Paul Stillmank
President and CEO
7Summits
1110 N. Old World Third St., Suite 500, Milwaukee, WI 53203
Industry: Marketing and advertising
Number of employees: 20+
Family: “My wife, Maggie, daughter Caitlin, 24; son Daniel, 22; son Gabe, 4 and son Sam, 21 months.”
What was the smartest thing your company did in the past year?
“We had our entire staff read the book ‘The Rockefeller Habits’ and then applied the principals to shape important aspects of our company’s culture. Together we created our three-year strategic plan mapped right down to annual and quarterly and even weekly priorities for the company and every individual. Our entire team meets for 15 minutes every day and for an hour every week to establish a true rhythm in our business. And we focus our team on a single, critical number that relates to our overall business performance. This Rockefeller approach has truly focused everyone on delivering to our plan. We even summarize it all in a ‘Weekly Mountain Update’ to clarify weekly priorities and to capture the folklore of what it took to build this company.”
What’s new at your company?
“Recently we launched our own internal community dubbed ‘The Hive.’ This Jive Software based community has become more than an intranet could ever be. It’s where we collaborate to get work done at 7Summits – across clients and across our teams in Milwaukee and Chicago. It’s pretty cool and has taken on the personality of our firm.”
Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?
“We’ve been hiring pretty steadily since we started. In fact, our revenues grew 150 percent every quarter in 2010. We have three new employees coming on board by early June with job openings for three more still outstanding. Chicago is already up and running with a new office imminent. And yes, we are seeking significant capital to fuel even stronger growth. We have solid solutions for our clients and there is high demand for these types of services. Capital can help us get ahead of that demand, further solidifying our position in the market.”
What will be your company’s main challenges in the next year?
“Balancing growth with profitability. Continuing to find and hire key skill sets. Extending our business model with high value services, measurement and analytics solutions, and recurring revenue models.”
What’s the hottest trend in your industry?
“Companies are recognizing the opportunity to own a piece of media and not just a website, mobile site, Twitter account or blog. Online communities provide deeper audience insights and those insights will shape winning marketing plans in the coming years.”
Do you have a business mantra?
“Yes. Crowd-source your business. Our brand promise is to engage customers, employees and partners to help grow our clients’ business. We do the same here at 7Summits. We conduct ‘collective intelligence’ sessions on behalf of our clients: crowd-sourcing ideas and solutions from our entire team. We do the same thing to fuel ideas for our own company. In fact, every employee here is learning how to grow a business.”
From a business standpoint, who do you look up to?
“This is a bit of a mosaic for me, but I’ll have to go with Warren Buffet for his entrepreneurial philosophy. Launching a new business in the worst economy in history doesn’t seem logical. However, Buffet’s contrarian approach to business suggests this is the exact time to do
just that.”
What was the best advice you ever received?
“Marry the girl! Maggie is the love of my life and she has brought a whole new meaning to the word ‘balance.’ I could not have gotten 7Summits off to such a strong start without her.”
What’s the funniest thing that ever happened to you in your career?
“Too many to count here, but I’ll go with this: At our first 7Summits branding party, we broke out all of the mountaineering gear and shot a lot of photos. One of my colleagues that I have known for a very long time (let’s call him Sherpa) asked me to hop on his back for a picture. Kind of like a true Sherpa getting me to that summit. Our communication lines got crossed and he ended up tossing me head over heels across the room. Ouch! We all had a good laugh.”
What do you like to do in your free time?
“I’m into photography, back country hiking and fly fishing. Especially this time of year, you can find me wandering through the forests and along the streams of Wisconsin, fly rod in hand. Family and friends come along for the ride. It’s a great way to recharge amidst the intensity of work.”
