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Is Your Agency Unsellable?
What makes an agency attractive to a buyer and what makes them walk away?In this episode of GOOD CEOs, Ollie looks at the things that can make a business harder to sell: over-reliance on one client, too much dependence on the founder, processes that don’t scale, and a proposition that’s become harder to explain as the company has grown. But beyond the obvious commercial questions, there’s a bigger one: What are you known for?
Ryan Honey: Why Residence Is Building a Different Path
Ryan Honey spent 22 years building BUCK into one of the industry's most respected creative studios, then turned down a holding company buyout to build something different: Residence, a global network of creative companies that keep their own names and independence. Ollie sits down with Ryan to unpack why he said no to the big check, how he decides who gets to join the network and where he thinks AI helps versus where it's noise.
CIAO: The Four-Letter Framework Behind Every Bad Outcome
Ollie flies solo this week to reflect on what six years of building UNKNOWN - and the thousands of conversations a month with agency leaders - have taught him about scaling well. He unpacks Rob Pierre's idea of growing your company in Vector rather than JPEG, the Four Agreements that actually hold a culture together, why you should treat your clients like prospects and your prospects like clients, his CIAO framework (Clarity, Incentivisation, Autonomy, Objectives) for why good intentions still lead to bad outcomes, and the shift he's seeing across the industry from bloated departments to small "Navy SEALs" teams of senior practitioners backed by a flexible bench of specialists.
How Do You Grow An Agency, Like Uncommon, and Maintain What Makes You Special?
Natalie Graeme co-founded Uncommon less than a decade ago and it's now arguably the best creative studio in the world, working with the likes of British Airways and The Ordinary. In this episode, she tells Ollie why a studio that swore it would never take outside money ended up partnering with Havas to fund its US expansion, how they protected Uncommon's culture inside that deal, and why turning down a huge early payday nearly broke the studio before it made them.
Volume Negates Luck
In this solo episode of Good CEOs, Ollie reflects on what it really takes to build momentum in the creative economy: not waiting for the perfect moment, but creating enough volume that luck becomes less relevant. From UNKNOWN's biggest ever H1, to launching a new M&A practice, to the difference between advice from people close to you and people close to your goals, this episode is about backing your gut, moving before certainty arrives, and building the repetitions that make success more likely.
How Private Equity Is Backing the Creative Economy?
In this episode of Good CEOs, Ollie Scott chats with Matt Lacey, managing partner of Waypoint, about the intersection of creativity, capital, and the evolving landscape of mergers and acquisitions in the creative economy. They explore key metrics, private equity trends, and predictions for the industry's future, offering invaluable insights for founders and investors alike.
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Familiar Misery vs. Unfamiliar Freedom: 3 Predictions Shaping the Creative Economy
Ollie shares three predictions shaping the creative economy right now - the rise of IP-driven deals replacing time-for-money billing, why AI is forcing a total rethink of junior talent and career growth, and an unpopular truth about why the "open to work" LinkedIn banner might be quietly costing you job offers.
Tyler Hendy Joins Uncommon CX as ECD
The brief was clear when working with Uncommon Creative Studio CX. They needed someone who could lead the creative vision for the next phase of growth.Someone with credibility across design, brand and customer experience.And someone capable of bringing together a multidisciplinary team around ambitious creative opportunities.
The CEO Who Wouldn't Put His Name On The Door
James Greenfield could have called his agency Greenfield, Matthews and Roden. Instead he called it Koto and built it into a global powerhouse working with Airbnb, Amazon, Google and Microsoft, all while staying true to one belief: creativity is a team sport, not a solo genius act.
So you're a new CMO. Here's what the first 90 days actually look like.
There's a shadow behind the shine of a new role. Every CMO Amy has sat across from is holding the same mix of fear and ambition - here's what to do with it.
Season 2, Let's Go
Ollie explores why creativity and capital are far less opposed than we often imagine. From agency leaders and artists to investors and founders, we unpack how both worlds depend on risk, foresight, storytelling and the ability to spot what people will care about next. We look at why markets move on stories as much as numbers, what creatives can learn from finance, and why the future belongs to leaders who can translate meaning into money without losing integrity.
What Is Exec Search?
It's not a job board. It's the process of convincing the best people in your industry, the ones who aren't looking, to consider something new.
How To Hire A Executive Creative Director In 2026
The brief hasn't changed. But the question you need to ask before writing it has and getting that wrong is why most searches miss.
What 95% of brands and agencies get wrong when hiring freelancers
Most hire reactively. A gap appears, profiles get sent, the pressure gets managed. But the gap never really closes.
POV: The creative industries are about to split in two
Despite the gloomy atmosphere in some corners of the creative industries, the sector is about to undergo a boom period. Whether companies fly or fall comes down to one choice, according to Ollie Scott: whether they are maximisers or replacers.
5 things agencies get wrong when hiring strategists in 2026
After 117 conversations across the industry, our Managing Partner Ellie keeps hearing the same problems. They almost always start before the hire is made.
What Should A New Agency CEO Do In Their First 90 Days?
Most new CEOs spend their first ninety days trying to prove they were the right choice. That's the wrong instinct and it's where most of them go wrong.
Rewriting Your Worth: Let's Make Creatives Rich
Why do agencies struggle to price their work properly? And why does design create so much value...yet capture so little of it? In this episode of Good CEOs, Ollie Scott sits down with Leland Maschmeyer, co-founder of Collins and former Chief Creative Officer at Chobani, to unpack one of the biggest problems in the creative industry: value vs pricing.
Why The Era Of The 'Rockstar' Creative Is Over
The man who hears over a thousand creative industry conversations every month has some reassuring things to say about the state of the profession.
Good CEOs: Issue 5
He ran one of the biggest ad agencies on Earth, then he left. Here's what Alex Lubar did next
Get Closer To The Work
Alex Lubar ran one of the world's biggest ad agencies. Then he pivoted. In this episode, the former Global CEO of DDB talks about what you lose as you climb the ladder, why smaller organisations can now out-punch the holdcos, and what AI is actually changing versus what's just noice.
How To Build A Freelance Talent Bench Before You Need One
Most agencies build their bench in a crisis. The ones winning the most interesting work built theirs long before they needed it.
Have We Got Worse at Being...Human?
Ollie Scott flies solo for episode four, drawing on UNKNOWN's 1,000+ monthly conversations and two-and-a-half-hour Good CEOs roundtable to unpack what's really keeping agency leaders up at night.
What Would You Burn The Agency Model? with David Johnston
We asked David Johnston one question: if every agency burned to the ground, how would you rebuild it? His answer was three words.
Good CEOs: Issue 3
There's been a lot of reminiscing about the mid-2010s lately.
How Social Became the Brand Engine
In this episode of Good CEOs, Laura Tannenbaum, CEO of Fabric Social and co-founder of That Lot, explains why social has moved from being a marketing channel to the place where brands are actually built. Hosted by yours truly, Ollie Scott.
Good CEOs Club
Good CEOs. A community of CEOs running companies doing $1M to $1BN of revenue.
How Should An Agency Hire A Chairperson?
A good chair is one of the most valuable things an agency can have. A bad one is expensive, distracting, and surprisingly hard to undo.
M&A In The Creative Economy: what founders need to know before they sell
Most founders start thinking about selling three years too late. By the time the conversations happen, the outcome is largely already determined.
What Will Shape The Future of Agencies?
This episode is perfect if you're a CEO, founder, or creative leader feeling the pressure of industry shifts. Ollie Scott, founder of UNKNOWN, dives deep into pragmatic, proven tactics that challenge industry and reveal new paths to scale.
How Can An Agency Start To Change Its Pricing?
The industry is still charging for hours on work that shifts culture and transforms businesses. Pricing is a creative act. It's time to treat it like one.
How Laura Tannenbaum grew Fabric Social by 300% in a year
The CEO of Fabric Social on scaling a social-first agency, why organic is the best testing ground you have, and the surprising power of rough edges.
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Three Predictions for The Creative Economy in 2026
So, for the first one of 2026, we've invited Global CEO Toby Southgate. Could a billion-dollar independent agency be on the horizon? And what would it take to revive iconic brands like JWT or DDB in today's world?If you're a leader or aspiring CEO eager to understand the seismic shifts, private equity trends, and disruptive strategies redefining the landscape, this series will be your playbook.
What Is A Talent Growth Consultancy? And Why The Creative Economy Needs One?
The creative economy doesn't have a talent problem. It has a growth problem that keeps getting misdiagnosed as one.
Six holding companies will become three: Toby Southgate's predictions for 2026
The We Are Social global CEO on consolidation, the independent agency moment, and why private equity might resurrect advertising's greatest dead brands.
The Audience Has The Mic
Exploring the new era of participatory audience culture and what that means for the future of creative work with Executive Creative Directors: Dillah Zakbah from Fold7, Alex Williamson from OKCool, and ITV Creative’s Tom Houser.
GOOD CEOs
A fortnightly dispatch taken from the front lines of the creative economy
The Sign Off x Affinity
We helped Affinity and Canva throw the event of the year. Affinity was about to democratise design, forever.
Good CEOs
Charging for hours is a growth-killer for agencies. Clients want results: not timesheets.
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Creativity Meets Capital: Vol I
What happens when we put a bunch of creative people in a room with capital experts?
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Cannes Cabana x Canva
Our partnership with Canva was based on mutual ambition to democratise creativity.
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Building Joan
Jaime Robinson, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Joan Creative walks us through her remarkable journey from TGI Fridays to top agencies like Chiat/Day and Goodby Silverstein, and ultimately to launching Joan in 2015.
The End Of The Beginning
In this finale, founder Ollie Scott joins our Managing Partner Woody Woodcock to take a walk down memory lane. Looking back on the wild ride, the pair share our 10 biggest takeaways from three years of conversations with the most interesting creative leaders around the world.
Good Brains For Good Brands
When COVID hit, the charity sector in the UK was losing £4BN every three months.
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