Today I had the pleasure of interviewing AJ Gerritson and this episode was particularly special because I've known him for almost 10 years. That's given me a back row seat in watching him grow this company into a 90-person, $20 million agency juggernaut. Agency 451 is a fully vertically integrated agency offering services such as branding, digital marketing, media buying, PR, social media, video production and almost anything else that helps a company launch new products, expand their brands and grow their revenues. Agency 451 is based in Boston with satellite offices in NYC and LA. The team is currently at 90 people and growing rapidly considering they were at just 30 people in 2012. In this interview I spoke with AJ about his 13 year journey in building Agency 451, why did he start the company, what did the company look like in 2004, what types of clients were they working with, what started to fuel their growth, how long did it take to get to $1 million in annual revenues, how big are they today, how much media buying do they do, how has marketing changed over the past 13 years, how do they stay ahead of the competition, what's the secret for recruiting great people, how do they find their biggest clients, what's one client they've been able to help the most over the past few years, what's it like building a company in Boston, what does it take to build an amazing company, what were some of the biggest challenges over the past 13 years, what have been some of his best decisions, what's his favorite thing about being an entrepreneur and much more. ---------- Thanks for listening to the Startup Sense Podcast. All of our interviews and episodes are also available at StartupSense.net You can find me at JonahLupton.com or email me at jonahlupton@gmail.com Startup Sense Podcast is sponsored by Jool Media and SoundGuard. Jool Media helps entrepreneurs build, launch and grow their companies by providing superior technology, marketing and consulting services. SoundGuard is a soundproofing company that provides products and solutions to commercial, residential and industrial clients.