Niche Marketing & Organic Growth at Scale w/ Sahil Gupta | The Afternoon Advisor E9

What does it look like to grow an RIA from $600M to $1B without losing what made it work in the first place?

Sahil Gupta handles organic growth and marketing for Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors, a 14-person RIA serving tech employees - built over 10 years by two UC Berkeley founders who started by cold-calling Apple and Facebook employees about their RSUs. In this episode, recorded live at Future Proof in Miami, Sahil breaks down how they're layering content and digital marketing on top of a referral-driven firm, why radical honesty about who you serve is becoming the most powerful marketing tool, and how the best firms are approaching the shift from SEO to AEO.

What You'll Learn

- How to introduce new marketing to a firm that's already working — the mindset shift that lets traditional firms stay nimble without abandoning what got them here
- The 70/30/5 rule for trying new things — why most tactics won't work, and why that's completely fine
- Why radical honesty is the new competitive advantage — being blunt about who you're for (and who you're not) as a marketing strategy
- The perfect solution vs. the perfect answer — how AI is raising the bar for how specifically advisors need to speak to their ideal client
- Why video should be anti-AI — and how raw, authentic content builds the trust that polished production can't
- The formula most advisors have backwards — why SEO and AEO are the result of doing everything else right, not a strategy on their own
- The Exxon employee playbook — how one advisor built an entire referral network by creating hyper-specific content for a single employer's workforce
- Why prospects who watch two to three videos before booking are already 50-60% sold — and what that means for how you think about content

Guest
Sahil Gupta - Growth and marketing lead at Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors, a $600M RIA specializing in financial planning for tech employees. Based in California, serving clients nationwide.

🔗 Learn more about Twin Peaks → https://twinpwa.com/
🔗 Connect with Sahil → https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahilgupta20/

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

In today's day and age, right, there's so many new tools coming out to add to your tech stack, right? People are saying, try this channel, try this channel. It's hard to think clearly through the noise. Yes. But I think for us, because we're a 14-person firm, we know what works, but we're also very small and nimble and open-minded that hey AI gives you the chance to optimize and be more efficient and more so use it as a resource to kind of help you grow. I think open-mindedness is a big key factor. The other aspect is it, okay, so this has worked, but this is not going to work forever. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Innovation. It's just the natural cycle of business, right? Um, and so I would say just the drive and the open mindness to try new things and say, hey, you know, I've I've read from these people, you know, who are twice our size. This works for them. Let's give it a try. You know, 70% of the things that you may do, probably not gonna work, right? But it's the 30%, and of that, the 5% that, you know, it's a money machine.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

This is the afternoon advisor, where we figure out why and how certain advisors are growing so fast, it looks like cheating. I'm Nate Hoskin. I'm a certified financial planner practitioner, a digital marketing nerd, and I spend my days building and breaking growth systems in my own businesses and in yours. Today we're joined by Sahil Gupta from Twin Peaks. We are live here in Miami at Future Proof Citywide. You are doing organic growth specifically for this RIA. Tell me a little bit more about that, and more most importantly, good afternoon. Thanks for being on here.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Thanks for having me, Nate. Um, yeah, so like I mentioned, kind of heading the marketing for an independent RIA, about 600 million assets under management, 14 folks, mainly in California, but serve clients nationwide. And kind of in today's day and age, it's all about growth, right? So, especially for us, we're at a point where we're trying to get to that 1 billion mark. You know, we're trying to move up market. It's like how do we capture more wallet share, but also how do we deliver a value prop to the demographic that we've been catering? Um, so to just to give a quick history, our niche is tech employees, and our two founders started Twin Peaks about 10 years ago and started right after college, and they kind of went being in the Bay Area themselves and going to UC Berkeley, they went after Apple employees and Facebook employees, and they simply started by cold calling any person of Indian descent that had a name similar to them, saying, Hey, you know, do you know about your RSCs? Do you know when your options are best? Do you know how to make sense about meaningful equity and what does that mean for your tax situation? And so from there they've built a great referral network network. And as you know, as advisors, referrals are everything that helps people speak about you is everything. Now, in today's day and age, the digital age, it's all about how many eyeballs can you get in front of. And so for us in the past year and a half, on top of email marketing, um, sequences, our campaigns, um, cold calling, you know, the traditional sales tactics per se. Now it's more about, you know, how can we get organic reach through our content? So we've put a lot of money and resources behind creating short form and long form videos on specific topics that are relevant to these tech employees, as well as trying to figure out, you know, in the market conditions that we live in today, what does that mean for you? And hopefully, hey, you know, these guys can provide value to me. That's really what we're trying to get out of.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

That's incredible. So you're coming into a firm that is working off of what I would consider to be the traditional model, right? And it's worked exceptionally well. It's kind of hard, like coming from the perspective as a marketer, where if they're like, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Right. How does that change your role? How have you moved things around? And how do how would you say your founders like kind of work with you to introduce new things to your marketing?

SPEAKER_01 3:41

It's a great question. I think in today's day and age, right, there's so many new tools coming out to add to your tech stack, right? People are saying, try this channel, try this channel. It's hard to think clearly through the noise. Yes. Um, but I think for us, because we're a 14-person firm, we know what works, but we're also very small and nimble and open-minded that hey, AI gives you the chance to optimize and be more efficient, and more so use it as a resource to kind of help you grow. I think open-mindedness is a big key factor. The other aspect is it, okay, so this has worked, but this is not gonna work forever. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, innovation, it's just the natural cycle of business, right? Um, and so I would say just the drive and the open mindness to try new things and say, hey, you know, I've I've read from these people, you know, who are twice our size. This works for them. Let's give it a try. You know, 70% of the things that you may do, probably not gonna work, right? But it's the 30% and of that, the 5% that, you know, it's a money machine.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Right, it covers everything else. It allows you to go be inventive and try new things. Exactly. That's amazing. So it sounds like they've been really receptive to say, okay, let's try new things, let's go do new stuff.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Absolutely. And here, you know, especially being at future-proof conference, you're seeing all these demos, people talk about, you know, how I automate our workflows to give more high-touch service because nowadays, even though AI does a lot of the menial tasks behind the scene or the administrative work, the relationships will never be replaced, right? So I'm going to explain to them make meaning of you know what their portfolio looks like, that's never going to be replaced. And so it's on top of that, you know, figuring out how can we communicate that value propositions.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

And how can you do it at scale, right? That's such a big component of going from 600 to a billion. Exactly. There's a lot that's happening there, I'm sure, on the other sides of the business around operations and headcount and other questions that you guys are asking. Right. But your job is to just cut through the noise. Exactly. You're going out and vetting all of these different opportunities from a marketing perspective. Right. So I'm so curious to know have you found anything that really interests you? I know we talked about video, but let's go beyond that. Anything else on the marketing side that's new that you're like, I'm so excited to start doing this tactic or this system.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Yeah, you know, it's so interesting because I went to a talk the other day that was, you know, copywriting in the AI age and how to get through the noise. Um because in this day, right, you're trying to figure out what media channel works for you and which media channel is, you know, resource resourceful enough. Um the one thing that was really interesting was not only testimonials, like how other people are speaking about you, is probably the most important because it provides that social proof. Um but the second aspect of it was figuring out it's honestly, I think it's just this blunt honesty of who you're right for, what's your investment philosophy. You know, for us, we've tried to be very honest and speak to, you know, Apple employees, employ Apple employees. This is how we've helped X person at Apple do exactly A, B, C, and B. And this is how we can help you. Being so specific, right? In your niche. But I think now it's almost more being so honest. Like, hey, if you're thinking about this, this, this, this, want a person to do this, this, this, this, we're the right tip for you. If you want to be drive be the driver, we're probably not the right tip for you. So it's almost communicating the value pop of being honest and saying, hey, we already know what our ICP is, and this is this is who we are. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Absolutely. And you raised two incredible points. One, I think, is that it's not just about being exceptionally genuine about what you do, but also being exceptionally genuine about who you are, allowing someone to connect with your founders, the rest of your team on a very human level. Right. And we've been talking about, and I've I've been saying that video production should be anti-AI, which is hilarious because I run an AI video company. So it's like, how do you marry those two together? You can use AI on the scripting side, you can use AI on the editing side, but when you're on camera and you're talking to someone, they need to be seeing you eye to eye. Right. And in many ways, the way you do that is you actually do it more casually, right? We could have gone out, we could have found the perfect spot of future proof to film this, but there is an edge to that, that gritty feeling that makes it feel that much more genuine. Totally. The other one I think, and I think you're totally onto this, is this idea of the perfect solution. So I would argue that Google, back in the like 2010s, gave us what we would consider to be the perfect answer. Meaning that not only could you get your question answered, but you could get the perfect answer to that question by Googling it, by researching it, right? That was something you'd have to go like look into an encyclopedia for. Now with AI, we're on the verge of the perfect solution. Where someone isn't just hiring a wealth manager, they're hiring a wealth manager that can perfectly solve the problem they're experiencing at their stage in life, and it narrows and becomes so, so granular. So you listing off, like you want someone who does this, this, and this, and frankly, like acts like this, this, and this, and talks like this, this, and this. And they provide these services and they solve this solution, they work with people who look like you, like that's pretty amazing. So I'm curious to know how well do you guys think you do at that, right? Like being really blunt about what you do and who you are.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

I think we've gotten incredibly good at it in person over the past year. And I think that's partly because we've done a lot of sales training. So you kind of sales in a way of value selling, you know, relationship building. But I think through that whole process and meeting with a lot of prospects, what advisors have found out is we know what we're good at, we're so confident in it because we've had 10 years of experience of what works and what value we can provide. Totally. But now it's just telling the message to say, you know, be honest, like, hey, look, we don't know if we're the right fit for you. You know, it's almost in the selling process going so negative, making them question that you say, okay, you know, let's talk through, you know, what do you value? What are you looking for? Once you kind of go down the necessary checklist, you say, okay, then let's have a next conversation, right? And kind of let it be organic in that growth. But it's almost you do a more stricter job in qualifying the person you're talking to.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Yes. Yeah, and I it's so interesting talking to our VP of BizDev that that comes across so salesy when you hear it from a sales coach. Yes. Where you're like, I you need to qualify the lead, value your time, only work with the it's like, no, I that's not how this works at all. Right. It comes from this sense of genuine care. Totally. Where if you're not the right fit, I'd prefer to not figure that out six months from now when you've had a terrible experience. There's just no point for either of us. Absolutely. Yeah, and I feel very much the same way in marketing because you could absolutely run a bunch of paid ads that say retiree on them. Right. You'd probably get a lot of leads. You could go sign up for smart asset, you could get a lot of leads. And they would have some qualifying line item, number of assets under management, location, whatever that is. But I think the more you can qualify digitally is where a lot of the things I've been seeing at this conference are going. So I like that you said testimonials, that's a big piece. The other one I've been seeing is SEO and AEO. It's been huge buzzwords nowadays in at this conference specifically. What's your opinion?

SPEAKER_01 10:58

I mean, I think it's something that you've had to optimize. I mean, 10 years ago, you know, when it was Google search engine, right? We're still talking about SEO.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

It feels like a crazy thing. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

And it was like a big breakthrough. Yeah. But I really feel like with AI and the search uh these LMM, LLMs, they're only getting smart and they're going to be able to discern, you know, what sources to pull from. So I think optimizing your SEO for LLMs is kind of the next shift, which kind of makes sense of a natural progression. I still think having an optimized website or messaging for SEO, it always helps your case.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

And they're just kind of baseline. It's like of course we should have that. Let's knock that out and make it happen.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

Exactly. But you talked about one thing that's really important was the testimonials, right? And being it's like this whole ability to discern. And I think now with AI videos and AI video production, right? People are now looking at something, trying to take it for base value and figure out is this real or not? You know? And so I think for advisors specifically, like it's great when you talk about educational topics because one, it shows that you're you're an expert at this and you have knowledge, but it's more so adding in that raw emotion when you're speaking, trying to appeal to emotion. Right? So it's like what we're doing now, right? Something in a more natural setting where you're just trying to say, hey, this is what we do, this is what we are. The non-eduction stuff. I think that's where you can really kind of build your top of funnel these days.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

I agree. And I kind of think people have the formula backwards where they look at marketing and they say marketing is composed of websites, video marketing, social media marketing, SEO equals clients or something like that, right? I would flip it a little bit and I would say that marketing is the testimonials, it's the um it's the website, absolutely like having a well-optimized website, it's the video marketing, it's the paid media, like having some media buyer going out and actually doing some broader stuff for you, yeah, equals clients plus SEO and AEO. Because nothing works better for AI optimization than video, right? Right? Nothing works better for SEO than testimonials. Totally. All of those things kind of result in rather than saying we're like, we're trying to go do SEO. SEO is what happens when you do everything else. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Right. Exactly. And I'll give you a good example of this, kind of between just SEO and video production. And something that we were we've been inspired by and trying to implement is, you know, one of our founders, he had met another another founder of his own wealth firm um based out in the Midwest about a year ago. And he said he built his clientele by marketing just specifically to employees in oil and energy. Yep. And so Exxon employees, so on his website, he would say four Exxon employees, four ex-company employees, and he would just have a video series of this is how I help you, specific topics that were only relevant. And from there he says it just grew naturally through the referral network, right? So it's being specific, and he was doing the videos so that they're it's interesting, like they watch, they say that the average prospect that already watches about two to three videos. So that way when they book the meeting, they come in kind of already knowing like I'm already like 50, 60 interested. The other 50 to 40 percent is the right fit, the feel, and the conversation.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Absolutely. Well, and also I think they come in 50 to 60 percent qualified. If the content's good, right? Like I want to work with someone who's from Exxon. Well, if I make content to Exxon employees, we check that box. Absolutely. We know a certain amount about the problems that a lower level Exxon employee would be experiencing versus a director or a C-suite. So we can customize our answers and our solutions to those people. And if they're watching that content, they will pre-qualify themselves and buy into the process and be like, I'm I'm pretty sure that I want to do this.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

I I had a I had an experience like that on steroids at this at this conference because I met an advisor that is the president of the Ferrari Club in Colorado. Wow, and so he's done the same thing. He picked an unbelievably narrow niche. Was it just so he could write off his Ferrari? I don't know, couldn't tell you, but I think that he did such a good job of picking that niche. And now, after this conversation, we're designing some content around that to say, okay, well, if if you have that niche, how do you customize the way you present to them? Right. Such an interesting problem to solve. Yeah. Well, I know you have a call to get to or a meeting to get to because we're not doing calls, we're here in person. But thank you so much for it. Absolutely. Appreciate it.