Ocean's Talent

How Ian Myers Built a $15M Offshore Talent Empire in 3 Years

March 14th, 2025

Founded By

Ian Myers

Monthly Revenue

$1.25M

Days To Build

Founders

Employees

337 (est.)

Profitable

Yes

Days To Build

Year Started

2021

Customer

B2B

Founded By
Ian Myers: Monthly Revenue
$1.25M: Days To Build
75

Founders
1: Employees
337 (est.): Profitable
Yes

Days To Build
75: Year Started
2021: Customer
B2B

Who is Ian Myers?

Ian Myers, the founder of Ocean's Talent, is a former finance and venture capital professional who holds a graduate degree in international policy from Stanford University. Originally from Vermont, he has previous experience in offshoring, having worked in Sri Lanka, which informed his approach to building Ocean's Talent as a bootstrapped, profitable services business.

What problem does Ocean's Talent solve?

Ocean's Talent makes it easy and affordable for startups and businesses to hire top global talent, solving the challenge of finding skilled employees without breaking the bank.

How did Ian come up with the idea for Ocean's Talent?

Ian Myers, the founder of Ocean's Talent, discovered his business concept by leveraging his previous experiences in the finance and venture capital sectors. He realized he wanted more control over his work life, to do something that aligned with his values and offered stability. His exposure to global talent pools during a stint in Sri Lanka highlighted the availability of well-educated professionals at a competitive cost, which inspired the creation of Ocean's Talent.

Ian witnessed how large companies were benefiting from offshoring but noticed an untapped opportunity for smaller startups to access skilled and affordable talent in untapped markets like Sri Lanka. He identified that while many companies were targeting areas like India and the Philippines for offshoring, these markets were becoming crowded and more expensive. In contrast, he saw that Sri Lanka had a highly skilled, educated, and English-speaking workforce that was underutilized by Western companies.

Eager to test his hypothesis, Ian started small by leveraging his existing network and experiences from working in Sri Lanka. He focused on a specific area that needed innovation—connecting U.S. startups with high-skill operational talent from Sri Lanka. By offering EA+ training to transform highly educated Sri Lankan professionals into proactive and dedicated executive assistants, he created a unique service that sparked curiosity and garnered attention.

Ian credits much of Ocean’s early growth to the natural shift towards remote work triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, which opened doors for companies to hire globally. Feedback and referrals from an initial small group of clients helped refine the service, and positive word-of-mouth quickly validated the business model. By emphasizing exceptional quality and tackling the prevalent issue of offshoring talent retention, Oceans established itself as a unique player in the competitive outsourcing market, successfully solving a pressing problem for companies seeking skilled yet affordable global talent.

How did Ian Myers build the initial version of Ocean's Talent?

To build Ocean's Talent, Ian Myers focused on leveraging the exceptional quality of Sri Lankan talent to offer high-skill operational outsourcing. The initial development process involved recruiting top-tier talent in Sri Lanka, who were then employed as full-time workers with comprehensive benefits. Ian used tools like G Suite for communication and Notion for organizational needs, keeping operations lean and efficient. The first set of prototypes consisted of a pilot cohort of just three employees, which were trained using a program crafted by an experienced executive assistant. This initial phase took roughly a couple of months to set up. One major challenge Ian faced was ensuring the service quality without significant marketing expenses, relying instead on word-of-mouth and referrals to expand.

What were the initial startup costs for Ocean's Talent?

Funding: Oceans raised $200,000 strategically to align with validators and distributors, rather than for cash flow. This helped them secure endorsements from notable figures in the venture and crypto communities, which amplified their reach.
Hiring and Training: They invested in building a business infrastructure in Sri Lanka, hiring and training local talent to meet US standards by providing full-time employment benefits, which assured job security for the employees.

What was the growth strategy for Ocean's Talent and how did they scale?

Word of Mouth

Ocean's Talent witnessed incredible growth primarily through word of mouth. Initially, the founder Ian Myers leveraged his existing network to acquire the first few customers by offering reduced pricing to friends who he thought might benefit from the service. This allowed them to test their virtual assistant service, known as EA+, with people who trusted him and who provided feedback. This trust and subsequent high satisfaction rate contributed massively to the organic spread of their service. As satisfied customers talked about their positive experiences, Oceans began acquiring new clients through these referrals. This method was cost-effective and impactful from the very beginning, quickly spiking their growth without requiring any initial marketing expenses.

Why it worked: The key to this strategy was delivering exceptional service that not only met but exceeded customer expectations. This prompted clients to recommend Oceans to their networks, tapping into someone else's trusted circle of acquaintances. When a company's service genuinely makes a customer's life markedly better, referring it to friends and colleagues becomes easy, resulting in natural growth through word-of-mouth. It’s an inexpensive yet powerful acquisition method that many small businesses can apply, especially those in service industries.

Leveraging Sri Lanka’s Talent Pool

Oceans capitalized on the curiosity factor by tapping into the underutilized talent market of Sri Lanka for their offshore services. While countries like India and the Philippines are well-known for offshore talent, Sri Lanka was relatively lesser-known in this regard, which sparked interest and effectively differentiated Oceans from other offshoring companies. Clients were intrigued by the promise of accessing a new market known for its high-quality talent pool, with a significant portion possessing excellent English skills and education from top universities.

Why it worked: The uniqueness of targeting Sri Lanka as a talent pool caught the attention of potential clients, leading to conversations and opening opportunities for customer engagement. The delivery of high-quality service by employing skilled local talent further converted inquiries into long-term clients. Oceans employed and retained top-tier Sri Lankan talent by providing full-time stable employment with benefits, catering to the professional expectations of talented workers in a typically conservative market, resulting in a high first-time placement success rate and low turnover.

Building Distribution Moats Through Strategic Partnerships

Oceans avoided traditional marketing channels, which are often expensive and less effective for service-based businesses, by building strong distribution moats. Instead, they focused on leveraging strategic partnerships and referrals to scale. Early on, Ian Myers recognized the importance of validation and distribution. He raised $200,000 not for operational expenses but to form alliances with reputable individuals in influential communities such as crypto and venture to gain credibility and reach.

Why it worked: Oceans raised investment mainly from individuals with large social reach and credibility, which helped them gain trust in the market through association. Key figures in sectors like the crypto and venture capital industry, including an NFL player and the founder of Morning Brew, added big-picture validation and extended Oceans’ reach significantly. This validation from high-profile figures made potential customers notice and trust Ocean’s unique services.

Customer Retention

Oceans has been strategic not only in acquiring customers but also in retaining them by focusing on service quality and innovation. A core belief in the company is that delegation should evolve beyond simply handing off tasks; that's why they created the EA+ or anti-delegation service. Unlike competitors who hired experienced assistants for their world-class task execution, Oceans trains talented individuals to be proactive. They are encouraged to drive significant business results for their clients by thinking beyond traditional administrative tasks and contributing to strategy and business operations. This not only results in high customer retention but creates a referral loop as satisfied clients recommend Oceans to others.

Why it worked: By positioning themselves as a company with top-tier talent and a unique approach to delegation, Oceans made sure they attract customers who share similar values and business processes. This alignment in expectations ensures a smooth operation where the client, the business owner, and the talent are all on the same page.

Natural Virality Through Highly Integrated Services

Oceans smartly selected its initial service offering of EA+ roles, which contribute inherently to their clients' networking processes. EAs are in touch with a client's network all day, leading to a naturally viral element where Oceans' service is continually referred to new clients. This inherent word-of-mouth distribution strategy means that as long as Ocean maintains a high-quality service, new customers will continue to flow in through this organic and self-sustaining channel.

Why it worked: The strategic focus on the EA+ role meant that Oceans inserted themselves into an ongoing conversation about the challenges of remote work and global talent acquisition. By choosing an EA role, which by its nature interacts with many aspects of a client's operations, they are well-placed to be recommended to other businesses easily. This service is likened to that of a personal trainer because those who have experienced its benefits want to share it with others, creating continued referral growth without needing extensive brand marketing.

What's the pricing strategy for Ocean's Talent?

Ocean's Talent charges $3,000 to $4,000 monthly per headcount for outsourcing roles, providing full-time employees to businesses with costs varying by position—more for roles like financial controllers, less for executive assistants.

What were the biggest lessons learned from building Ocean's Talent?

Focus on Service Quality: Ocean's success relies heavily on providing exceptional service quality. The lesson here is that focusing on delivering an outstanding customer experience not only retains customers but encourages word-of-mouth growth, a powerful and sustainable marketing strategy.
Choose the Right Talent Pool: Entering an established market with a unique angle helped Oceans stand out. By choosing Sri Lanka, a less saturated market, Oceans was able to differentiate and offer high-quality talent at competitive prices. The takeaway for founders is to find an underserved niche or unique value proposition within a crowded market.
Build and Nurture Referral Networks: Instead of relying on traditional advertising, Oceans grew through strategic referrals and word of mouth. This emphasizes the value of building strong relationships and leveraging client networks, which can be more effective and cost-efficient than paid advertising.
Scalability Through Process: The company’s rapid growth highlighted the need for scalable processes. As they scaled, documenting processes and knowledge dissemination became crucial. This suggests that early investment in organizational structure and procedural documentation can facilitate smoother scaling.
Value Retention Over Acquisition: Oceans proved that maintaining seasoned and satisfied employees led to higher retention rates and positive client outcomes. Keeping talent engaged through benefits and community events shows the importance of valuing employee satisfaction in services industries.

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