This week I’m joined by David Hoos, founder of Haus Advisors, where he helps $2M–$20M software dev and tech-focused agencies escape referral dependency and build predictable pipelines through positioning, authority, and strategic outreach.

David started in-house at his first agency as employee number three, leading marketing and learning early that trying to write content for three different ICPs got zero engagement, while content written specifically for one segment resonated immediately. That experience shaped a lot of how he works with technical agencies today.

A few things we talked about:

• Why leading with “we build custom software” or “we write great code” puts dev agencies in a sea of sameness, and what to lead with instead
• Where to actually find your positioning (hint: it’s hiding in your existing client roster, not in whichever vertical looks hot)
• The “halo effect” of niching deep, where going all-in on one space still pulls in adjacent work you didn’t pitch for
• The map vs. the territory in niching, and why most agencies get stuck trying to combine two different exercises into one
• Why legacy and non-tech industries are often a bigger opportunity than chasing the next funded AI startup
• How dev agencies can use code itself as a lead magnet, replacing the tired white paper with tools that actually solve a problem (David’s own examples: the Relevance Score diagnostic and SignalCheck homepage analyzer)
• The Michael Porter principle that strategy is what you say no to, and how that applies when AI feels like a constant feedback loop of “build more, faster”

Find David at hausadvisors.com