Advertise on podcast: Agency Bytes

Featuring: Taylor McMaster, Founder, Dot&Co In episode 169, I welcome back Taylor McMaster, founder of Dot and Co and host of the Happy Clients podcast, to talk about the sale of her agency to E2M. Taylor started Dot and Co in 2018 with an exit already in mind. We dig into how she built a category of one in fractional account management by saying no more often than yes, why she spent years removing herself from the day-to-day, and how a casual conversation at an industry event turned into a year-long relationship and, eventually, a deal that closed in under two months. She also gets honest about the mistakes that stretched her timeline and the mental shift of handing over the reins. For agency owners, this one is a reminder that sellability is built, not bolted on. Focus, documented systems, and a business that runs without you create real options. And the trust you build with peers today may become the foundation of your best deal tomorrow. Key Bytes • Saying no more often than yes is what turns a niche into a category of one. • If you want to sell someday, every hire should remove risk from you as the founder. • Teetering between a lifestyle business and a scaling business can cost you years. • Waiting for one more tweak to boost the multiple rarely changes the outcome. • Your first buyer is likely already somewhere in your network. • Due diligence starts long before the LOI, in every conversation built on trust. • When the business doesn't need you, staying on becomes a choice instead of a condition. • Stepping away from the craft you love is the hardest part of building to sell. Chapters 00:00 Welcoming Taylor McMaster back to the show 02:16 Building a category of one in fractional account management 05:00 Starting with the exit in mind from day one 08:15 The hiring and investment mistakes that slowed the timeline 12:50 The mental shift of handing over the reins 16:39 Early buyer conversations that didn't feel right 17:38 How a chat at an industry event led to E2M 21:04 Life nine months after the acquisition 25:28 Why there's no grief when you've already stepped away 28:06 Closing the deal in under two months Taylor McMaster is the founder of DOT & Company where she and her team help digital marketing agencies keep their clients happy—and keep agency owners focused on what they do best—with full-service client account management (CAM) services. As the leader of DOT & Company, Taylor trained and led a team of Client Account Managers who partnered with agencies to deliver smooth, strategic, high-touch client service. The company’s success and impact ultimately led to its acquisition, marking an exciting next chapter in Taylor’s entrepreneurial journey. Taylor is also the host of The Happy Clients Podcast, where she interviews top names in the industry and explores what it really takes to create happy, retained clients in the agency world. Contact Taylor on the Dot&Co website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and be sure to listen to their podcast!

Featuring: Rachel Zorel, 7 Layer Studio In episode 168, I sit down with Rachel Zorel, founder and creative director of Seven Layer Studio, a creative agency based in South Orange, New Jersey. Rachel walks me through her path from young designer in New York City to giving notice the day after one coffee meeting, then spending more than a decade solo before building a team in 2017. We talk about what changes when you move from doing the work to directing it, why "work in progress" became a quiet philosophy inside her studio, and why her team chooses to work side by side. We also dig into her decision to stay broad across healthcare, philanthropy, food, education, and beauty rather than niche down. For agency owners, this conversation is a reminder that culture is built through small, deliberate habits. Rachel shows how being honest about what you haven't done yet builds more trust than pretending, and why a generalist perspective can be a real differentiator when it is a choice rather than a default. Key Bytes • There is never a right time to start, so the waiting is usually the bigger risk. • Reliability can become your brand promise when your industry is known for the opposite. • As an owner, you never stop being close to the work, you just get close to it in new ways. • Calling yourself a work in progress keeps the whole team open to getting better. • Saying yes to new work only builds trust when you are honest about how much you have done. • Some creative decisions are simply better made standing next to each other. • Junior team members learn as much from overheard conversations as from formal training. • A generalist agency can win because clients don't want to look like everyone else in their category. Chapters 00:00 Meet Rachel Zorel and Seven Layer Studio 01:14 Leaving an agency job at 24 with no backup plan 02:37 Setting out to prove designers can be reliable 05:59 Moving from employee to freelancer to owner 09:25 What an owner's day looks like with a team of five 12:59 Why work in progress is a mindset, not just a sign 16:44 Saying yes to new work while staying honest 18:26 Why the team chooses to work side by side 22:57 Making the case for staying a generalist 25:13 Rapid fire and advice to a younger Rachel Rachel Zorel is the founder and creative director of 7 Layer Studio, a creative agency in South Orange, New Jersey. She left her agency job at 24 to start a one-woman design company, then steadily and skillfully grew it, becoming 7 Layer Studio in 2017. The studio works with founder-led brands, seasoned businesses, and mission-driven organizations across health care philanthropy, food, education, beauty, and the nonprofit world. The studio's people-first culture is fueled by steady curiosity, insatiable creativity, and the room to not take it all too seriously. Outside of work, Rachel loves a good book, a well-planned trip, and her favorite, a movie night with her husband, four kids, and Rocky, their new puppy. Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn, Instagram, their company website, or their company LinkedIn.

Featuring: Albert Banks, Apertus In episode 167, I sit down with Albert Banks, founder and principal of Apertus and a twenty-plus-year agency veteran who built MyJive, merged with Union, and sold to Valtech. We talk about losing ninety percent of his revenue when traditional agencies brought digital in-house, the 2020 repositioning toward performance marketing, and why splitting account and project management changed how they grew clients. Albert walks me through the merger that pushed both agencies past their plateaus, what a well-run integration looks like inside a global acquirer, and why your peers might be your best future deal partners. If you're running an agency, this one is a reminder that a sellable business and a good life don't have to compete. Albert makes the case for building something operationally sound whether or not you ever sell it, getting the menial work off your plate, and deciding what you actually want before chasing someone else's goals. Key Bytes • Run a business that is sellable, whether you ever sell it or not. • Your best new business usually comes from the clients you already have. • A merger can turn two plateaued agencies into one mature business overnight. • Skipping hard decisions during integration feels kind, but it rarely serves the team. • Similar partners can still make great decisions if diverse viewpoints are welcomed at the table. • Today's competitor may be tomorrow's merger partner, so build the relationship now. • You can't plan an exit while you're still buried in the menial work. • There will always be more work to do, so make time for the life you're working for. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and intro to Albert Banks 01:18 From computer engineer to accidental agency founder 03:18 Losing 90% of revenue and rebuilding the positioning 06:41 Splitting account and project management to grow clients 08:06 Staying on through the acquisition and integration 12:33 Merging with a peer to break through the growth ceiling 17:47 Why your peers might be your future deal partners 19:47 Life after the exit as a fractional advisor 24:12 Building a sellable business that still gives you a life 27:24 Rapid-fire questions and closing thoughts Albert Banks is a 20+ year agency veteran, former developer, and "recovering" agency owner. Over two decades, he scaled and transitioned his own firm, from founding digital agency Myjive, to merging with Union, to ultimately completing an acquisition by global digital agency Valtech. Today, Albert is the Founder and Principal of Apertus, where he serves as a fractional leader and advisor to independent professional services firms. Drawing on his firsthand experience navigating growth plateaus, post-merger integrations, and exits, Albert helps agency founders build operationally sound, highly profitable businesses through operational and financial excellence, employee engagement, and M&A/sale preparation. Contact Albert on LinkedIn or their website.

Featuring: Audrey Kwan, Agency Together In episode 166, I sit down with Audrey Joy Kwan, a coach and consultant who helps boutique agency owners get valued, priced, and chosen as strategic partners, and the host of the Small But Mighty Agency podcast. We talk about why so many agencies feel fragile right now, with the economy, culture, and AI all shifting at once, and why execution alone has lost much of its value. Audrey shares how to tell when it's time to choose a niche, how to pick one that will still be growing three years from now, and why saying yes to outlier clients can quietly throw a wrench into your operations. We also dig into building real, in-person relationships and the collaboration-over-competition mindset behind her community, Agency Together. If you have ever felt treated like a vendor, this episode offers a practical path toward strategic partnership. You will walk away with a clearer way to look at your client portfolio, a reason to show up where your clients actually gather, and permission to focus on one sprint at a time. Key Bytes • When anyone can execute at the push of a button, judgment becomes the thing clients pay for. • Most agency owners already know they should niche; the gap is turning that knowledge into action. • Find the 20% of your portfolio you love serving, then ask whether that industry will still be growing in three years. • Saying no to the wrong client leaves room for the right ones to say yes. • A pattern spotted across three clients in one industry becomes a point of view the whole industry wants to hear. • Waiting for referrals isn't a strategy, it's hope. • Collaboration over competition turns other agencies into your warmest source of introductions. • Pick one sprint per quarter and finish it, because trying to balance everything means nothing gets done. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and intro to Audrey Joy Kwan 01:39 What makes agencies fragile versus resilient 03:13 Why positioning matters more as execution gets cheaper 05:06 How to know when it's time to niche 10:48 The real cost of saying yes to outlier clients 12:26 Signs your agency is being treated like a vendor 15:34 Building trust and earning a seat at the strategy table 19:56 Collaboration over competition and Agency Together 22:26 One move to make this quarter 24:52 Rapid fire with Audrey Audrey Joy Kwan is a coach and consultant who helps boutique agency owners stop being seen as executors and start being valued, priced, and chosen as strategic partners. With 15+ years of agency and consulting experience, including helping scale and exit a boutique agency, Audrey now partners with founders who want to step out of day-to-day delivery, strengthen their positioning, and build businesses that are profitable, respected, and built to last. She is also the host of the Small But Mighty Agency podcast and the founder of Agency Together, a community for agency owners who believe collaboration beats competition. Contact Audrey on their website, learn about their mixer events, or connect on LinkedIn.

Featuring: Melanie Balke. The Email Marketers In episode 165, I sit down with Melanie Balke, founder and CEO of The Email Marketers, an outsourced email marketing department that helps e-commerce brands build deeper customer relationships and grow revenue. We talk about how her business evolved from freelance work into a full agency built around pods of specialists, and how the scope of retention marketing has expanded well beyond email into SMS, subscriptions, loyalty, and referral programs. Melanie breaks down the real difference between underutilizing email and underoptimizing it, and why SMS engagement often beats email even though it comes with a lot less room for error. Agency owners will walk away with a sharper view of how to use AI for deeper customer research instead of just faster output, why a simple monthly newsletter can keep you top of mind with B2B prospects, and why protecting a slow morning might matter more than an early one. Key Bytes • Underutilized and underoptimized are not the same problem — one means you aren't sending email at all, the other means you're sending it without a strategy behind it. • SMS can hit open rates near 90%, but that trust is more fragile, so every text either earns the next one or costs you a subscriber. • Between 2023 and 2024, Melanie's team had to send double the emails to hit the same revenue for the same client with the same offer. • AI isn't replacing the creative work at The Email Marketers — it's replacing the research that used to be too time-consuming, like mining Reddit and testimonials for the exact language customers use. • A referral program you set up once and never touch again isn't a referral program, it's a checkbox. • Most B2B agencies are still underutilizing their own email list, when a simple monthly newsletter is often enough to stay top of mind. • Melanie doesn't take a call before 11am, and protecting that slow morning is part of how she runs the business, not a luxury she fits in around it. • If you're on the fence about texting your customers, the real question isn't whether you like getting texts — it's whether you like money. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and introducing Melanie Balke 01:16 From freelancing to building The Email Marketers 02:41 How the pod system runs strategy, copy, design, and delivery 04:19 Why retention now means more than just email 07:18 The real difference between underutilized and underoptimized email 09:10 Email versus SMS: engagement, risk, and where each one wins 15:12 How The Email Marketers uses AI for research and creative 19:58 Melanie's shift from freelancer to founder and her day to day 22:03 What B2B agencies get wrong about their own email marketing 27:01 Rapid fire: books, debunked advice, and protecting a slow morning This week, my guest is Melanie Balke, Founder & CEO of The Email Marketers, an outsourced email marketing department helping e-commerce brands build deeper customer relationships and grow revenue. Before launching her agency, she led email marketing for one of LA's fastest-growing agencies, was the first marketing hire at Apt2B, and consulted for brands like Mercedes-Benz and SMART. Melanie Balke is the Founder & CEO of The Email Marketers: Your outsourced email department helping e-commerce brands to build deep relationships with their customers and grow their revenue. Before she started The Email Marketers, she was the Head of Email Marketing for one of LA's fastest-growing agencies and the first marketing hire for Apt2B (acquired), as well as a marketing consultant for conglomerate brands such as Mercedes-Benz and SMART before that. Contact Melanie on their website or on LinkedIn.

Featuring: David J. Ebner, Content Workshop In episode 164, I sit down with David J. Ebner, president of Content Workshop, a story-first content marketing agency built for B2B tech brands, and author of Kingmakers. David and I trace his path from a creative writing MFA to running a content agency, and the moment he realized artistic storytelling and brand storytelling are really the same skill aimed at different outcomes. We get into why even the most technical, sophisticated buyers still respond to story, what agencies get wrong when they lean on AI without understanding what good content actually looks like, and why some of his clients have left for AI tools only to come back once they realized nothing was actually getting produced. For agency owners, this one's a reminder that content is still fundamentally about earning someone's attention and respecting their time. David makes the case for zagging when every competitor is zigging toward the same AI-flavored sameness, and for treating freelancers and internal team members with the same care you'd give your best client. Key Bytes • Storytelling isn't a tactic. It's how humans have always made emotional connections, long before it became a marketing buzzword. • In every great brand story, the hero is the customer, not the company. Most founders have a hard time getting out of their own way on that one. • B2B tech buyers are still human. They don't need buzzwords, they need concise, honest content that respects how much they already know. • Selling on fear, uncertainty, and doubt might close a deal, but it rarely keeps a client. The moment they find a solution that doesn't scare them, they're gone. • AI doesn't fix bad writing. It just makes bad writing faster, and now you have to already know what good looks like to catch it. • The agencies producing content that wastes people's time are stealing back the one asset nobody gets returned: attention. • When every competitor is zigging toward the same AI-flavored sameness, zagging with something genuinely different becomes the actual differentiator. • In the end, all we really have is how we make people feel, whether that's a client, a freelancer, or a teammate. Chapters 00:00 Why storytelling matters more than ever in agency marketing 00:58 David's storytelling roots growing up the youngest of five in Ohio 03:34 What Story Brand gets right about the hero's journey 04:58 Where B2B tech brands go wrong telling their story 08:28 The shift from creative writer to strategist and business owner 11:15 David's daily writing habit and why pen and paper still matters 13:46 The real cost of low quality content and AI slop 17:15 Why clients ask if they still need to pay an agency that uses AI 21:23 Zagging when every competitor leans on AI the same way 25:08 Rapid fire on coffee, book recommendations, and Slaughterhouse-Five David J Ebner is the President of Content Workshop, a story-first content marketing agency serving B2B tech brands, especially in cybersecurity, SaaS, and manufacturing. A former creative writer turned strategist, David leads a team of classically trained storytellers who’ve produced over 30,000 content assets for clients across North America. He’s the author of Kingmakers: A Content Marketing Story and a sought-after speaker on brand voice, narrative content strategy, and the evolving intersection of AI and storytelling. Contact David on the Content Workshop website, Chatter Agent, or LinkedIn.

Featuring: James Kwon, Figmints In episode 163, I sit down with James Kwon, founder and CEO of Figmints, a digital creative and marketing agency celebrating its fifteenth year in business. James and I get into the shift he's making from a pure services agency to a product-driven business, and why he believes agency owners need to build boats, not moats, as AI reshapes the industry. We talk through the acquisition that first pulled him into the M&A world, what he looks for in a deal today, and the story behind Slices, his own pay-for-performance compensation model that ties every dollar of revenue to the work that earned it. For agency owners, this one's a look at what it actually takes to build a business that doesn't depend entirely on you, through smarter pay structures, disciplined product bets, and acquisitions built on shared values rather than just the numbers. Key Bytes • As agency owners, we have to build boats, not moats. The AI tsunami is already here, so playing defense with old tactics isn't a strategy. • James turned a fifty-thousand-dollar hire into someone earning over one hundred forty thousand a year, just by tying pay directly to the revenue someone brings in and delivers. • Every dollar Figmints receives gets carved into slices: sales, account management, strategy, fulfillment, operations, and profit. That objectivity ends the "why does she make more than me" conversations. • Hourly pay incentivizes people to take longer. A model built on outcomes incentivizes people to get faster and better. • James's first acquisition wasn't a strategic masterplan. It was a friend in decline who trusted him enough to merge, and they're still friends today. • Love is inefficient. It was designed that way, and you can't use AI to love people efficiently. • One of Figmints' internal products recently sold for almost nine figures, and that exit is now fueling more acquisitions and more product bets. • The best dashboards don't just report what happened. They tell you the thing you didn't know to ask about yet. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and introducing James Kwon of Figmints 01:35 James's path from culinary arts and UX design to CVS.com 03:07 Building Figmints and celebrating fifteen years in business 03:33 Why James is shifting from services to products 04:29 Building boats, not moats, in the age of AI 05:45 The first acquisition and what actually made it work 08:50 Using AI to find the right acquisition targets today 14:03 Breaking down Slices, Figmints' pay-for-performance model 21:40 The downsides of Slices and how James manages them 33:48 The best business advice James wishes he'd gotten sooner James is on a mission to help people thrive through the catalyst of business. As Founder & CEO of Figmints Digital Creative Marketing, James leverages brand storytelling and digital strategies to transform companies from ideas to industry leaders. His eclectic background in Culinary Arts, Graphic Design, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, and Theology, brings unique insights to every interaction. He's a respected industry voice, having spoken and mentored at platforms like The HubSpot INBOUND Conference, MassChallenge, CIC, MIT, RISD, Venture Cafe, and VMS. Offstage, James relishes family time with his wife and three kids, church community, and golf buddies. His life is a testament to the magic at the intersection of creativity and technology, nurturing human innovation in the digital landscape. Learn more on figmints.com

Featuring: Megan Long, Second First In episode 162, I sit down with Megan Long, founder of Second First, a company built for the COOs, integrators, and right-hand leaders who sit next to agency owners and founders. Megan and I get into what the second-in-command role actually is, why title matters far less than the ability to run the day-to-day while partnering on vision, and why the "impressive resume" hire so often falls flat. We talk about delegation, why founders keep pulling work back onto their plate even after handing it off, and how two-way communication builds real trust. We also cover what it looks like for a founder to step back, whether that's a weekly report or full autonomy, and how the role evolves as a business scales toward an eventual exit. If you've ever hired a number two and quietly taken half their job back, this conversation will hit close to home. Megan makes the case that this is one of the most isolating jobs in a company, and that investing in it might be the highest-leverage move an agency owner can make. Key Bytes • The second-in-command role isn't about title, it's about who can run the day-to-day while still partnering on where the business is headed. • The best partnerships aren't built on opposites. They're built on a mostly overlapping Venn diagram, with just a sliver of complementary difference on each side. • Hiring a "sexy resume" into your number two seat is one of the fastest ways to create friction. That role needs someone who can build the playbook, not someone who needs one already built for them. • Every founder loves to say "I delegated that." Fewer of them actually let go of the ownership that comes with it. • If your second-in-command isn't hearing from you, silence reads as failure. Downward communication is what keeps trust intact. • The real test of whether your business can run without you isn't a weekly report, it's turning the reports off altogether and seeing what happens. • A second-in-command carries the burden of knowledge with nowhere to put it. That isolation is real, and it deserves the same support founders get from their own peer groups. • Founders and their number twos are living on two separate islands. The work is building the bridge between them. Chapters 00:05 Welcome and introducing Megan Long 01:01 Megan's origin story: leading through a tornado and COVID as a COO 03:56 What second-in-command actually means beyond title 06:29 Turning a founder's vision into an operational plan 10:09 Why the best founder-operator partnerships mirror each other 12:18 Why founders struggle to actually delegate 17:06 Building trust through two-way communication 19:17 How the second-in-command role matures over time 21:11 Exit readiness and running the business without the founder 28:26 Rapid fire and where to find Megan Megan Long is the founder and owner of Second First®, a firm dedicated to the Second-In-Command (COO/Integrator) of entrepreneurial companies. Through national mastermind memberships, one-on-one coaching, and certification programs, Second First® equips right-hand leaders with the confidence, systems, and peer support they need to scale with impact, transforming their partnership with the founder in the process. Megan is also the host of "The Right-Hand Roadmap," the only podcast specifically created for Seconds-In-Command of founder-led small businesses. An experienced COO and CPA, Megan most recently served as the Second-In-Command of a $10 million IT company. Her leadership has earned recognition including Stevie Woman of the Year, the Nashville Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, the Nashville Emerging Leader Award, and Belmont University’s Top 100 Alumni Entrepreneurs. In addition to her professional work, Megan is also a professional athlete, bringing her discipline and commitment to winning to all aspects of her life. Contact Megan on LinkedIn, Instagram, or TikTok, take the Second First Assessment here, and tune into the Right Hand Roadmap podcast here.

Featuring: Lynn Juang, Frameworks Consulting In episode 161, I sit down with Lynn Juang, founder of Frameworks and a strategic partner to founder-led creative agencies working through organizational change. Lynn walks me through her path from client services in fashion advertising to COO of a multidisciplinary design firm, including the two years she spent guiding that company through the pandemic. We get into why she moved away from the word "fractional" toward what she calls a pop-up business partner model, and she draws a sharp line between a business that looks successful on paper and a company that's actually built to last. We also dig into what happens when founders lose touch with the employee experience and stop being transparent about the realities of running the business. If you're feeling like your agency has taken on a life of its own, this conversation is a good reminder to slow down, get honest about your foundation, and bring your team along for the ride. Key Bytes • A successful business and a healthy company are not the same thing. One can look great from the outside while it's held together with tape on the inside. • Fractional support can end up feeling like just another commitment. Sometimes what a founder actually needs is someone who shows up for the right time, not a long time. • Strategic planning isn't only about the deck you end up with. The clarity that comes from the process is often the real value. • When founders lose touch with what it felt like to be an employee, empathy is usually the first casualty. • Teams fill in the blanks when they don't have context. Staying quiet about the business doesn't protect people, it just breeds assumptions. • Business fluency, even without exact numbers, makes people better at their jobs. Understanding the constraints you're working within changes the recommendations you make. • Makers, managers, mentors, leaders, and visionaries are five different skill sets. Conflating them sets everyone up for misplaced expectations. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and introducing Lynn Juang 00:44 Lynn's path from client services to COO 06:01 How a multidisciplinary design firm shaped her view of agency work 08:08 Why she moved on from the word fractional 09:04 Redefining the role as a pop-up business partner 14:24 The difference between a successful business and a healthy company 19:35 Why the process matters as much as the plan 23:10 What happens when founders lose touch with being an employee 25:31 Building business fluency across the team 28:44 Rapid fire questions and closing thoughts Lynn Juang is a strategic partner and advisor to founder-led creative agencies and design studios navigating the messy middle of organizational change. A former COO with 20+ years of experience honed from the inside out — from client services to agency leadership — she launched Frameworks to be the sounding board and pop-up business partner that creative leaders rarely have but always need. She helps them cut through the chaos and make better decisions, so they can lead and build healthier, happier creative companies. Contact Lynn on their website, on LinkedIn, Instagram, and subscribe to the Explore the Midline newsletter.

Featuring: David Shriner-Cahn, Smashing the Plateau In episode 160, I talk with David Shriner-Cahn, host of the Smashing the Plateau podcast and founder of the Smashing the Plateau community, which helps consultants, coaches, and other expertise-based business owners grow through structured peer partnerships. We get into why solopreneurs plateau in the first place: underpricing out of fear, spending time on work that doesn't generate profit, and running a business without ever being trained to run one. David breaks down his SMASH framework for setting goals specific enough to act on but not so metric-driven that they choke curiosity, and explains why a trusted group of peers is often the only way to see the blind spots you can't see yourself. If you've ever hit a ceiling and told yourself a story about why you're fine there, this conversation is a useful mirror. Growing a profitable business isn't complicated, just hard, and you don't have to figure it out alone. Key Bytes • Most plateaus don't come from the market. They come from the business owner being the bottleneck. • Underpricing usually isn't a math problem. It's a confidence problem dressed up as a pricing strategy. • You can't see what you don't know you don't know. That's what a trusted peer group is for. • Goals should be specific enough to work toward, but not so metric-driven that they choke curiosity. • Ninety-day objectives are long enough to matter and short enough to stay real. • If your renewal conversation only happens once, you've already lost leverage. Build it into the relationship from day one. • Weekly accountability isn't for everyone, but for solopreneurs, the seven-day cycle just works. • Every person, team, and organization has gifts. Share them and the world prospers. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and introducing David Shriner-Cahn 00:39 From 28 years as an employee to solo consultant 02:39 How the Smashing the Plateau community took shape 03:53 What counts as an expertise-based business 04:53 Why business owners are usually their own bottleneck 09:03 What you don't know you don't know 11:10 Building the renewal conversation into the relationship 14:08 Turning vague goals into ninety-day objectives 21:18 The five steps of the SMASH framework 24:13 Rapid fire questions and a closing piece of advice David Shriner-Cahn is the host of the Smashing the Plateau podcast and the founder of the Smashing the Plateau Community, where experienced professionals building expertise-based businesses strengthen their decision-making through structured peer partnerships. After leaving corporate roles, many accomplished professionals discover that what they miss most isn’t capability — it’s infrastructure: the thinking partners, feedback loops, and shared judgment that help leaders make confident decisions. Through his podcast and community, David helps expertise-based business owners navigate complex decisions, reconnect with their vision, and build businesses that allow them to do more of what they love and get paid what they’re worth. Connect with David on LinkedIn or the Smashing the Plateau website.

Featuring: Courtney Spritzer, Entreprenista In episode 159, I sit down with Courtney Spritzer, co-founder of Social Fly and Entrepreneista, to talk about building a marketing agency from the ground up and knowing when it's time to sell. Courtney walks through the early days of bootstrapping Social Fly with her business partner Stephanie Carton, the moment they quit their corporate jobs to go all in, and how one networking connection led to their first big clients. She's candid about what it actually took to prepare the agency for a sale years before making the decision, and why owner dependency is one of the biggest threats to a clean exit. We also get into how she built Entrepreneista into a 3,700-plus member community for women founders, and where she sees AI fitting into a business built on human connection. Agency owners will walk away with a clearer picture of what buyers actually look for, and why building an agency that runs without you might be the smartest move you make. Key Bytes • Courtney quit her corporate finance job and gave herself three months to make Social Fly work before she'd have to crawl back and ask for it back. • The first week in business, she and her co-founder posted an ad on Craigslist and had six interns lined up within days. • Joining an early-morning networking group led to a bartered office space and an SEO agency partnership that got them ranked number one on Google, which is where their biggest clients came from. • Selling a business starts years before you decide to sell it. Recurring revenue, diversified clients, a strong brand, and profitability are what buyers actually look for. • The biggest trap agency owners fall into is building a business that can't run without them. • Social Fly's exit process, from hiring an M&A advisor to closing, took about ten to eleven months. • Entrepreneista grew out of a podcast into a private community of over 3,700 women entrepreneurs, with a goal of 5,000 members by the end of the year. • Courtney's advice for anyone starting out: the decisions you make today shape the life you're living three, five, and ten years from now. Chapters 00:00 Welcome to Agency Bytes with guest Courtney Spritzer 00:38 The spark behind Social Fly and leaving corporate finance 04:34 Networking her way to Social Fly's first big clients 06:01 Why she launched the Entrepreneista podcast in 2018 07:56 Preparing Social Fly for a sale years before it happened 10:27 Inside the process of selling the agency and avoiding owner dependency 13:20 Building Entrepreneista into a community for women founders 16:05 What keeps members engaged and coming back 18:40 How AI fits into a business built on human connection 24:20 Rapid fire questions and where to find Courtney Courtney Spritzer is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, author, and community builder with a passion for creating brands and platforms that empower women to lead, grow, and thrive. In 2012, she co-founded Socialfly, a leading social-first digital and influencer marketing agency. Over the course of a decade, she helped scale the business into an award-winning agency working with Fortune 500 brands and emerging startups, building a powerhouse team and culture along the way. In 2024, Socialfly was acquired. In 2018, Courtney launched the Entreprenista Podcast to spotlight the stories of inspiring women founders. That passion evolved into Entreprenista Media in 2021, a media platform and community supporting women entrepreneurs at every stage of growth. She now co-leads the continued expansion of The Entreprenista League, a membership-driven community and ecosystem for founders. As an angel investor, Courtney supports female-led and mission-driven startups aligned with her vision for a more inclusive and equitable business landscape. She is the co-author of Like, Love, Follow: The Entreprenista’s Guide to Using Social Media to Grow Your Business (2015), a strategic guide for leveraging social platforms to drive business success. Her work and ventures have been featured in Bloomberg, Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, and The New York Times. She is committed to championing visionary founders and helping build the next generation of impactful, community-driven businesses.   Learn more on Courtney’s website.

Featuring: Matt Dean, Dean&Co. In episode 158, I sit down with Matt Dean, co-founder of Dean & Co., the branding studio he and his wife Jackie built for the commercial real estate industry. Since launching in November 2021, they've grown to a team of fifteen working across seventeen states, with projects like Gasworks, Silo Park, and Austin's Second Street District behind them. Matt walks through the SCAD dorm-room origin of their partnership, the two years they spent testing other industries before realizing their entire pipeline was already commercial real estate, and the decision to go all in on one vertical instead of hedging with a few. We get into what it actually means to be a "development partner" instead of a vendor, how Dean & Co. vets clients before signing them, and the mechanics of firing a client two months into the business. Agency owners will walk away with a clearer framework for niching with conviction, having the candor conversations around scope and pricing before they become resentments, and building a culture where the team can carry the client relationship, not just the founder. Key Bytes • Your entire pipeline will tell you what your niche already is, long before you're willing to admit it. • Chasing every industry that looks fun is a side hustle wearing an agency's clothes. Discipline is choosing one thing and staying choosable for it. • Being vertically integrated but horizontally differentiated means one industry can still hold a hundred different kinds of work. • The word "vendor" should make the hair on your arm stand up. Partners get invited to the table before the brief exists. • Firing a $15,000-a-month client two months into the business was the moment the agency's values became real instead of aspirational. • A referral isn't a consolation prize when you outgrow a client. It's how you let go without burning the relationship down. • Track record is the only leverage you need to have the money conversation. If your team overdelivers, raising your rate is just math. • Network from your first day on campus. You won't know for fifteen years which conversation was the one that mattered. Chapters 00:35 Welcome to Agency Bytes and introducing Matt Dean 01:19 How Matt and Jackie met at SCAD and became a team 03:58 Launching Dean & Co. in November 2021 and setting a goal at 19 05:20 The two years spent testing other industries before niching down 09:05 Discipline versus chasing the dragon 11:57 The pre-development work clients never see, and building a team for the table 14:57 Why "vendor" is the wrong word and "development partner" is the right one 17:05 Do good work with good people: defining the core values 20:56 How Dean & Co. vets a client, and firing a $15,000-a-month client two months in 26:15 Having the money conversation from a position of track record 28:34 Rapid fire: books, gadgets, and advice to 19-year-old Matt Matt Dean is the Co-Founder and CEO of Dean&Co. Matt has built one of the most in-demand branding studios in commercial real estate, working on projects like Gasworx, Silo Park, Austin’s 2nd Street District, and Mosaic. From launching an agency in 2021 to working across 17 states with 15 team members, Matt and his wife, Jackie, have remained focused on their vision, values, and ideal client profile to successfully build the agency they always envisioned. We've built an agency that is led by our values, we have scaled in a way that allows us to keep up with the demand while not going over our skis, and our ultimate mission is to work with great clients and to be able to give our employees a great place to work. There are a lot of topics in here, from saying no to clients/projects that don't fit, to truly understanding bandwidth and when to hire, to looking for key indicators that make great team members and clients of the agency. Connect with Matt on LinkedIn, Dean&Co on LinkedIn, Instagram, or the web.

Featuring: Sam Shepler, StorySnap In episode 157, I sit down with Sam Shepler, founder and CEO of StorySnap, the holding company behind Testimonial Hero and Product Type. Sam has spent over a decade building B2B video agencies, growing largely through strong operations and strategic acquisitions to a team of more than 50. We get into why Sam has never chased retainers, even though the B2B video world often pressures agencies to convert project work into recurring revenue. He walks through the real math behind lifetime value versus monthly billing, why unpredictability isn't something to be cured, and how his acquisition strategy is built around adding capability rather than just adding revenue. Sam also breaks down the gross margin mistakes he sees in nearly every agency P&L he reviews, and why he considers 60% the new 50% in an AI-driven world. Agency owners will walk away rethinking how they calculate gross margin, why cash accounting hides the truth about project-based businesses, and why pulling revenue forward matters more than the comfort of predictable monthly billing. Key Bytes • Sam doesn't chase retainers in video production because he believes lifetime value, not billing predictability, is the metric that matters. • Unpredictability isn't a problem to solve. For Sam, feast or famine is usually a symptom of insufficient lead flow, which is a marketing problem, not a billing problem. • Sam's best acquisitions have added new capabilities, not just new revenue. StorySnap acquired case study specialists to expand from video into written testimonials. • He calls it "co-opetition": your competitors are often your best referral partners, your best acquisition targets, or your eventual buyers. • A healthy agency needs at least 50% gross margin, calculated in a vacuum. Sam says 60% is the new 50% in the AI era. • In 16-plus agency P&Ls he's reviewed, not one had gross margin calculated correctly. Most owners confuse it with net margin. • Sam pulls revenue forward whenever possible, even quarterly in advance, because liquidating customer acquisition cost quickly lets him keep reinvesting in marketing. • Cash accounting tells you nothing about how a project-based agency is actually performing. Sam runs StorySnap on accrual to see the real picture. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and introducing Sam Shepler 01:07 From film school to first agency: the 2012 origin story 03:53 Turning an acquihire into an acquisition strategy 08:03 Why Sam never forced video production into a retainer model 12:11 Why founders get stuck at the $1-3M plateau, and how Sam got out of the day-to-day 18:03 The 50% gross margin rule, and why 60 is the new 50 20:30 What StorySnap looks for when vetting acquisitions 28:34 The gross margin mistake almost every agency P&L gets wrong 35:24 Cash vs. accrual accounting, and pulling revenue forward 39:42 Rapid fire: books, watches, and Sam's best business advice Sam Shepler is the founder and CEO of Storysnap.com, a holding company that owns Testimonial Hero and Product Hype. A longtime agency entrepreneur, Sam has been building and operating agencies since 2012, with deep expertise in the B2B video marketing space. He has grown primarily through a combination of strong operations and strategic M&A, acquiring multiple agencies to scale Testimonial Hero before launching his second agency, Product Hype, and bringing both under the Storysnap umbrella. Today, Sam leads a team of 50+ and is focused on starting, scaling, and acquiring agencies in the B2B content and creative space. He’s passionate about entrepreneurship, B2B marketing, and helping agency founders build businesses that are both highly profitable and operationally independent — with strong leadership teams that don’t rely entirely on the founder. Contact Sam on the StorySnap website, the Testimonial Hero website, or on LinkedIn.

Featuring: Zack Rosenberg, Qortex In episode 156, I sit down with Zack Rosenberg, founder and CEO of Cortex, a video intelligence company decoding the connection between what people watch and what they actually buy. We get into how Zack discovered that buying intent shows up in the content people watch long before it ever reaches a search bar, why nearly 90% of video content is miscategorized, and why he's betting on "data-supported" creative over blind data-driven formulas. We also talk about what AI means for ad production costs, the future of agency workforces, and why smaller shops now have a real shot at business that used to belong exclusively to the hold-cos. If you've ever wondered whether your audience is telling you something your gut instincts haven't caught up to yet, this conversation will change how you think about targeting, creative, and where your next best client might already be looking. Key Bytes • Nike ads perform four times better in cooking content than in basketball content — proof that buying intent rarely follows the obvious audience. • Nearly 90% of video content is miscategorized, which means most "data-driven" targeting is built on garbage. • Buying intent starts long before the search bar — inspiration comes from the content people watch, not what they type into Google. • AI can be random, but it can't be creative — data should inform the work, not replace it. • The industry's obsession with "data-driven" thinking should give way to "data-supported" thinking, where human hunches still lead. • Cheaper AI-driven production doesn't shrink agency costs to zero — human costs are capped, but AI costs scale with every single use. • Smaller, nimble agencies now have a real shot at winning business that used to be locked up by the big hold-cos. • Relationships built through community outlast any single job or client. Chapters 00:00 Intro and welcome to Zack Rosenberg 01:46 The origin story of Cortex and the Nike-in-cooking-content discovery 03:46 Who Cortex actually serves: data teams, brands, and agencies 04:41 From small sports leagues to solving the mis-categorization problem 06:58 Why buying intent starts long before the search bar 08:41 Broad reach vs. micro-targeted creative, and AI-generated ad variations 10:52 Data-driven vs. data-supported, and why identical ads keep winning 16:20 What AI means for creative costs, agency workforce, and hold-cos 22:08 Building the Montclair Media Group community 27:08 Rapid-fire questions and closing thoughts Zack Rosenberg is the Founder & CEO of Qortex, an advanced video intelligence company helping brands identify intent based on what people watch. Qortex analyzes millions of videos to uncover real-time signals that connect content consumption to purchase behavior—powering smarter planning, activation, and performance across digital media. A lifelong entrepreneur from a family of founders, Zack is passionate about building enduring companies and shifting the advertising industry from audience assumptions to content intelligence. He also co-founded Montclair Media Group, a fast-growing community for marketers and founders in New Jersey. Contact Zack on LinkedIn or on their website.

Featuring: Jessica Rhodes, Interview Connections In episode 155, I sit down with Jessica Rhodes, founder of Interview Connections and the entrepreneur who launched the world's first podcast booking agency back in 2013—long before podcast guesting was on anyone's radar. Jessica shares how a door-to-door canvassing job and a virtual assistant gig for her dad turned into a company that's booked more than 50,000 interviews for over a thousand coaches and business owners. We get into her recent return to the CEO seat, why she eliminated the sales role entirely, and the uncomfortable truth that not everything in your agency needs to be scalable. For agency owners, this one is a practical look at guesting as a growth channel: how to pitch without sounding like AI spam, why being a guest beats launching your own show (at first), and how to turn a single interview into referrals, repurposed content, and the occasional short-cycle six-figure client. Key Bytes • The best pitches aren't scalable—AI blasts fill spots but burn bridges with the hosts worth knowing. • Podcast guesting moves buyers past price-comparison paralysis by letting them hear your story and personality. • Nobody else has your story, your values, or your personality—that's what makes you a category of one. • Be a guest for a few months before launching your own show; they're two different strategies with different payoffs. • The shortest sales cycle comes from listeners who show up already ready to hand over their money. • Not everything has to be scalable—know your goal and your timeline before you optimize for growth. • Get outside your own industry, and you'll be the only marketing agency on that HVAC or manufacturing podcast. • People hire agencies they're referred to, and podcast hosts make powerful referral partners. Chapters 00:00 Meet Jessica Rhodes and the first podcast booking agency 00:54 Right place, right time: from stay-at-home mom to founder 05:11 Stepping back into the CEO seat after eight years 07:34 Why she eliminated the sales role (and why not everything scales) 09:40 What makes a great podcast guest in the age of AI pitching 11:56 Turning guesting into education, authority, and new business 15:27 Own show vs. guesting: which to start with and why 19:32 Keeping a podcast fresh 12 years in 23:22 A final guesting strategy for agency owners 25:06 Rapid fire: ChatGPT, thriller novels, and "follow the money" Jessica Rhodes founded Interview Connections, the world’s first and leading podcast booking agency in 2013, back when no other agencies like it existed. Since its founding, Interview Connections has booked over 50,000 podcast interviews for over 1000 coaches! Jessica is passionate about helping coaches who feel like the best-kept secret grow their business online through genuine, human-to-human connection. The podcast interviews Jessica and her team have booked have helped their clients generate millions of dollars in sales, sell thousands of books, and transform countless lives. Contact Jessica on LinkedIn or on their website.