Joe Koufman. He’s responsible for introducing at least 3 married couples in countless contacts to establish business relationships. In early 2014, he parlayed his passion for connecting people and founded a company called AgencySparks, which is essentially a dating service for brands and marketing agencies.
Famous Five:
Favorite Book? – The Challenger Sale What CEO do you follow? – Jeff Hilimire Favorite online tool? — Lucky Orange How many hours of sleep do you get?— “I try to get 7” If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “I would have invested even more in relationships. They will absolutely pay off down the road”
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:36 – Nathan introduces Joe to the show 02:29 – AgencySparks focuses on making connections for brands and agencies 02:34 – AgencySparks is paid by the agencies to help them with their business development and outreach to potential clients 02:50 – In many cases, AgencySparks can help subvert the RFP and the client will hire the agency directly 03:15 – One of AgencySparks’ clients tells them about Coca-cola’s water sustainability efforts and that they need the story to be everywhere 03:46 – AgencySparks was able to make a connection with one of their agencies that focuses on public relations and they made a deal 04:13 – AgencySparks is shifting their model now 04:20 – AgencySparks is traditionally paid by agencies to get them through a thorough, upfront, vetting process 04:27 – AgencySparks is getting paid through monthly retainers and a percentage of the deal 04:34 – The monthly retainer is $5K per agency, which is 12-month deal 04:50 – AgencySparks was launched in early 2014 04:58 – Joe spent years with KnowledgeStorm which was acquired by TechTarget 05:05 – TechTarget went public and bought KnowledgeStorm for $58M 05:26 – Joe spent 6 years building marketing and business development in Engauge 05:31 – Engauge was then acquired by Publicis 05:56 – When Joe left Engauge, he had job offers from 6 different agencies and that’s when he had the idea of AgencySparks 06:21 – Joe’s highest offer from one of the agencies was $400K and he said “no” 06:55 – AgencySparks is Joe’s first entrepreneurship stint 07:11 – Joe didn’t have any equity in KnowledgeStorm 07:45 – Joe made a big transition while he was at KnowledgeStorm 07:47 – Joe started as an account manager in 2000 08:05 – Joe moved to sales and realized that he was just going to have the same exact salary 08:23 – Joe did well in sales and had grown big accounts 08:50 – Joe’s last salary was $210K, in 2007 09:20 – By the time Joe left, he was making around $300K in 2013 09:43 – When Joe started AgencySparks, he knew that we wouldn't have much revenue, at first 09:52 – First year revenue was $270K 10:03 – Year 2 was $370K and Year 3: $430K 10:13 – 2017’s goal is to double 10:25 – To achieve their goal, they have to change their model a bit 10:45 – The client is asking AgencySparks for different options 10:59 – They want to have multiple agencies in one category 11:27 – AgencySparks currently has 11 clients 11:40 – AgencySparks has other revenue streams 11:48 – The commission percentage is 10% 12:10 – AgencySparks offers other services like info-product 12:40 – March 2017 revenue 13:00 – Team size is 4 and all are in Atlanta 13:18 – Greg Crabtree’s labor efficiency ratio is the idea of hovering between 2 and to 3.5, so for every dollar spent on payroll, you should be bringing in $2.50 - $3.50, in terms of revenue 13:47 – As a CEO of a company, if you’re not pulling out the salary that you would be making as a hired CEO, then your business isn’t profitable 14:00 – Nathan’s computation within The Top’s 600 interviews done with SaaS companies 15:04 – AgencySparks’ net margin 15:27 – Joe is the guy who would re-invest his money into the business 15:33 – Joe isn’t a family business guy 15:44 – Joe is looking into 5 years, then selling his business 15:52 – AgencySparks already has interesting offers 16:14 – AgencySparks has a method that is a repeatable and sustainable as a business development process—which is part of what they’re teaching 16:57 – “The challenge is that this is a very relationship-focused business” 18:28 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
As a CEO of a company, if you’re not pulling out the salary that you would be making as a hired CEO, then your business is NOT profitable. Continue to grow your business as much as you can, but be mindful of the interesting offers that come along the way. Invest in relationships.
Resources Mentioned:
The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences Organifi – The juice was Nathan’s life saver during his trip in Southeast Asia Klipfolio – Track your business performance across all departments for FREE Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he’s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books Freshbooks – Nathan doesn’t waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOWShow Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
