Welcome to this edition of SoDA Report, When Change Demands Structure, developed in partnership with PCI.
When the Highest Price Is Not the Best Deal
by Miles Welch, Founder @ Milestone Advisory
Many founders measure transaction success by the headline valuation and the multiple they achieved. It is understandable. After years of building a business, the number matters. It is often the clearest way of keeping score.
Spot the Slowdown: Recognizing Operational Bottlenecks Early
by Drew Stein, Principal Consultant @ Premier Consulting & Integration (PCI)
Every agency hits a wall at some point. Projects pile up, timelines slip, and suddenly your team is working harder than ever—but profitability isn't following.
Why Winning More Work Makes Your Agency Harder to Run
by Steve Wages, Principal Consultant @ AgencyAgile
Agency growth appears deceptively simple: win more clients, hire more talent, repeat. But there's a paradox every agency leader eventually runs into: the more work you win, the harder the agency becomes to operate. The business somehow becomes more difficult precisely because it is more successful.
AI Will Not Save Your Broken Operations
by Jared Novack, Chief Data & Information Officer @ Upstatement
The path to an AI-enabled agency runs through four important stages.
The Human Metric: A New Measurement Framework for the AI-Era Agency
by Hannah Kreiswirth, Founder @ wirth.works
The metrics most agencies use to run their businesses were not designed for agencies. They were borrowed from manufacturing and professional services models built around billable lawyers and accountants—industries where the relationship between time spent and value created was direct and visible. Agencies inherited them because they were available and consistent, not because they were right.
Projects Don't Derail. People Do.
by Christie Wurster, Senior Producer @ Metajive
It is easy to look at a derailed digital project and blame the timeline, the budget, or the technology. But when you dig into the post-mortem, the core issue is often not the code nor the deliverables themselves. The truth is, most project problems are actually just people problems.
Don't Blame the Plants. Fix the Soil.
by Adrian Belina, Co-Founder @ Little Buddy
You don't need better creatives. You need a better creative system.
Team and Partners
The Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA) serves as a network and voice for entrepreneurs and innovators around the globe who are creating the future of marketing and digital experiences.
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Communications Manager
After taking a long hiatus from SoDA in 2016, Natalie Smith is happy to be a part of the SoDA operations team once again. As the Communications Manager, she helps promote the groundbreaking work of the membership through our public channels as well as facilitating our robust webinar program. She also happily serves as the SoDA Report project manager.
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SoDA Brand & Production Designer
Since joining SoDA's Operations team in 2014, Jessica Ongko has been deeply involved with strengthening SoDA’s brand and visual identity while collaborating with agencies around the world to design and create publications, event signage, and both digital and physical assets related to the work of SoDA. Jessica serves as the Production Designer for the SoDA Report.
At PCI, we help marketing and creative agencies streamline workflows, simplify tech stacks, and gain real-time insights. Our solutions automate manual reporting and simplify operations, giving you the clarity to focus on delivering incredible work for your clients.
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Principal Consultant
Drew Stein helps agency leaders find and fix the operational problems that quietly stall growth. As a Principal Business Consultant at PCI, his work spans agency operations, workflow and resource planning, and the business intelligence systems that drive better decisions. Drawing on years of hands-on implementation work, Drew helps leadership teams cut inefficiency, gain real visibility, and build the operational foundation that makes sustainable growth and practical AI adoption possible.