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AgencyHabits

The Story Behind Barrel Holdings

Published 15 days ago • 1 min read

Every founder starts somewhere, usually with more passion than process.

For Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim, it was 2003. A Columbia dorm room. Two friends who loved building websites. $5,000 projects that felt huge at the time.

That was the start of what would become Barrel Holdings, a family of specialized agencies built over two decades of trial, error, and slow, deliberate growth.

In this episode of The AgencyHabits Podcast, Peter and Sei-Wook unpack:

  • How they went from freelancing for student orgs to running a million-dollar agency.
  • The lessons that led them to spin out new companies like Vaulted Oak and BX Studio.
  • The mindset shift that turned them from operators into builders of a holding company.

It’s the story behind the story: how every decision, good or bad, compounded into a model they now call “long-term hold.”

If you’ve ever wondered what it actually takes to go from running one agency to building a group of them, this one’s for you.

And if you haven’t yet, subscribe to The AgencyHabits Podcast, every episode breaks down the systems, shifts, and frameworks that keep agencies healthy as they grow.

P.S.

If you found value in today’s insights, join us for the first AgencyHabits Knowledge Share on November 19th, 12:30 - 1:30 PM. It will be a live, open conversation for agency founders and leaders who want to learn, share, and grow together.

Who are we?

Hi, we're Peter and Sei-Wook, co-founders of Barrel Holdings, a portfolio of agency businesses. We also run AgencyHabits, a resource for agency operators featuring lessons learned from our various agency businesses.

Thanks for being a subscriber. If you or anyone you know is interested in selling their agency business, please check out what types of agencies we're looking for and email hi@barrel-holdings.com.

Also: Peter posts a lot of agency content on LinkedIn, give him a follow!

6 W 18th Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10011
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AgencyHabits

Go behind the scenes of real agency businesses.

AgencyHabits provides learnings, ideas, and templates for agency operators drawn from Barrel Holdings companies. Barrel Holdings incubates, acquires, and grows agency businesses.

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