With acquisition of TripleDouble, 6teen30 Digital opens downtown Baltimore office

A new office of UK-based digital growth agency 6teen30 Digital recently opened downtown at Spark Baltimore, and it’s bringing in local talent.

It comes after 6teen30 Digital acquired TripleDouble Digital, a Baltimore agency that helps startups and small businesses leverage sales and marketing tools from the platform HubSpot.

Founded by longtime digital agency pro Chris Forhan at the end of 2016, TripleDouble worked with clients to implement customer relationship management and marketing automation software. It also offered website development and planning and strategy around sales and marketing. Forhan, who took the business full-time in 2018, will now serve as VP of growth and head of the US market for 6teen30 Digital.

Based in Leeds and led by marketing veteran Mike Midgley, 6teen30 Digital has grown across Europe. Now it is looking to expand in the US, and the acquisition will help.

“I almost immediately decided to join forces with 6teen30 Digital, Inc. for many reasons but mostly because of how well we complemented each other’s core business strengths,” Forhan said. “I felt we were really strong when it came to digital strategy, business acumen and sales. Meanwhile, 6teen30 brought operational efficiency that was superior to anything I had seen in my 15 years working in the digital agency space. Best of all, 6teen30 had built a highly effective team of functional experts capable of helping not only satisfy more clients but also larger, enterprise clients with bigger needs. Add all of this up and throw in Mike’s track record as an entrepreneur, not only was it an honor to receive an offer, it really was a no brainer to accept.”

Both companies are HubSpot-certified solutions partners, so their services are already similar. They will now unite under the brand of 6teen30 Digital, with all five TripleDouble Digital team members extended offers to stay on. TripleDouble was based in Hunt Valley, and is now effectively moving downtown.

Forhan said 6teen30’s approach to revenue operations was also appealing. That’s the practice of helping businesses align sales and marketing in a way that satisfies the preferences of B2B buyers.

Chris Forhan. (Courtesy photo)

While growing a company, Forhan said working with other companies was key. It’s a reminder that entrepreneurs don’t have to go it alone.

“The biggest lesson learned was the power of partnerships in growing a business, whether it is referral partners or technology partners who offer great channel sales programs such as HubSpot,” Forhan said. “Also implementation partners are critical who can help handle work that is outside of your core expertise.”

Forhan said Baltimore-based HubSpot dashboard developer MethodData and CEO Sebastian Walker have been have been particularly impactful partners when it comes to software development, complex integrations and reporting.

“Bring in the experts as opposed to trying to be everything to everyone at the expense of the customer,” Forhan said.

Recognizing that a company is part of a business community was another key, Forhan said. The agency took part in professional groups such as AMA Baltimore, and played an active role in Baltimore Innovation Week. Clients also benefited from resources from local incubators, particularly Towson University’s StarTUp.

“As someone who has personally been very involved in the Baltimore business community for many years, I can say that TripleDouble is definitely the culmination of a lot of great Baltimore resources and generous people,” he said.