I hate agencies. So I started one.

For years, whenever someone told me they were about to hire an agency to run their ads, I gave them the same answer: "Worst mistake. Run. Agencies are the worst."

And yet, here I am in 2026, launching ArtaBrava. Which is, technically… an agency.

Yes, I know…

When agencies impressed me

I started my career in 2014 (oh wow). I was very junior, working with the big agencies, Publicis and Havas. Back then, I saw their media buyers as incredible technicians. They had mastered things I didn't understand yet, and honestly, I was impressed. Our weekly calls always stressed me out: "Am I going to be good enough?"

The other side of the table

Then life and my path took me to the other side. For 10 years, I ran campaigns myself, built in-house media buying teams of up to 25 people, and worked with all the major ad platforms. I lived through fraud, black boxes, PMax, iOS 14 and all the other joys our job can bring.

Pretty quickly, something happened… I stopped believing the recommendations I was getting. The classics:

• "You need to raise your CPI."
• "You need to increase the budget."
• "It's the learning phase."

They don't see all the data

Not because the people across the table were bad at their jobs. Because they couldn't see what I could see. They didn't have all the data. They didn't see the product, the users, or what happened after the click. So naturally, their point of view drifted away from my mission inside the company.

They don't share your goals

And let's be honest, we didn't have the same goal. My job was to scale revenue, bring in more users and keep our margin above the breakeven window. They made more money when I spent more. The platform, because my budget is its revenue.

The percentage trap

And the agency was even worse, because it took 10% of everything I spent. So its only real interest was to push the budget up.

Which is why the recommendations always pointed the same way: more budget, more time, and tests that, funnily enough, always cost a little more. After a while, you stop listening.

A break, and founders with no budget

In 2023, I took a break. I launched my jewelry brand and built it on my own, from A to Z. On the side, I started consulting, for big companies and startups alike.

That's how I met a lot of amazing founders running small companies. One built an app so families know what to do on the weekend. Another makes beautiful, sexy cashmere. They were all just starting out, they didn't have much budget, and agencies required a minimum ad spend of €10,000 or €20,000 before they would take them on. Basically, to spend time with them.

So I offered something else. For a small fee, I taught them to do their own media buying, so they could handle it on their own.

Five agencies, five prices

And I heard some horror stories. One of my clients had met with five agencies. She got five different pricing proposals: 10% of spend, then 20%, then a fixed fee. With a budget that small, nobody knew how to get paid on her. And of course, the five agencies gave her five completely different recommendations. How are you supposed to choose when you're just starting out?

I tried to help these women as much as I could, with all the stress that comes with launching a company.

What a media buying agency should be

And it got me thinking. Media buying isn't that complicated. You can learn it if you have the time. Except that when you're a founder, you have a million things to do, and time is exactly what you don't have.

There should be a place where you're not just a cash cow.

And I thought that with everything I had seen, from both sides of the table, I could genuinely bring something different.

Not another agency. More like what an agency should be: an outsourced media buying service that works for your goals, not your budget.

And it can take different shapes depending on where you are: running your media buying for you, helping you find and onboard the right freelancer, or managing your budget with you.

I'm convinced you can bring real value without treating people like cash cows. And I want to keep helping as many new founders as I can move their projects forward.

That's how ArtaBrava was born.