Points of Interest0:00 – 0:32 – Show Introduction & Guest Introduction: Marcel introduces Tim Thompson, Owner and Chief Revolution Thinker at RevThink. He shares how they met at the MYOB conference, where they bonded over deep discussions on agency profitability and creative business management.0:33 – 2:25 – Tim’s Background & The Journey to RevThink: Tim shares his career transition from Hollywood production, where he worked with legends like Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg, to consulting creative studios. His firm, RevThink, now supports 750+ creative agency owners worldwide in building financially stable businesses.2:26 – 5:00 – The Challenge of Balancing Creativity & Profitability: Tim explains how many creative entrepreneurs struggle to balance financial discipline with artistic freedom. The industry often pushes efficiency metrics like utilization rates, but creative businesses need a different approach to pricing, budgeting, and decision-making.5:01 – 7:32 – The Shift from Cost-Plus Pricing to Value-Based Models: Marcel and Tim discuss the shift from hourly billing and cost-plus pricing to value-based models. Agencies that fail to adapt often undercharge and overdeliver, leading to profitability struggles.7:33 – 10:55 – How Agencies Can Ensure They’re Charging Enough: Tim introduces The Splits Method, a framework that separates costs into direct (project-related) and indirect (overhead). This helps agencies better understand where their money is going and ensures that profit is baked into pricing from the start.10:56 – 14:25 – The Power of Profit as an Expense: Tim challenges agencies to treat profit as an expense, meaning it should be allocated first before deciding how much to spend on project costs. This ensures business sustainability and long-term financial stability.14:26 – 17:00 – The Seven Ingredients for a Thriving Agency: Tim introduces RevThink’s Seven Ingredients framework—Creative, Production, Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance, and Entrepreneurship—which helps agency owners optimize their business holistically as they scale.17:01 – 19:50 – Overcoming the Fear of Raising Prices: Many agencies negotiate against themselves, fearing clients won’t pay more. Tim explains how agencies can increase their rates or adjust project scope to maintain profitability without sacrificing client relationships.19:51 – 23:30 – The Production Roll-Up: A Simple Meeting to Keep Projects on Track: Tim shares his method for a weekly production roll-up meeting, where agency teams quickly review: Creative quality, Client relationships, and Profitability.23:31 – 26:55 – The Importance of Profitability for Business & Personal Freedom: Marcel and Tim discuss why profitability isn’t just about numbers—it’s about freedom, growth, and legacy. Many agency owners unknowingly sacrifice their financial future because they aren’t pricing or managing projects correctly.26:56 – 29:30 – Why Business Owners Must Stop Negotiating Against Themselves: Many agency owners undercharge out of fear that clients won’t pay more. Tim encourages owners to ask for what their work is truly worth and, if needed, target better clients who understand the value they provide.29:31 – 32:10 – The Role of Entrepreneurship in Agency Growth: Tim discusses the entrepreneurial mindset required to scale a creative agency while managing financial risks. He explains how business growth, personal wealth, and legacy planning must be aligned.32:11 – 35:50 – How Agencies Can Adapt to Industry Changes & Maintain Profitability: Marcel and Tim analyze industry shifts, including advances in technology, changing client expectations, and pricing pressures. They discuss how agencies can innovate and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.35:51 – 38:20 – The Moral Argument for Running a Profitable Business: Marcel and Tim discuss why being profitable is a responsibility, not just a goal. A profitable agency provides stability for employees, fosters innovation, and allows owners to reinvest in their vision.Show NotesRevthink.comRevthinking podcast:Community1-1 consultingAccelerators

Points of Interest0:24 – 0:54 – Show Introduction & Guest Introduction: Marcel introduces Kristen Kelly, highlighting her expertise in operations and agency profitability management.1:01 – 1:45 – The Three-Part Profitability Management System Overview: Kristen recaps the framework discussed in previous episodes: the right data, ensuring financial, delivery, and sales data are clean; the right framework, having clear metrics and understanding relationships; and the right process, implementing structured cadences for decision-making.1:46 – 3:07 – Why Process is Often the Missing Piece in Profitability Management: Marcel explains that many agencies mistakenly view profitability management as an event rather than an ongoing process. He highlights common pitfalls, such as assuming data will always be clean or that a one-time setup will be sufficient.4:59 – 7:46 – Data Hygiene: Managing Messy Data in Agencies: Kristen and Marcel dive into the first major component of process—data hygiene. They discuss common data inconsistencies, such as naming conventions, incorrect project tracking, and human input errors. Marcel emphasizes the importance of an ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) process to clean and normalize data.10:03 – 13:26 – Managing Change in Agency Operations: Kristen and Marcel discuss the second key aspect of process: change management. Changes in sales strategies, CRM systems, or project management tools can disrupt data reporting. A structured process ensures smooth transitions and prevents disruptions in decision-making.17:01 – 20:52 – Cadence: Aligning Stakeholders for Operational Success: Establishing consistent meeting cadences ensures alignment between sales, operations, and finance teams. The right frequency depends on agency size and project nature. Monthly executive meetings should focus on key business objectives and resourcing decisions. Regular check-ins help prevent last-minute hiring crises and pricing inefficiencies.28:51 – 33:07 – How Operators Can Manage Up and Set Expectations: Operators should proactively align reporting with leadership goals. Stakeholder management is crucial—Ops leaders should ensure data supports executive decision-making without overwhelming them with details. Simplification and consistency are key to maintaining executive buy-in.33:08 – 36:56 – Fighting Unnecessary Complexity in Reporting: Marcel shares a common mistake: leaders often want overly detailed reporting, which adds unnecessary complexity and friction. The key is balancing detail with usability to avoid overwhelming decision-makers. Simple, actionable reports are more effective than highly detailed but impractical ones.36:57 – 40:26 – The Real Value of Efficient Reporting: Shorter, More Productive Meetings: The success of a reporting system is measured by how quickly teams can align and take action—not by how long they spend looking at data. The less time spent in meetings discussing reports, the more time can be spent executing on insights.40:27 – 42:40 – Final Takeaways: How to Get Started with Process Implementation: Start by identifying the key business decisions that require data support. Work backward from business objectives to define the right data and process framework. Establish clear cadences and responsibilities for maintaining data hygiene and managing change. Prioritize alignment and simplicity over excessive detail.Show NotesConnect with Kristen via LinkedInFree ToolkitParakeeto Foundations CourseLove the PodcastLeave us a review here.

Mikael Dia, a former agency owner and founder of Funnelytics, dives into the world of visual client communication and SaaS development. He emphasizes how visual strategies not only enhance client understanding but also improve sales and retention by clearly mapping marketing funnels. Mikael shares insights from his journey, explaining how agencies can demonstrate value to clients through visual reporting and strategies. He discusses the challenges of transitioning from agency life to tech, stressing the importance of feedback and collaboration in building a successful SaaS product.

Points of Interest01:00 – 01:45 – Guest Introduction: Marcel welcomes back his co-founder, Ben Zittlau, highlighting his expertise in data operations and agency growth strategies.03:35 – 05:50 – Scaling Data Operations: Lessons from Jobber: Ben shares insights from his experience at Jobber, detailing the challenges of building and scaling a data operations team in a fast-growing company.08:43 – 13:14 – Why Agencies Struggle to Get Insights from Their Data: Discussion on how agencies collect vast amounts of data across multiple tools but fail to derive meaningful insights due to fragmentation and inconsistency.13:15 – 16:05 – The Myth of a “Single Source of Truth: Marcel and Ben challenge the common belief that pushing all data into a single platform solves reporting issues, highlighting the reality of messy operational data.19:26 – 21:48 – The Limitations of All-in-One Software Solutions: Exploring why all-in-one agency management tools often fail to deliver on their promise of seamless reporting and data integration.24:43 – 27:44 – The Hidden Costs of Locking into a Single Platform: Discussion on how agencies become “trapped” by software providers, making it difficult to switch tools without major operational disruptions.30:29 – 35:53 – How to Integrate Data Without Sacrificing Flexibility: A deep dive into the challenges of stitching data from various tools while maintaining adaptability and historical accuracy.35:54 – 41:14 – Accuracy vs. Precision: Why Clean Data is a Myth: Why agencies should focus on broader trends instead of pursuing impossible data perfection, and how to handle data inconsistencies effectively.41:15 – 44:15 – A Modern Data Approach: Extract, Transform, Load (ETL): Introduction to the ETL process, which allows agencies to clean and transform data before reporting, improving reliability and flexibility.50:14 – 52:00 – Lessons from Finance: What Agencies Can Learn from Accounting: Marcel compares data operations to bookkeeping, explaining how structured financial workflows can serve as a model for better agency data management.Show NotesConnect with Ben via LinkedInFree ToolkitParakeeto Foundations CourseLove the PodcastLeave us a review here.

Points of Interest01:02 – 01:28 – Introduction to Manish Dudharejia: Manish Dudharejia, founder of E2M, is introduced as a leader in white label agency services, serving over 300 agencies globally with a focus on profitability and scalability.01:34 – 02:45 – Manish’s Journey and E2M’s Growth: Manish shares how E2M evolved from serving diverse clients to specializing in white label services for agencies, growing to a 270+ member team over 12 years.03:04 – 04:36 – Building a Culture of Excellence: Manish credits E2M’s success to a strong team and culture, emphasizing the importance of effective communication, realistic expectations, and timely delivery of high-quality services.07:01 – 08:15 – Shifts in the White Label Industry: Manish identifies two major trends shaping the industry: combining local account management with offshore execution and leveraging AI to enhance efficiency and reduce costs.10:55 – 12:01 – Problem-Solving as the New Specialization: Marcel explains how agencies are shifting from service-specific specialization to solving broader problems, requiring partnerships with white label providers to expand their capabilities.15:14 – 17:11 – Hybrid Models for Scalable Agencies: Manish discusses the benefits of a hybrid model, where agencies maintain in-house teams for client-facing roles like sales and account management while outsourcing execution to white label partners.17:11 – 18:47 – Profitability through White Label Partnerships: Marcel highlights how white label partnerships allow agencies to focus on high-margin activities, scale efficiently, and achieve better profitability by outsourcing execution.22:43 – 24:02 – Flexibility and Scalability with White Label Models: Manish emphasizes the flexibility white label partners offer, allowing agencies to scale resources up or down based on demand while minimizing operational risks.31:02 – 32:43 – Specialization and Delegation: Marcel and Manish discuss the importance of focusing on core competencies and outsourcing non-core tasks to partners who excel in those areas, enabling agencies to scale effectively.34:28 – 36:07 – Outsourcing What You Don’t Enjoy: Manish shares two key frameworks for agency owners:Outsource tasks that cost less than your billable rate.Delegate tasks you dislike to partners who excel in those areas, creating win-win scenarios.Show NotesConnect with ManishLinkedInTwitterE2M SolutionsLove the PodcastLeave us a review here.

Points of Interest01:00 – 01:50 – Episode Kickoff and Guest Introduction: Marcel introduces Ben Zittlau, his co-founder and the “brains behind the operation” at Parakeeto, highlighting Ben’s instrumental role in shaping the company’s philosophies and tools.01:51 – 04:25 – Ben’s Background and Early Career: Ben shares his journey from studying electrical engineering to becoming deeply involved in startups, entrepreneurship, and eventually co-founding Parakeeto, along with his notable work at Jobber.04:26 – 06:44 – Lessons from Jobber and Shaping Profitability Frameworks: Ben reflects on his time at Jobber, where he observed how businesses transformed when they understood profitability over revenue, a realization that shaped Parakeeto’s focus.06:45 – 07:22 – Parakeeto’s Founding and Evolution: Ben discusses how he and Marcel connected over their shared passion for solving complex problems for service businesses, leading to the creation of Parakeeto.07:23 – 08:35 – Behind-the-Scenes Collaboration: Marcel highlights the depth of thought and iteration that he and Ben have poured into refining their profitability frameworks, setting the stage for their discussion.08:36 – 11:34 – Common Profitability Traps in Agencies: The duo dives into how agencies often fall into traps like relying on cash flow or revenue as proxies for profitability, leading to poor business decisions.11:35 – 14:14 – The Pitfalls of Cashflow-Based Decision Making: Ben and Marcel explain how focusing on cash flow can create illusions of profitability or mask underlying financial issues, illustrated by real client examples.14:15 – 17:04 – Revenue vs. Profitability Decisions: They highlight how agencies often conflate cash flow with profit, sharing examples of businesses choosing lower-margin work due to short-term cash needs.17:05 – 19:57 – Differentiating Revenue from Agency Gross Income (AGI): Ben explains the importance of isolating pass-through expenses to get a true picture of what’s left for an agency to operate and grow.19:58 – 23:17 – Misconceptions About Markup and Rates: The discussion shifts to how agencies often misunderstand the role of markup in profitability and why focusing on average billable rates is key.23:18 – 30:45 – The Problem with One-Size-Fits-All Frameworks: Ben and Marcel emphasize the risks of trying to unify operational, sales, and accounting frameworks, advocating for purpose-built tools tailored to each team’s needs.30:46 – 43:39 – The Future of Profitability Insights: They conclude by discussing how technology is making enterprise-level profitability analysis more accessible to smaller businesses, empowering agencies to make smarter, data-driven decisions.Show NotesConnect with Ben via LinkedInFree ToolkitParakeeto Foundations CourseLove the Podcast?Leave us a review here.

Henrik Becker, an expert in agency coaching and CRM systems, shares valuable insights from his journey in improving sales and marketing frameworks at RevHops. He emphasizes the importance of aligning CRM tools with core business operations using a first-principles approach. Common issues like Excel dependency and poor data adoption are discussed, alongside steps for effective CRM implementation. Henrik advocates for starting with simple setups for quick wins while navigating the complexities of agency growth and aligning personal values with business goals.

Points of Interest00:52 – 01:17 – Guest Introduction and Episode Overview: Marcel introduces Kristen Kelly, a member of the consulting team, and previews the episode’s focus on agency management trends, particularly on improving profitability and breaking down silos.02:57 – 05:00 – Challenges with Siloed Agency Models: Kristen explains how siloed operations between sales, delivery, and finance lead to fragmented data, inefficiencies, and breakdowns during planning and execution.05:00 – 07:30 – Modern Agency Realities and Challenges: Marcel highlights the need for integrated systems due to changing client relationships, dynamic pricing models, and rising economic pressures, which strain traditional agency structures.07:30 – 10:00 – What Integrated Agency Management Looks Like: Marcel introduces the concept of integrated management, where real-time alignment between sales, delivery, and finance drives profitability and operational efficiency.12:00 – 14:15 – Common Pitfalls of Over-Reliance on Finance: Kristen and Marcel discuss how relying solely on finance for insights often leads to delays, inaccuracies, and missed opportunities for timely interventions.16:30 – 19:40 – Starting with a Business Model: Marcel outlines the first step in building an integrated system: creating a dynamic business model that connects capacity, pricing, and operational structure.22:00 – 25:00 – Introducing the Feedback Loop: Marcel explains the importance of feedback loops that compare planned data to actual outcomes, enabling agencies to pinpoint areas needing improvement.25:00 – 28:00 – Avoiding the Pitfalls of Bad Data: Marcel discusses the importance of clean, structured data and why agencies often struggle when they attempt tracking without a proper framework.28:00 – 30:00 – The Three Elements of an Integrated System: Marcel introduces the three critical components of a successful system: accurate data, a deliberate framework, and an actionable process.30:00 – 32:30 – Implementing Cadences for Data Review: Kristen and Marcel emphasize the need for regular data review cadences tailored to an agency’s operational pace to maintain alignment and agility.32:30 – 36:00 – Costs of DIY vs. Professional Help: Marcel highlights the opportunity costs and challenges of attempting to build an integrated system internally compared to leveraging expert frameworks.36:00 – 38:53 – TLDR for 2025 Planning: Marcel summarizes the episode’s main takeaway: transitioning from siloed to integrated systems is crucial for improving agency profitability and operational alignment, starting with a simple business model.Show NotesConnect with Kristen via LinkedInFree ToolkitParakeeto Foundations CourseLove the Podcast?Leave us a review here.

Ryan McNamara, Head of Operations at Rise at Seven, shares his journey from startup founder to agency operations leader. He discusses the agency's rapid growth and the critical role of operational leadership in navigating challenges. Highlights include adapting to competition, the significance of Personal Development Plans, and balancing rigid processes with creative flexibility. McNamara also emphasizes the importance of managing team growth and mitigating churn while fostering a culture of performance and innovation.

The discussion highlights the pitfalls of benchmarking in agency performance, revealing how reliance on external metrics can mislead. Marcel emphasizes the inadequacies of comparing rates, particularly with the shift towards value-based pricing. He introduces the average billable rate as a more insightful metric, advocating for a deep understanding of one’s own agency model. The need for agencies to focus on internal metrics rather than external validation is stressed, establishing a path toward enhanced profitability and operational efficiency.