25
2021
Los Angeles, CA
Creative Agency
87
Underdog
Saylor, a creative agency born out of a desire to rethink how creative partnerships are built and executed, rejects cookie-cutter models in favor of bespoke strategies tailored to client needs and audience behaviors. Rather than operating like a traditional vendor, Saylor acts as a true extension of its clients’ teams. It brings together strategy, creative, and production under one roof to deliver cohesive, effective, and conversation-starting work.
The agency doesn’t chase headcount or revenue; it focuses on quality, collaboration, and adaptability. That mindset enables Saylor to stay nimble, build lasting relationships, and respond to cultural moments with speed and purpose. Saylor believes that advertising should be both strategic and fun, and that ethos runs through every part of the company, from how projects are pitched and produced to how the team collaborates day-to-day.
Saylor’s business model is built for long-term partnerships and social-first thinking, with campaigns that scale from TikTok to TV. Every team is structured to think holistically, solve creatively, and move seamlessly across formats. In an industry that often favors volume over vision, Saylor is proudly focused on doing great work with great people and delivering creativity that both performs and resonates.
Saylor’s structure is designed to break down silos. Unlike traditional agencies that keep strategy, creative, and production in separate lanes, Saylor blends them, producing nimble, collaborative teams that can move quickly and deliver fully integrated campaigns. Employees are given the opportunity to work across disciplines, expanding their skill sets and deepening their understanding of the full creative lifecycle. This culture of versatility drives efficiency, innovation, and exceptional work. Creative integrity and business results coexist seamlessly, and employees are empowered to grow, experiment, and contribute to an environment that values curiosity, creativity, and respect.
At Saylor, cross-functional collaboration is both a philosophy and a design principle. Team leaders from creative, strategy, and production are embedded early in each project, ensuring cohesive thinking and execution from day one. That model is made possible by Saylor’s independence, which removes the bureaucratic layers and red tape that often slow down or fragment creative development in holding company environments. Without needing to conform to rigid organizational charts or handoffs between departments, Saylor is able to build bespoke teams around each client’s needs, maintain open lines of communication, and evolve internal structures as the work demands.
This flexibility also extends to how the team grows. Independence allows Saylor to promote from within, adapt roles to fit individual strengths, and invest in leadership that understands the agency’s vision from the inside out. The result is a collaborative culture that is agile, resilient, and deeply aligned with the work, the clients, and each other.
In just four years, Saylor has grown from a two-person operation to an 87-person agency working with some of the world’s most influential entertainment brands, including Netflix, Disney, Paramount, and Prime Video. The agency has increased revenue by 25 times and, in 2024 alone, added NBCU and LEGO to its roster while boosting year-over-year revenue from its top three clients by 140 percent. This growth is the direct result of Saylor’s ability to scale on its own terms, without pressure to conform to legacy models or prioritize profit over people.
Independence has given Saylor the freedom to structure teams, workflows, and client relationships in ways that drive both creativity and efficiency. Strategy, creative, and production operate as one integrated unit, allowing for real-time collaboration and faster execution. Employees are encouraged to work across disciplines, grow into leadership roles, and help shape the agency’s evolution.
As Saylor continues to expand its capabilities, the agency has grown its influencer business by 1,000 percent year-over-year, reflecting client demand for more integrated, creator-led approaches to storytelling. Saylor also expanded into trailers and premium AV with the hiring of Anaïs Bimpel as Creative Director of AV, building out its in-house video expertise and adding a cinematic layer to its social-first, entertainment-rooted model. In parallel, Saylor recently welcomed Rupert Cresswell as Head of Innovation and Chief Creative Officer of Elevado, Saylor’s newly launched AI-powered creative studio, marking a major step toward future-facing storytelling and emerging technology.
Independence allows Saylor to make bold, strategic investments in both people and capability, resulting in a high-trust, high-impact model built to adapt, perform, and thrive.
Saylor was founded in 2021 by Will Trowbridge, a former Netflix and Disney executive who spent a decade working on the brand side, collaborating with dozens of agencies and production companies, and learning firsthand what worked, what didn’t, and where there were opportunities to rethink the model. His background as an editor, writer, strategist, and creative director gave him a strong understanding of the full content lifecycle and the confidence to build something from scratch.
The idea for Saylor was sparked by a gap he saw while leading social strategy at Netflix. Despite social being where audiences spend the most time and where brand perception is shaped in real time, it was still treated as secondary by most agencies—an add-on, not a core discipline. Trowbridge saw an opportunity to flip that hierarchy and build an agency designed to take social seriously without sacrificing creative ambition. He envisioned an agency that could meet marketers where they actually are, with social-first thinking that didn’t equate to low-fi or low-effort creative.
Saylor launched with a clear value proposition: to become the agency he always wanted to work with as a client. One that believes social is not a format, but a behavior. One that knows every campaign lives or dies in-feed. And one that proves performance and creative excellence are not mutually exclusive. That belief remains central to Saylor’s ethos today and has been key to its growth and creative evolution.
At a time when many agencies faced contraction, Saylor scaled. From two founding members to a team of 87, Saylor has grown 25x in revenue and deepened partnerships with clients like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney, and Paramount. In 2024 alone, the agency added NBCU and LEGO to its roster, while increasing year-over-year revenue from its top three clients by 140%. That kind of growth didn’t happen by accident; it’s the result of an intentional approach to team building, operational design, and creative leadership.
Key leadership promotions—including Karl Rinderknecht to COO, Sean Reed to Head of Accounts, Raul Rios to Head of Strategy, and Nicole Stetter to Head of Creative—reflect a belief in scaling headcount, institutional knowledge, and shared vision. Collectively, these moves have strengthened both the strategy and creative teams, positioning Saylor to continue evolving its capabilities and shaping the future of entertainment-driven advertising.
Saylor sees independence as a catalyst for innovation. Without the constraints of legacy structures, the agency is free to customize solutions for each client and move quickly to meet the moment. At Saylor, innovation is driven by a culture of versatility and experimentation. Team members are encouraged to work across disciplines, expand their skill sets, and challenge the status quo. This adaptability fosters creative problem-solving and ensures each campaign is crafted to resonate and spark conversation.
That mindset drives initiatives such as Saylor’s expansion into trailers and premium AV, which adds a cinematic layer to its social-first, entertainment-rooted approach, as well as the launch of Elevado, Saylor’s AI-powered creative studio. Built to expand Saylor’s tech-forward capabilities, Elevado operates as both an extension of the agency and a standalone offering, providing clients with innovative tools and creative solutions that amplify impact.
Looking ahead, Saylor believes the future of independence in the industry will be defined by agility, tech fluency, and a focus on culture and creativity. As platforms evolve and audience expectations shift, independent agencies like Saylor will be uniquely positioned to experiment with bold ideas and deliver work that truly connects. Saylor aims to lead this evolution by continuing to invest in its people, technology, and partnerships, ensuring the agency remains at the forefront of creative innovation while staying true to its core values.
