Kenny Nguyen is the CEO and founder of Big Fish Presentations, a company whose mantra is “turning presentations into experiences.” Kenny and his entrepreneurial/presentations tips been featured on TEDx, Hubspot Inbound Conference, General Assembly, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, Yahoo, Business Insider, Mashable, Huffington Post and the Washington Post. He is a co-author of the upcoming McGraw-Hill published presentation book, “The Big Fish Experience: Create Memorable Presentations that Reel in Your Audience.” Outside Big Fish Presentations, he is the curator of 99u Baton Rouge and hosts an online food cooking channel called You’ve got Meal. Follow him @bigfishkenny.
Who’s your hero? (In business, life, or both.)
My father is my hero. He immigrated to the U.S. with nothing and yet is a successful entrepreneur today. He taught me not to quit when the going gets tough and to always be humble.
What’s the single best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as an entrepreneur today, and why?
One of my favorite pieces of advice is from Travis Kalanick of Uber. In a Fast Company article he once said, “You’ve got to keep your eyes on the road and your hand on the steering wheel. You can only see so far ahead. But if you keep solving interesting problems, you get somewhere you didn’t expect.”
This quote has motivated me to seek unique challenges to grow myself and my business to places I never thought possible.
What’s the biggest mistake you ever made in your business, and what did you learn from it that others can learn from too?
The biggest mistake I’ve ever made is not taking care of my body and letting my business take priority. Before you can take care of everything else, please learn how to take care of yourself. You are your best investment.
What do you do during the first hour of your business day and why?
I always do my hardest task first and emails last. I’m a firm believer that brain power dies down the later you are in the day.
What’s your best financial/cash-flow related tip for entrepreneurs just getting started?
Profits = growth. Your business can grow every year revenue-wise, but if profits stay the same, you need to re-evaluate your spending and business model.
Quick: What’s ONE thing you recommend ALL aspiring or current entrepreneurs do right now to take their biz to the next level?
Invest in networking organizations that have mentors that can you learn from. You can never have enough good mentors.
What’s your definition of success? How will you know when you’ve finally “succeeded” in your business?
I feel like I’ve succeeded when people’s lives change based on the growth of Big Fish Presentations. I find it very humbling that our employees are buying houses right now and put their trust in the growth of our company. It’s a scary thought, but that pressure comes with success.
