We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ryan Atkinson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ryan below.
Alright, Ryan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.
Our first client came through email marketing. Honestly, it felt like blind luck. I had a background in sales from working at HubSpot, so I knew a little about messaging. But when you’re starting your first company, you never really know what’s going to work.
About a week or so after launching our first outbound sequence, we landed a deal. Ten videos for $7,000. That same budget today would only get you one video. It just shows how much you learn and how easy it is to undervalue yourself in the beginning. These days, my rule of thumb is to charge 30 percent more than whatever I think is fair. I’m usually right.
When they signed, it was a moment I’ll never forget. March 14th, 2023. A second client signed shortly after for the same amount, so we ended our first month with $14,000 in revenue.
The next three months? We made $3,000. Total. Yeah… that first win was pure luck. But we kept going.
Ryan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Hey, I’m Ryan Atkinson. I run a video marketing agency called Spacebar Visuals, where we help B2B companies turn complex products into clear, compelling stories through video. We focus on explainer videos, product demos, and customer testimonials that not only look good, but actually drive results. I’m proud to say we’ve worked with teams at AWS, Vanta, Baptist Health, and 75+ startups so far.
Before starting Spacebar, I worked in sales at HubSpot. That’s where I really learned the importance of messaging and how hard it can be for companies to explain what they do in a way that actually sticks. I saw so many great products get overlooked simply because the story wasn’t right. That’s what inspired me to start Spacebar Visuals — to help companies connect faster and grow through better storytelling.
Outside of Spacebar, I also work with UpFlip, where I host podcast and YouTube interviews with successful business owners. The UpFlip YouTube channel has over 1.4 million subscribers, and I’ve had the chance to sit down with founders across industries to break down how they built their companies, what they’ve learned, and what other entrepreneurs can take away from their journeys. It’s been one of the most rewarding parts of my work — hearing those stories and helping share them with people who are just getting started.
What I’m most proud of is that I’ve built all of this from scratch. I left a full-time job, took a risk, and built a business around helping others grow theirs. For anyone considering working with me or following along, I want you to know that this isn’t just about making videos. It’s about helping you tell your story in a way that drives action. Whether you’re selling software or starting a lawn care business, the right story makes all the difference.
Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?
Oh, geesh. Yes. Q4 last year was by far the most challenging time I’ve had as an entrepreneur.
We weren’t getting leads. Deals that felt like sure things kept stalling or falling through. Budgets were getting pushed to the next quarter, and the inbox just stayed quiet. Meanwhile, we had payroll to hit and a team to take care of. I remember staring at my computer some days wondering, what else can I even do right now? In December we closed $0 in revenue. $0.
It got to the point where I couldn’t even listen to music with lyrics. It made me anxious because my brain just wouldn’t stop racing. I was constantly burnt out. Always tired. I even started getting canker sores in my mouth from stress — which feels like too much information to share, but it’s the truth. I was running on fumes, doubting myself more than I care to admit, and wondering if we were going to make it through.
But we did.
Q1 of 2025 ended up being our best quarter ever. Then Q2 came around… and we beat it.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
Yes, my side hustle definitely became my full-time business.
It started pretty simply. I was working full-time in sales at a HealthTech company called Lumeon. I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, and I would do freelance work on the side. I had always loved storytelling, especially in a business context, and I noticed the trends video was having on companies and then what video companies would charge to do it. It was crazy.
I then met my Co-Founder on Twitter November 2022 and we came up with Spacebar Visuals, a B2B Video Marketing Agency.
One of the biggest turning points came when we sent out our first outbound sequence. Within about a week, we closed a deal for 10 videos at $7,000. That was the moment I realized this might actually work. By the end of our first month, we had done $14,000 in revenue.
But it wasn’t a smooth ride from there. The next three months we barely made anything — only $3,000 total. It was a wake-up call. We had to learn how to sell consistently, how to price correctly, and how to build a repeatable process. But I kept at it.
Eventually, I left my job and went all in on Spacebar Visuals. Since then, we’ve grown into a full-scale video marketing agency. We’ve worked with over 75 companies, including AWS, Vanta, Baptist Health, and a ton of fast-growing startups. We create explainer videos, product demos, and customer testimonials that help companies tell their story and grow faster.
There have been plenty of key milestones — hiring my first team member, hitting six figures in our first year, and seeing repeat business from clients we really respect. But what I’m most proud of is that it started as an idea, something I worked on at night, and now it’s a company helping others grow theirs.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://spacebarvisuals.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-atkinson17/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_Tk9aoEBHM
