Directive Consulting Revenue (2021)

Directive Consulting reached its first million-dollar revenue year in approximately 2016, according to Mehrguth. By October 2021, the company's disclosed figures implied revenues well above $20 million annually. Mehrguth confirmed during the interview that 135 employees each earn a minimum of $70,000, producing an implied payroll floor of roughly $9 million and a revenue base above that figure. When the host multiplied 150 customers by a $10,000 monthly minimum, arriving at more than $20 million in annualized revenue, Mehrguth acknowledged the math was valid, saying "you could, some people could argue that."

Directive Consulting served approximately 125 active client accounts as of October 2021, down from roughly 150 in 2020. All clients are required to have a minimum of 100 employees and at least $25 million in funding, positioning the firm squarely in the Series A and above segment of the SaaS market. Named clients referenced in the interview include Bill.com, BlackLine, Sendoso, ZoomInfo, and Sumo Logic.

The firm operates on annual engagements only, mirroring the subscription model of its SaaS clients. The average contract value is approximately $150,000 per year, with a stated minimum of $10,000 per month (roughly $120,000 annualized). For large clients spending $2,000,000 per month in media, the percentage-of-spend fee structure scales down from the standard approximately 15 percent rate. Mehrguth described $150,000 as "our low end average."

Directive Consulting generates revenue through annual retainer engagements priced at approximately 15 percent of client media spend, with a floor of $10,000 per month and an average contract value of $150,000 per year. For clients running $2,000,000 per month in advertising, the effective rate decreases. The firm does not offer month-to-month contracts.

The company is profitable. Mehrguth confirmed this directly, stating "we are profitable and we have a really nice business model," while noting that profitability depends on how aggressively he pursues top-line revenue. The firm reinvests heavily in sales and marketing, which Mehrguth described as unusual for an agency. He is actively modeling toward a gross margin target of 65 percent using scenario planning in Fathom. The minimum employee salary floor is $70,000, and the company provides 100 percent healthcare coverage.

On the media execution side, Directive uses LinkedIn Conversation ads with a minimum bid of $5, well above the LinkedIn-recommended default of 30 cents, on the basis that the lower default bid results in ads never being delivered. The firm has tested millions of dollars in gift card spend within Conversation ad campaigns, finding the most effective price point to be $105 per gift card. Directive does not use LinkedIn's native industry targeting data, which Mehrguth estimates is approximately 50 percent inaccurate, and instead builds audience targeting from clients' own customer lists enriched with title and persona data. Burn rate and runway were not discussed, as the company is bootstrapped and profitable.

Directive Consulting employed 135 full-time people as of October 2021. The team stood at approximately 40 in 2019, grew to 60 to 75 during the 2019 to 2020 COVID period before a brief reduction, and then expanded rapidly through 2021. Mehrguth stated that approximately 150 people were hired in the six months preceding the interview, meaning the majority of the current team joined within that window.

All employees earn a minimum salary of $70,000 and receive full company-paid healthcare. Mehrguth described the firm as a "people business" and cited significant investment in learning and development, recruiting, and people operations as core to the company's ability to standardize service delivery at scale.