Brendan M. Egan is the Founder and CEO of Simple SEO Group which he still owns and operates to date.  Simple SEO is a Chicago-based digital marketing agency, offering website design & development, mobile app design & development, digital marketing campaigns (including SEO, PPC, email marketing, CRO, & social media management), and consulting. Brendan is also the Co-founder and CEO of The Marketing Masters, a digital marketing agency offering full-service marketing campaigns. The Marketing Masters has offices in Chicago and Los Angeles.

A Multi-Talented Persona

Through the two agencies, Brendan has worked with over 500 clients, ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies, and has earned a reputation for delivering results-orientated, ROI-focused campaigns for every client. Brendan is also the Co-founder, Chief Technology, and Marketing Officer of Engage, an online platform disrupting the talent & entertainment booking industry. Brendan serves on the Board of Directors of ERI, the world's largest cybersecurity hardware destruction company, and is the chairman of ERI's technology committee. He also works on the board of directors of Engage as well as eleven other companies. Brendan has been a leader in the digital marketing and web development space for the past fifteen years. His current role at Simple SEO Group includes overall business strategy, client strategy, and he oversees the team which handles execution for all client projects.

Configuring into a Successful CEO

Brendan first got his feet wet in business at the age of 10 when he started a neighborhood leaf raking and snow shoveling company. After a few days on the job, Brendan quickly realized that he could hire friends to do the hard work while handling customer relations and make far more money than doing the work himself. From here, at the age of 20, Brendan became deeply involved in stock trading, and soon after, launched one of the first online trading courses. The course was a 10-hour long video available for purchase that sold thousands of copies over two years. He eventually sold this company to a competitor. At that point, Brendan had extensive experience in marketing and founded Simple SEO Group.

Learning to OvecomeChallenges at a Young Age

One of the largest challenges Brendan has faced on his journey as an entrepreneur was his age. He started his first business before he could go to the bar and order a drink. Over the years, youth and inexperience closed many doors for him, but also helped open them. One of the best ways he overcame these challenges was through partnerships with more established companies and individuals.  The combination of energetic youth with time-tested experience proved valuable in growing all of his businesses over the past two decades.

Acquiring the Essential Skills of a Tech Leader

According to Brendan, to be a leader in technology, one must possess five critical skills namely organizational excellence, critical thinking, the ability to think outside the box, the ability to foster and grow relationships, and leadership skills to manage and lead a team. With these five skills, a technology leader will not just succeed but will thrive in any marketplace.

Implementing Customer Engagement through Innovation

The key to any company, technology or otherwise, is innovation and listening to what the customers want.  In his previous and current roles, Brendan has a goal to solve problems that exist in the marketplace. For example, Engage, which Brendan Co-founded and works as the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Marketing Officer, was created to digitalize the multi-billion dollar speaking market that has not experienced digitization and disruption so far.  Solving the problems in an analog industry and digitizing it much like Uber has done with transportation or AirBNB with hotels solves customer's problems all the while making a profitable business.

Marking the Future with Disruptive Technology

Disruptive technologies are the current and the future. Brendan feels that as AI continues to get smarter, and more and more devices hit the marketplace, technology leaders will have more than ever to consider when performing their day-to-day jobs as well as when creating new companies. He said, "The growth in the technology industry makes this the most exciting time ever for technology leaders and entrepreneurs to come up with innovative businesses that can both solve problems as well as be extremely profitable." The industry continues to grow every day, and the companies Brendan operates are all in sectors that have billion-dollar exponential growth in the years and decades ahead. Virtually, any technology company when run right in this decade will be able to experience explosive growth.

A Piece of Advice to Emerging Leaders

To the upcoming founders and leaders of the industry, Brendan says, "Find a problem, find how technology can be a solution, execute on your plan, and stay focused. Doing those four things will help any emerging business leader find success. When you do these four things, you'll solve a void in the market and financial success will follow not far behind."