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I worked there a decade ago and the cost cutting was absurd. We were working at picnic tables because there weren’t enough desks, then told it was great because we were “hustling.”
Gary always said, “We’ll do it faster, better, and cheaper,” as if the rule of three didn’t apply to him. You can’t have all three without taking it out of the personal lives of the people who work for you.
It’s one thing if you want to do the whole hustle grindset yourself, entirely another when you use it to manage an agency.
It’s a bad company run by a ruthless capitalist.
Because the people are toxic af and the work is just not good enough to justify. Gary is a madman and turnover is wild.
And he instituted a 4-5 day RTO policy after hiring people as FT remote, so those who took a position there started having 4-hour commutes again after zero commute.
I kinda like his vibe but it is anti-craft work. Quality there is attention economics not design fundamentals.
Chop shop. No talent.
Grifter vibes
It’s because Gary has been right about many of his major bets and if you’ve never worked there you only have the perception of him as an Influencer constantly making hot takes (as that top comment suggests).
I was there at the start of HY10 era and it felt like we got to move so fast with social because Legal was to be considered, not the final say on anything.
And we rarely had to explain much to clients in super long decks, I miss that!
Creatives claim to dislike the agency because he’s been very vocal about valuing the reaction to the media over the creative-assets within them.
So throwing decent human-slop at the wall then once a piece sticks, it’s given the attention and traditional thought/time Creatives are used to.
It’s definitely bro-culture but I got great vibes from the math-wiz bros over the content-bros who felt too-cool-for-school at times.
Also I liked that Gary insisted a few times in all-hands that all new hires should schedule a 1:1 with him to talk about whatever they want.
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I’ve heard it’s very bro-y and the owners liked to be worshipped by the employees
I was enjoying the new Tron movie until I saw him in a scene. I heard a few other people in the audience groan along with me.
Unless you’re a Bro or a woman Bro’s are attracted to you won’t prosper.
Cheat the system. But can’t hate the player. But when your agency also owns publisher sites and social handles, bad ideas deliver superficial results because you own the whole ecosystem. Won’t sell products but the impressions are cheap and free and the engagement will always be double digit higher.