FinnMckenty.com

My job is simple: help agencies & consultants grow by any means necessary.

I've spent the last 20 years building and marketing products: $15 million+ in revenue for online education at CreativeLive and URM Academy, design & marketing for Abercrombie & Fitch, product strategy for Swiffer & Febreze, digital media for Red Bull, Element, and Nike ACG and projects for bands including A Day To Remember, Periphery and Of Mice & Men.

As a content creator, I've also generated over 130 million views and 760k subscribers on YouTube, 105k followers on Instagram & 15k LinkedIn followers.

Founder

URM Academy

URM Academy is a the world's best online education for rock & metal producers, bringing our members access to the top producers and artists like Fall Out Boy, Meshuggah, Periphery, A Day To Remember, Bring Me The Horizon, Gojira, and dozens more.

As our Head of Product & Growth, I manage our roadmap and coordinate design and engineering resources to execute it. I also drive all growth programs from brand to acquisition, retention, and monetization.

- Define and manage product strategy and roadmap that drives 7 figures in ARR (consumer subscription)
- Designed and shipped a complete front end overhaul updating from Wordpress/PHP to React that increased performance by 10x
- Recruited and manage software engineer
- Designed and implemented qualitative and quantitative user research for product discovery and concept validation
- Increased paying member count and revenue by 30% in 12 months
- Grew URM Academy YouTube channel to 100k subscribers

Head of Product

The Punk Rock MBA

PRMBA is my YouTube channel and podcast that reverse-engineers trends in music and youth culture with an emphasis on pulling out insights that viewers can use to grow their own creative projects.

- Grew my two channels to over 625k subscribers and 100 million views
- 1 million+ podcast views across all platforms
- Media appearances in CNN, New York Times, Billboard, No Jumper and more
- Brand deals with Dollar Shave Club, Skillshare, Nord VPN, Manscaped and dozens more

CreativeLive

Drive strategy and execution of influencer-driven content marketing campaigns for CreativeLive, the world's largest online education platform for creatives and entrepreneurs (10m+ students / 10k+ hours of content).

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Managed rollout of "30 Days Of Genius" program featuring 30 influencers including Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Jared Leto, Arianna Huffington, Seth Godin, James Altucher, Tim Ferriss, Gary Vaynerchuk, Ramit Sethi, and more
- Recruited Billboard top 10 artists and music industry legends including Dillinger Escape Plan, Periphery, Converge, Incubus, and dozens more
- Executed partnership programs with Starbucks, Virgin, Apple, Microsoft, Entrepreneur, Adobe and more
- Lead PR campaigns that generated 150+ pieces of editorial coverage in A-level outlets like The Hollywood Reporter, Guitar Player, Alternative Press, Modern Drummer, and dozens more
- Assisted C-level execs in creating the pitch which closed our $21.5m Series B round (Greylock, Social Capital, CAA Ventures)

Senior Program Manager, Influencer Marketing

Abercrombie & Fitch

Oversaw the rollout of global integrated marketing campaigns for Abercrombie, Hollister and Gilly Hicks across all channels: in-store, outdoor, grand openings, and web/social media in over 700 domestic stores, 50 international mall stores, and 20 flagships in the USA, Europe and Asia. Managed worldwide network of vendors and suppliers: select new vendors, lead cost-saving/quality improvement initiatives, and build long-term partnerships. 

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Worked on flagship store openings in Hong Kong, Singapore, Brussels, Madrid, Shenzen, Seoul and other locations on 3 continents
- Collaborated closely with internal legal, construction and design teams to navigate the unique regulatory, technical and creative challenges of each program
- Subject matter expert and point person for all print projects
- Primary point of contact on marketing team for trademark and copyright issues
- Key member of the team responsible for managing the $25m+ shopping bag program
- Spent 25% of my time in Asia at factories (China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Indonesia)
- Key contributor to the team which brought 3 new factories and 2 new print suppliers online in 2012

Marketing Production Coordinator

Kaleidoscope

Primary point of client contact. Directed product development & brand strategy projects for Procter & Gamble (Tide, Swiffer, Bounce, Febreze, Pampers, Olay and others), Motorola, Novartis, Whirlpool, Mars, and more. Designed research programs, conducted market analysis and trend forecasting. Translated research insights into direction for industrial designers, usability experts, and engineers.

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Assisted VP of Design on proposals and pitches that generated over $2m in new business
- Lead the strategy component of $100k+ programs for Febreze and Pampers
- Designed qualitative user research program for Febreze Sport
- Collaborated closely with designers, engineers and other project stakeholders to define the technical and creative objectives for each program
- Created and managed content marketing programs which generated coverage in outlets including Engadget, Gizmodo, Core77, and CNet

Strategist

Fractional CMO for agencies & consultants | Creator with 1.1 million followers | Make The Internet Nice Again™️

I have 1.1 million followers, but I never wanted to be "an influencer."

Meaning, I've never been interested in attention for its own sake. I don't really have any desire to be in the spotlight.

But I also know what it's like to feel invisible and overlooked.

Which is why I started YouTube back in 2017: 

I'd been doing product design and marketing for 15+ years at that point, and I did a lot of work I was proud of. Worked on brands like Nike, Red Bull, Swiffer, Febreze, and Nintendo at agencies, did design at Abercrombie & Fitch when they were on top of the world, sold millions in courses at CreativeLive (venture backed startup) etc etc...

But nobody cared.

I got zero traction when I applied for jobs, my network was weak, and I felt like an anonymous face in a crowd of 7 billion people.

I didn't really WANT attention, but I recognized that I NEEDED it-- and I got it:

Fast forward 7 years, and (to my total surprise) I have over 130 million views and 760k subscribers on YouTube and another 400k followers across other platforms.

Now there are literally millions of people all over the world who know my name, face and a good chunk of my life story.

It got me in outlets like CNN, Billboard, New York Times, No Jumper. I became friends with people I'd only seen on TV before, and I made 5x more than I did at my last 9-5 job (where I made six figures).

It changed my life, no joke.

→ Here's my point:

Most people don't really want to be in the spotlight. And the people who DO want it usually don't deserve it.

There's so, SO many cool, humble people out there who get overlooked for opportunities they deserve simply because they don't put themselves out there.

And those are the people I want to help.

You don't need anywhere near a million followers, but you DO need people to know who you are.

And I'm proof that you do NOT need to be an extrovert to make it happen.

I'm also proof that you don't need to be good looking, cool or fun at parties 😅

Send me a DM if you want to talk!

For brand inquiries: tony@prettygoodagents.com

Mind = blown that people are still complaining about this all the time. 

I promise there's a nearly infinite list of things that are a better use of your time than worrying about how strangers on the internet create their LinkedIn content! 

You're welcome 😇 
--
👋 Hi, I’m Finn
📈 Fractional CMO for agencies
👨‍💻 20+ years designing & marketing products
📬 DM me to say hi

Finn McKenty

Fractional CMO for agencies | Creator with 1.1 million followers | Make The Internet Nice Again™️

Friendly reminder that “productivity hacks" don't = revenue.

Especially the super complex ones that turn your marketing into a chore, which means it never actually gets done. 

You don't need anything fancy- just a SIMPLE system for marketing & sales:

→ Make a list of people/companies you want to work with

→ Be part of the conversation (LinkedIn or maybe Twitter)

→ Start real conversations with real people

That’s it. That's the system.

Put time into that every single day and it WILL move the needle - even 30 minutes a day makes a difference.

Sell something.

Then you can go watch your 475-step tutorial as a treat 😇 
--
👋 Hi, I’m Finn
📈 Fractional CMO for agencies
👨‍💻 20+ years designing & marketing products
📬 DM me to say hi

I got waaaaay more business from 8k followers on LinkedIn than 750,000 on YouTube.

For anyone who's new here, I had a couple good-sized YouTube channels from 2017-2024.

And when I started focusing more on consulting back in 2023, I made a little promo for it, and put that in a handful of my videos that got a combined total of probably 1.5 million views. 

And what happened? I got a handful of (mostly bad) leads and maybe 1 or 2 clients 🤷 

On the other hand, when I announced my new thing on LinkedIn, where I only had 8k followers, I booked 9 discovery calls in a couple days - all from inbound. 

It was actually kind of stressful because it was more than I could comfortably handle - a great problem to have!

So am I saying YouTube sucks? Not at all. 

My point is that you don't need to be - and shouldn't try to be - on every channel. Literally NOBODY is great at every channel, even people with a big team. Find the one or MAYBE two channels that are the best fit for your offer and triple down.

If you're reading this, LinkedIn is probably your best option, although Twitter is pretty good these days for some niches too (ecom, SaaS, etc).

But you probably shouldn't make TikToks vibing to a Playboy Carti song while you show off your new Hubspot workflows (please do it anyway for our entertainment).
--
👋 Hi, I’m Finn
📈 Fractional CMO for B2B services companies
👨‍💻 20+ years designing & marketing products
☎️ DM me to say hi

Lack of focus is THE crippling weakness for the vast majority of people.

When you hear that 80% of businesses fail, well... this is usually why:

🚩 Chasing too many things at once

Eg, agencies that do SEO, branding, websites, app design and email marketing and and and... 

Pick ONE.

🚩 Ignoring "boring" parts of the business

This is especially true with marketing: 

They don't make marketing part of their daily operating motion, so when the pipeline (inevitably) dries up, it's a panicked scramble to find new work.

🚩 Adding new offers/capabilities

They get "shiny object syndrome," come up with a cool new idea and immediately shift the whole company's focus to that-- "let's start offering video production too!" 

Their core business gets neglected, and the new thing usually ends up flopping, they start chasing some NEW shiny object, and the whole thing repeats....

Stay focused, my kings and queens 🫡 
--
👋 Hi, I’m Finn
📈 Fractional CMO for agencies & consultants
👨‍💻 20+ years designing & marketing products
📬 DM me to say hi

Have you noticed that LinkedIn is trying REALLLLLLY to get you to post videos?

For the record, I do think posting videos here is a good idea! But shortform video in general has two big issues:

🟣 Doesn't build brand

Because it's a passive format, most people don't even know the name of the creator they're watching.

There are some exceptions like the 👸 of LinkedIn video Heike Young, but 99.9% of us aren't going to be as good as she is.

🟣 Doesn't drive traffic

It's HARD to get people off the app. Users don't want to leave the feed, and the apps don't want them to leave either.

So you might get 100k views on a video, but if they don't remember your name and it doesn't drive any traffic... how much are those views really worth?

🤔 But didn't you just tell us we should post videos here?

Yes! Just letting people see your face & body language, hear your voice, etc makes a big difference.

But don't believe the hype of the incessant ads in your feed telling you that LinkedIn as video-first app now... it's just not.

BTW - If you do want to get better at videos, follow Sara Berry, Elin Giczi and Bruno Pozo
--
👋 Hi, I’m Finn
📈 Fractional CMO for agencies & consultants
👨‍💻 20+ years designing & marketing products
📬 DM me to say hi

I've talked with 25+ agencies this year and almost all have the same problem: awareness.

Usually, they're almost completely dependent on word of mouth. They do great work, their clients love them, and they tell other people about it-- it's the best marketing you can hope for!

The problem is that it's totally unpredictable, and you have no control over it.

So inevitably,  it works until it doesn't, and they find themselves with an empty pipeline and no plan 💀 

Which is why EVERY agency/consultant needs some kind of "always on" top-of-funnel marketing program-- something that's constantly getting their name in front of the right people.

And the good news is there's a million ways you can do it:

→ Content (LinkedIn, Twitter, SEO)
→ Events (eg, hosting something like Creative Mornings)
→ Collabs (love what Ryan Prior does with the Modash blog)
→ Outreach (usually the fastest path to revenue)
→ etc etc

You don't have to be perfect.

The most important part is that you have SOMETHING, so you don't get caught with your pants down when word of mouth dries up. 
--
👋 Hi, I’m Finn
📈 Fractional CMO for agencies
👨‍💻 20+ years designing & marketing products
📬 DM me to say hi

I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this, but… you can’t automate relationships.

Every week someone asks me the same thing: “Isn’t there a way to automate the outreach? The emails, comments, DMs, etc... Do I REALLY have to do all that myself?”

Yep. You do.

Sure, automate the boring stuff. Tagging people in your CRM, reminders, data entry… all that is fine.

But the part where you actually look at someone’s profile, read their website, understand who they are, and send a real message?

No tool can do that for you. And if it tries… everyone can tell.

This is B2B. It runs on trust.

When someone hires you, they’re betting a piece of their career on you. If you flop, they look bad. That’s why the bar is high.

Think about when you get pitched:

If someone won’t even take three minutes to learn who you are before pitching you… why would you trust them with your money? Or your reputation?

The whole game is just getting to know people and helping them, and you can't automate or outsource that.
--
👋 Hi, I’m Finn
📈 Fractional CMO for agencies
👨‍💻 20+ years designing & marketing products
📬 DM me to say hi

"I don't want our marketing to depend on using me and my personal brand."

I've heard this a million times, and I get it- but here's why I think it's rarely worth worrying about:

1) This is a luxury problem that only matters when have a highly profitable business that someone actually wants to buy. So focus on building that business first, worry about this later.

2) Don't leave money on the table. 

If the founder's personal brand is an effective marketing channel (and it almost always is), it would be crazy NOT to use it, right?

That's like saying, "Yeah SEO works really well for us but I don't want to use it because I'm afraid of relying on it."

2) Doing things from a company account is literally 10x harder than from a personal account. 

Go look at how absolutely abysmal the reach/engagement is on company pages here (or IG/anywhere else). People want to hear from other people, not companies.

3) Incorporate the company brand into your personal brand. You're not just "Katy Jones," you're "Katy Jones from Your Cool Company." 

4) It's only a problem if this is your ONLY channel. So build other ones in parallel (SEO, outreach, paid, email, etc) to de-risk things.

My point: I get the concern. 

But don't let that stop you from using a channel that works-- and 9 times out of 10, the founder's personal brand isn't doing as much as it could be.
--
👋 Hi, I’m Finn
📈 Fractional CMO for agencies
👨‍💻 20+ years designing & marketing products
📬 DM me to say hi

PSA: You're better off walking away from some clients.

Before you take on a client, ask yourself: what direction is their business already moving?

❌ Struggling
Their product and/or brand are fundamentally weak, revenue is unsteady, etc. They could be a tiny SMB or a dysfunctional old school corporation - same story either way.

These are the ones you HAVE TO avoid. You can't fix their whole business by yourself, and it will grind you down to try.

💰Killing It
They're already winning with or without you (Apple, Figma, etc). 

Looks nice on your client list, but you (rightfully) won't get credit for their success.

📈 Doing Well
The ideal client has something that's already working, but could be working better- a series B startup, a $2-5M ecom brand, etc.

You can have direct impact AND get credit for it, because there's a clear before/after story to tell- and that's why they're such valuable clients.

It's so, so tempting to say yes to everything but you just CAN'T.

Trust your intuition on this... if you see early signs that the client's business is fundamentally broken, (respectfully) walk away.
--
👋 Hi, I’m Finn
📈 Fractional CMO for agencies
👨‍💻 20+ years designing & marketing products
📬 DM me to say hi

Agency people who've actually worked on the client side are a HUGE plus.

Mostly because B2B is a huge web of processes, stakeholders, etc and it's hard to REALLY understand all of those nuances unless you've been in-house.

Coming up with good ideas is MAYBE 50% of the job for agencies (probably less).

The rest is helping your client get the ideas through the corporate machine on their side: selling it to their boss, their peers, legal, finance, procurement, the VP who suddenly has an opinion, etc etc.

You make them look good/sleep easier, and they'll do the same - this is how you grow an account.

I did marketing at Abercrombie & Fitch for a few years and worked with our agencies/vendors for almost every part of my job- they saved my ass many times, and I always did my best to go to bat for them in return.

I’m not saying every agency person has to have client-side experience, because there's plenty of great people who don't.

But you DO need to understand what it’s like to be in their shoes, and be your client's backup squad in getting things approved by 27 stakeholders.

Because if you can’t help them navigate that part, it doesn’t really matter how good your ideas are, because none of them will get shipped. 
--
👋 Hi, I’m Finn
📈 Fractional CMO for agencies
👨‍💻 20+ years designing & marketing products
📬 DM me to say hi

Made a cute, cozy treehouse with Nano Banana and Weavy for fun, but it turned out to be great R&D too.

- Made the individual rooms as B&W line drawings. Each one is a specific thing like a fox doing laundry, a crow teaching math, etc.

- This keeps the content consistent across different visual styles

- Combined the rooms into the full treehouse blueprint (still B&W)

- Restyled that blueprint with various images as style references: a felt Sanrio house, random images I found on Pinterest, some pixel art, etc.

- Kept mixing and matching until I ran out of credits... so much fun, I could have kept going all night

And now I have a workflow I can use for all kinds of other things - experimenting with fun personal projects has always been my best way to do R&D that I end up using on client work as well.
--
👋 Hi, I’m Finn
📈 Fractional CMO for agencies
👨‍💻 20+ years designing & marketing products
📬 DM me to say hi

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