Dave Benton is the CEO of Metajive. Dave is a thought leader, influencer, visionary, and successful entrepreneur. Dave provides the leadership and energy that has inspired the creation of Metajive. Dave Benton joins other leading CEOs and Founders taking part in our Leader Roundtable Interview Series. The DotCom Magazine editorial team has recently awarded Metajive with our Impact Company of 2019 award. We are delighted to have Dave join us for our Leader Roundtable Interview.
Dave, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day for this interview about your company, leadership, and entrepreneurship.
1. Dave, please tell us about Metajive.
Metajive is an agency specializing in partnering with marketing departments to bring B2B and D2C brands to life by applying strategy to design, technology, modern marketing.
2. How did you come up with the idea for Metajive?
I started metajive in my dorm room, I registered the domain while at Napster, after I graduated college it was my portfolio until my one man show grew to the agency it is today.
3. What is the key to your company’s success?
Happy clients, almost all of our work comes from a referral so we can’t afford to not deliver. We spend a lot of time talking about goals and aligning KPI’s with our work to make sure it is effective for our clients business and not just beautiful.
4. Many of our readers are just starting to build a company. What advice can you give entrepreneurs just starting out with a new venture?
Just keep going, when you are building a business there are so many “unknown-unknowns”. I am not a believer of faking it until you make it but believe in “making it until you make it”. The more projects you do the more you learn, there is no substitute for experience so just get as far as you can until you can’t go further and then get someone to work through the obstacles with you. I have also been so fortunate to have mazing advisors available to me and helped have the foresight for game changing strategies. When I didn’t have the experience I outsourced it.
5. For other entrepreneurs seeking to build a business as successful as yours, what advice can you give them when times get a little challenging?
Elbow grease can’t fix everything but you would be amazing at what it can get through. It is definitely not the most efficient way to work but nights and weekends can give you the edge. When I have gotten in over my head I took Dory’s advice “just keep swimming”
6. How do you make sure your customers will become raving fans of your company?
There is no substitute for a dinner, breaking bread with someone and talking human to human. Working effortlessly to understand their business and taking the time to educate them on how yours work goes along way. If you are doing your best to make your cents successful they will usually do the best to make sure you are successful.
7. In today’s fast changing business environment, how do you stay abreast of things?
We have a practice of doing “pizza & presentations” with our whole team at lunch. We watch the latest presentations from conferences which becomes a great format for people to share relevant updates and thoughts. We are fortunate to have a team where everyone is engaged.
8. What is your “Why”? Why do you get up in the morning, and how do you keep yourself at peak performance to lead Metajive?
My why is to “Create Great Experiences” which I try to apply to my personal and professional life. I want to make my employees experience great and to feel supported. I want my clients don’t just receive a great product but also get a great client experience. Being accountable, on-time and communicating rigorously is just as important as the delivery. This mission has also helped me keep my life in perspective because when I work to much I need to put in extra effort to provide great experiences for my friends and family. Experiences scale from a single project to the entire client relationship.
9. Can you recommend a book that has had an influence in your career? How did it influence you?
There is not a single book I have read that influenced me, I believe that the holistically all the business books and autobiographies I read greatly influenced my perspective. The most recommended books like good to great or outliers have tremendous insight but were much better when paired with context from other books like “Start with Why” or “Life and Def” which is Russell Simmons Autobiography.
10. What makes a great leader?
Simon Sinek answered this better than I ever could, read Leaders Eat Last.
Dave Benton, thank you so much for participating in the DotCom Magazine Leader Roundtable Interview Series. We very much appreciate the time you spent helping our readers learn more about what it takes to build a great company and become a great leader. We wish you, your family, and of course Metajive, nothing but the best.
Thanks again!
