I joined the Agency Acquisitions & Exits podcast for Episode 28 to walk through the question agency owners ask me most: how do you buy a $3.5M agency starting with a cold email. We get into the structure, the financing, and why most deals fall apart in the people handoff, not the spreadsheet.

From cold email to a $3.5M agency.

Watch the episode on YouTube, then read the full breakdown in my story.

If you are an agency owner weighing an exit, this is the most useful conversation I have put on tape. The full play, deal by deal, is in my story, and if you want to talk through your own, here is how I think about it.

Peter Lang, who runs Digital Agency Business and hosts the Agency Acquisitions & Exits podcast, featured the deal in his breakdown of how I scaled from zero to $3.5M in under a year through programmatic M&A.

From zero to $3.5M in under a year.

Read Peter’s breakdown on LinkedIn. The number gets the headline, but the people side is where these deals live or die, and the founder’s version is in my story.

I sat down with host Greg Kirkham for Media Champions, syndicated across the Daily News Network, YouTube, and Spotify, to talk brand-building and dealmaking.

Be bold but authentic. Great brands aren’t just noticed, they’re remembered.

Watch on Media Champions TV or listen on Spotify.

Greg and I get into the part most people skip: brand is not decoration, it is what makes a company worth buying. That belief runs through everything at Born & Bred and my own deals.

Voyage LA featured the Born & Bred and Born Holdings chapter in its Hidden Gems interview series, tracing the move from PR into brand-building, acquisitions, and holdings.

Read the interview on Voyage LA, or the deal story in my story.

This one captured the shift from running a PR shop to buying and building companies. That arc is the spine of my story.

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made in life has been to blindly chase after success (or fame, fortune, money, achievements). Anytime you want to achieve something, like success, you first need to know deeply what you’re actually trying to get.

To be successful, you need to start with the end in mind and define what success means in business, health, love, family, and life overall. And I mean go deep: create a story, a vision, of what that looks, smells, feels, and tastes like.

My definition of success is flexible and ebbs and flows over time. But one measure is paramount: the answer to a simple question, Am I happy? Happiness, for me, comes from financial security, a healthy body, a curious mind, deep friendships, engaging projects, and committing to audacious goals.

I’m an investor, advisor, and CEO with a passion for helping fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. After almost 20 years in digital media and advertising, including roles at Yahoo! and Basis, working with hundreds of agencies, publishers, and platforms and thousands of media and ad executives, I moved into the role of investor.

Today I partner with agency owners as we acquire, merge, and grow businesses, helping legacy owners realize their greatest dreams in an exit. Through a merger or acquisition we can solve most business challenges faster and shave two to five years off the process. But it all requires high trust, strong communication, and some risk-taking.

Read the full interview on CanvasRebel →

Bulldog Reporter (Agility PR) ran the trade announcement when the agency rebranded to GVG, then serving around 400 clients including William Shatner, Lisa Loeb, Caesars Entertainment, and P.F. Chang’s.

Read the announcement on Bulldog Reporter. Earlier, they covered my move into the agency as Chief Strategy Officer.

The rebrand was a milestone, but the bigger story is what it set up next. More on where it led in my story.

SWAGGER Magazine ran a feature on the SELFMADE story behind the agency and the book: how the work turned into an instant Amazon #1 bestseller, tripled the team, and built a client waiting list.

Own your f*cking story this year.

Read the full feature on SWAGGER Magazine. The longer version is in my story and in the book.

I keep this one close because it caught the through-line early: own your story before someone else writes it for you. It is the same idea the book is built on, and the same instinct behind the agency I bought.

My Amazon #1 bestselling book, Stories That F*cking Matter: Three Pillars of Epic Storytelling to Dominate Media Headlines, Win Clients and Grow Your Business, walks readers through the signature storytelling framework my team built, with proven strategies to tell a story that gets attention and grows a business.

It lays out the three pillars of the Stories That F*cking Matter model of epic storytelling, applies the model to stories from business stars like Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Sandberg, and Tony Robbins, and shows why vulnerability can be a key ingredient of a great story.

It also covers how to grab attention in today’s attention economy, the insider tactic of trend-jacking, and advanced storytelling and media growth hacks. The framework drove so much demand that we tripled the team and started a waiting list for new clients.

The book is available through Amazon and independent bookstores including Austin’s BookPeople and L.A.’s Book Soup.

Originally covered by Benzinga.

Voyage LA’s earlier interview caught the Grapevine PR era and the coaching work that came with it, back when the agency was building its reputation in Los Angeles.

Read it on Voyage LA.

Early days, but the operating belief was already there: do the work, earn the equity. It is how I ended up buying the agency I now run.