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Can Agencies Raise Venture Capital For Side Startups?

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle chat with Rob Barbara of Build Ventures based in Halifax on Canada’s east coast (also home to Proposify). As a venture capitalist who invests in early stage companies, Rob explains what he looks for when choosing a startup to invest in and what agencies who are thinking of developing a product need to do to attract venture capital interest. Rob also talks about the power of bootstrapping and dispels the myth of the pompous, intimidating, greedy VC. Plus, listen to find out why Kyle will never let Kevin book his travel plans again.

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Do Friends Make Good Employees? We Think So.

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle chat with their friend, and Proposify’s marketing manager, Jennifer Faulkner. Kevin, Kyle, and Jen have been friends and colleagues for about 10 years, and while there are lots of people who say you shouldn’t hire your friends, this trio thinks it’s an advantage. And they have the track record to prove it. Bonus: why every office should have a bell.

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How to Keep Your Team Up-to-Date on Marketing Best Practices

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer Kevin and Kyle interview Robert Olkinuora of Lojaali Group based in Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland. Lojaali and its Helsinki office of Loyaltic specialize in digital promotions and loyalty programs for fast moving consumer goods companies like Coke and Chiquita. Robert talks about how, in order to stay one step ahead of the competition and your clients, it’s critical to always be learning as a team, how management needs to build a system to make that learning happen, and why passion is at the top of his hiring qualifications. “Lots of people don’t keep learning and it’s easy to be average in this industry. It’s OK to not be a real professional,” says Robert.

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Branding For Early-Stage Companies

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle interview Brian Willse, Mark Nead, and Megan Conway of Boondock Walker, a branding agency based in Cleveland, Ohio. Brian, Mark, and Megan talk about how they use the power of brand to help early-stage businesses seek investment, launch their companies, and establish a message that resonates with their target audience. You’ll also learn about the benefits of focusing on a niche market, and how Megan “knows stuff.”

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How To Use Data To Grow Your Agency

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer Kevin and Kyle interview Ben Wald, founder/CEO, and Gabe Weaver, COO of Spartan Systems, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Spartan is a full stack agency that works with early to mid-stage ventures. Ben and Gabe talk about how being data driven helps Spartan sell projects profitably, manage client expectations, and advise clients better. As Ben puts it, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” Also in the episode you’ll learn that Chattanooga is home of the fastest internet in the US, Kevin hates the word methodology, and how Spartan and Proposify are going to have a GIF-off.

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How A Clear Vision Statement Helped One Agency Improve Profit & Personal Happiness.

​This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle interview Andrés Max, UX consultant and founder of Ideaware, an agency based in San Francisco and Columbia that works with Fortune 500 companies and startups. Andrés talks about how having a clear vision for your company can impact your growth, profit, team, and personal happiness.

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Are Any Of These Misconceptions About Sales Holding You Back?

​This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle interview Chris Spurvey, VP of Business Development at KPMG in St John’s, Newfoundland. Chris also works on a personal passion project to empower people to embrace their inner salesperson. Chris talks about his belief that we are all natural born salespeople, and about the misconceptions people have about selling and the sales process. You’ll also hear about how the Electrolux vacuum salesman who visited Chris’ house when he was a child almost scarred him for life.

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What One Entrepreneur Learned From Starting 22 Companies In 26 Years

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle interview Bill Faeth, CEO of Inbound Marketing Agents, a certified platinum Hubspot partner based in Nashville, Tennessee. Incredibly, Bill has started 22 businesses over his career (dude is only 42!). He shares some of the lessons he’s learned and how he uses those experiences to help his clients at Inbound Marketing Agents. If you aren’t already intrigued, Bill also played professional golf for many years. Have a listen and find out why he’s earned the nickname ‘Wild Bill’.

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How to Manage Client Expectations and Your Agency’s Reputation

This week on Agency’s Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle chat with Ariel Castro, Director of Accounts at White Rabbit, a full service creative agency and venture studio based in Reno, Nevada. Ariel talks about the importance of managing client expectations, especially when building tech products. As anyone in the agency world has experienced, managing client expectations, regardless of the actual outcome of a project, can mean the difference between tears and beers.

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Is Outsourcing the Key to Your Agency's Growth?

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle interview Paul Higgins, CEO of Think to Act, a Melbourne, Australia based company that helps agencies grow through outsourcing. Paul talks about how the powerful combination of the right people in the right roles along with the right technology can make a big difference to an agency's bottom line. Tune in to see if Kevin and Kyle outsource beer drinking.

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