Every founder wants to be "data-driven," but the best creative work often comes from ignoring the numbers entirely. In this episode of Built on Brand, we get into the tension between data and intuition and when each one should be leading the conversation. Seth unpacks how much of sales and marketing is actually driven by metrics versus simply feeling the market. Jake and Levi talk through the reality of high-level creative production where the data says one thing but your gut tells you to take a massive risk. We also dig into whether the rise of AI makes human intuition more or less valuable in 2026.

The premise of Built on Brand is that we are startup founders from a variety of backgrounds. While Jake Huber and Levi Kirby are first-time business owners operating SplyceHouse in its fifth year, Seth Waite of Schaefer is in his seventh year and has already sold five of six businesses, with one scaling from $0 to $24 million in six years and selling at an 11x multiple.

These are real conversations rooted in a grassroots approach to business, covering topics we find valuable in the professional world. If you are a fan of the show, it would mean the world to us if you hit that follow button and stayed tuned for new episodes, which drop on the first of every month.

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Sales and marketing get lumped together constantly, but they require completely different skill sets and mindsets. In this episode of Built on Brand, we dig into why so many founders treat them as one function and what breaks when they do. Seth breaks down what should come after niching and why a strong marketing engine can do more heavy lifting than most people give it credit for. Jake and Levi talk through the reality of selling without marketing behind you, where marketing's job actually ends and sales begins, and what brand awareness actually looks like in 2026 without burning money. We also tackle whether a world-class brand strategy can eventually replace a traditional sales team and how to keep both sides aligned without the internal friction.

This conversation tackles the elephant in the room. AI is reshaping creative work, and everyone has an opinion. Seth and Levi get into the real stuff. Is AI coming for our jobs, or just making us faster. Where should creatives actually be spending their time with these tools. What are the guardrails. And what happens to the people who choose not to adopt at all.

One thread keeps showing up. The parts of creative work that matter most, the taste, the trust, the human instinct, are still ours. AI can speed up the process. It cannot replace the people behind it.

This conversation is all about moving beyond transactional work and becoming a true partner. Someone your clients trust to step in, solve problems, and elevate the outcome every time. It’s also about the little things. The details most people overlook. Grabbing a client a drink because you notice they haven’t had one in a while. Anticipating needs before they are ever voiced. Having their back without being asked. Not because it’s in the scope. Not because you were asked. But because it’s the right thing to do.

If all you have is execution, you are competing on price, and that is a race no one wins. As video and creative production become commoditized, we unpack why strategy, judgment, and decision-making are the real differentiators in modern marketing. Seth challenges what businesses miss when they focus only on output and whether brands are executing too much and thinking too little. Jake and Levi break down what it takes to move from vendor to true creative partner, why deep industry knowledge creates competitive advantage, and how companies can avoid racing to the bottom in a crowded market.

Most businesses struggle with positioning because they lead with what they sell instead of the problem they solve. In this episode of Built on Brand, we break down why niching down starts by reversing the question. As Seth Waite puts it, too many founders show up saying, “Here’s what I can do. How does this help you?” instead of asking, “What problem do you have that I can build a solution around?” We unpack what business owners consistently miss about positioning, why solution-first messaging makes brands forgettable, and how the strongest companies win by owning a specific pain point, not a list of services.

In the first episode of Built on Brand, we introduce the people behind the conversations. Seth, co-founder of RevUnit and now a partner at Schaefer, shares lessons from building and exiting a $24M company and how those insights apply to his work today. Jake and Levi, co-founders of SplyceHouse, unpack their perspectives as operators and why Built on Brand exists. This episode sets the foundation for honest conversations about what it really takes to build something with staying power.