Mentally? Geographically? Workwise? Can you take yourself back two decades? We can — and have!
At the turn of the millennium, when Spyglass was founded, the notion of branding revolved around “corporate identities,” and the web was giving rise to a stampede of start-ups like Amazon and Google. Today these trillion-dollar babies have transformed our daily existence, and the definition of brand has been expanded from a logo to a critical business priority.
Yet throughout it all, Spyglass has remained surprisingly true to — and aligned with — our original vision, which looked something like this…
Some backstory…
Like so many entrepreneurial endeavors, Spyglass was born of passion and frustration: the passion to create inspired creative solutions to persistent business issues . . . AND frustration with the way these ideas would routinely get siloed and stalled in the large agencies and corporations we were working for.
In 2001, after 15 years of honing our skills and navigating the tension, we (Andy & Molly) struck out on our own to create a new and better model. We took our expertise from serving multinationals across the globe and hung our own shingle in an industrial storefront next to the bohemian Loring Café on the edge of downtown Minneapolis . . . the same place we reside today!
Our premise then (and now) is simple:
Build a team of highly skilled people who share our passion. Find clients with ambitious visions … yes, we’re looking at you : ). Dive deeply into their business challenges and opportunities. Forge incredible relationships. And create unexpectedly insightful and effective solutions that will deliver real business and social impact.
Our most rewarding work has always been with c-suite and senior leaders who are open, courageous and ready to go big or go home. When we have a seat at the table with the people who are in strategic control of the business, we can find the drivers that will move markets and achieve outsized results. We love that!
Over the past 20 years we’ve had great success — and great fun — serving organizations of all stripes and sizes. We love being catalysts and thought partners for corporate intrapreneurs. We love our work with mission-driven non-profits. And we have a soft place in our heart for tenacious founders like us who see an opportunity and go after it with everything they’ve got.
Today Spyglass exists to do work that makes waves and matters: to the people who hire us and to all the ways they measure success. We are more committed than ever to working collaboratively and expeditiously to get it right, get it done, and effect the kind of transformational change that gets us out of bed every morning.
We are 20 years young and the best is yet to come!
Do you have a corporate milestone to celebrate or a business vision that needs clarifying or refining? We’d love to hear your story — or help you tell it!
