April 15 – “Tax Day” – evokes mixed feelings.  Five years ago today, following a soul-searching huddle around a tiny table in an empty hotel bar, my partners and I formed SHIFT Communications.  Although I’m not a big fan of the taxman, generally the good feelings win out.  I love this agency – as you’ll learn if you can stomach the schmaltzy post that follows.

We started SHIFT by buying-out the assets of the agency we’d previously worked at, where each of us had been a senior exec.  Given that this was at the absolute nadir of the Dot-Com Crash, there weren’t many assets left: the former firm had gone from approximately $14M to less than $3M, in the span of 18 months, and the problems weren’t over yet.  This was one helluva gamble.

But we had about 30 happy clients left in the portfolio, serviced by 30 anxious but kick-ass PR pros (down from 150–odd during the hey-day).  My partners and I simply loved “what was left” and gambled our homes, our savings, and the funds of several munificent friends & family members, to launch the new venture from within the shell of the old firm.

As a direct result of launching in a horrific recession, we set one major ground rule for ourselves:  No single client could be allowed to account for more than 10% of annual revenues. 

We never wanted to face the prospect of firing a beloved, loyal staffer just because we’d lost an account.  We didn’t want to live in fear anymore, nor ever again.

A happy side-benefit to this reckless decision: our staffers felt more free to tell clients what they needed to hear, instead of what they wanted to hear.  You can be more bold when you don’t have a mortgage payment riding on whether or not a client likes your counsel.  Best of all, this approach led to extended client relationships; we could act like partners rather than vendors.

Anyway, the economy recovered, and we did okay.  We’ve gone from 30 people to 100, from under $3M to over $10M.  We’re debt-free.  We’ve worked (or still work!) with companies like Novartis, RealNetworks, Oakley Sunglasses, Shimano, Akamai, Travelocity, Quantum, RSA Conference and Yelp.  We launched a groundbreaking approach to re-thinking the humble Press Release.  I’ve spoken before groups as diverse as Emerson College undergrads to The Conference Board. 

It’s been a wild, incredibly fulfilling ride.  Knock-wood, it’ll continue to be as exciting and fruitful over the next 5 years. 

If we do continue to find success, it will only be because of the kind-hearted, hard-working, whip-smart people of SHIFT.  This post is really for them.  Thank you, all, for your continued support and good humor.  As we continue to assail the mountaintop, it’s nice to know we can do it while laughing!

Comments