Announcer: 0:01

Entrepreneur, founder, author and financial advisor, Marc Bernstein helps high-performing business owners turn their visions into reality. Through his innovative work and the Forward Focus Forums, Marc connects entrepreneurs to resources that fuel their success. Founders Forum is a radio show and podcast where entrepreneurs share their journeys, revealing the lessons they've learned and the stories behind their success. Join Marc and his guests for a mix of inspiration, valuable insights and a little fun. Now let's dive in.

Marc Bernstein: 0:33

Good morning America. How are you? We're here this morning on Founders Forum. It's a lovely day in Southwest Florida. Hello to our friends in Philadelphia and around the country and around the world. I have in the studio with me this morning Keith I'll introduce Keith formally in a minute and I was thinking, keith, about well, we have our 100th anniversary, 100th show coming up, 100th podcast in a few weeks. So we were planning that this morning and I was thinking about how the show started and it was really about interviewing entrepreneurs about their challenges, their successes, of course, but when I think about it, it's really about their journeys, because the journey is always ongoing. And the quote that I've always thought about and most people have heard is success is not a destination, it's a journey. And how does that apply to you, keith, and what do you think about that?

Keith Scandone: 1:30

quote. I think it's spot on. You're right. I think being an entrepreneur for sure is a journey, particularly these days and over the course of the past 20 years of me having the business. I think that's what makes it interesting. I think that's what makes it interesting. I think that's what makes it exciting. That's what makes it challenging. It also, I think, separates entrepreneurs from not entrepreneurs. It's really not for everyone, because it is a roller coaster constantly.

Marc Bernstein: 1:57

And yeah, I like what you said. It's kind of almost the lifeblood of an entrepreneur. You have to want that in you For me, what for me? It keeps me going. I don't usually talk about it, but I'm turning 70 soon. Most people think I'm not that old, but I think part of that is because I have, you know, I have a lot of goals for a long period in time that I'm looking forward. I'm not. I was talking to someone the other day and they and this is not a slant on anybody, but people that work for a corporation for a long time, as an example. Or I knew an accountant that was working for somebody that apparently was like a slave driver and he said I can't wait to retire.

Keith Scandone: 2:34

And he's very happy.

Marc Bernstein: 2:35

People like like could be very happy, but if you're an entrepreneur, it's hard to imagine that you're not doing this anymore. You're just. You know, you're just going to fade away and go to your medical visits I'm being a little sarcastic, but you know but just talk about your health all the time and the weather and not have much else to talk about. And I was with a group of entrepreneurs the other day and they said, yeah, I just can't imagine that life. And these are all people that are in their sixties and seventies and beyond that are thriving.

Marc Bernstein: 3:06

I mentioned that we had a guy we just played in part two of Ed Satell of the Satell Institute, who had a part. One was his tremendous business career. Part two was what he's done since then. He still has his business, still runs his business at 88 years old. But he also is, and he might be 89 actually now. I think about it and he probably doesn't like me saying his age on the air either, but but he's um. So he's created the Satell Institute, which is a collaboration between for-profit businesses and non-profits and collaboration and how they can work together. And to be a member you don't pay dues because he's completely endowed it, but you, you need to commit to a hundred100,000 contribution to the charity of your choice. They don't care what it is over a four-year period, and they have many companies that are doing like 10 of these now where they're giving a million dollars over four years, that kind of thing.

Marc Bernstein: 3:57

And so far they've raised over $200 million of contributions in Philadelphia but they've started in a few other cities and his vision is, during his lifetime, of contributions in Philadelphia but they've started in a few other cities and his vision is during his lifetime to have $2.2 trillion in 50 cities and that's his vision. So you know, guy's got a lot of energy and a lot of juice still at that age and that's who I want to be, you know, because it keeps the blood going.

Keith Scandone: 4:22

You know that's ambitious goals by him. I appreciate that and I'm familiar with the Satell Institute as well.

Marc Bernstein: 4:26

Oh, are you Cool? Have you ever? Maybe we should talk about that. Maybe you should join.

Keith Scandone: 4:30

Sure, I mean, I have a hundred grand sitting around to throw at a nonprofit, why not Happy to?

Marc Bernstein: 4:37

Come as my guest for the next CEO conference in May. We can talk about that, anyway. So my guest today and thanks for your insights on the journey, keith. Keith Scandone is the co-founder and CEO of O3 World, a digital experience consultancy. O3 provides AI strategy and digital consulting experience, design and software development for enterprise organizations. In addition to overseeing O3's vision and strategy for the last 20 years, keith also plays an active role in the community. He and his team have hosted several industry-leading events, most notably the 1682 Conference, which is an AI and innovation conference going on its third year this fall in Philadelphia. So I get to say Philadelphia again. Also, fall in Philadelphia is an old Hall Oates song I don't know if you know this like when they first started, but anyway. Keith also serves as mentor for several owners and sits on the Compass Pro Bono nonprofit board in DC there you go.

Marc Bernstein: 5:42

So welcome, keith. Thanks for being here today. Thanks for having me. Marc and Keith is Maryland-based but he's in Florida for, among other things, this podcast, and you know so glad to have you here so tell us about your humble beginnings, which I know started outside of Philadelphia and you know, and how your journey began.

Keith Scandone: 6:02

Sure, it's certainly been an interesting one Unorthodox, I would say so. After graduating college I went to Loyola College in Maryland, now actually known as Loyola University. I had majored in economics and I minored in theater and I went out for my first and only play in my life, oedipus. And I went out for the lead role of Oedipus and I remember the director asked me he said what if you don't get this role? I said I don't want any other role and I ended up getting the role of Oedipus and I really fell in love with acting and so decided to actually move to Los Angeles to pursue acting and so spent about six and a half years out there and I did a lot of pursuing of acting.

Keith Scandone: 6:47

I did some as well, but it was a fascinating, life-changing experience in so many ways and I experienced so many things while pursuing that dream creatively and I really really actually enjoyed Los Angeles and the industry had its quirks, but also was really interesting. So so, but recognize it really wasn't ultimately for me and moved back to the Philadelphia area. Excuse me one second.

Marc Bernstein: 7:11

Do you act for fun anymore? Community theater.

Keith Scandone: 7:13

I don't know, uh, I don't act at all anymore, um and uh, I try to find other ways for kind of creative outlet outlets, but but, but not anymore now. Um, uh, so, yes, I moved back to philadelphia and really started from scratch, uh, when I was uh, 28, uh, not sure exactly what I wanted to do. So I had a decent amount of ground, a decent amount of experience and different elements of of marketing. I I I wrote for several publications out in los angeles, I wrote a play that was produced out in Los Angeles and just had a pretty good kind of creative mindset and background. So I actually had a connection at the Philadelphia Convention Center and I pitched them on a marketing concept idea which they bought and they hired me as a consultant, which was great to kind of get my feet wet.

Keith Scandone: 8:01

And then I started at a small web design and development company, an online entertainment city guide it was called AroundPhillycom and really kind of came in to take over their sort of editorial team in many ways and work with the writers but helped with the marketing and the positioning and the kind of promotion of the city guide itself and on the side they would sell as kind of part of their business, they would sell website design and development projects. And so I was there for roughly a year or so and I thought that it was a good concept, particularly this is 22 years or so ago, so really, you know, before the rise of some of the more modern, you know, web technologies that exist today, and thought that they should go a more enterprise route and they felt comfortable staying kind of like dealing with small retail shops, bars, restaurants, salons, that sort of thing. So I decided to sort of do that, not exclusively on my own, but two other guys that I met through the company. They were freelancers there, and one was a designer and one was an engineer, and then I was kind of the marketing, sales and accounts. And so there you have O3.

Keith Scandone: 9:17

Three parts, you know, ozone, three parts oxygen. So three departments, three owners.

Marc Bernstein: 9:23

When we started, Love that I didn't realize. That's where the in came from. So you know. We talked about success and business success is not a smooth ride, so tell us about some of the challenges that you had, keith, along the way.

Keith Scandone: 9:41

Oh, so many and continue to have. Really, it's just, you know, running a business there's so many you know when you start a business, typically speaking. So for the reason we started this business I mean I told you that the general genesis of it and the opportunity that I saw out there. But really it was because my one business partner and I, the designer, we worked very well together creatively. We would do some kind of like ad concept type things. We would concept things together. I would handle a lot of the direction and the content and he would handle the design, and so that was kind of again the reason we started the business because we thought that we worked so well creatively together. When, then, we started the business, we recognized that someone needed to be out there selling what we did. So I became the de facto sales guy basically day one, and I never really had the opportunity to turn back.

Announcer: 10:33

And so.

Keith Scandone: 10:34

I did certainly some creative. When we started, we were a brand communications company and so we did some, you know. So there were some branding concepts that helped with some taglines.

Marc Bernstein: 10:42

By the way, we have a lot in common, so you're like vision strategy and the rainmaker more or less?

Keith Scandone: 10:47

Yes.

Marc Bernstein: 10:47

Yes, what my role in our business? Yeah, exactly.

Keith Scandone: 10:50

Which, again, somebody typically has to be when you're an entrepreneur or you know, inside of um, uh, inside of a business, so um, so, from from day one. But you, you're, you're focusing on things that you're not sort of um, uh, experienced in um, and and you have to deal with things that you, you're, you weren't anticipating. So you know, they say all the time I mean uh, whether it's whether it's insurance or whether it's dealing with lawyers or whether it's dealing with in employees, which is really, I'd say, probably one of the most challenging elements, because there's a lot of different layers to obviously dealing with employees and then clients. So it's just been kind of a you know, while you have a vision, you have to take things sort of one day at a time, one step at a time.

Keith Scandone: 11:35

But in the services market it's a very saturated, very competitive marketplace and, as you and I were discussing earlier off air about the one-person consultancies, I mean it's easier than ever to start a company out there and that doesn't mean, maybe, that all obviously are created equal, but it just creates a lot more noise in the marketplace and a lot more complexity to navigate through for a client to actually find you. So I think that that's something that's probably the most challenging just navigating over time where you fit and differentiate in the marketplace, and that never changes. We call ourselves, as you said, a digital experience consultancy today, not so different from our roots when we started. We've just kind of tried to be a little bit more specialized over the years again, while we kind of navigate the opportunity and the competitive you know landscape.

Marc Bernstein: 12:29

You know, you hit on an interesting point, I think. You know, I think what's going to save America ultimately is entrepreneurialism, because there are so many people, you know, people are with AI, people are going to be downsized, people are going to not be in the careers they thought they were going to be in and, as you said, with the advantage of all the technology we have is that it's very easy to start a business today. It's not easy necessarily to be successful, but it's easy to start one, so I think that's a really good point that you mentioned. There's two things I wanted to ask you about. We only have a minute until our commercial break, so I'm going to ask you this. First, I wanted to back up to acting a little bit Sure, because you told me before, when we've talked offline, a couple of lessons you learned from the acting experience. I think that would be helpful. And then, when we come back, I want to talk to you about the strengths you've developed in in 03 as a result of your um uh challenges.

Keith Scandone: 13:21

That you had. Sure Well, number number one on a very high level. I mean, when you do something like acting or anything of creative pursuit like that, you're really making yourself extraordinarily vulnerable, um, and putting yourself out there, and I think you'll learn a lot about yourself in doing so. You have to really really dig deep, um, and I think that's that that was a very, very helpful lesson. Uh, I think that was a very, very helpful lesson.

Keith Scandone: 13:43

Beyond that, in the pursuit of acting, again, it's an extraordinarily competitive space. There's no formula to success. It's not like typical businesses. Well, I started this corporation and I put in my 10 years and now I've got this great title. It just doesn't work in that way. I've seen some extraordinarily successful people that can't get work. I've seen some very untalented people get tons of work, and so just kind of understanding that number one.

Keith Scandone: 14:04

But two, I think, a couple of things that really were great takeaways from my experience out. There is when you get called in for a casting opportunity, you walk into an extraordinarily cold room. So typically the people that are casting directors are former actors or actors that weren't successful, so already they're a little bitter that they're in that chair. You also might be the hundredth person they've seen that day. So they're fatigued and they often are the ones that read opposite you. So imagine if you're reading for a role and you're supposed to play a character and the person on the other side gives you absolutely zero to work with. That's essentially what zero to work with, that's essentially what you're dealing with. So you learn that if you can be sort of comfortable or you can thrive in that environment Now I mean, if I get invited into, you know it could be the biggest company by the biggest CEO.

Keith Scandone: 14:52

It just it's not really daunting to me because it's. I've at least been invited there. I'm one of maybe a few people or a few companies versus 100. So that really helped me a lot. And then, beyond that, I did a lot of celebrity interviews on the red carpet and at Junkets Nice, and that really helped me also, especially on the red carpet, like I did the Matrix premiere, the first and second one and so I worked for some no-name little online entertainment spot. And so they're not stopping at you. The publicist isn't stopping at you. You've got to find ways to get their attention and you know, get them to spend some time with you and provide an interesting question that there's engagement, so you have to be on your toes at all times.

Marc Bernstein: 15:38

Listen, another thing we share in common. My beginnings were in the music business, as a musician and as a lawyer promoter and many of the same things as you're talking I'm thinking about.

Marc Bernstein: 15:50

I visualize myself in some of the rooms I'm in hawking the music and some of the ridiculous things that happened as a result. And one of the things I found out is the people I was talking to who were like known A&R guys artists and repertoire in the music business were basically like doorstops, you know, to keep you out of the president's office unless they really discovered something special, which happened. Some of them never actually even did that, which is interesting. They're paid just to just to tend the gate there, kind of. So so I get it. So it's a cold experience but a lot to be learned from, and I did also. I also had to dig deep. So thanks for sharing that and let's take a quick break and we'll be right back.

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Marc Bernstein: 17:35

We're back on Founders Forum with our guest today, keith Scandone. Keith, so we're talking about you know, back to 03, the challenges that you had, and I know one of the strengths that you had is that it's almost like a unique ability kind of thing. You figured out what you were good at, what your partner was good at. Speak a little more about the strengths that you discovered in meeting the challenges of the business, for one and we discussed a little before.

Keith Scandone: 18:02

So we started, as I said, with three partners and a few years in went down to just two of us, and you know the entrepreneurs. It can be a very challenging journey and it can be a very lonely one as well. So it's great having a partner or partners, but finding the right partner or partners is extraordinarily crucial and, frankly, extraordinarily difficult. I mean because it becomes really a business marriage. And so you know, I'm very fortunate that my business partner, mike Gatsby. We share philosophically the same things, we look at business the same way and outcomes the same way. We just have also our own lanes in which we focus on, which I think is really really critical. If we both had the exact same strengths and weaknesses and I know a lot of owners that sometimes are challenged by this it becomes much more difficult. So we've complemented each other very, very well over the last 20 years.

Marc Bernstein: 19:00

I just want to mention one thing about that. It's a marriage, as you said. It's a business marriage and something I thought a lot about when I got married. I got married a little bit later. My wife and I are very different people, but the reason we were able to make it work is because we share the same values we look at we. You know we look at life the same way, in many different ways, but that doesn't make us the same people, and that sometimes can work really well because you have complimentary skills and talents.

Keith Scandone: 19:27

It really is and also it just helps. I mean, it's running a business is it could be exhausting. I mean it could be mentally exhausting, physically exhausting, et cetera. So finding the right partner as well. Some of you can kind of lean on that. You need to kind of step away from a little bit, or you know you need some. You need some time just to recharge your battery, uh, or someone might be dealing with one particular issue or one particular client over and over again, and sometimes just to be able to hand over the reins, like can you just a different set of eyes? Maybe can you approach this, can you have that conversation? Um, it is really really valuable. So I think that's been extraordinarily helpful and just kind of leaning into what our strengths are individually and then collectively and allowing the other person to kind of have some free reign, to be autonomous. So having that support has been extraordinarily valuable to our business success.

Marc Bernstein: 20:20

You know, this show is very forward-focused. Our brand is the forward focus forum, so we always like to talk about what do you see ahead? You know I knew you want to talk about your one year vision. I mean, what does that look like for you and for the business?

Keith Scandone: 20:35

You know it's interesting. I mean, as I said, we're steeped in kind of technology. We do a lot of digital transformation work, as you mentioned in the introduction. We do a lot in AI strategy and digital strategy in general. You know, we like to say that we're, you know, on the sort of on the bleeding edge of what's happening in technology and have been on 20 years and that's been very, very helpful, although the rise of AI is exciting but is dizzying. I mean, it really is moving at an unbelievably fast pace. So it's an opportunity. I think, and I think we're often hired for that. It's not even just like it used to be. I need help with this particular technology platform Now. It's just I need help with understanding and navigating. What is AI? What is gen ai? What is a machine learning? So, uh, and what are the different tools? What are the different?

Marc Bernstein: 21:27

options. Interesting because this stuff's been around for a long time.

Keith Scandone: 21:30

It has been around for a very, very long time. Um, it's just actually, but you know the the proliferation of it now is just it's. It's growing it against it's an unbelievably right, a dizzying rate.

Keith Scandone: 21:39

So that makes things again very, very interesting.

Keith Scandone: 21:43

And this is also just broader forget about, you know, o3 for a second just more broadly, in AI, as we all talk about it, it's great for the opportunities and it's scary because of the opportunities, I mean really about how much we give over, you know, to our phones, to technology and now AI, which is basically recreating in many ways kind of our own images and our own personas, which is, you know, can be awesome and can also be very, very scary.

Keith Scandone: 22:10

So it's exciting to kind of try to stay ahead of how do we kind of serve up these solutions and opportunities for clients, how we navigate, because I really do feel more than ever that consulting is necessary inside organizations.

Keith Scandone: 22:25

I've seen we work with a lot of enterprise organizations, so from maybe a hundred million dollars up to a hundred million annual revenues up to publicly traded companies quite often and I've actually never seen such a level of kind of paralysis inside of organizations that's happened over the last few years or so, and AI is a big reason for that just because they are afraid about how much money to invest and how big of a step they might take. Obviously they know what they have to make AI a part of their business, but to what degree? Particularly as you talk about regulated industries finance, insurance, healthcare, a lot of industries that we work in I mean it's very, very challenging. So I'm excited about the opportunity, about how we can leverage it more inside of our business, which we already do, about creating operational efficiencies, how we can lean into it more for clients and, frankly, kind of where it's taking not just us as a company, but also kind of just where it's taking the world.

Marc Bernstein: 23:23

So O3's place in this is how do you manage and navigate, how you will manage and navigate the dizzying rate of change and how you'll be opportunistic about it, and I know you mentioned to me that maybe development of your own product might be part of that picture.

Keith Scandone: 23:41

It would be ideal. You know, we started several years ago O3 Ventures, which was really kind of an investment arm, and the idea at that time, Marc, was that we would invest some money and some sweat equity into digital products that then, hopefully, would be able to expand. And we've done three of them so far and none of them have worked out. We've done three of them so far and none of them have worked out. So the concept is still there, but the success rate has not exactly been where we want it to be.

Keith Scandone: 24:08

But yes, I think that you know, any service company likes to have some kind of product or IP. Obviously, it creates more value opportunity in the short term and long term, and I think if we had our product as well, I think we could serve that up. If we have the right product, I think we could serve that up to our clients as well and then provide the service layer on top of it. So definitely have ambitions to do so. We've kicked around a lot of ideas. We've spoken to a lot of companies about potentially investing or acquiring them. We just have not landed on that spot quite yet but that's still the goal, Marc.

Marc Bernstein: 24:44

We'd still love to Gotcha Keith. One question. I didn't ask you that I'd like to ask you because, as you move forward, the culture of your company is important today, I'm sure, and it becomes even more important. I want to speak to that a little bit your culture and how that can benefit what your aim is over the next few years.

Keith Scandone: 25:00

Yeah, sure, you know, it's incredibly important, I think, and I think it's changed pretty dramatically post-pandemic. So you know, if you look at a pre-pandemic, we were a full-time in-house company in Philadelphia. Our offices are based in Fishtown, right on Frankfurt Avenue, and that was a big part of our culture. I mean, we're a consulting company. We're very collaborative, not only collectively, but with clients as well. We tried to build strong relationships, again internally with our teams, then again with our clients.

Keith Scandone: 25:36

So the fact that we're a more hybrid or even remote in a hybrid or remote world right now has changed quite a bit on how you adapt, and in some ways it's good, I mean. So now we have obviously less people coming into the office regularly. We have people around the country and we even have three offshore companies that we work with. We have some consultants and contractors that we kind of flex up and down. So the mode of communication and the cultural model has changed quite a bit. I think at our core, though, it really hasn't changed. I mean, our North Star is exactly the same about how we treat each other, how we treat our clients and, honestly, how we kind of try to create a partnership with our clients. What I mean by that is that-.

Marc Bernstein: 26:23

That's what I wanted to get get to, because I know that's how you we try to position ourselves as this we look at it in any way.

Keith Scandone: 26:27

Is this 51 49 partnership? I mean, they're 51 because they're they're paying us, obviously, so they have the upper hand but really don't like to be looked at or treated like a vendor. We're people, they're people and we and we both sort of need each other and I think that comes with a level of respect that we expect out of our clients, and it's not uncommon that we are very direct with our clients when that is not given to any of us on the team. And so I think that those values, those core values, are frankly the most important thing Now. You work with these big clients.

Keith Scandone: 27:02

You have a lot of different touch points and a lot of different people. It's not a perfect science, it's not an exact science. You obviously come across some challenging individuals at times, but overall you really kind of look out for your team and you look out for what's right and I think ultimately that has really kind of driven our culture and driven our success. And even though we're remotely we're not always getting together, you know, in person Um, I think there's a connective tissue and fiber, um, in that way of looking at, uh, running a business.

Marc Bernstein: 27:30

Uh, that's a common theme here with a lot of companies, including my own, because we look at, as financial planners, as our entrepreneurial clients that we want to be their partner along on their journey. So we're like living their, whatever their, their, their vision is. We're living that vision it sounds like you're doing the same thing.

Marc Bernstein: 27:47

Um so, and I've heard that theme and I think that's collaboration is really becoming, you know, it seems like an obvious thing, but it's becoming in vogue, for whatever reasons, because you know it's kind of high tech, high touch. You know you really need to have those kind of relationships, I think, to move forward today. Two quick questions because we're almost out of time. But what are your thoughts about your legacy? What would you like to leave behind as a result of the work you're?

Keith Scandone: 28:12

doing. You know it's funny. My business partner said he goes. I want you know when I pass away on my gravestone just to say he gave a s**t and I appreciate it. It's simple but honestly, you know I don't have kids. I have a wife and certainly Bill. I'm fortunate with the friends and family around me as well, and I'm sure you have a lot of people you've impacted.

Keith Scandone: 28:38

I think so, and I don't know that I focus so much on legacy Marc. I mean, I really try every day to just do better work and be a better person individually and impact as many people as I possibly can. So, as you mentioned, I'm on the board at Compass Pro Bono, which is fantastic because Compass, which is in actually four cities right now. Basically what they do is they represent several nonprofits in these different cities and they match them with consultants. I mean hundreds of thousands of dollars of work they get for them for free, I mean. So the reason I wanted to join that board is that I'd have potentially a much greater impact being on that board to the greater DC area and to all these potential nonprofits and volunteers as well. Um, and then, as you mentioned, mentoring as well, which I've done, you know, dozens and dozens of times.

Keith Scandone: 29:28

I'm part of mentor connect, which is a group out of Philadelphia through pact Um, but beyond that, I mean just individually, organically. I just really, uh, I just have this level of kind of one curiosity. I want to meet new people, I want to try new things, I want to experience new environments, um and uh, I want to learn from people, uh, and I want, if, if it, if it helps them, I want to be able to have them learn from me and my journey and my experience and my connections and any opportunities I can provide to them. So I think it's more of a day-to-day thing I look at it versus looking at what my long-term legacy is.

Marc Bernstein: 30:06

It's wonderful we're out of time. You've said a lot. It's really a great story. Great to have you here, keith, and we'll stay in touch. We'll follow you on your journey as you go along. Great Thanks. So much, Marc, my pleasure.

Announcer: 30:28

Thanks to everybody for listening and we'll see you next week on Founders Forum.