What makes a leader of a digital design team successful? How do they build the best possible team? What was their journey? What is their approach to culture, process and management? What are the core factors that influence their decisions? For a long time Richard Banfield has been fascinated by Digital Design Leadership, so he made it the focus of a two-year long study. The objective of the study was to gain insights into what makes leaders of successful digital design studios and digital product companies different from the rest. He is half-way through the study and so far and has interviewed 50+ studio founders, digital product company CEOs, and product leads. The interviews have already taken him to Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Portland, Boulder, Denver, NYC, Austin, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Jacksonville, Bristol, Boston, London and Madrid. In this talk, Richard will share what he has learned so far and will begin to reveal the patterns of how we can all mimic this success.

1. @
How the Best Get
to the Top
Insights into the Top Design Studios Success

2. 16,000
U.S. Census

3. “About half of all new
establishments survive
five years”
The Small Business Administration

4. “Only a 1/3 will
survive to 10 years”
The Small Business Administration

5. @
Get Out Before
It’s Too Late
and other cautionary tales

7. Not just survivors
but leaders

8. Digital Design
Leaders

9. 16,000
U.S. Census

10. 16,000
U.S. Census
Vision Skills
Culture
Values
Talent
LeadershipMoney
Balance
Planning

11. 75 interviews
45+ hrs video
225,000+ words
60+ surveys
1 long bus trip in a skirt

12. Qualitative &
Quantitative

13. and we’re only half
way there.

14. So why bother?

15. For one, it pays more…

16. and you’ll be happier…

17. …but only if you’re an
above-average entrepreneur.
1
23

18. It only makes sense if
you’re one of the best.

19. Do designers make
good business leaders?

20. Nah!
11%
5%
37%
47%
Possibly
Very likely
Definitely

21. But it doesn’t really
matter what your job
description says.

22. DD

24. “Just because you’re a Dive
Master, doesn’t mean you have
mastered the diving business.”
- Guy Fotherby

25. “Just because you’re a master
designer doesn’t mean you have
mastered the design business.”
- Some Other Guy

26. Professional
Business Managers
The Best Are:

27. "Until I was able to speak the
CPA’s language, we were just
another cog in the wheel.”
- Carl White, Think Brownstone

28. “We hired a team of financial
experts that helped us
understand how our enterprise
clients do business”
- Aaron Quinn, eHouse Studio

29. A deep interest in
the craft of running
a business.

30. Always improving
on their skills
The Best Are:

31. How would you
describe your
leadership skills?

32. Still got lots to learn 47%
16%
37% Pretty decent
This is where I shine!

33. “I usually like to warn people; I’m
a really, really bad manager. But
I’m a particularly good leader.”
- Matt Bertulli, Demac Media

34. Knowing what you’re
good at and what
needs attention

35. The Best Are:
Guiding their teams
with vision and values

36. We are the very best!

37. “It starts with having values that
are very specific, and then you
create a culture that values that.”
- Jon Lax, Teehan + Lax

38. “My leadership skill is visionary
consensus. I provide a vision
and I try to build consensus
around that vision”
- Karim Marucchi, Crowd Favorite

39. “Actions reveal the path. I’m
here because I work fucking
hard and I can communicate.”
- Nancy Lyons, Clockwork

40. You inspire
me to be a
better person

41. Set a clear vision &
values, then show
the way

42. The Best Are:
Actively involved in
sales and marketing

43. Do you take an active
role in sales?

44. No
5%
32%
16%
47% Yes, that’s the
principles job!
Yes, but only because
no one else wants to
Sometimes

45. “Saying you’re not in sales is an
aspirational statement that has
nothing to do with reality.”
- Jennifer Dary, Plucky

46. Prioritize sales in
good times and bad

47. The Best Are:
Focused but flexible

48. How would you
describe your
leadership style?

49. Flexible on some
things and immovable
on others
Super adaptable. Call
me a chameleon.
26%
74%

50. “I’m part of it, I get involved, to get
my hands dirty, to assess things.
But at the same time, I’m not a
micro-manager.”
- Neil McPhedran, Gray

51. Be clear and
focused but be
ready to adapt

52. The Best Are:
Evolving their Roles

55. “While I don’t get to write as much
code as I used to, I’m becoming
increasingly comfortable and
proficient in my revised role.”
- Bryan Mahoney, Dynamo

56. “I didn’t need to change my
personality, I needed to
change my perspective on
what my role was.”
- Dominic Bortolussi, The Working Group

57. The Best Are:
Embrace Tough Choices
(but rely on advisors)

58. How do you make
tough decisions?

59. Weight options then
make the decision on
my own
79%
21%
Discuss with advisors
before moving forward

61. “I fully understand that I don’t
have all the answers, nor will I
ever, nor do I want to.”
- Ethan Smith-Gillespie, The Program

62. “I’ve never really thought about
myself in terms of leadership
but because I tell the truth
there’s leadership in that.”
- Nancy Lyons, Clockwork

63. Rely on advisors and
mentors to provide
perspective

64. The Best Are:
Curating Culture

65. How important is
culture to your success?

66. Culture matters, I just
don’t know how much.
79%
21%
Very important.
Culture is everything.

67. “Putting a Foosball table in a
room doesn’t create culture.
Culture is created by the people
in the room at that time.”
- Warren Wilansky, Plank

68. “I realized the culture of the team
wasn’t what I thought it should be and I
realized that maybe that was because I
wasn’t doing anything to shepherd it in
the direction I wanted it to go.”
- Alex King, Crowd Favorite

69. Gently guiding the
culture without
smothering it

70. The Best Are:
Finding balance and
reducing stress

71. How do you find
balance in your life?

72. What stress? I live for this
More work
Hit the bar
Exercise
Vacations
Scream and shout
Play with my kids
Other
0 15 30 45 60

73. “As more of an introverted person I
thrive on down time. So I’ll ensure
that I will always have a certain
amount of time during a day or on a
weekend that I can recharge myself.”
- Warren Wilansky, Plank

74. Building support and
resources through
exercise, family and friends

75. The Best Are:
Building a Talent
Pipeline

76. What is your approach to
hiring new design talent?

77. Other
Hire young and
train them
11%
11%
21%
37%
21%Job boards
No strategy for hiring :(
Our own network

78. “Hire people, not skills.”
- David Cancel, Driftt

79. “The core team actually seeks
out other people that they want
to work with and invite them in
to work on a project.”
- Carl Smith, nGen Works

80. Talent is like sales; you
never stop working on
the pipeline

81. The Best Are:
Creating safe spaces
for work and discussion

82. “There’s something lost in today’s
electronic communication and that’s
the human aspect of just trying to
make sure that we understand each
other; what’s important to each other.”
- Karim Marucchi, Crowd Favorite

83. How important is physical
space to team success?

84. 28%
72%
Somewhat Important
Very Important!

85. “We needed to take management
into our own hands and become
proactive. Especially in
communicating with the team.”
- Peter Kang, Barrell.

86. Safe, productive
spaces to be creative
and supportive

89. British Cycling
2010
1
23

90. David Brailsford

91. DD D
D
D
D
D
D
D

92. 1%

93. Adapted from The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson
Aggregation of Marginal Gains

94. Adapted from The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson
Aggregation of Marginal Pains

95. British Cycling
2012/13
1
23

96. Bradley Wiggins:
2012 Tour de France winner
British Olympic Team:
win 70% of cycling medals
Chris Froome:
2013 Tour de France winner

97. “Success is a few simple
disciplines, practiced every day;
while failure is simply a few errors
in judgment, repeated every day.”
— Jim Rohn

98. digitaldesignleadership.com

99. My grandmother, she had that
business for like 40 years. She just
still just shrugs it off. She’s like,
“You’re never gonna know what
the hell you’re doing.”
— Matt Bertulli, Demac Media

100. Thank you!
richard@freshtillsoil.com
@freshtilledsoil