Oct 15, 2025
“The good CEO today does not sit at the top of the mountain – they must run between the base camp and the summit,” says Robert Haas, co-founder of the digital agency Symbio. He speaks about a culture that is based on craft, relationships, and mutual recognition. Instead of tracking hours, he monitors outcomes – and when it makes sense, ties rewards to real outcomes. He openly describes how he builds a 'free' core team, why the entire team selects new people, and how he builds a ring of top-notch external collaborators and alumni around the company. And also why he wants Symbio to be an agency for the AI era – not an AI agency.
In this episode, Robert Haas, co-founder of the digital agency Symbio, explains that prices are not the goal, but a consequence: when you want the market to notice you, you must already identify at the brief stage where the opportunity for something truly exceptional lies – and pursue it. Selecting people is therefore a strict collective discipline: lunch with the team, a week 'trial' in the office, and ideally a real project that shows where the candidate is genuinely strong and how to tailor a role for them. Values are lived through small habits – from regular 'noise cancelling' emails to merchandise with values as reminders of everyday life.
Symbio does not want to grow in numbers but in impact. That is why they cultivate close 'gig workers' and the 'Symbio on ex' program for former colleagues who share the same craft and relational standards. And when it comes to AI, they are not just chasing efficiency – they are looking for qualitative leaps: agency workflows, synthetic research, productized services, and solutions where human added value is clearly evident.
What else will you find answers to in the podcast?
How Symbio works with pricing: from fixed-scope projects to results-based collaborations – including when 'proxy' metrics are needed instead of direct market KPIs.
What the team’s selection process looks like: lunch, ‘trial’ stay, a real job for a client, and the subsequent tailoring of roles to fit strengths.
Why the values craft / love / kudos serve as a practical compass both internally and externally – and how they are remembered in daily rituals, not on a bulletin board.
How the 'ring' of alumni and top external collaborators helps scale quality without inflating headcount.
How to think about pricing and competitions: recognizing at the brief stage where the work has a chance to succeed creatively and efficiently – and why prices are not KPIs.
What it means to be an “agency for the AI era”: productization of services, agency prototyping, synthetic research, and a clear role for humans.
What role a CEO should have today: to 'run' between the base camp and the summit – being hands-on in product, delivery, sales, and with clients to understand the essence of change.