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Richards and Jagger. Sergey and Larry. Coffee and donuts…
When we talk about successful duos, passionate infighting and creative frenzies get most of the coverage, but I think the magic spawns from a different, more-sober source: The demarcation of roles, be they spoken or unspoken.
Demarcation is what makes one partner say to the other, “The (creative or business or vision) is YOUR department, and while I disagree, I will stand back.” But standing back isn’t easy; it requires the same sort of confidence in your partner as you would have in your surgeon or airline pilot. It means accepting that your partner is always correct even if they are sometimes wrong. Unfortunately partnerships often crumble in ugly ways, and assembling the right duo and making it work is a blend of skill, experience, humility, and luck.
Today’s guests embody a healthy agency duo, and their vulnerable perspectives on growing and contracting a boutique shop will hit home.
Jim Pond and Matt Maguy (along with a shadowy Kaiser Soze-like partner who couldn’t make the interview 😉 ) are the minds behind their namesake agency James & Matthew, a Massachussets-based agency focusing on creative amplification of consumer brands. You can check out their portfolio at JamesAndMatthew.com.
Some things we covered:
- How Jim and Matt demarcate duties across business and creative.
- Hard-learned lessons from growing too fast.
- The Anthology of Dead Ends – the value of revisiting your highlight reel.
- How to pick fun long-term clients.
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