Episode #31 - Josef Schalumov

#15MinuteFounder

Joseph Schalumov built Soft Story into a fully remote influencer marketing agency spanning six-plus countries, all while operating on a philosophy most agencies actively avoid: treating clients and creators like actual friends.

In this episode of 15 Minute Founder, Josef breaks down the real mechanics behind influencer marketing: how talent-side and brand-side agencies actually get paid, why you should expect only 3 out of 10 sponsorship deals to convert, and the pricing games (flat fee vs. CPM vs. rev share) most people in the space won’t openly explain.

He also gets refreshingly blunt about “the biggest lie” in the industry, and why he thinks equity deals between brands and creators are only going to become more common.

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Highlights From the Chat

Q: You’ve talked about a lesson from your brother – “what you tolerate is what you deserve.” What does that actually mean?

It flips the script completely. Instead of blaming other people or circumstances, it puts responsibility on you for whatever you’ve allowed to continue. Whether that’s staying in the wrong job, letting someone be rude to you without speaking up, or accepting a marketing deal you weren’t happy with, if you tolerated it, that’s on you, which also means you have the power to change it.

Q: You’ve said your best friend was your computer, and that being friends with clients actually works better than staying “professional.” How did you land on that?

Early on in my career at my first influencer marketing agency, I learned fast that being overly formal and technical just felt awkward. When I started Soft Story, that friendliness became essential.

Clients paid my rent, so I genuinely leaned into loving and serving them rather than treating relationships transactionally. That’s now baked into Soft Story’s culture: treat people as people, and as friends whenever the other person wants that too.

Q: What was the biggest thing you learned working at agencies before starting your own?

At my first agency, mistakes were called out publicly in front of the whole company, which worked to prevent repeat mistakes. But I decided that wasn’t the culture I wanted to build. At Soft Story, mistakes are welcomed as long as they’re fixed and learned from, since making mistakes regularly is actually a sign people are pushing and trying.

Q: Can you explain influencer marketing simply? How does the whole ecosystem work?

There are creators making content, talent-side agencies that represent and negotiate on behalf of the creator, and brand-side agencies that represent the brand and act as an extension of their marketing team. It’s crucial to know which side of the table anyone you’re talking to is actually on, since a talent agent serves the creator’s interests and a brand agent serves the brand’s.

Q: How does everyone actually get paid in this ecosystem?

Creators make money through AdSense revenue (based on CPM – cost per thousand views, which varies by niche), sponsorships, and sometimes community/membership platforms. Talent agents typically take a 10-20% commission deducted from the creator’s compensation.

Brand-side agents usually get their commission added on top of what the brand pays the creator, which keeps things transparent so the creator never feels shortchanged.

Q: For a brand just starting with influencer marketing, how should they set themselves up for success?

Start with roughly a $20K test budget, make sure the creator’s audience actually aligns with your product, and don’t just book someone hoping it’ll work. Get on a call, have them actually try the product first.

Most importantly, go in expecting to fail on the majority of your first attempts: a 3-out-of-10 conversion rate on new campaigns is the industry norm, not a red flag.

Q: How should a brand think about pricing: flat fee, rev share, or CPM?

CPM pricing is fair in theory, but risky for creators since it depends entirely on unpredictable algorithm performance and often only counts views within a limited window. Hybrid models work well: a reduced flat fee plus a rev share or CPM bonus.

Full rev-share-only deals aren’t rare, but they only make sense when the brand has a genuinely high-converting funnel (Shopify’s affiliate program is a good example).

Q: How do you build and manage a fully remote team across so many countries?

Soft Story’s team spans Cyprus, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Philippines, China, and Poland. Remote work requires deliberately creating personal connection: video calls, team-building, making sure people can put a face to a name, rather than letting everything run through Slack.

Strong, well-documented operations matter more than a physical office, and going remote lets a bootstrapped agency scale faster than sinking money into office space.

Q: Which platform should a new brand start with: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or LinkedIn?

It depends on B2B vs. B2C. LinkedIn or X can work great for B2B. But YouTube converts best across the board because audiences spend real time with a creator and build genuine trust, unlike short-form scrolling where content is often forgotten within seconds.

For B2C, I recommend anchoring the strategy on YouTube, then using Instagram/TikTok as complementary posts that funnel back to the main YouTube placement.

Q: What’s the biggest lie in the influencer marketing industry?

Essentially, don’t take anything anyone in the space says at face value. If someone quotes a rate, assume the real number is roughly half. A lot of “we’re fully booked” or vague explanations exist just to end a conversation without giving away real information, and pricing transparency remains a genuine problem industry-wide.

Q: Do you think creators will start getting equity in brand deals more often?

Yes, I’m already seeing more equity deals come through, and Stephen Bartlett and Gary Vee are public examples of the trend. Equity works because it aligns incentives. A creator who owns a piece of the business promotes it very differently than one working for a flat check.

But equity should supplement compensation, not replace it entirely, and brands need to actually explain what a given percentage will be worth over time, since 1-3% can sound meaningless to someone unfamiliar with how equity works.

Q: Final billboard message for 2026?

“Love your audience.” If you don’t genuinely care about the people watching your content, nothing you promote to them will work. You have to make sure what you’re selling actually delivers value to their lives.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Radical Accountability: “What You Tolerate Is What You Deserve”

02:33 – Learning to Be Friends With Clients (First Agency Job)

03:18 – Why Your Client Is Actually Your Best Friend

04:49 – What He Learned at His First Agency

07:57 – Influencer Marketing Explained Simply

08:35 – Talent-Side Agencies vs. Brand-Side Agencies

10:16 – How Creators & Agents Actually Make Money

18:13 – Why You Should Expect 3 Out of 10 Deals to Convert

23:56 – Flat Fee vs. Rev Share vs. CPM Pricing

26:34 – When Full Rev-Share Deals Make Sense

27:54 – Building a Fully Remote Team Across 6+ Countries

29:17 – Why Strong Operations Matter More Than an Office

30:39 – How the Team Tracks Campaigns (Airtable → In-House Tool)

31:28 – YouTube vs. TikTok vs. Instagram vs. LinkedIn

36:34 – His 10-Year Vision for Soft Story

41:31 – The Biggest Lie in Influencer Marketing

46:51 – Billboard Message: “Love Your Audience”