"Different shape today. Last time I asked and you two talked. Today I brought. I've built a recommendation off everything you said, and it's one view, not a menu, because a menu lets you blend three things into something mealy mouthed and that's the thing you hired me to fix.

Your job today is to hit it. Tell me where it's wrong.

One caveat. Everything numerical comes off the sheet you sent, which runs to about October last year. If something's landed since, tell me and I'll fold it in."

"Before I go in, let me put the three back on the table exactly as I sent them.

One. Community centered design and innovation. That's the lens on everything, from Verizon through to Solidigm.

Two. Impact that's actionable. Someone brings you in and the thing gets done. Real outcomes, not decks.

Three. Experimentation as how you work rather than as a headline. It's baked into the process and it's part of why working with you isn't cookie cutter, but it sits under the first two rather than beside them.

And emerging tech and AI stay in the mix as proof you can master new tools and put them to work, not as a service line of their own."

"Before the recommendation, one thing the sheet says that nobody said out loud last time. You have a very good business with a bad pipeline. Those are different problems.

Warm intro to signed is typically two to five weeks. Peet's was four days. Verizon started at around twenty thousand and Brian, by your own account, ran to roughly three seventy. Eight of the twelve engagements turned into repeat work.

Nobody gets that by accident. So none of what follows is about fixing the work. It's about the fact that almost all of it arrived through the same three doors."

"Before I show you a single word of messaging, here's the idea underneath all of it, because if you don't buy this the rest won't matter.

Right now you wait to be handed a brief. Matt has a project, he calls you, you build it. That's a vendor relationship, and it's why you've got a very good business with a bad pipeline.

The version I want for you is the one where you walk into Matt's world and say, here's what your telco client should be doing with AI next year, and they don't know it yet. You're the ones who know what's possible. They don't.

Everything after this slide is machinery for that one thing."

"Manuel, one thing aimed at you specifically, because I think you'll be sitting there wondering it.

Most of today is about agencies, and that could sound like I'm telling you to become a better subcontractor. I'm not. It's the opposite. A subcontractor waits for the brief and gets compared on price. Everything here is about you writing the brief.

And the Verizon work, the one piece of this business that matches what you said you want to be known for, came through an agency. qb. Sam Hartsock. So agencies aren't the alternative to the mission work. Right now they're the only route to it that's ever worked. What changes is which agencies, and what you are to them."

"Here's what holds it together, and it's your two sentences, not mine.

Dayani helps big companies show up for the communities they're already in. And then actually gets it built.

First half is Brian's. Second half is Manuel's, and his version was blunter than mine. Community centered on the front, actionable on the back."

"Before I show you what you do lead with, here's what you don't, and I want it out of the way first, because these four are what you instinctively reach for.

AI. Climate. Venture. Experimentation.

All four are true. Not one of them opens a door. Nobody has ever hired you because you said the word AI, and three of them make you sound like someone selling a category rather than someone solving a problem.

They're not gone. They're implied, they show up in the work, and they're the reason someone believes you once they're already interested. They just never go first."

"So what does go first. These three. They're not lines you say, they're what has to be true underneath everything you say, and they're what earns you the right to lead a conversation rather than take a brief. All three are your words from last session, not mine.

One. Senior only. Director level, working inside the client's team rather than replacing it. No juniors stacked on an execution project. That's why your first round is most agencies' third or fourth round of work, and that's not my line either, Brian, it's a compliment somebody paid you.

Two. Visionary realists. Wacky concepts, delivered with integrity, and you don't pitch what can't exist. Verizon's disaster navigator, scoped with Red Cross, Habitat and United Way, is the proof.

Three. Weird expertise. Brian, your phrase. Four or five years on the Chico Climate Action Commission writing local policy. No agency in this category can say that, and for a telco trying to work inside a community it's the whole difference."

"One thing before the last two slides. The proposal said a messaging framework for each service line, agency, climate and AI. Those lines don't exist anymore, you collapsed them last session. So I've cut it a different way, and nothing's been dropped, it's moved.

The agency line became the partner facing message set. The climate line became the end client message set. AI stopped being a line because you demoted it yourselves. Same scope, better cut.

Because here's the thing nobody said out loud last time. An agency principal does not buy community centered design. He buys keeping his client and not having to hire a digital team. Two different conversations, and you've only ever had one of them written down."

"So that's what you operate from. This is how you use it, and it's not a message hierarchy. Nobody talks in hierarchies. It's four beats of a conversation you're both already having, and the only thing that changes between an agency and a client is what goes in each beat.

Beat one, they ask what you do. You put yourself in a box they already understand. Boring, five seconds.

Beat two, they ask for an example. One story, not a credentials list.

Beat three, and only if they're still in it, they work out why you. That's where the principles come out. Not first.

Beat four, one small ask that costs them nothing. And this is where the whole idea shows up, because the ask is you giving them something, not you asking for work."

Left column is the reminder of what each beat is for. Walk the agency column first. Read these loose, the way you would actually say them.

"Beat one, agency side. 'We're typically the digital arm for agencies whose clients want products built. You win the work, we become that division for you.' Digital arm is the phrase. He can picture it instantly, it says division rather than competitor, and it's the reason white label works later.

Beat two. 'Verizon's the one people know. Came through another shop that had won the brand work. Started small, about a twenty thousand dollar project, and we helped them win it. Turned into five contracts.' The scale, the fact you came through a partner, and that you helped them win rather than just delivering after.

Beat three. This one is conversational, it's not a claim. 'Honestly we started doing this because we kept seeing agencies with brilliant brand teams and no proper tech people behind them. That's the gap we fill. Everyone our side is director level, which is why clients tell us our first round is where most agencies get to on their third.' The origin story does the work and the compliment lands at the end as evidence.

Beat four, and this is the one that matters most. 'If you've got a pitch coming up and you need help on the digital side, let me know. Or if your clients keep asking about AI and product and you're not sure what to tell them, happy to sit down and work out what's actually right for them. We white label for most of the agencies we work with, so you stay the one in front of the client.' Two doors, and white label is the sentence that kills the take-my-client fear."

Then the client column.

"Beat one. 'We help big companies build the digital products they know they need and don't know how to build. That's the bit we're good at.'

Beat two. Verizon from the community end. 'When a disaster hits, the people with the least take longest to recover, mostly because they don't know what help exists. We spent time in those communities, worked out what they actually needed, then designed the thing to do it.'

Beat three. Brian, this is yours to tell. 'Four or five years on a climate commission writing local policy, so when we walk into a utility we already know how this gets approved and who signs it.' Then land it: that's usually the difference between a plan and a thing that ships.

Beat four. 'Have you got something you've wanted to do for a while and haven't been able to get moving? That's usually the conversation worth having.'"

Then, if you want one line to carry the whole thing.

"If you only get one sentence. Agency: we're the digital arm for agencies whose clients want products built. Client: we build the digital products big companies don't know how to build."

"Different thing now, and I want to be clear about what it is before we start.

This isn't a test, and it isn't you repeating what I just said. It's a drill, and it's from scratch. Everything up to now has been you reacting to my words. This is your words, cold, and if you hand me back my sentence I'll know you're being polite.

So don't look at anything. I'm going to play the agency guy, and you just answer me like you would in the room. I want whatever actually comes out of your mouth, including the bad version. The bad version is the useful one."

"One thing came out of the sheet that changes how I'd go at this, and I want to say it before I show you the plan.

Roughly ninety five cents in every dollar you've earned came from someone one of you had already worked with. Matt Day. Mike at Solidigm, a former colleague. Amanda, who was a partner here.

The other five cents is three small ones. Exergy came off a conference and took thirteen weeks. Onora came out of the Work on Climate Slack. Stow came through a friend of Amanda's. All three matter, but none of them is a channel you can turn up.

So the way you find four more Matt Days isn't networking. It's a list built out of your own two work histories. That list already exists, nobody's ever written it down."

"Three lanes, and the sizes tell you the whole story.

Hold is where ninety five per cent of the money is. Three relationships, none of them written down anywhere. The job is making sure the revenue survives any one of those people changing jobs.

Warm is the mission channel. Five per cent. Slow, won't fund you, but it's where the work you want to be known for comes from, so it stays.

Add is zero today. That's the whole job this year."

"And here's what each one actually means in practice, so it's not three words on a chart.

Hold. Three relationships on a real rhythm, quarterly, in the calendar. A rate card so you're easy to buy. Meghan owned separately from Matt, because right now that's one relationship wearing two names.

Add. Twenty five names off your own two work histories. Both filters applied. Three personal notes a week, and two live partnerships by the end of the year.

Warm. Half an hour a week in the climate channels that already produced Onora and Stow. Amanda asked one specific question instead of a catch-up. And the website, which is the cheapest conversion work you've got and it's already paid for.

Every name, owner, cadence and ninety day marker behind this is in the pack I'll send you. I'm not going to read a table at you."

"This is the whole idea made concrete, and it's the only thing in this plan that gives before it asks.

A brand shop doesn't lose the digital work because it forgot about you. It loses it earlier, in the pitch, when it can't scope or estimate it. So it prices it wrong, leaves it out, or loses the account to someone who could answer the question. That moment is weeks before anyone talks to a subcontractor, and it's the moment you're useful.

So the offer is: we'll scope and estimate your next pitch. Two hours, free, whether you win or not. You keep the client. We never appear in front of them unless you put us there.

Greg has already been circling this. He's talked about co-pitching and building joint capability. This is the smallest version of that, the one he can say yes to without a conversation about structure."

"Now who. Two filters, and you need both.

Filter one. Great at brand, weak on digital and product. That's the gap you fill.

Filter two, and this is the one that matters. Who does that agency serve. Telco, utilities, insurance, banks, health systems, corporate responsibility arms.

Here's why both. Fred and Ted passes filter one perfectly. Great at brand, can't do digital. But its clients are cybersecurity companies, so what you build is cybersecurity websites. That pays, and I'm not knocking it, it's most of your revenue.

So if you only apply filter one, you get two more agencies exactly like Fred and Ted. More revenue, same work. In twelve months you'd be busier and no closer to another Verizon. Filter two is the one that changes what kind of work arrives, because qb passed both, and qb is where Verizon came from."

"One thing before we move on, because this is the first thing you'll hear back.

We've already got someone for digital. Almost all of them will. A freelancer, an offshore shop, somebody's nephew. That's fine, because you're not asking to replace anyone.

What they don't have is someone who can scope and price the work before the pitch goes in. That's a different job and it happens weeks earlier. If the pitch lands, you're in the delivery. If it doesn't, they've lost nothing and you've made the principal look competent in front of his own client.

Senior only matters here too. You're not competing with their build resource. You're sitting in front of it."

"So that's who. Here's every way of actually getting in front of them, and every one of these is judged against your numbers, not against what usually works for people.

Top two are proven in your own sheet. People you've already worked with, and introductions from the partners you already have.

Third is LinkedIn, and I think this is the one you're missing. Every one of those twenty five names is already on there. Connect with all of them, keep a simple list of who they are and what they run, then every few weeks one of them gets something specific. Here's what we built inside another agency's account and here's what it did. So when a client finally asks them for something digital, you're the name already in their head. That's a nurture sequence, not a newsletter.

Fourth. Planting a seed. Give them something before you need anything, and the easiest version is the brand and identity work you get asked for and turn down. Send it to a shop you want a relationship with. Same idea again, and it's the fastest way to build credit with a firm you've never worked with.

Fifth. The partner directories on whatever platforms you build on. Agencies are looking for build partners there. Costs an afternoon.

Sixth. Agency owner communities and conferences. Real, but they cost money and days.

Last one, cold email. That's a cold start with someone who's never met you, and it's produced one engagement for you in five years. I'd test it, not build on it.

I'm recommending the top four."

"One more on this, because getting a partnership isn't the hard part. Keeping one is.

Right now you talk to Matt when there's a project. That's the vendor pattern again. Here's the advisor version, and it's four things.

One. Show up on a rhythm, not when you need something. Quarterly, in the calendar, booked before you hang up.

Two. Ask what you could have done better. Then actually fix it. Nobody asks him that, and it's the fastest way to find the next piece of work.

Three. Bring two ideas for his clients that he hasn't thought of. Every single time. That's the move, and it's the difference between someone he calls and someone he thinks with.

Four. Follow the people who've referred you. Sam Hartsock already moved and nobody went with him. When someone moves, that's a new company that already trusts you, and right now nobody is watching for it.

Same four for Meghan, separately, because she sources different work."

"If this works, here's a year from now. Five agency relationships that produce work, up from three. That's Brian's own number, not a stretch target.

And it's sized deliberately. An hour a week each. If it needed more than that it wouldn't happen, because Brian's fully billable and Manuel's half."

"Last one on this, and it's the shortest. There are three jobs in this plan I've deliberately left blank.

Building the list. Twenty five names off your own two work histories, each one with a reason it's on there. Two weeks of work, once.

Tracking who's moved where. Every past client contact who changes jobs is a new company that already trusts you. Nobody's watching this, so those doors close quietly.

And deciding which rooms are worth showing up to. That only gets answered after Matt tells you which rooms produce work for him.

I'm not going to tell you who does those three, because that's your call and it's the last question I'll ask you today."

"Last thing, and it's short, because I don't think we should spend the end of this session reading copy.

Manuel, you said the website's the calling card and the page set would change depending on what we landed on. We've landed on it. So here's the thinking, and the actual words come to you by email so you've both got time to sit with them properly rather than reacting live.

Five pages, one job each. And one is directly part of the go to market plan, which is why it's in this session. The partners page is the link that goes in every first contact. Right now if you send someone to your site, Manuel's own words are they'd probably get confused."

"Here's what I heard change today. Restate their edits, using their words back at them.

I'll rework it and have the full pack with you in three weeks. Messaging for both audiences with the crosswalk back to the three service lines, positioning, the go to market plan with all the detail behind those slides, website messaging for the five pages we just locked, and the partner conversation language. Two rounds of revisions on the messaging and two on the plan, counted from that delivery.

And the follow-up call. Two weeks after delivery, so Friday 11 September. Thirty minutes. Let's put it in now.

Two housekeeping things. Everything stays in one email thread. And to keep it simple, who's the one person I send to?"

"Right. Whatever the answer is, the honest version is this. There are three ways this gets resourced. Someone inside does it. Someone outside does it. Or nobody does it, and it stays a document. If it turns out to be the second one, that's a conversation, and the follow-up call is the right time to have it. I'm not pitching you today."

Then stop talking.

"One last thing, and then I'll let you go.

Everything we've done today only works if you decide to lead. This isn't a positioning statement, it's a choice you make in every conversation. Do I wait to be asked, or do I tell them what they should be doing.

Right now your agencies do not know what's possible with AI and product. You do. That gap is the widest it has ever been, and it will not stay open. So don't wait for them to send you a brief. Tell them what they should be building."

Then stop. Do not add anything after this.