Curtis Boyd, Founder, Objection.co
My entrepreneurial journey started when I was in Nursing School. I was in my last semester, $30,000 in debt, and was rotating through the ER where I was precepting. One of the cosmetic surgeons came into the ER to do a consult, he was in a terrible mood because a patient left him a terrible review that was really hurting his private practice. I told him that I might be able to remove it for him, he jokingly said he'd pay off my student loans if I did. I told him how much in Student Loans I had, and he said he'd probably lost more than that already in the week that the review had been up since it lost him 7-8 new consultations. The next day I called his office and asked him if he was serious about the offer he made in the ER - he said he was. I spend the next 72 hours in research mode, flagging and disputing the bad reviews like crazy. I couldn't understand it, the review administrators were adamant and I was really discouraged. I ended up flying to San Francisco during the weekend and was cruising local coffee shops next to the HeadQuarters of this review website to see if I could meet someone who might be able to help me. I ended up meeting a senior-level executive who formerly worked in the review removal department who gave me the lowdown.
They provided detailed instructions on what to do and say in order to get the review removed. With this advice, I flew back home and got to work. Within 48 hours I had the review removed, within another 48 hours I had a check for $30,000. That was the day I realized I could solve a problem for thousands of business owners and really make an impact in their life. That particular doctor was on the board of directors for the entire physician network, so within a week I had 500+ clients, a CPA, and my own growing business. That was 8 years ago. I went back to school to build a software company to fulfill my services, then I went back to school again to learn AI/ML at MIT to build technology to identify fake reviews for the government.
What is your favourite social media platform?
Clubhouse, it's storytelling at its finest and allows people to connect so much more deeply than other platforms.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
I'm a reputation technologist, I build technology to identify and dispute fake reviews on websites like Google and Yelp.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
I like the opportunity to solve the massive problem of fake online reviews.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Before you even think about going to get new customers, make sure all of your existing customers are thoroughly satisfied.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
What motivates me, is seeing fake reviews continue to exist in our online marketplaces. As long as review fraud exists, I know we have more work to do.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
I am proud of helping data science students learn Python, NLP models and using databases. I am also proud of creating an application to help consumers identify fake reviews. I am proud of my wife and three-year-old son, Louis who is the best sous chef in the house!
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
LinkedIn or Clubhouse.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Intellectual curiosity, questioning everything. Discovering the why behind the massive amounts of content and advertising in our marketplace.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
How to be a better listener and how to be a better leader. Being a business owner, I didn't realize that there are best practices to being a leader, I wish I would have known those practices.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
I admire my DevOps engineer, Roman Grabar. He's selfless, hardworking and is problem-driven. There is no problem he can't solve and has the mental endurance and discipline to a project through.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I love adventure traveling. Surfing, sailing, scuba diving and canyoneering. I love making new recipes with my wife and son and spending time reading together.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you been managing it?
Positive impact, the pandemic helped me re-align my priorities in my life. It helped me focus on what's important to me and my customers.
Do you have a mentor or have you ever mentored anyone?
I would consider my step-dad a mentor, James Smith. He runs a successful HVAC company and helped me navigate my north star and help me turn my unhappy customers into lifetime customers.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
Be open to help, there's so many academic organizations looking to get involved in data science and fake review detection. There's also a lot of grants for social good, and money to help with research and development.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
I believe they lack conviction in the ‘why‘ behind their business.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
Every day people ask me how to get good feedback online, what I tell them is probably my favorite phrase- "Stop marketing and be remarkable."
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
Intercom, Podium, CXR.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
Success to me is being able to exist in a way that adds value to the world we live in.