I'll teach you how to acquire a marketing agency instead of starting one from scratch. https://teapawt.net/t.co/rPR3dsUcdQ
Downtown, Austin
Joined April 2009
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I’ve scaled, sold, and helped others do the same.
If you run a marketing agency and want to grow through acquisitions
Follow along- I’ll show you how.
👇 Free M&A starter guide
digitalagencybusiness.com/ma…
Future-proof your company by embedding AI into your business model to ensure sustainable durability and long-term value
Most agency owners are trying to solve the next stage of growth with the same tools that built the current business.
More clients. More hires. More delivery.
More pressure on the founder to keep the whole thing moving.
That model can build an agency.
But at some point, the question changes.
It is no longer just, “How do we grow?”
It becomes, “What kind of company are we building?”
That is a different question.
Because more revenue does not automatically mean more enterprise value. More people do not automatically mean more leadership depth. More services do not automatically mean the business is strategically stronger.
The next level requires a different lens.
You have to think about capability. Talent. Client concentration. Leadership. Cash flow. Partnerships. Acquisitions. Structure. Integration. Exit value.
You have to stop seeing the agency only as something you operate.
You have to start seeing it as an asset you are building.
That is the conversation Liftoff is built around.
Not M&A as a gimmick.
Not buying businesses because it sounds exciting.
Not escaping the agency.
Building beyond the current model.
For some owners, that may mean acquiring capability instead of building it from scratch.
For others, it may mean buying leadership, entering a new market, creating a stronger platform, or preparing the business to become more valuable before an eventual exit.
The point is not that every agency owner should buy a business.
The point is that serious owners need to understand the tools available to them.
Organic growth is one tool.
Hiring is one tool.
Partnerships are one tool.
Acquisitions are one tool.
Capital structure is one tool.
The owner’s job is to understand which tool creates the most leverage for the company they are actually trying to build.
That is the shift from operator to owner.
And that is the room we are building at Liftoff.
For agency owners who are not done building, but know the next chapter cannot just be more of the same.
The next wave of winners will not just know how to run a business.
They’ll know how to buy growth.
Structure deals.
Add cash flow.
Build something bigger than what they can create from scratch.
That’s why we created Liftoff.
Liftoff is not another conference built around theory, inspiration, or surface-level talk.
It’s for agency owners who want to understand how to think like buyers, how to use acquisitions as a growth strategy, and how to build a business that compounds.
If you want to stay small and keep grinding for every inch, this is not for you.
If you want to understand how real owners create leverage, this is the room.
November 4–6 in Dallas.
200 serious agency entrepreneurs.
Real conversations.
Real strategy.
Real opportunity.
Get in the room.
Comment “LIFTOFF” and we’ll point you in the right direction.
This is where agency owners stop thinking like operators and start building like owners.
#Mnamindset #agencygrowth #liftoffconference
The next wave of winners will not just know how to run a business.
They’ll know how to buy growth, structure deals, add cash flow.
And how to build something bigger than what they can create from scratch.
That’s why we created Liftoff.
It's not another conference built around theory, inspiration, or surface-level talk.
It’s for agency owners who want to understand how to think like buyers, how to use acquisitions as a growth strategy, and how to build a business that compounds.
If you want to stay small and keep grinding for every inch, this is NOT for you.
If you want to understand how real owners create leverage, YOU WANT TO BE IN THIS ROOM.
November 4–6 in Dallas, TX.
Comment “LIFTOFF” and we’ll point you in the right direction.
Liftoff is THE event for agency owners who are ready to stop relying only on organic growth and start building through acquisitions, ownership, and strategic M&A.
Want to be in the room? Comment ROOM and I'll send you the link to reserve your seat!
#agencymna #mnamindset #digitalagencies #agencyfounder #agencygrowth
Liftoff is THE event for agency owners who are ready to stop relying only on organic growth and start building through acquisitions, ownership, and strategic M&A.
Want to be in the room? Comment ROOM and I'll send you the link to reserve your seat!
If you’re an agency owner who knows organic growth alone isn’t enough anymore, this room was built for you.
This is not theory.
This is not motivation.
We will spend the whole day focused on how to actually buy businesses, structure deals, and think like an owner.
The clock is ticking.
If acquisitions are on your radar for 2026, now is the time to get in the room.
See you next month!
Comment M&A if you are interested, I'll send the information over
The next wave of winners will not just know how to run a business.
They’ll know how to buy growth.
Structure deals.
Add cash flow.
Build something bigger than what they can create from scratch.
That’s why we created Liftoff.
Liftoff is not another conference built around theory, inspiration, or surface-level talk.
It’s for agency owners who want to understand how to think like buyers, how to use acquisitions as a growth strategy, and how to build a business that compounds.
If you want to stay small and keep grinding for every inch, this is not for you.
If you want to understand how real owners create leverage, this is the room.
November 4–6 in Dallas.
200 serious agency entrepreneurs.
Real conversations.
Real strategy.
Real opportunity.
Get in the room.
Comment “LIFTOFF” and we’ll point you in the right direction.
A lot of the best thinking in our business does not happen in public.
It happens in conversations with agency owners who are trying to buy their first business.
It happens on advisory calls with founders who are preparing to sell.
It happens inside deal reviews, negotiation breakdowns, post-acquisition lessons, operator conversations, podcast interviews, event rooms, and the occasional conversation where someone says something so simple that it changes the way I think about the whole game.
That is what I try to capture in my newsletter.
Not fluff. Not announcements.
The real stuff.
What buyers are getting wrong. What sellers are realizing too late. What makes a business more valuable. What kills deals. What we are seeing in the agency M&A market before it becomes obvious.
If you are building an agency, buying one, selling one, or starting to think more like an owner, you should probably be reading it.
DM me your email and I’ll add you to the list.
What happens when you learn how to buy businesses?
You stop being trapped inside one business model.
Once you understand how to find a deal, evaluate it, structure it, close it, and integrate it, that skill starts to compound. You can use it in your industry. You can use it in another vertical. You can use it to buy capability, talent, revenue, geography, or time.
That is why M&A is such a powerful skill set.
It is not just about doing one deal.
It is about learning a way to build that you can use again and again.
AI may disrupt tasks. It may disrupt delivery. It may disrupt the way services are fulfilled.
But ownership is still ownership.
And the person who knows how to acquire, structure, and grow assets is playing a very different game.
"Don't be an owner and an operator. Just be an operator
#mnamindset #digitalagency #entrepreneurship #businessgrowth"
One month until the M&A & Exit Lab in Austin!
If you’re an agency owner who knows organic growth alone isn’t enough anymore, this room was built for you.
This is not theory.
This is not motivation.
We will spend the whole day focused on how to actually buy businesses, structure deals, and think like an owner.
The clock is ticking.
If acquisitions are on your radar for 2026, now is the time to get in the room.
One Month!
Comment M&A if you are interested, I'll send the information over
How to know if someone is a serious buyer or a tourist, with Grant Hensel
Comment ETA and I'll send you the full episode
#mergersandacquistions #buildingafund #entrepreneurship #eta
Turn your agency into an asset.
That doesn’t mean “work harder” or “get better clients.”
It means building something that holds up without you in every seat: cleaner numbers, tighter delivery, real leadership, and a growth plan that isn’t dependent on your personal hustle.
That’s what we teach.
If you want the starting point, go through my free 21 Days training. It’ll give you the baseline framework and language to start thinking like an owner, not just an operator.
Grant Hensel is one of those people who has lived the full arc.
He started companies. He built an agency. He and his wife Julia acquired a business together. He invested personally in other people’s acquisitions.
And now he has raised a fund focused on backing self-funded searchers who are buying and operating profitable small businesses.
Grant doesn't just talk about acquisitions from theory. He talks about them from the seat of an operator.
Small business acquisitions are messy, personal, emotional, operational, and often fragile. The business might be profitable, but that does not mean it is easy to transition.
That is why the person matters so much.
If you are buying a business, your character is part of the deal.
Your ability to communicate bad news matters.
Your willingness to surface problems matters.
Your operating experience matters. Your seriousness matters.
A lot of people can say, “I want to buy a business.”
But few people can walk into a company after close, deal with the fires, protect the culture, manage the debt, retain the customers, and make the business better without breaking it.
One of my biggest takeaways from this episode is that the future of self-funded search will not belong to the loudest buyers. It will belong to the most credible ones.
The people who understand that buying the business is only the beginning.
This was a fun one Grant Hensel, thanks for sharing your wisdom.
If you want to catch the whole episode:
Watch on Youtube: youtu.pulse.ly/scdunxsbaw
Listen on Spotify:
spotify.pulse.ly/wijzkkadfe
Do you control of your employment? These are the step ups of becoming an owner.
#MnaMindset #digitalagency #incomeconcentration #entrepreneurship