The Contrarian Bet on a Digital Agency
Jan 19, 2026•1 hr 45 min
Episode description
George Stern leaned into changing consumer search habits when he bought a digital marketing agency doing mid-7 figures.
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Topics in George’s interview:
- Turning around an Amazon seller’s agency
- Acquiring 2 small ecommerce businesses
- Loving the customers more than the product
- Selling his camping equipment business
- Acquiring an SEO agency
- Extreme difficulty getting a loan
- Big banks aren’t always better
- Choosing cold calling despite challenges
- Industry knowledge is overrated
- Being a “recovering, type-A control freak”
References and how to contact George:
- Grant and Julia Hensel on Acquiring Minds: Quitting Consulting to Buy a $1m SDE Agency
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Edited by Anton Rohozov
Produced by Pam Cameron
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