Seva Raises $3.5 Million to Bring Agentic AI to Performance Marketing

Seva Ustinov is the Founder & CEO of Plurio and a pioneer in AI-driven performance marketing and agentic automation. After scaling a marketing agency to 100+ employees, Seva made a bold move: transforming the company into an AI-first business powered by AI agents. In this episode, we break down how AI agents are changing marketing forever and why founders who don’t adapt will fall behind. You’ll learn how Seva transitioned from agency to software to AI company, how agentic automation is replacing traditional marketing workflows, and why the next generation of startups will be built around AI leverage instead of headcount. We also dive into the realities of building companies across Bali, San Francisco, and global markets, plus lessons on scaling teams, finding product-market fit, and building startups in the AI era. If you're a founder, marketer, AI builder, or startup operator, this episode is packed with insights on AI-first companies, growth strategies, and the future of performance marketing. Here’s what you’ll learn: [00:00] - How Seva Built a 100+ Person Marketing Agency [05:57] - Agency vs SaaS vs AI: Why Running a Software Company Was Harder Than Expected [10:10] - B2B vs B2C Market Positioning: Why Niche Dominance Wins in B2B [16:15] - Why Building a Startup in the U.S. Is So Expensive [19:30] - From Data Dashboards to Autonomous Marketing Agents [27:28] - When AI Marketing Agents Actually Make Sense [33:28] - Vibe Coding Is Addictive: Building AI Agents, a Second Brain & a Personal AI Assistant [44:23] - How We Turned the Whole Company Into AI Builders [48:23] - When to Stop Vibe Coding: The Line Between MVPs and Production Software [50:35] - Why Sales Comes Before Product: The GTM Mindset Most Founders Miss [56:23] - Why Founders Move to San Francisco: The City That Pushes You to Build Big Links: Linkedin:   / matt-laker   - connect with me! Need more help? https://acemakers.io/acemakers-it-con... - We make it easy and fun to grow your IT consulting company, instead of complex and boring!