Agency

#138 - Are You Actually Built For This? The Real Price Of Entrepreneurship | Omar Zenhom

Are you actually built for entrepreneurship and scaling a startup, or do you just like the founder title? We sit with Omar Zenhom, who survived 17 failed businesses to build a SaaS software empire and The $100 MBA. Omar strips away the glamor of startup culture, detailing how he lived in poverty and went years without a day off just to stay in the game. He breaks down why following your passion will often leave you broke, why he walked away from a highly profitable clothing company, and why you must document your systems if you ever want true freedom. In this episode: The Ultimate Trade-Off: Why saying "yes" to your business means saying "no" to everything else, and how to choose your sacrifices. The Profitable Prison: Why Omar shut down a booming fashion business, and how to avoid building a company you hate. Product vs Market: Why your product idea is worthless until the market validates it, and how to stop falling in love with your own ideas. The $500/Month Code: How to make your first hire, build standard operating procedures (SOPs), and stop acting like a glorified employee. The Resilience Reality Check: Why business is a game of playing to win rather than playing not to lose, and why failure is the only way to grow. Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio 00:00:00) – Introduction(00:02:18) – Why Saying "Yes" Means Saying "No" (The Trade-Off)(00:05:21) – Treating Business Like a Video Game(00:08:39) – Why You Must Get Comfortable With Failing(00:20:19) – Walking Away From a Safe Career(00:27:06) – The "Old Navy" Days(00:37:42) – The Shift From Employee to Entrepreneur Mentality(00:44:17) – The Hire That Buys Your Time Back(00:48:01) – Why Undocumented Businesses Are Worthless(00:54:38) – The Truth: Entrepreneurship Isn't For Everyone(00:57:51) – Failing 17 Businesses Before Finally Winning(01:04:06) – Shutting Down a Booming Business(01:15:09) – Stop Disappointing Yourself (How to Build Confidence)(01:26:06) – Why Following Your Passion Will Bankrupt You(01:46:10) – The Ultimate Sacrifice: What Are You Willing To Give Up?

#137 - Stop Looking For A-Players. Become An A-Leader. | Doza

Are you actually an A-Leader capable of attracting elite talent, or are you accidentally diminishing your team? Discover how to avoid founder burnout, scale your business, and start building a super team.In this episode, we sit down with Doza, founder of The Geronimo Academy, to deconstruct the exact frameworks he uses to build autonomous, high-performing "super teams" without corporate middle management. After surviving a heart attack at 40 while building a business he hated, Doza completely redesigned his approach to leadership, team culture, and CEO time management.He breaks down why founders settle for the dangerous "7/10 business trap," why traditional SOPs and checklists repel top talent, and how writing a 48-page physical Vision Book changed the trajectory of his entire company.In this episode, we break down:The "A-Leader" Reality Check: Why you don't have a talent problem, you have a leadership problem, and how to stop accidentally diminishing your team.Separation Sunday: The exact 20-minute weekly reset Doza uses to plan his week to scale.Scorecards vs. SOPs: Why standard work manuals are over, and how to use visible scorecards to build a culture of high accountability and high support.The 48-Page Vision Book: Why Doza hand-wrote a physical magazine for his team, and how it attracts elite "partner energy" instead of standard staff.Escaping The 7/10 Trap: Why saying business is "fine" is the ultimate prequel to founder burnout, and how to redesign your company for a 10/10 life.Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:33) – What exactly is a "super team"? (00:06:21) – Why peer-led standards beat corporate structure (00:08:00) – The truth about removing middle management (00:10:11) – Why an "A-Leader" attracts A-Players (00:15:09) – What a high-performance scorecard looks like (00:18:37) – High trust & high accountability (00:27:05) – Doza's heart attack and writing his own eulogy (00:36:00) – The "Separation Sunday" framework explained (00:48:51) – The 4D's of leadership (Scorecards, Standards, Playbooks, Work-ons) (00:54:03) – Why scorecards are more effective than work manuals (01:02:06) – The 48-Page Vision Book (01:16:17) – How to build your own physical Vision Book

#136 - Delegate The Outcome: The System For Building Autonomous Teams | Jess Whatman

Master effective delegation, scale your business, and start building autonomous teams. Discover how to escape the daily grind and leverage AI to drive 400% growth. In this episode, we sit down with Jess Whatman, Founder and CEO of AgentSync, to deconstruct how she scaled her agency by 400% in just two years by mastering the art of delegation. Jess breaks down why founders inevitably become the biggest problem in their own companies and shares her exact framework for stepping out of the day-to-day operations. She shares exactly why you need to stop hiring junior roles and how to use AI to build an internal company intranet. In this episode, we break down: The $10 vs. $100 Rule: How to calculate your true hourly rate and why doing your own admin is costing your company money. Building an AI Intranet: How Jess uses Claude and Superhuman Docs to automate 80% of her team's internal questions. Delegating Outcomes: Why micromanaging tasks destroys your company culture, and how to delegate judgment instead. Maker vs. Manager: How to identify your true founder identity and structure your entire team to support it. Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction (03:21) - Why Delegation is a Skill You Must Learn (08:28) - The Delegation Game: When to Use AI vs. Humans (14:05) - Why You Should Never Trust AI With High-Stakes Deals (17:08) - Will AI Actually Replace Your Team? (21:29) - Why AI is Destroying Entry-Level Jobs (28:08) - How to Build an AI Intranet (31:03) - How to Audit Your Time (36:06) - The 90-Day Plan to Fire Yourself from the Day-to-Day (42:08) - The $10 vs. $100/Hour Task Framework (48:59) - Why Great Leaders Delegate Outcomes, Not Tasks (01:09:44) - Maker vs. Manager: Finding Your True Founder Identity

#135 - Stop Making This Costly Mistake in B2B Pitches | Ed Chambers

Master B2B marketing, high-stakes negotiations, and modern leadership. What happens when you walk into a multi-million dollar boardroom pitch and executives try to tear you down? In this episode, we sit down with Ed Chambers, an expert in finance and corporate strategy, to deconstruct his proven methods. From his early days in Dubai to leading massive marketing teams across Australia and the UK, Ed reveals what it actually takes to win in today's corporate landscape. He shares exactly why he actively encourages his team to share their failures to destroy the corporate "yes culture," how his 80/20 rule prevents employee burnout, and why relying purely on AI to build business relationships is a guaranteed way to lose deals. In this episode, we break down: Hostile Negotiations: How to read a room, handle condescending executives, and use radical vulnerability as your ultimate closing tool. The Data Outlier Strategy: Why ignoring the masses and investigating the extreme outliers is the secret to uncovering massive market gaps. The 80/20 Rule: The exact capacity management framework Ed uses to prevent team burnout and stop deadly scope creep. Eradicating "Yes Culture": Why you need to build a flat-structure team that is comfortable sharing failures, and why forced corporate fun is destroying your brand pride. Bite-Sized ROI: How Ed’s team ditched traditional 36-page reports for 6-second visual assets to drive massive commercial growth. Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction (03:20) - What Marketing in Dubai Looked Like Before Digital (08:24) - Rebuilding Brand Trust (11:06) - Why AI Can Never Replace Human Trust in Sales (13:20) - Vulnerability in High-Stakes Negotiations (25:27) - The Mistake Founders Make in B2B Pitches (37:17) - Body Language & Reading a Boardroom (43:21) - How to Handle Condescending Executives in Pitches (56:32) - Building Internal Culture and True Brand Pride (01:03:19) - The Outlier Strategy: Finding Growth in Ignored Data (01:11:54) - The Flat Team Structure & Empathetic Leadership (01:15:50) - The 80/20 Rule to Stop Employee Burnout (01:24:49) - Dropping the Ego (01:34:30) - Why Raw Creative is Useless Without Commercial ROI

#134 - Finder's $680M Success: What Most Agencies Get Wrong About The Algorithm | Jeremy Cabral

In this episode, we sit down with Jeremy Cabral to deconstruct his exact method for building Finder into a global comparison powerhouse. Learn all about his reverse engineering success, mastering the PR machine, and building an untouchable business moat. Jeremy reveals his most unconventional and effective tactics, from changing job titles to hide top talent from recruiters, to intentionally trying to dissuade candidates in interviews, and the exact framework he used to outsmart massive search algorithms. In this episode, we break down: Beating Google: Surviving a manual webmaster penalty that took their traffic to zero and the serendipitous 72-hour recovery. Hiding Top Talent: Why Jeremy intentionally changed employee job titles to stop recruiters from poaching his best people. The Content Factory: The scalable system that allowed his team to publish 180 handwritten articles a day to completely outpace the industry. Mastering Global PR: The exact formula for reverse engineering the news cycle to get massive national coverage and high-authority links. Match and Exceed: The ultimate framework for analysing competitors, neutralising their advantages, and completely dominating your market. (00:00) - Introduction (03:38) - Surviving a Google Penalty (10:55) - Building a Culture Driven by Radical Values (17:58) - Why Jeremy Actively Dissuades Candidates in Job Interviews (22:52) - The 5 Ways to Retain Top Talent (Without Them Leaving) (28:52) - Hiding Top Talent from Recruiters (35:27) - The Growth Strategy for Ultimate Scale (45:26) - Why Distribution Beats a Great Product Every Time (50:53) - The "Match and Exceed" Competitive Framework (52:46) - Global PR & Reverse Engineering the News Cycle (01:04:55) - Following Natural Traction & Testing Concepts Early (01:13:13) - Producing 180 Handwritten Articles a Day (01:17:23) - Reverse Engineering Social Algorithms for Viral Reach (01:23:51) - Creating an Untouchable Business Moat (01:34:08) - Sell the Service Before You Build the Software

#133 - Booking Global Icons in 48 Hours: How We Built Australia's #1 Festival | Mike Christidis

Here is how the co-founder of Australia's largest independent music and events company navigated a $3.6M loss while scaling a $150M live music empire.In this episode, we sit down with Mike Christidis of Untitled Group to deconstruct exactly how he navigated industry failures, managed massive egos, and ultimately Built Australia's #1 Festival.This is a masterclass in high-stakes negotiation, crisis management, and scaling a business in one of the toughest industries on earth. Mike pulls back the curtain on the economics of global music festivals, the reality from nightclubs to massive arenas, and the data-driven systems his team uses to spot massive artists before the rest of the world catches on.In this episode, we break down:The $3.6M Loss: How Untitled Group navigated a massive hit while actively scaling their operations.The "Uncle Test": The data-driven system Mike's team uses to spot "$100M artists" before the rest of the industry catches on.Promoter Mayo: The truth behind shows and the economics of global music festivals.Outsmarting Agents: How a strategic 10-minute silence became the ultimate code for negotiating with massive industry egos.Building Australia's #1 Festival: The unfiltered reality of how Mike went from local nightclubs into a $150M live music empire.Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction (06:15) - From Local Nightclubs to Massive Arenas (12:40) - How to Spot a $100M Artist First (26:55) - The Economics of Global Music Festivals (34:10) - Outsmarting Music Industry Agents (42:30) - Managing Massive Egos & High-Stakes Negotiations (49:45) - The 48-Hour Strategy That Landed Nelly Furtado (57:15) - Risk Management When Millions Are on the Line (1:13:20) - What Happens When a Headline Act Pulls Out (1:21:05) - The Pitch That Secured Their First Major Arena Show (1:28:40) - You Can't Buy Culture: Building Australia's #1 Festival (1:36:15) - The Future of Live Events & Untitled Group's Next Move (1:43:50) - Mike’s Ultimate Advice for Operators

#132 - The "Invoice" Every Founder Pays For The 16-Hour Day | Robert Van der Moigg

Founder burnout is real, and Robert Van der Moigg can prove it. You work 16 hour days, you skip the recovery, and you tell yourself you'll fix your health once the business is built. Robert spent 20 years managing the private lives of self made billionaires and royalty, and he has bad news for you. Your biology is keeping a ledger, and one day it sends the invoice. In this episode of The Agency Podcast, Robert, the founder of Life X DNA, breaks down preventative health, longevity, and epigenetics, and what the ultra wealthy understood about optimising their bodies decades before the rest of us. He explains why he believes the system focuses on treating illness more than preventing it, how DNA testing and genetic testing went from millions of dollars to a few hundred, and the exact toll the entrepreneur grind can take on your body. We cover the science of burnout and chronic nervous system overload, why the founder grind can accelerate aging, inflammation, methylation, gut health, cold plunge and sauna protocols, circadian rhythm and sleep, and why he thinks most supplements are a waste of money. Robert also shares his take on where the wellness and food industries fall short, from supplement marketing to what ends up in the food supply. If you are a founder, entrepreneur, or high performer running yourself into the ground, this conversation on health optimisation, biohacking, and longevity is the wake up call before the invoice arrives. This conversation is for general information and entertainment only and is not medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional. Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) Intro (01:35) 20 Years Managing Billionaires' Private Lives (07:10) Your Genes Are a Roadmap, Not a Destiny (10:01) Treating Illness vs Preventing It (16:49) The Business Model Behind Modern Medicine (20:19) Your Laptop Isn't Your Most Important Device (22:46) The 16-Hour Founder Day, Dissected (25:04) Chronic Nervous System Overload (a.k.a. Burnout) (27:40) Fix Your Morning: Get the Phone Out of the Bedroom (37:21) Cold, Heat & Sun: Comfort Is Making You Soft (46:11) Why He Can Eat Gluten in Europe but Not at Home (53:07) How the Founder Grind Accelerates Aging (01:03:43) Why Blind Supplements Are "Expensive Urine" (01:11:08) Robert's Pacemaker Wake-Up Call (01:16:59) Don't Be the Richest Man in the Graveyard

#131 - Stop Treating Social Media Like a Billboard: Showpo's Content Strategy | Jane Lu

Jane is the mastermind and "The Lazy CEO" behind Showpo, a massive global E-commerce empire. Jane realised that spending 40 years climbing the corporate accounting ladder wasn't financial security, it was a life she didn't want. So, she took a leap. But when her first business failed and her partner quit, telling her that "nobody shops online," Jane didn't back down. Determined to prove everyone wrong, she built a new website in a single night and launched what would eventually become Showpo. Because she had no money and couldn't bear the shame of telling her parents she quit her prestigious job, Jane lived a double life. For two full years, she put on a corporate suit and rode the bus into the city with her mum, secretly building her business on the side. She bootstrapped her inventory by carrying giant bags of clothes on public transport and utilized a zero-cash consignment hack to get stock without paying upfront. In this episode, Jane breaks down the strategies she used to grow Showpo, the marketing that put it on the map, and the lessons she learned along the way. In this episode, we break down: • The 2-Year Secret: Why Jane kept Showpo from her immigrant parents until she could buy them a car and pay off their mortgage. • The Zero-Inventory Strategy: How to launch an online store without buying stock upfront. • Growing Without a Marketing Budget: The $0 strategy that took Showpo from 3,000 to 20,000 followers in a month. • Defying the Gatekeepers: Why Jane refused to give equity to a CTO who said she'd never reach $100M without him. • Surviving the E-Commerce Trap: How to manage dead stock, avoid endless discounting, and protect your margins. • The Power of Taking Action: Why execution beats intelligence every time. (00:00) Intro (06:44) Leaving the corporate "prison sentence" (10:55) Her first business & "nobody shops online" (12:07) The shame of failing and hiding it from her parents (15:17) Why you shouldn't quit your job (20:16) The second business: first sale in a week (24:14) Telling her parents (two years later) (27:24) What no one tells you about e-commerce (34:12) Going viral: the Facebook growth hack (38:49) Becoming the "Lazy CEO" (43:15) Why every founder needs a personal brand (53:36) Value vs. selling: social isn't a license to sell (1:04:22) "You'll never hit $100M". Let's prove them wrong (1:14:16) Family, business & having it all (1:30:37) Agency beats intelligence

#130 - How to Build A Business When You Have No Money | Yasser Zaki

When Yasser Zaki left Egypt for Australia, his father gave him one warning: "Don't come back crying". Within months, he found himself broke, sleeping under a tree in Campsie, and eating one meal a day at 4 PM just to survive the night. Fast forward to today, Yasser is the powerhouse CEO of Tender Loving Care spanning 7 industries, 9 businesses, 8 countries, and 3,000 employees.In this episode, Yasser reveals the secrets to his systems. He shares the story of how he called out the boss's integrity, only to be betrayed by a coworker and fired in month one. More importantly, he breaks down the exact high-level business mechanics he used to scale, from the horizontal ecosystem strategy he learned from Richard Branson to the "backward" butcher paper planning method that guarantees success. In this episode, Yasser reveals the secrets to his systems. He shares the story of how he called out the boss's integrity, only to be betrayed by a coworker and fired in month one. More importantly, he breaks down the exact high-level business mechanics he used to scale, from the horizontal ecosystem strategy he learned from Richard Branson to the "backward" butcher paper planning method that guarantees success. In this episode, we break down: • The Reality of Starting Over: Surviving extreme poverty and outsmarting a rigged system. • The Vengeance Mindset: How getting stitched up by a coworker fueled Yasser to become the number one salesman. • The Branson Blueprint: Why vertical scaling is dangerous and how horizontal ecosystems de-risk your empire. • Acquisition Arbitrage: How to buy companies that service your own business and instantly multiply their value. • The Butcher Paper Strategy: Why you should reverse engineer your goals and completely ignore your current skills. • Scaling to 3,000 Employees: Why processes create culture and why relying on people will break your systems. • Building Elite Leaders: How Yasser dared his Head of Growth to beat his skill set and how she eventually took his job as Group CEO. Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction(01:27) - "Don't Come Back Crying": Arriving in Australia(10:06) - Fired in Month One: The Sales Betrayal(14:56) - Surviving on One Meal a Day at 4 PM(27:21) - The 2-Day Butcher Paper Business Strategy(32:29) - The Backward Business Plan: Reverse Engineering Success(41:00) - How to Control the Conversation with Mentors(43:55) - The Richard Branson Horizontal Scaling Strategy(45:32) - Acquisition Arbitrage: Buying Your Own Supply Chain(58:35) - Daring His Employee to Take His Job as CEO(1:04:11) - Scaling to 3,000 Employees: Systems vs. People(1:13:15) - The True Cost of Fear in Business Growth(1:25:23) - A Ship Without Goodness Sinks

#129 - The Truth About Success From A 2x Guinness World Record Holder | James Castrission

In this episode, we sit down with James Castrission, founder of MyAdventure Group and a 2 x Guinness World Record holding explorer who left a safe job at Deloitte to tackle the most treacherous environments on Earth. James shares the unfiltered reality of stripping away corporate ego, building elite teams, and using extreme adversity to forge an unbreakable mindset. We dive straight into the mechanics of survival and leadership. From paddling across the Tasman Sea for 62 days, to dragging 160kg sleds 2,200km across Antarctica, James unpacks what it takes to survive and translates those lessons into business. In this episode, we break down: • The Corporate Escape: Why James quit his Big 4 accounting job and risked everything to escape a predetermined life. • Surviving the Tasman Sea: The reality of 13-meter waves, zero sleep, and sharks bumping their kayak in the dark. • The Antarctic Rivalry: How an unexpected rival turned a 2,200km ski into the ultimate test of endurance. • The Execution Rule: Why talent is overrated in business, and how meticulous planning allows you to adapt to chaos. • Extreme Accountability: The psychological shift that happens when leaders take absolute blame for a team's failure. • Stripping the Ego: How James breaks down corporate titles in the wilderness to build true vulnerability in high-performing teams. Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction (03:38) - Finding Adventure & The Murray River Trip (05:32) - The Murray River Lesson: Aligning Objectives (11:09) - The Decision to Paddle to New Zealand (17:30) - Planning the Tasman Sea Crossing & Sponsorships (23:27) - Extreme Accountability: Why Leaders Take the Blame (27:14) - Surviving 13-Meter Waves & Sharks (32:19) - 62 Days Later: Arriving in New Zealand (37:15) - The 1% Execution Rule & Why Talent is Overrated (42:42) - Antarctica: The "Super Bowl" of Adventure (49:50) - Weight Cutting & Strategy (57:05) - Meeting the Norwegian "Polar Ninja" (01:03:20) - Severe Infections & The Decision to Quit (01:14:02) - The Final Test

#128 - Navigating The 2026 Economy: Your Wealth Preservation Strategy | Scott Kuru

Ready to build wealth, generate passive income, and achieve financial freedom in 2026? Stop waiting for the system to save you. In this episode, property investing expert Scott Kuru (Co-founder of Freedom Property Investors) reveals the exact strategies you can use to grow your net worth.The reality is that relying on the traditional path won't save you anymore. If you want true financial independence, you need a highly strategic, data-driven plan to reach your $3 to $5 million "Freedom Number".We bypass the generic financial advice and dive straight into the hardcore, unfiltered reality of wealth creation. Forget about taking crazy risks, jumping on the latest trend, or trying to copy Elon Musk, this episode is about the highly effective, and guaranteed strategy to build multi-generational wealth.In this episode, we break down:The 5-Step Wealth Strategy: The exact blueprint to build true wealth, starting with securing your income.The Property Tax Shield: How to legally and strategically leverage brand-new property to maximise your returns and keep the taxman out of your pocket.The Old vs. New Property Trap: Why holding an old property could drain you of $300–$600 a week, while new properties cost just $50–$150 to hold."Live Like A Monk": The mindset required to get rid of your bad debt, cancel unnecessary subscriptions, and find an extra $50,000 hiding in your household budget.The Leverage Playbook: How to beat the minimum repayment delusion, negotiate with banks, and use "safe debt" to multiply your returns without risking your family's future.Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio 00:00 - Introduction 07:00 - From Sleeping on a Couch to Multi-Millionaire 14:50 - The May Budget & The Squeeze on Small Business 20:33 - Your $3 to $5 Million "Freedom Number" Explained 24:47 - The Hidden AI Data Center Crisis 36:50 - Why You Should Never Copy Elon Musk in Business 43:09 - The 5-Step Formula to Escape the System 49:30 - How to Ask for a Pay Raise (And Actually Get It) 56:26 - "Live Like a Monk": The War on Your Expenses 59:51 - How to Eliminate Your Bad Debt 01:15:50 - Using "Safe Debt" to Multiply Your Wealth 01:26:16 - Old vs. New Property: The Ultimate Tax Loophole

#127 - The AI Era: The Illusion Of AI Productivity | Frank Greeff & Marissa Kos

Are you actually scaling your business with AI, or are you just addicted to the dopamine of prompt engineering and chasing the next generative AI trend? In this episode, we sit down with Frank Greeff (Co-founder of Kinso) and Marissa Kos (Founder of MXM and AI Technician) to expose the truth about the current AI gold rush and the future of artificial intelligence. We bypass the generic "how to use ChatGPT" and "AI productivity hacks" advice, diving straight into the terrifying, contrarian, and unfiltered realities of the new AI era. If you think you are seamlessly automating your business, replacing your entire team, and printing money with a few lines of code, you are falling for the ultimate tech startup trap. In this episode, we break down: • The "Slop Cannon" Epidemic: Why firing out automated, perfectly polished AI content is actually destroying your brand's value. • Spotting the "AI Smell": How to identify the visual and written giveaways of AI that expose your work as fake. • The Productivity Illusion: Why you aren't working faster, but just wasting 13 hours chasing a dopamine hit while shipping absolutely nothing. • The Premium on "Ugly": Why raw, unedited, and highly human content is the only true competitive advantage left in a sea of AI-generated noise. • The Digital Afterlife: The dystopian reality of generating AI clones. Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:08) - Introduction (02:11) - The 5-Second AI Paradox Game (05:28) - What Happens to Founders Who Ignore AI? (09:10) - The Hype Cycle vs. The Reality of the "Slop Cannon" (15:58) - Can a 20-Year-Old with AI Outpace Real Experience? (19:10) - The Playbook of Big Tech (28:52) - The "AI Smell": Visual and Written Giveaways (39:44) - Re-Engineering Customer Support for a 400-Person Company (47:07) - Overcoming Internal Paranoia and Managing Stressed Teams (52:47) - The 13-Hour Prompting Trap & AI Dopamine Loops (01:08:18) - Endless Tool Hopping (01:18:25) - Why AI Output Disgusts Your Audience (01:24:48) - Why Imperfect Humanity Outperforms AI (01:41:31) - Quantum Computing and a Dystopian Sense of Self

#126 - How LSKD Turned Customers Into a Massive Global Community | Jason Daniel

How did a $30 motocross logo turn into a $150 million global fitness empire?In this episode, Jason Daniel, the CEO and Founder of LSKD, breaks down how a performance lifestyle brand exploded to 32 retail stores and a massive team of 700 employees. But the journey was far from easy.Jason opens up about the reality of being stuck at a $3 million revenue plateau for five straight years. The conversation covers the terrifying pivot that required walking away from 30% of wholesale revenue, dropping the biggest clients, and completely rebuilding the company's identity into what LSKD is today.This episode is an absolute masterclass in building a zero-ego company culture and cultivating a brand community that actually cares.You will learn:The Power of the Pivot: How LSKD escaped a 5-year growth plateau by cutting out wholesale and focusing entirely on direct-to-consumer community building.Zero-Ego Leadership: Why Jason refuses to have a private office, an assistant, or even a reserved car park at the company.The "Sweep the Sheds" Culture: How LSKD uses the "Hungry, Humble, Smart" framework to hire, and why they pay for their employees' audiobooks.Building True Community: Why chasing rapid scale backfires, and how going above and beyond for your community drives organic brand loyalty.Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction (02:28) - The "Loose Kid" origin story and early BMX days (03:42) - How a $30 garage sale logo started the brand (05:22) - Discovering functional fitness and the pivot to LSKD (10:02) - Dropping the magazine ad budget on a wakeboard boat (18:10) - The 3-day leadership course (26:15) - Launching the Rep Legging and focusing on E-commerce (31:09) - Bringing in a CFO to learn the financials (45:20) - Walking away from a retailer making up 30% of sales (54:12) - Why Jason refuses to have a private office or reserved car park (57:07) - Hiring with the "Hungry, Humble, Smart" framework (01:09:41) - Paying for employees' audiobooks to train future CEOs (01:13:25) - Breaking down LSKD's 6 Core Values

#125 - 11 Rules of Marketing And What Actually Works | Andrew Tindall

In this episode, Andrew dismantles the 11 biggest rules in modern digital marketing strategy, starting with the hard truth that engagement rates have absolutely zero correlation to actual sales.If you are treating your marketing campaigns like a race for virality, you are hitting a performance plateau. Andrew reveals why ROI is the most overvalued metric in the industry, and why forcing your logo into the first two seconds of a video will actually ruin your brand awareness. From replacing A-list celebrities with brand mascots to surviving the "tax" of retail media, this is a masterclass in driving undeniable business growth through data-backed advertising strategy.You will learn:The ROI Trap: Why optimising for short-term efficiency will eventually stall your entire business.The "Logo Hook" Myth: Why slapping a logo on the first two seconds of a TikTok ad increases skip rates by 50%.The Power of Characters: Why brand mascots are twice as effective at building distinctiveness compared to celebrities.The Organic Delusion: Why paid media will always outscale organic reach, no matter how viral your content gets.Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio(00:00:00) - Introduction(00:02:46) - Engagement Rates Are Rubbish(00:16:36) - Creators Are Brand Builders, Not Salespeople(00:29:08) - Digital Media Can Grow Brands, But Bad Creative Can't(00:35:52) - We Can No Longer Ignore Creativity and Focus Solely on Media(00:42:15) - We Are Giving Too Much Media Spend to Our Worst Work(00:44:52) - Why ROI is the Most Overvalued Marketing Metric(00:51:16) - Lazy Marketers Use Celebrities as One-Offs(00:59:58) - We Have Reduced Creativity to Distinctiveness and a Logo(01:08:30) - Moo Deng is Not Culture Strategy(01:15:07) - Only Marketers Get Bored of Ads(01:19:59) - Media Plans Are Still Full of Marketers' Bias(01:24:20) - Half of Global Advertising is Dull, and Dull is Expensive(01:35:33) - What Does Taking Agency MeanFOLLOW DAIN WALKER - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dainwalker/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz1eMJcjy8HfyvWJ_U1_WxQTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dainwalkerLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dainwalker/Website: https://www.dainwalker.com/FOLLOW ANDREW TINDALL - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewtindall/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrew.tindall?lang=enLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-tindall/FOLLOW AGENCY -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agencypodcast_/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6EXJ0ZBN1oPiPfquu0YXhK?si=bccac787f10c4d45&nd=1Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/agency/id1568032804FOLLOW RIVYL -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rivyl.co/?hl=enYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChfY2uu9UF8m2tWrz2loTzwLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rivylWebsite: https://www.rivyl.com/

#124 - Ignore Corporate Rules: How Raw Chaos Built Australia's #1 Beer | DJ McCready

Stop pretending to be the perfect CEO. Discover how DJ McCready used severe childhood trauma, radical vulnerability, and a massive appetite for risk to build a $50M business empire, turning out to be Australia’s #1 Beer. If you are trying to play it safe, your business growth is already finished. In this episode, Mountain Culture co-founder DJ McCready drops the polished CEO act and reveals the raw, unfiltered reality of scaling a startup and developing an unbreakable entrepreneurial mindset. DJ opens up using profound trauma as the ultimate fuel to conquer the craft beer industry. Instead of listening to stuffy business advisors or relying on a comfortable financial safety net, DJ proves why embracing chaos and making terrifying decisions is the only way to achieve true business success. From sweeping brewery floors for free to making a blind $750,000 gamble without bank approval just to survive, this is a masterclass in overcoming adversity. (edited) Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: ⁠http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj⁠Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: ⁠https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:02:10) - Winning the GABS Hottest 100 Four Years Running (00:03:38) - Dealing with Childhood Trauma & Using It as Fuel (00:04:49) - Sweeping Floors & Learning to Brew for Free (00:12:12) - The Failed $100k Brewery Buyout at 25 (00:17:34) - Why Unglamorous Processes Make the Best Products (00:23:02) - Empowering a Team of 200 People (00:45:15) - Why You Must Operate Best When Chaos Hits (00:51:15) - The "Katoomba Gamble": Risking $750k Without Approval (01:03:15) - Living in a Mezzanine to Keep the Business Alive (01:21:36) - The Truth About Ignoring Business Advisors (01:29:38) - The Transition from Hustling Founder to Visionary CEO (01:38:25) - Defying Trends: The Launch of 'Juice Trip' (01:43:47) - The $600 Marketing Budget That Beat the Giants (01:58:41) - The Ultimate Goal: Buying Out the Corporate Competition

#123 - Turn LinkedIn Into A Lead Machine With The 3-Layer Tribal Formula | Matthew Lakajev

Stop losing B2B sales to outdated LinkedIn advice and generic content marketing. B2B expert Matt Lakajev reveals the exact "Tribal Content" strategy to dominate organic reach, drive massive inbound lead generation, and book high-ticket clients on demand. The social media marketing landscape has completely shifted into interest-based algorithms. If you are still relying on traditional Ideal Client Profiles (ICPs), spammy outbound sales, or chasing viral follower counts for LinkedIn growth, your digital marketing strategy is finished. In this episode, Matt dismantles standard B2B marketing strategies, exposing why there is absolutely zero correlation between vanity metrics and a profitable sales pipeline. Instead of fighting massive creators for the top 1% of generic attention, Matt reveals how to weaponise "Tribal Recognition" for maximum conversion rates. By targeting specific micro-tribes and layering their insider language into your social selling posts, you can force the LinkedIn algorithm to serve your content directly to your target audience and ideal buyers. Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction (02:02) - The TikTokification of Algorithms & Social Media (03:22) - Why Follower Count Has Zero Correlation to Leads (05:41) - Tribal Recognition: MrBeast vs. Your Childhood Home (11:33) - Why "Ideal Client Profiles" (ICPs) Are Lost (16:03) - The Three Types of Tribes You Must Target (26:49) - The Danger of Generic Content & Competing With Giants (32:51) - The "Five-Word Test" for Nailing Your Content (43:10) - Stop Starting From a Blank Page: Using Content Formats (53:49) - Masterclass: Building an AI Content Machine on Claude (58:16) - The "Whisper Flow" Hack to 10x Your Writing Speed (01:24:26) - Creating "Skill Files" to Automate B2B Sales (01:28:15) - The 2x2 Content Matrix (01:39:41) - Why Cold DMs Are Just Highly Targeted Micro-Content (01:48:43) - The 7-Step Framework for the Perfect Cold DM

#122 - 18 Years On Camera: The Power Of Being Your Own Biggest Fan | Brittney Saunders

Why your obsessive work ethic is destroying your company's growth. Fashion CEO Brittney Saunders breaks down the painful reality of scaling a business and why you must step out of your own way to survive. Scaling a multi-million dollar brand requires more than just a good product, it requires an entirely new founder psychology. In this episode, Fayt founder and omnichannel CEO Brittney Saunders reveals the truth about stepping back, letting go of control, and building a leadership team that can actually scale your vision. Alongside her ruthless business insights, Brittney unpacks her incredible personal backstory. Going from a 16-year-old high school dropout with zero family safety net to an industry powerhouse, she explains how she turned 20 failed jobs and a fractured childhood into an unstoppable drive to win. Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: ⁠http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj⁠Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: ⁠https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction (01:49) - The Reality of Running a Multi-Million Dollar Fashion Label (06:18) - The Founder Bottleneck: Why Being "Hands-On" is Destroying Your Scale (12:49) - The CEO vs. Influencer Dilemma (Navigating Office Politics) (20:41) - The Content-First Rule: Why Launching Without an Audience is Failure (26:25) - Stop Throwing Cash on Meta Ads (28:05) - The Real Definition of Organic Content (39:00) - The Snowball Effect of Taking Blind Risks (46:20) - The Pain of Scaling: Why More Money Equals More Chaos (54:34) - Why You Can't Fake Authenticity (01:00:19) - The "Sparkly Jeans" Strategy: How to Sell a Vibe, Not a Product (01:13:14) - Do You Actually Need Passion to Succeed in Business? (01:22:34) - Turning Childhood Trauma Into Entrepreneurial Fuel (01:38:23) - Fayt Estate: Dominating the PR Industry (01:45:18) - FOMO & Engineering Cult-Like Loyalty

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#121 - The Digital Mind: Have We Outsourced Human Intelligence? | Jeremy Tang

The search landscape has fractured, and chasing shiny AI Optimisation trends is a guaranteed path to obscurity. Programmatic SEO authority Jeremy Tang dismantles the myth that ChatGPT requires a new playbook, exposing how AI engines essentially run hyper-fast Google searches using it as the Master Index for information retrieval. Jeremy rips apart standard marketing, proving why fighting industry giants for the top 2% of "head terms" is a complete waste of time. Instead, he reveals the hidden mechanics of the "Query Fan Out" and how to "content momentum." By publishing up to 50 pieces of long-tail content a month, you can beat crawl budget limits and force the algorithm to notice you. Plus, he uncovers the uncontested "outer rim" search paths your customers actually use. Whether you suffer from the "direct traffic" glitch hiding your true AI visitors, or you want to dominate the hidden 98% of online search, this episode breaks down the exact mechanics to conquer your market. Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction(02:36) - The Three Phases of Search & Why Systems Hallucinate(09:12) - How Search Engines Actually Operate(13:35) - The "Query Fan Out" Effect Explained(15:13) - The September 10th Update: 100 Results to 10(25:42) - The Reddit Traffic Illusion(33:16) - The 2.3% Trap: Why Fighting for Core Keywords is Bankrupting You(58:00) - Targeting "White Space": How to Steal Uncontested Traffic(01:02:15) - The Content Momentum Rule: Why Volume Beats Perfection(01:11:47) - The Algorithmic Echo Chamber & The Danger to Independent Thought(01:28:11) - The 2,000-Page "Crawl Budget" Stress Test(01:32:37) - The 1,000-Keyword Blueprint for Hyper-Scaled Traffic(01:37:52) - The Analytics Glitch Hiding Your Most Valuable Visitors(01:54:26) - Can You Actually Compete Without Paying for Ads?(02:03:12) - Uncovering the "Outer Rim" With 30 Customer Interviews

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#120 - The Things You Must Never Let AI Control | Joe Stolte

In this episode, we sit down with six-time founder Joe Stolte to explore the reality of AI adoption and why refusing to adapt will ultimately bankrupt your business. After achieving four successful startup exits, Joe realised most entrepreneurs treat AI as a shiny distraction. Joe breaks down the mechanics of the AI Maturity Ladder, revealing why he uses incentives and intensive two-day workshops to demand real behaviour change from his teams. We dive deep into business longevity, why companies stuck between $1M and $5M are one storm away from collapse, and why surviving requires a strategic pivot to a new operating model.If you are struggling with the ego of learning AI from scratch, or trying to scale without adding more headcount, this episode provides the exact framework you need. (00:00) - Introduction (04:13) - The 5 Levels of AI Business Maturity (11:02) - Why You Must Demand 3x Output From Your Team (20:00) - The 48-Hour AI Training Manual (31:12) - Why Resumes Have Expired: Hiring Elite Talent With AI (34:21) - Exposing the "Tool Collector" vs. The "Architect" (44:08) - The 3 Things You Must Never Automate (52:31) - Meta-Prompting: Having AI Build Your Systems (58:23) - The G.R.I.T. Prompting Framework Explained (01:02:53) - Stop Building Hacks, Start Building Systems (01:28:56) - The 5 Elements of an Automated Agency System (01:39:05) - Capture, Catalog, Convert: Building a Media Factory (01:56:36) - The Plumit of Agency Retainers (02:07:26) - How CEO Ego and Status Will Bankrupt You (02:10:40) - Taking Agency & Building a Legacy Access Joe’s AI Instagram Chat Bot here: https://dmjoe.comBook Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio

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#119 - The Brutal Truth About Scaling The Diary Of A CEO | Grace Miller

Grace Miller, Head of Experimentation and Failure for Steven Bartlett and The Diary Of A CEO gives the honest truths and secrets of how Steven Bartlett’s business empire was created. Grace talks to us on stripping away the "paper walls" and fake industry rules about production that hold brands back. In an unfiltered conversation, Grace explains how true longevity comes from the raw honesty of ruthless experimentation and challenging the status quo, not conforming to aesthetic assumptions. Is failure really the key to success? Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) Trailer (01:55) Introduction. The Early Days of DOAC (09:14) Defining the "A-Player" & The Culture Test (13:20) The Power of Polite Disagreement (29:44) Reframing Failure (48:27) Hacking YouTube (54:43) Tearing Down "Paper Walls" (01:00:24) Untraining Your Staff to Force Innovation (01:02:19) Building a Culture of Recognition (01:22:18) Podcasts, Why You Must Delete Bad Episodes (01:28:09) The Art of Hosting, Knowing When to Shut Up (01:51:03) What "High Agency" Actually Means

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