Eben Pagan teaches nine essential management approaches for building and leading successful virtual teams. He covers recruiting star performers, conducting in-depth interviews, implementing daily communication systems, and creating collaborative workflows that drive business growth.
Managing Your People Your Products
Eben reveals the counterintuitive truth about top performers: they're motivated by impact, not money. Drawing from advice by Google's CEO Eric Schmidt, he explains how to identify and attract true drivers who take responsibility for results, even when they don't look polished on the surface.
Beyond interviews, Eben teaches systematic approaches for validating candidates through serial in-depth interviews and live work testing. He emphasizes the critical importance of checking for proven track records of project completion and using the reference check technique to uncover real performance history.
The core of virtual team success lies in three daily practices: five-minute updates covering results and challenges, structured huddle calls for coordination, and dashboard tracking of key business metrics. These systems create alignment, prevent isolation, and build business confidence through consistent measurement.
Eben concludes with the importance of collaborative tools and in-person meetings for creating lasting team connections. Even annual face-to-face gatherings significantly improve trust and communication, while shared documents provide virtual teams with common workspaces for ongoing collaboration.
“the superstars work for impact, not for money”
— Eben Pagan▶ 2:00
Look for people who work for impact rather than money, have a proven track record of completing projects, and demonstrate the 'driver' quality of taking responsibility for results. Use serial in-depth interviews and test them with actual work tasks.
“daily huddle, daily update, daily dashboard. These three elements, I think, are the core for really building a successful virtual company”
— Eben Pagan▶ 13:32
Implement three core daily systems: five-minute daily updates covering results, challenges and questions; daily huddle calls for coordination; and a dashboard tracking key business metrics with charts showing trends over time.
“Test prospective team members by having them do a task that reveals how well they can actually do the work live”
— Eben Pagan▶ 6:05
Have them perform actual work tasks that reveal their capabilities. For example, if hiring a copywriter, review their previous work and have them write copy for your materials. Watch them work live if possible or have virtual discussions where they solve problems.
“the increased sense of trust, the increased sense of connection, of communication, of we're all on the same team, will pay off huge in the long run”
— Eben Pagan▶ 18:00
In-person meetings create trust, connection, and team unity that doesn't exist through virtual interaction alone. Even meeting once a year for team building and collaborative work significantly improves long-term team performance and communication.
“you have to say the priorities at the beginning of the day over and over and over”
— Eben Pagan▶ 14:25
State your top priority at the beginning of every daily huddle call, even if it sounds repetitious. People forget easily and get distracted by new tasks or conflicting demands, so consistent daily reinforcement is essential.
“traffic, subscribers, and sales”
— Eben Pagan▶ 12:00
Start with simple metrics like website visitors, email opt-ins, and sales. Add bank deposits and expenditures if desired. Track daily for 30 days, then create charts to visualize trends. This gives you control and confidence in your business decisions.
A three-part system for managing virtual teams with daily communication and tracking
Set up five-minute daily updates
Ask team members to write a brief end-of-day email with three sections: results achieved, challenges encountered, and questions for you. Keep it under five minutes and 2-3 items per section.
Conduct daily huddle calls
Hold 10-15 minute structured calls where each person updates on their work and needs. Start by stating the top priority, then have everyone share their status and coordination needs.
Create a daily dashboard
Track key metrics like website traffic, email subscribers, and sales in a simple spreadsheet. After 30 days, create charts to visualize trends and make better business decisions.
Superstars work for impact, not for money - they want to make a difference in the world and see how their work changes things for the better
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google and multibillionaire, told Eben Pagan at a conference that 'superstars work for impact, not for money' when asked about hiring the smartest people in the world
Use serial in-depth interviews to discover if candidates have a proven track record of driving projects to completion
Eben emphasizes asking about every job they've ever had, what projects they were responsible for, and what happened - looking for the pattern of taking responsibility and completing projects
Look for 'drivers' - people who take responsibility and like to deliver results, even if they're not the most charismatic or polished
Eben notes that top performers he's worked with are usually matter-of-fact and to the point, not necessarily well-dressed or charismatic - those who look good outside usually aren't good inside
Test prospective team members by having them do actual work tasks live to reveal their real performance capabilities
When hiring marketing copywriters, Eben wanted to see their previous copy and had them write copy for his company's materials to assess their actual ability to perform
Implement a five-minute daily update system covering results, challenges, and questions to assess team member performance
The system forces team members to zoom out and assess their performance while making it clear to management - some will do it and some won't, which alone tells you about their reliability
Conduct daily huddle calls to keep virtual teams coordinated and connected, preventing people from working in silos
Eben started this within the first year or two of his business when he realized the team was 'all over the map' working on different things without coordination
Create a daily dashboard with charts tracking top business metrics like website traffic, email subscribers, and sales
After 30 days of tracking daily numbers in a spreadsheet, create charts to see visual trends - after 90 days you'll have control, understanding and confidence in your business you never had before
State your top priority at the beginning of every daily huddle call to align your team and prevent distraction
People inside companies don't know priorities even if you've told them because 100 things have happened since you mentioned it last that are conflicting
Use collaborative shared documents for agendas, project spreadsheets, and reports to give virtual teams a common workspace
Google offers free office products where several people can look at and change documents simultaneously, giving virtual teams a place to see themselves working together
Meet team members in person at least once a year to build trust, connection, and team unity that pays off long-term
After 2-3 years in business, Eben flew his whole team to Las Vegas for a meeting - despite challenges, everyone bonded and connected in a way that didn't exist before, creating increased trust and communication
Superstars work for impact, not for money - they want to make a difference in the world and see how their work changes things for the better
▶ 2:00Use serial in-depth interviews to discover if candidates have a proven track record of driving projects to completion
▶ 3:17Look for 'drivers' - people who take responsibility and like to deliver results, even if they're not the most charismatic or polished
▶ 5:25Test prospective team members by having them do actual work tasks live to reveal their real performance capabilities
▶ 6:05Implement a five-minute daily update system covering results, challenges, and questions to assess team member performance
▶ 7:27Conduct daily huddle calls to keep virtual teams coordinated and connected, preventing people from working in silos
▶ 10:48Create a daily dashboard with charts tracking top business metrics like website traffic, email subscribers, and sales
▶ 11:40State your top priority at the beginning of every daily huddle call to align your team and prevent distraction
▶ 13:33Use collaborative shared documents for agendas, project spreadsheets, and reports to give virtual teams a common workspace
▶ 14:59Meet team members in person at least once a year to build trust, connection, and team unity that pays off long-term
▶ 17:09Claim: “The best candidates are those who look polished and charismatic in interviews”
Reframe: The best performers are usually matter-of-fact people who focus on results rather than appearances
Claim: “Top talent is primarily motivated by high compensation”
Reframe: Superstars work for impact, not money - they want to make a difference in the world
“the superstars work for impact, not for money”
“those that look really good from the outside usually aren't on the inside”
“Most hires are mishires, and most of them are very, very, very expensive to business”
“The standard is stars only. Only the best of the best from now on.”
How To Avoid Making A "Mis-Hire"
Discover the hiring methodology that helped Eben Pagan build a multi-million dollar virtual business and avoid costly mis-hires.
How To Avoid Potential "Blind Spots" When Interviewing
The interview technique that reveals what traditional interviews miss — using your network to uncover candidate blind spots.
Tips For Building A Team
The shocking truth: most people you hire will cost your business 20 times their annual salary when they fail.
Learning Learn
Discover why traditional learning fails entrepreneurs and how to transform your brain into a self-building computer that adapts to any situation.
Power People
Why the team members you hire will either make or break your business—and the counterintuitive hiring strategy that built Eben's multi-million dollar company.
Business Frameworks
Common Mistakes
Hire drivers who show proactive behavior, result orientation, sense of ownership, and personal responsibility rather than just skilled workers
Eben defines drivers as people who say 'I want more' and take it, then deliver results. When something goes wrong, they take responsibility; when something goes right, they credit the team.
Structure virtual teams using 90-day cycles as the optimal planning timeframe because business changes too fast for longer planning periods
Eben's 80-person virtual company operates on 90-day chunks, matching Corporate America's quarterly system. He states there are only two timeframes in business today: 90 days and forever.
Mis-hires cost approximately 20 times their annual salary when accounting for lost productivity, training costs, damaged relationships, and cleanup efforts
Brad Smart's research in 'Top Grading' shows that 75% of all people hired are mis-hires, and each mis-hire costs 20 times their annual salary - meaning a $50,000 employee who doesn't work out costs the business $1 million
The first people you hire should take work off your plate so you can focus more time on products and marketing as the chief entrepreneur
Eben explains that as the head moneymaker, entrepreneurs need to delegate busy work to focus on higher-order challenges that make more money for the business
