Ben Chiriboga

Good agencies and great agencies are separated by one thing. People. I used to think it was process too. But, I think most agencies have virtually the same process. The difference in good process v bad process are the people executing that process and the quality at which they do it and how much they care. The name of an agency matters virtually zero. The people within the agency matter, a lot. The size of the agency, most of the time, doesn't matter a TON. The quality of the TEAM at that agency, that you are working with, matters. 3 A players will accomplish more (and a higher quality output) than a bigger group of B C players. All this to say, if you are looking to build a great agency, you must find A players who care about the success of the agency and the clients you serve, almost as much as you do. When you find them -- pay them extremely well. Invest in their success, their happiness, their future. Most of the 'bad' agencies I chat with, don't charge their clients enough, or have a good enough margin, to support a team of A players, and it shows. They have high employee churn. In turn, high client churn. And worse, overall morale is low. Great agencies are made up of A players. Play like a champion, today :)

34

6 Comments

Today's the day. This has been a long time coming, and Pixlmob v.1 is finally here! We took in our first venture capital from SCRA: South Carolina Research Authority & Founderville in August (thank you to several angel investors who believed in us way before that!). Since that time we have deployed so much and grown exponentially, but now the core product features we were working on building are finally ready. If you've got three minutes, enjoy our mini-keynote as we drop some new tech that will revolutionize the real estate media world's ability to get work done. When work gets easier, more people can build the lives they want. At Pixlmob our "north star" is to build a platform where anyone on the planet is free to find and complete fulfilling work. This is a huge step forward in helping our vendors differentiate their unique businesses to be selected (through ASAP in particular). It's also a huge step forward for our customers to manage their projects with integrations to key platforms and project management tools for nightly production work (and so many more features)! #makeworksuckless

39

1 Comment

Most Founders try to offload prospecting and pipeline building as quickly as possible deeming it as “low leverage,” “tedious,” and “something a young hungry person can do.” All are kinda true once you’ve done it yourself and proven it works! Pipeline building never stops whether you’re looking for your first customers or your first $25M quarter (how much you’ll need as a $100M run-rate biz). Considerations on when you can offload and what you can do to control your own destiny on long-term pipeline generation: https://lnkd.in/gMeyhxYr

17

I believe two of the big winners over the next 10 years in the SMB category will be PE who are rolling up the businesses and GenAI powered software that makes running these businesses significantly more turnkey and/or profitable. Thanks for having me on Jay Kapoor. If you want spicy takes fast forward to 25 min mark. If you want to get deep in market analysis buckle in for the whole thing. https://lnkd.in/d8M7Jyrx

131

12 Comments

🎙️Welcome Mike Maples, Jr on the Experience-focused Leaders podcast! Mike is the co-founding Partner at Floodgate, and let me tell you, he's no stranger to success—making the Forbes Midas List a jaw-dropping eight times in the past decade. Before he was a full-time investor who invented 'seed vc' category, Mike was a founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs. His investments include companies like X, Twitch, Okta, Chegg Inc., and Demandforce. Mike also co-authored bestselling book "Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future". One of the most valuable distillations of startup knowledge to have come out of Silicon Valley. Ever. Dive into the interactive show notes for all the juicy details and for special promotion in getting this genre-defining book. https://lnkd.in/eyDaY6pb Key takeaways from the episode: 🗂️ 𝗣𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗼. Ditch those bloated "Franken-decks". Get to the point—fast. Tell us what your product does and why it's a game-changer in a few killer slides. 🤝 𝗥𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼-𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀. Great startups attract believers who are all in on your vision. These early adopters aren't just fans—they're co-creators of the future you're building. 🔧 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀. Target those burning issues that keep potential customers up at night. If they've tried and failed to fix these problems, you're their new hero. ✨ 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Your insights should tap into major market shifts and be ahead of the consensus. Stand out by offering something truly transformative.  🔮 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. The best founders are visionaries who bring the future to life today. Look at Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest of Okta, who zeroed in on early cloud adopters and nailed it. 📚 𝗕𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱. Follow thought leaders like Christopher Lochhead 🇺🇸 🇮🇱🎗️🏴‍☠️ Lochhead. His mantra of creating new categories and setting the rules is a blueprint for startup success... and how that can be applied even (or especially) in the early stages of your business RELAYTO/ Content Experience Platform #relayto #podcast #thoughtleadership #entrepreneur #innovation #SeedInvesting #VentureCapital #StartupGrowth #PitchPerfect #CategoryDesign #FounderFit #OrganicGrowth #StartupCapitalism #TechVision #Twitter #Twitch #Okta #Chegg #Demandforce #ChristopherLochhead #MikeMaples #PatternBreakers

30

8 Comments