By: Ryan Porter

In a modest home office with a 3-legged dog named Cyrus lounging on the couch, Brandon Kinney leans forward, his eyes narrowing slightly as he considers his next words. It’s not calculation I’m witnessing—it’s the careful precision of someone who’s spent years measuring every marketing dollar against hard results.

“Most people in this industry are still selling smoke,” he says, the afternoon sun casting long shadows across the table between us. “They’re charging retainers and promising outcomes they can’t guarantee. We put our own money on the line first.”

As founder of Bak-First, a lead generation agency that’s quietly revolutionizing how performance marketing works, Kinney has little patience for conventional wisdom. His company operates exclusively on commission, taking the financial risk by focusing entirely on performance-based results.

It’s a model that would terrify most agency owners. For Kinney, it’s simply the logical conclusion of a career spent obsessing over marketing efficiency.

From Corporate Ladder to Entrepreneurial Risk

The path to founding Bak-First wasn’t the straight line people might imagine. After nearly a decade as an executive in high-growth SaaS startups, Kinney realized he’d developed a repeatable system for generating leads that could work across industries.

“I was sitting in yet another executive meeting, watching people debate marketing plans based on hunches and egos,” he recalls. “Meanwhile, I had spreadsheets showing exactly which approaches were generating actual revenue. That’s when I knew I could do this independently.”

Walking away from corporate security wasn’t easy. There were moments of doubt—what entrepreneur hasn’t had them?—but Kinney’s background had prepared him for uncertainty in ways few executives experience.

“I grew up without parents, put myself through college. When you’ve had to figure things out alone from childhood, launching a business doesn’t seem quite so terrifying.” He says this matter-of-factly, without a hint of self-pity or aggrandizement.

This unvarnished approach to his personal story mirrors his business philosophy: do the work, focus on results, don’t dwell on setbacks. It’s a philosophy that transformed a small marketing operation into a powerhouse agency managing campaigns across Google, Facebook, YouTube and other major platforms.

The High-Stakes Game of Performance Marketing

At Bak-First’s all-remote operation, the atmosphere is noticeably different from typical marketing agencies. There are no ping-pong tables, no beer taps, none of the startup clichés that signal “creative thinking happens here.” Instead, the space feels more like a trading floor—focused, data-driven, with multiple screens displaying real-time analytics.

Kinney walks me through a recent campaign that epitomizes their approach. “We spent several hundred thousand dollars of our own money on this campaign before seeing profitability,” he explains, pulling up dashboards showing daily performance metrics. “For about two months, we were break-even, tweaking variables, testing new creative, adjusting targeting parameters.”

Many agencies would have pulled the plug after a week of break-even performance. Kinney’s team doubled down, making incremental improvements until something clicked.

“Suddenly we went from barely breaking even to generating 1,000 qualified leads daily at a profit,” he says with the quiet satisfaction of someone who’s vindicated by numbers, not applause. “That’s the difference between opinion-based marketing and data-driven marketing. The market tells you what works if you listen closely enough.”

What’s striking about Bak-First isn’t just their willingness to risk capital on unproven campaigns. It’s their systematic approach to understanding customer psychology through what Kinney calls “micro-friction points.”

Photo Courtesy: Brandon Kinney

The Polling Station Approach to Customer Insights

Most marketers rely heavily on standard metrics: click-through rates, conversion percentages, cost-per-acquisition. Kinney’s team collects these too, but they’ve developed something more nuanced—a system of “polling stations” positioned throughout the customer journey.

“We ask customers one critical question at different stages: ‘What’s the number one reason you almost did not do this thing today?'” Kinney explains. “That single question has generated millions in additional revenue for our clients by identifying obstacles we didn’t know existed.”

He shares an example from his SaaS days. “We required a credit card for free trials, but weren’t explicitly stating it. By simply adding three pieces of information—ability to cancel anytime, trial length, and plan flexibility—we increased conversion rates by 30%. That change alone added millions to the bottom line.”

This polling station approach arose from an unlikely source of inspiration: political campaigning.

“In elections, campaigns focus on swing voters—the small percentage who could go either way. In marketing, we’re looking for the same thing: potential customers who are on the fence. Understanding their hesitations is the key to tipping them toward conversion.”

The Culture of Testing

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Bak-First isn’t their commission-only model or their data-obsessed approach. It’s the culture Kinney has built around testing and intellectual honesty.

“I don’t care whose idea it is or how much I might personally disagree with it,” he says. “If someone has a hypothesis, we test it. The market decides who’s right, not me.”

This democratic approach to marketing strategy recently played out when a team member suggested toning down aggressive sales copy for a financial client—directly contradicting Kinney’s instincts.

“I didn’t think it would work,” he admits with a laugh. “But we tested it alongside our original approach. The toned-down version increased conversions by 57%. I happily lost that bet and bought tacos in Mexico as promised.”

It’s this commitment to letting data overrule opinion that has helped Bak-First maintain its edge. In an industry where creative directors and agency heads often make decisions based on experience or intuition, Kinney’s team systematically challenges assumptions through controlled testing.

“Our clients don’t care about our opinions or our creative awards,” Kinney states flatly. “They care about leads that convert to customers. Everything else is just conversation.”

The Future of Performance Marketing

As our interview winds down, Kinney reflects on where he sees the industry heading. “Marketing is becoming more accountable, more measurable. Companies increasingly want guarantees, not promises. The agencies that thrive will be the ones willing to put skin in the game.”

For entrepreneurs struggling with marketing decisions, Kinney offers advice that reflects his own journey: “Find mentors who’ve actually done what you’re trying to do. And be willing to let go of your assumptions when the data tells you you’re wrong.”

It’s clear that Bak-First’s success stems not just from their commission model or their technical expertise, but from Kinney’s uncompromising focus on measurable results over marketing orthodoxy.

As I pack up my notes, Kinney heads out for an afternoon walk with his dogs, already analyzing the day’s performance metrics on his phone. In an industry often characterized by creative flourish and subjective measures of success, Brandon Kinney’s approach offers something different: the cold clarity of numbers and the quiet confidence of someone who’s betting his own money on being right.

If you’d like to learn more about Bak-First, contact us here.

Disclaimer: Any marketing strategies or recommendations mentioned in this article are based on individual experiences and results, and may not guarantee similar outcomes for all businesses. Readers should conduct their own research and consider their unique circumstances before implementing any marketing approaches.

Published by Jeremy S.