"I Own a Handful of Different Things" — Transcript

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1. 0:00So
2. 0:01my name is Austin Dunbar and I am the
3. 0:03guy from [ __ ] Kentucky. So
4. 0:07every everyone needs one. I think I'm
5. 0:08that guy.
6. 0:10So no, I
7. 0:12own a handful of different things, but
8. 0:13the one I'm here for is a design studio
9. 0:15called Durham. So we're in northern
10. 0:17Kentucky right outside Cincinnati.
11. 0:19We do about 3 and 1/2 a year in
12. 0:23revenue. And
13. 0:25we're in that like 3 to 4 million glass
14. 0:29ceiling. Like how do you break it to the
15. 0:3110 12 15 to go farther than that? And a
16. 0:34lot of it is
17. 0:37My legal name is Austin Dunbar, but I
18. 0:39think my professional name is Mr.
19. 0:40Bottleneck. Kind of similar to the guy
20. 0:43over here. And I built the company 12
21. 0:45years ago.
22. 0:47People want to talk to me. So it's kind
23. 0:48of like running a dentist office. They
24. 0:50want to see the dentist that's name's on
25. 0:52the door. And so scaling that and
26. 0:54building sales teams behind that has
27. 0:56been kind of difficult.
28. 0:57>> Walk me through Walk me through the like
29. 0:59quick to close of the business real
30. 1:01quick.
31. 1:01>> Yeah, sure.
32. 1:02So if a thousand percent of the business
33. 1:05is word of mouth,
34. 1:07um
35. 1:07it makes, [snorts]
36. 1:08you know, Q3 Q4 of 26 look a little
37. 1:11questionable, but we're busy now. So our
38. 1:13clients are like enterprise Fortune 500
39. 1:16companies like Old Spice, Taylormade,
40. 1:17Bud Light. So we have the names. We have
41. 1:19the brands.
42. 1:20>> What are the pack What are they buying?
43. 1:21>> So they're buying brand identity,
44. 1:23motion, video, storytelling. We'll name
45. 1:26products or name companies.
46. 1:28>> But you can sell nationally.
47. 1:30>> Yeah, we do sell nationally. Yeah.
48. 1:31>> you don't have the Kentucky issue.
49. 1:32>> No, I was just making I was I was I was
50. 1:34bringing the [ __ ] Kentucky back.
51. 1:36>> [laughter]
52. 1:36>> How is this guy locally like
53. 1:38constrained?
54. 1:39>> That's what I was like I brought the
55. 1:39joke back.
56. 1:41Yeah, yeah, yeah. So let's take let's
57. 1:42take the [ __ ] Kentucky out. You You
58. 1:45said you wanted to get got. You wanted
59. 1:46to get got. So
60. 1:48I'll be the got guy.
61. 1:50Um
62. 1:51No, so we so so we're and we're not in
63. 1:53[ __ ] Kentucky. We're in Cincinnati
64. 1:54basically. So uh
65. 1:55>> [laughter]
66. 1:57>> You said it, dude. I'm just here. I'm
67. 1:59just here.
68. 1:59>> out of New York. We're like
69. 2:01>> Yeah, yeah, I'm kidding. Kidding.
70. 2:02>> [laughter]
71. 2:03>> Uh
72. 2:04You're like, "I don't need this paper
73. 2:05now."
74. 2:05Um
75. 2:07So, no. So, we're working on national
76. 2:08stuff. So, like which is that's that's
77. 2:10earned. And so, if a thousand percent of
78. 2:12the company's word of mouth, that's even
79. 2:13harder. And so, we've had clients that
80. 2:16have stayed on uh for 10, 11 years. And
81. 2:18so, like which is great, but in an
82. 2:20industry that seems like it's getting
83. 2:23cannibal- uh the cannibalization of just
84. 2:25like AI and everyone's just freaking the
85. 2:27[ __ ] out. Like for me, like if the
86. 2:29robots take our
87. 2:30>> Yeah, if the robots can take our jobs,
88. 2:31they can't steal our relationships. So,
89. 2:33you really have to kind of like double
90. 2:34click into like who you know, but
91. 2:36sometimes there's like an owner sales
92. 2:39fatigue cuz you can only mine a uh a
93. 2:41cave so much to get gold out. So, uh
94. 2:46Does that work? Um
95. 2:48and I feel like
96. 2:49>> only cat milk a cow so much, right?
97. 2:51>> Yeah, dude. Yeah, we Yeah, we can we can
98. 2:52razz all day long. But,
99. 2:54>> Um
100. 2:54>> [laughter]
101. 2:55>> So, so I feel like from a
102. 2:59categorically and from an industry
103. 3:01perspective, like there's just so much
104. 3:02of our world that's just
105. 3:04kind of the V's going this way, right?
106. 3:06And I think there's like the strongest
107. 3:08will survive to a degree, but with
108. 3:11owning other companies as well, like my
109. 3:13time's kind of been dispersed over the
110. 3:15past 20 years.
111. 3:16>> do you
112. 3:16>> I own a Going back to Kentucky, I own a
113. 3:19uh distillery.
114. 3:20>> Is it in Kentucky?
115. 3:21>> Yes, sir. Of course, it is.
116. 3:22>> we go.
117. 3:22>> Yeah. So, let's talk about that now. Uh
118. 3:24and then uh I own a solar battery
119. 3:26company in Missouri. Um I own real
120. 3:28estate, this, that, and the other. So,
121. 3:29like I kind of have a Rolodex of like
122. 3:31portfolio, if you will. But, like
123. 3:32>> Are you the CEO?
124. 3:33>> Uh yeah. So, yeah. So, I'm see- I'm in
125. 3:37the distillery, I'm co-owner.
126. 3:39Um but, Durham, I'm a 100% CEO. And the
127. 3:42uh the other ones as well. But, for me,
128. 3:44it's really just
129. 3:45>> of all of them?
130. 3:46>> Yeah.
131. 3:46>> That's tough.
132. 3:47>> Yeah, but so do you. Like, you know,
133. 3:49>> No, no.
134. 3:50>> It's just playing the It's the group
135. 3:52extremely
136. 3:53>> worth recognizing. I'm not.
137. 3:55I have zero direct reports.
138. 3:57That's not true. Blade's father is
139. 4:00technically my direct report. He manages
140. 4:01He manages my books.
141. 4:02>> Yeah.
142. 4:03>> So I have one direct report. Yeah, we
143. 4:05meet once we once a month.
144. 4:06Um but but no, so like that's that's
145. 4:08there's a very real difference there.
146. 4:10>> Sure.
147. 4:10>> Um
148. 4:14You see
149. 4:15You appear to be a bright guy.
150. 4:18What do you
151. 4:19What do you think I'm going to say?
152. 4:22>> Uh
153. 4:23we probably So let's go to the moment
154. 4:25six. We probably need to figure out a
155. 4:28sales model that can operate sans the
156. 4:32owner of the company that can serve as a
157. 4:35function to deliver not only a higher
158. 4:38close rate, but opportunities to find
159. 4:41and define and invest in, and then just
160. 4:44pump that [ __ ] up, and then we'll
161. 4:46continue to
162. 4:48>> cow, right?
163. 4:48>> Yeah, we're just going to milk that cow.
164. 4:49We're going to drink that whiskey. And
165. 4:51then uh
166. 4:52Uh [snorts] yeah, but you know, like
167. 4:54it's just been an interesting past like
168. 4:56I think 12 months cuz everything's been
169. 4:59every year it grows year after year.
170. 5:02Uh
171. 5:02long-term um
172. 5:04retaining of employees, which is great
173. 5:06as well. Our clients, you know, the logo
174. 5:08being those huge, anyone would kill for
175. 5:10them. But everyone's projects and
176. 5:12budgets are getting so small just
177. 5:14because they're either hiring
178. 5:16internally,
179. 5:17they you know, we're in the business of
180. 5:19nice-to-haves, not necessities. So the
181. 5:21first thing that gets killed if your
182. 5:22stock's down 25% is marketing.
183. 5:26So it's just this weird I'm 39. What do
184. 5:30I want to do? We've had some digital
185. 5:32door knocks in terms of like, "Hey, are
186. 5:33you selling?"
187. 5:34And it's like, "Oh, I've never
188. 5:36thought about that." And so kind of
189. 5:38weaseling through that a little bit and
190. 5:39trying to figure out some of that kind
191. 5:41of stuff. And it's a you know, this
192. 5:44isn't going to be a legacy company. I'm
193. 5:45not going to give it to my girls. But,
194. 5:47it is kind of like really the marketing.
195. 5:49Yeah, the studio like but it is a pretty
196. 5:51kick-ass lifestyle company. So, it's
197. 5:53that kind of give and take, right? And
198. 5:55it's like how long do you ride the
199. 5:56horse? Um
200. 5:58Do you Do you get more horses? As long
201. 6:00as you can ride [laughter] it?
202. 6:01You know, do you get more horses, you
203. 6:03know, prime the pump with the figure out
204. 6:04a new sales model or
205. 6:07do you just chalk it up to what it is
206. 6:09and
207. 6:11keep it and then just ride it out?
208. 6:13>> Okay, there's a lot there.
209. 6:15>> Yeah.
210. 6:15>> Um
211. 6:15>> You wanted something I came I was coming
212. 6:17with something different. You're like no
213. 6:18one's giving me anything. So, it's like
214. 6:19>> No, this is good. This is good. This is
215. 6:21>> you something heavy.
216. 6:21>> I appreciate it.
217. 6:22>> Yeah.
218. 6:23>> Um
219. 6:26Chunked all the way up, you've got your
220. 6:29mojo, right? You've got your special
221. 6:30sauce. Right now, you're spreading it
222. 6:32over a few different things. And so,
223. 6:34everything grows a little bit but not as
224. 6:35much as you want. And so, it's just that
225. 6:39you've been reinforced for whatever
226. 6:40reason in the past that in order to make
227. 6:42more money you do something new rather
228. 6:43than doing more of the thing.
229. 6:45Just been real. But, now you you know,
230. 6:47you've you're in it and you have these
231. 6:49other issues, which is why it's harder
232. 6:50to unwind than it is to, you know, let's
233. 6:53fast forward. Um
234. 6:56So, where to from here? Um
235. 7:02>> [sighs]
236. 7:02>> I think the like the marketing business
237. 7:05is the main one that you like the most,
238. 7:07right? Okay.
239. 7:09So, if I were to try and solve this
240. 7:10problem, I would attack it from
241. 7:13regaining all my attention first and
242. 7:15then fully deploying it into the thing
243. 7:17that has the highest return on my
244. 7:18attention.
245. 7:19So, right now you have these other kind
246. 7:21of ventures, per se.
247. 7:23The thing is is even though you can
248. 7:24rationalize to yourself it's like,
249. 7:26"Well, I'm not really doing that much.
250. 7:27There's a team the blah blah blah." It's
251. 7:28the thing is it's like it's like it's
252. 7:31shower time. You know what I mean? You
253. 7:32get a call, you get a text and all of a
254. 7:33sudden the next hour and a half you're
255. 7:35thinking about something from this other
256. 7:36business. Even though you don't do
257. 7:37anything, it stops your your your
258. 7:40thinking cycles, right? And so, I'm a
259. 7:42big believer in
260. 7:44in
261. 7:45thinking surface area.
262. 7:47Which is like, I want to paint a
263. 7:49masterpiece and you don't do it in one
264. 7:50sitting. It's like, you need to do
265. 7:52multiple coats of paint to really solve
266. 7:53problems elegantly and well. And so,
267. 7:56right now, you've been getting away with
268. 7:59running multiple companies because
269. 8:00you're competent.
270. 8:02>> Mhm.
271. 8:02>> But, I think that you're making
272. 8:03significantly less money than you should
273. 8:05be making because you just haven't had
274. 8:07the discipline.
275. 8:08>> Mhm.
276. 8:09>> If we're being real.
277. 8:10>> Yeah, sure.
278. 8:11>> And so,
279. 8:12I think the the question that you
280. 8:14originally asked, which is like, do I
281. 8:15ride this horse?
282. 8:17Do I add more, you know, horses to the
283. 8:18the stable or whatever? Um
284. 8:21I think it is a 100% a you question of
285. 8:23like,
286. 8:24how big do you want to go?
287. 8:26Cuz like, I think there's
288. 8:28Everybody has a day they start a
289. 8:29business and everyone has a day where
290. 8:30they they go pro. They want to be all in
291. 8:33on it. And
292. 8:35that means different things to different
293. 8:36people. For some people, they can
294. 8:38half-ass and still do a $10 million a
295. 8:40year. There's people that I know do
296. 8:41half-ass and do a $100 million a year.
297. 8:43Um it's just about how confident you
298. 8:44are. And so, it seems like you're under
299. 8:47your ability.
300. 8:48>> Mhm.
301. 8:49>> And I'm guessing you feel that
302. 8:50discrepancy between like, the numbers
303. 8:52and what you feel like you're capable
304. 8:54of.
305. 8:54>> Yeah.
306. 8:55>> And so, I think it's just a hard call
307. 8:57that you'll have to make. Is the
308. 8:59marketing agency growable? Absolutely.
309. 9:01The whole like, the fortune like, yeah,
310. 9:03but if you're a better you got a better
311. 9:04pitch, you got a better product like,
312. 9:06and if you had the thinking revolutions
313. 9:08to actually make the thing better, you'd
314. 9:09be able to do it.
315. 9:09>> But, you just have enough nagging
316. 9:11things. Like, Rome wasn't beat head-on,
317. 9:13it was beat by barbarian siblings at the
318. 9:15edges. And so, it's the same idea. You
319. 9:17can still be Rome, you can still lose.
320. 9:18>> Sure.
321. 9:19>> So, the hard call is I would recoup 100%
322. 9:21of my attention and then I go all in on
323. 9:23the marketing
324. 9:25uh the marketing business. And
325. 9:27um I can't remember who said this from
326. 9:28A16Z, but
327. 9:30um the next trillion-dollar company is a
328. 9:33technology business masquerading as a
329. 9:35business. And so, agencies, things like
330. 9:38that, were traditionally very terrible
331. 9:40businesses to run. But, if you can
332. 9:42transition your to your point about AI,
333. 9:44it's like, "Well, why would we be afraid
334. 9:46of that?" It's like, "Let everybody else
335. 9:47be afraid of it. I'm using it."
336. 9:49>> Right.
337. 9:49>> They should be afraid of me.
338. 9:50>> Right.
339. 9:51Yeah, it's just a tool, like anything
340. 9:52else.
341. 9:53>> Right. Well, I mean, like, yeah. It's
342. 9:54like, am I going to take their lunch or
343. 9:56they going to take mine?
344. 9:57>> Right. 100%.
345. 9:58>> And I think that if you had more
346. 9:59thinking revolutions, you put the fear
347. 10:00in them. I think you have that potential
348. 10:02if you decide to do it.
349. 10:04>> Yeah. Sure, man.
350. 10:05Awesome.
351. 10:06Pleasure.
352. 10:07>> If you like this video and you're a
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363. 10:24a business owner, I appreciate you, and
364. 10:26enjoy.