Ep 163 – James Kwon, Figmints – Boats, Not Moats - How AI Is Forcing Agencies to Build Products

Featuring: James Kwon, Figmints

In episode 163, I sit down with James Kwon, founder and CEO of Figmints, a digital creative and marketing agency celebrating its fifteenth year in business.

James and I get into the shift he's making from a pure services agency to a product-driven business, and why he believes agency owners need to build boats, not moats, as AI reshapes the industry. We talk through the acquisition that first pulled him into the M&A world, what he looks for in a deal today, and the story behind Slices, his own pay-for-performance compensation model that ties every dollar of revenue to the work that earned it.

For agency owners, this one's a look at what it actually takes to build a business that doesn't depend entirely on you, through smarter pay structures, disciplined product bets, and acquisitions built on shared values rather than just the numbers.

Key Bytes

• As agency owners, we have to build boats, not moats. The AI tsunami is already here, so playing defense with old tactics isn't a strategy.

• James turned a fifty-thousand-dollar hire into someone earning over one hundred forty thousand a year, just by tying pay directly to the revenue someone brings in and delivers.

• Every dollar Figmints receives gets carved into slices: sales, account management, strategy, fulfillment, operations, and profit. That objectivity ends the "why does she make more than me" conversations.

• Hourly pay incentivizes people to take longer. A model built on outcomes incentivizes people to get faster and better.

• James's first acquisition wasn't a strategic masterplan. It was a friend in decline who trusted him enough to merge, and they're still friends today.

• Love is inefficient. It was designed that way, and you can't use AI to love people efficiently.

• One of Figmints' internal products recently sold for almost nine figures, and that exit is now fueling more acquisitions and more product bets.

• The best dashboards don't just report what happened. They tell you the thing you didn't know to ask about yet.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome and introducing James Kwon of Figmints

01:35 James's path from culinary arts and UX design to CVS.com

03:07 Building Figmints and celebrating fifteen years in business

03:33 Why James is shifting from services to products

04:29 Building boats, not moats, in the age of AI

05:45 The first acquisition and what actually made it work

08:50 Using AI to find the right acquisition targets today

14:03 Breaking down Slices, Figmints' pay-for-performance model

21:40 The downsides of Slices and how James manages them

33:48 The best business advice James wishes he'd gotten sooner

James is on a mission to help people thrive through the catalyst of business. As Founder & CEO of Figmints Digital Creative Marketing, James leverages brand storytelling and digital strategies to transform companies from ideas to industry leaders.

His eclectic background in Culinary Arts, Graphic Design, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, and Theology, brings unique insights to every interaction. He's a respected industry voice, having spoken and mentored at platforms like The HubSpot INBOUND Conference, MassChallenge, CIC, MIT, RISD, Venture Cafe, and VMS.

Offstage, James relishes family time with his wife and three kids, church community, and golf buddies. His life is a testament to the magic at the intersection of creativity and technology, nurturing human innovation in the digital landscape.

Learn more on figmints.com