James Dooley:
Hi, so today I’m joined with Neil Patel. Pleased to meet you, Neil — how’s things?
Neil Patel:
Things are great, how are you?
James Dooley:
Very good. Let’s dive straight in. When you receive negative feedback, how do you personally handle that?
Neil Patel:
I look at it from a very neutral standpoint. If it’s negative feedback about the business or something we’re doing wrong, I actually like it. Fixing negative feedback — assuming it’s true or validated — usually means more growth. I see it as opportunity. But if someone says something random like “I don’t like how you have no hair,” I just ignore it. I can’t fix that.
If it’s productive and can improve the business, I embrace it. I wish I got more of it.
James Dooley:
Yeah, negative feedback can be fuel. Trolls, on the other hand, probably best just blocked and ignored.
Next question: Do you get involved in hiring and firing staff, even at middle-management level?
Neil Patel:
Depends on the role. For marketing roles reporting to me — yes. For most mid-level roles — not anymore. I used to. I still deal with executive hires. Recently I was discussing a potential hire for China with someone on our leadership team.
James Dooley:
And with company culture — do you have anything in place to improve team happiness?
Neil Patel:
Not personally. As a company we do, but I don’t spend much time on culture. My time goes into mergers, acquisitions, client work and potential clients.
But we do have a whole team that focuses on culture because it’s crucial. We recently passed on acquiring a company purely due to terrible culture based on their Glassdoor reviews.
James Dooley:
Interesting. So here’s a deep one: If you lost everything today — contacts, knowledge — but could tell yourself one job role to get into, what would it be?
Neil Patel:
Private equity. I'd learn finance, buy companies, grow them, then eventually raise my own fund based on that track record.
James Dooley:
Great answer. You’re also a father — how do you balance family time and work?
Neil Patel:
I don’t assign rigid blocks of “family time” and “work time.” Instead, I integrate family into my day where possible. Talk to them between calls, eat dinner together without phones, read to them, put them to bed.
For me it’s about quality over quantity. Some people spend hours with their kids but are glued to their phones. When I’m with them, I’m 110% present.
James Dooley:
Do you ever worry about spoiling the kids because of money? Or do you want them to be entrepreneurial?
Neil Patel:
I don’t want them spoiled. I want them to learn hard lessons. But I also don’t pressure them to be entrepreneurs. If they want to be teachers, firefighters, astronauts — fine.
As long as they’re passionate, doing good, and helping others, I’m happy.
If they want to do nothing, however — they’re on their own.
James Dooley:
Last time we spoke, people loved the investment chat. What’s next for you — SaaS, AI, digital assets?
Neil Patel:
SaaS products in marketing and agencies. Those are our bread and butter. We're always looking for more to acquire.
James Dooley:
And retirement — do you ever see yourself retiring?
Neil Patel:
No. I’m addicted to work. It gives me purpose. That’s why I love it.
James Dooley:
So what excites you about business? What gets you out of bed?
Neil Patel:
The challenges — growing during a bad economy, scaling globally. When everything is easy, it’s boring.
I like the emotional rollercoaster.
James Dooley:
With all the changes in marketing, how do you stay ahead?
Neil Patel:
Reading daily, running experiments, and networking. Meeting people at events, learning from them, learning from our own data.
James Dooley:
What’s your biggest regret in business?
Neil Patel:
Two things:
Not focusing enough. If I stuck with the same business for 20 years, it would be huge by now.
Not choosing big enough markets. Niche businesses are hard. Big TAM — big opportunity.
James Dooley:
And one thing you wish you did sooner?
Neil Patel:
Hiring amazing people who have done it before. Your job isn’t to figure everything out — it’s to hire people who already know how.
James Dooley:
Neil, it’s been a pleasure. We’ve got more videos coming about AI and other topics. Thanks again.
Neil Patel:
Thanks for having me.
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