Reflections From Working Closely With the Team

When Saulderson Media announced its acquisition earlier this year, it generated a lot of interest across the agency and creator-economy landscape. It was a standout result for a team that had spent years building real momentum – and for the advisors and leaders around them who helped shape the journey. In this short video, Scaled Founder Simon Penson, who acted as NED and long-term advisor to the business, shares his reflections on what truly contributed to the agency’s rapid scale and eventual exit.

A Three-Year Journey of Partnership, Alignment and Hard Work

Scaled began working with Saulderson Media around three years before the acquisition, with Simon joining as an embedded Non-Executive Director. The work wasn’t about imposing a playbook – it was about partnering with the founders, understanding their ambition, and helping them build the structure, clarity and confidence required to grow at pace.

Over roughly 2–2.5 years of focused work, revenue and EBITDA grew by more than 300%. That acceleration came from a shared commitment between the founders and the support team around them, and from hundreds of small but meaningful decisions made consistently over time.

Simon’s reflections provide a window into the key dynamics behind that progress.

1. Choosing a Clear Specialism – and Leaning Into It Together

One early breakthrough was helping the founders sharpen their focus on a high-growth, high-demand segment. Influencer marketing was already an expanding space; within it, Saulderson identified a particularly challenging niche: helping brands access male audiences.

Rather than spreading themselves thin, the founders committed to that specialism – and Simon worked with them to refine the proposition, shape the messaging, and build a go-to-market motion that played to that strength. That clarity became a huge tailwind.

2. Getting Ahead of Operational Growing Pains

As momentum built, the next priority was to ensure the business could grow without burning out. Working closely with the leadership team, Scaled supported the introduction of:

  • Clearer organisational structure
  • Role specialisation
  • Improved reporting and operational oversight
  • Better understanding of utilisation, capacity and margin
  • Stronger financial clarity at both client and team level

None of this replaced the founders’ instincts – it simply gave them a clearer dashboard for making decisions, spotting risks early, and investing ahead of demand.

3. Building a Sales Engine Around a Strong Founder Brand

Suhit, Saulderson’s founder, already had a great reputation in the creator space. A key part of the work was helping him amplify that through thought leadership, industry visibility and regular founder-led storytelling.

Alongside that, a more structured, multi-channel sales engine was developed so new business wasn’t solely dependent on one individual. Over time, this helped transform the business from relying on referrals to building a predictable pipeline.

4. Culture, People and the “Why”

A significant part of the collaboration focused on people: hiring well, creating alignment around the mission, and ensuring new team members understood how they contributed to the business’s next chapter.

Scaled’s role wasn’t simply to design structure – it was to help the founders create an environment where talented people could do their best work and feel part of something meaningful.

5. The Hardest Bit: Sustained, Relentless Determination

Simon is clear that tools and frameworks only get you so far. What made the biggest difference was the sheer determination of the Saulderson team. There were long hours, tough choices and periods of sustained effort that aren’t always visible from the outside.

The “iceberg effect” applies here: most people see the exit headline, not the years of discipline beneath it.

Scaled’s role throughout was to provide structure, pace, accountability and the outside perspective needed to keep the business moving in the right direction.

6. Preparing for Exit With Intention

As the business matured, more of the work shifted toward readiness for investment and eventual acquisition: tightening commercial structure, improving reporting, clarifying the proposition, strengthening leadership and ensuring all the pieces were in place for buyers.

When the time came, Saulderson were ready – not because they chased an exit, but because they built a strong business first.

A Collaborative Journey With Lessons for Every Founder

The Saulderson Media story isn’t about shortcuts. It’s about clarity, focus, consistency and the combined effort of founders and advisors working side-by-side toward a shared ambition.

For founders exploring scale or considering a future exit, Simon’s reflections offer a simple message:
 When you match a clear strategy with the right structure, and a team willing to push, the results can be transformative.