Leap Academy with Ilana Golan - Client Spotlight: The Tale Of An IT Agency That Was Acquired For 8-figures!

Episode Date: August 24, 2023

What does it take to start your own agency and bring it to success and acquisition?The wrong strategy can lead to disaster. Lior Klisman Co-Founder of Sentant built his agency to 20+ employees with countless clients including famous VCs. His agency was named one of the fastest growing companies in America by Inc. 5000 and he sold it for 8 figures! In this episode Ilana and Lior discuss what it takes to run a successful company that creates a positive impact for everyone involved. Watch This Episode on YouTube - https://youtu.be/VQAslq-JnOoCheck out my free training: https://training.leapacademy.com/register About Ilana Golan & Leap Academy:Website - https://www.leapacademy.com/Follow Ilana on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilanagolan/YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@ilanagolan-leap-academy

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Share this with friends who are also driven and aiming for more because you'll hear stories and tips that you'll hear nowhere else. Hi, I'm Ilana Golan, CEO of Leap Academy, which helps driven professionals reinvent, leap their careers to the next level. Now let's get started. Leigh Orr, I am so, so, so excited to see you here today. The growth that we have been seeing from you is just to the next level. So you have an amazing company, Sentent. Tell us a little bit about it. Awesome. Thanks, Ilana, for having me.

I'm super excited to be here as well. Sentent. Sentent started from a notion to disrupt an old industry and giving clients, mainly startups and VCs, a home for all their technology needs. That was quite different from the different models that I've experienced working with some MSPs and using some MSPs in my previous career experience.

And we support clients with all their technology stack. So mainly we're focusing on IT security and compliance. We help clients be safer, smarter, and help them to scale their team. Mainly working with a hyper growth company. And we try to be as well. One of them. You are. And I want to, I want to take a second because a lot of people that come into Leap, they want to start agencies or to be their own boss or to start creating, you know, giving either consultancy or advisory or some kind of forms. And let's be honest, it's a tough journey and

you guys cracked it and you're taking it up a notch. And a lot of it is also seeing you as a leader, as a founder, as someone who is not afraid to get out of your comfort zone. I see you with our millionaire clubs. I see you in our advanced programs. I see how you interact with the other founders and entrepreneurs and investors. And it's amazing to see. So how do you feel as a leader and what built you as a leader to become that person that can build an agency to 22 people and some you know, some crazy numbers. So tell me. I think it started from always wanting to create my own book in some ways, kind of my own playbook, both me and my business partner, which I'm very lucky to have. Both of us worked very, very hard.

And you're absolutely right. It was very difficult, to say the least. The beginning years were obstacles. We passed a lot of obstacles, a lot of challenges, and thankfully we were able to overcome them as well. I think to begin sentence, it was that notion that we want to solve problems that we've seen and experienced ourselves, companies having. Whether if it's fast response, whether if it's fast response whether if it's security questionnaires whether if it's being sales that are blocked from selling a huge deal to a fortune 500 or to a government entity and anything in between or helping clients go from a garage

all the way to an acquisition or become public. That's something that for years has been a passion to myself and my business partner. So I think the notion was, okay, we've seen what works. We've seen what works less. Let's create something to provide a safe space for clients, mainly startups, to come to feel that they're working with a trusted advisor, not somebody who just wants to steal their buck and do the work. Both myself and my business partner cared way more about the journey and the client retention than the money we'll make from that client. And I think those that spoke words when we started working with people, when we came as a trust advisor, as an internal team,

rather than this outside consultant that takes a lot more to gain trust with. It was very hard in the beginning to go into a client's office or a meeting and to understand how we can bring our value proposition to the table. I think that was one of our biggest challenges to overcome through the years that we worked. today if i had to put a pinpoint of where we help them it's from a place that we understand their pain points i think that's the biggest value proposition that we understand their challenges yeah and we come in understanding also their stack their their architectures, because we both and everyone worked at startups before. We've been there, done that. We know the obstacles. We know the challenges and we can attack them in a way that helps the customer grow with the least amount of resistance.

Lior, so why Leap? I mean, most people that will see this video will say, well, so why do you need something like Leap? And why is something advanced like Millionaire Club relevant for someone so successful? I think the first and foremost will be yourself, Ilana. I didn't find Leap, I found you. In our case here, I found you and after a conversation with you, it made zero sense for me not to join such a group.

I was looking for a networking group. I was looking to be a part with other like-minded people that face the same challenges as running a business, scaling a business, the day-to-day operations of a business and wanting you know to be able to pick uh pick minds of my colleagues and for them to give to give back and pay it forward as well from what i've experienced from my own knowledge i think that was the the main reason of why to join as soon as i joined everything changed from what i wanted to what i actually got which thankfully it was, I didn't realize how much it will take me out of my safety zone, how much I'll want to be out there, how much paying it forward I want to do,

and how much is it being in the power of the group, really the power of the group. Everyone helps each other in ways that are unexplainable, and that means the world to me. That's amazing, Lior. So first of all, thank you, because I see your growth. And it's amazing because you have so much to give. And then I can also see how much you're growing in the process, right? And I think it is about Lior as a founder, as a leader, as someone who can move mountains, but then there's always more. There's always more room to grow. And when you're a part of that, the tide lifts all boats, right? You're part of people who are just extraordinary and they think beyond and they force you to think beyond. Right. And I admit it works for me too. Right. I needed that, you know, network in order to grow myself as well. And I knew that that's part of what I

want to provide others. But I think just to see how you've taken this and yes, you're now part of some amazing organizations and you're giving so much of yourself. And that somehow is not only not hurting the business, it's actually growing the business. And then on the other, you know, it's like there's this circle that I'm seeing because the Lior that I talked to exactly a year ago, actually, if you think about it, right, is not the same Lior that I'm seeing now. You're more visible. You're more out there.

You have a brand. People know you. People want to work with you. Like things shifted. So how do you see yourself and what does it feel like? I think it feels great. I never thought, one,

that I'll be comfortable doing a lot of the things that you and your group have made me do and held me accountable for doing. I think that push, seeing other people get uncomfortable, makes you want to get uncomfortable quite fast after them. That's what I've seen, the power of the group.

And thanks for that group. It's what made me be able to pay it forward and take part as an advisory role to startups and an advisory role to accelerators and getting myself more out there, understanding more and more the cultures of smaller companies, understanding the cultures of VCs. I think that helped me straight understand my business better, understand to attack the different challenges that my business face on a larger scale.

And the customers see it, I assume, as we're growing, thankfully. Last famous words for people who don't know leave don't know me you know they're probably on the fence what would you say to them i think no one understands that they need it before they're in it so i think for any entrepreneur a go-getter like say an achievers high achievers this is the best group to be with like-minded people it's leadership it's to grow it's to advance their own skill set or career i think this is one of the best groups i've ever been a part that everyone helps one another to be a better version of themselves so if you want to be a better version of yourself leap is the best group you can think of thank you for listening and hope you enjoyed this show don't forget to subscribe

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