Joel Klettke

Lots of people said we were at best brave, or at worse reckless for setting up Delphi, but seeing so many people in our network set-up (I’m looking at you Marc Allenby, Mary Paslawski, Claire Quansah) it got me thinking about a few early observations on what it’s been like for us.... 
 
 💪 The hustle muscle - after so many years working in a large agency, where around two-thirds of our revenue was retained, we’ve started again from scratch. We’re back in start-up hustle mode, rather than waiting for the leads to roll in. Reactivating the hustle muscle had been invigorating, but you have to be way more proactive and efficient.
 
 🤳Network effect - One thing we’ve learnt quickly was just how many other people in our wider network either have their own independent/freelance offering or would like to launch one eventually. There’s a thriving ecosystem of comms and marketing consultancies out there and it’s great to play a small part in it.
 
 🏭 Industry churn means new opportunities - we’ve been struck by just how many tech firms and agencies have let people go in the past few months, as the downturn has bitten. As we see it, in a few months’ time lots of this churn will have happened, people will be in new roles, and we expect there’ll be a new wave of exciting pitches and projects across the industry.
 
 🎣 No strategy survives first contact - we started with a point of view about how tech comms could work better, after talking to lots of leaders. It was invaluable in getting us into conversations, but we’ve also learnt that plans can make sense on paper yet not always play out as you expect. We’ve refined and evolved our proposition with every conversation, as we’ve learnt what clients need now.
 
 🤝 Partnering and variety are key - most people will tell you to pick one thing and be the best at it, which is good advice in the long run. However, we’ve loved partnering with other agencies and new and different partners, the variety has been refreshing and interesting and meant we’re learning again.
 
 📉 A downturn start - a good time to launch a new business, right?! We essentially have zero overheads, and the consultancy is just the three of us, so we can move fast, be agile, and offer incredible value. It’s also opened clients’ minds to trying newer solutions, especially as budgets come under more scrutiny.
 
 Here's to a busy rest of year... heads down! See you at Christmas.