Agency Startups

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.

John Lincoln founded Ignite Visibility in 2013 after leaving a comfortable six-figure director role at SEO Inc. to start his own digital marketing agency. With just $10,000 in personal investment and leveraging his existing reputation in the industry, he achieved nearly $1 million in first-year revenue (2013), grew to $2 million in 2015, and was on track for $3 million+ in 2016 with 30 employees and 70 clients. His growth was driven primarily through becoming an influencer in the SEO/digital marketing space via content marketing, blogging, public speaking, and publishing his book "Digital Influencer."

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.

Khalid Salid founded InVesp in 2006, a conversion optimization consulting agency that helps enterprise clients like eBay, O'Reilly, 3M, and Dish Network increase online revenue. Starting with $15-20K in first year revenue while maintaining a $100K+ corporate salary, the company grew to over $1 million by 2011 through high-touch consulting ($8,000+/month retainers averaging 15-24 months). By 2016, Khalid decided to transition the business into a SaaS platform offering A/B testing, heatmaps, video recording, and analytics to compete in the conversion optimization software space.

Flatiron Communications is a New York City-based PR and digital media agency founded by Peter Himler in 2015 after leaving Burson-Marsteller. The agency helps emerging and established companies capitalize on communication technologies, digital marketing, and content strategies. Operating with a lean team of four contractors paid $100-150/hour, Peter runs the business on retainer fees ranging from $7,500-$12,500 per month with six-month initial contracts, serving clients including AIG Private Client Group, Indiegogo, HSN, and various startups.

Crisp Video Group is a video production and marketing agency founded by Michael Mogul in 2012 that bridges the gap between video production and video marketing for national clients. Starting from $100K in their first partial year, the company has achieved over $1M in revenue by 2015 with 300% year-over-year growth in the last two years, operating with 15 full-time employees plus 25-30 national cinematographer contractors. Their success comes from working with both major brands (Coca-Cola, Verizon, Red Bull) and smaller businesses, delivering 80-100 projects monthly through systematized processes and a strong team structure.

ZynePak is a custom publication and VIP merchandise agency founded in 2011 by Kim Kaup that creates exclusive fan packages for entertainers, brands, and celebrities. Starting with $600,000 in revenue in 2011, the company grew to $2.8M by 2015 and appeared on Shark Tank, receiving offers from four out of five sharks (though ultimately declining to accept). They work with major artists like Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes, Katy Perry, and sports teams like the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets, operating on a B2B wholesale model with 20-35% gross margins.

Your Social Voice is a done-for-you digital marketing agency founded by Kim Barrett that grew from near-zero to $450k in revenue in 2015 and is on track for $110k MRR by October 2016. The agency uses Facebook lead generation and content retargeting to drive leads for clients through tiered service packages ranging from $4,400 to $11k AUD monthly. With a 80% month-to-month retention rate and 25 active clients, Kim scaled the business using owned Facebook lead gen, two full-time salespeople on commission, and a distributed team across Perth, Philippines, and Africa.

Geek Powered Studios is a full-service digital marketing agency founded by Guillermo Ortiz in May 2012, operating on a unique model of taking only one client per industry to position themselves as strategic partners. By February 2016, the agency had grown to 55 clients generating approximately $115,000 in monthly revenue ($1.38M ARR), with exceptional client retention rates. The agency offers comprehensive services including SEO, PPC, Facebook ads, landing page design, and web development, with a focus on honest communication and long-term client relationships.

Design Online Right is a web development agency founded by Rob Riggs in 2004 that builds technical, functional websites for small businesses and nonprofits. The agency grew from $5,000 in first-year revenue to $1.2M in 2015 with a 30% net margin, driven almost entirely by referrals and relationship-based sales targeting small to mid-market clients and marketing agencies needing technical implementation.

Brian Baderra founded Amplify Relations (originally Grassroots 2.0) in 2009 at age 19 after being laid off from a political ad agency, bootstrapping the startup on student loans with his first client being a former employer client offering a few hundred dollars monthly. The company grew to 13 full-time employees and nearly $2 million in revenue by 2015, specializing in high-margin political campaigns, robocalls, and mass-market advertising for political entities, corporations, and startups. Their differentiation came from licensing a robocall system from Canada that yielded 90% margins on certain projects, while positioning themselves as a full-service agency of record.

TWT Group is a managed IT services agency founded by Sean Freeman in 2011 that provides IT solutions to small and medium businesses (10-100 employees) across Western Canada. Starting from $75K in first-year revenue, the company grew to $2M in 2015 with a 30% net margin and $200K monthly revenue, driven almost entirely by referrals from existing clients. With 10 employees serving 150 clients, Freeman maintains a lean, process-driven operation focused on relationship-building and staying within their SMB niche.

Verbal Plus Visual is a digital agency founded by Anshay Bhatia in 2009 that specializes in e-commerce strategy, design, development, and optimization for innovative brands. The company grew from $150k in first-year revenue to low seven figures by 2015 with a healthy 20% net margin, and has become a premier Shopify partner. Their growth is driven primarily through strategic partnerships with complementary agencies and inbound leads from their strong portfolio.

Beth Milligan runs a virtual assistant and online business strategy agency, Milligan Strategies, serving women entrepreneurs and small business owners. She works with seven retainer clients billing $800-$1,200 monthly, using FreshBooks for time tracking and invoicing to streamline operations. Her business model focuses on helping clients reclaim time while she handles administrative tasks, and she's recently expanded into strategy workbooks for clients.

Vincent Dignan runs Magnific, a growth hacking and consulting agency that helps startups and companies get traffic and customers. He has a small number of high-value clients paying $5,000-$10,000 per month for personalized growth consulting, and is expanding his reach through a book called "The Growth Hacking Playbook" on Kickstarter, speaking engagements, and content marketing. His growth hacking talk was voted best workshop at South by Southwest, and he has established himself as a thought leader by teaching specific, actionable tactics for finding customers and driving traffic.

Web Four is a creative and digital marketing agency founded in 2009 by Kevin Getch that went from $30,000 in first-year revenue to $1.3 million in 2015 with consistent 30-50% year-over-year growth. The agency serves 50-70 customers with a mix of project-based web design ($10,000 average) and recurring retainer marketing services ($2,000-$5,000 monthly), operating with a team of 14 full-time employees based in Vancouver, Washington.

John Ruland is the #1 distributor among 1.5 million for Cutco Cutlery. Starting as a 20-year-old intern, he built a corporate gifting and consulting business around 'radical generosity'—helping executives strengthen relationships through high-end gifts. His company works with Fortune 500 brands and pro sports teams (25+ clients), creating custom gifts like Bluetooth speakers from Wrigley Field's historic wood, generating hundreds of dollars per gift in revenue.

Ad Quadrant is a performance marketing agency founded by serial entrepreneur Warren Jolly in April 2014. The company specializes in managing social advertising campaigns for brands, taking a percentage of ad spend (typically 20%) or fixed payout per action. In its first year (2014), Ad Quadrant generated $4 million in revenue through careful pre-planning and leveraging Warren's existing network, growing to $15 million in 2015 with 35+ customers and 33 employees.