[Featured Podcast] Building an Agency Holding Company w/ Peter Kang

Peter didn’t plan to start a holding company.

But when he and his partner hit a strategic wall, too many non-ideal clients eating up resources, they took an unconventional path.

One of their team members stepped up and said: “Let me take these clients and build something.”

That something became a thriving new agency. And that agency became the first piece of Barrel Holdings, a multi-agency portfolio now serving Shopify and Webflow clients at scale.

In this featured episode, Peter shares how he:

• Pruned his client base without burning revenue

• Leveraged platform partners (like Shopify) to drive consistent growth

• Built multiple agencies in-house under a single holding company

• Learned to align leadership incentives for long-term success

🎧 Listen to the Featured Episode

There’s no flash. Just 20 years of agency wisdom distilled into one story.

CQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What led to the creation of Barrel Holdings in the first place?

A strategic wall, too many non-ideal clients eating up resources, that pushed Peter and his partner toward an unconventional solution rather than continuing to serve every client on the roster.

How did the first spinoff agency within Barrel Holdings actually come about?

A team member volunteered to take on the non-ideal clients and build something new with them, a proposal that turned into a thriving agency and eventually became the first piece of the broader holding company.

How did Peter prune his client base without losing significant revenue?

By redirecting non-ideal clients to a newly formed agency rather than simply cutting them loose, preserving revenue within the broader Barrel Holdings structure while freeing up the original agency to focus more effectively.

What role did platform partners like Shopify play in this growth?

A consistent driver of growth leveraged directly, helping the holding company's agencies serve Shopify and Webflow clients at scale as part of the broader multi-agency portfolio.

Why does aligning leadership incentives matter for a holding company structure like this?

Because managing multiple agencies under one umbrella requires leaders across each one to be genuinely motivated toward long-term success, not just individual agency performance, a lesson Peter specifically discusses learning through this process.