Employee Ownership Built This Agency — 111 Years Later, It’s Still the Foundation
Doe-Anderson CEO John Birnsteel on investing your own money, keeping Maker's Mark for 50 years and why the long view beats the quarterly panic
Category: #indiethinking
verb Left on a Friday and Was Fully Booked by Monday
Shannon Jones and Yadira Harrison join Christian Gani on the Year One show to talk about the realities of starting verb from scratch.
Super Bowl Advertisers Spent Up to $10M Per Spot. Here’s What Happened Next (Especially With Talent)
A talent strategist on the missing Gen Z play, the AI trust gap and why no one cast the next Walton Goggins
The New Business Problem Isn’t Getting the Meeting. It’s After It’s Over
Three consultants on why indie agencies keep filling the pipeline and starving the revenue
Red Door Studied Its Best Work. Ideas Lost
The San Diego agency found that aligned teams beat brilliant concepts—and built a framework to prove it
GYK Lands the Creative Who Made a Super Bowl Ad More Viral Than the Game
Mark Philip's Gatorade Snapchat moment got more views than kickoff—now he's helping build the agency's next chapter
You Already Have What You Need: The Honest Truth About Starting Your Own Agency
15 agency founders sat exactly where you're sitting right now—burnt out, pushed aside, watching their jobs disappear into holding company spreadshee…
The CMO Role Didn’t Go Away. It Evolved Into 7 Species. Here’s How it Happened
Worldwide Partners' anonymous research with Monigle reveals how modern marketing leaders survive—and thrive—under corporate pressure through strat…
From 36 Years to Year 1: How Brownstein Group Became Born and Raised
Marc Brownstein hit reset after 36 years, turning Brownstein Group into Born and Raised—a creative studio built on instinct, speed, and a belief tha…
SuperHeroes’ Year 1 Lesson: Get Serious About Having Fun
The agency built 15 years of success on one question—how do we stay audacious while being responsible?
The Solo Founder Who Waited Until He Was Ready to Fly
Alex Goulart's Fire Kite launched without co-founders, investors, or a team—just 20 years of preparation and one client
The Year 1 Commitment That Shaped 22 Years of FerebeeLane
Josh Lane and Matt Ferebee promised never to miss payroll—that discipline became their foundation
Rise New York’s Year 1: The Burnout That Led to Creating a New Creative Force
Flavio Vidigal quit due to burnout, went freelance, then realized he needed to actually build something with this crew
What Party Land’s First Year Taught Them About Being Specific
Only doing comedy seemed reckless—8 years later, Matt Heath and Haley Hunter proved specificity wins
Why ‘Smart’ Wins Arguments and Reading the Room Wins Business
Three indie agency leaders shared what they learned about why clients choose partners—and what it costs to miss it
They Wrapped Client Logos on a Demolition Derby Car and Destroyed Them on Purpose
Standard Practice bought a '92 Cutlass, named it Traffic Driver, and took "creating impact" to a new level