Paola Dalman, Jonathan Wasergold and Diego Wasergold are the Studio Managers of Filez. Paola, Jonathan and Diego are thought leaders, influencers, visionaries, and successful entrepreneurs. Paola, Jonathan and Diego provide the leadership and energy that has inspired the creation of Filez. Paola, Jonathan and Diego join other leading CEOs and Founders taking part in our Leader Roundtable Interview Series. The DotCom Magazine editorial team has recently awarded Filez with our Impact Company of 2019 award. We are delighted to have Paola, Jonathan and Diego join us for our Leader Roundtable Interview.
Paola, Jonathan and Diego, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day for this interview about your company, leadership, and entrepreneurship.
1. Paola, Jonathan and Diego, please tell us about Filez.
Filez is a Creative Boutique Studio with base in Argentina but due to our worldwide connections in terms of colleagues, collaborators and clients we like to think of ourselves more as a global studio.
We’ve been around for more than 20 years now (so we guess we’re here to stay) and we had the chance to gather quite an interesting amount of experience in different design fields such as Corporate Identity, Print and Web Design.
Our team is located in Argentina but we offer services to clients worldwide, including adapting projects to our customer’s work schedule. We strongly believe in agile planning and open communication as a key to successful remote work.
2. How did you come up with the idea for Filez?
We started Filez 20 years ago while we were thinking about moving to another country. We sent our resumes to several companies and a huge number of them responded they wanted to outsource work to us instead of having us working on site.
At the beginning it was frustrating, it was not what we had in mind. We were in denial and felt disappointing.
However, after a couple of days, we decided to give it a try.
Eventually, we realized we were doing what we loved, clients were happy and we were getting paid to do it.
So, we were constantly sending files to our clients, and that is the reason of our name.
Our first request for quote (RFQ) came from an agency in Vermont and they were looking for help with 3 clients: Coke, Nike Hockey and MOMA.
At that point, we understood the power of CREATIVE work. We helped thousands of companies and agencies over the world and built our reputation by being honest, trustable and over-delivering.
We helped companies like IDB, World Bank, Vans, PayPal, Merrel… but nothing is more satisfying than helping a small business owner succeed.
People believe getting creative help is expensive and difficult.
Fortunately, that’s not true.
Filez can get you results, creative and on time.
3. What is the key to your company’s success?
One of our most appreciated strengths is our flexible structure and our ability to adapt without losing consistency and focus. If your project requires two designers, one copywriter and one plumber, that’s exactly what you’ll get.
Plus, our dog Confite is really really efficient, he does all the dirty work.
We provide our customers with a creative and unique approach to solve their problems. Actually, just their communication problems, we don’t do magic. Not yet.
Our mission is simple, we work till you’re happy. No buts.
4. Many of our readers are just starting to build a company. What advice can you give entrepreneurs just starting out with a new venture?
We would advise them to follow their instincts and do what they love. The road is not the same one for everyone. Some do plans, others don’t, and both are good. There are no rules, opportunity can hit you unexpectedly anytime.
Whatever they do, it should be done with passion and conviction.
5. For other entrepreneurs seeking to build a business as successful as yours, what advice can you give them when times get a little challenging?
Building a business is always challenging, we embrace challenges. Because we are a creative studio, work is not constant, we have a lot of fluctuations during the year, nevertheless we seek for new opportunities when our work diminishes or invest time on our own portfolio and collateral.
Our advice is to find the correct work balance and don’t panic, if you do things well, everything works out and difficult times are anecdotes.
6. How do you make sure your customers will become raving fans of your company?
We create special bonds with clients. In order to understand different cultures and needs, we talk a lot with our clients, understand them, and at the end, we become almost friends.
We can say 80% of our clients are returning customers because they have been understood and we have delivered more than they expected in less time than we committed to, and for a very reasonable price. That is the perfect service pack that keeps them returning for more.
We offer most of agency services, but with prices that are less than half of what a big agency quotes, and clients get to work with the owners, there are no intermediaries, the services is more accurate and more creative because the team involved includes only creative people.
7. In today’s fast changing business environment, how do you stay abreast of things?
We don’t need to work on staying up-to-date, our clients request new services from Filez all the time, so that is how we keep up, accepting the challenge of learning while we create.
8. What is your “Why”? Why do you get up in the morning, and how do you keep yourself at peak performance to lead Filez?
Our why is the intrigue of what the new day might bring. As we have clients all around the world, every day at Filez involves all kinds of requests, challenges, learning different cultures, and meeting new people. We enjoy the work we do because it is always different.
We don’t feel we lead, we create and enjoy it, and we guess that is why we get such good feedback for the work we do, because people see the passion on it.
9. Can you recommend a book that has had an influence in your career? How did it influence you?
Rework by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson made us realize that what started to us a different experience and not the typical business, could be a successful company. We love how they approach easier and faster ways to succeed that don’t include plans. It inspired us to continue working remotely and for the whole world.
10. What makes a great leader?
Confidence, respect (for the client, for their colleagues and for the work that needs to be done) passion and an open mind.
Paola Dalman, Jonathan Wasergold and Diego Wasergold, thank you so much for participating in the DotCom Magazine Leader Roundtable Interview Series. We very much appreciate the time you spent helping our readers learn more about what it takes to build a great company and become great leaders. We wish you, your family, and of course Filez, nothing but the best.
Thanks again!
