Makers & Movers: Vecteezy
For this edition of the Makers & Movers series, we’re featuring Shawn Rubel, an entrepreneur who turned his vision for accessible creative resources into a global platform. His company, Vecteezy, is helping designers and creatives worldwide bring their ideas to life.
1. Introductory Insight
What is your name, and what is your side hustle or business?
My name is Shawn Rubel, and I’m the founder and CEO of Vecteezy, a creative marketplace that offers millions of free vectors, stock photos, and 4K stock videos to designers, marketers, and creatives worldwide.
Briefly describe your business or side hustle.
Vecteezy is one of the largest creative marketplaces in the world, providing high-quality visual resources that are safe to use for personal or commercial projects. We serve over 20 million users each month, offering both free content and Pro subscriptions, which include unlimited downloads of premium content.
How long have you been operating your business?
I’ve been running this business for about 18 years. I launched my first site, Brusheezy, in 2007, followed by Vecteezy the same year. Both sites took off pretty quickly, and I left my full-time job in 2009. I still own Brusheezy, but Vecteezy has been my sole focus for many years now.
2. Business Journey
What inspired you to start your business?
As a graphic designer myself, I constantly struggled to find quality, affordable design resources on a tight budget. At the same time, I saw talented creators struggling to get fair compensation from existing stock sites. I wanted to solve both problems by democratizing access to creative resources while providing better opportunities for contributors.
How did you transition from idea to execution?
I started simply by reaching out to designers who were already offering free Photoshop brushes on their websites and asking permission to feature them on Brusheezy. The positive response encouraged me to launch Vecteezy using the same approach but focused on vector graphics. Both sites gained traction through word-of-mouth and social media sharing.
What were the initial challenges you faced?
The biggest early challenge was technical infrastructure. I hired freelance developers who built the site haphazardly without stable security measures. We even got hacked once. I also spread myself too thin by launching multiple side projects instead of focusing on what was working, which was a costly mistake.
Hiring my first employee, a developer, was a major turning point for the business. It provided much more stability and helped us to build on a solid foundation. As our team grew, I focused on growing the business rather than trying to do everything myself.
3. Strategic Moves
What does a typical day look like for you?
With a team of over 50 people working remotely across multiple continents, I spend a significant amount of time in video conferences with leadership and team members. We have leadership meetings every other morning at 9:18 am. I review proposals for new product launches, work with development and product teams, and try to step away from the day-to-day to focus on strategic planning.
How do you manage and prioritize tasks?
We use a methodology based on the book “Scaling Up” by Verne Harnish. We set SMART goals annually, break them into quarterly priorities, and then into weekly tasks. We focus on “big rocks,” the most important initiatives that can push the company forward in the next 90 days. Everything else comes after.
What tools or systems do you use to run your business?
We use Slack for communication, Google Meet for meetings, Metabase for data analysis, and BrainTree for payments. Most of our core systems were built internally by our engineering team. Personally, I love Notion for organizing my thoughts and ideas.
4. Financial Insights
What was your initial investment?
I started with just a few hundred dollars of my own money. The business was profitable within the first month or two because of low startup costs and immediate traffic from people sharing links on social media. Being bootstrapped from day one taught me to be resourceful and focus on sustainable growth.
How has your revenue grown over time?
We’ve maintained consistent growth over the years. We’re currently approaching the $20 million ARR mark and have been honored on the Inc. 5000 list for the past 4 years (2021-2024) as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. The business model evolved from pure advertising revenue to include affiliate partnerships and premium subscriptions. Vecteezy Pro launched in 2010. Prior to that, the site only included free content.
How do you manage cash flow and profitability?
We’ve remained profitable throughout our growth by diversifying our revenue streams. Being bootstrapped forced us to be disciplined about spending and focus on sustainable growth rather than burning cash to chase metrics.
5. Growth & Outreach
What marketing strategies have been most effective for you?
Providing value first has been our most effective strategy. For the first three years, everything was completely free, which built trust and loyalty. Even today, we still have millions of free resources on the site. The freemium business model allows users to get familiar with our products before paying a dime. We also offer a free trial of Vecteezy Pro, which gives users an opportunity to try a subscription without commitment.
What marketing channels have been most effective for your business?
Organic search has been massive for us, along with email marketing to our existing user base. We’ve also increased our paid advertising spend to supplement the free, organic search traffic.
Have you leveraged social media or other platforms for growth?
Yes, especially in the early days when users would share our resources on their blogs and social media. A major breakthrough came when Vecteezy hit the homepage of Digg, which drove massive traffic and press coverage.
6. Challenges & Lessons Learned
What significant challenges have you encountered?
In the early years (before I had any employees), a key contractor disappeared without warning, leaving me with no access to servers or technical knowledge. This taught me the importance of building a full-time team with accountability structures rather than relying solely on freelancers.
How did you overcome them?
I overcame the technical crisis by hiring a developer, Adam Gamble, who is now our CTO. He rebuilt our entire infrastructure to scale globally. The key was bringing in people who were smarter than I was in their areas of expertise. Building a strong team with diverse skill sets has been crucial to our success.
What lessons have you learned that you’d share with aspiring entrepreneurs?
Focus is everything. It’s easy to get distracted by new ideas, but spreading yourself thin kills businesses. Pick one idea you’re passionate about and focus on it relentlessly. Also, hire good people and get out of their way. Building a team earlier would have accelerated our growth significantly.
7. Future Plans
What are your short-term and long-term goals?
Short-term, we’re working to reach a major milestone of $20M in annual revenue. In the long term, we’re working toward establishing the largest online creative library and enhancing our browser-based design tools to streamline the entire creative process.
Are there any new projects or expansions on the horizon?
We’re always looking for ways to incorporate AI. For example, we developed and released a free browser-based background removal tool, and we’re always working on ideas for other tools.
How do you plan to scale your business?
We’re investing heavily in technology infrastructure and expanding our global contributor network. The focus is on building tools that help creatives work more efficiently while maintaining our commitment to affordable, high-quality content.
8. Personal Insights
How do you balance work and personal life?
I try to step away from the hustle a few times a week to focus on strategy. Outside of work, I prioritize family time with my wife, Jen, and our three kids, coaching youth sports, and pursuing hobbies like skiing and hockey. Living in Bowling Green, Kentucky, provides a great environment to raise a family while running a global business.
What motivates you to keep going?
Seeing our contributor community succeed is incredibly motivating. Some creators make their primary income through our platform, and that impact drives me every day. I also love solving problems for our users. As a designer myself, I understand their daily challenges and feel passionate about making their lives easier.
If you could have dinner with any entrepreneur, who would it be and why?
Wayne Gretzky, though he’s more of an athlete than a traditional entrepreneur, his mindset around excellence and seeing opportunities others miss has always inspired me. I actually purchased his MasterClass and found it incredibly valuable. His quote, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” perfectly captures the entrepreneurial spirit.
9. Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Start with a problem you personally understand and care about solving. Provide value first before asking for anything in return. Don’t be afraid to launch something imperfect. It’s easier to improve a rough idea than to perfect something that doesn’t exist. Most importantly, focus on one thing and do it exceptionally well.
What do you wish you knew before starting your business?
I wish I had understood the importance of building a team earlier. I ran everything myself for too long, which limited our growth potential. Also, the power of saying “no” to opportunities that don’t align with your core mission. Every distraction costs you momentum on what really matters.
How can one stay resilient during tough times?
Play the long game and don’t get discouraged by short-term setbacks. I view challenges as speed bumps rather than roadblocks. Having a clear “why” behind what you’re doing helps maintain motivation during difficult periods. Surround yourself with supportive people who believe in your vision.
10. Fun Rapid-Fire Round
What’s your favorite productivity hack?
Putting myself in our users’ shoes before making any decision. I constantly ask, “Why is this valuable to them?” This keeps me focused on what actually matters rather than getting lost in internal metrics or processes that don’t impact the customer experience.
What’s a fun fact about you that most people don’t know?
I’m originally from Canada and became a U.S. citizen after being a permanent resident for 15 years. I’m also a huge hockey fan, Toronto Maple Leafs, and still play roller hockey in Bowling Green since we don’t have ice rinks here, as well as ice hockey in Nashville.
How can people follow your business?
Visit us at Vecteezy.com to explore our millions of free resources. You can follow us on Instagram @vecteezy. You can also connect with me personally on Twitter @shawnrubel or LinkedIn.
Jason Butler is the owner of My Money Chronicles, a website where he discusses personal finance, side hustles, travel, and more. Jason is from Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Savannah State University with his BA in Marketing. Jason has been featured in Forbes, Discover, and Investopedia.
