"Media Empires" | The Business of Newsletters, Podcasts, Creators, and Data Acquisition

Lessons Learned From Building Agencies | Hunter Hammonds

Dec 26, 2023

48:51

Snipd AI

Hunter Hammonds, CEO of Assembly, discusses building multiple agencies, future expansion plans, the potential of creator-led B2B businesses, and the importance of iteration. The podcast explores the evolution of co-founders and the structure, growth, and division of labor in startups. It also emphasizes the significance of productized services and competition between different companies.

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Quick takeaways

The traditional dynamic of technical and non-technical co-founders is shifting towards co-founders with an audience and operators, allowing for easier multitasking and execution of business operations.

There is untapped potential in building B2B service businesses with a creator as the face of the brand, opening up opportunities for SaaS and service businesses in the B2B space.

Assembly Ventures follows a model of building vertically integrated service businesses, leveraging their own agencies and resources to expand into other creator-led businesses while maintaining efficiency.

Deep dives

Evolution of Co-Founder Roles

The traditional dynamic of having a technical co-founder and a non-technical co-founder is shifting. The emergence of co-founders with an audience and operators is becoming more common. This change allows for easier multitasking for co-founders with an audience, while operators focus on executing the business operations.

Introduction

2min

Building Creator-led B2B Focus Businesses

8min

Importance of Operational Excellence and In-house Operations

4min

The Importance of Productized Services and Treating Every Business Equally

2min

Structure, Growth, and Division of Labor in Startups

26min

Competition between different companies

5min

Building Agencies: Lessons and Iteration

3min

In today’s episode, Erik Torenberg sits down with Hunter Hammonds, CEO of Assembly, a venture studio for creator-led businesses, to discuss the evolution of co-founders, the potential of creator-led B2B businesses, Hunter's strategies behind building multiple agencies, and more.

Media Empires is part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn more: www.turpentine.co

We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.

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LINKS:

Late Checkout: https://www.latecheckout.studio/

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RECOMMENDED PODCASTS:

Moment of Zen: https://link.chtbl.com/moz

Upstream: https://link.chtbl.com/Upstream

Turpentine VC: https://link.chtbl.com/TurpentineVC

🎙️ECON 102 W/ NOAH SMITH - Keeping econ entertaining - Noahpinion author Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg break down business news and politics every week.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1696419056

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6q7Gn5lP8TTtBPuV1NJSGs

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Episode Preview

(02:14) The start of Assembly

(04:59) Strategy behind building multiple agencies

(07:15) Future categories and expansion plans

(10:57) Why creators partner with assembly

(14:21) Structure and growth of Assembly

(19:15) Division of labor in a hold co-model

(25:04) The future of Assembly and vertical integration

(30:13) Potential of B2B creator-led businesses

(33:03) Future of the creator-led hold co-model

(38:55) Shared services of Assembly

(44:12) Building businesses with creators

(45:11) Rapid growth and artificial limitations

(47:35) The importance of iteration

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X / Twitter:

Hunter Hammonds: @_hunterhammonds

Erik's Twitter: @eriktorenberg

Media Empires: @mediaempirespod

Turpentine @turpentinemedia

SPONSOR:

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