It’s been a wild three years for businesses, but Catchy has tripled in size. What are some of the factors that have contributed to this growth?
It’s always so crazy to take a step back and reflect on that type of growth, especially considering that it happened during a global pandemic and recession. There are a thousand little factors you could point to, but for us, I think it’s been about having a clear vision of who we are and where we’re going. Catchy is the world’s leading developer marketing agency. Period. That clarity allows us to hire people that buy into this vision, work with clients that support our growth, and focus on a relentless pursuit of being the best at what we do.
You are a major advocate for the “people-first approach” we have at Catchy. Can you explain why this is so important to you?
It’s a bit of a cliche in the services industry, but our product is our people. Clients don’t come to us to buy a thing, they come to us to solve problems that no one else can figure out. That doesn’t scale unless you have a workplace that puts people first. When your team is in the position of solving impossible problems, you owe it to them to make sure that they can focus 100% on the task at hand. That means making sure people are secure in their roles, have clear paths to growth, and get rewarded for their achievements.
Take care of the people that take care of you.
How would you describe your leadership style?
WWAD (What Would Aragorn Do)
Having built a business, what advice would you give to young entrepreneurs?
Just do it. Go start something that totally sucks and fail at it. Before finding “success” with Convoke (and later Catchy), I’ve been a part of so many failed projects. A design studio called MagCity, a clothing brand called Vida Pura, a wellness platform called Methods… it’s a long list. You learn so much from those “failures,” and they prepare you for the thing that finally clicks.
