🧭 Ethan, here's where Trajectory is at

From Ayo · 3 Oct 2026 · context before we talk

TL;DR The studio works and clients like it. It runs on me alone, and most of the active work comes from one founder client.

Each week I choose between delivering and selling, and delivery wins. I'd value your read on how to break that loop: what to fix first, what to stop doing, and where I'm fooling myself.

🎬 What Trajectory is

IdentityA director-led film and advertising studio. I build the world around a product: story, look, sound. AI, motion design and VFX are tools I use, not what I sell.
Positioning"We help health and fitness tech brands make their products easier to understand, trust and buy through cinematic advertising and product storytelling."
Who it's forHealth and fitness tech: wearables, fitness apps, connected equipment, recovery and sleep tech. Founders and brand leads doing $50k+/month who already spend on marketing.
What I sellMainly commercials, ads and brand or product films. Also founder films, VSLs, long-form and documentary.
EdgeA director's judgement plus AI-native production. I can make cinematic worlds that used to need a crew and a budget, and I know what to make.

🌙 Main client right now: Tallvue

Brandtallvue.com · "Personality, Dreams, Meditation… Your whole inner world, connected."
ProductA self-discovery app that connects dream analysis (AI-assisted), journaling, meditation and personality insight in one place. Rebranded from SeventhSight.
The documentaryBetween Two Worlds: the founder's 9-episode series on the science, psychology and spirituality of dreams, with 32 expert interviews. It's the brand vehicle that feeds the app.
What I make for themSocial ads (the 60s "Know Thyself" spot, now getting a 9:16 cut), the documentary's AI visuals and its rebuilt intro and ending sequences. Next: clipping the expert interviews into shorts.
Fit with the nicheIt's a consumer wellness app, next door to health and fitness tech rather than squarely in it. It's my strongest current proof, and I'd like your read on how to use it.

📍 Where things actually stand

AreaReality
ClientsMost active work is Tallvue's founder across two programmes: the documentary series and ads for the app. He's happy and keeps commissioning. One other client is active; older ones have gone quiet.
Current workRebuilding the documentary's opening and closing sequences (Ep 1 intro delivered in 4K, ending in review) and turning a 60s ad into a 9:16 cut. Next: clipping 32 expert interviews into shorts.
TeamJust me, plus an AI agent setup I built that handles research, organisation and ops so I can stay on direction.
AcquisitionMostly Upwork plus referrals. No steady outbound engine yet. Founder content (my own channel) is in development, not consistent.
Offer and pricingQuoted per project. No standard package or price ladder yet.
StrategyI narrowed the niche to health and fitness tech in September. Nobody has paid me because of that positioning yet, so it's still unproven. I haven't committed to a single goal for this quarter.

🧱 The bottleneck, as I see it

👤 MeDirector, producer, editor, sales and account manager in one
🎯 One main clientGreat relationship, real concentration risk
📉 No pipeline engineSelling stops whenever delivery spikes
❓ Untested nicheNew positioning, no market proof yet

They feed each other. Delivery fills my week, so I don't sell. Without selling, I stay dependent on one client. And while I'm dependent, the new niche never gets tested.

🙋 Where I'd love your thinking

1 · What breaks the loop first?

Bring in an editor to buy back time, raise prices so fewer projects pay more, or protect fixed selling hours no matter what. Which moves first, and what would you cut?

2 · Landing the next 2 or 3 clients

In health and fitness tech, would you go for direct outbound to founders, Upwork, partnerships with agencies, or founder content? What would you test in the next 30 days?

3 · Is the positioning sharp enough?

"Director, not vendor" for health and fitness tech. Does that make a founder lean in? How do I prove it with the work I already have?

4 · Packaging the offer

Per-project quoting keeps every deal custom. What would a clean entry offer and price ladder look like for this buyer?

5 · The concentrated client

How do I grow the account and reduce dependence at the same time, without hurting a relationship that's going well?

🤝 If you want to get hands-on

📩 Before we talk

  1. Which of the five questions you'd attack first.
  2. Anything here that looks wrong or naive to you.
  3. A couple of times that work for a call this week.

Trajectory · private context for Ethan · please don't forward