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From zero to top life sciences agency: How Sheldon Zhai scaled Supreme Optimization
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In this conversation, Sheldon Zhai, founder of Supreme Optimization, shares how he landed his first clients, scaled his business, and navigated the challenges of building a high-growth agency. We also dive into his recent acquisitions, his vision for AI in life sciences marketing, and his approach to hiring top-tier talent—including why he insists on hiring PhD-level scientists as marketers. If you're thinking of starting your own life sciences marketing agency, Sheldon has some blunt, no-nonsense advice on what it really takes to succeed.
In this episode:
00:00 How Supreme Optimization started
03:21 Finding your first client as an agency
05:32 Common challenges for early-stage agencies
08:05 Key milestones in the growth of Supreme Optimization
10:13 Building a team of scientific marketers
12:33 Scaling up the agency through a strategic investment
17:06 Acquiring and integrating other agencies to scale up
19:36 Lessons learned from six acquisitions in two years
22:03 Scaling up your agency culture
25:33 The role of AI in science marketing
29:01 The future of Supreme Optimization
30:07 Advice for aspiring marketing agency owners
32:20 Book recommendation for marketing agencies
Books recommended by Sheldon:
- Who: The A Method for Hiring, by Geoff Smart
- The Win Without Pitching Manifesto, by Blair Enns
To connect with Sheldon:
- LinkedIn
- Supreme Optimization
To connect with Joachim Eeckhout, host of the podcast:
- LinkedIn
- Contact form
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