In this episode of Founders Future, with host Zach Young, we’re joined by Thomas Oben, founder of Oben Incorporated. Thomas shares his 15-year journey in marketing, including years spent working in-house across B2B and B2B SaaS, and how those experiences revealed a recurring challenge for early-stage startups: the pressure to grow without the budget, tooling, or senior expertise to scale internal teams. What began as freelancing during COVID evolved into Oban Incorporated—a growth partner designed to bridge that gap.

Thomas explains how his agency supports pre-seed and seed-stage companies by delivering end-to-end growth systems, from brand and design to paid media, outbound sales, and SDR support. The conversation explores why ads should amplify what already works, how expectations differ across platforms like LinkedIn, Google, and TikTok, and why outbound remains a controllable and reliable growth channel. Thomas also reflects on building his team organically, prioritizing quality over volume, and his goal of removing himself as the bottleneck so the business—and his life—can scale sustainably.