Launching Conduct Agency

Big day! I’m launching Conduct Agency today.

For those who want to avoid their overflowing email inbox, here’s my background story.

It started three years ago, when Peer Richelsen posted on Twitter asking if anyone was working on SEO. I was following Peer because we both went through the On Deck Fellowship (but missed each other). He founded Cal.com, and I later founded a company in the scheduling world too (hey, AgreeTo!).

Side note: I loved Cal’s code even before that. When I started learning how to code, I wanted to apply to Cal instead of On Deck. Cal.com’s repo was instrumental for me, and it’s where I fell in love with tRPC ❤️. Anyways, that doesn’t matter much. Focus, Richard.

I jumped at the Twitter post and reached out to Peer. I told him I had worked extensively in SEO before my programming days, when I built up a good chunk of the marketing team at ProntoPro, and that I could work part-time as a freelancer. One Cal meeting and three messages later, I was working on the first feature.

It wasn’t my intention to freelance or to work on digital marketing and content again. In fact, I wanted to bootstrap Procurato, but I needed some income. So I thought I could offer freelance work at the intersection of digital marketing and web development for startups, since I know both intimately well.

A recovering founder

I was a recovering founder after the hardship I experienced with my last startup. I had become a failure: I had started four companies, and none of them succeeded (the one idea that had product-market fit was dropped by me…).

Now, many people don’t know this about me, but I wasn’t accustomed to failure at all. I grew up with sports as a child and played football, tennis and basketball.

I played football alongside , who later went on to play at the highest level in football: the UEFA Champions League.

I was in regional development programs in tennis, but I couldn’t handle the mentality it takes to perform in a solo sport, so I dropped tennis for basketball.

I played in what became the most successful class of all time in Braunschweig. The two most prominent names are and , but and Dennis Nawrocki also pursued successful careers.

Of the players who played a core role in the team, only my best mate Jonas Goes and I did not pursue a career as pro athletes. In fact, I was voted captain of the team for most of my youth years.

Side note: this background convinced Dimi Nikolaou to recommend Philipp Schwengel’s and my YC application, and we got interviewed by and ! What an experience. But that doesn’t matter either. Focus, Richard.

Freelancing as self-therapy

Lots of words just to say: the four failures messed with my mental and emotional state. I was down, had no drive, and was insecure and afraid of any challenge thrown at me.

Somehow, freelancing at the intersection of marketing and web development, and working directly with founders, proved to be successful self-therapy over time.

I’m proud to say that Conduct Agency still sustains me after three years with the income I need.