Brand Builders

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The AI Playbook for Scaling Your Agency | Romans Ivanovs

Traditionally, agencies run on 30–50% margins — but in 2026, AI-native agencies are hitting 70–90%. Today’s guest is Romans Ivanov — founder of Big Growth Group, where he helps agencies doing $1–5M a year fix their operations, remove founder dependency, and scale without chaos. In this episode, we unpack: 🔥 What it actually means to become an AI-native agency — and how that unlocks massive margin expansion. 🔥 Why most agencies get stuck at $1–5M 🔥 The hidden bottlenecks inside agency businesses — from team structure to workflows to decision-making. 🔥 How to remove yourself as the founder from day-to-day delivery without the business falling apart. If you want to build an agency that scales without you — and understand how AI is reshaping the entire model — this episode is for you. Chapters: 00:00 - Why AI-native agencies are hitting 70–90% margins 02:11 - The shift happening across the agency industry 05:53 - What an AI-native agency actually looks like 07:28 - How agencies are currently using AI (and where they’re stuck) 09:19 - Why 95% of agencies don’t have real workflows 10:26 - How to “download” your team’s brain into systems 12:03 - The first KPI to track: time, capacity, and utilization 14:43 - Understanding team efficiency and delivery output 19:03 - Becoming AI-native as a founder (not just the team) 20:31 - Tool orchestration and building AI-powered workflows 23:59 - Implementing AI into real agency operations 28:20 - Restructuring your team for AI adoption 33:46 - Romans’ backstory: from factory jobs to entrepreneurship 37:58 - Building multiple businesses before finding agency success 39:25 - The moment agency life stopped making sense 41:00 - What actually drives Romans today (beyond money) 44:54 - Building a self-sustaining business 46:45 - Why most agencies get stuck at $1–5M 48:22 - The real dynamics behind agency growth 53:50 - Balancing innovation and scaling 56:38 - How to set the right growth targets 01:01:03 - Lifestyle vs ambition: choosing your path 01:05:29 - The psychology keeping founders stuck in the weeds 01:08:05 - The hiring mistakes that keep founders stuck 01:10:49 - Fixing operations: audits, workflows, and team structure 01:15:50 - What “good operations” actually looks like 01:19:20 - Hiring A-players and building a recruitment engine 01:25:25 - Using AI to evaluate candidates and remove bias 01:28:02 - Incentives: profit pools and performance bonuses 01:30:09 - Training systems for agency teams (without L&D bloat) 01:32:11 - Why every founder needs a board or external advisor

How She Makes 8 Figures With High Ticket Funnels | Alisha Conlin-Hurd

She helps scale high-ticket funnels to eight figures a year. And has worked with billion-dollar brands like Wayflyer, Linktree, and Kogan. Today’s guest is Alisha Conlin-Hurd, founder of Persuasion Experience — a performance marketing agency specialising in paid traffic funnels for high-ticket offers. In this episode, we unpack: 🔥 The funnel structures that actually convert in 2026 🔥 How to diagnose exactly where a funnel is leaking revenue 🔥 The confirmation system she uses to drive 90%+ show rates on booked calls. 🔥 How Alisha approaches market research before spending a single dollar on ads. 🔥 And how she tests creative at scale using her “5 Types of Ads” framework. If you want to scale high-ticket funnels with paid traffic — without relying on hacks, hope, or hype — this episode is for you. Chapters: 00:00 - Scaling high-ticket funnels to eight figures 01:50 - How Alisha got into online marketing and lead gen 05:41 - Learning the fundamentals of lead generation 07:45 - Launching Persuasion Experience 10:15 - The biggest mistake agencies make with client selection 12:45 - Why Alisha focuses only on inbound paid acquisition 14:48 - Lead offers vs sales offers explained 17:54 - Structuring offers that actually convert 21:54 - Why discounts often destroy authority 24:00 - Diagnosing where funnels leak revenue 26:32 - The confirmation system behind 90%+ show rates 28:52 - Why agencies lose sales before the call even starts 30:37 - Why market research determines funnel success 33:55 - Funnel structures that actually work (VSL, webinar, book-a-call) 35:32 - Why most marketers write terrible VSLs 37:08 - Simplicity vs over-engineered funnels 43:25 - Paid traffic channels that work best 45:15 - When to diversify beyond Meta ads 46:49 - Why organic content still matters for lead gen 51:59 - The 5 types of ads framework 54:41 - Creative diversity in the Meta ads era 57:05 - Using AI tools to generate new ad angles 59:01 - How Alisha approaches funnel split testing 01:01:40 - Scaling funnels and diversifying strategies 01:06:28 - Lead nurturing strategies that increase conversions 01:10:01 - Why Alisha avoids integrating sales services 01:11:57 - Funnel economics and upsell strategies 01:13:45 - The future vision for Persuasion Experience 01:16:17 - The team behind Persuasion's success

What Is The Role Of A CFO?

Building A 9 Figure Agency HoldCo | Peter Kang

He built an agency. Then stepped out of it. And now he’s building a holding company with the goal of hitting nine figures. Today’s guest is Peter Kang, founder of agency holding company Barrel. He’s also the author of “Holdco: The Practical Guide for Entrepreneurs to Structure and Scale a Holding Company.” In this episode, we unpack: 🔥 How Peter transitioned from founder-operator to holding company builder. 🔥 What the structure of a truly healthy agency looks like — from margins to management layers. 🔥 How he sources, analyses, and structures acquisition deals. 🔥 And why stepping out of day-to-day operations is the real unlock for long-term scale. If you want to understand how to turn agencies into assets — and build a portfolio that compounds toward nine figures — this episode is for you. Chapters: 00:00 – From agency founder to holding company builder 01:59 – The story behind writing his book 04:54 – Peter’s background and early entrepreneurial path 08:30 – Stepping away from day-to-day operations 12:42 – Why founders become the bottleneck 14:15 – Building management layers that scale 17:37 – Accountability structures inside a holding company 19:43 – Hiring externally vs promoting internally 21:32 – Managing CEO transitions after acquisitions 24:35 – What a healthy agency P&L actually looks like 30:01 – Understanding churn in agency models 34:19 – Reinvesting profits to grow agencies 38:36 – Lead generation channels that work 41:28 – Building partnerships with other agencies 45:08 – Diversifying channels vs staying focused 47:06 – Why some agencies decentralize marketing 48:14 – Value-based pricing strategies 53:31 – The airline pricing analogy 55:40 – Single-service vs full-service agency models 59:46 – Acquisition strategies in the eCommerce space 01:03:14 – Preparing agency portfolios for the AI shift 01:05:22 – Why Peter moved from startups to acquisitions 01:08:56 – How he sources and evaluates acquisition deals 01:12:15 – Red flags that kill acquisition deals 01:15:03 – The thought process behind structuring deals 01:18:11 – Advice for agency founders who want to exit 01:21:32 – Scaling toward a nine-figure vision 01:24:47 – The role of mission and values 01:27:03 – The best way founders should reinvest in themselves

The Perfect Lifestyle Business

Building a $70M SEO Marketplace | Joe Davies

He turned a simple SEO service into a $70 million business. And rebuilt the agency model into something that actually scales. Today’s guest is Joe Davies — founder of FatJoe, a productized SEO platform doing $15 million a year, trusted by thousands of agencies and in-house teams around the world. In this episode, we unpack: 🔥 Why Joe stopped thinking like an agency — and rebuilt FatJoe as an e-com store selling digital products. 🔥 Why FatJoe chose to serve agencies instead of end clients — and how that unlocked cleaner margins and simpler delivery. 🔥 How selling units of work (not retainers or consulting) made costs predictable and operations scalable. 🔥 And how a no-sales-call, no-negotiation checkout still drives 70%+ repeat monthly customers. If you want to understand how to turn services into a scalable, defensible platform — without bloated teams or constant client management — this episode is for you. Chapters: 00:00 - Building a $70M SEO marketplace 02:05 - Origin of the name "Fat Joe" 03:25 - From agency chaos to eCommerce marketplace 06:35 - Productising services for predictable margins 09:00 - Why traditional SEO agencies break 11:21 - Agency vs in-house: which actually wins? 12:51 - Protecting margins while scaling 15:16 - Building systems that create consistent delivery 18:18 - Productisation without sacrificing customer experience 23:18 - Why most brands misunderstand backlinks 25:42 - Revenue streams and upsells that increase LTV 29:45 - How Fat Joe is structured to scale 33:30 - Managing a large team without losing control 35:10 - Hiring operators, not just marketers 40:40 - The sales engine behind predictable growth 44:09 - Anatomy of a high-converting sales call 47:57 - Lead generation channels that actually work 50:47 - Events as a brand-building strategy 52:45 - Advertising success and Google Ads strategy 55:50 - Pricing strategy and increasing LTV 58:41 - Creating a chrome extension for SEO 01:00:52 - Leadership roles and responsibilities 01:02:48 - What Joe actually works on day-to-day 01:05:43 - When to double down vs pivot 01:07:29 - The metrics that determine real success 01:10:24 - Marketplace economics explained 01:11:51 - The future of SEO in an AI world

What Does An 8 Figure Agency Org Chart Look Like?

What Is The Perfect Lifestyle Business?

Why You Need To Be Firing Your Bottom 10% Underperformers