Next-level growth story.

3Q Digital (now 3Q/DEPT) is one of the world’s largest independent digital growth marketing agencies. Verified by TechCrunch as an Expert Growth Marketing Agency, it transforms brands into market leaders through an integrated offering that spans paid media, business strategy, decision sciences, creative, SEO, and content.

Disruption in the Industry...and Business

3Q Digital (3Q) was founded in 2008 by David Rodnitzky in a coffee shop in Silicon Valley. At the time, search engine marketing — also known as “SEM” or “paid search” — was the disruptive force in digital marketing and a key tactic for any tech upstart looking to scale growth.

Riding the search wave, 3Q grew significantly, achieving forty percent growth year-over-year consistently. In 2015, Rodnitzky sold the business and — three years later — found that it was time to buy the firm back and go independent once again.

In 2019, 3Q then accepted a growth investment from Erie Street and PSP Capital, to build a credible alternative to the largest agencies and consultancies. Rodnitzky believed in the adage “what got you here won’t get you there.” He also believed that marketers deserved an agency that could deliver ROI and transparency at scale, the driving force behind his next-level growth vision for 3Q. Erie Street shared his vision and provided the right combination of strategic capital and operational guidance to achieve it.

“When we accepted a growth investment from Erie Street, we knew that we needed a different type of expertise to scale 3Q. We felt like Erie brought a combination of financial, marketing-specific, and strategic knowledge that would help us achieve our growth goals. Erie Street really opened our eyes to new and powerful ways to increase enterprise value. Almost immediately after we signed our partnership, Erie identified numerous areas where 3Q could be more efficient and where we could be smarter about growing the company profitably.”
David Rodnitzky
Founder, 3Q Digital

Transforming 3Q for Future Growth

As a carve-out, 3Q needed infrastructure to operate and scale independently going forward. Together with the founder-CEO, we designed and delivered a next-level growth strategy that spanned four key transformation areas: leadership & talent, revenue enhancement, strategic M&A, and operational efficiency.

Leadership & Talent
In partnership with Erie Street, 3Q built out an executive leadership team to support its high-growth, founder-led business. Knowing that Rodnitzky wanted to transition into a Founder and board director role, we helped him find a President that would transition into the CEO role. We also rounded out the executive suite with a Chief Financial Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Client Officer, and General Counsel, and partnered with Rodnitzky and PSP Capital to bring on two independent board directors to support the growth of the business.

Revenue Enhancement
Erie Street’s Chief Growth Officer stepped in as interim CMO for 3Q, redesigning the go-to-market strategy and marketing team function to create a unified growth engine in partnership with 3Q’s Chief Revenue Officer. We repositioned 3Q as a “growth marketing” agency that “turns performance into growth” to separate them from the rest of the performance marketing agency pack. A product and pricing refresh ensured that 3Q was not only promising to turn performance into growth, but activating the team to deliver “limitless growth” through a unified operating model and customer journey as well. Through this evolution of the business, 3Q’s deal size increased by five times while sustaining high NPS (Net Promoter Score) ratings and client tenure.

Strategic M&A
Partnering with 3Q’s CEO and Chief Strategy Officer, Erie Street’s M&A team identified potential targets for inorganic growth, leading proprietary outreach as well as bank-led opportunities. Recognizing an opportunity to balance paid and organic search to deliver growth for clients, 3Q expanded its SEO offering with the acquisition of Inseev (January 2022).

Operational Efficiency
The Erie Street team sharpened our pencils and optimized SG&A and working capital, as well as completed an IT infrastructure assessment. Working in partnership with the 3Q leadership team, we uncovered new ways for 3Q to grow profitably – including opening an international office in Dublin to support key clients – while building a strong foundation to create future optionality for the business. Monthly operational meetings and quarterly board meetings kept transformation activities on track.

Leading Growth Marketing

With two members of Erie Street’s executive team providing board advisory support, 3Q merged with DEPT, a pioneering technology and marketing services company, in May 2022. Today, 3Q/DEPT remains one of the world’s largest independent digital growth marketing agencies, leveraging best-in-class solutions to impact every step in the customer’s unique journey. 3Q/DEPT continues to deliver on the vision for growth that we collaborated to create: building an agency that empowers its employees and clients to accept no limits.

“Erie Street will help you sharpen your pencils. They will uncover new ways to grow profitability, scale your business via organic growth and acquisitions, and will help you build a strong foundation that gives you a lot of positive options for the future of the business.”
David Rodnitzky
Founder, 3Q Digital