Agencies That Build

In this episode, we're joined by Evan O'Brien, founder of Slake Marketing. With over a decade of experience helping startups and small businesses, Evan shares his digital marketing and business development expertise. He discusses creating authentic brand connections, breaking through stagnation, and aligning marketing efforts with business goals. Get ready for valuable insights on standing out in today's competitive market. Discussion Points: ~ Can you debunk a common myth and set the record straight for us? 1:21 ~ What framework or methodology do you use to assess whether your message is being effectively conveyed and heard across different platforms? 4:17 ~ Are you seeing a shift across the board in how quickly messaging and creative content are tested compared to traditional methods? 13:10 ~ What inspired you to start your agency, and what was your thought process behind it? 23:53 ~ How do you determine if someone is the right person to work with? 35:10 ~ What currently keeps you up at night? 42:09 Show notes:  ~ The clearer we can communicate, the more effectively we can serve our clients and help them achieve their vision. ~ Every creative journey shapes us; moving from media to web development wasn't just a career change but an evolution of my approach to problem-solving. ~ Creating a tool like a drag-and-drop web editor was about democratizing technology—making it accessible to everyone, regardless of their coding skills. ~ Being a Chief Creative Officer wasn't just about directing creativity; it was about cultivating a culture where every voice matters. ~ You can't pour from an empty cup; prioritizing your well-being isn't just good for you, it's essential for your work and your team. ~ Not every client is the right fit, and that's okay. It's about finding partnerships that inspire growth on both sides. ~ A client's willingness to accept feedback reflects their commitment to growth—collaboration only works when both parties are invested. Myth-busted - More marketing channels equal better results. Links: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/evanobrien/ Company's Website: slakemarketing.com Show Credits - Host - Varun Bihani & Drew Mabry Produced by Juhie Bhardwaj Edited by Harish Khatarkar

In this episode, we are joined by Devin Concannon, Partner at Golden Digital, a digital marketing master who expertly merges creativity with technology to elevate eCommerce businesses. With over a decade of experience and a background in teaching digital marketing at the General Assembly, he brings invaluable insights to the table. In this conversation, he discusses effective strategies for motivating teams and retaining clients in a competitive market. Discussion Points - ~ What's one common myth you'd like to bust? What's something you want to set the record straight on? 5:32 ~ Do you think the "four-hour work week" is a realistic approach to making money? 10:59 ~ Can you tell us more about how you got started in this? What inspired you to start your own business, and what has kept you going? 15:51 ~ What are the key lessons you've learned transitioning from employee to solo entrepreneur to agency owner? 21:58  ~How do you keep your team inspired and motivated during challenging times, and do you work with offshore teams? 25:23 ~ What tasks have you found effective to outsource offshore, and which do you prefer to keep in-house? 31:56 ~ What strategies do you use to maintain client relationships and grow existing accounts in a competitive market? 36:39 Show notes - ~ Understanding cultural differences is crucial; it allows us to tailor our communication and expectations effectively. ~ We leverage technology to bridge gaps, ensuring seamless collaboration regardless of geographical distances. ~ Feedback is a two-way street; it's essential for growth both for the team and the clients we serve. ~ Creativity thrives in diverse environments, where different perspectives can challenge the status quo. ~ Success in remote teams is about establishing trust and fostering an inclusive culture. ~ We prioritize empathy in our design process; it's fundamental to creating user-centric solutions. ~ The goal is not just to complete a project but to build lasting relationships that contribute to shared success. Myth-busted - You can make fast money online with little effort. Links - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devinconcannon/ Company website:  https://www.goldendigital.co Show Credits - Host - Varun Bihani & Drew Mabry Produced by Juhie Bhardwaj Edited by Harish Khatarkar

In this episode, we're joined by Tyler Sticka, Co-owner, Partner, and Creative Director at Cloud Four. With experience leading teams in both a stealth startup and at WE Communications, Tyler's unique design process, blending hand-drawn sketches and interactive prototypes, sets him apart. In this conversation, he touches on effective consultation strategies, the collaborative learning approach, and the evolving landscape & challenges in web design. Discussion points - What sort of bogus myth, strategy, or misconception would you like to set the record straight on? 2:47 How do you build trust with clients while guiding them through a transparent and collaborative process? Are there any specific strategies that have been particularly effective? 8:57 How do you manage collaboration and project success when working with both internal development teams and external partners, especially in the context of remote work? 20:50 How has your consulting work impacted clients' processes? Can you share an example where a customer adopted a concept or practice from your approach, resulting in a positive change? 25:52 How do you maintain the quality of your consultation work, ensuring clients adopt and follow recommended processes? How do you minimize instances where clients deviate from the proposed strategies? 30:28 What led you to take on a leadership role in your career, and how have your interests in art and technology influenced your approach to leadership? 34:10 What's exciting you about the future? 42:48 Show notes -  I feel like it's better to spread that workout, be transparent, and give peeks behind the curtain along the way. Take this as an opportunity to guide the customer, guide your client, and guide your stakeholders through the process so they understand how to participate in it. 4:12 Once you've established relationships, it's all about figuring out a way to harvest those ideas and thoughts through discovery. 11:50 A lot of times, we're hired to be the lubrication that helps the gears move forward, using whatever the latest technology is or bridging a technology gap. 15:36 It's about ensuring a shared understanding and ownership of priorities because inevitably, you'll encounter new information that can alter your initial solution. In a world with finite resources, it then becomes all about prioritization. 21:46 Our strategy is that you can learn a lot not just by having someone teach you, but you'll learn even more by working on problems together. We delve into the real problems, not just the stated ones. The customer gets to understand how these things work, how they function, and how they come together. Not in the abstract, but in a literal sense, they get to learn by doing. 31:32 We're at this interesting turning point with the web, where for the last 10 years, there has been an emphasis on frameworks, with React being by far the most prevalent, but all frameworks have been sort of dominating. 43:17 I'm excited for the opportunity to do the right thing in those regards, to make the best use of these browser capabilities, and to design the best, most accessible experiences I can. And to use these trends to inform and let folks know that we have so much work to do when it comes to the web. 46:11 Myth Busted - Designers work in isolation, creating solutions magically, and revealing a finished product dramatically. Links -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylersticka/  Company website: https://cloudfour.com/                               https://tylersticka.com/  Show Credits -  Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni Edited by Harish Khatarkar Content by Yashika Neekhra & Juhie Bhardwaj

In this episode, we are joined by Jeff Gapinski, Partner and President of Huemor, a master of user-centered design and crafting immersive online experiences. Jeff's insights into user behavior and his ability to design websites that resonate with target audiences have contributed to his agency's success in helping businesses achieve remarkable results. In this conversation, he discusses the motivation behind global expansion and strategies for consistently generating leads. Discussion Points - What sort of bogus myth, strategy, or misconception would you like to set the record straight on? 1:34 Could you please tell us a little bit about Huemor? What is its origin story? 4:38 How do you and your co-founder split responsibilities and what does the yin and yang dynamic look like between the two of you? 8:10 Was there a specific pivot point or moment when you felt that your business had become legitimate and transformed into a real, thriving enterprise? 9:29 Why did you decide to expand globally? Was it driven by talent, cost, or a mix of factors, and how did you achieve success despite the economic challenges many agencies face today? 12:54 Do you have a dedicated role, like a project manager, who acts as the liaison between your clients and your overseas team? 19:54 How do you address client concerns about billing rates when they're aware of your cost-effective global team and question why they're charged the same rate as an onshore team? 22:39 Where do you find inspiration and information? Any favorite publications, groups, or online communities you rely on for staying informed? 25:14 How do you, as a business owner, ensure a steady stream of leads and collaborate with your partner for business growth? 28:02 What's the biggest mistake you've made in your life and how did you learn from it? 29:52 What's exciting you about the future? 31:25 Show notes - I didn't initially plan on running this large-scale business. I started with a passion for a creative skill, and over time, that creative skill evolved into a fully-fledged company. 4:53 In terms of personality, I am much more strategic and measured, while he (co-founder) is a lot more high-energy, enjoys connecting with new people, and tends to be more spontaneous in that way. I think this is a significant factor in how we naturally settled into these different roles. 8:59 In 2020, there was one of those moments when many of the learnings and training we had accumulated over approximately eight to nine years in business had to be swiftly put into action to formulate a plan for navigating the challenges that arose in early 2020. 11:11 I reached out directly to other agency owners who had international team members and picked their brains regarding their strategies for acquiring such team members. I also sought out international recruiters and partnered with one, particularly in Eastern Europe, who had been extremely successful for us. This combination of strategies allowed us to start connecting with various team members. 15:04 Understanding how people operate across the group was really important, and it's something we continue to learn today. As we've expanded into more countries, there are more nuances to consider. Another aspect is ensuring these individuals feel fully integrated into the team. Every day, we're implementing new measures to facilitate this. 16:19 We pay significantly above the market rate for all our international team members, resulting in less disparity between our US and international teams in terms of compensation. 23:53 If I were to go back and restructure things, what I would actually do is focus more on bringing in an operator sooner. Essentially, having that operator work with more freelance talent rather than hiring permanent talent. With me as the operator for the business, I think that would have allowed us to scale a lot more effectively. 30:33 This year, we've been implementing EOS, and as we approach year-end, lower-level teams are increasingly engaged in EOS meetings. I'm thrilled by the communication improvements we've achieved through this system. 31:35  Myth-Busted - Having dogs in the office is always amazing and super convenient. Links - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-gapinski/ Company website: https://huemor.rocks/ Show Credits - Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni Edited by Harish Khatarkar Content by Aakash Damani, Yashika Neekhra, and Juhie Bhardwaj

In this episode, we are joined by Fred Pike, the Managing Director and GA & GTM Practice Lead at North Woods Digital. He is a seasoned expert in analytics, an accomplished presenter, and a dedicated educator who has crafted numerous online courses for beginners. In this conversation, he discusses practicing Google Tag Manager in his agency and strategies for forecasting business growth challenges. Discussion Points -  What sort of bogus myth, strategy, or misconception would you like to set the record straight on? 6:32 Could you explain how you initiated and led the Google Tag Manager practice in your agency? What prompted you to establish this practice? 8:22 When exploring courses, should individuals begin with beginner-level Google Analytics (GA) courses, or should they consider other topics? 11:22 How do you position your analytics services in client acquisition? Is it a primary focus or complementary to other offerings? 14:57 How do you tackle forecasting challenges for business growth, particularly in custom software solutions? How accurate is your forecast for the upcoming months? 19:52 How do you handle overstaffing or excess production capacity caused by low client demand? 22:53 How did your agency decide on the practice lead role for Google Analytics and Tag Manager expertise? And how do you effectively market this specialization to clients? 30:21 What percentage of your business's revenue comes from the GA and GTM revenue stream, considering the time it took to develop and expand this practice? 32:40 How do you define your ideal customer? What are you doing to ensure your positioning is strong? 36:30 What is exciting you about the future? 39:11 Show notes -  The more I dove into GA and GTM, the more I realized we should be doing this for our clients. They need to understand what's happening with their website, and they need to be tracking those meaningful user interactions. And so, it just grew into a practice eventually. 10:31 I think you should choose a course that offers an introductory overview of the model used to capture that information. It should also discuss the types of information you should be tracking. 12:41 The way we typically approach a new client is through some form of strategy, aiming to comprehend their website goals and how they're gauging the effectiveness of their strategy. 15:37 I think the thing that's really important that has helped me and the companies I've engaged with over the years is a model of the business. It's not the business model itself; it's a model that encompasses the business's structure. This includes the staff members and the anticipated revenue streams. 16:57 I've never found a great forecasting tool that fits well with professional services businesses like the ones I've been engaged with. You'd expect such a tool to exist, but I've never found one. So, I ended up developing one internally. 18:40 Many times, we win business because we're discussing topics that no one else has ever addressed with that client.  And, so that speaks to the level of expertise that we have in that in that realm. 32:01 The way we aim to grow and attract new clients is through thought leadership. We accomplish this through a couple of methods. Firstly, by creating blog posts, where we are actively engaged in writing about various digital marketing strategies and aspects. Secondly, through our webinars, we maintain a robust series of webinars. 37:08 By feeding the right questions, Chat GPT often offers valuable advice, though sometimes not as reliable. I'm thrilled about exploring this area and its potential to boost my efficiency, possibly by 20%, and that just has me jazzed. 40:01 Myth Busted - Anyone can effectively use Google Tag Manager without proper knowledge Links - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredpike/ Company website: https://www.nwsdigital.com/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/fred_pike Show Credits -  Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni  Edited by Harish Khatarkar Content by Aakash Damani, Yashika Neekhra, and Juhie Bhardwaj  

In this episode, we're joined by Javier Santana, Co-Founder at Launch, a trailblazing Digital and Creative Services agency. Javier seamlessly merges innovation and experience to drive businesses toward his goals. Alongside his professional pursuits, he contributes to the advisory board of the Atlanta Community Food Bank's Hunger Walk Committee and co-hosts the illuminating webcast, SpeedBumps Live. In this conversation, he imparts wisdom on agency relationship management and impactful cross-level communication. Discussion Points -  What sort of bogus myth, strategy, or misconception would you like to set the record straight on? 5:19 What strategies or approaches have you found to be effective in genuinely attracting customers and fostering the growth of a successful agency? 6:41 Could you share how your agency is structured?  9:17 How do you personally manage boundaries, both individually and for your team, in client relationships? 12:09 Could you discuss your agency's setup, positioning, customer engagement, and how your processes have evolved over time? 19:45 Can you describe your agency's discovery process after the initial client meeting, including budget, project type, and addressing their specific needs? 26:48 How did you transition to your current positioning? Do you position yourself as a specialist for specific reasons, or as a generalist? How did you navigate this journey? 30:07 What led to your three attempts at running agencies, and why did the current one succeed? 36:29 If you could advise your 20 or 25-year-old self, what would you say? 42:07 What's exciting you about the future? What are you looking forward to? 45:04 Show notes -  The reality is that you have to genuinely be a good client partner when working on projects, whether they're valued at $200 or involve simple tasks. You just need to be someone who is willing to listen and ensure that you provide the proper guidance for your customers or clients. 7:01 During the time when I was managing agency relationships, I learned a valuable lesson: if you don't have something to contribute, avoid coming to the table. 10:16 I don't set up boundaries when it comes to that client's stuff. I will not text my client at six o'clock on a Saturday, but if they text me, I will respond. Not because I feel like a slave to the system, but because this is what I love to do. 12:24 Communicating with different people on different levels and understanding how their choice of communication is extremely important on every level, whether you're talking to an executive or you're talking to a user. 16:41 When working with clients, we function as an extension of their team, not just as a vendor. We ensure that we establish this close partnership, collaborating hand in hand. 21:14 You need to understand who the client is before the conversation even begins. It's about being respectful of their time and understanding their situation. Are they dealing with recent layoffs? What challenges are they aiming to overcome? This way, you could come in with an idea. 27:51 I don't believe in 'fake it till you make it,' not in the sense of pretending we can do anything. Signing a deal and then scrambling to assemble an unfamiliar team, potentially putting the project at risk – that's like wearing a pie on your face after betraying someone's trust with a lie. 31:27 I want to be known as someone whose company consistently delivers the finest work. Our team comprises the most excellent talents and partners, and that's what I strive for. 36:05 Somebody recommended the book 'The E Myth,' the entrepreneurial myth. I bought it, read it, and while flipping through the pages, I thought, yep, made that mistake. Yep, did that too. But with this little book, I could have skipped those mistakes. So, lesson one is to learn from other people's mistakes so you don't make them. 38:51 Focus on the things you're passionate about because those are the areas where you'll excel, driven by your unrelenting obsession with them. 44:25 Myth Busted - "If you build it, they will come” - Just creating something will make customers come to you automatically.  Links - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javierjsantana/ Company website: http://www.launchxd.com/ Podcast link - http://speedbumpslive.com/  

In this episode, we're joined by Scott Lock, Co-Founder and CEO of InfernoRed Technology, a visionary leader with a strong tech passion and remarkable innovation track record. With a computer science background, he established InfernoRed, a dynamic and forward-looking company. In this conversation, he discusses maintaining a team-centric approach, value delivery, managing costs with senior talent, and the agency's growth journey. Discussion point - What is some sort of myth bogus strategy and misconception? What do you want to set the record straight on? 7:22 How do you address client requests for faster progress while maintaining alignment with your team's capabilities and project objectives? 9:23 How do you establish an internal environment that promotes continuous learning and enthusiasm for personal growth, especially when faced with repetitive projects? 18:00 How do you balance maintaining a team-first approach, delivering value, and managing the costs of senior talent in your agency's growth journey? 21:19 What insights do you have in terms of interviewing and finding that person who you know will be fit for the firm? 29:14 Can you walk us through your project execution process, considering the absence of traditional roles like producers or account managers, and how you manage ownership and point of contact for the entire project with your team? 33:24 How do you, as a business leader, stay inspired and continuously learn to keep yourself updated? Where do you seek learning opportunities? 44:08 Show notes -  Recently, I heard a quote that I was really trying to take to heart: "If you want to move fast, do it alone; if you want to go far, do it with a team." That's he kind of approach that we take when we are working on projects. 8:21 We establish the trust early on, so they (clients) don't feel like we're just attempting a money grab by trying to get as many people, because they understand our consulting approach and how our business model works. This creates a sense of trust, like we're in this together. 10:57 We focus on finding meaningful and interesting work because it's much harder to find highly qualified senior engineers with the same talent and capabilities as our company has. Getting them engaged in something they're passionate about or interested in is incredibly important. 16:23 We have implemented a continuous engagement model using a platform called Fit Team. We've established this over the last few years, where we maintain ongoing engagement with our team as we continue to grow. 19:19 We are not the cheapest consulting company out there, nor the most expensive, compared to larger firms with exorbitant rates. However, we prioritize delivering value. In recent internal discussions, we emphasized that if clients begin to question the team's value, it signifies a breakdown in our approach. 24:41 We conduct these huddles with our team every week as part of the continuous engagement I mentioned. These huddles involve discussing the project and the client in the context of the project with the entire team. 39:25 NBA, that's one of my favorite clients in the entire world when it comes to sports. I'm a huge basketball fan. Even though they're a marquee client and an amazing organization with a huge program that does things the right way, our team loves working there.43:31 Every agency has this opportunity: as you continue to grow an incredible technical team, something will come across your path, and you'll just be able to hook into it. Then, that will be the opportunity for you to grow and learn. 46:25 We have been working for four years with Microsoft, focusing on enhancing election platform technology through the concept of verifiable election results using the open-source product called Election Guard. This initiative, although led by them, has our team inspired, as they feel their work might make a meaningful impact on the world. 50:16 Myth-Busted - Adding more engineering resources to a project will automatically speed up progress.  Links - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottlock/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/scottlock Company website: https://www.infernored.com/   Show Credits - Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni  Edited by Priyanka Sharma  Content by Yashika Neekhra and Juhie Bhardwaj

In this episode, we are joined by, Khaiersta English, the Founder & Product Design Lead at Flower Press Creative Studio, LLC. With 25 years of expertise in digital product design and engineering, she has crafted apps, websites, and experiences for an impressive clientele, including industry giants like Visa, Adobe, and Nike. From Creative Director to UI/UX Designer and Content Strategist, she is a versatile powerhouse, skilled in early research, prototyping, team management, and client relations. In this conversation, she highlights the value of the "discovery" process in product design and effective upselling strategies for long-term client relationships.    Discussion Points -    What sort of bogus strategy or misconception do you want to set the record straight on? 2:27 How do you effectively communicate the value of the "discovery" process to potential clients? 4:00 How do you decide the price for your services? 7:16 Could you please elaborate on your agency's approach to marketing, particularly in attracting clients by focusing on people rather than companies? 11:28 How do you upsell to existing customers and maintain strong long-term relationships? What strategies and tools do you use to maintain communication with your extensive client base? 14:25 How would you define the difference between a partner and a vendor in the context of business relationships? 17:52 As a partner in client projects, how do you handle differences of opinion while maintaining a productive relationship? Any tips or insights based on your experience? 20:25 As a female founder and advocate for female founders, what tips do you have for women and individuals in underrepresented groups navigating the entrepreneurial landscape? 25:01 As a leader and business owner, where do you spend your time connecting with peers and other business owners? 28:26 What's exciting you about the future? 31:22 Show notes -    We go through a process called discovery. Discovery is a planning phase, where you undertake stakeholder interviews, map out the assistant design, assemble a prototype, and test it with end users to see if the product direction is valid. That is a paid phase of work. 3:11 You'd be surprised how many people tell me that when they go to an agency, the agency just gives them a price based on the specifications they describe. It is refreshing to hear someone willing to help them validate those specifications. 6:58 We work hourly because hourly acknowledges the reality of software, which is that things change and it's impossible to know all the requirements upfront. 7:53 People are sold on the process once they get involved in it, because it's very exciting to hear real feedback, based on a prototype, to see it in action, to interact with it. 8:50 The main thing is building a network, staying in touch, and continuing to reach out to let people know you're around. Launching projects and showcasing successful project launches are good ways to ensure repeat business. 13:31 I find that upselling work is the easiest way to get new work. When you identify needs and offer solutions to those needs, such as identifying and fixing problems, it becomes one of the best ways to ensure a steady stream of ongoing work. 14:04 Partner is someone who's personally invested in the success of the brand and the project to the point where you operate as if you're a business owner, you operate and make decisions and give advice as if it's your company to run. 18:12 The biggest thing to keep in mind is focusing on the work and the outcomes, putting in the time and effort, and not worrying too much about whether you are male or female. It just comes down to doing the best work. 26:14 I think the intuitive sense of what people need and the caregiving sense that women have are instrumental to our roles as caregivers and mothers. Moreover, these qualities translate well to the workplace, particularly when developing tools for humans and creating user-friendly solutions. 27:03 I have business owners whom I collaborate with and deeply value and trust. I proactively reach out to them, setting up conversations specifically for brainstorming, and through these interactions, I've been able to establish mentorship relationships with some of these individuals. 29:32 I am looking forward to growing our team, we're adding a second engineering channel so we can take on more projects. 31:28   Myth-Busted -  Sales professionals or agencies do not get paid for the planning phase of the sales process Links - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaiersta/  Twitter:https://twitter.com/theflowerpress  Instagram: https://instagram.com/khaiersta  Company website: https://www.theflowerpress.net/  Clutch: https://clutch.co/top-service-providers/women-owned  Show Credits -  Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni  Edited by Priyanka Sharma  Content by Aakash Damani, Yashika Neekhra, and Juhie Bhardwaj

In this episode, we are joined by Monica Langin, the President of Visionary. With nearly three decades of work experience, Monica is known for her direct communication and problem-solving skills. Originally from a delightful town in southwest Iowa, she has dedicated 20 years to Visionary, progressing from a project manager to her current role as President. In this conversation, she discussed the importance of building strong client relationships, overcoming challenges during COVID-19, and the process of hiring and evaluating cultural fit during recruitment.   Discussion Points -  What's some sort of bogus strategy, or misconception, do you want to set the record straight on? 1:34 What is the monthly ‘Visionary Day' that you guys do in the office? 13:25 Tell us more about how you organize and celebrate the epic holiday party at your company. 19:54 How do you set the budget for cultural building activities? 24:39 As you've traveled up the ranks, what challenging moments made you pause and work through them? 25:57 What is that one thing that makes you feel that you're doing something great? 31:29 How do you evaluate the right cultural fit during the hiring process? 32:29 How challenging is it to find the right talent for technical roles in the Midwest, given that coastal regions often attract professionals? What strategies do you use to attract skilled individuals to your company in this region? 37:11 What is exciting you about the future? 41:30   Show notes - It's (visionary day) is a very important day, from my perspective, because it's a tool that I have leveraged to bring people back together. 13:43 Something that is very visionary about ‘Visionary' is that when we're together, the things that we share, the personal relationships, obviously, but the knowledge that's shared across the team, just by accident, is impressive and outstanding. 15:56 We set a budget like everybody else's, we have a fiscal year, and we set that budget at the beginning of the year. And we try to stay as close as possible. 25:00 We had one of our best years ever from a sales standpoint, and everything was going great just before the pandemic hit. However, when the pandemic struck, everything slowed down, and we faced a long period of uncertainty. It was a little terrifying to navigate through that. 26:11 The one thing that makes us feel we are doing something great is that anyone, even our youngest, newest employees, can be in a room with other visionaries or customers and have a great idea, the ability to say, "I'm listening to you. I hear your problem. And I have a solution. 31:37 Culture is very important to us. So when we hire people, we try very hard to involve different individuals. It's not always the same people involved in the interview process, but rather those who will be working with or reporting to the candidate. We strive to mix it up so that candidates have the opportunity to interact with different team members and experience the diverse perspectives within our company. 32:55 We already had a remote work policy, but initially, we were not keen on hiring people from outside our region. However, we have now changed our approach and realized the benefits of being open to candidates from anywhere, as long as they are the right fit for the company. 39:29 What I think draws people to us locally is our vibrant company culture. We offer 80% coverage for health benefits, provide bonuses, and host an amazing holiday party. While we work hard, we also know how to have fun. 40:13 I am very excited about the next generation of the Visionary. Thrilled, beyond belief at the leadership team. I couldn't do any of this without the people who work with me daily. 42:07   Myth-Busted - Midwesterners ride cows to the school.    Links - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-langin-40ab607/  Company website: https://visionary.com/  Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/monicalangin/?hl=en    Show Credits -  Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni  Edited by Priyanka Sharma  Content by Aakash Damani, Yashika Neekhra, and Juhie Bhardwaj

In this episode, we are joined by Meg Schlabs, Co-founder & Creative Director at Wizardly, a visionary brand strategist specializing in creative branding and design services. With a background in copywriting and a passion for creativity, Meg crafts captivating brand positioning and design, leaving a lasting impression on clients and their audiences. She values partnership and trust, navigating the challenges and successes of building a business together. In this conversation, she talks about brand positioning, traditional A/B testing, and partnering with family members in a business.   Discussion Points -  What sort of bogus strategy, or misconception do you want to set the record straight on? 4:08 What is the best approach to determining the right brand positioning and logo design when traditional A/B testing is not applicable? 5:07 How did your agency decide to involve creative experts directly in client conversations, and what led to the realization that this approach was more effective than the traditional method of relying solely on account managers or producers? 12:09 Can you share the origin story of Wizardly, including how the company came into existence, and the inspiration behind the name "Wizardly"? 14:45 What are some of the learnings in partnering up with somebody in the family? 21:11 What tools do you use to facilitate project planning, maintain reference points, and ensure smooth communication within your team? 27:43 How did your agency identify the need to pivot towards the biotech niche, and what strategies did you employ to successfully transition your services while ensuring continued revenue generation? 33:53 How did you identify the need to support startup target audiences and position your agency as a valuable partner? And, how do you determine the pricing structure? 37:23 Where do you spend your time researching and learning about this industry? How do you keep yourself up-to-date? 41:44 What are your pain points? What is something that keeps you up at night? 43:55 What is exciting you about the future? 46:01 Show notes -  We use a combination of research on the target audience and brand positioning. And I believe that every business is scaling into something at any given moment. 5:44 We do a ton of competitor analysis, and target audience research. And, based on the research, we identify brand differentiators' value propositions. 8:35 The first strategy session is all about digesting, and the second one is about presenting. The third one is focused on defining and hammering out the details, allowing us to walk away from this meeting, knowing what we're going to create. 9:15 There's no perfect answer, and it's better to move forward, we're going to see more progress moving forward, than if we're standing, still debating which way to go. 10:45 You learn something about yourself when you observe how your business interacts with its market. 11:07 There needs to be more connection between the person that's driving this project, the one who knows the company, and the person going off to write copy for the web project. 13:34 The beauty of parenting is that they're just passing through your fingers; you only have a few moments in time to be a part of their life. Similarly, with employees, we have limited time to be a part of their work journey and cultivate them as humans while pushing them toward their goals. 32:49 We start with a deck, which helps to solidify our clients' messaging. This way, they can better understand their own identity and develop an elevator pitch to confidently present themselves when walking into a room. 36:45.  Building a company and taking care of your people, doing good work they're those threads that run through every business. So, I find the most inspiration from my friends who are building companies and are in the same stage of building. 42:57 I'm excited about design subscriptions and seeing where this leads for Wizardly. We have intentionally not been a retainer-based company because we feel like retainers can sometimes be unfair to both parties. So, it takes a lot more effort to restart the scope with clients and manage cash flow. But we have a new product - design subscriptions - that we're rolling out in an effort to provide really solid design services. 46:11   Myth Busted - There is a perfect logo or brand position for companies.  Links -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meg-schlabs-7a7714b1/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/megschlabs  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megaustinschlabs/  Company website: https://wizardly.co/    Show Credits -  Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni  Edited by Priyanka Sharma  Content by Aakash Damani, Yashika Neekhra, and Juhie Bhardwaj  

In this episode, we are joined by Benjamin Morris, Chief Delivery Officer & Co-owner at Pluribus Digital. With extensive experience in government collaboration, Ben is a seasoned professional well-versed in navigating the complexities of working with government agencies. He is passionate about driving impactful change in the public sector and offers valuable insights into strategies, processes, and best practices for successful collaborations between government entities and external partners. Discussion Points -    What sort of bogus strategy, or misconception do you want to set the record straight on? 1:59 What led Pluribus Digital to specialize in the government sector? Could you share a brief overview of your journey and any key experiences that influenced your company's focus on government-related projects? 3:26 How does the business process of working with technology in the government sector typically operate? Could you shed some light on the types of approvals or processes involved in an agency like yours, and how you navigate them? 5:16 What's the team structure in government tech projects? Explain the project lifecycle, challenges, and opportunities when working with government agencies.13:26 How hard does the government negotiate on pricing? 20:38 What was the motivation behind starting a nonprofit organization consisting of a select few companies driven to accelerate the government's digital transformation? 26:31  Tell us a little bit about the trucking and traffic management industry. 30:27 What's your perspective on AI? What's the government doing with it? 33:18 Could you provide insights into the company policies or checks in place that strike a balance between utilizing AI for learning and innovation, while avoiding potential risks and safeguarding sensitive information? 37:48 Where do you hang out and talk about and discuss the best practices in the government space for the agencies? 40:57  What are you looking forward to? 43:34   Show notes -    The process is pretty standard to be operating in Agile methodology, you have something like a scrum flavor of Agile, that's the mainstream of government right now. 11:55 Sometimes the government can move a little bit slower, but often, that's for very legitimate reasons. Because you're not just talking about “let's improve this process or something else”, you're talking about “Hey, maybe we need to consider a policy change or work with a wider stakeholder group to get that bigger thing done”. 16:53 If you hear about big government project failures, it's probably because the policies are maybe a little too convoluted. And then you're trying to build a solution that meets all the requirements of a somewhat convoluted policy. And if you could only do some small things to simplify the policy, then you could make everything just work better, cost less and be simpler for people to use. 18:08 One of the programs that we support is login.gov. And, that is a mechanism for people to log in and gain access to services. So you can't just say, “Oh, well, let's not worry about that, the 1% over in this corner”, you have to find some way to service those people. 24:23 There's a lot of excitement in government, certainly a lot of signals about using AI in various government use cases. And so that we see that as a need, something that our customers are asking for, and something that we've had a chance to apply in some areas. 33:56 There's also the defensive side of it (AI), how might it be used or misused in interactions with the government? So if someone is filling out an application for benefits, and there's some kind of written description portion, then there may be issues if there may be ways to use Chat GPT, that would not be ideal. It could be a tool for fraud or other things. 39:09 People value coming together and, just engaging as owners in practical professional support groups and sometimes almost like an emotional support group. 42:48 That's really that open space now. How can we not just have technology in government or automate some things, but how can we make things much more natively digital and therefore, scalable and fast and cheaper to operate, and more reliable? 44:17    Myth-Busted - Government and technology are either super advanced with futuristic interfaces or stuck with outdated systems.   Links -  LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/bengm/  Company's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pluribusdigital/ Company website: https://pluribusdigital.com/    Show Credits -    Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni  Edited by Priyanka Sharma  Content by Aakash Damani, Yashika Neekhra, and Juhie Bhardwaj

In this episode, we are joined by Mr. TJ Pitre, the founder, and CEO of Southleft, LLC,  a leading front-end application design and development agency. With two decades of experience in managing and designing large-scale responsive websites, TJ is an expert in executing front-end strategies with a mobile-first approach. Join us as we delve into his creativity, attention to detail, and unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional user experiences. Discussion Points -  Q1. What is the most difficult thing you have done in your life? 1:55 Q2. What sort of myth bogus strategy misconception would you like to set the record straight on? 14:44 Q3. Do you personally check in with all clients or is it selected clients? 22:37 Q4. How do you ensure that the relationship specialist effectively manages all accounts and fulfills their responsibilities? Do you have specific metrics or a scorecard in place to measure their performance and ensure no account is overlooked? 28:01 Q5. You mentioned your PMs who play the role of business development. How do you train them? How do you guide them to think from that perspective of growing the business? 34:17 Q6. How do you guys internally support that PM's growth? 40:09 Q7. Tell us how you started this agency. How did you get into this, a little bit about your background? 42:56 Q8. Where do you spend your time to find the next shiny object that you have always been looking for? 51:34 Q9. What is exciting you about the future? 55:37   Show notes -  A lot of the ways that our business grows isn't through outbound marketing, like cold calls or anything like that, or social, it's usually through projects that we already have now. 23:47 Everybody who's involved in that project gets a taste of who the producer is, and who the business relationship specialist is, so it shouldn't be any surprise if they(clients) hear from either of those people throughout the whole project. 26:58 The role (relationship specialist) is 25% strategy and 75% of tactical work, in a lot of that tactical work like checking the boxes to make sure all these things are done in a recurring fashion. So there's always going to be things that are occurring in projects while the projects are happening. I'm always very conscious of burnout with this person in particular. But there's never any shortage of things to do. 28:14 There's this long list of leads that we have that we'd like to get out to in two or three weeks, And these aren't AI-generated, these aren't templated things or anything. These are legitimate people who we've met or know from our past, and then we always write them a heartfelt email with the goal is to have zero sales pitch in it. 30:52 Our secret is to invest in your PMs. PMs can do more for you than what you would think that they could do. 35:01 Good PMs have emotional awareness in technical aptitude, they understand the intricacies of what a software development lifecycle is. 35:22 There are courses that we start at the very lowest level, and that's usually a part of everybody's goal, including developers. We use these courses called Star 12 courses, and we enroll the whole team and then we add a couple of goals to their gusto. 40:22 Hire yourself a consultant, enterprise level, seasoned 30-year vet of product management, and then do a three-month engagement and have them work on your team and then examine your workflows or have interview each pm recognize their strengths and weaknesses. 41:24 Year over year, we've grown both by personnel and finances, and it's been a great ride ever since it's definitely had its ups and downs. But, I'm happy with the progress. 51:11 We're not using AI, as a part that's taking other people's jobs or taking over our jobs, what we're doing is using it to enhance things that we're currently doing. 56:22 Myth-Busted - It's necessary to have a tier of account management in a design and development agency.   Links -  LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tpitre/  Company website: https://southleft.com/  Company Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southleft-llc/ 

In this episode, we are joined by David Poteet, President of NewCity, an interactive design agency. With nearly three decades of expertise in human-centered design, strategy, and user experience, David is a visionary leader driving innovation and excellence. His passion for teaching and coaching, coupled with his captivating public speaking skills, has made him a sought-after conference speaker. Discussion points -  Q1. What is the bogus strategy, myth, or misconception that you would like to set the record straight on? 1:55 Q2. How do you define human-centered design? 5:37 Q3. As an agency, how do you approach conducting research and incorporating human-centered design into your process? Can you open up the wizard curtain? 10:16 Q4. What type of work have you focused on while using a human-centered approach? Has that made any difference to you? Has it helped you in your positioning? 18:00 Q5. How did you structure your team together? 25:27 Q6. How do you ensure effective communication and cohesiveness between your strategists and engineering team during the feedback and review process before presenting the solution to the client? Are there one or two tools that you have found? 29:17 Q7. How do you find the balance between making sure your team is learning the new technologies and also being productive at the same time? 36:15 Q8. How do you figure out what works for you? 42:36 Q9. What's exciting you about the future? 49:26   Show notes -  Part of the practice of human-centered design is learning how to conduct research in a way that you get enough insights from a cross-section of your user base that you can triangulate a solution that is going to be the optimal solution for the most people that you're serving. 6:37 The people who are naturally better at human-centered design are the people who have some direct interaction with a customer on a regular basis. 7:55 We do one of the exercises that is called the ad hoc personas. So, we create personas that are based on what the leaders within the organization think they know about their customers. 11:31 It was an uphill climb for a while to persuade institutions to invest in research. 21:43 Along the way, we recognized how much people wanted to have more of a seat at the table and be involved in that process. 26:56 A lot of the innovation happens as you build, you're figuring things out, you're realizing things that do or don't work, you're coming up with new ideas, and it continues to evolve.  We've designed experiences that the team has at key junctures in the project, where you bring people together intentionally to make sure everyone's fully engaged and is really picking things and thinking together. 27:27 We've got a lot of tinkerers on the team, people that do like to try to figure out a better or faster way to do something. 37:41 One of the challenges that you have, as any business owner, is that you will see all kinds of different models and approaches to doing the work. 42:58 We are trying to bridge these two worlds - what's happening in digital and what's happening in the real customer service experience, bringing that expertise together and helping teams bridge and create a real-life and digital melding of strategy. 50:14   Myth Busted - Brand strategy and digital experience are separate entities and can exist independently.   Links - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpoteet/  Company website: https://www.insidenewcity.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidpoteet  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidpoteet/   Show Credits -  Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni  Edited by Priyanka Sharma  Content by Aakash Damani, Yashika Neekhra, and Juhie Bhardwaj

Eric Ressler, the Founder & Creative Director of Cosmic, is an entrepreneur with a creative bent and a proponent of sustainability. In 2012, he founded Cosmic, a pioneering firm in the sustainability sector that works with clients to create powerful branding and marketing strategies that advance sustainability and spark positive change. Prepare to be inspired by Eric's innovative approach to merging creativity and sustainability for a brighter future. Discussion Points: Q1. What sort of myths, bogus strategies, or misconceptions would you like to set the record straight on? 1:35 Q2. What are nuggets for successfully implementing a 4-Day Workweek in an agency? Tips for people who want to get started with it? 7:11 Q3. How do you effectively manage and set expectations for upcoming talent within the agency? 14:06 Q4. What are the tech-stack do you use to manage internal work processes? 18:59 Q5. How do you establish your pricing model with clients? 22:08 Q6. Could you share insights about your agency's niche and how you established it? 27:57 Q7. What are some of the challenges you have faced as an agency? 34:01 Q8. How do you stay on track and ensure you're not missing out on important tasks as agency owners? 40:23 Q9. What excites you about the future? 45:52 Show notes: Creativity is something that you can't brute force. You can grind, hustle, and push hard for a certain amount of time, but you also need time to rest, rejuvenate, and reflect on real life, where you draw inspiration from. 2:49 It's more helpful to come fully prepared, fully rested, and fully creative each day during a four-day workweek, rather than working five, six, or seven days a week and functioning at only 60%, that's not beneficial. 6:16 Deadlines and tight turnarounds are not deal breakers for a four-day week. It's about ensuring each team member shows up at their best every day. 12:31 I don't think a four-day work week necessarily will work for every organization. I think it'll work for 90-plus percent of agencies. 11:15 We work with clients in sprints, breaking down projects into weekly cycles with key deliverables, goals, and success metrics. We present sprint reviews, gather feedback, and work in iterative cycles. 19:24 We'd been an agency for about seven years, and we'd been doing a lot of work with startups, b2b brands, and b2c brands near Silicon Valley in Santa Cruz at the time we were working out of an office. 29:40 We've also just found that the types of clients that come to us need more of a holistic partner, they don't want to hire us just for one thing, and then have to find other agencies to do other parts. 32:30 Building expertise happens through doing enough work for similar clients that you start to see patterns, and you start to understand more about that space than any other agency working in general. 36:57 I go into deep learning mode, devouring books, podcasts, and articles, seeking answers, inspiration, and ideas. 42:19 Change can be scary, but it can also be interesting and lead to more just and equitable ways. 47:09 Myth Busted -  One needs to work long hours and give up their personal life in the agency business.   Links - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosmiceric/ Company website: https://designbycosmic.com/

Guillaume Buat-Ménard, Director of Digital Transformation at Flipside Group is a formidable force in the field of technology. He is a digital strategy and business development expert with over 27 years of experience. With a sharp mind and endless curiosity, he is leading the digital revolution and shaping the future of technology. Discussion Points -  Q1- What sort of myth or bogus strategy or misconception you'd like to set the record straight on? 1:46 Q2- Are there tips along the way that you've learned, on specifically generating leads for PPC? 4:57 Q3-  When do you start the PPC campaign, how long do you continue that specific niche that you're trying to promote? 14:31 Q4- Are there any tools, any tactics that you use to understand the pain points? 19:02 Q5- How is your organization structured? 22:17 Q6- How do you deal with a cost adjustment when you're the research piece of it? 30:53 Q7- Give some tidbits on how you keep the sales and account management team incentivized and motivated. 39:26 Q8- What's exciting you about the future? 43:29   Show notes -  You don't have to do one campaign about your agency, you can have, like we do, several campaigns running on several different things and services. 12:56 As agencies, we don't use our power enough, and more often than not digital agencies.14:45 We always talk about UX, right? What is that? Well, it's looking at a problem from the user's perspective, but not looking at what we can sell them. 14:54 So, rather than look at the technology, everybody's going to bid on that saying we can help you with these specific things. 17:54 These leads, they're not cheap, they will cost you, some of them will cost you 10s of pounds, sometimes or hundreds of pounds to come to your page. So you've got to work that will make that work very hard. 18:26 Technology changes and so on, but ultimately it's still about people solving problems and so on. 20:25 Clients don't necessarily get to speak to someone, you know, knowledgeable about a very specific subject early on. And that's a problem for creating trust. 23:55 But we just dish out advice, and counsel straight away. It can be a startup, could be an agency. We don't mind, we don't keep our knowledge in a box and try to give a big presentation, that doesn't help people. Right, what they want is actually an answer. Can you help me? Yes, we can help you. 26:42 People are looking for a problem to be solved, right? If you solve it, or you partially solve it straightaway, already gives them a sense of they've got the agency, they're here to help. 29:19 So you've got two types of clients. Of course, those who know they need a discovery, actually. So that's the easy part. And those who don't know. 31:20 In the marketing space, particularly big brands are not always the ones that get paid the most, b2b tends to be actually much, much more lucrative. 34:54 So it's more about how we can help everybody do well, and get the company to do well because when the company does well, we'll do well. 43:12 Myth Busted - Agencies follow what they advice their clients   Links -  LinkedIn: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/buatmenard/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gbuatmenard/  Company website: https://flipsidegroup.com/ 

Sheila Burkett, an accomplished entrepreneur and technology expert, serves as the Founder and CEO of Spry Digital. With an impressive track record of over 35 years in the tech industry, she has emerged as a revered leader in the digital realm, empowering organizations to leverage technology for exponential growth. Sheila's guidance has propelled Spry Digital to become a trusted partner for clients spanning various sectors.   Discussion Points -  Q1. What are your thoughts on Chat GPT? 2:35 Q2. What sort of myth or bogus strategy or misconception do you want to clear up? 7:16 Q3. How do you make the partnership work? How do you manage the friction? 8:14 Q4. What is your profit sharing model that you use internally with employees, can you talk us through a little bit? 13:43 Q5. What inspired you to have the profit-sharing model? 17:24 Q6. What does your agency specialize in? What is your superpower? 26:10 Q7. How do you manage when clients don't deliver? 29:07 Q8. Tell us a bit about your race car history. 32:37 Q9. What motivated your decision to shift from racing to agency? 36:26  Q10. Where do you get your learning about the industry and the agency space? 38:17 Q11. What's exciting you about the future? 40:43 Show notes -  As knowledge workers were going to have to solve the tougher problems. So what chat GPT will do is it will take the easier task away. So we're solving deeper, harder problems. 6:08 We all run into the more diverse personalities and learning styles that you have, which is great. 12:40 I wanted a mechanism where employees could not only be owners in the company and share in the profits of the company but have the ability to earn enough in that space to potentially buy me out and take over owning the company. 14:14 We've been working for a couple of years to move to a very transparent base pay model. So every position will have a salary that everyone will know. So if you're a full-stack developer, this is your salary. And it's one number. It's not a range. So,I believe salary ranges continue to create inequitable positions. 19:56 We always have taken a holistic view of that user experience, like since day one, we've always said, what is it that you're trying to achieve? And how do we help those people achieve it. 26:58 We're not saying we're going to gain new leads, we're going to get quality leads that convert. If you're not aligned with their (clients) business goals, and you don't understand their drivers, sometimes teams can get off track with what the clients are achieving. 30:55 I learned everything I could about building race cars. And we (Husband & her) both being technology geeks, decided to buy a Dyno, which is what measures horsepower in cars. And we started really working in that engine management system computer programming to change the way the system works. 34:55 I became a part of Together Digital in 2017. And that is a community of women who let several agency owners mentor women, and now I mentor to women out of that group who are working to be agency owner. 39:10 Chat GPT, I think that's pretty exciting to see what that will evolve into. And really, how do we leverage it for good? And control it from as the fear-mongering continues to happen of it's going to take the world over. 40:50 Myth Busted -  Starting a company with partners who are married to each other is a bad move.  Links -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheilaburkett/  Company website: https://sprydigital.com/    Show Credits -  Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni  Edited by Priyanka Sharma  Content by Aakash Damani, Yashika Neekhra, and Juhie Bhardwaj

In today's episode, we have the privilege of hosting the brilliant minds behind Elva Design, J.P. McCarvel, the Co-founder and Partner, along with Michael Francis, the Co-Founder and Creative Director of this remarkable full-service design group.  Elva Design is on a mission to craft stunning and impactful branded e-commerce experiences, where they seamlessly blend design, technology, and strategy. Get ready to explore their insights on creating exceptional customer journeys and discover the magic that sets Elva Design apart in the world of design. Discussion Points -  Q1. What misconception bogus strategy do you want to clear up? 2:34 Q2. Why did you decide to do a remote? 5:27 Q3. Tell us a little bit about your origin story. 6:35 Q4. What tools are you using? 8:56 Q5. How do you overcome situations when there is friction? 18:41 Q6. What are your client acquisition strategies? How do you approach it? 21:13 Q7. How do you manage your team and support them in facing difficult challenges? 26:18 |Q8. What are the steps you have taken to ensure the team stays smart and up-to-date? 29:40 Q9. How did you come up with the name ‘Elva'? 34:37 Q10. What's exciting you about the future? 36:05 Show notes -  When we work with partners, we like to act as an extension to their team and constantly communicate and be in conversation with them. - Michael Francis 8:40 Every client is different as far as what they want, as far as what they want out of a partner and what their expectations are, what their culture is, I think my experience at Yeti was, and coming from GoPro and Crocs before that was, agencies come in and tell you the things that they do and how they do them, and why you'll benefit from them. - JP McCarvel 10:05 If you get too big to tailor to or if you just start to do a one size fits all for brands, especially for brands like it's a losing strategy, it will lead to failure. - JP McCarvel 11:31 We're really coming in humble and just listening to what we've been through as a brand and where we're going. And we try to advocate that to the team today to say- hey, you can, you should go into brands and tell them that you don't know and that you rely on them for that knowledge. - JP McCarvel 13:40 We disagree probably multiple times a day. And you know, it's really around, 1. We both trust each other. We've gotten this far and, 2. Talking about it being open and transparent with what we have issues with. - Michael Francis 19:15 E-commerce doesn't work like that it's messy, and it's very difficult so is running an agency, so just embrace it, and work through some days, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but you keep working together to do better the next day. 20:38 Ideal for us, or there are those brands that want to have the best-in-class brand experience for their customer. Now they're focused on what's the digital experience for my customer, and then going out and finding a team that can help support them in that journey - JP McCarvel 21:36 Communication is key, having conversations with them (team), providing support where they need it, whether it's the extra support, buying more time with the client, limiting the number of pages that are due, you know, working with the creative team, first of the design team first, to alleviate any type of stress - Michael Francis 26:36 Finding creative talent for e-commerce design is somewhat of a needle in the haystack to have an understanding of UX and UI, and some lean more on one than the other. And so being open to that type of talent when it presents itself or when it comes in and creating a space for that type of talent on the team. - Michael Francis 30:12 What's exciting is that I don't think the challenges are going away, I think they're getting even more tough to grasp. And for someone like Michael and myself, the thought of things changing and getting more difficult is exciting. 37:04 Myth-busted - The creative agency people have to be in the same room to create the best work.  Links -  JP McCarvel's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnpaulmccarvel/  Michael Francis LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjfrancis/  Company website: https://www.helloelva.com/  Show Credits -  Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni  Edited by Priyanka Sharma  Content by Aakash Damani, Yashika Neekhra, and Juhie Bhardwaj

Alicia Williams, a marketing genius with a passion-infused go-getter personality is the co-founder and creative director at Aliste Marketing. She has collaborated with some of the biggest industry disruptors and executive powerhouses and emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the industry. Since 2008, she has been successfully building a collective of brilliant creatives, strategists, and specialists that produce a truly end-to-end marketing solution for established brands.  Discussion points -  Q1 - What sort of bogus misconception strategy you want to set the record straight on? 3:20 Q2 - You guys have a pretty targeted niche, so how did you find that? 5:15 Q3 -  How do you identify which channels are the right fit? Are there some practical tools and tips that may give us the answer more objectively? 8:24 Q4- What are your thoughts on the reemergence of in-person events? 11:14 Q5 - Give us a couple of pointers on the practices that have been most effective for you in utilizing LinkedIn. What has it worked for you, and what do you love the most? 15:21 Q6 - How do you measure success on LinkedIn? Is there anything that you track that helps you decide? 18:30 Q7 -  What is your origin story? Can you tell us how you got started? 20:00 Q8 -  How do you pick your people? How do you vet that they're good? 25:25 Q9 - What are the tools that you are using? 33:22 Q10 - How do you see your agency going forward? 35:55 Q11 - How do you define your audience? And what is the good initiative for you when it comes to growth? 37:54 Q12 - What's exciting you about the future? 39:30 Q13 - What are your feelings about AI, and how you are approaching it? 41:02   Show notes -  It definitely wasn't a straight line, it was exact bumps and swirly rallies, in order to figure out who our audience was, and also what we really liked doing and what we were good at, and being in a position within our business to say, we're not good at this, or this doesn't bring us joy. 5:37 LinkedIn is a massive treasure chest for me specifically, to get in front of the right people. Like, tell me what platform honestly, you could reach out to the CEO of Pepsi and get a response. 9:20 From a client perspective, it goes back down to who are their buyers, and what's their buyer persona. What's the age, the industry, the geographic location? Like what do they care about? And that honestly helped guide or does guide where they should be hanging out from a platform standpoint. 10:15 I think in-person events absolutely have a place. And they're great, especially for learning and development, and getting in the room and showing a presence. I'm just very intentional about which ones I go to, I think of it this way, what events are worth me not being home for my family to go to? 12:39 We do have a LinkedIn group that's filled with marketing executives, I measure the growth of that group and the engagement. The other is my connection growth, making sure that my connection numbers are increasing with the right people. And the third is we have a LinkedIn navigator it will show profiles, and engagement is tracked based on others in your space. 18:24 We built the team to really have a collective of different specialists, they are hyper-focused on what they do, and they do it really, really well. Where my strong suit comes in is that strategy and that implementation part and kind of making sure the wheel spins. 22:53 So when I say I've spent years building this collective, it has taken years to test it, try it, and have them treat me like a customer, before I introduce them to a client. 27:09 Our clients know, our strong suit is the strategy and implementing the creative part. The other avenues like SEO and ads, are specific contractors that we pull in for that client. 29:47 Clients want to know, their goals are being hit, the work is being done, we have their back, and who's sitting in those seats. It's irrelevant because they trust that we're building the team that's gonna get them there. 33:04 Clients and brands that are going through a transition that have a marketing executive in house already, that's who's a really good fit for us from a brand perspective. 38:46 You don't need to have a huge website, you could have a basic website, get you started, and it achieves the goals, you could use the AI tools to help you in terms of getting content going and wordsmithing and whatnot. 40:32 Myth Busted - Being on every social media platform instead of just focusing on where your audience is and doing that platform really well.  Links -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliste/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alistemarketing/ Company website: https://alistemarketing.com/   Show Credits -  Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni  Edited by Priyanka Sharma  Content by Aakash Damani, Yashika Neekhra, and Juhie Bhardwaj

Today we are joined by two special guests who run a very successful agency together - Garrett Winder, Owner & Ariel Kidwell, Director of Strategy at Goodwork. They are a team of expert developers helping design agencies build things for web and mobile.  Garrett has a proven track record for leading high-quality large-scale web projects for clients like PBS Frito Lay and Tito's handmade vodka and Ariel is a seasoned marketer and consultant who specializes in helping businesses achieve sustainable growth. Discussion points -  Q1 - Smash a myth, bogus strategy, or misconception. What do you guys want to set the record straight on? What do you want to clear up? 2:19 Q2-  A lot of agency struggles with managing expectations, how do you manage those boundaries? Are there some tips and tricks that you can share that you guys have found that make it work? 03:36 Q3-  When the clients start getting angry or agitated because of the deadlines not being met, How do you handle such a situation? 7:51 Q4 - How do you make sure that your clients deliver what they owe you so you can stick to that timeline without padding it so much? 13:21 Q5 - How your experience has been in working with the other agencies?  How the relationship has been? What did you enjoy more? What were the pros and cons, of working with each of them, like, what are the wins? And what are the losses for you? 15:34 Q6 - Do you have you know, a process in which you make sure that your team is have been utilized for a certain amount of time when the institution happens? 20:21 Q7 - How do you work with the team, outside of email and phone calls and stuff like that? Are there tools that you guys have found that you've used? 22:56 Q8 - How do you tackle your quality checks? 30:08 Q9 - How did you start this business? How did you get into this? What's your what's your origin story? 32:52 Q10 - What's exciting you about the future? 34:52 Show notes -  We really focused on process, because we figured process has to at least be the foundation for that, right? Like, you have to be able to have expectations not only within your company but also setting them with clients so that everyone can at least start aligned. - Ariel Kidwell 05:17 If you really sit down and have a thorough gut check with your team on what's realistic, and also with the client. What's realistic for them? When can they deliver the materials that you need? When can they do realistic QA turns and content entry, you can kind of set these milestones and timelines that are achievable- Ariel Kidwell 06:11 Wishful thinking is one of the worst things you can do in our industry because it rarely happens the best way, you always have to be proactively working towards the worst-case scenario. - Ariel Kidwell 09:18 We do have a pause clause, so there's a certain amount of time, but if they don't get back to us, we just say, we're going to take it off of our schedule, we'll move on with the other things we're working on. - Garrett Winder 14:00 They (agencies) could say, Hey, we're doing this in July, and July comes around, and they say, actually, we're doing it in November. And all of a sudden, we have a hole in our schedule. So that would be one of the one of the dark side of working with the agencies. - Garret Winder 17:32 We found that the more we work with these agencies, the more we learned from each other, the more they really appreciate the more we give them to help make the project better. - Ariel Kidwell 18:55 We actually moved from Trello to GitHub for so that these projects are tied to the code changes, which helps us a lot because our clients are long-term. You know, something can happen in two years where we kind of want to look back and see oh, that was this project and we touched to this thing. - Garrett Winder 24:58 A tool that I use that I've told so many of our agency friends about and they love is called To Do. It's an app, you can have it on your phone, you can use it in the browser, it's so simple, but it can help so much keep track of all the little emails and status updates. - Ariel Kidwell 26:35 As clients get more advanced and mature with websites in general, we keep seeing that relationship between us and them change.- Garrett Winder 37:01 Myth Busted - Agencies have to be chaotic, stressful, and reactive in order to keep their clients happy. Links -  Garret's LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrettwinder/  Ariel's LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/arielkidwell/  Company website: https://www.simplygoodwork.com/    Show Credits -  Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni  Edited by Priyanka Sharma  Content by Aakash Damani, Yashika Neekhra, and Juhie Bhardwaj

In this episode of Agency That Build, we are joined by CEO, Founder at Backroom, Kara Redman. She is a marketing wonder and skilled question-asker and a problem-solver. She founded her own business in 2014, a brand strategy and activation agency after working in marketing for more than 15 years. She empowers a four-day workweek by dismantling the 9 to 5 workday routine. A humanist in a true sense.  Discussion points -  What is some sort of myth, bogus strategy? Something you misconception something you want to set the record straight on? 2:16 Was there somebody in your past who was like a mentor and influenced your journey? 4:48 What is the whole idea of impostor syndrome and the learnings from the mentors, how    do you implement these learnings in the in the way you are? 7:00 How do you define humanist? How being a humanist can help you be more successful. 9:52  How you guys work within that four day work week? How you make that work? 14:02 How do you take on new clients and type of work? Does the 4 day work week change anything for you on the type of work that you do? 18:05 What are the tools and PM system you are using? Can you divulge the tools in your suite? Will you share that secret sauce? 23:59 What are your thoughts on employee retention? How do you keep the your team engaged and inspired? 29:28 What is exciting you about the future? 37:24 Which your favourite tool? 38:33 Shownotes -  If you're open to always learning and being curious and growing over being right, or being admired, then the world is your mentor. 6:11 You get more out of people, when you meet them where they are on an emotional level, versus trying to force somebody to produce from fears, scare tactics, intimidation hierarchies. 10:50 We just set appropriate expectations, manage those expectations, follow through and show up and do the work. You don't have to cram everything in. 16:38 As a society, we learn when we speak about the things that we're trying and doing and what works and what doesn't. 21:05 Our rule is all documents are stored in Drive, you can link to them in Asana, we do all of our collaborative work in either mural or figma. 25:30 Employee retention should never be a goal, because to me, it implies a mentality of ownership. 30:00 We're really excited to see how AI continues to influence the work that we're doing. Like, for example, we're using AI for, like creative concepting right now, rather than doing like bespoke creative campaigns, and then, you know, creating based on what the clients sign off on. So, you know, we're really excited just to have more tools. 38:12 Links -  LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kararedman/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/backroom  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backroom.io/  Company website:  https://www.backroom.io/  Medium: https://medium.com/@kararedman  Myth Busted - The idea of a self-made man, there is always somebody who gives the first opportunity.  Show Credits -  Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni  Edited by Priyanka Sharma  Content by Aakash Damani, Yashika Neekhra, and Juhie Bhardwaj  

Meg Scarborough is the founder & CEO of Megawatt. She has more than 15 years of expertise in the B2B sector. She's a natural communicator with expertise in content marketing and brand messaging. Her team helps clients reach new audiences and convert new customers through the art and science of content.  Discussion points -  What is some sort of myth kind of bogus strategy misconception that you would like to set the record straight on? What do you get to learn? 2:14 What are those questions that you ask that can actually help the writer understand and write the technical problems in a way that the non-technical person can understand at the same time? 6:49 What's the one-liner that you guys do at Megawatt is content and branding? 9:18 You do have a range of senior and junior, from a training perspective and a growth perspective, as an agency owner, how do you foster that? 11:19 What are your thoughts on AI? Where do you see it going from the content generations perspective, and the overall future of this industry as a whole? 14:29 How much content do we need in today's world? How do you foresee what type of content is needed? 19:06 Let's talk a little bit about your origin story. Like how did you get into this? 22:36 Tell us a little bit about your process and saying yes to clients, how do you know somebody is the right fit for you? 25:14 What are some of the key metrics that you show to your clients to show them the value that you are producing for the work for which they're paying you? 27:00  As an agency owner, what would you say is the biggest mistake you made? 32:33 Let's talk about the future, what are you looking forward to? 34:27 Show notes - “I don't think you actually have to code to be able to write intelligently about code” - Meg 3:06 They (writers) need to understand how to ask intelligent questions that tie things to the bigger picture. And I think that's really the core skill set, that we focus on teaching all of our writers from Jr., all the way up to senior. 10:56 Curious is something that we always look for in the interview process. I think any good writer or reporter is curious by nature, and growth-oriented as well. 12:28  “Making sure that Training is always prioritized, even when it's not necessarily something you can build back to the client, But it's really important because it helps us do fantastic work for our clients.” - Meg 13:42 There's still so much experimentation to be done before we really understand what's the most effective way for us to be using AI and machine learning in content, but I'm not really concerned that it's coming for our jobs. 17:04 You shouldn't be thinking producing a piece of content or putting it up on your site is the end. Distribution is, in many ways a bigger part of what you're doing, and then repurposing and finding ways to get that message in front of different audiences, whether it is on social media or other platforms like that. 21:22 We want to think about brand awareness, because if nobody's ever heard of you, and nobody knows you exist, then you're never going to get that downstream effect that you're looking for. 28:38 Busted Myth -  You don't need to be a coder to write about software.   Links -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganscarborough/ Company website: https://megawattcontent.com/ Newsletter - https://megawattcontent.com/content-marketing-newsletter/   Show Credits -  Host - Varun Bihani & Jessie Coan Produced by Bobby Soni  Edited by Priyanka Sharma  Content by Aakash Damani, Yashika Neekhra, and Juhie Bhardwaj

Jonathon Hensley is the CEO of EMERGE, a digital product agency, where he works with clients to develop valuable products and services based on business strategies, user needs, and new technologies. EMERGE has committed to a simple philosophy under Jonathon's leadership: the relationship between EMERGE and its clients should exist to create real and lasting value and to motivate people to take action. Inspire and motivate a team to focus on what is important. Discussion Points: What myth or bogus strategy do you want to bust? 2:45 How did you get to the point where you are now? Share some of your secret sauce with us. 5:53 Do you have any stories to tell about a project that didn't go as planned? And how you used it to learn from it and move forward. 9:20 How did you come up with a definition for failure? 14:55 How do you define the strategy? 18:20 How did you get started in business, how have you grown, and how have these strategic ideas aided your growth? 24:00 Have you always worked in the area of product development? What drew you to product development in the first place? 27:05 What did you release that was a game-changer for your company? Or What is the biggest mistake you made? 29:55 How do you keep your team motivated, and what keeps your staff from leaving you? 39:16 What initially drew you to product development? 43:15  What does the future look like for you and your agency? 46:05   Takeaways  I think it's really important that we understand the intentions of this idea of fail fast fail often and what it really means in an organization so it can be used effectively. Failure is not the objective of any organization, but to learn is critical to every organization. And so we have to get failed fast and fail often as a mechanism for learning and not a methodology that use it in the wrong way, can erode that accountability. Agile is meant to be about a continuous improvement and learning approach to more effective collaboration and delivery. And so this essence gets missed all the time. Through the additive, experimentation, testing, and validation, we were able to verify what we knew from the client.  Once you have a learning culture in place, and you can start to really think about how you implement it, you know the insights that come from each experimentation or each failure. You need to also have a clearer way of how that knowledge is then distributed across the company to collect it, help everyone level up.  When we look at micro experiments, we're looking at how we can collect that information to that insight much faster and in smaller increments. What does a great strategy need to encompass at its core, and these things are not very well articulated or defined for most organizations. Strategy is not that one-time thing, but it's episodic it has to happen is a continuing practice inside the business ongoing, and depending on how fast you're trying to grow, or evolve in the market, will determine how often you have to be working through those steps of strategy. The essence of what we do hasn't changed, but how we do it. The passion and the core of the company was still in the roots of where we started, which was in product. Time being spent on on staying true to our core and staying hyper focused with our core customer, and working in those being in that community, is would have been really powerful for us Links  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathonhensley/ Twitter:https://twitter.com/jonathonhensley Company website: https://www.emergeinteractive.com/ Company linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emerge-interactive/ Busted Myths: Fail fast and fail often.

Todd Kaufman is the President and CEO of Test Double. Todd has worn a number of hats including - Software Developer, Project Manager, Agile Coach, Salesperson, and Entrepreneur. Test Double is a software development consulting agency experienced in: Ruby, Rails, JavaScript, React, Elixir, Erlang, iOS, Android, React Native...and a lot more! Discussion Points: What myth or bogus strategy do you want to bust?  2:20 How did you guys get into working remotely? 3:15 How was the response and experience 10 Years ago when you started the remote culture in your office? 6:00 What process and key tools did you set up to stay successful in remote culture? 7:00 We would like to hear a little bit about the client engagement from a thought process standpoint. 17:40 What do you do to keep your employees inspired and motivated? 24:10 What does the future look like to your employees who are also part owners? 33:10 How does offshore integration process work for you? 41:00 What is the biggest mistake you made as an agency owner? 43:40 Tell us a little bit about you. How many marathons have you run? 47:50 What does the future look like to you and your agency? 49:50 Show Notes Software developers prefer the flexibility, the autonomy, and really the level of focus that they get working remotely. 3:01 Remote work isn't 100% Great and 0%, like bad. There are trade offs, as with everything. But with us, we want people to work where they best operate, where they're most focused, most energized, et cetera. So we give them the choice of working wherever they like. 5:09 You have to build in the connectedness piece. Otherwise, I think it just tends to feel like a cooperative of independent consultants. 9:48 We've lost out on bigger opportunities that just didn't feel like they wanted a partner coming in, who would be remote. 10:45 In some sense, a lot of companies want you to be inside their office spaces, and then you go in there, and everyone has headphones on, no one's communicating via any other means than slack. And it feels just like, you know, working from home. 10:54 What we do is we do open ended contracts. So our clients, any one of our clients can fire us with a seven day notice, that keeps a healthy pressure on us to continue adding value. 14:08 I think what we've seen work is honestly trying to be respectful and operate in our clients best interests. So that includes the budget. So it's not that we want to ignore their budget, by any means. We want to understand what their budget is, we want to be good stewards of their funds. 15:13 We want to do some planning. We just don't want to be beholden to it when, you know, we're at the most uncertain point of a project. We want to iterate, get feedback and keep adjusting. So I think that that model works well for almost all software projects 16:18 We've partnered with some companies that are really, really good at UIUX. And as a set of specialists, we provide a pretty comprehensive, valuable solution there. 19:22 For software talent, we recognize that if we don't find projects that people want to work on, they're going to find them themselves, whether it's at Tesla or elsewhere. 23:18 We didn't become remote because we wanted to be remote. We were remote, because we wanted people to be autonomous. 25:40 Links: Company LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/testdouble/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/testdouble LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/testdoubletodd/ Company website: https://testdouble.com/   Myth: You have to be in an office space to be productive in the software industry. 

Michael Kelly is the Managing Partner at Developer Town that works with established companies to create software aimed at key business problems or opportunities.  Michael helps corporate leaders and founders craft a vision for new products by working with them to put together strategies, teams, and funding to help launch, validate, and grow those products and businesses. Discussion Points: What myth or bogus strategy do you want to bust?  2:27 How do you find outlets for energy on harder days: 8:00 Agencies talk about impacting society with their culture and environment. What does this mean to you? 22:25  How has the experience been working with contractors? 35:58 How does the open book concept work and how does the finance work when you work with other agencies? 45:42 What's exciting you about the future? 51:44 Takeaways: If you're not deeply energized by the work that you're doing, and it's not the thing that's fulfilling you, then maybe that's more of a sign of a problem than a sign that you need to take time away and recharge. In the total human experience, this concept of leisure, that we're very focused on right now in today's world, is such a small part of the human experience. Leisure is a very, very new idea. We're made to work, we're made to produce and we're made to take care of each other and we're made to challenge one another. Our clients are only successful to the extent that we're successful. What I want to be the best in the world at is helping companies build and launch new digital products. To build a product, you need to understand a market, you need to understand your customer, you need to understand the competition, you need to understand the context in which you're building and deploying this thing.  Product launch engages every element of what we do as a business, design, marketing, software development, engineering, data, science, all the DevOps. We want to make sure everybody in the business knows how we make money. We want to make sure they know how much we're making or how little their mate we're making, unless it's a global pandemic. And we want to make sure that they know, we win as a firm, that everybody wins through profit sharing. So when you have an unhappy client, it's not about that client, this is a seed that has been planted, is this seed going to bear fruit? Or is this seed going to bear weeds, you do not want weeds if you're an agency owner. From a market perspective, as an agency, we are choosing to lean into financial services and healthcare as two industries that we want to do more in, we're going through high trust certification right now, we're trying to get the regulatory house in order. Links  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/developertown/ Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldkelly/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/developertown Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/developertown Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/developertown/ Company website: https://developertown.com/   Busted Myths: Self Care is all about Leisure.

Julia Becker Collins is the Chief Operating Officer at Vision Advertising that specializes in inbound marketing programs. Vision advertising is a woman-owned, women-run organization that aims to build an economy of equal wealth and opportunity.   Discussion Points: What myth or bogus strategy do you want to bust? 2:28 What do sales and marketing people need to do to make them work together as a team? 4:28 What are those things that you recommend people to do as a part of the nurturing program to move the leads forward in the pipeline? 12:48 How do you keep the team motivated? How do you guys function? 18:05 Tell us more about your hiring process. 25:52 What is the biggest mistake you made as an agency owner? 30:08 Tell us a little bit about how you got into this business. 38:20 What keeps you up at night? 44:42   Takeaways  Sales and marketing teams need to understand that in order to succeed, they need to be holding hands. We have two things that are superpowers. One is how we communicate. And it's both internally with the team and externally with our clients. And the other is being transparent, honest, and open. The best way to understand working for Julia and vision advertising is to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. You should always say what you're thinking, but you're always gonna get feedback! Setting employees and clients up for success is the goal and to do that you need to communicate clearly. When you have a new hire, the biggest challenge is to make sure they know what they're supposed to do. I don't like being the smartest person in the room. I don't want to know everything. I want to hire people that know more than I do. So I might know the most about leadership, but somebody on my team is gonna know way more than me about graphic design, SEO or presenting a live webinar for that matter. If you are a marketing agency, and you're not doing your own marketing, create a marketing plan like we did for our own agency, and start marketing yourself and prioritizing yourself as a client.   Links  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-becker-collins/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JuliaRivka Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliarivka/ Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vision-advertising/ Website: https://www.vision-advertising.com/ Busted Myths: The relationship between sales and marketing should be siloed.

Brett Snyder is the founder and CEO of Knucklepuck. Brett built Knucklepuck with a holistic digital philosophy, assembling a team of experts in SEO, Paid Media, Content Marketing, and Web Development that is uniquely positioned to adapt to clients' evolving business needs.   Discussion Points: What myth or bogus strategy do you want to bust?  1:53 How did you get into this business? 5:56 Tell us more about your experience with customers. 11:48 How do you keep the team motivated? 18:38 Tell us more about your hiring process. 25:18 What's your favorite interview question? 41:40 What is your understanding of success? 48:07 What is Brettgammon? 52:40   Takeaways  A lot of people, in the startup world, or running a company, spend so much time putting agreements in place because we want to adhere to those agreements forever and forever. If you're in a leadership position you have to make the best decision, given the circumstances that you have. And then as those circumstances change, you have to be willing to reassess your decisions. Every decision is the right decision when you make it - Jessie There's always an option! Nobody is here in a prison state that has to continue working for a client that abuses them or their team. Everybody tries to accumulate leverage, I would argue, but it's kind of like playing a video game and stashing a whole bunch of inventory and then getting to the final boss and not using any of it! And so if you're going to collect this leverage, you have to apply it. “And I think that's where leverage really comes into play, where you just have to be willing and able to go out there and say, This is what I need for me and for my team. And I think that's the big part about leadership and a CEO role in particular”. - Brett “And I think it's one thing to say we don't require a college degree, it's another to look at the majority of the people on the team stating a college degree in their bio. Um, but we really want to be able to look at our roles as a digital company and say, does a college degree help here? I'm not sure it helps for most roles or as required for most roles. But can we at least give people the opportunity to apply, knowing that their lack of a college degree is not going to be something that will hold them back?”- Brett Success is a very individualized metric. It's defined very differently for every individual. And I think I'm no exception to that.   Links  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettasnyder/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KnucklepuckDC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knucklepuckdc/ Company Website: https://www.knucklepuckmedia.com/   Busted Myths: You don't have to honor your agreements.

JC Grubbs founder and CEO of Tandem, formerly known as DevMynd. Tandem is an end-to-end product development and innovation firm with services including business strategy, user research, UX/UI design, product management, software development, hardware design, and managed services.   Discussion Points: What myth or bogus strategy do you want to bust?  2:42 How do you generate the leads? 9:20 What are some of the marketing tactics that you guys have found? 12:05 What percentage of time do you usually spend on building networks and connections? 16:53 Give us a little rundown on your hiring model. 28:55 Do you have any tricks and tips for cultural building within an agency? 35:19 What is the best part of running a business? 43:52 How did you get into this business? 46:40 Can you tell us the story of where you started to get into the agency world? 52:00 What keeps you up at night? 57:42   Takeaways  We choose to compete against the client as opposed to competing against a competitor. In fact, we're choosing to compete against the client's understanding of how we would solve their problem. And that's the challenge for us in the process of closing a deal. You can get a lot of bang for your buck, if you're just giving people a little bit of attention, here and there. My goal always was, Can I meet one new person a week? Yeah, you know, one new person a week and one person I haven't talked to for a while and re-engage with them - Jessie It might sound harsh, but if somebody really isn't valuable, don't just move on. There are people out there that end up really just being time thieves. And you spend a lot of time that is just not valid.  There are people out there that end up really just being time thieves. And you spend a lot of time that is just not valid. And as you progress through your career, you build this sixth sense of like, Oh, I've met this person and they're a nice human being, but in the context of business, they're not going to be helpful but they're going to keep wanting to take. And you need to move on to another relationship where there's both give and take. If somebody is at the company, and isn't the right fit for our clients, for our values, for the way that we want to work, we're both doing each other a disservice by not disengaging from that relationship. The kindest thing to do sometimes is to disengage.    Links  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcgrubbs/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/thegrubbsian/ Company website: https://madeintandem.com/   Busted Myths: Sales is Overrated and Marketing is underrated

Haley Stracher is the CEO of Iris Design Collaborative, and an expert designer and marketing strategist. With more than 8 years of experience in graphic design and UI/UX, she has led creative teams at major publications and companies including the Chicago Tribune, American Osteopathic Association, and the University of Florida.   Discussion Points: What myth or bogus strategy do you want to bust?  2:20 Tell us more about your experience and process. 3:41 How do you facilitate the collaboration? 12:06  Do you have any tricks, tips, and tricks for maintaining the bonding between employees? 14:20 How did you get into this business? 16:10 What's the theme strength? 19:42 How do you guys find clients? 21:10 How did you overcome the fear of saying no to your clients? 25:12 What are the best practices that have given you more accurate estimates in the beginning? 27:25 How does your pricing model work? 30:22 What would you say was kind of one mistake that you made. 37:07 What keeps you up at night? 40:06   Takeaways  Platforms are always changing. There are new design softwares rolling out all the time. But, the eagerness to learn, the excitement and passion is really what makes most amazing team members. Hiring is hard, finding great team members is as hard; As an agency owner, you know, your team members are a huge part of what you do. Everything that you say yes to, you're saying no to something else.  Having the power to say ‘NO' to your sales lead, having that strength to say, “No, I don't think we are the right fit” is a huge thing. It can help you win bigger deals, but not everyone thinks like that. - Varun With the pricing of the contract versus the hourly component of it, the best way to manage that is to know how long a project takes with some of the standards. And then the upcharge is the nice way to say that for when they want to add on things.  Set realistic goals for yourself because your team learns from you as a leader.    Links  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haley-s-04b29939/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/irisdesigncollab/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irisdesigncollab/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iris-design-collaborative/  Company website: https://www.irisdesigncollaborative.com/   Busted Myths: The most technically skilled person may not be the best person to hire onto your team.

Bob Armbrister is the President and CEO of SPARK Business Works. Bob has led SPARK to serve hundreds of clients using a business-first approach to custom software. He leans on his experience as CIO at a national construction management firm to implement "The SPARK Way" – an approach of practical innovation that helps business leaders build tech that gets adopted (and brings ROI). Discussion Points: What myth or bogus strategy do you want to bust?  2:22 Tell us more about your experience with the SAAS products. 3:21 How does your billing model work? 6:20 What were your exit plans to shape your decisions? 9:20 Tell us more about your statement developers are winning.13:40 How is your business set up now? 18:00 Tell us about some of the experiences that you had, during the process of buying other agencies. 21:30 What would you say was kind of one mistake that you made. 24:00 Tell us about how you got into this business. 23:32 Is there any tip or trick that you use to keep your employee's stay? 28:00 How have things changed w/COVID? 30:50 How do you manage your team? 34:20 How have you kept the team connected? 36:31 Tell us about your experience with offshoring? 39:13 What keeps you up at night? 49:00   Takeaways  You don't have to make sure that your idea is going to be the winner, if you're the one, servicing the entrepreneur and so. The biggest thing in a SaaS business is churn. You're constantly trying to figure out churn, why are people leaving? What aren't you doing? What features do you need, you're trying to guess. Not everybody has the same exit plan or the same strategy in terms of what growth looks like. - Jessie The pressure on software-based markets is also the same as the service-based markets. Entrepreneurs get it right one in a million. The more experience you have, the more value you can add to the customer. The more failures we have made in the past, make us able to not repeat them with future customers. The Discovery of a problem is absolutely important. But at the same time, the person who is making that discovery also plays a huge role. - Varun Links  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobarmbrister/ Company website: https://www.sparkbusinessworks.com/   Busted Myths: Custom software is going to be needed for a long time.

Managing Partner at Lift Digital Marketing, a Full-Service Digital Marketing Agency specializing in generating leads for businesses.  Discussion Points: What myth or bogus strategy do you want to bust? (Myth 1) 1:44 What type of marketing services that you offer that do not require long-term agreements and How do you define your success metrics? 3:30 (Myth 2) 12:22 How does your billing model work? 21:20 Tell us about how you got into this business. 23:32 Is there any tip or trick that you can share? 32:50 How is your business set up now? 35:19 Tell us more about success and failures on working with freelancers and contractors model. 37:35 How do you manage your team? 41:59 What keeps you up at night? 47:03 How do you see the future of your agency? 49:04 Takeaways  It can be a leap of faith to sign a contract, a six-month contract, or a year-long contract for somebody you have just interviewed 80% of client service is managing expectations. Explaining somebody, teaching something to somebody, and then seeing that light bulb come on for them, that's an awesome feeling! Everybody wants to hire somebody that's already baked. And that's why there are fewer jobs at the top and a dearth of jobs at the bottom. With the willingness to develop people, there's a never-ending potential for talent. When somebody says ‘yes', it means that they're hearing you but not necessarily understanding you. You got to be real clear on conveying that understanding and being on the same page.   Links  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronwelch/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/aaronmwelch Company website: https://lift-digital.net/ Personal website: https://aaronmwelch.com/ Busted Myths: The need for long-term contracts. You don't need to collect payment upfront.

Tamara is the Owner and Head of Operations at Studio Simpatico. Simpatico is a creative agency based out of Manhattan, providing a variety of services from user experience (UX) design & research, branding and identity, to mobile and web design, WordPress development and maintenance, and packaging/print collateral.    Discussion Points: What myth or bogus strategy do you want to bust? 1:25 What type of system and processes have you adopted? 4:50 Are there tools that you use specifically to manage your projects? 6:55 When you started a business, what was your vision? How is turning down the clients and projects helping you grow and scale? 8:52 How has your small-sized firm helped you and differentiate from other people or competitors? 15:50 What's the seniority level on your team? 17:30 What made you quit your corporate job and then start an agency and how did it all start? 19:38 What is the biggest mistake you made as an agency owner? 20:41 How have things changed w/COVID? 22:14 How do you maintain the culture in the team? How do you keep them motivated? 23:10 What's your favorite kind of sandwich? 25:30 What's the one thing that clients do that drives you bananas? 28:10 If you were going to identify a superpower for your agency, what would you say is your superpower amongst you? 33:27 As a small child, what did you want to be when you grew up? 36:09 What keeps you up at night? 37:45 What are you looking at for the future for your agency for growth? 41:11 Takeaways  Design and development are not separate disciplines. The design affects how you're going to approach development, so is development affected by design. Introducing people who aren't on the same page about how that process flow is going to go, can introduce a lot of inefficiencies. Saying no, when we don't feel that we can provide, is the name of the game in a lot of respects. There are different purposes for why we do what we do, and the way that we do it. -Jessie Most things can be sorted out if the clients are asking for something, and maybe they don't quite understand something, that's where a little bit of mentorship goes a long way. Links   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamaraolson/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/tolsondesigns Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/studio-simpatico/ Company website: https://studiosimpati.co/ Busted Myths:  When you have a problem, throwing people at the problem will fix the problem.  

Co-CEO at Atomic Object, where he works at the intersection of business and technology. Michael's firm helps clients to research, identify, and create the right software products to suit their unique business needs. Atomic Object designs and builds web, desktop, mobile and embedded software products for clients ranging from Large scale businesses to SMEs and Startups, in diverse markets spanning automotive, healthcare, financial services, education, distribution and entertainment.   Discussion Points: What myth or bogus strategy do you want to bust? 2:59 How has your strategy helped you build your company? 7:09 What are your thoughts on the misconception in the market around the word sales? 10:47 Can you give us a quick rundown on your career accelerator program? 21:30 What did you do to make your  career accelerator program work? 26:00 How have things changed w/COVID? :32:25 How do you do your pricing with your customers? 38:33 How successfully or unsuccessfully have you been able to implement EOS in your team? 40:30 What is one of the biggest mistakes that you've ever made? 51:30 What keeps you up at night? 1:00:53 Takeaways  Buyers don't want to be sold, they want someone to solve their problem. Process the information on what other people are saying and react to it in a thoughtful manner.  Listening is a big part of selling. We have one mouth, but two ears, so we should definitely be listening more than we're talking. It's a challenge finding the right person, it's finding the right person, that's the right fit for the company.  “What if I can hire really smart, hungry people now and build a program that can very quickly, accelerate their career?” That was the premise behind the career accelerator program. - Michael Marsiglia “Teach and learn”- this is my favorite value mantra. - Michael Marsiglia Communicate clearly and effectively and know when and how.   Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-marsiglia-0726736/ Company website: https://atomicobject.com/ Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/atomic-object/   Busted Myths: Designers and developers cannot sell.

Founder, CEO, and Chief Strategist for Alpha/Echo Agency, is a boutique marketing firm that helps exceptional companies grow, launch, and build. Alpha/Echo Agency is a group of smartisans—an unagency, fighting the good fight against unawesome work.    Discussion Points: What myth or bogus strategy do you want to bust? 1:39 What type of work agencies don't think that they can do for themselves? 4:19 How do you spend time on your own brand?  7:33 and 48:19 Tell us about how you got into this business. 28:16 What was the idea behind going after startups? How did that go? And where are you now? 30:00 How have things changed w/COVID? 37:25 How do you do your pricing with your customers? 41:30 What frustrates you the most with the clients? 49:52 What is one of the biggest mistakes that you've ever made? 54:40 What keeps you up at night? 58: 22 Takeaways    There are two ways to be a product based agency; one is to create your own product and the other is to have a revenue share or partner based model. The problem with applying yourself to your own marketing is there's a farther distance between revenue generation. If your efforts aren't tied to compensation, or employee success metrics, then they're going to fail miserably. The success metrics are really tied to two things: 1: Manageable, achievable goals that you're setting for yourself. 2: The overall success of the company (in each budget). The system is only as good as the execution. - Marc Acton There's two things that make a system successful: 1: Are people actually looking at it like that's the value of the system? 2: If you make it punitive, you're almost assured of not having success. The Great work would speak for itself.- Marc Acton One of the tricks with clients is giving them two options, give them the one you like, and give them the one they asked for. - Jessie Links   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fastacton/ Company website: https://alphaechoagency.com/ Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alpha-echo-agency/ Largest independent RV magazine by Marc Acton: https://iheartrving.com/ Busted Myths: Agencies can't work for themselves.

Michael Lavista is the Founder and CEO of Caxy Interactive, a web design and development firm in Chicago specializing in User Experience and Agile-driven software and technology development. Caxy Interactive loves helping clients break new ground, find new customers, and engage the ones they already have in unexpected ways.   Takeaways  A proposal should not be to convince, it should be to confirm.  Positioning yourself as an expert, and being very selective about your prospects can save us a lot of time and money. If you narrow your focus, you broaden your market. I can market anything to anybody, but if I don't know who I'm talking to, there's no point Hire them on the basis of how the person operates, how they work, the integrity and humor, and all these other kinds of things, not just the programming skills. The number one job of the CEO and kind of how they ultimately get judged and their outcomes are evaluated, is their ability to make decisions about the priority of things they are working on. - Michael Lavista  Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaellavista/ Company Website:  https://www.caxy.com/ Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/caxy-inc-/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichaelLavista Busted Myths: The most important thing to do with the client on the front end is find out the Budget.

Ran Craycraft is the managing partner at Wildebeest, Wildebeest is a boutique tech & innovation partner for the world's most innovative brands. Wildebeest specializes in innovation, idea generation, and rapid prototyping.   Takeaways    Having a large firm does not imply that you will do more creative work or devote more time to your clients. When you are trying to address problems with clients, make sure that creative technology and strategy all have a place at the table. “I think it's really important to distinguish between when you're doing campaign work, or when you're building a platform, or product.” - Ran When creating products and platforms, keep in mind that your client's success necessitates a holistic strategy. You must look for ways to enhance the concepts and whatever it is you're building by taking a creative concept and bringing it all together in a truly unique way. We want to stand for empathy, we want something that feels alive, we also want something that feels timeless. What is discovery? For us, it often means research. It means analysis of the data that we bring in. It means being creative. When we're thinking about discovery, we're trying to come up with as many different ideas as possible. This is an additive process, we're pulling everything on the table Links   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craycraft/ Company Website: https://wildebee.st/ Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wildebee-st/ Busted Myths:  A bigger agency is a better agency.  

Mike Stone is the Co Founder at The Gnar Company, a development company that builds robust products designed for the long haul. They try to turn wild ideas into incredible digital experiences.     Takeaways    Working with offshore agencies has a number of advantages, the most important of which is cost. Using clickable prototypes to allow clients to experience the application can be really beneficial. “We really can't just start swinging hammers, we need to provide the engineering team with a blueprint and a sense of what they're going to build.” - Mike It's a good idea to create a repeatable process that allows you to move swiftly while still delivering a high-quality output. Code audits assist you in determining whether or not to work for a particular client. Links   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelvstone/# Company Website:  https://www.thegnar.com/ Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-gnar-company-inc-/about/ Busted Myths: Focus on the ‘Now'.

Ross Patrick is the Creative Director and Founder of XtraBold Agency. XtraBold is a digital marketing and strategy agency that helps brands create exceptional customer experiences, from branding and packaging to digital moments that connect with people on an emotional level. Takeaways Cultural references and knowledge are probably more important than book smarts to do the right thing for the client. To make things work, you just have to be willing to trust and to take the failure which is a part of the process. You need to be willing to be flexible and change, do your jobs differently, trust your instincts, your experience, and your willingness to take chances. And maybe fail a little bit, that's what's gonna get you through this. Make sure you're clear, and that the team is transparent; transparent about who, what, where, when, and how. Links: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosspatrick/ Company website - https://xtrabold.agency/ Ross's twitter - https://twitter.com/brandman3000   Busted Myths: You have to be an expert to do things that you want to do.

Anthony Armendariz is the Partner, Head of Design at Funsize. Funsize is a digital service and product design agency that works with inspiring design and engineering teams to uncover opportunities, evolve popular products, bring new businesses to market, and prepare for the future.   Takeaways Enterprise design work is more about understanding people and maturity levels and way less about the actual design work. “A good client is one with whom you can work for three years or more, with several workstreams in each account and sustain that.” - Anthony Protecting what you consider is vital, such as cultural management decisions, which are made to ensure that the company's workforce number remains constant rather than to make money. It's beneficial for designers working in agencies to have the experience of knowing what it's like to work at their clients' companies.   Links:   LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyarmendariz/ Company website - https://www.funsize.co   Busted Myths: Investing in junior designers is too demanding, difficult, or risky.

Jeremy Durant is the Business Principal at Bop Design, a marketing communications agency dedicated to assisting companies and organizations in developing their brand through effective design and integrated marketing systems. Takeaways In terms of development, cost, and quality, working with outsourced companies is beneficial. It's as simple as taking those cost savings and passing them along to your customer. It is simpler to retain employees when you are not overly aggressive in terms of growth; it is preferable to keep things moderate, steady, and disciplined. “There's a perception. If you have an office, that means you're more established.” - Jeremy When you're starting out as an agency it's crucial to concentrate on variable costs as much as possible. From a growth perspective, an average of 150,000 to 200,000 in revenue per employee is a good starting point for a web design agency. While working with an outsourced or an offshore company, any task or skill that you're outsourcing requires you to have employees on your team that have the same skills. Links: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremydurant/ Bop Design - https://www.linkedin.com/company/bop-design/    Busted Myths: Entering a saturated market is bad news, especially when you're coming from a different background.  

Nancy Lyons is the Co-founder and CEO of Clockwork, a Minneapolis-based design and development agency of thinkers and doers. They transform businesses by uniting people, processes, and technology around business solutions.      Takeaways Starting as an agency at present, data is your best friend. With Market analysis and research, you can accurately determine your strengths by figuring out where you fit? Who you are talking to and what do they want? Be mindful of your strategy and revisit it in a timely manner. Regular conversations about strategy will help you formulate a roadmap to follow. “I often tell people that sometimes we're limited by the limitations of our prospects or our clients' understandings, because they call us when they need what they think we do.” - Nancy “When you're able to clearly articulate absolutely what you do, and the value that your prospects can expect from that absolute thing. I think it makes it much easier to drive interest in your brand and your offering.” - Nancy When you're building a business plan start by figuring out what is it that you're trying to accomplish? What do you want? What is your business focus? How do you expect to scale?   Links: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancylyons/ Clockwork - https://www.clockwork.com/ Nancy - https://www.nancylyons.com/   Busted Myths: The American dream that hard work and perseverance are a sure-shot way of making it big in the country and it's never about the privileges.   

Erin Young is the Founder & Principal Consultant at Slide UX, a family-run business that specializes in UX. They help clients establish great user experiences, utilizing the best UX design practices that include integrated business strategy, user research, UI design, and cross-functional collaboration. They've been named one of the best UX agencies five years in a row.  Takeaways The real value of UX research is understood through opportunity cost. Try asking “What would it cost if you got on the wrong foot with wrong assumptions?” User Research might help you choose the right options from the get-go. Competitive research can provide deep insights but it's not user research. Now that the companies are recognizing that digital is imperative and carries more weight than ever before, it has changed the way they are distributing their budget. "Every company reaches that point where they have to delegate, or they have to divide decision-making to make all of the decisions they have to make" - Erin To facilitate the free flow of communication and humanize remote culture, organize weekly meetings as a senior leadership team, prepare an agenda ahead of time with space for comments, and most importantly take notes.  Links: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinlynnyoung/ Slide UX - https://slideux.com/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/slideux?lang=en Busted Myths:  You can save time by skipping user research.

Jeff Archibald is the Managing Director of Paper Leaf, a full-stack website, app, and software development firm. Their products have received awards and accolades, and they are also recognized as one of Canada's top firms by Strategy Magazine and Clutch.   Takeaways As an Agency Owner, you need to step out of roles that are not strategic and uses your time productively. It is difficult, but you have to make that shift from a tactical to a strategic mindset. This is quite crucial for the early growth phase. Organize your processes, divest the skill sets amongst the group, and become a profitable company. This is the right way to structure a business vis-a-vis someone simply showing an interest in acquiring your business. In case someone does show up, be a willing participant in those conversations When considering an acquisition offer, do your due diligence, identify the financial red flags and ensure that any risks that you're taking are mutually shared.  “You need to understand that you're going to have to take on some risk, and the acquiring party is going to have to take on some risk. But if those balances ever get out of whack, then you need to be willing to walk away.” - Jeff To make your life easier, hire an attorney and an accountant, even if you happen to be familiar with the legalities of an acquisition.   Links: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-archibald-b6904243 Paper Leaf - https://paper-leaf.com/     Busted Myths: Hustle glorification. The correlation that if you're working 60 or 80 hour weeks, you're somehow doing a better job than everybody else, or you're more deserving than somebody else.

Mark Baldino is the Co-founder of Fuzzy Math, a user experience design, strategy, and innovation firm that solves difficult problems with a human-centered design approach and has helped establish design practices for upstart businesses and Fortune 500 companies including Microsoft, and GE Healthcare. Takeaways If a resource is comfortable with working remotely then as an agency you should allow them to. An A+ resource is better remote than outside your company.  As an agency things like culture happen naturally. If you're living the values you preach, the team follows.  Contrary to popular belief virtual meetings are more inclusive. There is an accessibility component to communication in a 100% virtual company. “When everyone's just a screen, you kind of treat everybody a little bit more equal. And I think that's a real benefit. And I think our clients can feel that and our team can feel that whether we're doing an internal kind of meeting, or we're doing a client workshop.” - Mark  Sometimes you have to say no to good business just because it's not the right fit for you, culturally or technologically. First contacts can determine if a client is good for you or not. If they're having trouble understanding your culture and values then it's not going to be any different with work. Links: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/markbaldino/ Fuzzy Math - https://fuzzymath.com   Busted Myths: Communication in a 100% virtual company strains people and makes them less productive.

JD Graffam is the Founder and CEO at Simple Focus, a UX-focused digital product, and interaction design agency. They help their clients grow by increasing conversion rates, reducing friction, and telling stories. JD Graffam is a recognized user experience expert, author, speaker, and writer. A Serial entrepreneur, he also owns 10+ profitable businesses besides Simple Focus.   Takeaways As a business owner, you have to prioritize and manage time. Delegate more and make time by managing your commitments in advance. Hire a professional to help better plan your day/week and manage your time more efficiently. “If you take Opportunity Cost to the next level of understanding, you will realize that it is the single most important economic concept that there is because you have to decide what's the most important thing you need to be working on.” -Graffam Having trustworthy people or decision-makers in your team is crucial for business growth.  Manage your inbox to better manage your work/life.  “You need to keep a clear head, keep things simple, stay on top, that's the tip or trick.” -Graffam As a business, you need to know your priorities while outsourcing for a better ROI. Figure out if it's budget concerns, culture, timezone, or something else.  Links: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdgraffam/ Medium - https://medium.com/@jdgraffam Simple Focus - https://simplefocus.com/   Busted Myths: Thinking that sharing Calendly links without updating your calendar and commitments is better than taking time to actively schedule meetings when you're actually available.  When applying for a job, being extra casual and edgy helps you stand out.

Peter Kang is the Co-Founder and CEO at Barrel, helping brands scale and optimize their threat to consumer experiences while developing meaningful connections with their customers.   Takeaways: One of the essential aspects of great company culture is shared language. Having a unified communication helps everyone be on the same page. A great way to develop a shared language is by reading books together. “The biggest part of leadership is modeling. If you do the things you think are important and live the values you say are important, then the rest of it takes care of itself.” ~Peter Building a business infrastructure that consistently fosters leadership is highly beneficial for employee growth. Take a long term perspective on growth. Think of the hard decisions and what could be done now in order to have a compounded effect in the future.   Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterkang34/ Personal Website: https://www.peterkang.com Barrel: https://www.barrelny.com   Busted Myth: A domain name does not define the name of your organization.   Ways to Tune In: iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agencies-that-build/id1533003876 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/04KrB9JKLJ7lxoBZQQpSSH?si=zljWTjmwSK-ht50WPpesOg Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/agencies-that-build Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWdlbmNpZXN0aGF0YnVpbGQuY29tL2ZlZWQueG1s YouTube - Full video - https://youtu.be/CrkvUkDp0ZE

Bill Whitebone is the Principal at Advance Velocity, providing businesses with the expertise and capacity needed to take them to the next level. They partner with their clients from start to finish, focusing on their client's needs while producing new ideas, developing effective strategies, and designing high quality and scalable solutions.   Takeaways: The key to your team's success in finding client solutions is by understanding their business. This is crucial to finding a personalized solution that caters to their needs. Look for references from past customers of and leadership at an offshore team to gain insight into whether or not they are a good fit to collaborate with your organization. “If you have a good team and you have confidence in what you are delivering then fixed price is the way to go. It's certainly riskier, but if you know what you are doing and you know how your team works there's more margin to be had there potentially.” ~Bill Global teams allow for a wide variety of global perspectives. The best voices and inputs from across the globe can come together and create immense value in creating the best possible solutions. Remote work has opened the doors, even more so, to working with offshore companies. Will the future bring a more competitive global workforce?   Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billwhitebone/ Advance Velocity: https://www.advancevelocity.com   Busted Myth: Solutions are not easy. Identify the problem by asking your clients, “What is preventing your business from functioning optimally?” Understand the broader challenge.   Ways to Tune In: iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agencies-that-build/id1533003876 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/04KrB9JKLJ7lxoBZQQpSSH?si=zljWTjmwSK-ht50WPpesOg Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/agencies-that-build Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWdlbmNpZXN0aGF0YnVpbGQuY29tL2ZlZWQueG1s YouTube - Full video - https://youtu.be/uH4JCVO4cWQ

Angel Lacret is the Founder & Chief of Product Development at Cobuild Lab, a software development company that specializes in solving logistics and productivity problems, custom software solutions, and artificial intelligence.   Takeaways: “The hardest part about being remote [before COVID-19] is how you communicate trust and present yourself as a serious company with clients.” ~Angel Being isolated in your home trying to solve problems and get things done is challenging. Building a process-based workflow defines responsibilities and sets checkpoints to reach goals. Communication and personality is paramount for building relationships with a remote company. Ask questions during the recruiting process to see which applicants will fit best in your remote company culture. “When I started out I made many mistakes. I am not a natural salesperson. How I fixed this problem is by being honest and trying to be as planned as possible.”   Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alacret/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/alacret?lang=en Cobuild Lab: https://cobuildlab.com   Busted Myth: Miami is more than a vacation destination. It has a thriving ecosystem with many facets including its growing tech community from Microsoft & Apple to smaller tech companies.   Ways to Tune In: iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agencies-that-build/id1533003876 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/04KrB9JKLJ7lxoBZQQpSSH?si=zljWTjmwSK-ht50WPpesOg Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/agencies-that-build Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWdlbmNpZXN0aGF0YnVpbGQuY29tL2ZlZWQueG1s YouTube - Full video - https://youtu.be/-fhn-JXUFnA

Jamie Anderson is the CEO at Emergent Software, an award-winning custom software development company that provides high-quality custom software development, website development & design, mobile & web application development, and more. They value employee development, small business, and client partnerships over sales.   Takeaways: “As companies get bigger often they try to do more and more things. I think that is a good business strategy, however, I think you have to be careful not to lose what you're good at.”~Jamie Saying no to a client is one of the hardest things to do as an agency. When pivoting that conversation with a client make sure your leadership is on the same page and be confident in your company direction. The current global climate has driven change, especially in businesses and how they interact with or invest in technology. Having a staffing-based delivery focuses on the technology conversation over how the product is delivered. This simplifies the message and makes your agency more boutique-like. “The growth metric that we are looking at is consistent, controlled growth. What's important is maintaining our culture that we developed and maintaining the quality for our clients.” ~Jamie   Links: LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamieanderson2/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamieand78 Emergent Software website: https://www.emergentsoftware.net   Busted Myth: Bigger is not better. In smaller agencies and companies there is more opportunity to impact culture, to lead, to make customer impact than there is with a bigger “machine”.   Ways to Tune In: iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agencies-that-build/id1533003876 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/04KrB9JKLJ7lxoBZQQpSSH?si=zljWTjmwSK-ht50WPpesOg Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/agencies-that-build Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWdlbmNpZXN0aGF0YnVpbGQuY29tL2ZlZWQueG1s YouTube - Full video - https://youtu.be/cNGDROlPauQ

Garrett Ross is the Co-founder of Mobelux, a leading software design & development agency that offers services including UX, Design, Development and Strategy. They design, build, and brand award‑winning mobile apps and modern web platforms.   Takeaways: “Internal leadership should be natural and organic. The company as a whole is a living organism. How to enable people is to make them feel like they are contributing and adding value.”~Garrett Knowing when to step back and allow your co-workers to have the ability to design and create without restraint fosters career and personal growth within the company. Take the risk without fear of failure! You never know where a product or project will lead. Trust your gut and go for it. Mobelux's superpower: Being able to innovate and solve problems that have not hit the market before.   Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-ross-922903/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/grtweets Mobelux: https://mobelux.com Personal Website: https://www.garrettross.com 24pt YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgids9oE_yA&list=PLBa1QbVUnIMrqNRsfusINzAbq7MCTpelu Instagram: @garrettross   Busted Myth: Talent is overrated. Anything can be learned. If you work hard enough and have a good work ethic you can master your craft. Process is overrated. Problem solving heightens when you are thrown into an uncomfortable situation. Many tend to be afraid to fail, but you can learn to feel uncomfortable.  No one can master something in a set amount of hours. Learning something new varies from person to person.    Ways to Tune In: iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agencies-that-build/id1533003876 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/04KrB9JKLJ7lxoBZQQpSSH?si=zljWTjmwSK-ht50WPpesOg Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/agencies-that-build Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWdlbmNpZXN0aGF0YnVpbGQuY29tL2ZlZWQueG1s YouTube - Full video - https://youtu.be/JtgU7nLRJmI

Mark Rickmeier is the CEO of Table XI, a UX design and custom software development firm with experience in mobile apps, building integrated web applications, and custom digital experiences. They value community, strategy, and finding solutions with an experimental mindset.   Takeaways: Adopting an experimental mindset in your agency allows your team to have the flexibility to try new things. The immediate ROI may not be linear, but you'll know that there is energy and passion behind the project. In an agency, sometimes we are stretched thin with multiple tasks on hand. Delegate separate tasks to your team to create clear accountability to improve efficiency. Empower your team to explore providing different or more services over time as the market evolves or as the clients evolve. Your direct competitors can provide immense value. Building a network of trusted peers enhances this model of coopertition by directly working with peers in the industry. “The single most important thing to do in onboarding is proper expectation of what success looks like. This provides a clear understanding of how they will bring value to the agency.”~Mark Effectively invest in and shape your work culture by building inclusivity and making it explicit that everybody's voices matter.   Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrickmeier/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRickmeier Table XI: https://www.tablexi.com Walkshop: https://www.walkshop.io Meetings Done Right: https://www.meetingsdoneright.co The Sticky Note Game: https://www.stickynote.game   Busted Myth: We associate value in meetings, getting things done and all around being busy. If you find yourself constantly booking up your calendar, then start to plan a time period when you can, as an owner, really learn or think about where you want to go as an agency.   Ways to Tune In: iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agencies-that-build/id1533003876 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/04KrB9JKLJ7lxoBZQQpSSH?si=zljWTjmwSK-ht50WPpesOg Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/agencies-that-build Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWdlbmNpZXN0aGF0YnVpbGQuY29tL2ZlZWQueG1s YouTube - Full video - https://youtu.be/M7uDY8WzcTQ

Pete Baumgartner is the Founder of Lincoln Loop, a full-service software development agency specializing in Python and Django development for web and mobile systems. They value transparent partnerships in order to produce straightforward solutions.   Takeaways: Advertising yourself as a niche agency starting off is a great strategy to get your foot in the door and be successful as a new agency. Find out what you want to be known for early on. Being a remote agency, it is important to have trust and autonomy with your team. This flexibility helps staff have a better work life balance and figure out their role. Having a full financial transparency within the agency empowers co-workers to clearly visualize how they are affecting the bottom line. Developing virtual team culture can be difficult. Start by meeting with your team in person at conferences and grow from there. Pete Baumgartner's superpower - Flexibility “We are all trying to wear a bunch of different hats. Things are going to drop and that's okay.”   Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pbaumgartner/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ipmb Lincoln Loop: https://lincolnloop.com High Performance Django: https://highperformancedjango.com   Busted Myth: “You don't need a deep connection of people or be plugged into a network to start an agency. If you are doing good work and put yourself out there, then it will grow organically.” ~Pete   Ways to Tune In: iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agencies-that-build/id1533003876 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/04KrB9JKLJ7lxoBZQQpSSH?si=zljWTjmwSK-ht50WPpesOg Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/agencies-that-build Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWdlbmNpZXN0aGF0YnVpbGQuY29tL2ZlZWQueG1s YouTube - Full video - https://youtu.be/SXTBbCVWr2U