffee shops and support each other in every way.

The second video is about Brenton’s experience with building a digital marketing agency.  A lot of the advice centers around the fact that Brenton was able to leverage his previous agency experience to build Convospark.

Hope you guys enjoy the videos!  Below you will find summarized recaps of our talking points:

Video 1: Startups and Relationships

Does your relationship with Catherine make your relationship easier or harder?

Brenton’s relationship with Catherine helps propel him forward.  She’s the one who gives Brenton the encouragement that he needs and constantly keeps him focused with what he needs to do at that point in time.

My relationship has made startups easier as well because she is the one constant in my every-changing lifestyle.  It feels good to know that there will always be one aspect of my life that I can always depend on.

How do you balance your time between the startup and the relationship?

Brenton doesn’t make it more difficult than it needs to be.  They work together and enjoy their time together because they know they’re making progress in their lives.

Kim and I don’t really talk too much about my startup.  I like to keep things separate as much as possible… not sure why.  I’m going to make it a point to talk to her more about the startup and keep her involved  :)

What is your number 1 priority in your life right now?

For Brenton, friends and family are always number 1.  Although his actions aren’t always aligned, he tries to put his family, friends, and girlfriend first in his life.  The people in his life also need to understand that he is running a company and that they need to give him time and space to focus on his career efforts.

If you had $10 million in the bank right now, what would you be doing?

Straight to Vegas!  :P

Like the majority of entrepreneurs, Brenton would be doing the same thing that he is doing right now: trying to enrich the lives of others.

Video 2: How to build a digital marketing agency

What did you learn about yourself and about building an agency when you made the transition from corporate to startup?

It wasn’t as big of a change for Brenton as he thought it would be.  The main change was that Brenton was now responsible for feeding himself.  The mindset of an entrepreneur never changes though, and Brenton has always had the mindset of self-reliance and the hunger to do something great.

Are you currently living off of savings, earning a salary, or are you funded?

The team is salary based right now.  The majority of the members on the team are 25 years old, and understand that at this stage of their lives, they don’t need extravagant, expensive things in their lives.  They know they need to focus on their careers and establish something great while they’re young, care-free, and have no major responsibilities.

What can someone expect to do as the President of an agency?

1: Keep the vision consistent in the organization

2. Recognize key future opportunities and make sure to keep the company goals in line while making progress towards those opportunies

3. Organize the team for meetings, decisions, and collaboration

4. Do whatever it takes to get the business off the ground

What advice would you give to an entrepreneur who wants to leave their current agency to start their own?

You need a strong network of customers that will hopefully go with you during your transition.  You want to make sure you are strong from a revenue and client perspective from the get-go.

Secondly, you need to know how you’re adding value to your clients.  Social media marketing is very saturated, and you need to be unique and standout with the services that you are providing.