"Getting a job is common, but making a world-changing impact is the mark of true distinction."
Welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview with Chris Orzechowski, a seasoned entrepreneur and the founder of 100 Year Brand. In this candid conversation, we delve into the world of business longevity and marketing prowess as Chris shares his unique insights and experiences.
As a fractional Chief Marketing Officer hailing from New Jersey, Chris has forged a path that bridges the gap between visionary marketing strategies and pragmatic business execution. He established 100 Year Brand with the goal of imparting invaluable knowledge and education to e-commerce founders who aspire to build brands that stand the test of time.
In this interview, Chris offers a glimpse into the principles that underpin his philosophy of creating ‘Century Brands’—brands that flourish long after their creators have moved on. He discusses the lessons he’s learned along his entrepreneurial journey, his latest book “The Moat,” and the power of strategic hiring. Moreover, he provides a fresh perspective on navigating the rapidly evolving business landscape, offering a roadmap for thriving in 2023 and beyond.
Join us as we explore the wisdom of a visionary entrepreneur and marketing maven, Chris Orzechowski.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Chris Orzechowski: My name is Chris Orzechowski and I’m a fractional Chief Marketing Officer from New Jersey. I founded my company, 100 Year Brand, to provide training & education to e-commerce founders who want to scale up and build a “century brand” that thrives long after they’re gone.
What advice do you wish you had received when you started your business journey and what do you intend on improving in the next quarter?
Chris Orzechowski: I wish I understood the concept of the Midwit Bellcurve meme. Great businesses are simple. They exist to serve specific purposes. I found myself, at one point in my journey, trying to do way too many things.
My business was growing but the workload was growing even faster. Eventually, I simplified everything and my quality of life improved, and my business started growing by leaps and bounds again.
Most entrepreneurs are visionaries. We like to dream big and come up with ideas. But not every wild good is worth hunting. It turns out, if you stay focused you tend to get better results.
Focused, sustained pressure turns coal into a diamond. The grass is not greener in your neighbor’s yard. They have problems, too. It’s greener where you water it.
Online business keeps on surging higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for the year to come and how are you capitalizing on the tidal wave?
Chris Orzechowski: I think we’ll see an industry-wide pullback. There’s a lot going on in the economy right now, between inflation, war, and other factors.
However, I think certain online brands are poised to keep growing, despite this. My high school wrestling coach used to say that “the cream always rises to the top.” The best operators with the best products always find a way to succeed.
Unique products and unique brands selling to premium audiences are going to do even better than before. A lot of people selling unremarkable, copycat products will get wiped out. To go back to Buffet, once the tide goes out you see who’s swimming naked. The tide is receding, fast. Get the popcorn.
Christopher Hitchens, an American journalist, is quoted as saying that “everyone has a book in them” Have you written a book? If so, please share with us details about it. If you haven’t, what book would you like to write and how would you like it to benefit the readers?
Chris Orzechowski: I’ve written three books, and my fourth is almost finished. My latest book is called, The Moat. It’s a book on capital allocation disguised as a marketing book. It makes scaling accessible to non-marketers. It’s the book you read when you want to grow and scale your e-commerce brand, but you don’t want to hire a bunch of agencies or get an MBA in marketing.
The premise is simple. There are a handful of marketing strategies and campaigns you can invest time or money into that produce outsized returns. I applied this system for one of my clients and they 6x’d their online sales in 8 months.
The key is focusing on a handful of campaigns and hammering the fundamentals, instead of diversifying (read: diluting) your efforts across a dozen different channels or strategies.
In your experience, what tends to be the most underestimated part of running a company? Can you share an example?
Chris Orzechowski: The most underestimated part of running a company is learning how to cast vision and constantly direct everyone’s focus back to it. The mission behind what you’re building will be the motivation people need when time gets tough.
Anyone can get a job, but not everyone can do something cool enough to change the world. Great Founders cast vision and then rally their team to turn a dream into reality, impacting history in whatever corner of the world they’re operating in.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Chris Orzechowski: Easy answer: hiring.
Hiring is the #1 skill, as far as I’m concerned. Your entire job as an entrepreneur is to replace yourself. You hire the right people and place them in the right seats with the right incentives and the right vision… and you win. You hire the wrong people, and you wind up in the dustbin of history.
Good hires make all the difference. It’s not the “sexiest” skill, but I feel it’s most important.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Chris Orzechowski for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Chris Orzechowski or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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