Episode #553 - Flipping The Traditional Agency Model On It’s Head - with Virtyt Pula

In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, I’m joined by Virtyt Pula, the founder of TOML, a talent-first creative agency that’s reimagining how creative work gets done. Instead of a traditional in-house model, TOML operates as a global creative collective, blending a tight-knit core team with a flexible international network of creative specialists.

Founded in 2015, TOML was built to challenge agency norms, and when the pandemic hit, its remote-first model went from being questioned by clients to becoming its biggest asset.

We cover three key areas in this conversation:

1. The Business, how TOML operates with a hybrid model, builds bespoke teams for every brief, and maintains quality across a distributed network.
2. Scaling Challenges, from earning client trust to navigating cash flow with global freelancers and shifting to a 50/50 service-to-R&D business model.
3. Quickfire Insights, including Virtyt’s views on mentorship, the importance of launching early, and why his biggest influences include Steve Jobs, Bob Iger, and The Beatles.

The one key thing?
Your agency structure doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s to work, but you’ll need to earn trust fast.

Quick heads-up — we’re looking for a handful of founders to test our new AI-powered Smart90 Lite app. It’s built to help you stay accountable and actually deliver on your goals — in just a few minutes a day. It’s free while we’re in testing, and your feedback will directly shape the final version. You can get access by emailing [e-mail].

Make sure you don’t miss any future episodes by subscribing to ScaleUp Radio wherever you like to listen to your podcasts, and why not give us a follow.

For now, continue listening for the full discussion with Virtyt.

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Kevin's Latest Book Is Available!

Drawing on BizSmart’s own research and experiences of working with hundreds of owner-managers, Kevin Brent explores the key reasons why most organisations do not scale and how the challenges change as they reach different milestones on the ScaleUp Journey. He then details a practical step by step guide to successfully navigate between the milestones in the form of ESUS - a proven system for entrepreneurs to scale up.

More on the Book HERE - https://www.esusgroup.co.uk/

Virtyt can be found here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/virtytpula/

https://www.tomlcollective.com/

 

Resources:

Problem Solvers podcast - https://www.jasonfeifer.com/podcast/

Diary of a CEO podcast - https://stevenbartlett.com/doac/

The Future podcast - https://www.thefutur.com/podcast

Slack - https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/

Notion - https://www.notion.com/

Trello - https://trello.com/

Figma - https://www.figma.com/

Vimeo - https://vimeo.com/

Sortlist - https://www.sortlist.co.uk/