Mike Gunderson on building a direct mail agency from scratch

Executive overview

Most founder stories skip the decade of doing everything for everyone before niching down. Mike Gunderson built Gunderson Direct over 20+ years — starting as a solo freelancer doing logos, websites, and direct mail after a layoff, eventually narrowing entirely to direct mail creative.

The cost of staying a solo operator too long was real: waiting 10 years to hire a team is his biggest regret. Once he hired, the constraint lifted immediately.

Specialists who delay building a team pay for it in a decade of trapped growth.

From layoff to agency

• Let go from Providian Financial (large credit card issuer) around 2002–03
• Discovered direct mail's appeal at Providian: measurable, metric-driven design with real feedback loops
• Pivoted from job hunting to freelancing; first clients were ex-Providian executives now at Wells Fargo and Union Bank
• Year 1: earned roughly half his prior salary; year 2: matched it; year 3: doubled it
• Stopped looking for jobs after year 3 and committed fully to Gunderson Direct
• First offered everything — websites, logos, direct mail — operating as "designwhore.com" in spirit
• Narrowed to direct mail only around year 6–7; that focus ended chasing cheap commoditised work

The lucky break

• Key introduction came through a peer, Pete Ruiz, who connected him to Pam Reiner at Wells Fargo Business Direct
• Reiner was willing to test new creative packages; Gunderson delivered and they aligned quickly
• Wells Fargo became a client and has remained one for ~17 years — among the longest-standing agency relationships the bank has
• Calling his father after landing Wells Fargo was the moment the business felt real

Biggest regret: hiring too late

• Ran the business as a solo operator for roughly 10 years before building a team
• Core obstacle: anxiety about payroll tax, getting hiring right, ensuring consistent pay
• Joined EO (Entrepreneurs Organization) at the ~$1M revenue mark; EO gave him the confidence framework to start hiring
• Even after joining EO, waited another year before making the first hires
• Once he hired, it freed him to take more client meetings and grow sales capacity
• Early hire Jackie, initially an office manager, grew into full HR: payroll, hiring, firing, reviews, employee check-ins
• Lesson: HR-type roles get hired too late by most founders; employee issues bog down leadership

The E-Myth transition

• Classic founder trap: deep expertise in one domain (direct mail design), no background in accounting, legal, IT, recruiting, management
• Muddled through non-core functions until each became someone else's job
• Used Gallup Strengths to identify personal strengths; functional accountability mapping to divvy up ops
• Founder role eventually becomes sales and intellectual capital, not execution

COVID impact and resilience

• ~50% of revenue from B2B (office-addressed direct mail); COVID emptied offices and paused most of that volume
• Record 2019 and a strong Q1 2020, then April–May 2020 were the hardest months
• PPP helped bridge April–May; cash reserves from 2019 provided buffer
• Compensated by growing B2C clients and expanding existing accounts
• Reduced salaries temporarily, then restored full pay; no layoffs through nine months of pandemic
• Biggest ongoing challenge: can't control when B2B workers return to offices; planning around an uncontrollable variable
• Operational upside: forced migration to Dropbox, rationalised communication tools, leaner processes

Respond Fast: the second company

• New venture pairing direct mail with smart speaker response (Alexa, Google Home)
• Consumers can respond to a mailer via smart speaker rather than URL or phone
• USPS discount: integrating the technology qualifies mailers for a ~2% postage discount — material for high-volume mailers
• Target customers: large financial mailers (e.g., SoFi, One Main Financial)
• Challenge: balancing attention between a growing Gunderson Direct and an early-stage new venture

Shiny object syndrome

• Self-identified core quirk: difficulty staying present; visibly distracted in staff meetings
• Constant pull toward new ideas competes with the discipline needed to scale existing ones
• Gunderson Direct is currently having a strong moment; that demands focused attention over new ventures