We didn't come from marketing. We came from the industry. That's the whole point.
Two operators. 30+ combined years across every level of this industry. We know what it feels like to write that check every month — and wonder where it's going. We built 87 because we got tired of the answer being "we don't know."
The Co-Founders
Eric spent his career in full-service restaurants — working every position from the floor up to Managing Partner at Longhorn Steakhouse, one of the largest casual-dining brands in the country. He's managed volume, P&Ls, and teams at a level most agency account managers have never seen.
When Eric started building his own businesses, he quickly found himself on the other side of the table — paying agencies, struggling with platforms, and doing two-hour deep-dives into Meta Business Manager just to figure out where his money was going. That experience is what built 87.
"I'm the guy who built the agentic systems I use to run my own marketing — because I had to. Now I build them for you."
Mike is a craft brewing founder and master brewer — the kind of operator who built something from the ground up and knows exactly what it costs in time, money, and attention. His background at Hopknot gives 87 something most hospitality consultants don't have: a bar and brewery owner who has been the client.
When bars and breweries see Mike, they're not talking to a marketer who "works with" the industry. They're talking to someone who brewed the beer, ran the taps, and knows what a slow Wednesday feels like from the other side of the bar.
"The bars we work with — they know I get it. I've been there. The agency never has."
Why "87"
In every kitchen, "86" means you're out — of an ingredient, a dish, a person. It's the sound of something ending. We named this company 87 because that's what comes next. You 86 the agency. You 87 it — you replace it with something better, something you own, something that never calls in sick.
That's the whole thesis. 86 what isn't working. 87 what is.
15 minutes with Eric or Mike and you'll know whether we can help. No pitch deck. No deck at all, actually — just operators talking to operators.
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