Peter Kang

Missing the Office Vibe I’ve started going into the office at least once a week. It’s been a great change of pace from being in my home office (bedroom) and a chance to serendipitously run into people I know and catch up with some folks face-to-face. We decided to keep our Manhattan Barrel office even as offers to fully sublease it were available. We’ve sublet some desks and also let friends and Barrel Venture Partners […]

The Unstoppable Force of Adaptation I sometimes find it frightening to realize how quickly we as humans adapt to new situations and take for granted or get used to situations that, just days or weeks ago, seemed out of reach or a very remote possibility. This goes for good things, unfortunate things, and everything in between. We are adaptation machines. We’ve been making a great deal of progress on many fronts at Barrel. We are […]

Capping Off a Full Year of Reflections I began Agency Journey last September as a way to make space to reflect on the many decisions and various efforts that go into running Barrel. My hope was that in creating a record of my thoughts, I could A) personally benefit from the exercise of examining  and looking back on different highlights and challenges and B) help others by sharing my learnings and mistakes. The series has […]

I’m writing this after a full week away from work. My family took a trip a few hours north and stayed at an Airbnb, exploring the local towns and parks. While a vacation with two young children–especially with one who’s going through a sleep regression–wasn’t necessarily relaxing, I enjoyed the opportunity to take my mind off of work and to create some nice memories. Additionally, it was very rewarding to know that the business was […]

We’ve been gradually increasing our headcount as of late to keep up with growing accounts and new projects. We’ve also been hiring for non-billable roles to support with different business functions. These are all important investments as we look to scale the agency. However, a lesson for me to keep in mind is that headcount does not necessarily equate to success. I recommend this short 10-min podcast featuring Greg Alexander, the author of The Boutique, where […]

There’s momentum and energy in the air at Barrel. And it’s not only because we launched new work for clients or won new business. It’s the result of committing to big goals, making hard decisions, and following through on proposed changes. It’s operating from a mindset of “why not?” and “why not us?” vs. one of fear and scarcity. It’s taken me and Sei-Wook nearly 15 years to find our way to where we are […]

Even after all these years, it still stings when I learn that a Barrel team member has decided to give notice and move on from the company. There are many reasons why people leave, but I can’t help feel like we’ve let them down somehow. It stings the most when I first hear the news because my mind races towards thinking about all the things we failed to do to keep that person. With time, I chill […]

It’s been over half a year since I started writing these and looking back on my previous posts, it’s incredibly humbling to see that the ideas I felt so sure and optimistic about at the time didn’t pan out the way I thought. Likewise, there are areas that I felt we had largely figured out or were trending in the right direction but in hindsight, it looks like we’re still trying to find our way. […]