Although Ben Guez—born and raised in Nice—speaks with a thick French accent, no one has trouble understanding him when he says he knows a secret or two or ten for making money and putting a dent in the universe.
“Hard work, dedication, and resilience are the keys to success in business and in life,” says Guez, 33. “Dreaming about success is important. But much more important is setting goals. You must have solid goals in place in order to bring success within reach.”
Guez contends that people striving for success also need an abundance of self-confidence.
“If you believe in yourself you’ll be able to achieve whatever you’re passionate about,” he says.
What Guez is passionate about is building businesses—in particular, those that are technology-based and brimming with disruptive potential.
Since coming to America in 2010, Guez has founded three such companies. One of these is Laxir, which provides search engine marketing, community management, social media advertising, and video production to clients that include Hollywood giant Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.
Another Guez-incubated enterprise is Zentap. It caters to the marketing needs of real estate agents by creating winning social media plans for them.
The third venture he birthed—Seiren—helps content creators gain high-level visibility.
Guez’s most recent roll of the dice is Ekko, a Web 3.0 platform where content creators can easily sell their NFTs (non-fungible tokens) without the friction of using a digital wallet.
“Ekko is a platform for everyone—newcomers and extensively experienced crypto investors alike,” he says. “My plan is to presently scale it up to worldwide proportions.”
Next on the agenda for Guez is angel investing.
Guez learned the ropes of generalized investing along with business basics while studying at Paris Dauphine University. He enhanced his knowledge of moneymaking by earning a degree in management from the University of California, Riverside, and subsequently burnished his skills with a stint in the advisory strategy department of Groupe Partouche.
In part, Guez attributes his success to the extensive network of movers-and-shakers he has cultivated in the business community.
“I try always to associate with top entrepreneurial personalities,” he says. “For example, one of my investment partners was recently named a Forbes 30-under-30 achiever for his unique business skills.”
Owing to Guez’s relentless optimism and determination to succeed, people are naturally drawn to him—as evidenced by his sizable social media followings. On Instagram he has over 72,000 followers and his TikTok likes have risen to nearly 2 million.
A series of TikTok videos he created in which he pokes good-natured fun at his French accent have been seen by 6 million people so far. Among those viewers were the producers of Netflix’s “Carol Burnett Show” who found him to be an utterly delightful young entrepreneur. Accordingly, they invited him on to do a much-watched segment with the legendary comedian and her guests DJ Khaled, Lisa Kudrow, and Finn Wolfhard (who plays Mike Wheeler on the hit sci-fi series "Stranger Things").
Guez says he appreciates people who show curiosity toward ideas that deviate from conventional wisdom.
“Curiosity is not something that killed the cat but, rather, it’s a trait of incalculable value,” he says. “People who have curiosity are more inclined to approach life with boldness. It’s important that you be bold because otherwise you run the risk of blocking yourself from identifying—and reaching—your own potential.”
And when asked if he invests in projects without being afraid of being judged, he replies:
“I love ideas, the crazier the better. I am looking to invest in ideas but overall in people, to quote Rob Siltanen — I am interested in
Photography by: Benkobe/Ben Guez
