Learning From Other Agency Owners | EP19

Great agencies are not built in isolation. In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim explore the transformative power of community and peer learning for agency founders. The hosts share their personal journey from working in a silo to actively seeking mentorship and joining dedicated communities, revealing how these connections helped them avoid blind spots, gain crucial perspective, and accelerate their growth.

Peter and Sei-Wook break down specific communities that have been instrumental to their journey, including Bureau of Digital, Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA), and Collective 54. They discuss the unique value of both agency-specific and cross-industry networks, and offer practical advice on how to get the most out of being a member. Crucially, they also warn against the "cargo cult" mentality of blindly copying what seems to work for others, emphasizing the importance of understanding the underlying principles and adapting ideas to your own unique context.

For any agency owner feeling stuck or curious about what’s beyond their own four walls, this episode is a compelling case for seeking out your peers.

Key Moments

1. The shift from isolation to seeking external perspective and mentorship.

2. The surprising generosity and transparency found in early one-on-one meetings with admired agency owners.

3. How structured communities like Bureau of Digital and SoDA provide exponential learning and relationship-building opportunities.

4. The value of cross-industry networks like Collective 54 for broader strategic insights.

5. Actionable ways to get the maximum value from any community you join.

6. Understanding and avoiding the dangerous "cargo cult" mentality in business.

7. The long-term benefit: building real, lasting relationships that provide support and perspective for years.

Real Talk Takeaways

1. Early in your journey, you may think you have all the answers, but seeking outside perspective is a sign of strength, not weakness.

2. Most successful agency owners are remarkably open and willing to share their knowledge if you reach out with genuine curiosity.

3. Communities accelerate learning by exposing you to dozens of perspectives and solutions to problems you're currently facing.

4. Cross-industry professional groups can provide unexpected and highly valuable insights applicable to your agency.

5. To get the most from a community, come with a curious mindset, contribute your own experiences, and focus on building real relationships.

6. Never blindly copy a tactic or model from another agency without understanding the "why" behind its success.

7. Treat new ideas as hypotheses to test in small ways within your own context, rather than mandates to implement immediately.

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro: The Power of Learning from Peers

00:28 – Our Early Days: Working in a Silo vs. Seeking Mentorship

02:48 – The Value of Joining a Community

04:00 – Spotlight: Bureau of Digital and Owner Camp

04:39 – Spotlight: Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA)

07:02 – Spotlight: Collective 54 and Cross-Industry Learning

10:23 – How to Get the Most Value from Any Community

13:19 – The Critical Lesson: Avoiding the "Cargo Cult" Mentality

17:03 – Personal Story: Falling into the Copy Trap and Learning From It

19:50 – Evolving Your Approach: Treating Peer Ideas as Hypotheses

21:03 – Final Takeaway: Growth Happens in Community

Notable Quotes

"Early on… the fact that they would, number one, respond. But also set aside time, in some cases, several hours to just sit down with us and talk to us about their business and be super transparent." — Sei-Wook Kim on the surprising generosity found when reaching out to other agency owners.

"In a room with a lot of people who throw around ideas and experiences, it's easy to jump onto things. So I think that's something to be mindful of." — Sei-Wook Kim on the danger of latching onto surface-level tactics without understanding the context.

"Oftentimes, if you're just in your own world, you're siloed and that's all you see. It's hard to have perspective." — Peter Kang on why external learning is critical for agency founders.

"I remember the team would just groan like, 'Oh God, Peter went to another one of these things.' It's gonna be more slew of ideas." — Peter Kang on his early tendency to bring back too many unfiltered ideas from peer meetings before learning to adapt them.

Links & Resources

Peter Kang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterkang34/

Sei-Wook Kim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seiwookkim/

AgencyHabits Website: https://www.agencyhabits.com/

AgencyHabits on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/agencyhabits/

Barrel Holdings Website: https://www.barrel-holdings.com/

Barrel Holdings LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/barrel-holdings/

Bureau of Digital: https://bureauofdigital.com/

Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA): https://sodaspeaks.com/

Collective 54: https://collective54.com/