In-house vs agency vs automated

We wrote about €8–15k agency retainers in our founders letter because that is what we saw in Zagreb and EU markets before building TIMA. The question is not “agency bad” - it is fit for stage.

Agency economics

Agencies excel at strategy and creative direction when you have budget and onboarding time. Early brands pay for senior oversight they barely use and junior execution they cannot QA.

First marketing hire

A hire at $4–6k/month plus tools still needs creative production bandwidth. TIMA does not replace a great Head of Growth; it removes the blank page and busywork so that person focuses on channel mix and offers.

Automated agent layer

Credits align cost to output: brand generation, images, video, publishes. You get execution speed without locking a retainer. Keep agency relationships for brand films or major launches; run always-on performance through TIMA.