Growing up in Macedonia in southeast Europe, George Popstefanov attended a vocational high school that put him on an eight-year track to become a dentist. His real passion, however, was somewhere at the intersection of entrepreneurialism and technology. When he was young, his father bought him his first computer, a Commodore 64, but the owner’s manual was in German. So, Popstefanov took it upon himself to learn the language and later taught himself how to program in BASIC.
In 2000, when he was 17, his parents sent him off from the war-torn region to finish high school in America. With visions of Miami Vice and 90210 dancing in his head, he landed in Dickeyville, Wisconsin, a town with fewer than 1,000 residents. “The perception of America was palm trees and fast cars,” he says with a laugh, “but life in Dickeyville was quite different than that.”
After graduating, he followed a friend to the University of Central Oklahoma before transferring to Texas Christian University. He earned a business degree and joined Range Online Media, a Fort Worth digital marketing firm that counted Google and Calvin Klein as clients. After the company was acquired by search engine marketing company iProspect, Popstefanov no longer felt he fit. So, in 2010, he gave up his $35,000 salary and, at age 27, went out on his own. With just $960, he launched PMG Advertising Agency and quickly won business from RadioShack, J Crew, and Travelocity.
From the start, the agency was cash-flowing and profitable. In its first full year, 2011, PMG reported about $1 million in revenue. In year two, the company surpassed $2.6 million, then $5.6 million in year three, and after its fourth year, PMG broke the $10 million mark.
“Our mission and vision are built around one philosophy: We’re not trying to grow the fastest or be the largest,” Popstefanov says, “we want to be the most respected.”
The formula has worked. Today, PMG has 60 clients—including Apple, Nike, Whole Foods, and Sephora—and has reported double digit year-over-year revenue growth since eclipsing eight figures nearly a decade ago. The company is on pace to do nearly $7 billion in media billings for its clients this year.
PMG also has plenty of local clients, such as JSX, Omni Hospitality, and Nothing Bundt Cakes. Its latest projects include advertising campaigns for various companies centered around the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, including hits for Beats by Dre and Nike’s “Winning Isn’t For Everyone” campaign.
Popstefanov is also focused on being a good corporate citizen. PMG has partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Dallas to get its employees involved in service opportunities and with Tarrant County Community College, where PMG is training and upskilling 1,000 students.
The roadmap for PMG involves aggressive growth. In a two-week span in 2023, PMG acquired Camelot Strategic Marketing & Media and Rocket Mill. The two businesses added more than $50 million in revenue to the system.
And the company—which has 1,000 employees—is just getting started. Popstefanov is eyeing organic opportunities for expansions in India, Japan, Germany, Spain, and the Nordic region.
“We didn’t want to get into M&A early on because if we were to overgrow, it would have ruined our culture,” Popstefanov says. “But now, I’m no longer just focused on being a good founder; I’m focused on being a good CEO and how to evolve. Our vision is to be the most respected global independent marketing technology company.”
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