On Tuesday, television personality and advertising executive Donny Deutsch spoke to Hopkins students and members of the Baltimore community about entrepreneurial success. He was the final speaker of the Milton S. Eisenhower (MSE) Symposium this year.
Deutsch outlined some of his observed “certain absolute consistencies to success,” and ended with a number of his comments regarding modern society.
Deutsch is the chairman of the advertising agency Deutsch, Inc. founded by his father, that he sold to Interpublic Group of Companies in 2000 for $265 million. In 2005, Deutsch published a business motivation book entitled “Often Wrong, Never in Doubt,” co-authored with Peter Knobler, and went on to host CNBC’s The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch from 2005 until it’s cancellation in 2008.
Deutsch, with Catherine Whitney, published another book, entitled “The Big Idea: How to Make Your Entrepreneurial Dreams Come True, from the Aha Moment to Your First Million” in 2008.
“MSE Symposium was excited to bring Donny Deutsch as a speaker because he’s an influential entrepreneur, businessman and author.” Mohammad Elsayed, the Chair of Programming for the Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium explained. “As an advertising executive, Donny [Deutsch] brings in unique viewpoints on political and social issues that are often debated.” Elsayed added that, “Donny’s speech was entertaining and certainly relevant to young students and entrepreneurs.”
“You gotta do what you love,” Deutsch said, opening by explaining that the key to success if passion. He suggested going back to your childhood to find the things that you love, otherwise “you’re unhappy 70 percent of your waking hours.”
Deutsch explained what he believes to be his keys to success, that is, those things that he picked up along the road to where he is today.
He said that most successful people have a “why not me?” sense of entitlement that helps them to get what they want. People might not seek you out for a certain position, but there is no reason why you cannot work to get it for yourself, he argued.
Freshman Rebecca Schoenfeld understood this principle, but found fault in his argument. “I definitely agree with him that having passion for what you do is essential, but I didn’t agree that you need to have an air of ‘why not me?’ to succeed. I thought that he was kind of cocky,” Schoenfeld said, “but that is sort of what he selling.” Deutsch also repeatedly stressed “failure is good.” Through the demonstration of a boy asking a girl out on a date and being denied, Deutsch reasoned that failure leaves you no worse off than if you hadn’t done something in the first place. “You have to be able to put yourself out there,” he continued, and if you fail, ‘so what? Who cares?’”
He also described how perseverance allows one to overcome failure.
“If you want it bad enough, you’re going to keep getting up,” he said.
Deutsch also discussed the importance of leadership, stressing that it was important to demonstrate that you care about the success of the people you work with.
“If you show people that you care about their success as much as your own,” Deutsch said, “they will walk through fire.”
He called this his “mutual win theory,” in which he argued that “every business is people,” and that therefore interpersonal relations and connections will make or break you in business.
In another note on people, Deutsch stressed “[surrounding] yourself with people smarter than you.” He argued that they will be your best advisors, as well as make you smarter as a result of your relationship. If you work with people who you do not believe to be smarter than you, there will be no growth, and therefore, no success.
Deutsch made a few other observations about business, one of which he explained by saying that he would rather hire an equally qualified female than her equivalent male.
“Women want to do it collaboratively,” he said, and there is less managing of their ego-focused emotional baggage.
Additionally, “being in physical shape is good business,” because it demonstrates to others, and to himself, that he is “more in charge of [his] own life.”
Deutsch closed this segment of his talk again stressing passion in your work, even if that means continually changing your plans. Climbing new mountains and finding new passions, he said, “brings up a whole other charge.” Following his thoughts on achieving entrepreneurial success, Deutsch ran through his views on a variety of different fields. He criticized the “branding” of the President, in part at the fault of Obama allowing himself to be present in so many media forms that it “trivializes the office.”
Additionally Deutsch said that the Obama brand has no passion in it, and that this nation needs its President to change from an intellectual to a leader.
He also stressed the need for a shift away from intensely partisan politics.
“The time for an independent voice is more relevant than ever,” he said. “This country would really work best with an independent as President.”
Deutsch argued that Hopkins alumnus Michael Bloomberg might actually be the person to accomplish that.
“Bloomberg certainly has the funds to back up a campaign. Moreover,” freshman Emma McFarland said, agreeing with Deutsch. “The fact that he is an Independent would appeal to both Democrats and Republicans tired of the overly partisan behavior in Washington.”
Additionally, Deutsch believes that we have not solved how we view women in real positions of power (especially business,) and that Americans are still fascinated by successful attractive women and we don’t yet know how to process it.
He also made a few other points, including his prediction that the scar from the recession that we are currently feeling will affect spending in the future. However, he did express some optimism regarding the job market.
“There’s always jobs for good people out there. There are always companies that are doing well.” Innovative young people can always find success, by “understanding your audience [and the fact that] the way people consume is the way that you advertise.”
Deutsch argued that more people are going to enter “do-good fields” in the future, because recent graduates are beginning to see that they will not have the same chance of making as much money as previously.
On a related note, he argued that the United States is at the end of its run on top, and that the nation’s superiority complex is resulting in a number of problems that aren’t solvable.
Commenting on society, Deutsch observed that children are growing up by forming themselves as packs or posses.
“We are a society now that is chasing new.” He said. “There’s a big part of our society that wants to act out right now,” and that the United States (with reference to Halloween specifically) has become a “celebration of ‘slutifying’ young women.” In addition, in the future, “people will be looking for authenticity, and new versions of that authenticity,” a statement reflecting on that which will shape the world of business in the future.
In closing, Deutsch continued to describe this new business environment.
“I think nice is going to be the new black,” Deutsch said, expressing that he was getting a little tired of anger. “We have to be able to speak the truth to each other, we are getting too politically correct.”
McFarland seconded this sentiment, “He wasn’t worried about being politically correct. He was honest. I found that to be refreshing,” she said.
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