2020’s Unlikely Gift to My Business
I began this year probably like most folks in business, with the feel-good momentum of a new year. Archie Group had established a diverse yet focused client base of growth companies, from a lender to the ‘emerging middle class’...to a publicly traded company innovating financial data tech...to a $2B AUM VC firm outpacing the earned media performance of a $20B AUM competitor.
Our business was really starting to gel, and our “reputation capital” (rep cap) operating chops had come into sharp form. And then we had a full stop in that momentum.
After the nationwide lockdown, I posted on my blog, “Covid Is a Crisis That Needs Your Heart.” I recommended filtering business communications through the lens of empathy. Customers needed to feel supported. Employees needed to feel safe. Leaders needed to be present. And companies needed to show how they could do the unusual and innovate.
As we try to turn the corner of Covid, that innovation is playing out in remarkable, even accelerated ways. Peloton, for example, was being panned at the end of last year for its TV ad and is now inspiring an entire ‘Pelotonomy,' as a client puts it.
Archie Group has been very fortunate during this time. Our business has been part of the K-shaped recovery. We’ve bounced back. I think what propelled Archie, as well as a number of our clients, is that we accelerated investments in our businesses. We made the leaps that, prior to Covid, we were not contemplating until 2021, 2022, or even further out. We made “business unusual” vs business as usual decisions.
I’ll be blunt: I did some crazy things six months ago. I hired people. I partnered with other agencies and shared my revenues with them. I leaned into the scorecard we use to qualify clients and chose not to renew some existing business. Instead of pulling back and overly minding my expenses, I spent money.
Through these rose-tinted glasses, perhaps Warren Buffett’s advice was top of my mind: The best chance to deploy capital is when things are going down. Truth is, if I've learned anything as a business founder, it’s that your next day in business simply isn’t a given. You’re really much more likely to lose than to win.
So when Covid struck, I hit the accelerator. And you know what? It worked. The pandemic strengthened my founders’ grit, resolve and determination to fail even faster, and to embrace the freedom that comes with learning something important from each failure.
I learned for example, that Archie Group wasn’t designed for the bureaucracy of an enterprise client, no matter how innovative they might be. I learned that Archie Group has better success with clients that are more willing to entirely reset, rather than incrementally adjust. I learned that Archie Group is not a publicist; our business helps companies grow their reputation.
Some of our clients took the leap, too. That lender for the ‘emerging middle class’? They went ahead and launched a bank. A legaltech client became a force for diversity among AmLaw 100 equity partners during the Black Lives Matter movement. Another client brought forth a brand-new digital bank for the LGBT community. Yet another secured significant growth financing to build out a digital money app for kids, where edtech meets family finances. Still another raised capital to expand a data/regtech to end global financial crime. These go-all-in innovations and milestones occurred just months after Covid tried to flatten us all.
None of the above means these are not precarious times: 2020 was cataclysmic. But if there was any gift out of this rotten year, it’s that when there’s no one to guide you out of the storm, you might as well do “business unusual.” Make your own playbook. Go for it.
Of all the wisdom I’ve collected this year, the spoils go to my nine-year-old son. I’ll admit he and I played a lot of video games in 2020. His advice is especially well-placed for the Year of Covid and this annual holiday letter: Sometimes you don’t know where the bad guys are hiding. It’s OK to get totally blasted. Hit the restart button when something isn't working. Team up better, too. But definitely play it again, just differently. Soon enough, you’ll start to kick the bad guy’s butts.
In the New Year, I plan to double down on Archie as a rep cap operating partner. I’ll invest in the marketing technology needed to ‘earn’ clients relationships with their publics. We’ll build out our venture studio, such as our existing work with Wishbar, a well-wishing platform. Finally, we’ll stick with the “fail faster” credo and continue to discern the new and follow-on “rep cap” clients in our portfolio.
It’s my hope that 2021 brings you the gift of hitting reset as you create your playbook for these “business unusual” times. Happy holidays and my very best wishes to you and yours in the year to come.
GP