iStrategyLabs (ISL), the digital agency founded by Peter Corbett, has doubled in size in the last year and will continue to grow in the next few months.
Corbett started ISL in 2008 as a one-man shop, and steadily grew to 12 employees by January 2012. At the end of 2012, ISL had 24 on its payroll, a fact Corbett says he didn't even realize until he was signing bonus checks at the end of the year.
In addition to using technology to help brands get their messages to customers, ISL produces
Social Media Week D.C., a weeklong "festival" in the city with speakers, events, workshops, panels, and parties that celebrate technology and social media in the District. This year's festival runs now through February 23.
According to Corbett, ISL has made in six weeks what it made in six months in 2012. So, what is the source of ISL's growth? "There are so many factors," Corbett states. "We're fully bootstrapped. We don't have any investors. And there is a demand for what we do. The average project size [has been steadily] increasing."
One of ISL's most high-profile clients is Hilton Worldwide; Corbett's team is the "social agency of record" for Embassy Suites and designed Doubletree's iPad app.
ISL is best known for creating General Electric's
Social Fridge for SXSW. A 1939 GE fridge stocked with cold beer was hacked and could be opened when 10 people checked into it on Foursquare.
"It was a big stunt," says Corbett.
When he's not helming ISL, Corbett helps run DC Tech Meetup, a group of tech enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, and investors that meet once a month.
ISL will be hiring a senior strategist with experience in global brands and a junior strategist in the next few months.