Recently I had the chance to talk with Max Juhasz, founder of Curious Monkeys Pressing Buttons — a digital marketing company that works across traditional businesses and high-risk verticals like cannabis and hemp. The company is about ten years old with a team of 35 to 40 people. Max has been self-employed since 1997.
I asked him what made him start his own business.
"Entrepreneurship is just entrepreneurship in general. You either want to do it, and choose to do it, and embrace all the ups and downs and things that go with it, or you get a job. I realized a long time ago I was never really built for a job."
Before digital marketing, Max spent 15 years in door-to-door sales. "I crushed it. I trained people all over the country. I was a top salesperson in the country for three or four years. And then the internet happened." He made the shift to digital and hasn't looked back.
When things are running well, Max is already looking for what's next.
"We go and figure out what's the next problem we have to solve proactively, and what's the next piece of software we have to build, and what's the next app that we have to launch, or how do we efficiently just make what we've done better?"
I asked what was the most complex thing about building his team.
"Finding the right person to help manage the team." Once he found someone who genuinely excels at it, everything changed. "You always got to find the right pieces and the right people to fill the spots."
We talked about what he's learned about hiring and building a team over ten years.
"Find the right people. Don't rush it. And just realize that life happens. People will evolve." He's learned that experience on paper doesn't always translate. "Some of the best people on paper have been the worst, quickest turnaround, this isn't gonna work, people. And the other ones that are just like, look, I'm willing to learn and I'm willing to do — that's sometimes all it takes."
It comes down to something deeper than a resume. "Some people just have an internal drive to learn and succeed and challenge themselves, and then other people will show up for a paycheck. You'll quickly figure out who's who and who you can build with."
We also talked about the shiny object problem — knowing when something that looks like the right move actually isn't.
"Each industry has its own sort of shiny object trends. Such and such is doing this, we need to do this. And it's like, but do you? You have to understand who your client avatars are, understand who your target audience is, understand who you're speaking to."
After ten years he's also learned when to test and when to hold.
"You got to test, you got to play, you got to play in the sandbox and you got to be able to throw stuff against the wall sometimes and see what works. You can't be so stuck on one idea that this is the way it has to work, or this is the way it's always worked."
I asked Max what his favorite part about being a founder is.
"I can fire myself at night and wake up and hire myself in the morning. I'm accountable to my clients, I'm accountable to my team. I don't mind responsibility, I actually embrace it."
He also talked about what it means to his family. "My dad ran his own business, I run my own business, my kids have watched. I've never had to forcibly pack up and move my family because work transferred me to a different state." For Max, that's the whole point. He built something that lets him show up — for his clients, his team, and his family — on his own terms.
Are you a business owner looking for a marketing team that gets granular about who your audience actually is? Connect with Max Juhasz and check out Curious Monkeys Pressing Buttons.