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Garrett Atkins: From a Poor Young American to a Serial Entrepreneur

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Most young Americans are broke. Recent data shows that young people between the age of 18 to 29 years old have $1 trillion in debt. The financial struggles of the modern-day young person are what leads so many to try out entrepreneurship. Millennials are venturing into business at younger ages than previous generations. 

Currently, 55.8%  of billionaires are self-made. One of the reasons these self-made entrepreneurs succeed is that they identified a market need. We had a conversation with Garrett Atkins, owner, and Founder of VIE media. He shared with us his journey from being 23 and broke to CEO at age 27 years. 

Garret Atkins Journey 

Garrett Atkins focused on online entrepreneurship and invested in it early enough. He owns VIE media, which is a company in the online/digital marketing space. Headquartered in St.Louis, Missouri, VIE Media specializes in social media marketing, web design, and development, video production, and branding. Garrett is also the founder and one of the Stakeholders of StLouisPodcast.com. StLouisPodcast.com is the only exclusive podcast recording studio in St. Louis, Missouri.

Garrett’s journey began when he was 23 years old. He changed his mindset by realizing that he doesn’t have to be part of the statistics. He doesn’t have to be another young, broke American. “I realized that I could do anything I set my mind to so long as it does not have to do with breaking the rules of science/physics (for obvious reasons, because that is impossible),” says Garrett. Back in 2010, Garrett was working in the mortgage industry. It was around that time that he realized that building a personal brand online is going to be a big deal. That realization is what set him on the path to online entrepreneurship. 

The ambitious youth started VIE Media at age 23 years. The company began with three clients in 2016 to over 100 clients within the same year. Also, VIE media expanded its revenue from $1,850 in 2016 to over $1.25MM in revenue in 2019. Garrett’s impressive leadership skills are also evident in Podcast.com. He started the second company in July 2019. At the time, StLouisPodcast.com had 0 clients. But in less than six months, the company had over 35 clients. 

Lessons on Entrepreneurship 

Garret is a man with a wealth of knowledge. When we talked to him, he said that you are likely to succeed when you stop giving a sh*t about what other people are saying, so long as you know what your end goal is and you know that you want that more than anything else. Garrett took on all the responsibilities of managing his businesses. Of course, like most start-ups, he had to invest vast sums of money and time in his company. Garrett admits that one of the biggest challenges he faced was finding a team that he could work within his ventures. Luckily, he was able to find partners who would work with him towards building a successful business. 

Garrett’s success in online entrepreneurship has a lot to do with his character. This young entrepreneur is innovative, hardworking, passionately driven and wise. He discovered a need in the digital marketing space that his competitors were not utilizing. “My brand sticks out because I’m so deeply involved in the technology/digital space compared to my competitors. For example, out of all the CEO’s of digital marketing agencies in St. Louis, I have the largest audience on EVERY major social platform besides TikTok and YouTube. I don’t just own a social media marketing agency. I live and practice it, if you will.” he says. 

Through VIE media, Garrett has managed to close deals with popular brand names such as multiple household names such as The UPS Store, Better Homes & Gardens, Metro Powered by Metro powered by T-Mobile, , and Arsenal Credit Union. Currently, this American Entrepreneur recently acquired Crowd Drivers. Crowd Drivers is a marketing agency that has been performing well in the market. On 6th May 2020, Garrett not only acquired Crowd Drivers, but also expanded his team with 10 more talented employees. 

 It is impressive that in just four short years, Garret has scaled the heights and become a famous public speaker, content creator, and serial entrepreneur. He was a keynote speaker at the Live2Lead event in St. Louis, Missouri, in October of 2019. Moreover, he continues to inspire and share knowledge through his social media platforms. Garrett’s goal is not to be rich and powerful. Instead, his goal is to give back to the community by assisting other businesses to achieve success through digital marketing. 

You can expect to see more of Garrett in the coming months as he continues to disrupt the digital marketing space with fresh ideas. 

The idea of Bigtime Daily landed this engineer cum journalist from a multi-national company to the digital avenue. Matthew brought life to this idea and rendered all that was necessary to create an interactive and attractive platform for the readers. Apart from managing the platform, he also contributes his expertise in business niche.

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Business

High Volume, High Value: The Business Logic Behind Black Banx’s Growth

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In fintech, success no longer hinges on legacy prestige or brick-and-mortar branches—it’s about speed, scale, and precision. Black Banx, under the leadership of founder and CEO Michael Gastauer, has exemplified this model, turning its high-volume approach into high-value results. 

The company’s Q1 2025 performance tells the story: $1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, $4.3 billion in revenue, and 9 million new customers added, bringing its total customer base to 78 million across 180+ countries.

But behind the numbers lies a carefully calibrated business model built for exponential growth. Here’s how Black Banx’s strategy of scale is redefining what profitable banking looks like in the digital age.

Scaling at Speed: Why Volume Matters

Unlike traditional banks, which often focus on deepening relationships with a limited set of customers, Black Banx thrives on breadth and transactional frequency. Its digital infrastructure supports onboarding millions of users instantly, with zero physical presence required. Customers can open accounts within minutes and transact across 28 fiat currencies and 2 cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin and Ethereum) from anywhere in the world.

Each customer interaction—whether it’s a cross-border transfer, crypto exchange, or FX transaction—feeds directly into Black Banx’s revenue engine. At scale, these micro-interactions yield macro results.

Real-Time, Global Payments at the Core

One of Black Banx’s most powerful value propositions is real-time cross-border payments. By enabling instant fund transfers across currencies and countries, the platform removes the frictions associated with SWIFT-based systems and legacy banking networks.

This service, used by individuals and businesses alike, generates:

  • Volume-based revenue from transaction fees
  • Exchange spreads on currency conversion
  • Premium service income from business clients managing international payroll or vendor payments

With operations in underserved regions like Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, Black Banx is not only increasing volume—it’s tapping into fast-growing financial ecosystems overlooked by legacy banks.

The Flywheel Effect of Crypto Integration

Crypto capabilities have added another dimension to the company’s high-volume model. As of Q1 2025, 20% of all Black Banx transactions involved cryptocurrency, including:

  • Crypto-to-fiat and fiat-to-crypto exchanges
  • Crypto deposits and withdrawals
  • Payments using Bitcoin or Ethereum

The crypto integration attracts both retail users and blockchain-native businesses, enabling them to:

  • Access traditional banking rails
  • Convert assets seamlessly
  • Operate with lower transaction fees than those found in standard financial systems

By being one of the few regulated platforms offering full banking and crypto support, Black Banx is monetizing the convergence of two financial worlds.

Optimized for Operational Efficiency

High volume is only profitable when costs are contained—and Black Banx has engineered its operations to be lean from day one. With a cost-to-income ratio of just 63% in Q1 2025, it operates significantly more efficiently than most global banks.

Key enablers of this cost efficiency include:

  • AI-driven compliance and customer support
  • Cloud-native architecture
  • Automated onboarding and KYC processes
  • Digital-only servicing without expensive physical infrastructure

The outcome is a platform that not only scales, but does so without sacrificing margin—each new customer contributes to profit rather than diluting it.

Business Clients: The Value Multiplier

While Black Banx’s massive customer base is largely consumer-driven, its business clients are high-value accelerators. From SMEs and startups to crypto firms and global freelancers, businesses use Black Banx for:

  • International transactions
  • Multi-currency payroll
  • Crypto-fiat settlements
  • Supplier payments and invoicing

These clients tend to:

  • Transact more frequently
  • Use a broader range of services
  • Generate significantly higher revenue per user

Moreover, Black Banx’s API integrations and tailored enterprise solutions lock in these clients for the long term, reinforcing predictable and scalable growth.

Monetizing the Ecosystem, Not Just the Account

The genius of Black Banx’s model is that it monetizes not just accounts, but entire customer journeys. A user might:

  • Onboard in minutes
  • Deposit funds from a crypto wallet
  • Exchange currencies
  • Pay an overseas vendor
  • Withdraw to a local bank account

Each of these actions touches a different monetization lever—FX spread, transaction fee, crypto conversion, or premium service charge. With 78 million customers doing variations of this at global scale, the cumulative financial impact becomes immense.

Strategic Expansion, Not Blind Growth

Unlike many fintechs that chase customer acquisition without a clear monetization path, Black Banx aligns its growth with strategic market opportunities. Its expansion into underbanked and high-demand markets ensures that:

  • Customer acquisition costs stay low
  • Services meet genuine needs (e.g., cross-border income, crypto access)
  • Revenue per user grows over time

It’s not just about acquiring more customers—it’s about acquiring the right customers, in the right markets, with the right needs.

The Future Belongs to Scalable Banking

Black Banx’s ability to transform high-volume engagement into high-value profitability is more than just a fintech success—it’s a signal of what the future of banking looks like. In a world where agility, efficiency, and inclusion define competitive advantage, Black Banx has created a blueprint for digital banking dominance.

With $1.6 billion in quarterly profit, nearly 80 million users, and services that span the globe and the blockchain, the company is no longer just scaling—it’s compounding. Each new user, each transaction, and each feature builds upon the last.

This is not the story of a bank growing.

This is the story of a bank accelerating.

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