This week, Executive Suite catches up with a leader in the e-commerce/e-media sector, DHD Media's Ron Jenkins. DHD Media specializes in providing solutions for streaming media and DRM, credit card processing and billing and managed hosting.
Jenkins took some time from his busy schedule to discuss the latest at DHD Media, the power of motherly advice, and other executive issues.
AVN Online: Let's get right to the juicy stuff. What are your thoughts on the future of delivering streaming media? Do you see any earth-shattering developments, positive or negative, down the road?
Ron Jenkins: It seems clear that with the development of a truly secure and flexible delivery, DRM, and payment element for online video …the current trend will only continue. What we're seeing is that what our clients sell and how they're selling it …is changing and growing faster and faster. I think we're beginning the stretch run of arriving at electronic online delivery being the dominant model for all video entertainment.
So, no earth-shattering developments, but the rapid development over the last few years has led us to a time where any company of any size can (and probably must) profitably sell their video content online.
AVNO: OK, I know that was a deep one to begin with. So now we'd like to know, where's your favorite vacation getaway?
RJ: I'm not sure why anyone would care, but the answer is, anywhere warm and on the water—Costa Rice, Mexico, Hawaii, Bahamas.
AVNO: What were you up to, careerwise, prior to DHD Media?
RJ: I'd done a number of ventures in Internet infrastructure services, most specifically in complex-hosting, data centers, and networking.
AVNO: What's the key to success in a competitive e-commerce/e-media market?
RJ: If you're talking about one "key," it'd have to be service. This means constantly getting better no matter how good you may already be, viewing your customers as partners in success, and therefore, providing as much value as you possibly can.
AVNO: Regarding business matters or at the office, what really gets your blood boiling?
RJ: Failure to care about what you're involved in. I don't understand how someone could spend any significant amount of time doing anything and not care enough about it to do it well. I think it wastes time and energy for others that are more engaged and trying to really accomplish something.
AVNO: What generally are your work hours?
RJ: Well, we have a team here that is easily the most amazing group of people that I've ever worked with, so, thanks to them, my hours are becoming a bit more manageable.
Typically, I'll start at about 7 a.m. and be finished with a day at about 9 p.m. Weekends, I'm online and usually have several phone calls and such, but not much more than four hours or so per day.
AVNO: What's the best/worst advice you've ever gotten?
RJ: From my mother, believe it or not, who told me 15 years ago that, "As long as you're working for someone else, you're working for an idiot." By which she meant that I'd never be satisfied with anyone else running the show and that I should either accept that fact or do something about it and be my own boss.
AVNO: How do you stay motivated?
RJ: This will sound corny, but the answer is that there are a lot of people who work with me here at DHD Media and rely on me to do a good job; there are our early clients who originally had faith in us and have supported us so much; and there are all of the new clients we've been fortunate enough to have join us over the last 18 months or so—I think about the fact that these people and companies entrust us with the most vital services to keep their businesses working well and profitably to enable them to pay their teams of people. All of that trust and confidence in us is a powerful motivator, and letting any of them down is the last thing we'd want to do.
AVNO: Office fashion: Armani suits or flip-flops and Hawaiian shirts?
RJ: Somewhere in the middle. Sometimes it's a suit and tie, more often, much more casual. Rarely a Hawaiian shirt and never flip-flops.
AVNO: Is there a CEO at a mainstream or adult company that you admire for his or her business insight or what he or she has achieved?
RJ: There are several. Of these, the first that leaps to mind is Greg Clayman at VS Media/Flirt4Free. Your readers will be familiar with the impressiveness of what he's accomplished there over a long career. What many of them may not know is how he's accomplished it. In a very competitive market, where there are lots of short-term temptations to cut corners, Greg has a universal reputation as a straight shooter.
More than that, I could name any number of companies, certainly including my own, that Greg has been enormously helpful to—not because he would gain from it, but just because he thought they were good companies and he wanted to see them do well.
AVNO: Looking back to when you started in business, is there anything you would have done differently?
RJ: How much time do you have? Seriously, that's always a tough one. There are a lot of experiences that I'd have preferred not to have had as they were actually occurring, but I'm not sure we'd be where we are now if we hadn't. I guess maybe I'd say that I wish I'd been involved with DHD Media earlier.
AVNO: Have any advice for future business leaders out there?
RJ: If you've never done it, then you have no idea how difficult it is to start and build a business—however hard you think it is, it's much more difficult than that. So, since you're going to have to do the work anyway, really do it. That way, at least you'll have a chance of creating some value along the way.
AVNO: Is there anything percolating at DHD Media that you might want to share with us?
RJ: Ha-ha—always. Our clients ensure that by keeping us on our toes in their admirable drive to create ever more and bigger revenue streams. Most things for us these days revolve around every possible iteration of an integrated streaming/DRM/payment processing/RevEx solution. We'll be doing several press releases talking about how different industry leaders are utilizing our services in the near future.
