Perspectives on digital services, the businesses we build, and what it takes to scale.
We’re not investing in mattress stores. Or car washes. Or portapotties. Tempting as it was.
The ICP Drift Tax is real. It is also one of the easiest problems for a services firm to miss while it is happening.
One of the best things we ever did at T3 had nothing to do with process, org charts, or new capabilities.
What separates the operators who break through from the ones who stall.
Your ability to apply judgment, context, and experience faster than everyone else is.
From Hero to System
Most service firms say they have IP. But if they don’t treat it like a product, they rarely realize its true value.
Checkout.com just predicted that AI agents could handle 21% of household spending within five years.
Valuable services firms don’t sell hours, they sell outcomes. I unpacked the 3 levers behind higher valuations with Drew McLellan on the Build a Better Agency podcast.
Scaling too early breaks more services firms than scaling too late.
“Everything we do is custom.” It sounds high-touch. Premium. Client-first.
ServiceNow didn’t just beat consensus, it re-defined where durable ARR growth can come from in an agentic world:
Why shared accountability is often no accountability, and how to fix it.
The risk isn’t that your service gets worse. It’s that the market gets better.
Most services founders assume scale is the goal.
Every services leader hits the same inflection point:
Strong Q1 with 27% revenue growth, $74B in GMV, and continued free cash flow strength.
A $1B quarter is impressive. But that’s not the real story.
Two years ago, when we partnered with Evan and the team at Zaelab, we shared a belief: there was a massive opportunity to build the category leader in digital transformation for manufacturers and distributors.
Every great services firm builds repeatable know-how.
Topline growth is exciting, but it can be deceptive for technology services companies.
Services firms don’t stall because they run out of clients.
Most service firms sell the what.
Why long-term value lies in retention, not just new logos.
The SaaS dream is a seductive one, particularly for services founders. But it’s a trap for most.
