Summary
On this episode of Startup Junkies, hosts Jeff Amerine, Caleb Talley, and Matthew Ward are joined by Mark Zweig, founder and chairman of Zweig Group. Mark’s entrepreneurial journey began in his parent’s front yard when he was only twelve. He bought and sold bicycles, motorcycles, and cars throughout his adolescence and time at university. After earning his MBA, Mark worked for a management consulting firm before leaving for a string of successful positions with other flourishing businesses. Mark returned to his entrepreneurial nature in 1988 by founding Zweig Group, which grew rapidly for over a decade. Since his return to entrepreneurship, Mark has founded Inc 500 and Inc 5000 startups, written a book, served on multiple boards, and is now teaching entrepreneurship at the University of Arkansas.
Show Notes
(1:09) Introducing Mark Zweig
(2:00) Mark’s Entrepreneurial Origin Story
(16:12) Growing a Successful Business
(23:13) What Drew Mark to Northwest Arkansas
(28:15) Changing the Perception of Arkansas
(34:44) Designing Homes and Buying Back Mark’s Business
(44:31) What’s on Mark’s Plate Now?
(47:30) Advice to the Younger Self
Links
Quotes
“We grew by 30% a year, thirteen years in a row. And we were always profitable. We never had any outside equity. We did sell stock to key employees, and we would finance 100% of that. And that was really a strength. We just did a lot of stuff that we advocated our clients do.” – Mark Zweig, (19:00)
“Our business planning process was one where every year, each line unit manager had to come up with three new things to sell and three new ways to sell what they had. And that just sort of baked in the innovation.” – Mark Zweig, (19:58)
“To me, entrepreneurship is about building value. It’s not just what you can suck out of it along the way. And so, that, to me, is a core tenant of it. And if that’s your goal, you do everything differently.” – Mark Zweig, (48:55)
A Conversation with Mark Zweig
On this episode of Startup Junkies, hosts Jeff Amerine, Caleb Talley, and Matthew Ward are joined by Mark Zweig, founder and chairman of Zweig Group. Mark’s entrepreneurial journey began in his parent’s front yard when he was only twelve. He bought and sold bicycles, motorcycles, and cars throughout his adolescence and time at university. After earning his MBA, Mark worked for a management consulting firm before leaving for a string of successful positions with other flourishing businesses. Mark returned to his entrepreneurial nature in 1988 by founding Zweig Group, which grew rapidly for over a decade. Since his return to entrepreneurship, Mark has founded Inc 500 and Inc 5000 startups, written a book, served on multiple boards, and is now teaching entrepreneurship at the University of Arkansas.
“To me, entrepreneurship is about building value. It’s not just what you can suck out of it along the way. And so, that, to me, is a core tenant of it. And if that’s your goal, you do everything differently.” – Mark Zweig, (48:55)
Zweig Group
When Mark returned to entrepreneurship in 1988 and founded Zweig Group, he started with three clients and a one-room office above a classic diner in Boston. He quickly had to expand to a second, third, and fourth office, eventually moving to a suburban office space that grew to 10,000 square feet.
In 1990, Zweig Group bought a company in San Fransisco, which was the beginning of its presence in California. It went on to open offices in Washington DC, Kansas City, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, and Fayetteville, Arkansas. The company’s growth was remarkable for over a decade, growing by 30% a year for thirteen years.
“We grew by 30% a year, thirteen years in a row. And we were always profitable. We never had any outside equity. We did sell stock to key employees, and we would finance 100% of that. And that was really a strength. We just did a lot of stuff that we advocated our clients do.” – Mark Zweig, (19:00)
Mark credits much of the business’s early sustained success to following the advice he gave to clients. By following principles like open book management, or sharing profits with employees on a monthly basis, Zweig Group created a culture of success and a mindset of innovation, where every employee was committed to the company’s success.
“Our business planning process was one where every year, each line unit manager had to come up with three new things to sell and three new ways to sell what they had. And that just sort of baked in the innovation.” – Mark Zweig, (19:58)
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