+16% incremental ROAS
+20% incremental conversions · 22% lower CPA
Part of an early-access Alpha test of Google's AI Max for Search. Results so strong Google published them as a case study used for product promotion.
We fund the media.
You pay for results.
We're a performance marketing company that pays for its own media. We build the landing pages, run the ads, and send you conversions that match the criteria we agree on up front. You pay a set price per lead, sign-up, call, or sale. No retainers. No fees.
- Google Ads
- Microsoft Ads
- Meta Ads
- TikTok Ads
- Reddit Ads
- LinkedIn Ads
- YouTube Ads
How it works
You tell us what a good conversion looks like for your business and what you're willing to pay for each. We handle the rest, including the ad spend.
We fund the mediaPaid from our own budget
We run the campaignsSearch, social, and video, managed in-house
We build the landing pagesYou review and approve prior to launch
Conversions hit your CRMPosted in real time by webhook or API
You pay per conversionAt the agreed rate, for conversions that meet spec
Tell us which conversions closed and we'll tune our buying to drive more like them.
| Hiring an agency | Buying from a lead vendor | Partnering with Upright | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who funds the media | You do | They do | We do |
| What you pay for | Fees, on top of the ad spend | Leads, often shared or resold | Conversions that meet the agreed criteria |
| Where traffic comes from | Your accounts | Often unclear | Campaigns and pages we own. We don't resell leads |
| Who carries the risk | You do | You do, on quality | We do |
| Who runs it | An account team | A marketplace | The founders, personally |
How we get results
Ad platform algorithms are available to everyone, so on their own they aren't an advantage. What moves results is the data you feed them and how quickly you can test strategies.
The software behind it
We built our own platform, Upright Engine, to connect and centralize ad platform data with your CRM so every campaign is evaluated against your core KPIs. Our platform utilizes carefully crafted AI agents that identify issues and optimizations proactively, and present those decisions for operator review and decisioning. By pouring years of specialized experience and craft into our agents, we compound our expertise to outperform competing advertisers and scale rapidly.
Performance
30dQTDYTD
Spend
$4,128,800
+6.4%
Conversions
182,040
+11.2%
Cost per acquisition
$22.68
−4.3%
ROAS
3.41×
+1.9%
Conversions · trailing 30 days182,040
Campaign
Spend
Conv.
CPA
ROAS
LiveSaaS · Non-Brand
$1,462,100
68,420
$21.37
3.86×
LiveFinancial Services · Exact
$984,550
41,200
$23.90
3.42×
LiveSenior Care · Prospectingrefinement ready
$749,300
33,010
$22.70
3.11×
TestEcommerce · Broad
$521,800
24,660
$21.16
2.98×
TestB2B · Retargeting
$411,050
14,750
$27.87
2.44×
Geo Agent
- Realtime geotargeting.MDread 412 lines
- Identified yield drift3 DMAs below floor
- Refinement draftedSenior Care · awaiting approval
Signal Agent
- Verifying conversion feed3 platforms
- Reconciled to revenueto the cent
- No action requiredholding
Pacing Agent
- Checking pace vs targetday 19 of 30
- Non-Brand 12% undercapacity available
- Proposed +$42,000 → SaaSpending review
Creative Agent
- Reading creative_perf.json184 variants
- 3 hooks below thresholdretiring
- 6 replacements draftedscript → assembly
Upright Engine is our internal infrastructure. It connects via API to platforms like Google Ads and Meta to retrieve performance data and write campaign adjustments. It is used exclusively by our team and is not available to third parties.
Results
These numbers come from in-house roles the founder held before starting Upright, so they aren't Upright client results. They do show what this approach can do at scale.
~5× lower acquisition cost
Cost per signup down roughly 65%
Came from switching bidding from signups to predicted lifetime value, using early in-product actions as the signal.
4× spend, to ~$90M a year
While hitting quarterly ROAS targets
A global program across search, social, programmatic, and video. Outside agencies were replaced with an in-house team along the way, and performance improved.
20× channel growth
On a bidding platform built in-house
Monthly paid search spend at a publicly traded performance marketplace, grown 20× in the first year on bidding software built in-house from scratch.
Operator-founded
Verticals
- SaaS
- B2B
- Financial Services
- Ecommerce
- Home Services
Channels
- Paid search
- Paid social
- YouTube and video
- Programmatic and display
Upright Media is operator-led. The experience behind it is fueled by 10+ years spent accountable for achieving aggressive growth targets: running paid acquisition in-house for high-growth software companies and at one of the largest performance marketplaces, with eight-figure annual budgets across search, social, programmatic, and video.
That technical pedigree includes architecting custom paid-media management systems and replacing external agencies with internal infrastructure that outperformed them. Today, our leadership team deploys that exact playbook, running dedicated capital for our partners.
We run a small number of programs at a time, and take on new ones selectively.
- 10+
- Years architecting media infrastructure.
- $500M+
- In paid media profitably deployed.
- $10M/mo
- Peak monthly spend managed.
Ground rules
If you've bought from media buying shops before, you've probably dealt with recycled leads, incentivized traffic, or a vendor bidding on your brand name. Here's how we handle each of those.
We don't resell leads
Every lead comes from our own campaigns and landing pages. We don't buy, broker, or resell leads from anywhere else.
We stay off your brand terms
We won't bid on your trademark or branded keywords unless you give us written permission.
No incentivized traffic
We don't use co-reg or incentive offers, and we filter bot traffic. Our ads describe your offer accurately, so leads come from people who actually asked to hear from you.
Your compliance language
Forms use the disclosure and consent language (TCPA included) that your legal team signs off on.
Data security
Lead data is encrypted at rest with AES-256, access is logged, and we honor deletion requests.
Human approval
Our software can draft campaigns, but ads go up paused and don't spend a dollar until the founder signs off.
The questions partners ask
- Model
- Pay per qualified result
- Media
- Funded by Upright
- Traffic
- Our own campaigns and landing pages
- Channels
- Search, social, video, programmatic
At a glance
Are you an agency?
No. Agencies charge fees to manage your ad accounts, and you still cover the media. We use our own accounts and our own budget, and we only get paid for leads that meet the terms we agreed on.
How do you get paid?
We agree up front on what counts as a billable result and what it pays. That can be per lead, per call, per sale, or a revenue share. You pay that rate and we cover the ad spend.
Where does the traffic come from?
From our own search, social, and video campaigns, sent to landing pages on domains we own. We don't buy or resell leads from other vendors.
What do you need from a partner?
Your definition of a qualified action, what you'll pay for one, how you want actions delivered to your CRM, and feedback on which ones turned into customers.
Which verticals do you take on?
Anything where a conversion has a clear dollar value. We've worked in SaaS, B2B, financial services, home services, senior care, and ecommerce. We limit how many programs we run in each category, so some may be full at any given time.
Do you sell your platform?
No, it's internal only. There are no client logins and we don't license it.
Are you a new company?
The company is new. The operating experience behind it is not: over a decade and more than $500M in managed paid media.
Let's talk numbers
Detail your target acquisition profile, your ideal cost per result, your starting volume needs, and any compliance requirements. Expect a reply within one business day.