Bootstrapping A Digital Agency to 7 Figures And Beyond With Dev Basu

The Fail On Podcast with Rob Nunnery - Fail Your Way To An Inspired Life

Dev Basu is the founder of Canada’s fastest growing digital agency, Powered By Search.

He is a polymath who wears many hats – CEO, author, professor, public speaker, startup advisor, investor, amateur chef, and travel hacker.

Dev helps companies double or triple how fast they grow through world class marketing. Over the last 10 years, he’s consulted for some of the world’s largest brands, accelerating their digital marketing performance while generating millions of dollars of value for them. Since 2009, Dev has grown his company into a multi-million dollar digital marketing agency, recognized as one of Canada’s top growth companies in the PROFIT Hot50 and on the Branham300 awards.

Today we discuss how going from intrapreneur to entrepreneur is often the best way to get started in business. Dev shares how he plans on scaling from seven million dollars in revenue, currently, to 28 million by 2019. And also how he plans on going from 30 employees to 100 employees. Dev reveals how you should niche down when just getting started in business to go from being a generalist to being a specialist.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Dev tells us about his family background in India and returning to Canada.
• Hear how working at Microsoft sparked Dev’s interest in search engine optimization.
• The three lessons Dev learned from his first web design project.
• Find out what initiated the change for Dev to go from intraprenenur to entrepreneur.
• Dev’s biggest struggles in growing Powered by Search.
• Understand how Dev’s focus on the hiring process has shifted.
• Discover more about Powered By Search’s Vivid Vision.
• Dev tells us about some of his three year goals.
• The different types of channels used for customer acquisition.
• Find out more about Dev’s conference, Inbound Con.
• The core value of Dev’s company, especially surrounding failure.
• How Dev defines failure as the inability to learn when you make mistakes.
• Discover how Dev pushes himself out of his comfort zone.
• The crucial role that the support of key people played in Dev’s life.
• Hear how Dev managed his partnerships and merging of companies.
• Understand why codifying strategy is one of Dev’s biggest challenges in his business today.
• Why Dev encourages entrepreneurs starting out to be curious and niche down their solution.
• How to figure out what the problems are in growing your business.
• Discover who has had a profound impact on Dev’s life.
• The benefits of a community like Mastermind Talks.
• Why Dev believes that the strength of the network is in recommendations.
• The definition of the Theory of Thirds and how it is applied.
• How to approach and reach out to successful leaders in your industry.
• And much more!

Tweetables:

“You need to scope before you quote.” — @devbasu

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“You have to have a separation sometimes between work life and home life.” — @devbasu

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“When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.” — @devbasu

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[0:30:48].6]

“Failure is the inability to learn when you make mistakes.” — @devbasu

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[0:30:59].9]

“Sales is really just a transference of emotion.” — @devbasu

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“I really see the value in networks; being able to leverage somebody else’s hard work and experience.” — @devbasu

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Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dev Basu — http://devbasu.com/

Powered By Search — https://www.poweredbysearch.com/

Dev on Twitter — https://twitter.com/devbasu

Microsoft — https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/

VBulletin — https://www.vbulletin.com/

Enron — http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/enron.asp

Vivid Vision of Powered By Search — http://www.poweredbysearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Vivid-Vision-Powered-by-Search.pdf

Inbound Con — https://www.inbound.com/

Center for Social Innovation in Toronto — https://socialinnovation.org/

CBC — http://www.cbc.ca/

Jayson Gaignard — http://www.jaysongaignard.com/

The Intent Engine: Powered By Search — https://www.poweredbysearch.com/intent-engine-webinar

Tony Robbins — https://www.tonyrobbins.com/

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs — https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

Robin Williams — https://www.biography.com/people/robin-williams-9532797

James Altucher — http://www.jamesaltucher.com/

Sara Blakely — http://sarasnotebook.com/

Michael Gerber’s book, The E-Myth — https://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280/

Dale Carnegie’s book, How To win Friends and Influence People — https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671027034/

Zig Ziglar — https://www.ziglar.com/

Ryan Holiday’s book, The Obstacle is a Way — https://www.amazon.com/Obstacle-Way-Timeless-Turning-Triumph/dp/1591846358/

Jon Goodman — https://www.theptdc.com/jonathan-goodman/

Todd Herman — http://toddherman.me/

Charlie Hoehn — https://charliehoehn.com/

Tim Ferriss — https://tim.blog/podcast/

Noah Kagan — http://okdork.com/