About Satsuma
Satsuma is a digital operations studio for small businesses. We automate the busywork with AI, rebuild the marketing that brings in new business, and keep every system secure.
We work with owners and operators who are ready to grow or modernize, usually without an in-house operations, marketing or security team. We build inside the tools you already pay for, write down every automation, and stay to run it with you.
What Satsuma does.
Three practices, always in this order. Start with one or bring in all three.
AI operations
AI and automation that take the busywork off your team: data entry, follow-ups, reports, file handling and the copy-paste between tools. AI agents handle intake, scheduling and first replies, and a person on your team reviews anything that needs judgment before it goes out. The data stays in tools you own and approve.
Marketing systems
Marketing rebuilt as a system that brings in new business and shows what paid for it. We set up lead sourcing and enrichment, cold outbound, paid search and social, and the CRM routing and follow-up behind them. Every channel feeds one dashboard, so you can trace leads, booked calls and revenue back to their source.
Cybersecurity
Managed, AI-powered protection sized for a small business: threat monitoring, phishing defense and training, identity and access, device management, backups and incident plans. Monitoring flags what looks wrong and a person reviews it. We also set the guardrails for how your team uses AI and handles client data.
What makes Satsuma different.
How we compare with marketing agencies, managed IT providers and freelance automation builders.
We build inside the tools you already use.
Freelance automation builders often bring a new platform you then have to pay for and learn. We build in the Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, QuickBooks, HubSpot and phone system you already run, so your team keeps working where it works now.
Everything is documented, and you own it.
Every automation is written down: what triggers it, where it runs, who checks it and how to switch it off. Every account is in your name. Nothing is a black box and nothing locks you in.
One team instead of three vendors.
Most small businesses buy marketing from an agency, IT from a managed IT provider and automation from a freelancer, and none of them sees the whole picture. We run all three as one operation, so the lead your marketing brings in lands in a CRM that routes it, on accounts that are secured.
A two-week, fixed-fee review comes first.
You don't start with a retainer or a long contract. You start with a two-week review and a ranked plan: what to automate first, what it saves and what it protects. The fee is quoted before we begin.
We stay and run it.
A build nobody maintains breaks the first time a tool updates. On a monthly Run plan we operate, monitor and improve what we built. Your team keeps the judgment calls, and we keep the machines running and the doors locked.
Who uses Satsuma.
Owners and operators of small businesses that want to grow or modernize. The fit is strongest in four markets.
- Professional practicesLaw, accounting and insurance agencies. Document-heavy work and hourly billing make saved time visible money, and client data has to be protected.
- Independent clinicsVeterinary, dental and specialty medical. Scheduling, reminders and intake repeat all day and drive revenue, and patient data raises the security bar.
- Trades and home servicesHVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing and pest control. Every missed call is a lost job, and intake, dispatch and follow-up automate cleanly.
- Specialty manufacturing and fabricationQuoting, order entry and reporting still run on spreadsheets, and plant systems are a growing ransomware target.
The team behind Satsuma.
Satsuma was founded by Tian Treb and Matt Blackert.
Tian Treb
Co-founder. Marketing and operations.
Tian has spent a career building marketing and operations functions from scratch, across startups, nonprofits and political campaigns.
Most recently Tian was Chief of Staff and head of operations at Mudita Studios, a go-to-market venture studio in New York, running portfolio operations and the project system for its go-to-market team. Before that, Tian was at Titl through its $2.5M seed round.
Tian co-founded Twelve Virtues Consulting, which served nonprofits and campaigns, and has led communications for political and advocacy organizations. Client work has covered brand development, SEO, paid social on Meta and LinkedIn, and website migrations, and Tian grew revenue at the flagship venue of Soaring Hospitality Group.
Matt Blackert
Co-founder.
Matt co-founded Satsuma with Tian and works across the studio's builds.
Why it's called Satsuma
A satsuma splits cleanly into two halves, and so does most work: a repetitive half that machines should run and a judgment half that people should keep.
How Satsuma works.
Buy a Review alone, a Build alone, or the full path. Most clients start with the Review.
ReviewTwo weeks, fixed fee
We map how work, leads and data move through your company, test the security basics and hand over a ranked plan: what to automate first, what it saves and what it protects.
BuildFixed scope, usually 4 to 10 weeks
We build the automations, systems and controls inside your tools, test them with your team and document every one. You get the scope and the price before any work begins.
RunMonthly
We operate, monitor and improve what we built. Your team keeps the judgment calls.
Working together
Onboarding starts with a Review kickoff. From there you work directly with the people building your systems.
Key facts about Satsuma.
| Company name | Satsuma |
|---|---|
| Type | Digital operations studio |
| Founded | 2026 |
| Founders | Tian Treb, Matt Blackert |
| Headquarters | Northeast Ohio |
| Website | satsumahq.com |
| Core offering | AI operations, marketing systems and cybersecurity for small businesses |
| Services | Workflow automation, AI intake agents, project systems, lead sourcing, cold outbound, paid search and social, CRM and routing, analytics dashboards, managed security |
| Markets | Professional practices, independent clinics, trades and home services, specialty manufacturing |
| Pricing | Review: fixed fee, quoted before work starts. Build: fixed scope, priced before work begins. Run: monthly. |
| Contract terms | Review, Build and Run are sold separately or together. |
Frequently asked questions.
What is digital operations?
Digital operations is the work behind the work: the systems that move leads, data, projects and paperwork through a business. At Satsuma it covers three things: the automations, the marketing pipeline and the security around both.
How is Satsuma different from a marketing agency or an IT provider?
A marketing agency sells campaigns and an IT provider keeps computers running. Satsuma is a studio that builds and runs the operations, the marketing system and the security as one piece of work, inside your tools, documented and owned by you.
Will AI replace people on our team?
No. Machines take the repetitive half: data entry, follow-ups, first replies and reports. The judgment half stays with your people, and a person checks anything that matters before it goes out.
Where does our data go when you use AI?
It stays in tools you own and approve. Every automation lists the data it touches and who checks it, and we set guardrails so client data doesn't end up in personal AI accounts or browser plug-ins.
Do we own what you build?
Yes. Every account is in your name and every automation is documented: what triggers it, where it runs, who checks it and how to switch it off. If we part ways, all of it stays with you.
What tools do you work with?
The ones you already pay for. That includes Microsoft 365, Microsoft Copilot, Google Workspace, QuickBooks, HubSpot, Zapier, Make, n8n, Power BI and Google Analytics 4. The review shows which ones fit the work.
What does the operations review include and cost?
Two weeks of mapping how work, leads and data move through your company, a test of the security basics, and a ranked plan: what to automate first, what it saves and what it protects. It's a fixed fee, quoted before we start.
Do you only work with the markets listed above?
No. We work with small businesses broadly, and those four markets are where the fit is strongest to start. If your work runs on inboxes, spreadsheets and copy-paste, the review will show what's worth fixing first.
Start with a two-week review.
Fixed fee. You finish with a ranked plan of what to fix first, what it saves and what it protects.
Prefer email? Write to hello@satsumahq.com