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Published on:

18th Aug 2025

How to Scale an Agency to $5M+ Without Burning Out — Lessons from John Ghiorso of Vanta 5

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In this episode of How to Scale an Agency, host Jordan Ross talks with John Ghiorso, a 20-year agency veteran who built and sold an 8-figure Amazon and e-commerce agency before founding Vanta 5, a venture studio that launches high-growth agencies every 90 days.

John shares his complete framework for taking an agency from $0 to $5M+ in annual revenue — without burning out or stalling growth. From identifying high-demand niches to building scalable delivery systems and predictable lead engines, this conversation is packed with actionable strategies you can apply immediately.


You’ll Learn:


How to choose a niche and position yourself as the market authority


The exact steps for scaling from $1M to $5M in revenue


How to avoid the “Plateau of Death” that stalls most agencies


Capital-efficient marketing channels that deliver consistent leads


Why stepping out of day-to-day delivery is essential for long-term success


If you’re an agency owner looking for the clearest path to scale, this episode delivers the playbook from someone who’s done it — multiple times.


Resources & Links:


Connect with John Ghiorso: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnghiorso/


Discover 8 Figure Agency: 8figureagency.co

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About the Podcast

How to Scale an 8 Figure Agency 🚀
Strategy and AI consulting for 6–7 figure agencies to help them scale to 8 figures.
Welcome to How to Scale an 8-Figure Agency, the show where I break down the exact operational, financial, and AI-driven systems that today’s top marketing agencies use to scale past seven figures — without burning out or getting trapped in fulfillment.

Every week, we go deep into:
• AI consulting for marketing agencies
• Operational infrastructure that actually scales
• Building automations, workflows, and agent-based systems
• Hiring and training world-class teams
• Improving margins, capacity, and client LTV
• Turning your agency into an 8-figure operation that runs without you

If you’re a founder stuck in the weeds, capped by systems, or wondering how to integrate AI into your agency the right way… this podcast is your blueprint.

I’m Jordan Ross — founder of 8 Figure Agency and the person behind hundreds of successful agency scale-ups — and this is where we turn chaos into clarity, and CEOs into true operators.

Let’s get into it.

About your host

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Lucas James