Second Wind

What Second Wind does

Second Wind is a privately held, US-based membership platform that serves small and mid-sized advertising agencies with training, consulting, recruiting, and community services. Founded in 1988/1989 and headquartered in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, the company positions itself as 'The Indispensable Agency Resource' and operates as a verticalized, long-tail subscription business targeting agency principals and staff rather than enterprise accounts. The organization is founder-operated, has 11–50 employees, and shows no evidence of external investment, M&A, or public-market activity in the available data.

The product surface is built around four pillars: a structured Training catalog (succession planning, workflow efficiency, account service, new business development, financial management, estimating); a Resource Library that includes the firm's flagship Annual Agency Survey and Production Pricing Survey reports, contracts, job descriptions, forms, templates, and webinar recordings; a self-serve Calculators Suite (eight tools covering client profitability, hourly rate, markup/margin, project pricing, realized rate, monthly revenue forecast, salary affordability, and freelance hiring cost); and a Community layer anchored by The Windmill member forum, JAM Sessions, Member Connect, and Digital Media Webinars. Technology is described as standard web-based delivery rather than proprietary IP, and there are no disclosed APIs, SDKs, or AI/ML product features.

Second Wind monetizes primarily through recurring annual membership subscriptions that bundle training, resources, community, and member benefits, with incremental revenue from high-touch consulting engagements (Seller's Readiness Roadmap, team training, agency valuation, succession planning, coaching), full-service recruiting, and trademark research services. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The go-to-market is community-led: content marketing, email, social (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), webinars, and peer forums drive top- and mid-funnel engagement, while direct consulting and recruiting are sold as enterprise/mid-market overlays. The firm serves only the United States with no global footprint claim.

Name

Second Wind

Legal name

Second Wind

Website

https://secondwindonline.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Second Wind is a private US membership platform serving small and mid-sized advertising agencies with training programs, consulting services, a resource library, eight operational calculators, and a peer community forum. Founded circa 1988-1989, it operates on a recurring subscription model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Reading

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Agency Membership Subscriptions: Second Wind generates revenue through membership subscriptions for advertising agencies. Members gain access to training resources, consulting services, calculators, webinar recordings, contracts, templates, job descriptions, and community forums. The membership model provides recurring subscription revenue with tiered access levels.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Second Wind is a membership-based organization that provides training programs, consulting engagements, recruiting services, and curated resources (calculators, templates, contracts, surveys, webinars) to small and mid-sized advertising agencies. The company sells an annual membership subscription that grants access to its training content, resource library, community forums, JAM Sessions, and webinars, and separately sells consulting (valuation, succession planning, coaching) and recruiting services to advertising agency principals and staff.

Product overview

Second Wind is a membership-based resource organization for small to mid-sized advertising agencies, offering a comprehensive platform of training, consulting, recruiting, and community services. The core offering consists of ad agency training programs covering succession planning, workflow efficiency, account service, new business development, and financial management, supported by an extensive resource library including annual industry surveys, contracts, templates, and a suite of eight operational calculators. Additional services include consulting (valuation, coaching, succession planning), recruiting support, trademark research services, and member community features including The Windmill forums, JAM Sessions, and digital media webinars. All services are delivered through an annual membership program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Membership Program Annual membership subscription for advertising agencies that bundles access to training content, resources, calculators, contracts, templates, surveys, webinars, JAM Sessions, and the Windmill member community. Designed for small and mid-sized advertising agency principals and staff.
• Training Programs Curriculum of training programs for advertising agencies covering succession planning, agency workflow and efficiency, account service mastery, strategic market planning, new business development, agency financials for non-financial people, and estimating projects for profit. Targeted at ad agency principals and account service staff.
• Consulting Services Direct, high-touch consulting engagements for advertising agencies including Seller's Readiness Roadmap, Team Training, Agency Valuation, Succession Planning, and Coaching. Delivered by Second Wind's consultant team to advertising agency owners and leadership.
• Recruiting Services Full-service recruiting service for advertising agencies, providing candidate identification, candidate testing, and access to a position-seeking candidate database. Aimed at agencies hiring account service, creative, or operations roles.
• Research Services (Trademark Search & Registration and Industry Surveys) Trademark search and registration services plus annual industry benchmarking surveys (Annual Agency Survey and Production Pricing Survey) sold to advertising agencies.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• The Futur: The Futur sells online courses, masterclasses, and a creator community for creative professionals and agency owners — closely aligned with Second Wind's subscription-driven, content-plus-community model serving agency principals.
• American Advertising Federation (AAF): AAF is a national advertising industry trade association with member clubs across the U.S., offering training, awards, and resources — comparable membership/advertising-industry focus, though it spans a broader tier of agency and marketer members.
• Agency Management Institute (AMI): AMI provides training, coaching, and peer communities specifically for advertising agency owners and principals — a close functional match to Second Wind's membership, training, and succession planning offerings for small/mid agencies.
• 4A's (American Association of Advertising Agencies): The 4A's is the U.S. trade association for advertising agencies, providing member services, training, and advocacy — a peer in serving the same advertising-agency customer base through a membership model.
• Hinge: Hinge is a B2B marketing consulting firm that helps professional services firms (including agencies) grow through research, branding, and content — directly comparable to Second Wind's mission of making agencies more profitable through training and advisory.

Others

• Consulting Success: Consulting Success runs a membership site, podcast, and coaching program helping independent consultants grow their practices — a comparable subscription-community-coaching business model, though its end customers are consultants rather than ad agencies.
• Adweek: Adweek is a leading advertising-industry media brand publishing news, analysis, and hosting events — thematically adjacent to Second Wind's agency-focused content and community, though revenue (advertising vs. membership) differs.

Emerging players

• Semrush Academy: Semrush Academy offers free SEO and digital marketing courses and certifications — directly overlapping with Second Wind's digital media webinar content and serving a similar SMB marketer/agency audience.

Broad incumbents

• MarketingProfs: MarketingProfs offers training, webinars, and resources for B2B marketers across industries — overlapping with Second Wind on training and content, but targeting a much broader marketing audience rather than agencies specifically.
• HubSpot Academy: HubSpot Academy provides free online training and certifications for marketing, sales, and service professionals — a much larger incumbent that competes for the same training-time demand from agencies and marketers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/secondwindonline
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/second-wind
• Instagraminstagram.com/secondwindbuzz
• Xx.com/secondwindbuzz

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Second Wind