There's a Niels Bohr quote that I love: "An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field." After ten years working as a development manager at web agencies, I feel like I've made more than my fair share. My talk would take a narrative approach to mistakes that I've either made or seen other agencies make in hopes that I might save my generous attendees the trouble of making them. In particular: * Define growth, and talk about when growth can actually destroy value * Debunk the American business myth, "Grow or Die" * Offer strategies for retention, and talk about why it matters so much * Discuss sales strategies for getting good clients, doing what you love to do, and making your work repeatable * Regale the crowd with epic tales of agency success and failure A recording of this presentation is available from Drupalcon Portland.

1. Seth Brown // @sethlbrown // Drupalcamp Colorado 2013
“An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made
in a narrow field.” — Neils Bohr
MISTAKES AGENCIES MAKE
Sunday, June 30, 13

2. TOP THREE REASONS TO LEAVE
NOW...
Sunday, June 30, 13

3. TOP THREE REASONS TO LEAVE
NOW...
‣ Your agency does more than $10mm per year
Sunday, June 30, 13

4. TOP THREE REASONS TO LEAVE
NOW...
‣ Your agency does more than $10mm per year
‣ Looking for a more tactical discussion of project
management methods
Sunday, June 30, 13

5. TOP THREE REASONS TO LEAVE
NOW...
‣ Your agency does more than $10mm per year
‣ Looking for a more tactical discussion of project
management methods
‣ You thought this was the CHX coder lounge.
Sunday, June 30, 13

6. I. RESOURCING
GROWTH
SALES
Sunday, June 30, 13

7. “
— Garrison Keillor on English Majors
WELCOME TO BURGER WORLD
---- WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY
OUR TWO-POUNDER WITH A
POUND OF FRIES AND A
GALLON OF SODA POP?
Sunday, June 30, 13

8. “
— J.K. Rowling
THE BLOOD OF A UNICORN WILL
KEEP YOU ALIVE, EVEN IF YOU ARE
AN INCH FROM DEATH, BUT AT A
TERRIBLE PRICE.
Sunday, June 30, 13

9. MEET ZEKE
Sunday, June 30, 13

10. 7 DEVELOPERS
48 PROJECTS
85 HOURS PER WEEK
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11. AVOIDING THE MISTAKES
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12. Sunday, June 30, 13

13. “
— Cite
Sunday, June 30, 13

14. “
— Tom DeMarco, Slack
THERE IS NEVER LESS THAN A 15
PERCENT PENALTY DUE TO TIME
SHARING A KNOWLEDGE WORKER
BETWEEN TWO OR MORE TASKS.
Sunday, June 30, 13

15. “
— Tom DeMarco, Slack
SLACK IS THE NATURAL ENEMY OF
EFFICIENCY, AND EFFICIENCY IS THE NATURAL
ENEMY OF SLACK.
Sunday, June 30, 13

16. Sunday, June 30, 13

17. LESSONS LEARNED
Sunday, June 30, 13

18. LESSONS LEARNED
‣ Discipline sales
Sunday, June 30, 13

19. LESSONS LEARNED
‣ Discipline sales
‣ Human beings aren’t fungible.
Sunday, June 30, 13

20. LESSONS LEARNED
‣ Discipline sales
‣ Human beings aren’t fungible.
‣ Don’t over-schedule your resources
Sunday, June 30, 13

21. LESSONS LEARNED
‣ Discipline sales
‣ Human beings aren’t fungible.
‣ Don’t over-schedule your resources
‣ Hire talented people where you find them
Sunday, June 30, 13

22. RESOURCING
II. GROWTH
SALES
Sunday, June 30, 13

23. “
— Oscar Wilde, e Picture of Dorian Grey
HOW SAD IT IS! I SHALL GROW OLD
AND HORRIBLE AND DREADFUL.
BUT THIS PICTURE WILL REMAIN
YOUNG. IF IT WERE ONLY THE
OTHER WAY.
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24. Sunday, June 30, 13

25. Sunday, June 30, 13

26. Sunday, June 30, 13

27. Sunday, June 30, 13

28. Sunday, June 30, 13

29. TYPICAL AGENCY GROWTH
PATTERN
-$500,000
$0
$500,000
$1,000,000
$1,500,000
$2,000,000
2006 2007 2008 2009
Profit Revenue
Sunday, June 30, 13

30. AVOIDING THE MISTAKES
Sunday, June 30, 13

31. GROW OR DIE
Sunday, June 30, 13

32. “
— Edward Hess, Darden School of Business
THERE IS VIRTUALLY NO SUPPORT FOR THOSE
BELIEFS IN THE FIELDS OF ECONOMICS,
FINANCE, ACCOUNTING, STRATEGY,
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, COMPLEXITY
THEORY, OR EVEN BIOLOGY.
Sunday, June 30, 13

33. “
— Edward Hess, Darden School of Business
THERE IS NOT A STRONG
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GROWTH
AND PROFITABILITY
Sunday, June 30, 13

34. TYPICAL AGENCY GROWTH
PATTERN
-$1,250,000
$0
$1,250,000
$2,500,000
$3,750,000
$5,000,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Profit Revenue
Sunday, June 30, 13

35. THE RULE OF THIRDS
Sunday, June 30, 13

36. TIE REVENUE TO WORK
Sunday, June 30, 13

37. HOW QUICKLY SHOULD I GROW?
Sunday, June 30, 13

38. SUSTAINABLE GROWTH RATE
= (PM*(1-D)*(1+L)) / (T-(PM*(1-
D)*(1+L)))
Sunday, June 30, 13

39. Sunday, June 30, 13

40. FOUR TYPES OF GROWTH
Sunday, June 30, 13

41. FOUR TYPES OF GROWTH
‣ Improvements
Sunday, June 30, 13

42. FOUR TYPES OF GROWTH
‣ Improvements
‣ Scaling
Sunday, June 30, 13

43. FOUR TYPES OF GROWTH
‣ Improvements
‣ Scaling
‣ Acquisition
Sunday, June 30, 13

44. FOUR TYPES OF GROWTH
‣ Improvements
‣ Scaling
‣ Acquisition
‣ Innovation
Sunday, June 30, 13

45. LESSONS LEARNED
Sunday, June 30, 13

46. LESSONS LEARNED
‣ Growth is not inherently good and it can conceal a host
of ills
Sunday, June 30, 13

47. LESSONS LEARNED
‣ Growth is not inherently good and it can conceal a host
of ills
‣ Match revenue to work
Sunday, June 30, 13

48. LESSONS LEARNED
‣ Growth is not inherently good and it can conceal a host
of ills
‣ Match revenue to work
‣ Maintain a 10% cash reserve for working capital
Sunday, June 30, 13

49. LESSONS LEARNED
‣ Growth is not inherently good and it can conceal a host
of ills
‣ Match revenue to work
‣ Maintain a 10% cash reserve for working capital
‣ Have a growth strategy
Sunday, June 30, 13

50. GROWTH
RESOURCING
III. SALES
Sunday, June 30, 13

51. “
— Herman Melville , Moby Dick
TALK NOT TO ME OF
BLASPHEMY, MAN; I'D STRIKE
THE SUN IF IT INSULTED ME. FOR
COULD THE SUN DO THAT, THEN
COULD I DO THE OTHER...
Sunday, June 30, 13

52. CONCENTRATION RISK
Sunday, June 30, 13

53. ANAGNORISIS
at sinking realization that you may not have fully accounted for all the risks.
Sunday, June 30, 13

54. LESSONS LEARNED
‣ Diversify, diversify, diversify
‣ Consciously assume risk
‣ Allow for healthy dissent
Sunday, June 30, 13

55. “
— Albert Einstein
WE CAN'T SOLVE PROBLEMS BY
USING THE SAME KIND OF
THINKING WE USED WHEN WE
CREATED THEM.
Sunday, June 30, 13