Latest / Unstuck Pod / Systems Before More Staff (Richard Pasqua and Jamie Schneiderman)
Transcript
- Jamie: Rich, welcome. Thanks so much for coming today. I appreciate it. For the sake of for those who are listening, watching, can you tell them more about yourself, the company, what you're doing, and really give a solid introduction about yourself? That'd be great way to start before we jump in. Rich Pasqua: Yeah, fantastic. And thank you for having me, Jamie. It's wonderful to be here. I'm Rich Pasqua. I'm co-founder of A360Z. I mainly focus on ⁓ creative direction and strategy, but we are a company that helps future forward companies get to market faster, grow revenue. ⁓ We partner with startups, enterprise level companies building complex products in a competitive categories. ⁓ And at heart of it, we're a brand strategy and design agency that kind of sits at the intersection of technology, innovation and design. Jamie: Great. So What What made What made you go there? Like Why that path? think it's really interesting. I'm sure the projects and we'll get into that, that you're working on, the kind of things you're working on must be fascinating all the time. know, Help me understand how, where'd you land? how'd you land here? Rich Pasqua: Yeah. so ⁓ great question. You Years ago, I studied design, I was the director of design for Nickelodeon, top branding firms, know, global branding firms. So I've always been in this world of storytelling, design, creative architecture, if you will. And it all collides with business, everything collides with business. And, you know, was passionate about what I was doing. I really had a great time in the agency world, but there was a lot to be desired there And I broke out on my own ⁓ after years and with different people, different organizations, even ⁓ other agencies to help them out. But I really wanted to cut my own path, start my own business, tell my own story. right? And I connected with a gentleman by the name of Ronnie Peters, who had very complimentary skill sets to mine. And over the past 10 years plus, we've always collaborated. over the last, guess it was about a year and a half ago, we both said, hey, you know, we do... the most amazing award-winning work together. Let's just join forces and make this happen. Power in numbers, if you will, small numbers, albeit. And we just said, you know what, culturally we fit, business-wise we fit, creatively we fit, and it just worked out. So I joke around a little bit like, hey, Ronnie and I dated for a couple of years and now we're getting married. you know, that kind of thing. it's a wonderful start and continuation of both of our careers. And ⁓ we're hitting the gas ⁓ and ⁓ actually a dent and trying to multiply what we love doing. So, and I think that's gonna be the impetus of this conversation. Jamie: Mm-hmm. Well, that's exactly so I was so, so, so help me out. let's, so let's set the stage around that. That was great. ⁓ setup. so where, you know, ⁓ can define size of where you're at or stage of where you're at. So let's talk about where you're at. And then also what does that look like? And then ⁓ what is the forward look like? What are you looking at? is you Rich Pasqua: Yeah, yeah. So, and I independently of our own businesses over the years have, you know, spun up and spun down, you know, as a lot of businesses do. And, you know, trying to be responsible and bringing on full-time people only when you can kind of really satisfy that need, but also work contract. And, you know, we're still a bit small, you know, it's only four or five people right now. ⁓ with some outside contract But we're looking to grow ⁓ we're feeling the the the itch and the ⁓ little of those hurdles and those pain points of Hey, got something special here ⁓ We've crafted our story but How do how we get out of our own way and we need to ⁓ we understand that Jamie: Yep. Hear that all the way. Rich Pasqua: we need to get out from being the, uh, kind of the creators to the architects and then from there, the visionary. So how do we go to those, you know, take the, that path, uh, and get over these hurdles, not hastily, but responsibly, you know, like, and do the right thing by the company and ourselves. so that we can focus on more of the business development areas. We can focus on more of ⁓ business strategy. So, yeah. Jamie: No, and I want to, so this is interesting, right? Like, you know, I often, it's incredible how often I have conversations with companies that go, we know we're onto something. Like we know we've got something big here and we just got a, can't fit either, can't figure out why it's not easier, faster, better, bigger, right? Or we haven't done certain things to do that. So, so it's an interesting, when you're describing it, you're not alone. Not that you're surprised. Like I think you, I think you get it. talk a little bit about, the difference between growth up until this point. So the, so the, what you've seen happen sort of from the, Hey, two, two guys get together complimentary, lots of interests. ⁓ Rich Pasqua: Yeah. Jamie: Tell me what that's looked like. then we'll come back to this idea of where the next phase kind looks like or could look Rich Pasqua: Yeah, yeah. think much a lot like a lot of founders who start or partners who get and start something, there's a tremendous amount of energy and we certainly have had that. We still have that obviously. And you just want to get things done and tell your story and do this and do that. And I think you know, one of the things that we do for our clients quite successfully, and it's a little bit of like shoemaker shoes, know, like, you know, we make great things, but sometimes it's hard to do. And this is the trap that everyone falls into, like, oh yeah, I'll get around to marketing. I'll get around to whatever, you know, whatever else I need to do from the, from the back office end of things, if you will. It's, what we really do at Excel actually is helping people to and organizations and you see this more in larger, more enterprise type of organizations where they're talking inward right? And their energy and their message is disconnected. the years, this happens, right? They may start off here, but they end up here and they keep talking inward and we help them project outward. And the way we that is help them with Jamie: Yes. Rich Pasqua: brand strategy. That's one of our sweet spots is, and it's not just about beautiful logos because in verbal language, we do that, of course, we do that quite well. It's really about strategic focus and positioning, figuring out the why, and then the who, ⁓ then the how, and then, you know, helping them really define their segments and That's actually the exercise we're going through right now. Again, you we started off that way and then the industry shifts in it. Like our industry just shifts six months, I guess, like everyone else's industry now. So we had to take a step back and refocus and really start to plan and strategize our story, business plan for the next six months, a year, two years. What does the next four years look like for us? Who are we really and where are our strengths? So zooming what we best, right? And not forgetting that ⁓ and chasing shiny object out there. And we really, I'm quite proud of ourselves in ⁓ the sense that really are focusing in zooming in so that we can tell a better story. And frankly, Jamie: Yep. Yep. Rich Pasqua: our marketing is on more on point. So if we are paying for certain marketing services outside of what we have in house, we're very targeted. And, and, that is like the spirit of the entrepreneur is every second, every minute, hour, and dime matters at this point, you know, you have to kind of watch it and make sure that every dollar and every slice of energy that you're putting into ⁓ a campaign or thought leadership or a white paper for that matter is really on target ⁓ you're speaking to the right people in the right tone. Jamie: So that was very well put and ⁓ think so fantastic. Like, listen, you just, interestingly, echoed the way I talk about this in general. things that different or we go about it differently, but ⁓ it's a ⁓ on. Like totally agree. And actually one of the most fascinating things I think that you just said was you talked about the idea that you guys have been, you know, talked about the shoemakers. kids without, know, ⁓ so it's like, we have to apply the same thinking. What I have found that is one of the hardest things for companies to do is to be able to look, look internally, look at themselves and see ⁓ see the gaps, see the friction points, see the areas that are call it out of alignment or not, you know, not working as effectively and as focused as they need to. And so ⁓ is, so how have you guys pushed yourself to ⁓ Rich Pasqua: the fifth flight. Jamie: see that and do that without else kind challenging all the sacred cows or all the other, you know, things that are built in there. Rich Pasqua: Yeah, and yeah, it's a great question. So we, it's part of our current pain points, but it's something that we're currently working on. And it's something that we institute again, for our clients quite well, which is the idea of being nimble, modular, and thinking you're truly digging into kind of the idea of design thinking in the sense of systems, right? ⁓ you figure that formula out and it's not easy, right? Because ⁓ going beyond a presence that we're creating for either ourselves or ⁓ for client. It takes a lot of soul searching and it's a lot of wrenching and it's a lot of like tools you need to evaluate. people you need to evaluate and then creating systems that work within your universe and creating formulas for it so that you can rinse and repeat and things going. other challenges, and this is nothing new, I've come from managing very small nimble teams to very large enterprise. style teams on the client side of the business. And communications is kind of paramount. Not being redundant, being clear and crisp with direction is super, super important ⁓ for us. It's important for our clients. But that's how you become, you you create these systems where, again, you know, I said earlier, it's it's coming out of the production end of the world of being an entrepreneur and into the architectural world where you're architecting the roads, way sign, way finding, if you will, ⁓ and really creating clear paths for yourselves, number one, and number two, your clients and three, your ⁓ and your staff, making sure that they have clear objectives. They understand Jamie: Yeah, for sure. Yep. Rich Pasqua: the business, your business and the client's business perfectly so that you're repeating yourselves. Jamie: So, so yeah, no, no, listen, so I'm with you. I want to talk. So obviously when you first get going, it's grab, grab, uh, you're excited. You talked about the energy, you know, go and do it as you get bigger. Um, and there's more people and there's more other things involved. There's obviously more challenges associated with doing exactly what you just said. So, so I, I wanted to, so let's talk about this. So, so I want to talk about. If you look back over the last year, let's say, what are the things that you you would have done differently that as you look forward, when you talk about growth next stage where you want to go over the next 12 to 24 months that you're going to do differently? Like we didn't. do this or we didn't do this. I know the world's changing around you, by the way, that's unfortunately, that's the reality of all that. So, so I don't, talking about things you could, you in the best of your own ability, right, could have, wish ⁓ had done this or I wish we had thought about this, this way. you and we're going to do it differently as we go forward. Rich Pasqua: I mean, I think ⁓ kind of like, you get pretty complex with some of these ⁓ answers. Or at the very base, ⁓ it's back office stuff. You know, it is becoming ⁓ very in how you ⁓ spin work plans and statements of work. You know, those ⁓ are common for anyone, but it certainly is part of our path. ⁓ and it's one of the things that we're getting much better at using new tools, at our disposal, whether be AI or, you know, just human processes that we're putting into place. and also reaching out to entrepreneurs and business leaders, constantly, think we're really good at that. That's part of what we do pretty much every day. We're always meeting new people, but. Jamie: Mm-hmm. Rich Pasqua: I'm talking more on the, almost the spiritual side of like and running a business, you know, talking to a guy like you, Jamie, like every day it's, it actually does help. ⁓ does Hey, you're not alone. And you know what? had the same problem. you know, six months ago, a year ago, two years ago, and this is I got past it. It ⁓ may be apples oranges, but the analogies work. And that dialogue, I think, is always good to have. starting off that way, I think it's super important. We're actually building on that. And then as I mentioned before, building systems, that takes time. other than that, I for both my partner Ronnie and I, ⁓ we're on Jamie: Mm-hmm. Rich Pasqua: hat after hat, like new hats every half hour, hour. And, you know, I'm preaching to the choir here because most of your listeners and viewers, that's what they're doing. And they're like, okay, big deal, Rich, you know, but, but it is, it is, it has become a little bit of a challenge. Um, because, you know, one of the things that I really in the past year can focus on as being a challenge for us was the idea of Jamie: Yeah. Rich Pasqua: people who are fairly perfectionists, know, getting out of your own way, kind of setting yourself free and light, lightening up the load in the sense of the, ⁓ the, mental ⁓ stress one puts on themselves, you know, lighten it up, you know, ⁓ Ronnie I were just literally talking about that. And, you know, so now it's like, okay, good communications. Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. Rich Pasqua: there's a very important thing, especially, you know, a founder to his team, a founder to a co-founder to a co-founder, a founder to a board members, ⁓ it may be, that communication is hyper important. And I'm not even talking about, hey, that was great direction or a wonderful brief. I'm talking about, hey, we've got issue here and I'm expressing myself. Well, don't get defensive. And chances you're having the same issue too. ⁓ So how you work that through? So let's workshop it. Let's just do our own internal workshop. So we're big on workshops. If you've got a problem with a know, key team members will come together and go, Hey, you know, I'm just not cracking this one. Can we just get together at half hour? That's all we need. And boom. You got two or three heads on it now you're solving problems and that could be for client work or for internal business. Jamie: Interesting. That's amazing your point there, which is great, which really two things, which is both communication, the point about communication, you say workshopping, which is really just about people collaborating to ⁓ their together, whether that's internal or external, like you said, learning from other people to kind of solve things. There's so many things we all don't. See right. We all have our own blinders in our own way. Perfectionists are otherwise right? You know, we all have limitations and things. So it's where do you get, how do you, and where do you get past that? And how do you see past that? Okay. So, so you have, so you guys have built something you have, you have obviously happy clients. and you know where your strength areas are and now you're trying to like, how do I put all the pieces together? How do I, you you say back office, how do I connect all the things to sort of take it, take that and put it up to the next level? So walk me through just what I love to know is in your world as you start to look at this, Where's the next 12 months taking, where are you going to be when you and I chat again about you know, reconnect on all this stuff in a year from now? What does that look like? Rich Pasqua: Yeah, have, we do have a ⁓ of, we're working on a six month to a year ⁓ roadmap. We have to build, we know to be sustainable. We have to build a pipeline that will bring in X amount of money per month, whatever it is, a hundred thousand, 200, whatever it may be. We have to build that pipeline to be sustainable, to keep the doors open. We're getting And it's great and we're close to that goal, but then it exponentially goes up. So as you're building that pipeline, you're actually now looking for that talent. And it sounds like, ⁓ we're just going to hire. There's so many people available. many people is not interesting to us. The right people ⁓ That takes time, right? So I'm into one of our other problems, which is being very critical of ourselves and our brand and our work, which is beautiful. And that's the reason why we hire people. But in the next six months, we want to package that creativity and not in a bad way. I don't mean that in a plain vanilla way. How do we package the excitement that the two of us bring to each project, Jamie: Yeah, yeah. Rich Pasqua: the creativity, the strategy, and the execution with a growing team that kind of adopts that. And I think that's part of our goal the next year. Jamie: Okay. Extend. No, no, I get it. It's build leverage that way. And listen, and it's more, that's overly simplistic also the way I summarize that, but I'm following you. I get it, right? You need to kind of get more of the wow from you guys extending into the team so that the wow of what you guys bring to the table gets to everybody all the Rich Pasqua: Sure. Yes, yes, yes. Jamie: all the time, which is always easier said than done because you're both ⁓ in terms of how you got here and what you do. But if you can find it, that's the magic. That's part the magic to to the next place. Okay, so let's do this. You've been great ⁓ and this is So as we... Rich Pasqua: Absolutely. Jamie: what I want to know and I want you to tell everybody who's listening, where can people find you, follow what you're doing. Maybe you're looking for some people that would be really excited to come in. Tell what ⁓ you're, to get you ⁓ and you'd like right now. I think that this is your opportunity. Rich Pasqua: Sure, sure. Yeah, I mean, we're always looking for, we always keep our eyes open for talent, whether developers within the AI space or even full stack development teams for SaaS We're always looking for really strategic design thinkers and strategists who ⁓ can really the nuts to crack the you know, solve the tough problems. We're always looking for these people who look outside the box, who have experience with innovation companies and like advanced sciences and, and, um, you know, deep tech and even aeronautics where storytelling becomes very complex. But, um, yeah, you guys could, um, find us at a 360 Z.io. And then you can hit me personally via email at rich at a 360 Z.io. The company is, um, on LinkedIn is at three 60 Z and personal LinkedIn is Richard Pasqua and you know, at Richard Pasqua, pretty easy to find on LinkedIn. And then our Instagram for a 360 Z is a 360 Z official. Jamie: Great to think. And by the way, I'll add, we'll add like links in the description. So, so anybody who's looking for that and didn't follow all that, all the links will be in there. We'll make it easy for you to be able to find Rich ⁓ So like, we'll make sure that it's all there, ⁓ Let me ask you one final question ⁓ before, ⁓ we end. So if there's one piece of advice that you would give, you in particular to other founders, right? You're out. talking to guys all the time, if there's anything that you would give about how do you kind of push through and build something successful and kind of through some of the plateaus that you naturally do, what advice would that ⁓ Rich Pasqua: Yeah. mean, probably not as profound as you're probably looking for, but, keep energy levels up, keep yourself happy, keep your mind, your body, mind and soul kind of enriched, and be you know, form good habits, ⁓ good business habits, and stick to and, you know, ⁓ consistent. create cadences around your workflows and understand how to dial things up and down as you need them. And you're not going to win any everything, but if you keep consistent, you're definitely going to win. So that's it, short and sweet. Jamie: Love it. I think that's great. thank you, Rich. ⁓ for everybody else who's watching, ⁓ thank you for watching, listening. And we'll see you in the next episode. Rich Pasqua: Thank you so much for having me, Jamie.