Katherine CohenAgency of Trillions

SignaltoStory

Six months at Agency of Trillions turning raw signal, ideas too complex for anyone else to contextualize, into stories people understand, feel and act on.

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Signal

AOT already works with extraordinary signal.

The problem is rarely whether the idea is interesting. The problem is getting someone else to understand why it matters.

That became more and more of my job.

The Raise

I turned a $20M raise into something investors could feel.

On paper, a raise is dense, abstract and easy to tune out. My job was to give it context, make it visual, and speak to what an investor actually feels before they commit.

The site is the investor story.

Now it’s something AOT can sell.

Investor microsites are becoming a line AOT bills for. Idealab Arizona says every portfolio company raising next will need one. The Raise, NewGenium, OriginStory and Idealab.ai all came out of this way of working.

Emotional transportation

Emotional transportation.

DJing taught me to read a room. I do the same thing with investors.

A great set moves a room. A great investor story moves someone to invest.

Compounding

The work started compounding.

Each of these started as one deliverable and became a repeatable capability for AOT.

IdeaDay
One microsite
Tech Launch Arizona
ASU College of Health Solutions
A template for any university
The Raise
One round page
Investor sign-in
Instant alerts
A live tracker
As Good AZ It Gets
One conversation
A microsite
AOT scoping the idea

Nothing I build is a one-off.

In development

Now I’m building AOT a brain.

An ecosystem that connects every client, every project, and the AI working across all of them.

Value

At some point the creative argument became an economic one.

$45,395

AOT’s own pricing for 315.5 hours of work performed outside the existing Idealab Arizona SOWs.

I didn’t put that number on the work. AOT did.

$240K→$400K

Idealab Arizona and IdealabX annualized retainers. $160,000 a year in new revenue, granted on the stated condition of more of my time.

The work changed.
The economics changed.
The role should change with them.
The role

Same title. New job.

April · $77,000 Assist. Help. Support.
● Now

Investor storytelling / Digital experiences / Systems and infrastructure / Creative strategy / Client strategy / Scoping and pricing

Let’s price the one that exists now.

The deal

Jonathan told me:

“Design your world and suggest a deal for everybody.”

I took that seriously.

Here’s the structure I’d design.

Base $120,000

Effective October 1, my six-month mark. The $77,000 priced the April job. This prices the October one.

New businessOnly pays on new revenue 10% / 5%

10% of collected revenue in year one on new business I bring in, and 5% for the life of the account.

IdeaDayOnly pays on new revenue 15%

Of IdeaDay sponsorship I originate, once collected. The money lands at Idealab Arizona, so the mechanism is yours to choose.

Ownership April

Equity defined, not granted today. Agree the instrument and the pool now, and a date to formalize my piece at my one-year mark.

Half of this deal only pays if I bring in new business.

If I don’t, it costs AOT nothing. If I do, AOT has revenue it didn’t have before.

I want to keep growing AOT, and keep growing in it.

There’s a lot more I want to learn here, and a lot more I want to build.

KC.Agency of Trillions