From Zero To Agency Hero
FZTAH Podcast
Episode 3 — Matt Kurleto / Neoteric. Clutch №47 / FZTAH Podcast
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Episode 3 — Matt Kurleto / Neoteric. Clutch №47 / FZTAH Podcast

Story behind Neoteric's ascent from a nascent software development firm out of Gdansk, Poland to a beacon of global excellence in AI development with enterprise clients in the USA.

In this podcast series, I am interviewing the Best 100 Professional service companies according to Clutch 2023 Top 1,000 Global to find out:

  • What’s your agency's core business model, and how has it evolved over time?

  • What’s the UVP of your agency?

  • What’s your ICP and why?

  • How does your agency's 'DNA' or core values manifest?

  • Foundational metrics: year-to-year growth, CAC, LT, LTV, Churn, most promising marketing channels, sales closing ratio, sales cycle length, Cost of Service, EBITDA

Each episode will include audio and video versions of the podcast, shorts with my commentary, and other thoughts on the subjects discussed during my conversation with the guest.

I am not being paid to promote these agencies, nor am I paying anyone. All these great agencies have been very kind to get involved and share their knowledge.

Thank you, and enjoy the podcast edition of this newsletter!

  • My guest today: Neoteric, Matt Kurleto, Owner & CEO

  • Position in Clutch rating: #47

  • Location: Poland/United States

  • Size: 101-200

  • Years in business: 19

  • Type: IT Services and IT Consulting

List of actionable nuggets from Matt:

  • Do not start doing things you don’t know anything about. 

  • Consistency was and is probably the key to success. 

  • To be successful in your content strategy, it’s not about how many articles you push; it’s about how unique they are and how much value they can actually give. 

On Company Culture

Neoteric’s company culture is built around:

  • Freedom.

  • Responsibility.

  • and the balance between these two.

I can not make decisions directly that impact something that I am not directly responsible for. Matt©

A strong company culture empowers people to make decisions that will be aligned with company values. Matt©

From being an expert to being a CEO, you have to stop doing, unlearn, and abandon some competency to be successful in this new role. Matt©

The #1 reason for customers to buy from you?


It’s not because you have the best pricing, the best offering, or the best service. It’s about the consistency of your communication, from the first moment you engage with the brand to the moment you deliver the service. Consistency is the key to success.

Profit as a North Star

Matt learned it the hard way: “You need profits to cover for losses; you need profit to pay for growth.”

Foundational Metrics

  • EBITDA: 15%-20%

  • COS (overhead is included, direct cost): up to 30-50%

  • CAC sales and marketing: 20%

Having spent 17 years building Neoteric, Matt shows the level of expertise and professionalism that a CEO should have. I’d like to finish up today’s newsletter with the following analogy that Matt shared during the interview that will always be with me.

Matt says:

“When thinking about the role of CEO, I can think of a firefighter fighting a fire.

When you come with your team, first thing, you're a leader, you come first to the place, you go first to the building, this is it. But then, when there's a bigger fire, your boss comes in, and he doesn't run into the building. He's in front, and he's saying, left side, right, we don't go there, it's too dangerous. Left side, we're trying to put the fire down. And what he does is he doesn't go on the frontline, and he doesn't look over the guys, but he makes sure that this huge mattress is pumped in front of the building, so they can jump out of it if shit happens. So he makes sure that there is a Plan B, okay?

Everything's going sideways, you jump off the building, I make sure nothing happens to you. And this is the leadership that is enabled by this culture of freedom and responsibility.”

A huge thanks to Matt Kurleto for taking the time and engaging in this thoughtful and mentoring conversation. And congrats, Neoteric, on their success!

Discussion about this podcast

From Zero To Agency Hero
FZTAH Podcast
There are other excellent agencies besides Belkins. In this podcast series, I am meeting with a few of them, sharing their stories from zero to hero while still gathering insights that will help me grow Belkins.