Future-Proof Your Agency Through Innovation and Outstanding Leadership with Ben Gaddis | Ep #852

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Is innovation truly at the center of your agency operations? Not just what you offer clients, but in how you operate? With AI raising expectations faster than most agencies can adapt, investing in innovation isn't optional anymore. It's how you build client trust, stay ahead of disruption, and keep your edge.

Today's featured guest unpacks his journey from leading the award-winning agency T3 to launching Superstep Capital, a private equity firm investing exclusively in agency and technology-service businesses. His insights cut through the noise on innovation, leadership, and how to stay ahead of the next big shift.

Ben Gaddis still calls himself agency guy. After more than a decade building T3 into one of the nation's leading digital agencies, serving clients like UPS, 7-Eleven, and JP Morgan Chase he sold the company and launched Superstep Central, a private equity firm investing in agencies and tech service businesses.

When he sold T3 to a private-equity group, he didn't ride off into the sunset. Instead, he crossed over to what he calls "the dark side," founding Superstep Capital. Now, he defines his mission as redefining what private equity looks like in the agency world by partnering with founders to scale the right way.

In this episode, we'll discuss:

• Going all-in on the next wave before clients catch up.

• Why innovation should be treated as an expectation.

• Lessons on creating a leadership structure.

• Why differentiation still wins.

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Go All-In on the Next Wave Before Clients Catch Up

Ben's family has been running T3 since he was born, so it made sense to him that he'd eventually end up in the agency world. Hence, he started his career working at Omnicom, learning from their biggest competitors, and was around when mobile apps became a thing after the launch of the iPhone.

At Omnicom Ben saw how traditional holding companies were too slow to invest in mobile. He didn't hesitate to seize the opportunity that mobile presented. Frustrated, he took over T3 and bet big on the emerging mobile market. That bet paid off with marquee wins and explosive growth, scaling the agency to $50 million in revenue and around 300 employees.

His advice for agency owners today echoes that same spirit: burn the boats. You can't half-commit to a new capability and expect to lead it. You can't expect clients to lead you there. If you want to own a new channel, whether it's AI, automation, voice, whatever's next, you have to invest ahead of demand and prove value before anyone asks. If you wait for client demand before you invest, it's already too late.

Innovation Isn't a Slogan, It's an Expectation

At T3, Ben created a culture where innovation wasn't just encouraged; it was an expectation. So they turned innovation into a measurable habit by creating an "Innovation Match" program where they matched a portion of a client's spend dollar-for-dollar on experimental projects. Clients got to share in