Browse Case Studies

NoGood is a growth and performance marketing agency founded by Mostafa ElBermawy in 2017 that has doubled in size every year by focusing on word-of-mouth referrals and content marketing. The agency works primarily with early-stage SaaS and DTC brands, delivering exceptional results that drive client retention and organic growth through SEO and the NoGood blog (630% YoY organic traffic growth). Rather than traditional sales tactics, NoGood works directly with clients through experienced growth marketers to define success metrics and deliver measurable outcomes.

NerdPilots is a design and development agency founded by serial entrepreneur Kevin Pereira that grew to $25,000/month by pivoting from a subscription model to project-based work with larger clients. The agency found its best customer acquisition channel through Craigslist daily postings and focuses on bigger projects rather than small subscriptions. Kevin plans to launch TaskJoyy, a SaaS product based on the agency's backend, to help other agencies manage clients and projects more efficiently.

Quiet Light Brokerage is an online business brokerage founded in 2007 by Mark Daust that helps entrepreneurs buy and sell online businesses (e-commerce, SaaS, content sites, affiliate sites). The firm has grown from 3 to 10 team members and closed approximately 50 transactions in 2018, with average deal sizes growing from $225k in 2013 to $2M in 2018. They differentiate through education-focused content, deep financial analysis, and trust-building with both buyers and sellers rather than aggressive sales tactics.

Design In DC is a Washington-based digital design agency founded by Ziad Foty, a former university professor, and Rob, an experienced web designer. The agency grew from zero funding by focusing on storytelling and layered narratives to differentiate itself in a saturated market. With revenue in the $100k-$500k/month range, they acquired customers primarily through intent-based directory listings and organic search, while building a strong reputation that generated referrals.

Growth Ninja is a performance-based Facebook ads agency founded by Vincent Nguyen in 2015. Vincent built the company after apprenticing with Empire Flippers, leveraging his experience in performance marketing. The episode focuses on Vincent's journey navigating social pressures while building his business, including hiding his college dropout status from his family.

Audie Attar founded Paradigm Sports Management in 2009 to revolutionize MMA fighter representation by creating IP, media, and business ventures rather than just securing sponsorship deals. He signed early fighters like Michael Bisping and discovered Conor McGregor in the regional Cage Warriors promotion, building one of the most successful sports management platforms. The company expanded beyond representation to creating ventures like Proper 12 Irish whiskey, which sold for approximately $600 million in 2024, demonstrating Attar's execution on his vision of building multi-hundred-million-dollar businesses around athlete clients.

John Morgan built Morgan and Morgan into one of the largest personal injury law firms in the country by pioneering advertising in the legal industry when it was taboo. Starting from a personal mission to help injured people, he scaled the firm to ~$2B in revenue through innovative marketing, brand building ("for the people"), and creating a network of referral partners. Beyond law, he's built a portfolio of entertainment attractions including Wonderworks, Alcatraz East, and now Flavor Town, generating significant cash flow.

Irrational Labs is a behavioral science consulting firm founded by Kristen Berman and Dan Ariely in 2013 that helps companies like Google, TikTok, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and PayPal improve product engagement and user behavior through applied behavioral economics. The company works with hundreds of clients using their proprietary "Three B's" framework—identifying specific behaviors to change, reducing barriers (logistical and cognitive), and highlighting immediate benefits—achieving measurable results like 24% reduction in misinformation sharing on TikTok and 20% increase in appointment bookings for One Medical.

Duarte Incorporated, founded by Nancy Duarte, has become the world's leading presentation design and storytelling agency, having crafted over 250,000 presentations for iconic brands including Apple, Google, TED, the World Bank, and Al Gore's groundbreaking 'An Inconvenient Truth.' The company pioneered modern presentation design in the early Macintosh era and continues to help Fortune 500 companies and world leaders master the art of persuasive communication through story structure, empathy-driven design, and visual clarity.

Bob Mesta, co-creator of the Jobs to be Done framework, launched The Rewired Group and wrote 'Job Moves,' a tactical guide for finding jobs aligned with personal energy drivers and career goals. Over 15 years, he interviewed over 1,000 people and coached nearly 1,000 more, identifying four distinct job-search quests (get out, take the next step, regain control, realign) and distinguishing between job features (salary, title) and job experiences (energy drivers/drains). The book aims to help the ~1 billion people annually who switch jobs make better decisions by understanding their motivations and prototyping potential roles before committing.

Lexicon Branding is a naming agency founded by David Placic that has pioneered the field of brand naming over four decades, having completed approximately 4,000 projects. The firm combines creative teams with proprietary linguistic research involving 253+ employed linguists and a network of 108 linguists across 76 countries to create distinctive, memorable brand names like Sonos, Pentium, Blackberry, Vercel, and Azure. Their three-step process (Identify, Invent, Implement) blends creativity with linguistic science, using sound symbolism research and small creative teams to generate names that provide asymmetric advantage in competitive markets.

Rich Brooks founded Flight New Media in 1997 as a web design and marketing agency in Portland, Maine, growing it from a solo operation in his living room to a full-service digital marketing firm serving small businesses and nonprofits. He later launched the Agents of Change conference in 2012 as a complement to his agency, running it profitably with 375-400 attendees and generating approximately $40,000 in annual profit while also securing $10,000-$30,000 in annual business from conference connections.

Franklin Cole is a sales funnel architect and advertising strategist who helps high-revenue entrepreneurs ($10M+) scale their businesses through strategic Facebook advertising and funnel optimization. He generates revenue through monthly retainers plus performance-based compensation, and has driven over $40 million in combined client revenue by spending $3-3.5 million on ad campaigns—demonstrating a 12x+ ROI. His approach focuses on mapping profitability paths before spending any money and optimizing for revenue-per-lead metrics.

Jamie Turner is the CEO of 60 Second Communications, a full-service marketing agency that has helped major brands like Coca-Cola and AT&T with complex marketing problems. He built thought leadership through his blog 60 Second Marketer and speaking engagements, starting with free university gigs 15 years ago and eventually commanding $5,000+ per speaking engagement. Speaking now comprises approximately 25% of his annual revenue, which exceeds $100,000 per year from speaking alone.

Vector Media Group is a bootstrapped web development and digital marketing agency founded by Matt Weinberg in high school around 2000, initially as a computer repair service before pivoting to web design and online marketing. Now 32 employees strong and generating $6 million in annual revenue, the company serves enterprise clients including Google, the Associated Press, and Columbia University, offering web development, design, branding, and ad spend management services. The agency has been on the Inc. 5,000 list for three consecutive years and has been profitable every month since inception without taking outside funding.

OutCold is an experiential marketing agency founded by Fritz Heffinger that specializes in creating mobile brand experiences using converted shipping containers and vintage vehicles. The agency did $2.5M in revenue in 2015 and works with major brands like Nordstrom, creating immersive on-the-road campaigns that prioritize authentic consumer interaction over traditional media buying. Fritz aims to scale the agency to $10-15M within 2-3 years as brands shift budgets toward experiential and guerrilla marketing.

Omelette is a creative agency based in Culver City, LA with 80 employees working with major brands like Red Bull, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Pokemon, and AT&T. The agency specializes in branded video content and social media strategy, with a focus on converting creative content into measurable business results. Ty Stafford, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree at age 27, leads content strategy efforts and works on high six-figure projects like Red Bull's campaign to drive can sales through social content.

RAIN is a digital agency founded by Andrew Halla that operates across three offices (Utah, New York, Nicaragua) with about 100 employees. The agency specializes in strategy, creative, and development, working with major enterprise clients like Beachbody, Campbell Soup Company, Facebook, Walmart, and Puma. In 2015, RAIN generated approximately $14 million in revenue and was projected to reach $17-18 million in 2016, primarily through enterprise retainers ranging from $50-75,000 per month.

Steve Sims is a luxury experience broker who has built an agency connecting high-net-worth entrepreneurs and self-made individuals with exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime experiences (meeting celebrities, private performances, etc.). Operating since at least 2015 with just under 3,000 clients worldwide, the business generated just under $10 million in revenue in 2015, operating with a lean team of 11-12 people. Steve's core differentiator is his credibility chain networking approach—leveraging relationships to gain access to otherwise unreachable people and opportunities.

Graham Williams co-founded Fun Fun Fun Fest in 2006 with Tim Leigh, growing it from a single-day event with 3,000 attendees and a $100k budget to a three-day festival attracting approximately 20,000 people with a $4-5M production budget. He also built Transmission Agency, a year-round booking and promotions company that operates across Texas. The business model generates revenue primarily through ticket sales (approximately $1-2M), sponsorships, and bar/beverage sales.