1. My Daughter Made MeFive Insights That Transformed My Life Harry Griendling Founder and CEO DoubleStar, Inc. June, 2011
2. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 2 Intro to DoubleStar First, most experienced, and largest consulting firm focused on delivering talent strategy, project recruitment, RPO, and workforce analytics solutions on the East Coast Only firm that has applied and sustained a true consultative delivery model for recruitment services for 18 years Six-time Philly 100 Company in first 10 years Two-time INC 500 Company in first 6 years Inaugural member of the Philadelphia Business Journal Hall of Fame 100% self-funded out of operating margin 100% debt-free 100% investor-free Executed over 700 high-volume recruiting and RPO assignments for over 300 clients Repeat business rate of 94% and a client satisfaction rate of 99% My 6 year-old daughter made me do this
3. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 3 1993: A Three Alarm Fire in My Life… My 6 year-old Daughter (Kelly) moved to Atlanta with her mom As a result, I was close to personal bankruptcy I had my dream job and I hated it
4. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 4 The Price of Long-Distance Parenting (pre-Internet) 3 round-trip plane tickets per month ($600-$900/month, plushotel, rental car, meals, fun money) 2-4 days off per month on a fixed schedule Flexible time off (sometimes unplanned) No ready answers to the hard question--- how to have a real, meaningful parental relationship with a child who was 680 miles away?
5. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 5 My Dream Job was Becoming a Nightmare Intellectually unfulfilled Role and people were sucking the life juice out of me Realized I didn’t like the path I had chosen Job was working against me--made seeing Kelly harder, not easier Might be a good time to re-assess things….
6. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 6 Needs Analysis – Non-Negotiable Requirements 4-5 consecutive days off each month Extra time off at holidays Four weeks of vacation annually Ability to leave on little notice if needed $15,000 in additional annual to stop my financial bleeding from day-to-day expenses At least $30,000 in additional annual income just to fund trips $20,000 in additional annual income to fund current private school and future college trust Where Oh Where Do You Find this Job?
7. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 7 Solution—Start a Company! Really? You Serious? Only solution that answered all needs But there were a few small problems-- Had no cash Didn’t know what I wanted to do No experience; worse, never took a single business course What could I do that people would pay me a premium for? It was a counter-intuitive course of action I would be risking everything I would go deeper in debt with no guaranteed benefit “I can’t” mindset. What if I fail? Is there a Plan B? No time/patience/experience to write a business plan Killer Revelation: A Paying Customer Solves a Lot of Problems
8. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 8 10 Steps to Launch My Business in 30 Days Created a presentation about my non-existent business’ service and solutions Created a low pricing/high delivery model to instantly differentiate it Offered a 100% guarantee (unheard of in recruiting) to mitigate client risk of hiring me Found 5 potential buyers to present it to Skipped lunch to schedule and attend sales appointments Sold my first client while still employed Quit my job on the ‘strength’ of a six-month contract Took a $6,000 advance on my credit card and got deeper in debt Bought a $35/mo address in Great Valley and set up my business in my spare bedroom Decided that desperate men do desperate things, and I’d better get desperate fast
9. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 9 First Insight: Change Mindset and Get Wildly Out of Balance Being successful at anything requires commitment. Real commitment. Have to go ‘all in’ No one ever achieved anything great without getting wildly out of balance Failure is less likely when you know that it’s simply not a option Move from problem obsession to solution obsession-- the only thing you can hope to control is tomorrow, but you can’t even start to do that if you focus on what’s behind you Forget the things that you THINK are in your way—they aren’t Having the WILL to do something is more important than money, experience, or knowledge…or anyone’s permission Move Mental Frame from “I can’t” ------“I will” ------ “I MUST”
10. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 10 First Insight: Change Mindset and Get Wildly Out of Balance… What Real Commitment (“I MUST”)Looks Like
11. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 11 Funny Thing Happened…Solution Convergence The problems became intertwined; solutions were interconnected
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14. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 14 Fourth Insight: When Overmatched, Use Judo Turn all disadvantages into advantages Business Problem: I couldn’t work a standard fixed schedule Judo Solution: Use a non-standard schedule to impress clients I had 132 extra work hours (40%) available to differentiate myself
15. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 15 Fourth Insight: When Overmatched, Use Judo Turn all disadvantages into advantages Personal Problem: I couldn’t be with Kelly every day Judo Solution: Use distance to make bigger impacts
16. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 16 Judo Everywhere Business Problem: Had no start-up capital for offices Judo Solution: Create one of the first truly virtual companies Patenting Problem: I couldn’t help with day-to-day homework… Judo Solution: Implement an irresistible reward system that provided virtual focus and motivation Business Problem: I had no clients and no business track record JudoSolution: Offer 100% guarantee—no one else had this! Parenting Problem: I couldn’t be there for most school events Judo Solution: Surgically show up to make huge impact
17. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 17 Fifth Insight: Communication is Everything If you don’t talk to me, you don’t exist Face time matters—you can’t phone-in or email-out the love
18. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 18 How Do You Measure Success?
19. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 19 Final Thought--Aim for Integration, not “Balance” Integration is a more useful model than Balance— think of life as a complex system with many disparate processes that require seamless integration Great solutions are like great performances—they look easy because someone spent lots of time out of balancefirst to create them You earn the right to be in balance by working hard to create an integrated life—balance is the payoff for out-of-balance efforts When this is done right, it is joyful
20. This information is confidential and proprietary to DoubleStar, Inc. Reproduction, disclosure or distribution without consent is prohibited. 20 Thanks for your time and attention I hope this discussion was helpful