Growth via M&A: The Fastest Way to Grow Your Agency
Most agency founders don’t need more motivation. They need a growth plan that still works when markets wobble, AI reshapes delivery, and “more marketing” stops moving the needle.
Peter Lang’s answer is simple—and confronting: stop trying to build everything from scratch. Start buying what already works.
In this session, Peter shares how acquisitions transformed his own agency journey from slow, fragile organic growth to deliberate, compounding scale. After years of grinding through hiring misses, churn, and cash-flow squeezes, one seven-day acquisition added a year of revenue, decades of reputation, and instantly doubled the business. That deal changed how he saw growth forever.
Why this matters now
AI hasn’t killed agencies. It has exposed which ones are fragile.
The winners will be those with broader capability, deeper benches, and stronger reputations. Building all of that organically takes years. Buying it can take weeks.
M&A isn’t just for big firms or private equity. Peter’s core message: it’s possible, plausible, and probable for agencies at your size.
Key insights from the session
Organic growth feels productive but is structurally slow
At some point, you become the system. That caps value and increases risk.One good deal upgrades your entire operating system
Capacity, services, credibility, and revenue—instantly.The math favours buyers
Multiple arbitrage means the same profit is worth more inside a larger platform.You don’t need piles of cash
Many deals are seller-financed, merger-structured, or earnout-based.Fix what buyers discount
Reduce client concentration, remove owner dependence, document processes.Think regionally
Consolidate creative, PR, performance, and production under one trusted umbrella.Run a safe first deal
Define the gap. Source off-market. Signal safety. Structure alignment. Integrate deliberately.Adopt a HoldCo mindset
Treat your agency as one asset. Learn to allocate capital, not just operate.
Perhaps the most powerful idea: do one acquisition and your valuation improves immediately. You’ve proven you can integrate, lead through change, and compound value like a strategic buyer.
This session is also featured as a chapter in the Agency Growth Book, where Peter’s playbook is explored in even more detail.
If you’ve ever felt the glass ceiling of agency growth, this is the tool that breaks it.
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