RWL245 This Is How A Boutique Remote Firm Beats Bigger Agencies On Outcomes

Today we spotlight 33 Sticks, a fully remote analytics consultancy that trades headcount for craft, hourly billing for outcomes, and buzzwords for clarity. The story shows how deliberate constraints and a remote culture produce billion-dollar impact for global brands.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to Remote Work Life, the podcast
spotlighting the leaders andlocation-independent
entrepreneurs shaping the futureof work.
My name's Alex Wilson Campbell.
And today I'm taking a closerlook at 33 Sticks, a fully
remote analytics consultancythat's been quietly rewriting
the rules of how digitalconsulting firms operate.

(00:23):
Founded back in 2013 by JasonThompson and Hiller De Hahn, 33
Sticks was built around adeceptively simple idea.
Create the analytics consultancythey wish that had existed when
they were clients.
A decade later, that philosophyhas led them to deliver more

(00:44):
than 1 billion in revenue impactfor over 50 global brands, all
with a small, intentionallyremote team.
336 sits at the intersection ofanalytics, business strategy,
and culture.
The company partners with majorbrands, names like Target,

(01:06):
Viacom, Harvard Business Review,and Major League Baseball to
help them make sense of theirdata and turn it into action.
What sets them apart isn't thetechnology, but the mindset.
Rather than billing by the hour,they use value-based pricing,
aligning their incentivesdirectly with client outcomes.

(01:28):
They've also built their ownmatrix methodology, a framework
that measures analytics maturityas a straight line, but across
multiple dimensions of businessreadiness.
And while most consultancieschase scale through headcount,
33 Sticks keeps its teamintentionally small, a handful

(01:51):
of highly experiencedprofessionals working remotely
around the world.
And this approach, they say,keeps quality high,
communication honest, andclients deeply connected to the
people actually doing the work.
Their model challenges theassumption that bigger is
better, and it shows how remotestructures can foster agility

(02:12):
and not isolation.
Let's talk a bit about what'sreally interesting about 33
Sticks just for a minute.
The founders, Jason Thompson andHiller Dahn, both came out of
the analytics and Martec world.
Jason helped build Omniture, theplatform that later became Adobe
Analytics, while Hiller spentyears advising top brands on

(02:36):
optimization andexperimentation.
When they launched 33 Sticks,they weren't just trying to sell
analytics services, they wantedto redesign the experience of
consulting itself.
I'd say that their biggestdifferentiator is culture.
33Sticks operates completelyremotely, not as a pandemic

(02:56):
pivot, but as a deliberatedesign choice.
Every team member works fromhome or remote offices,
collaborating virtually withclients around the world.
They describe their employees asrock stars who work very
remotely, and it's clear they'vemade distributed work a
strategic advantage rather thana logistical challenge.

(03:18):
Instead of hourly billing orlong reports that no one reads,
they focus on transparentconversations and measurable
outcomes.
Their communication style, truthover politeness, as they call
it, has built a reputation forclarity in an industry often
cluttered with jargon.
This model brings freedom andaccountability into balance.

(03:42):
Clients get senior levelexpertise without the overhead
of large agency, and employeesenjoy autonomy without losing
connection.
For remote entrepreneurs andleaders, 33 Sticks proves that
scale doesn't mean size.
It can mean impact per person.
By staying boutique by design,they've protected culture, kept

(04:05):
bureaucracy low, and deliveredconsistent results across 12
years in business.
And the story of 33 Sticks is areminder that remote work isn't
just an operational choice, itcan be a competitive advantage
when it's built on trust andclarity.
Their founders questioned theassumptions that drive most

(04:27):
consultancies.
Why charge by the hour?
Why require an office?
Why hide behind layers ofmanagement?
By stripping those things away,they built a model focused on
outcomes, relationships, andcraftsmanship.
For leaders building or scalingremote businesses, there's a
simple takeaway here.
Deliberate constraints can sparkinnovation.

(04:50):
Limiting headcount forced 33Sticks to create processes and
methodologies that scale impact,not bureaucracy.
As somebody who's spent yearsinterviewing remote founders, I
see the same pattern again andagain.
The best teams succeed becausethey design for autonomy and

(05:11):
clarity from the start.