The DEO (Dentist Entrepreneur Organization) is pleased to announce its acquisition of the DSO Secrets™ brand which includes the podcast and the Facebook group of its same name. The DEO is a peer to peer membership community for dentist-entrepreneurs and leaders seeking to scale their emerging dental group/ dental service organization (DSO) in revenue, profits, and/or locations to achieve their visions. Jacob Puhl, CEO of The DEO says “The DSO Secrets brand will be a great addition to the valuable resources that The DEO has become known for in the DSO industry.”
Founder of the DSO Secrets brand, Emmet Scott, and regular guest podcast host, Ken Kaufman, will serve on a Board of Advisors to The DEO, offering DSO industry expertise and guidance on the creative direction of the brand. Scott and Kaufman’s roles will join them with partners of The DEO, CEO Jacob Puhl and EVP of Business Development, Darin Acopan. Scott and Kaufman bring extensive knowledge of the DSO industry, leadership, and their day-to-day experience of leading a successful DSO.
Scott is CEO and co-founder and Kaufman is CFO of Community Dental Partners/ National Dental Partners, Denton, TX.
This partnership does not include any affiliation with Community Dental Partners/ National Dental Partners nor the Association of Dental Support Organizations (ADSO) of which Scott is currently President. Scott and Kaufman will continue in their full-time leadership roles at Community Dental Partners/ National Dental Partners.
With Kaufman and Scott’s roles on a Board of Advisors to The DEO, they still drive the content of and host the DSO Secrets podcast. Scott’s focus is on bringing content to lift the mindset of the entire DSO industry and Kaufman will continue to host episodes regularly on all things DSO finance and growth.
Scott is the creator of the DSO Secrets™ brand — its podcast and Facebook group. Scott started The DSO Secrets podcast as a side passion project in 2017 to bring much-needed insight and information to the growing DSO industry. Scott notes “I saw a gap in the information available for entrepreneurs who were looking for answers on how to successfully scale a DSO. I found that like me, dentist-entrepreneurs and DSO leaders were clamoring for specialized resources.” By filling the void with timely conversations and information, the podcast became an immediate hit.
Due to the podcast’s popularity, listeners wanted a place to carry on the dialogue, and share resources. So, Scott started the DSO Secrets Facebook Group, a community for dentist-entrepreneurs, DSO leaders, and other stakeholders in the group dental space. Membership grew at a steady pace.
Fast forward to March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic spurred the need for urgent discussions about strategies that DSO leaders were using to handle the unfolding events. The DSO Secrets Facebook group membership grew rapidly. Likewise, the DSO Secrets podcast sped up episode production to provide much-needed insight from experts on the Paycheck Protection Program, personal protective equipment, human resource issues, and more.
The growth accelerated the need for more professional management and an increased time commitment from Scott and Kaufman. As Scott is Senior Faculty member of The DEO, there was already a collaborative relationship established so he reached out for assistance. The DEO stepped in to help, resulting in an increase from 800+ to over 2,500 Facebook group members in 2020 and the synergies between the podcast, the Facebook group and The DEO became clear.
Kaufman notes “The DEO had the infrastructure to help. Emmet and I realized it was a natural partnership to have The DEO manage the behind the scenes components. This allows us to accelerate our creation of resources for the industry. The DEO managing the DSO Secrets brand seamlessly aligns with their mission of supporting dentist-entrepreneurs and executives by connecting them with the people, education, and resources they need to grow their dental groups and fulfill their visions.”
With The DEO’s infrastructure managing the DSO Secrets brand, Scott has more time for what he has become known for — curating and creating value-add, timely content for the DSO industry on the podcast, in the Facebook group, and an affiliated book, “DSO Secrets”, that will be published in 2021.
“The DEO will bring tremendous value to the DSO Secrets brand. They have their pulse on what’s happening in the DSO industry, having helped 100s of dentist-entrepreneurs scale successfully. The insight their members and connections have provided has already been a boon to the podcast and Facebook group. The resource offerings and thought-provoking conversations will continue to grow. The DEO will be a critical element to helping grow the DSO Secrets brand’s reach and for bringing the value of content to the next level. Ken and I will still be very involved in the dialogue of the Facebook group and hosting the podcast. We look forward to what’s to come.” says Scott.
Jake Puhl, CEO of The DEO
“The DEO’s acquisition of the DSO Secrets™ brand and Emmet and Ken’s new roles on the Board of Advisors, will allow us all to better serve the maturing DSO industry. The resulting resources and dialogue will help create better dental group leaders of thriving businesses and make a positive impact on their teams, communities, and provide quality patient care.” says Jake Puhl, CEO of The DEO
About Emmet Scott
Emmet Scott is CEO and co-founder of what is now Community Dental Partners/National Dental Partners and its flagship brand Smile Magic Family Dental, which he co-founded and helped grow from one practice to a 60+ practice DSO with $90+ million in revenue (and growing). Scott hosts the DSO Secrets podcast, and is the newly elected president of the Association of Dental Support Organizations (ADSO).
Though not a dentist, Scott is a true dental industry disrupter and is passionate about using his business expertise, innovative strategies to create a fantastic experience for patients, teams, and doctors and share that knowledge and experience with others.
About Ken Kaufman
Ken Kaufman has been in dental finance since 2006. He was the President/CFO of the NOMAD handheld X-ray business until the business was sold to the KavoKerr Group, and has been the CFO of Community Dental Partners/National Dental Partners since 2016. Ken earned an MBA in entrepreneurship and finance from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. He regularly hosts episodes on the DSO Secrets podcast. He is a sought-after thought-leader and speaker for his expertise in DSO finance and growth.
About The DEO (Dentist Entrepreneur Organization)
The DEO serves dentist-entrepreneurs and leaders of emerging dental groups/ DSOs and offers membership (benefits include: mastermind sessions, coaching, private member events, peer learning opportunities, a resource library, private Facebook groups, and more focused on leadership, operations, and systems, recruiting, retention, financial structure, and all the issues dental group leaders face) plus twice-yearly Summits open to the public.
The DEO officially rooted 5+ years ago as “The Mastery Company ” working with a handful of multiple-location dentists. Jacob Puhl rebranded it The DEO, and brought on Darin Acopan. In the three years since The DEO’s inception in 2017 it has grown from its original size of 12 emerging-market group dental practice owner members with approximately $10 million in combined revenue to over 230 members with 900+ practices combined and a combined aggregated revenue of $1.7 billion.
For more
Join the DSO Secrets Facebook Group here.
Check out the DSO Secrets Podcast here.
Learn more about Emmet Scott here.
Learn more about Ken Kaufman here.
