How Marin Scales Brands to 9 Figures

How Marin Scales Brands to 9 Figures

Marin Istvanic joins Scalability School for a deep tactical session on what it actually takes to scale e-commerce brands to nine figures with paid media on Meta. Marin is one of the most hands-on media buyers in the DTC space, managing upwards of 5 to 7 million dollars a month in ad spend across his agency clients and his own internal brand (and this episode reflects that). The conversation launches right into the hard hitting questions with the debate around ABO versus CBO and when each actually makes sense. Marin's full whitelisting flywheel (300+ influencer profiles, authority pages, dark posts running through multiple handles in the same session), cost cap weekend scaling and what he calls the "gladiators arena" ad set, how he uses different attribution settings as a signal to Meta that a campaign is structurally different, and why he still manually picks every thumbnail across all his accounts. He also shares how he used AI to synthesize his full YouTube library into a 50-page media buying philosophy document and then how he fed his top-spending ads into a landing page template that outperformed the control by 10%. Key Takeaways * ABO vs. CBO - is the debate actually settled, or does the right answer depend on something most people never measure? * Is whitelisting dead - or are you just running it wrong? * What does a "cost cap weekend scaling" actually look like in practice — and how to spend $25K on a Saturday without blowing up your CPA? * How changing this window actually tells Meta this is a different campaign. * Why Marin still manually picks every thumbnail - If the "hacks" everyone is chasing are mostly noise, this is what actually moves the needle at scale. This episode of the Scalability School podcast is sponsored by NorthBeam and they just launched Northbeam Incrementality. Northbeam Incrementality gives you easy, automated, self-service incrementality tests, while protecting you from the major mistakes so many people make while running incrementality tests. Your MTA handles the daily tactics, your MMM guides the long-term planning, and Incrementality provides the causal truth. It's a closed loop that allows you to scale what works and cut what doesn't. Right now when you head over to www.northbeam.io/incrementality, they're offering Scalability School listeners 50% off unlimited tests for a year when you join. Just tell them we sent you! To connect with Marin, send him a DM at https://x.com/IstvanicMarin [https://x.com/IstvanicMarin] To connect with Andrew Foxwell send an email Andrew@foxwelldigital.com [Andrew@foxwelldigital.com] To connect with Brad Ploch send him a DM at https://x.com/brad_ploch [https://x.com/brad_ploch] To connect with Zach Stuck send him a DM at https://x.com/zachmstuck [https://x.com/zachmstuck] Learn More about the Foxwell Founders Community at https://foxwellfounders.com/ [https://foxwellfounders.com/] Learn More about the The Hive Haus Creators Community at http://HiveHausUGC.com [http://HiveHausUGC.com]

The M&A Episode With Zach Stuck

The Zach Stuck returns to Scalability School for one of the most packed episodes to date. Coming off a massive run of activity: selling his agency, Homestead to Verndale, co-founding MarsMen and closing a $27.5M Series A with L Catterton (ofcourse lets not forget becoming a new dad, too). Zach walks through what actually happened, what it took, and what he'd do differently. The conversation covers three major arcs. First, the sale of Homestead: how it grew from Zach posting case studies on Twitter to an 85-person agency specializing in paid acquisition and email/SMS retention, why they decided to go to market when they did, and what the M&A process actually feels like when you're in the middle of it for the first time. Second, MarsMen: the origin story of the brand, the subscription-first bet that changed everything, and what it means to go from six figures a month to a nine-figure run rate by obsessing over every detail, from landing page, CRO tests, to cohort metrics. Third, the bigger picture: where agencies are headed as AI compresses margins, why surrounding yourself with people ahead of where you want to be is non-negotiable, and what it means to finally be doing the thing you always actually wanted to do. Key Takeaways * What it actually feels like to sell your agency and what they never tell you before the deal closes * Why media buying-only Agencies likely only have 18 months left to survive * How Mars Men went from six figures to a $100M run rate in under 18 months (without raising a single dollar until it was already printing money) * Knowing when the right time to raise money is for your brand (Hint: It's not when you need it the most) * The one thing most agency owners never do that would make their business 10x more sellable * Why Zach went from agency life to brand building and how it actually feels to be on the other side * What happens when you hire for vibes and smarts over credentials This episode of the Scalability School podcast is sponsored by NorthBeam and they just launched Northbeam Incrementality. Northbeam Incrementality gives you easy, automated, self-service incrementality tests, while protecting you from the major mistakes so many people make while running incrementality tests. Your MTA handles the daily tactics, your MMM guides the long-term planning, and Incrementality provides the causal truth. It's a closed loop that allows you to scale what works and cut what doesn't. Right now when you head over to www.northbeam.io/incrementality , they're offering Scalability School listeners 50% off unlimited tests for a year when you join. Just tell them we sent you! To connect with Andrew Foxwell send an email Andrew@foxwelldigital.com [Andrew@foxwelldigital.com] To connect with Brad Ploch send him a DM at https://x.com/brad_ploch [https://x.com/brad_ploch] To connect with Zach Stuck send him a DM at https://x.com/zachmstuck [https://x.com/zachmstuck] Learn More about the Foxwell Founders Community at https://foxwellfounders.com/ [https://foxwellfounders.com/] Learn More about the The Hive Haus Creators Community at http://HiveHausUGC.com [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbEo1S3dpLU43LTNJcTRvSms3Q0UybXNmN2g1d3xBQ3Jtc0tua1R5ZmNJY3NpWk9Tancxa3NacXVDbURIT2JoNDZINUZleFZmNENWVDg0Zk9zVEZJOUJRZU5GdTJlMlFuUndheWNLcEZlY1dtRVdmMzdvWkhtNXhscXVMNFM4YkpzeXlKYVB2S2p0MUYzLU05NjcxYw&q=http%3A%2F%2FHiveHausUGC.com%2F&v=VIZKliFovg0]

Inside The Ad Account: How To Do Creative Testing In 2026

Host Brad flies solo to walk through exactly how his team structures Meta creative testing across eight figures a year in ad spend. The episode is a tactical follow-up to a previous episode with Phil, prompted by a viral Twitter thread Brad posted on the same topic. The core philosophy: stop trying to outthink Meta's algorithm on budget allocation. Instead, run a single CBO campaign per product or offer, treat ad sets as simple folders (not audience segments), and let Meta decide where the money goes. Brad backs this up with real ad account screenshots, shows why a higher-spending campaign with a lower ROAS can actually be healthier than it looks, and closes out with answers to the most common follow-up questions he received from the community. Key Takeaways * Why Meta's algorithm is smarter than you at deciding which of your ads deserves more budget and what that means for how you should structure your campaigns. * The single reason you need to stop creating more ad sets and start stacking all your ads in one. * Your top-spending ad set has a lower ROAS than the one barely getting any spend, does that mean you're burning money, or is Meta showing you something you're missing? * The truth behind what actually happens when you pull it into an ABO to force-test it. * How do you build a creative testing system that generates consistent weekly output without needing a huge production budget or team. * What "spend is a signal" actually means for your creatives and how you should decide when to turn an ad off (You might actually be turning them off too early) * Is splitting your account into a testing campaign and a scaling campaign helping you, or just adding complexity that slows down Meta's learning? * How new visitor percentage and frequency metrics should change the way you interpret your campaign's ROAS. * The actual risk of running ads to two completely different customer personas inside the same ad set on broad targeting. * How to tell when it's time to question your creative quality versus just staying patient with your launch cadence. This episode of the Scalability School podcast is sponsored by NorthBeam and they just launched Northbeam Incrementality. Northbeam Incrementality gives you easy, automated, self-service incrementality tests, while protecting you from the major mistakes so many people make while running incrementality tests. Your MTA handles the daily tactics, your MMM guides the long-term planning, and Incrementality provides the causal truth. It's a closed loop that allows you to scale what works and cut what doesn't. Right now when you head over to www.northbeam.io/incrementality , they're offering Scalability School listeners 50% off unlimited tests for a year when you join. Just tell them we sent you! To connect with Andrew Foxwell send an email Andrew@foxwelldigital.com [Andrew@foxwelldigital.com] To connect with Brad Ploch send him a DM at https://x.com/brad_ploch [https://x.com/brad_ploch] To connect with Zach Stuck send him a DM at https://x.com/zachmstuck [https://x.com/zachmstuck] Learn More about the Foxwell Founders Community at https://foxwellfounders.com/ [https://foxwellfounders.com/] Learn More about the The Hive Haus Creators Community at http://HiveHausUGC.com [http://HiveHausUGC.com]

The Evolution of Creative Strategy With Sarah Levinger

In this episode of Scalability School, Andrew Foxwell is joined by Sarah Levenger and special guest host Will Sartoris for a deep conversation on what separates average creative strategy from high-performing creative strategy in 2026. The core theme is that winning creative is not just about producing more ads or testing more formats. It is about understanding people better. Sarah breaks down how the best creative strategists build repeatable systems for ideation, stay close to the customer experience, and work backward from business goals instead of defaulting to ad format first. From there, the episode gets tactical with a breakdown of behavioral-science principles like loss aversion, anchoring, framing effects, social proof, bandwagon effect, and System 1 vs. System 2 thinking. The big takeaway is that most brands are still overusing urgency, surface-level psychology, and creative trend chasing. The better path is sharper positioning, better message framing, more respect for the customer, and creative diversity rooted in psychology, not just format. Key takeaways * Are the best creative strategists winning because they make better ads, or because they build better systems for ideas? * Are you still choosing ad format first over business objective and customer type? * Have you already burned through your early adopters without realizing your message needs to evolve? * Are your ads accidentally disrespecting your potential customers? * Should your brand be using supportive or guilt-based messaging to convert? * Is plain old social proof losing power? * Does your internal team believe the same thing about the brand that your customers do? * Is AI helping your team think more clearly, or just helping you make more of the same content faster? This episode of the Scalability School podcast is sponsored by NorthBeam and they just launched Northbeam Incrementality. Northbeam Incrementality gives you easy, automated, self-service incrementality tests, while protecting you from the major mistakes so many people make while running incrementality tests. Your MTA handles the daily tactics, your MMM guides the long-term planning, and Incrementality provides the causal truth. It's a closed loop that allows you to scale what works and cut what doesn't. Right now when you head over to www.northbeam.io/incrementality , they're offering Scalability School listeners 50% off unlimited tests for a year when you join. Just tell them we sent you! To learn more about Sarah Levinger, you can follow her here: https://x.com/SarahLevinger To connect with Andrew Foxwell send an email Andrew@foxwelldigital.com [Andrew@foxwelldigital.com] To connect with Brad Ploch send him a DM at https://x.com/brad_ploch [https://x.com/brad_ploch] To connect with Zach Stuck send him a DM at https://x.com/zachmstuck [https://x.com/zachmstuck] Learn More about the Foxwell Founders Community at https://foxwellfounders.com/ [https://foxwellfounders.com/] Learn More about the The Hive Haus Creators Community at http://HiveHausUGC.com [http://HiveHausUGC.com]

Uncovering Agency Trends From The Foxwell Founders 2026 Agency Report with Andrew Faris

Andrew Foxwell (Foxwell Founders / Scalability School) sits down with Andrew Faris (AJF Growth / The Andrew Faris Podcast) for a joint co-release episode to break down the findings from the Foxwell Founders x Motion 2026 State of Agencies Report. A data-rich survey of hundreds of agency owners and in-house operators across 30 countries. The conversation covers AI's dual role as the #1 growth opportunity and the #1 threat for agencies, why only 11% of agencies have produced clear top-performing AI-generated ad winners, the reality behind agency margins (42% running net margins above 30% while many founders still struggle), why in-housing is the #1 reason agencies lose clients — and why it usually backfires — and the uncomfortable truth that many agency founders grow for ego rather than strategy. Along the way, Faris offers a sharp framework on how brands should think about paying their agencies, and Foxwell shares candid coaching insights on what separates agencies that thrive from those that stall out. Key Takeaways: * Why 26% of agencies say AI-powered services are their biggest growth opportunity — yet privately admit they're terrified of it? * Is AI actually working for creatives or is just generating slop? (Only 11% of agencies have produced a clear top-performing AI-generated ad winner.) * 42% of agencies report net margins above 30%. So why are so many agency founders telling Andrew Foxwell they're broke? * Is in-housing the worst move most brands make? * The gross margin range your agency should be sitting between. * Are agency founders growing because they have a strategy or because they want to sit at the big [kid] agency table? * When the average tenure of an in-house growth director might only be ~18 months, is there a fundamental misalignment between founders and the people they hire? * If AI amplifies slop just as well as it amplifies great ideas, why do so many agencies think volume is the play? * Should more brands be firing their CRO agency and building more with Claude Code? This episode of the Scalability School podcast is sponsored by NorthBeam and they just launched Northbeam Incrementality. Northbeam Incrementality gives you easy, automated, self-service incrementality tests, while protecting you from the major mistakes so many people make while running incrementality tests. Your MTA handles the daily tactics, your MMM guides the long-term planning, and Incrementality provides the causal truth. It's a closed loop that allows you to scale what works and cut what doesn't. Right now when you head over to www.northbeam.io/incrementality [https://www.northbeam.io/incrementality], they're offering Scalability School listeners 50% off unlimited tests for a year when you join. Just tell them we sent you! To learn more about Andrew Faris, The Andrew Faris Podcast and AJF Growth you can follow him on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/andrewjfaris Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@andrewfarispodcast [https://www.youtube.com/@andrewfarispodcast] Email: podcast@ajfgrowth.com [podcast@ajfgrowth.com] Work With AJF Growth: https://ajfgrowth.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To connect with Andrew Foxwell send an email Andrew@foxwelldigital.com [Andrew@foxwelldigital.com] To connect with Brad Ploch send him a DM at https://x.com/brad_ploch [https://x.com/brad_ploch] To connect with Zach Stuck send him a DM at https://x.com/zachmstuck [https://x.com/zachmstuck] Learn More about the Foxwell Founders Community at https://foxwellfounders.com/ [https://foxwellfounders.com/] Learn More about the The Hive Haus Creators Community at http://HiveHausUGC.com [http://HiveHausUGC.com]