Announcer: 0:00

The following programming is sponsored by Marc J. Bernstein. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of this station, its management, or Beasly Media Group. 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-focused forum, 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: 0:41

Good morning, America. How are you? It's it's Marc Bernstein, as you know. And today we have in the studio Gal and also Scott Reuter, who is on a recent show and who will serve as our co-host and be with us on the panel this morning. So good morning, gentlemen.

Scott Reuter: 0:58

Hey, Marc.

Marc Bernstein: 0:59

Morning. And we're going to start with a little conversation we had before the show on the subject of expectations. And it's I've been doing some personal kind of leadership development work on myself, which of course helps in leadership and business and and other things and in my client relationships, etc. And and we've been and I'm in a group that works on this on a weekly basis, and we've been talking about the concept of expectations. I have found that expectations, at least in regard to other people, are probably not all that useful, although I've had them my whole life. And expectations often, if not always, if not usually, I guess, lead to disappointment. And I used examples of my children as an example, who I'm very proud of, but at different times and in different circumstances I've had expectations and been disappointed. And what I'm learning to do, if instead of having expectations, if there's something I expect of them, talk about if it's something that they see as part of their life and something they desire to do, and if so, we create an agreement around it rather than me having an expectation and in my own little isolated world becoming disappointed. So I wanted to get um you know both of your input on that topic if it's something that you've thought about. I'll start with Scott. Any short thoughts on that, and then we'll get to Gal.

Scott Reuter: 2:23

Aaron Ross Powell Yeah, I mean I I put high expectations on myself, and sometimes it's difficult to, you know, kind of temper that for others. But uh yeah, I like the concept of uh doing an agreement.

Marc Bernstein: 2:35

You can have agreements with yourself as well. Exactly. That's true. Gal, what's your what's your thoughts?

Gal Borenstein: 2:41

Well, um I view expectations as a little bit uh different than uh how you defined it, uh, but contextually it probably means the same. Uh expectations are uh the visions and the missions that we have uh for anything in our life, and specifically in business. Uh if you don't have an expectation that you're going to be successful, for example, as an entrepreneur, uh you're not likely to even get through the first uh you know uh yard on the football field. But uh when you have expectations, uh you have to also set uh metrics of success and uh key performance indicators because what they do is they connect to each other and create contingency-based processes that allow you to include the people that will help you get there. So uh, for example, as we mentioned uh before, uh the podcast, um, you know, if you are a top-down organization, chances are that your expectations are always going to be uh resulting in disappointment because you did not get the buy-in of the uh folks that need to execute um your expectation, and uh the middle management has to uh be the cheerleaders, if you will, for the people that are executing uh the mission. So I think uh if you're able to kind of connect uh expectations to uh measurable outcomes and predictable and repeatable processes, uh chances are that your expectations will be kind of manageable. Doesn't mean you're gonna reach um you know a perfect 100% of them, but they're definitely not gonna leave you at the 20% level or the 10-yard line, and then the ball goes back to the other team.

Marc Bernstein: 4:33

Gotcha. Well, I appreciate that perspective. So let me introduce you to our guest today. So, Scott Reuter, who you've already met, if you've listened to our his podcast with me, is principal at Product Data Command. And Gal Borenstein is CEO of the Borenstein Group and a business author. And he's the founder of the Borenstein Group, an integrated marketing communications firm specializing in technology, branding, and marketing services. He's a recognized expert in digital branding, strategic marketing, and corporate trust building with nearly 30 years of experience guiding C-suite executives. Borenstein is also recently, I believe, the author of several books, well, the most recent one, um, uh, including What Really Counts for CEOs, and I think the new one, if I'm not mistaken, Gal is Don't Believe the Hype. Is that right? Correct. Yep. So, which is on my list to read. I haven't read it yet, but I am going to get that, and I need your signature on it. I collect those signatures on books. So when we meet in person, of course. And Gaul is with us from the Washington, D.C. area. Welcome.

Gal Borenstein: 5:43

Well, thank you for having me on the show.

Marc Bernstein: 5:45

So, Gal, tell us a little bit about I'm interested in your background, education, etc., and also how you became an entrepreneur, and then we'll talk about the Borenstein group and what it is you do and how you do it and the challenges you've had, etc. So tell us about your beginnings.

Gal Borenstein: 6:05

Well, I think that uh if anybody heard that story and uh in advance and said that this is how life is going to happen, uh chances are that uh they couldn't make this stuff up. Uh in uh kind of a brief version of it, uh, I was uh born and raised uh in Israel. Uh at age 18, like everybody else, um, you have to go into mandatory military service and do your three years. Uh but unlike uh other soldiers that actually had to be in combat or to uh perform duties as military, I was very fortunate because I was a good writer. Uh I was able to uh get a position at the um defense media communications of the IDF, which meant that instead of being in the ditches, uh, which without there there wouldn't be a country there, of course, and I appreciate that. Um I was flying with generals and with colonels and with different commanders on the chopper. And then when they landed, you know, they do their uh two-minute uh interview with the people on the field, and then uh they want something that is kind of the sort of a report uh that then goes into press releases in the form of uh media um announcements. And what I learned at that point of my life uh when I was 18 years old, um put in a position to uh be with generals in the same room is that there really are people that have the same exact anxieties and uh issues and challenges that all of us have. And that really kind of uh created a trait of starting the day by not thinking that I have to fear or I have to uh overly respect somebody uh just because they have a title, but really look at them as a human being. And uh very quickly, when I finished my military service in Israel, I actually was ready to be in radio, television, and film. But uh in a small country that had only one channel at a time and three radio stations, uh what two of them state-sponsored, uh, I didn't see uh myself um getting the experience that I already have. But most importantly, there was no college with a degree that uh offered communication unless you were waiting for your master's degree. So uh with the help of my dad, uh, who was uh a Holocaust survivor that came uh from Romania to Israel at age uh 10 and uh really kind of uh fits the profile of a parent that wanted his kid to be successful. He saved every penny he had always out of a used car and got his son to actually go to college, and I landed that way in at Temple University in Philadelphia uh to study radio television and film. And fast forward, um, because I was 21, uh college seemed to be uh a combination of I need to get the certificate and a diploma, but also waste of time. Not because I didn't appreciate the courses, but it was the fact that you could pay for 12 credits or 17 credits or the same cost and seeing my friends that I'm laughing.

Marc Bernstein: 9:51

I started university at a temple too, uh actually. Yeah, another thing we have to do.

Gal Borenstein: 9:55

Okay, well, I I tell people that uh I went to temple for four years, and uh, you know, I don't know many devout people that go to a temple for that long. That's my little joke. Good joke, got it. Uh but uh very specifically uh I saw 18-year-olds, uh people that treated college as this is gonna be coming of age. Uh I already had three years of military service, so I finished my undergrad uh degree in radio television film in two and a half years. It wasn't because it was that clever, it's because I realized very quickly that uh the tuition cost the same if you take 12 credits or 17 credits. And because I didn't have any family here, I did not have any uh built-in friends, I took every summer session, winter session, in-between session, whatever was open for uh enrollment. And uh two and a half years later, I just graduated. And then uh one of my last classes uh were about what is the future of communications? And the answer to that was uh there's gonna be a whole revolution that is called telecommunications, uh, where the last chapter of that book inspired uh the future for me was that one day uh internet is going to be something that will uh be the main hub of information. There will be no libraries, uh people will be talking uh to computers, and the computers are gonna have the answers. And uh to do that, you're gonna plug in your uh computer through the socket, electric socket in uh in your house or the plug, and uh what's gonna happen is it's gonna be wired and using electric wires, electricity to actually uh field and kind of boot up the information. So knowing that that was coming, I would became fascinated with the idea that uh telecommunications, which was kind of like telling somebody in 1992, uh, it was pretty much like telling them, I'm interested in astronomy, uh, or kind of uh being a space kid that I saw the uh what's gonna happen uh as kind of a vision, which was that uh companies uh are going to become more and more technified, if you will, and uh technology will go from being uh an add-on to an enabler. And that resulted in my ability to kind of take that vision and then think about what I want to do forward, which was to create the Born Send Group.

Marc Bernstein: 12:49

Interesting. So, and that was that was right out of college, it sounds like.

Gal Borenstein: 12:55

Yes.

Marc Bernstein: 12:55

So you were you were instant entrepreneur?

Gal Borenstein: 12:58

I was an instant entrepreneur, and the company started with $2,000 of loans that I took on a visa credit card that said on the back that if when you cash it, there's a $500 uh fee to cash out your $3,000. Right. But I had nothing to lose. I didn't have family here, I didn't have any friends with influence or connections. And I knew what I was strong at, which was writing, which was selling the story, and uh being able to actually marry two things, which was uh the knowledge of marketing, communications, advertising, and PR, which are all really part of what I did in my military service, which was to write the headlines to understand what a story looks like and how it ends and where it leads to, and then parlay that into agency, which I called the Bornstone Group, because I didn't want people to think there was only one person, and then uh make that into a company that offered a unique value proposition. And that unique value proposition was that we're gonna be a marketing PR and branding agency that specializes in technology companies, which means uh you don't have to pay us tuition to earn the knowledge about your company on your dime. We come prepared, we understand already what uh is the technology that you're marketing, Mr. Technologist. So that's really kind of what uh catapulted us for uh being nobody to to being able to kind of get a lot of CEOs of small to mid-sized companies that were needed having that connection uh between communication and admitting as engineers that they're not communicative. They wouldn't admit it. You have to have that conversation with them. And I was able to do that. And pretty much over uh 29 years uh in business, uh celebrating the 30th, uh, shortly, we're the ones who kind of are comfortable talking to engineers and helping engineers be successful.

Marc Bernstein: 15:11

That that is in my mind is genius because I've I've in my business I've dealt with engineers over the years, and it is definitely a different form of communication. With, you know, not everyone's the same, of course, but in general, uh that is a different form of communication required, and you're like the translator, which is uh I think is kind of brilliant.

Gal Borenstein: 15:33

Yep. If it was a movie, I would definitely call the translator.

Marc Bernstein: 15:38

And and your company has has grown to how many employees do you have today?

Gal Borenstein: 15:42

Uh we have uh 50 employees. Uh we're uh one of the top 50 business-to-business agencies in the US. Yeah. Uh and Chief Marketer uh magazine uh recently uh publicized. Nice. What we did in the beginning is the same thing that we're doing now. It's just basically scaled and expanded to the fact that technology now is embedded in business.

Marc Bernstein: 16:08

Well, with that, that's a that's a great place to stop for our break because you've accomplished a lot, but I want to ask you about some of the challenges you've had in the past and and tomorrow. So we'll be back right after this break.

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Marc Bernstein: 17:00

We're back on Founders Forum with our guest today, Gal Borenstein, and we have Scott Reuter in the studio. And uh Gal, I wanted to ask you. I know from experience, because I've worked with entrepreneurs my whole career, I am one, and we've had well over a hundred guests on our show. I know that entrepreneurialism is always a smooth ride without any hills and valleys. There you go. That's the laugh I wanted to solicit. So you uh so tell me about that. Tell me about some of the challenges you've had over the years and in the changes in our political system, because I know you work a lot in the uh defense area, and um with changes in that, I'm sure you're experiencing some challenges today. But let's start about challenges along the way and get to the ones, the current ones.

Gal Borenstein: 17:51

Um I'd like to to really kind of uh focus on maybe three uh anecdotal but very strategic uh descriptions of what challenges I had as an entrepreneur. Um, I never sold anything in my life before I started the company. Not even lemonade and lemonade setting, right? But I sold ideas when I was writing. And uh in the first five to twenty meetings where I uh went to meet CEOs of companies without sales training experience, I actually bought uh the uh Brian Tracy uh sales kit uh tape. And I literally listened to it every time I went uh to a business pitch, and very quickly the most important lesson that I learned was you are the sale. So if you're able to talk about yourself and be vulnerable, you're gonna be successful. Uh so the first challenge was really, I never sold anything in my life. I'm gonna be an entrepreneur and uh grow a company if I never done it. And uh that was one. And uh it took a little bit to kind of go through the understanding uh that whatever you're selling, whether it's services or products or hardware, it doesn't really matter. People buy from people. If you're able to connect in that uh both uh cognitive and uh emotional, uh people are likely to uh at least want to hear you. And of course, they can still say no, but uh I'd rather hear a no with a reason than a no uh would slam door, if you will. Uh the second uh was really uh the fact that uh my idea for a niche company was unique, uh, but also looked a little crazy because um the only companies uh in the advertising industry, the agencies, uh, they basically looked at small business uh of any kind as a pest because they were not spending half a million dollars or a million dollars. Uh knowing a little bit that technology companies uh at the time like think about Netscape or America Online or kind of the initial kind of giants, uh they all began with 10 employees or 15 employees with a very uh smart uh piece of software, and they needed somebody to take their XYZ ABC slash dot uh point and actually parlay that into something that people understand and get translated so they can kind of move from point A to point B. So uh having that challenge it became an opportunity because every time I met an elephant and they were making fun of us because we're so small and so lean, I said, Well, let's see what happens with these companies. And uh I was right about that. Uh the second uh or the third really uh obstacle that uh I always uh talk about and tell other entrepreneurs is self-belief. Uh if you wake up in the morning and uh you don't trust yourself because you're you're number one prepared and number two have the desire to win and you hate to lose, uh chances are that you're not gonna be successful. I hate to lose uh more than I love winning. So uh that kind of dynamo in me and the expectation I set to myself was I need to do this because I have to pay the rent actually, uh, and uh later uh shortly in life uh support a family. And uh that was to me kind of the motivation and uh still is the motivation. I do this for myself, but also for uh my family and to create that legacy.

Marc Bernstein: 21:55

That's great. That's I think Scott has a question for you.

Scott Reuter: 21:57

Yeah, just on the uh you know, being Smaller uh as a as a um you know company that's new and stuff like that, did you find it being an advantage to be flexible and be able to uh respond to your clients quicker than the big guys typically can?

Gal Borenstein: 22:15

Absolutely. Uh what I found uh shortly is that uh small companies were treated like an orphan child and being able to promise a better customer service. And in fact, one of my big pitch points were meeting a CEO is if you're gonna work with the Born Center, you're gonna see me the CEO, you're not gonna get a junior account manager in a larger agency because you didn't spend a million dollars. Uh that really endeared me to a lot of those CEOs of smaller companies. They start talking to other guys. The other point uh was possible as well.

Marc Bernstein: 22:56

I just want to mention many of the smaller companies, I'm sure, became larger companies as well.

Gal Borenstein: 23:00

Of course, of course. But uh being able to be there when they made that leap into being a bigger company came with the relationship building.

Marc Bernstein: 23:11

Yeah, you were there, were you were there when they really needed you. Yep.

Gal Borenstein: 23:15

Yeah, and and knowing kind of the their legacy and what they're trying to build uh resulted in relationships of 10 to 15 to some 20 years where we rebranded companies four or five times. And uh finally, uh the most important part was uh being flexible from an economic perspective and uh taking the approach that this is the fair market value, this is what the industry is charging, so you should do to saying, well, if you're an engineer company and you don't like marketing, uh you just have to live with it. Uh what if we created a model where it's kind of like a combination of what we call today a fractional CMO and uh provide the deliverables that are needed for the price of what you're paying your receptionist that is sitting at the lobby. And I say, yeah, whatever you're paying your receptionist, that's where we're gonna do it with higher quality. Take six months and you'll see what happens. And it worked.

Marc Bernstein: 24:15

There were owners of them. Very, very, very popular concept today, but you were sounds like you started that concept.

Gal Borenstein: 24:22

Or in terms of I don't want to take uh ownership that I I invented it, but certainly kind of the logic of it was that the burden was or the barrier was not that engineer companies didn't want to have marketing and branding and advertising. They just it wasn't approachable for them or accessible. And I made the point to make it accessible with the idea that I'm gonna be accountable to them, CEO to CEO. And that's really where the love connection, if you will, was made.

Marc Bernstein: 24:54

So by the way, we you've you've done a great job explaining your challenges and the strengths, and all the questions I asked you covered them. So you did you did a great job, and we only have, believe it or not, two minutes left. So I'm gonna ask you two questions that we have about a minute each to answer. The first one is uh you've you've thought a lot about, you've been very conscious, I would say, and aware of your you know, your methodologies and your progress and your successes and your challenges. What are your given that, what are your thoughts about your legacy, Gal? What would you like to leave behind it hopefully many years in the future?

Gal Borenstein: 25:30

I really wanted my legacy to be as uh a guy that uh came into an industry where he never worked a day in his life, that broke all the rules and uh created opportunities and taught people that uh there are no rules. The rules you can make them up as you go along, as long as you have foundation of knowledge, strategic uh motivation, and uh be a great customer service provider to whom ever your customer is. Doesn't matter if they're small or large.

Marc Bernstein: 26:04

That's wonderful. And along with that, if you could, I know you have three sons we talked about earlier, and I'm sure you've shared wisdom with them, but if you could talk to the younger guy, what would what would you say to him?

Gal Borenstein: 26:17

Looking back in kind of retrospect, uh, I would probably ask for uh funding and spend a little bit of time uh kind of fortifying the starter point so it doesn't stress you out to a point where you're literally working 80 hours a week just to pay a loan at a time of $2,000. So uh definitely being well capitalized or at least having something in your war chest before you uh start a company. I would say I would have started the company while I had the job if I had to do it all over again. I did not. I started it from a point where I had to succeed, so it was good, but also very stressful.

Marc Bernstein: 27:02

Well, listen to Scott's podcast because that's that's what he did. And he also said in the same question, he said, enjoy the ride, which I think is part of what you're getting at as well. So hey, it was a pleasure having you here, Gal. Um we could talk a lot longer, and but we've said a lot, and I think our listeners are gonna get a lot out of this little show. And uh we thank you all for listening today. So thank you, Scott, for being here. And we'll see you, and you'll hear us again next week on Founders Forum.