From Selling an Agency to Starting an M&A Firm

David Rodnitzky is the founder of Agentic Shift, a consulting firm that helps marketing agency founders through the mergers and acquisitions process.

Prior to Agentic Shift, David founded 3Q Digital. He grew 3Q from one person in a coffee shop to more than 325 people in 11 offices, managing over $2 billion of online media spend.

Highlights from David Rodnitzky’s Episode

• From wrinkle cream to online poker…how David figured out he wanted to start his agency
• What David realized about bigger clients
• How David’s company was sold, and the surprise that followed
• What happened when David bought his company back
• What David often sees in his M&A business
• What happened to “David Deals”
• What early-stage agencies should be thinking about now

Lightening round with David Rodnitzky

• Best advice: You don’t get what you deserve; you get what you negotiate
• Habit that contributes to success: Fascination with tech and the internet
• Tool or resource recommendation: Midjourney
• Book recommendation: Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

Resources, plus connect with David Rodnitzky-

• David on LinkedIn
• EOS
• Agentic Shift
• Selling Your Marketing Agency – book by David Rodnitzky

Quotes from David Rodnitzky’s episode –

• “You eventually will find opportunities that will scale the business.”
• “Don’t be in India if your wife is 8 months pregnant. Unless she’s in India.”
• “Just trying to keep the lights on.”
• “…having a great rapport with a certain part of the market so we can grow with them.”
• “It’s better lucky than it is to be good sometimes.”
• “We’re not running the business on David Deals anymore.”

Takeaways from David Rodnitzky’s episode –

• Have you had multiple clients express a need for something? Maybe it’s time to invest in figuring out if it’s viable
• Place yourself firmly in your niche and grow with them
• How much of your agency’s success is based on you being there?

Sponsors For The Digital Agency Show

Ready for a managed hosting provider that will get your clients the performance, reliability, and support you need? Get started with Cloudways today with a $50 hosting credit using code “DASCW”.

Outsourcing services for digital agencies–website design & development, e-commerce, SEO, content marketing, link building – E2M.