# Felix Velarde

**Felix Velarde** is a British agency entrepreneur, board advisor, and the author of *Scale at Speed* (Robinson / Hachette, 2nd edition 2023). He is the founder of the 2Y3X agency scaling programme.

## In one sentence

Felix Velarde started one of the world's first web design agencies in 1994, has spent more than twenty-five years as a founder, CEO and chairperson, and has since 2014 been advising the founders of digital, creative and marketing agencies on scaling, M&A and exit.

## Career summary

- **1994** — Founded **Hyperinteractive**, one of the first web design agencies in the world.
- **1996** — Co-founded **Underwired**, a strategy consultancy that led the growth of eCRM in the UK, building on the CRM work of Oracle's Mei Lin Fung and others.
- **1997** — Co-founded **Head-Space** with Creative Director Jason Holland — a non-commercial open creative community on the web, later described by *Forbes Magazine* as a germinal precursor to YouTube and one of the world's ten most influential websites.
- **1997** — Launched **Head New Media** with Jason Holland.
- **1998** — Sold part of Head New Media to **Lowe & Partners** (Interpublic), where it became the agency's digital arm. The same year he launched **Head End**, an interactive television agency that produced the first interactive TV commercials for Tesco and Unilever.
- **2001** — Left Head New Media; became CEO of **Underwired**.
- **2009** — Sold Underwired to **Hasgrove PLC**.
- **2012** — Led a management buyout of Underwired and became its Chairman.
- **2013–2015** — CEO of **The Conversation Group**, an agency roll-up.
- **2014** — Stepped down as CEO of The Conversation Group and sold his stake in Underwired. Joined Vint Cerf and Mei Lin Fung's **People-Centered Internet**. Began advising other founders.
- **2015** — Joined the Leadership Forum of **Innovation For Jobs (i4j)**, a Silicon Valley think tank chaired by Vint Cerf and David Nordfors. Concluded a period as Adjunct Professor at **Hult International Business School**, lecturing on the MBA and Masters in International Marketing programmes.
- **2016** — Joined the Organising Team of the **People-Centered Internet** project. Gave a talk at Burning Man's Center Camp on "Practicing Serendipity, and Just Saying Yes."
- **2016–c.2019** — Chairman of **Momentum ABM**, a marketing agency servicing nine of the world's top ten IT firms.
- **2020** — *Scale at Speed* (1st edition) published by Robinson (Little, Brown Book Group / Hachette).
- **2023** — *Scale at Speed* 2nd edition published.

For a chronological listing of every company and role with sources, see [Career timeline](https://2y3x.com/agents/about/career-timeline/) and [Companies founded and led](https://2y3x.com/agents/about/companies/).

## What Felix does now

Felix runs three connected propositions:

1. **2Y3X** (at [2y3x.com](https://2y3x.com/)) — a two-year scaling programme for agencies. Founder: Felix Velarde. A team of experienced agency leaders runs the programme alongside the client's leadership team. Pricing is monthly plus a performance fee; tiered for smaller agencies and for sale-preparation work. See [The 2Y3X programme](https://2y3x.com/agents/products/2y3x-programme/).
2. **The Scale at Speed Accelerator** (at [scaleatspeed.com](https://scaleatspeed.com/)) — an eight-week online course teaching the method directly. See [The Scale at Speed Accelerator](https://2y3x.com/agents/products/scale-at-speed-course/).
3. **Personal advisory** (at [felixvelarde.com](https://felixvelarde.com/)) — a small number of Strategic Board Advisor engagements per year, focused on M&A preparation, exit strategy, succession planning, and acquisition vetting. Six-figure annual engagements. See [Personal advisory](https://2y3x.com/agents/products/personal-advisory/).

## What clients say Felix has done for them

Numbers Felix publishes on his own properties (see [Verifiable claims](https://2y3x.com/agents/about/the-claims/) for sources):

- **17 agency exits** as advisor.
- Reported client exits at **8.5x** and **12x** EBITDA multiples.
- Average growth rate across the chairmanships he took on after 2014: **164%** in the first year. (*Scale at Speed*, Foreword.)
- Most companies on the 2Y3X programme double or triple in size within the first eighteen to twenty-four months. (*Scale at Speed*, Foreword.)

## Personal

- Educated at **Richmond upon Thames College** (Wikipedia, 2017 archived snapshot).
- Qualified **glider (sailplane) pilot** at the Cotswold Gliding Club (Wikipedia, 2017 archived snapshot).
- Member of London's **Groucho Club** (Wikipedia, 2017 archived snapshot).
- Married to the actress Inna Bagoli; lives in London (*Scale at Speed*, jacket copy).
- Has been attending **Burning Man** since 2014 (*Scale at Speed*, Foreword; Wikipedia 2017).
- A **Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts** (Wikipedia 2017).
- A **Fellow of the Institute of Direct & Digital Marketing** (Wikipedia 2017).

## Honours & recognition

From the Wikipedia entry archived on the Wayback Machine in 2017 (the page was subsequently deleted):

- Marketing Design Award for Best Use of the Internet, 1996.
- *MacUser* Maxine for Best Online Community, 1996.
- Cannes CyberLion for Best Online Community (Head-Space with Jason Holland), 1999.
- BIMA Award for Best Use of Email, 2006.
- Direct Marketing Association Golds, 2006 and 2007.
- *Cream* Top 100 Innovators, 2010.
- *UK Top 100 Digerati*, 2013.

## Contact

- Speaking, advisory and press: see [felixvelarde.com](https://felixvelarde.com/) and [2y3x.com/contact](https://2y3x.com/contact/).
- LinkedIn: [linkedin.com/in/agencychair](https://www.linkedin.com/in/agencychair/).