Jeff Hoffman on Leadership, Customers and Company Growth
At a fireside chat, Richard C. Wilson interviews Jeff Hoffman about company building and leadership.
Jeff describes teaching entrepreneurship through the Global Entrepreneurship Network, then explains how he developed leaders, listened to customers, focused work on selling hotel rooms, and set shared measures for success and failure. He also discusses investor relationships, employee motivation, work habits and giving back.
In this video: Richard C. Wilson (Event host and interviewer), Jeff (Entrepreneur, humanitarian and author)
What they said
- How Jeff developed leaders. Jeff says leaders should spend less time directing people and more time developing other leaders. He describes changing his own schedule to make that part of his job. (at 2:46)
- How Jeff listened to customers. Jeff says a business idea can look brilliant to its creators and still miss what customers need. He recommends spending time with the people the business serves and listening to them. (at 7:45)
- How Jeff focused work on hotel rooms. Jeff says his team put its main business objective on the office wall and asked how each task supported it. He describes letting employees question requests that did not connect to that objective. (at 10:29)
- How Jeff defined success and failure. Jeff says he asked stakeholders to agree on what success and failure would look like before the year began. He says they measured quarterly and tracked progress monthly. (at 13:16)
- How Jeff kept in touch with investors. Jeff says investor relations means keeping in touch when you do not need money. He describes spending time with a lead investor without asking for anything. (at 17:24)
In their words
"Being here doesn't make you a good father. Being engaged makes you a good father."
"I want you to figure out how we can do in two days what every other company takes a whole week to do."
Why it matters if you are building or preserving great wealth
Jeff described an escrow arrangement that released funds when agreed targets were met. It made the success definition concrete for the investor as well as the team, since the money moved against the measures they'd set.
From Richard's exclusive Billionaires.com interviews
Lessons from Richard C. Wilson's one-on-one interviews, as published on each interview page.
- Bobby Castro: Change the strategy to scale. Bobby says that to scale a business, everything has to change. He suggests asking whether the business is scalable, whether it offers a solution and whether it is disruptive.
- Tony Robbins: Think like an owner. His biggest turning point was moving from operator to owner. An operator tries to supervise everything and cannot scale.
- Don Wenner: Commit to scale. Don's major turning point came when he decided to build a great company that makes an impact. Making money and being successful was not enough for him.
See the data
Frequently asked questions
What does the Global Entrepreneurship Network teach?
Jeff says the nonprofit teaches people the mindset and skills to start a business and help themselves. He says it works on the ground in 200 countries.
What does Jeff's children's charity do?
Jeff says World Youth Horizons supports children who have little chance at a better life. He described youth homes in Uganda with farms, animal raising, crops and schooling.
Sources
Quotes are copied from the video captions and checked against the transcript. Timestamps link to the moment in the video. General information only, not legal, tax or investment advice.