Podcast Guest: Jeff Seltzer
In this episode, we spoke with Jeff Seltzer. Jeff co-founded Hypothesis, Inc. and led its transition from a boutique startup consultancy into a nearly $30M+ top-25 custom insights and strategy agency.
Under his leadership, the company grew to nearly 100 employees and partnered with premier clients including Meta, Toyota, Disney, Starbucks, Spotify, Microsoft, and Apple.
In 2024, after more than two decades, Jeff oversaw the successful acquisition of Hypothesis by Elixirr, a London-based management consulting firm—marking a strategic exit that enabled him to pursue new ventures and personal passions.
Before co-founding Hypothesis, Jeff held senior positions at several consumer insights firms and served as an adjunct faculty member, teaching Persuasion and Rhetoric at George Washington University and Communications at San Diego State University. Today, Jeff is an advisor, consultant, guest speaker, and mentor. He is also an award-winning photographer.
We covered topics including -
Jeff’s journey from Academia to Entrepreneurship
Building Hypothesis: The Creative Edge in Research
Navigating Growth: Hiring and Managing Talent
The Decision to Sell: Transitioning Leadership
Reflections on Success: Legacy and Future Aspirations
Highlights from the Episode
Finding early customers as a new company
Maintain a client or customer service orientation to build a reputation
Creativity in your work tasks can help you stand out
For B2B, getting a well-known customer early on can give you credibility and acceptance in the market
“Just do good work”
Hiring people
The first inflection point for a business is when you need to hire people because of growth.
Use a small group of decision makers (three people max.) for hiring people and make sure the decision is unanimous. Pay attention to anyone who raises red flags about the candidate. Looking back, the red flags were important predictors of weaker hires.
Hire people from aspirational companies, i.e. for where you want to go as a business rather than where you are right now.
Use referrals and references to identify candidates to hire. They’re usually good predictors of success.
Some lessons learned
Use the “yes, if” approach when taking on more work or making big decisions about the business; e.g. yes, we can do this work if we can hire more people (and then hire those people).
Don’t let the fear of making mistakes paralyze you into not making a decision. Use mistakes to learn and grow.
Embrace even the decisions that you might have done differently if you revisited them because they brought you to this point. Your journey is the totality of all your decisions.
Trust your instinct, be bold and take risks but course correct quickly.
