Marlon in Manila, Philippines (January 13, 2026)
18 years ago, I started my second marketing agency, Trepoint. I didn’t pay myself anything that first year of business because I wanted to ensure the company was solid before I took a salary. Instead, I hired a small team of amazing humans so that we could consistently overdeliver on client expectations. It totally worked and within a relatively short period of time we had built a annual revenue of $5 million dollars. One of my earliest hires was Marlon De Jesus who was living here in Manila (Philippines).
Marlon De Jesus as we have dinner together for the first time
In 2008, I had just finished an 8-year term launching my first multi-million dollar marketing agency, Seismicom (with annual revenues of $25 million). My business partners and I had different visions of where we thought the company should go, so I exited at its peak. What I knew for sure was the importance of impeccable design. Enter Marlon.
I used a global outsourcing and recruiting firm to find Marlon. I knew exactly what I wanted. I needed a world-class designer and, as a start-up, I knew I couldn’t afford the salary that commanded in the US — at least not initially. Marlon was a God-send. He allowed me to deliver on the seemingly impossible creative demands of the kinds of clients we were looking to attract.
Bill & Marlon in the hotel lobby celebrating our first meeting in person.
Marlon also taught me early on the value of working across multiple timezones. The old expression in the marketing industry is, “Fast. Cheap. Good. Pick any TWO.” In other words, you can have fast and cheap, but it’s unlikely to be any good. You can have good and cheap, but it won’t be fast. Or you can have fast and good, but it won’t be cheap. With Marlon, we annihilated this age-old expression.
Because Marlon was living in Manila, I benefited from BOTH the cost of living differences between the Philippines and the US AND the timezone differences. I could receive an impossible ask from a client at 5pm ET, get on a call with Marlon, and have a stunning creative solution to the client’s problem the next morning. It felt like magic. Marlon would start his day as mine was wrapping up and it was like having a 24 x7 workforce that was less expensive than most of my competitors.
Marlon and Bill giving the Korean Heart sign as we share dinner.
And now, Marlon has built his own marketing agency here in the Philippines. While he still offers design services, he’s become known for his marketing strategy helping companies develop their own brands and marketing funnels. Yes, he can and still builds websites, but more often than not he’s challenging his clients to articulate their vision of how they will grow and then showing them where the right marketing support will ensure that outcome.
All this is to say if you are looking for help in your marketing, I encourage you to reach out to Marlon De Jesus. I’ve only won with him and my clients have been consistently thrilled with his work. For me, I’m just happy I finally got the chance to give him a long overdue hug and thank him profusely for all the incredible work he’s done over the years.
