My Story
Hey, Internet Stranger! 👋
I’m Marc, and I’ve been working independently for about 6 years now, and I absolutely love it.
The amount of freedom that this life offers, coupled with the fact that I’m actively providing real value for the people that work with me is incredibly-fulfilling.
But how did I get here? Who is this disembodied internet voice speaking to you now?
Well, I’m glad you asked!
Who Am I?
On the surface, I’m a human male named Marc, though in many respects, I like to consider myself a problem solver.
Ever since my childhood (that was spent in Glasgow, Scotland), I’ve been fascinated with the concept of engineering in some way or another.
Whether it was playing with K’nex, or rigging some nutty contraption to feed me candy in bed, I’ve been fascinated with practical, repeatable solutions to painful problems.
We emigrated to Florida in 2001, and then I eventually graduated from the University of Florida with a BA in Computer Science & Engineering.
Shortly after that, I took a job at General Electric in Atlanta, and a few years later decided to go out on my own.
What is Clarity First Consulting?
Over the past few years, I have grown tremendously. I have learned so much about how to grow a scaleable business and Clarity First Consulting (formerly, Kilobyte Studios) is a big part of that.
But…what is it?
In essence, it’s the legal entity that represents my career as an independent worker. I hope to slowly grow this from the fledgling one-man show that it is today, to eventually hiring some people to help me deal with the crippling loneliness. 😊
Although explosive growth is attractive to me (and it is to most people, I’d assume), I actually really want to grow my practice slowly over the next few years.
This gives me much more control over how the company matures, and will allow me to focus more on providing value to my clients instead of marketing.
In my eyes, one evangelical client is worth much more than 10 that are simply “satisfied” in the long run.
Why am I doing this?
There is a very clear disconnect between SaaS company owners and their customers today.
Look at most SaaS marketing sites and you’ll see the following:
- An absurd amount of text.
- No clear call to action.
- A poorly-defined (if defined at all) user experience.
- Tons of corporate-speak that feels cold and empty.
- A mobile layout that was an after-thought.
- Maybe a rolling carousel of lousy stock photos.
But…why is this happening?
For decades now, problematic paradigms like focusing too much on deliverables, product-centric design thinking, and hourly billing have made it easier for design projects to miss their mark.
I’m hoping to change this by starting all my projects with a foundation of clarity. Really trying to understand what actually needs to be done to help customers understand your messaging (and engage with your brand more).
What makes me different?
Yeah, yeah. We’re all special snowflakes, right?
Every designer has their own “special sauce” that makes them totally different from those designers.
I prefer this: “…what makes me unique?”
The answer to that question is 4-fold:
- Clarity of outcomes absolutely must precede any project of mine.
- I only work with a very specific market (SaaS companies), so I’ve learned the in’s and out’s of that industry.
- I prioritize business outcomes over deliverables.
- I simply will not work with you if I don’t see a realistic ROI for your business.
I explain this much more in detail on my process page.
I’m a pretty damn good designer, but that’s not what sets me apart.
What differentiates me from the crowd is my ability to work with human beings, and distill clarity from often complex and multi-faceted business goals.
Alright…enough about me.
In the end, I’m just a nerdy Scottish designer who is hungry to grow and learn.
I’m not really sure if I’m a good fit for you (or if you’re a good fit for me) — but hey — why don’t we figure that out together?