Don’t Touch Growth Until You Get THIS Right! | Seth Farbman

It did take some time for me to adjust on an emotional and a personal level because I had spent years identifying myself as Vintage Filings. Everybody in the industry knew us as Vintage Filings. Once we gave it away, so to say, I was like, "Who am I?" And what am I going to do? Like 7:00 a.m. I was there doing the banner and the skirt and putting out the mints, and I said to myself, like, "What the heck am I doing?" Like, I literally just had a multi-million dollar exit last night. Year, year a half, you're like, "Oh my god, I can't do this again for 7 years." That's that's an eternity. Finding new people and then at some point it dawns on me like a second I've been in business for 20 plus years. I've got 10,000 connections and emails and former clients. I'm like, how am I getting in front of them? How am I staying top of my presence organically? If I had my choice being at a conference, I'd be the Schmenrich in the corner. With LinkedIn, I find that if I can post something valuable, all these CEOs that we work with, private companies, public companies, law firms, accounting firms, they say like, "How do we get the story out there? Which IR firms do you recommend? Which PR firm?" Welcome to the Let's Talk Business Podcast, a project of the PEX Group. Gain valuable, actionable ideas from the world's top business leaders to help you take the next step in your business journey. And now, here is your host, Manny Hoffman. Coming to you from the PEX headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. This is the podcast for nononsense advice to help you learn, grow, and lead. Today, I'm so excited to welcome our guest, Seth Farman. Set has been behind the scenes of hundreds of public companies, built and sold multiple businesses and knows what it really takes to grow something that lasts. This isn't just about exits. It's about mindset, execution, and assets now using his experience to help companies grow and tell their stories through social media, especially on LinkedIn. Now, if you are someone that's building a business, not just for today, but for the long haul, this one is for you. So, without further ado, let's jump right into a conversation with Seth Harmon. Seth, thank you so much for joining me on the Let's Talk Business Podcast. Thank you for having me. Great to see you again. Sure. The last time I think we saw each other in person might be at one of our Let's Talk Business Summits. I think that's probably accurate. I mean, I've been to your offices um you know, probably more than a decade ago, but uh yeah, that was a great event that uh that was put on and uh took a lot out of it. So, uh hopefully we won't we won't let it go another 10 years. Yeah, absolutely. So, thank you so much. So, for our listeners, our listeners um know the show. So the show is about uh nononsense advice trying to get into the the meat and potatoes so to speak of building a company in your case you have built you're part of building companies sold exited companies and so on and so forth. So there's a lot we could talk we'll see how much time we have but for our listeners that don't know anything about you uh give us a little bit of your past history how you got into the first set of businesses that you had and then we'll talk about more what you're doing now and everything in between. Sure. Yeah. I mean it's it's been it's been a great journey. one that I never could have predicted. Um I uh I guess by training I'm a I'm a securities lawyer, went to law school, went down that path. Um and uh after a couple years went into private practice which in retrospect is insane um after only you know two two three years out of law school to try to do it myself. But what what it led to was um the first company that uh that I started with uh my dear friend and partner who you know as well, Shai Stern, uh we started a company called Vintage Filings and we did SEC filings for publicly traded companies. Not to get too technical, but but that was really our audience and it was a great story. Slept on my couch for 6 months. Uh had had pizza, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. and um really tried to grow it till uh we we hit I think we hit about 120 employees uh not in my basement at that point and um and we had uh thank god we had a good exit um in 2007. We sold the company to a uh a London conglomerate called UBM. Uh but the division that bought us was PR Newswire and um and it was great. It was great. Um and of course many you know as as we often do I thought okay everything I touch is is gold right and we started myself in particular I got into a weight loss business and the apparel business and it all went downhill very quickly. So the point being like not everything is always a success. You don't always hear like all those uh you know I've never failed categories. I failed I failed plenty. Um but it was it was a good reminder for me to go back into the four walls that I uh that I think I I knew about which was like corporate compliance. So just um you know on a on a high level we we started a company called uh VC Corp uh which did incorporation services. We sold later to Walters Clure. Uh we had a company called Vcheek Global which did background checks, due diligence uh which uh thank god in maybe two three years ago we sold to a private equity firm uh Sunstone and right now I really focus my time split between uh Vto transfer or transfer agent for about a thousand publicly traded companies IPO spaxs things like that and uh and marketing. I have a a LinkedIn marketing firm called Share Media. We work with about 100 plus companies um to help people tell their story and really you know scale and brand and and and get their story out there. So that's that's high level my uh my go backwards a little bit and ask you some some questions but this is for context I think it's important. I see first of all from a branding perspective you still keeping that V. You know what people ask us what's the V for and my wife jokes she's going to get me a Superman cape with the letter V on it. You know it's it's not that meaningful. Um, other than when we started the company, Shai and I looked at each other and there was a bottle of vintage seltzer on the table. That was it. No focus groups, no, you know, you know, test cases, just vintage seltzer on the table. He said, "Should we call it vintage filings?" I'm like, "Great." Um, the domain was taken when we started and, uh, the only thing available was V filing. So, we went with it. We had some success, thank God. And so, we we we kept with the V the V theme throughout. I I want to get into like a lot of companies in especially in in the last couple of years people start a company uh with the mindset of exiting and then there are people that they're just grinding it building a company and then all of a sudden either they hit the plateau or they're very successful or somebody approaches them. Which one was it for you? It's actually a great question. Um and it's funny because maybe a year or two ago somebody came to me to potentially invest in in in their company. It was an insurance business and um he you know I I was very excited to bet on the jockey and he had a great business plan, great model and and his his sort of presentation was I'm going to build it. I'm going to be out. You're going to have your money back in 5 years. And as soon as I heard that he was building it for an exit, I'm out. Um, and everybody's different, of course, but for me personally, the the um exits that we've had, we always started the company with the the uh focus to build the best possible company. Um, I'm not such a big fan on budgets and projections because you have no idea. You know, the goal is you put your head down, you give it 120% every day of the week, every hour of the day. And if you do that correctly, I am a big believer, as has happened with us, people will come knocking. we never really looked um to uh to exit. People came knocking and and that's that's what I think typically works best. Mhm. Um it's it's a great point that you're making because a lot of times especially now when people are going out and trying to raise money from friends and family or anything like that what ends up happening is um they create this they go to third party people to create this 50page uh plan of action and we all know that give it six months and everything changes. companies pivot. They thought about this market. All of a sudden, they find out that this is not a market. They're interested in the product. It's some a totally different market. So, I I'm a strong believer that if you're taking somebody else's money, you have to have a plan. So, but if it's more than one or two pages, I think it's it then you're just trying to make it more exciting than it is. It's this is the projection. This is the business. This is the service. Yeah. And I think I think you're right. And I think that the times have changed over the last many years where we've become in general not just the investment community but um even to pick up clients and presentations we're we're a much more visual type of um world than we were 5 10 years ago. So you know maybe many years ago you needed that that 20page deck to really explain everything. But now, if you do it right, um, and you can tell people the story, the high level, the opportunity, the potential risks, uh, why you think you're going to do well, um, and really incorporate a very visual presentation. I think that's really what works most and, uh, and what people appreciate. The there there is a book out there, you're probably familiar with it, built to sell. And in that book, obviously, um, goes in in in greater detail of structuring a company in a way that you could sell. sell it doesn't mean you have to sell it but the company has to be set up that if you need to take if you have to extract yourself from it the the company survives. Um have was your company set up that way so if somebody else could come in and take it over? So, so there is an element of that concern and that's a very valid point where and there's always that dynamic that people have to balance right to being the face of the company versus uh representing the company versus well I'm just part of the bigger uh wheel and I can be pulled out and so somebody can come in buy it and then continue on. Um I think that is a very very delicate balance. um one that we've always um we've always focused on the personal relationships. We've always presented it as you know whether it's this partner or that partner. Um people knew us by name. Um and and when it did come time to sell, the only thing that was required was that transition process, right? whether it's another 6 months or 12 months where you stay on as a consultant or you have an earnout but but your job at that point is to then and I think it can be done post sale to then transition say listen I'm still here for you but here's the new team and they may want to put in a new face versus just have it as a faceless nameless company um so I think every company is different every service is different but that's a very it is an important point where you don't want to be too um ingrained into the operations where you would never be able to uh to turn it over to somebody else. Got it. Now, when it came you said this this particular um um buyer came knocking on your door. Um I know there there's different ways how people go about it. They want to build competition when it comes to an offer to see multiple potential buyers and see how which one aligns more with their values, which one aligns more with the financial structure and so on and so forth. Have you gone through that process or it basically you got a a great offer and you finalized a deal with that? That's a good question. Um each deal was different. Um the first one uh we we definitely said to ourselves initially like, "Oh, somebody wants to buy us. Maybe we should see if there's other people that have an interest." Um and we did. We we definitely did speak to um some of the competitors in the industry. What we were looking for at that point was more of a strategic buyer, right? Not somebody that was just going to write the check, but you know, we did SEC filings at the time. they were doing press releases and there was the the assumption that there was going to be this natural integration of being able to upsell each other's customers. Um, but we did speak to other people. We did speak to other competitors and uh it happened to be that the the the way we went at the end was that initial buyer PR Newswire. Um, with some of the other ones, we put feelers out there, but it wasn't like this all out, uh, let's pit each one against the other and raise the price, which is which is often done. I I think, and you may be able to speak of this more, but I think that that's most often done when you're dealing with a broker that's involved in trying to bring uh potential buyers to the table. In in uh in the situations we were involved with, it there there was no real real middleman that was trying to drive that uh competition. Got it. Now, um, was that was that a moment in your life and again now you've done it more than once. Was that a moment in your life where you were very emotional connected to your business and this was like a let down that I'm you know I'm giving it away. So I'll I'll share with you I'll be I'll be vulnerable to you and your audience. I'll share with you two two of the exits. The first was after we sold vintage. Um I I literally remember u Shai and I, my partner and I, we looked on the screen, we saw the wire hit, we hugged each other, we kissed and and and definitely a a a tear came to my eye like this was this was like a gift from God for sure. Um, and it did take some time for me to adjust on an emotional and a personal level because I had spent years identifying myself as Vintage Filings and everybody in the industry knew us as Vintage Filings. And once we gave it away, so to say, I was like, who am I? And what am I going to do? I mean, not from a not from a, you know, a Parnosa standpoint, but just from like what what am I all about? Um, and and fortunately I was able to stick with the company for a few years and then rebuild and brand in that in that same category when when we sold VCRP to answer your specific question. It's funny because we sold VCorp I think on a Wednesday and I found myself Thursday morning. Oh no, we sold uh we sold we sold Vichch I think like on a Wednesday morning. Thursday morning um I was still setting up the table at a conference. It was like 7 a.m. I was there doing the fcoed uh banner and the skirt and putting out the mints and I said to myself like what the heck am I doing? Like I literally just had a multi-million dollar exit last night and today I'm the the no leer that's putting out the mints. But you know what? It didn't bother me because you know that was the difference. Like this is who I am. I like building companies. I have enjoyment from trying to bring value to other people. So, I didn't look at it as like, oh, you know, you're the schmo that's setting up the booth. I was like, I'm I'm I'm grateful that I have another opportunity to to build up again. And so, that's that's the the way I look at it. Yeah. I actually learned learned this today um in in the Gmorrah today, you know, which means there there's two ways of looking at when he loses money or when he makes his money, does he now change his lifestyle? Everything gets changed because he made some money. That's right. That's true. Before we dive into this week's episode, I wanted to share an opportunity that many business owners are already taking advantage of. Now, we're about to wrap up Q1. If you're feeling stuck or unsure about your next move in your business, there's still time to turn things around. That's where a clarity session comes in. This is a focused onetime strategy session with me personally where we'll break down your biggest challenges, identify opportunities, and map out your best next steps for your business. You walk away with a clear action plan to move forward with confidence. Now, I want to make this clear from the get- go. This is not an ongoing consulting offer. You know your business best. This session is simply about giving you the clarity and direction you need to take action and make the rest of the year a success. Many entrepreneurs have already gained incredible value from those sessions. So, don't miss out. Reach out to me now by emailing podcastgroup.com. I look forward speaking to you and seeing how I could bring more clarity to your business. Now, let me just go a little bit deeper on this conversation is if you look back on those exits, um like in and for our listeners, let's say that potentially an exit might be in in the foresight or whatever it is, is there any like pieces of advice you would give a person as they're going through the process? Um, you know, I think that it's going to be really unique for each for each company, each sale. Um, and and everybody's going to have different reasons for selling, right? And I think that plays a big part. Um, you meaning sometimes people will sell a company because they feel that they've reached the peak and they don't want to take a risk on having, you know, some some compliance regulation come out tomorrow which undoes the need for them and then they're left with nothing. So, you know, that's one reason. The other reason is because you get an offer you can't resist. You don't want to jeopardize that. Other times it's that you see the writing on the wall for, you know, AI coming out, so you know that you're not going to have, you know, a 10-year run ahead of you. Um, or sometimes there's, you know, partner strife. And so, I think it really depends on on the reason for the sale. Um, I I and I and I try not to ever look back. That's just like a a philosophical Yeah. I'm asking more in particular like what to be like what is like red flags or anything to look be at the lookout when they're negotiating or when they're getting approached. I think that important thing and again that's a personal um checklist for you. you know, I I would, you know, if I were to sell now, um likely I would want to make sure that I have the attorneys uh solidify the if it's consulting agreement or the employment agreement, uh you want to have the ability to do other things. You don't want to be committed and locked in too long. Um I think that um you know the non-competes, it's funny because when you sign a non-compete when you sell, you know, sometimes that's negotiated, right? anywhere from three, five, seven years. And I think at the beginning I was like, seven years is like a lifetime away. Like who cares about what the non-compete says? And then after like I don't know a year, year and a half you're like, "Oh my god, I can't do this again for seven years. That's that's an eternity." Um, and so I think that some of those aspects are things that I would look at again. Um, you know, if if I were doing those over or or any any future sale. It's so interesting you're mentioning that because I spoke recently to somebody that sold a very very um high-profile um exit so to speak and one of the things and you could see it also it's a very common that even comp even even people that that get like employment agreement to stay with the company they don't last because they start seeing a whole different culture come in company being dismantled things change so much and that's the thing they they they grow they grew they grew they grew this and they grew and and and they feel like like like somebody trying to um to you know to take care of their kids you know it's my kids I know how to deal with them like and so on and so forth so he told me something very interesting because you're mentioning the same point he says um when you are negotiating you almost think of course give me the money I I'll sign whatever non-compete you want like why should I want to compete you just take it and give me my money but then all of a sudden you start seeing how they're dismantling what you built and say you know what I have to go back to the space I have to redo it again and I have to do it better even better than I had it in the past and then all of a sudden whoops I have an uncompete like okay I'm waiting it out when is the seven year or five year because I have to go back for me I mean you rais a great point meaning for me it's also in the past and and in the future nothing planned full disclosure you know love what we do now but you know I think that if you care about your reputation um and you truly care about your clients which I'd like to think that I do you want to make that the new buyers are going to show them that same high level of service and and love and commitment, you know, just to get the check and then turn it over to guys that are going to just, you know, undo the reputation. And and that, you know, it certainly could happen. They can totally undo the reputation. And then all those relationships, for me, the number one asset in business are the relationships. And if somebody's going to undo those relationships by not treating them properly, then it may not may not be worth the check. Mhm. Let me ask you another question. So as soon as you did the first exit and then you went into the new the second venture, I think it was VC Corp or Ve VCorp. Have you started the second company differently now that you had an exit and you saw what's important? No. Um I will give advice because it's easy to give advice rather than give myself advice and listen, which I did not four times already. Um, so many the next time I start a company, please play back this this podcast for me. Um, and it's very basic. The the I would say the biggest mistake that I made in all the companies is not having the right CRM system. That's like a very technical comment, but I think it's super important. Um, you know, and I promised myself that when we when we when we sold Vintage, I was like, next business I'm going to have a CRM. I'm going to have all that data at my fingertips and be able to segregate and follow up and and and I didn't. And then the next one I was like, this one I'm really going to do as and I did it. And the next one, I mean, of course, we have access to all the data, you know, as a transfer agent working with a thousand companies. I think we work with hundreds of thousands of shareholders. So, we we have the data, but anybody who is um you know, really wants to scale and grow, um many people, I'm sure, have it in place. But that's something I uh I said if I do it again, that's what I'm going to make sure that I have in place. And the reason for that is is is in terms of of of the because data is king. Like you want to have the data to be able to to to speak speak about that. Yeah. I mean, I think that you know, data is king in that, you know, myself included, we're all so focused on finding new clients, right? Like LinkedIn and conferences and and meetings and and and finding new people, new people, new people. And then at some point it dawns on me like one second. I've been in business for 20 plus years. I've got 10,000 connections and emails and former clients. I'm like, how am I how am I getting in front of them? How am I staying top of mind presence organically um in front of them? So, you know, the the solution for that, which is pretty hot over the last 18 months, are newsletters, right? So, you send out newsletters. Even if they delete it in in 4 seconds, it's it's accomplished its point, right? they see your name again, the brand, this that. But I think the CRM is super important because it'll let it allows you to stay that top of- mind presence to all the the the relationships that you're not necessarily in touch with. Exactly. I'll just expand on that for our listeners. Um you you could see even sometimes even retail establishments, they'll spend so much money to get the customer in and then while the customer comes in, they they neglect giving them the service that they should become the talking billboard, that remarkable experience, so to speak. And we always do it like even large companies. Think about you know recently I posted on on LinkedIn that I think we should make it mandatory every CEO of a large company has to call in the customer service at least twice a month. Uh because just understand you're sitting there about approving billions of dollar or millions of dollar marketing budgets and then just call in your customer service. See how how many times you have to be transferred to get an answer. Spend the money there. Great point. It's a great point and that makes a big difference. And you know, I always joke around, you know, at one point I was chasing this uh this big law firm, Amla 100, and the guy wouldn't give me literally would not give me the time a day. After a couple months, he he sends me an email. He's like, "Oh, I'm giving you this IPO." And I'm like, "John, amazing. I appreciate it. I'm thankful, but can I ask like what what flipped that switch for you that all of a sudden you're you're comfortable giving us the business?" So he says, "I'll tell you like this." Says, "I called your office. I needed to speak to you. And this woman, Erica, shout out to Erica, who answered the phone was so pleasant and was so energetic and was so helpful and eager to please. I said, "If that's the kind of people that you have working there, then I'm comfortable selling my business." So, it wasn't the the $10,000 conference or the choskus or the, you know, the ads or or the LinkedIn. It was the person who answers the phone. And and to your point, like, yeah, we should be checking on that more often. Beautiful. So, so let's say you throughout the different companies, you've worked with so many different sectors and so many different entrepreneurs and businesses and successful companies. Uh, what have you picked up as a common denominator, a common theme? Obviously, one of them we touched now, which is customer service. Is there any other things you have picked up where really um um you know sets apart companies that you know were hanging in versus grown scale? I I would say that there's probably a lot of um a lot of outside factors, a lot of outliers, you know, depending on the industry and the timing and the markets, etc. But I I I'm a big believer that the common denominator, there's two there's two. One is my observation. The other is what a CEO recently told me. Um the one that the CEO recently told me is consistent messaging. Meaning people want to know um updates. They want to have consistency to know that you say you're going to do something and you do it. Um, you can't like, you know, depending if the type it's the type of company that puts out a press release. You can't put out a press release in January, disappear for seven or eight months, and then put out another press release and be like, well, why is nobody buying my stock or why is nobody buying my product or why doesn't anybody want to invest? You have to have consistent messaging. Um and I guess that's a segue to I'm a big believer that some of the most successful companies it comes down to um something very simple which is was just storytelling. Um, you know, don't make it dry and cookie cutter like you go, you know, you've you and I have been to so many presentations and conferences where a CEO has a five minute slot or a 10-minute slot to really dazzle the crowd and really connect with them and instead he's just throwing up an Excel sheet and reading the numbers off the PowerPoint. Like I can see that I don't need you to do that with your five minutes. So having somebody that can storytell um be authentic um whether it's in person, at a conference, on video, on social in any fa fashion that works, but being able to really um take your your product or your service or your company, but put it into story format. I think those are the ones that really, you know, get the word out there and are successful about it. Mhm. Um I'll I'll just just add to that is that the storytelling is something important even internally like if in order to rally around your people and making keeping them motivated and keeping them upbeat in order to deliver excellent service and quality whatever it is is if they have a leader that's constantly storytelling telling where the company's going what are we doing how are we winning and so on and so forth even when there's you know hard times you know like you know we've all witnessed this through you know like through covid when companies collapse And the company survived because their employees were rallying around them because they they had a connection to the company. True. Very true. Hey listeners, are you struggling to create beautiful looking proposals? Is it a hassle every time you need to prepare a quote or proposal for your clients? Is collecting signatures still a manual process? Well, it's time to upgrade to Panda. At PEX, we use Panda for all our proposals, employee documentation, and so much more. This saves us time, keeps everything organized, and our documents look incredibly professional with customizable templates, real-time collaboration, and e signatures. Panodoc turns creating documents into quick and easy steps. Plus, it integrates with so many other tools, streamlining your workflow, and boosting productivity. Try Pandock today by visiting pex.co/pandidoc and start your free trial. Trust me, it's going to be a gamecher for your business. That's pex.co/pan. co/pan da d o c. Okay, so now comes the tough one. You're building all these companies and all of a sudden you're in marketing. What is tell us about the the how did you get started to share media? It it it really came about um I mean it it came out of need like and I think that's an important um an important point for for anybody that's either starting a company or has a company like if you see that it come there's two types of businesses right it means you've got some that are luxury items and then you've got some that are um plugging up a painoint right um I've always liked the painpoint ones because luxury is a nice to have a painoint solution is a have to Um, and so what what I like to do very often is just listen, listen, listen, listen. Like if something if somebody complains, if I hear like the same complaint four, five, six times within a couple weeks span, I'm like, why does everybody have this problem? And then like, okay, how could we solve it? So that's that's really what happened is that um all these CEOs that we work with, private companies, public companies, law firms, accounting firms, they say like, how do we um how do we get the story out there? Which IR firms do you recommend? which PR firms and and they're all great and they all serve their purpose, but I felt like and the clients felt like it was intangible. Like how do I measure that that exposure or that success? So finally a guy uh he was a CEO of a biotech a NASDAQ company friend he says, "Seth you've got 30,000 connections. Just do for me what you do for yourself. Very simple." And I'm like, "It's not so simple. I can't just replicate it because it's somewhat personalized." Um he says, "Try it. Try it." And we did. and um and and it was pretty successful. You know, we started doing uh content and graphics and he wanted this guy in particular wanted to be connected to not necessarily capital but every neurologist in the United States. So through LinkedIn you have that unique ability to do that. So now when the posts were going out it was landing on an audience that he really wanted to get in front of. It's like it's as if many of you gave a TED talks 5 days a week to an audience of people that you handpicked to come to to listen. Doesn't get better than that. So, so thank God it went from, you know, one to to another. A guy in uh in pharma, a guy in electric vehicles and esports. So, you know, fast forward, we've probably done about 160 different types of industries. Um, and it all comes through uh through LinkedIn. And so, it worked for me um you know, to build businesses through LinkedIn. At the end of the day, I am uh I'm a pretty antisocial guy. So if I had my choice being at a conference, I'd be the Schmenrich in the corner like pretending to be on my phone so that I don't have to go up to a stranger and introduce myself. But with LinkedIn, I find that if I can post something valuable, then already I don't mind that warm conversation or or outreach. And so uh that's how the uh the LinkedIn marketing firm uh got started. So it's it's purely LinkedIn at this point. It's purely LinkedIn. We like to do what we do well. Um, and is it just about posting or is it also about DMing or stuff like are you managing the back? Everything. It's connecting, it's content, it's graphics, it's um strategy, it's um, you know, a little bit of uh, recgnissance of seeing what are your competitors doing and how are they presenting it. And um, you know, I really feel that it's a it's a platform that you know, when we first started, everybody's like, "Oh, I'm not looking to hire. I don't want to put a resume on there." like that's what LinkedIn was known for. But uh I really feel like now um it's not utilized often enough or well enough. Uh but those those who and it's not rocket science like anything that we do can be done if you had an extra 10 hours and a graphics marketing team in in in your office. But um yeah, it's uh it's really something that I think people should uh should should spend more time on. Let me ask you a question because this is a question um a lot of um people ask me constantly. Um, so you could you could go on LinkedIn be especially if it's not you're not the owner of the company. That's the question is even more relevant. Let's say you're top sales guy in a company. Um, should I promote the company? Should I should I build my own personal brand? How do you mix the two? Yeah, that's a great question. Um, and I think that most of the people that we're working uh on or for are executives of the company, high level CEO, CFO, partners at law firms, things like that. But to answer your question is I I strongly feel it has to be and it should be both. Meaning you have to pro promote um the the business element of it because you want people to see you as a professional, right? If you're selling a widget or or a service, you want people to know that you are a thought leader or a resource of that category. But at the same time, people want to get to know you and you want them to get to know you. So post that you I was talking to the CEO the other day. He's a big uh lacrosse player. Um, I started taking tennis lessons. So, I think sometimes people will connect with me or follow me or want to have a conversation with me just because, hey, I'm also taking tennis lessons at 52 years old. So, we have something in common and then we get on the phone and then we start talking business. So, it's that authenticity that we try to encourage and we try to provide. But, but to answer your question, I think it has to be a hybrid in order for it to really be successful. Mhm. I must ask you um how do you feel AI will change the game on for content online? It has already way changed it. Way changed it. Um you know the stuff that we were offering to do four or five years ago people are like oh I could do that myself now. And and some can some can. It's just a question of um the level that you want to be portrayed as. Right. So when I see a post and and it's just generated by chat GBT, both image and content, I know it, you know it, I think we all know it that it's just, you know, spit it out. Um, I I embrace AI. I think that, you know, if you have the right tools and prompts and and the graphic team to customize it, then it's a great enhancing tool to provide an even better end product. Um, but I think that I I think that I'm excited about ways that we can utilize it. I'm not concerned that it's going to replace anything. Um because th those that do, it's going to be too noticeable to be effective. Yeah, we actually had a meeting. We constantly we we actually um created internally a a challenge and every week somebody else should um is is actually reporting back to the rest of the team what they have achieved with AI. Oh, I love that. Um, yeah. And and the the purpose for that is um because we also don't feel it's going to replace us, but if we don't make our lives easier with AI, then we're going to be obsolete. Yeah. I spent a lot of time looking at these different like what's what's out there next. You know, I saw one uh yesterday, you know, click of a button, you can provide a 12-page carousel. Like it it used to take our team, you know, I don't know, four or five hours to to to put something like that together. So, um, yeah, I'm always looking to see what's what's around the corner. Very cool. So, obviously, we're also living in a time now where where the economy is a little bit of a a rocky roll, so to speak. Different industries are being shaken up by different things happening in the in the universe, let's call it. Um, what advice would you give for this young entrepreneur starting? Is it a time to start? if they have an idea to start. Is it is it the right time to go into a business or is it something that based on your years of experience seeing seeing the market volatility? Yeah. So, um I guess uh I guess my age can be helpful meaning when we uh when we sold in 2007 um you know the crash of 2008 um you know full disclosure again uh be vulnerable. I panicked, right? That was the first time in my business career that everything just fell apart. Um, but like really fell apart where I I remember there's a time even where we worked really hard to get an account from Lehman Brothers and it was like a $2 million account and um and I called up uh we were just waiting like on the final signature and I called up uh my contact and the secretary there was like oh Laura who? And I'm like, you know, Laura so and so, you know, from from the this department, like, and you hear silence and she's like, oh, she's no longer here. And I'm like, no, that can't be. Like, that was the last, you know, last signature for a $2 million account. And it was gone like that. So, it that that year taught me a lot in terms of business and in terms of that you can't panic. You know, hopefully the the rule of thumb is that things will come back. Um, and we've seen in follow-ups to that that when things drop, they they have come back. And so, no, I I think it's a great time to dig in, um, you know, and it's cliche to say, but if you can if you can build and brand and and and do well in in a tough time like this, that when things, you know, hopefully do come back, you're going to be hitting your stride and and and it's going to, you know, the wind will take your sales that much further. Beautiful. Where could people find out more about you and what you post about? Um, LinkedIn, sethman, uh, vsstocktransfer.com or shermedia.co. Um, or email me sephvstocktransfer.com. I try to answer everything. Beautiful. For the links, resources mentioned this in this episode. Check out the show notes at www.petgroup.com/mpodcast where we'll link to your LinkedIn of course and to the websites that was just mentioned. Let's close with the four rapid fire questions. Are you ready? Oh, boy. Okay. Number one, a book that changed your life. The Goggiver. Great book. Um, we had him on the show like what was um Rob Berg. Rob Yeah, Bobberg. Of course. Great. Great guy. Really one of the nicest, you know, most sincere people I've ever met. Exactly. Number two, a piece of advice you got that you'll never forget. Um, I would say that the definition of the definition of happiness means different things to different people. So whether that's for yourself or for the people you're trying to uh to reach out to, that's that's something I always remember. So true. Number three, anything you wish you could go back and do differently. No. Love it. And last and final question, what's still on your bucket list to achieve? Uh still on my bucket list to achieve. Well, thank God with uh seven kids and grandkids, we've got a lot of uh yeshiva tuition to pay and a lot of uh a lot of shoes and a lot of uh a lot of good things. So hopefully we can uh continue to find good good ideas uh good companies, give value to the clients and uh you know keep enjoying it. Seth, thank you so much for joining us. I know your time is valuable. That is why in the name of our listeners will forever be grateful for sharing some of your time with us today. It's been a pleasure. Thanks Manny. Always take care. Thanks. That's my conversation with Seth Farman. My takeaway from this one, number one, build smart, not just to sell. If you focus on doing good work and solving real problems, the right people will come knocking. Number two, a CRM for your business isn't optional. While it may not be exciting, but if you're not tracking your relationship and staying top of mind, you're leaving a lot on the table. Number three, details matter. Sometimes it's not the pitch, the deck, or the product. Is the person answering your phone that win you win you the client? Number four, learn to tell your story. Your story is what connects people to your business. And if you don't tell it, someone else will and not the way you want it. And number five, the exit isn't the end. You'll still got to show up, keep growing, and stay aligned with who you are and what you are about. So whether you're in starting out or already deep in it, there's a lot here to take back from this episode to your own business. Now go and implement. And that's a wrap for today's episode of the Let's Look Business podcast. I hope you enjoyed the practical nononsense advice that our guest shared. If you found value in listening, I would be so grateful if you could share the episode with your friends and if you could give the show a five-star rating on Apple Podcast or wherever platform you listen. Subscribe to the show and get notified every time we publish a new episode. The Let's Talk Business Podcast is a PEX Group original production. Until next time, make it a great day. [Music]