My philosophy is to always find the smartest people you can. Hire people smarter than you.

My philosophy is to always find the smartest people you can. Hire people smarter than you.

A good ad is one simple idea, with humanity in it, that connects with consumers, that represents the value system of a company and then can connect it with the consumer. We always say a brand is set of shared values. So if you can simply demonstrate your value system as a brand, so that a consumer could say, "Ah, our values line up. I vote for you, brand!" that's a good ad.

That outgrowth of arrogance comes at a price: some people don't like is. I take responsibility for that.

Once you realize that there are no geniuses out there, you can think, "I can do that". One reason I've succeeded is that I have that naïve sense of entitlement.

There are agencies who are good losers, places where losing is not only accepted, it becomes part of the culture, it is expected. That is debilitating. Don't let that happen to you. At Deutsch we go into every pitch assuming we are the Yankees. It's amazing what happens when you go into a room of smart, hungry people and say, "Failure is not an option." People are galvanized.

Every great business leader I've ever met, in addition to being very smart, very driven, they have this, 'Why not me? Screw it, I deserve it, let's go.' And if you don't have that, you can't achieve greatness.