A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Amsterdam

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Amsterdam

February 26, 2018

Ten years ago I left a challenging well paid job to venture overseas and follow my heart. I packed up my life in San Francisco and headed to Amsterdam, where I set myself up as a freelance marketing and business development consultant. It was there I met two entrepreneurs from eBuddy, a small Dutch web and mobile messaging startup who asked me if I could help them with their public relations efforts. I made a face akin to drinking spoiled milk and proceeded to tell them everything I thought was broken with PR. They laughed and said, “Great, now’s your chance to fix it.” Gauntlet thrown. I’d somehow talked myself into a job.

I knew in my gut PR could be done so much better and in a much more strategic way. As a former VP of marketing and business development, I’d been on the other side of the table — spending a lot of money on PR and getting very little return on investment for a variety of reasons — the agency’s team lacked strategic vision, didn’t understand the business goals or who our audience was, a junior team was running my account even though I’d been pitched by, and promised, a senior team. My business development background taught me that relationships are everything – and the best ones are built on trust and a genuine care and concern for the people and companies involved. It was crystal clear to me that the best PR professionals should be strategists and business consultants first and foremost, utilizing their public relations and communications expertise to advise and help launch their clients into the stratosphere – having a real, impact on a company’s bottom line. I also knew I had yet to meet an agency that was all of those things.

I set to work with a goal of putting eBuddy on the global map. Eights months later as the world went crashing into a global recession, I began working with a second client, MADS an early player in the adtech sector. In 2009, MGP became a team of two and the next phase of the company began as we grew slowly, but surely. Fast forward to 2014 when we acquired a small boutique PR firm, Spilled Ink, which brought with it both IP and talent, to today when we have staff in the U.S., London and Amsterdam, and recognized as one of the top boutique tech PR firms in San Francisco for the past 3 years running.

Was it a bit crazy starting and growing a business in the midst of a global recession? Probably. But, at the same time I never felt scared or wondered if I was doing the right thing. I’d had large amounts of confidence instilled in me by peers and colleagues I’d met over the years, as well as my parents. The MGP team has grown from strength-to-strength, learning much and helping many companies to successful exits along the way – while adding team members in San Francisco, Denver, Florida, London and Amsterdam.

Reflecting on the past 10 years, it all seems a bit surreal. I’m surrounded by 10 amazing and brilliant colleagues who wake up every morning ready to deliver amazing results for our portfolio of clients in some of the hottest tech sectors that are defining and shaping the future. We’ve created a unique agency built largely on word of mouth and referrals — one where we treat clients, journalists and each other with huge amounts of respect. I’m proud of that.

A colleague once said that PR professionals must handle themselves like swans — graceful and strong, but paddling like mad beneath the water. To mark our 10th anniversary, MGP has undergone a complete rebrand. We’re debuting a new logo, a new URL, a new blog and a completely redesigned website. It’s been a busy time to be sure, but true to form our team of “MGP Swans” has gracefully persisted, making huge inroads for our clients while “paddling madly” beneath the surface. I couldn’t be any prouder of them or the work we do.

Welcome to MGP and our next chapter.