Meet Jonathan Maxim | Growth Hacker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jonathan Maxim and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jonathan, what role has risk played in your life or career?
When I was 18 I moved to California without a plan or even a college acceptance. 6 years later, I graduated with two Masters degrees in business and an undergraduate degree, soon thereafter getting a job that paid $165,000 per year. Had I stayed home, I probably would’ve been another townie with an associates degree from the local community college and a $44,000 per year job.

“What if I lost it all on this?” is a common, but insidious narrative that causes many to hesitate, and therefore not act. Put simply, hesitation is a progress killer. We will never have enough “data” to make a fully informed decision. And we often forget that even if you “fail” taking a risk, it’s not really a loss, rather it’s a lesson on how to do it better next time.

Taking risks at younger ages when less is on the line teaches us to play with smaller numbers. As we learn one step (or failure) at a time, we ratchet up the ante and are better equipped to make smart risk assessments and decisions when there are 6 or 7 zeros involved instead of 3 or 4.

On the flipside, optimistic entrepreneurs have a tendency to overlook this critical factor in life and business. Prior generations have passed down a deep-rooted scarcity mindset that causes people to hold onto what they have instead of bet on what they could have.

In 2020, my firm K&J Growth Hackers had 20 clients – all paying a relatively low fixed fee. We saw a smart risk to take by going to a performance-based billing model, and let go of all but 2 of them, and focused all our efforts on those two. The two months following, we lost money and were net negative. But within six months, we had doubled our revenue and bought a majority of our team’s time back.

So I encourage everyone to take small calculated risks and build up the confidence to where when a multimillion-dollar opportunity awaits you, you have track records, data, and confidence to take swift action and win.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My team and I work on a performance basis, helping tech companies go viral, and getting compensated according to the amount of sales and growth the client’s get. That means our whole team is aligned and has skin in the game, rather than a retainer model where client results aren’t incentivized. Instead, we guarantee it. Running a business like this means there is a lot of risk, but also implies confidence in our abilities, and increases accountability across the board. With this structure, my team and I have direct incentive to improve our client’s sales, not some array of vanity metrics.

While this model is obviously more risky, it naturally garners better results because everyone is under pressure to perform.

As mentioned, we initially had 20 clients and narrowed that to just 2, and now 5. So the challenge of keeping the business profitable during a radical shift like that was a good test for everyone. The pressure was so immense at one point, my partner proposed folding the business. But we not only made it through but beat our prior numbers, which is something I’m quite proud of.

We overcame this challenge by focusing our 21 (at the time) team members on just a few projects and removed all the other distractions. Instead of 1-2 average full time resources per campaign, we now have 6 to 7 full timers on a campaign.

But what makes me proudest is the fact that our clients got real results. One campaign that was spending $50,000/mo on advertising with us, grew to $1M per month in revenue as a result of our shift. Another hit 1M app users within just 6 months.

So that’s really our culture and our brand, as well as our core values: results, reliability, mindfulness, and proficiency.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I always say “LA is no fun if you don’t know someone or live here”. It can be an intimidating city and you definitely need an insider’s look to get the most of your experience here. Here’s what I’d recommend: Day 1:
– Wake up early and meditate on Marina Beach at sunrise
– Take a walk up to Venice Waterfront for a late Lunch and drinks
– Catch sunset in North Santa Monica beach from the lookout
– Eat dinner at Elephante in Santa Monica
Day 2:
– Wake up and Hike Runyon Canyon
– Grab lunch on the roof at Highlight Room
– Visit Wisdome art park in downtown and dance the night away in the music dome
– Eat dinner at Manuela in DTLA
Day 3:
– Rent a convertible and drive the Hollywood Hills
– Eat dinner at Pace Italian Restaurant and maybe meet a celebrity
– Finish the evening with drinks at EP & LP

Honestly, just as in life as in LA, the best things in life are free. Hikes, beach walks, swimming, surfing, and breathing the air are my favorite past times here. All of the glitz and glam are just a nice to have.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
– Russ Jarman Price, Advertising M&A – Profit First Book by Mike Michalowicz
– Tim Ferriss Podcast

Website: https://kjgrowth.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsjmaxim/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanmaxim/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/itsjmaxim

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.maxim.507/

Other: https://jonathanmaxim.me/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2020/05/20/five-ways-your-company-can-keep-up-with-changing-technology-trends/?sh=2d0bfd211bfc

Image Credits
Daniel Curtis