Ryan Rutkowski and Conrad Brake started Let’s Tap In as students at Towson University. They were spending a lot of time in the local restaurant and nightlife scene and noticed a gap between what businesses offered and how they marketed themselves online.
“A lot of great places had amazing energy in person, but their digital presence didn’t reflect that at all,” said Rutkowski. “We saw firsthand how much opportunity there was for businesses to connect with the student population if they approached marketing the right way.”
The team started by helping a few local bars and restaurants create content, promote events and connect with the college community. What began as simple social media promotion quickly turned into something bigger.
“Businesses were asking us not just for social media help, but to increase their foot traffic, planning events, building loyalty programs and figuring out how to actually grow revenue through different channels of marketing,” said Rutkowski.
Being students helped them understand the audience because they were part of it. “We knew what types of events people wanted, what kind of content would get attention online, and how to create momentum around a venue.”
In the early days, Let’s Tap In was focused on nightlife and events. As they grew, their clients started asking us for much more than just event promotion. Over time that student-driven marketing approach evolved into the full marketing agency it is today.
“They needed help with content strategy, paid advertising, loyalty programs, email marketing and brand development,” said Brake. “So the pivot wasn’t really abandoning what we started with, it was expanding it.”
Recently Brake and Rutkowski rebranded to position their company in a more professional and scalable way, while still keeping the personality and energy that made it successful.
“Today, in 2026, our company has expanded far beyond hospitality. As we’ve scaled, we’ve grown into multiple industries including real estate, law, mortgage, sports and construction,” said Brake.
Right now, Let’s Tap In is in a growth and scaling stage. They’re building systems that allow them to scale so they can work with larger regional and national brands.
“We’ve moved beyond the startup phase where we were just trying to prove the model,” said Rutkowski. “We now manage marketing for multiple brands across the Baltimore and DMV and work with companies on long-term retainers or bigger projects.”
Finding significant growth since participating in the StarTUp Accelerator
Let’s Tap In was part of the 2023 StarTUp Accelerator, when they were starting from scratch. “We didn’t have revenue, a formal structure or a large client base yet. We just had the belief that we could help businesses grow with the help of our tech product, Tap In: Bar Scene,” said Rutkowski.
Since that time, the Let’s Tap In team has seen significant growth. They went from no revenue to generating over $500,000 annually as of 2025. Their goal is to cross the $1 million mark in 2026. That growth has come from expanding their client base and their portfolio of services.
Their team has grown alongside their revenue, and today they have five full-time employees and support a network of part-time creatives and collaborators who help execute content and marketing campaigns.
They’ve also built an internship program that allows students and young professionals to gain hands-on experience. “It’s important to us that we create opportunities for people who want to learn how marketing and entrepreneurship actually work in the real world,” said Brake.
After participating in the StarTUp Accelerator, the team had offices at the StarTUp and worked out of that space for about three years. They noted that the community at the StarTUp is one of the biggest advantages of being there.
“When you’re building something from scratch, it can feel pretty isolating. Being in a space where everyone else is also trying to build a company creates a really unique environment. People are constantly sharing ideas, challenges, and lessons they’ve learned,” said Brake. “From a company perspective, we’re continuing to focus on growth. As of now we’re operating with a five-person full-time team, expanding our client partnerships, and building systems that allow us to scale our work.”
Connections made at the StarTUp help fuel Let’s Tap In’s next phase
The team recently transitioned out of the StarTUp at the Armory into their own offices in Hunt Valley, a move they say is symbolic of where their company is headed. Through their connection with the StarTUp, they were introduced to the Baltimore County Department of Economic and Workforce Development and its Grant for Revitalizing Office Workspaces (GROW) program, which provides up to $80,000 to businesses signing their first commercial lease. This support helps growing companies offset initial leasing costs, making it easier to establish, expand and create jobs within Baltimore County.
“We started as a scrappy startup working out of a shared space, and now we’re stepping into the next chapter, building a company with long-term infrastructure, a growing team and a clear vision for where we want to go.”
The move represents a new phase for Let’s Tap In.
“It puts us in a professional business environment surrounded by a wide range of companies and opportunities. It allows us to operate more like the agency we’ve been growing into, while still staying close to the Baltimore and Towson markets where we built our foundation.”
Ryan and Conrad say that staying connected to the community where they started their journey has been important to them.
“Towson University played a huge role in shaping our company. The relationships we built with local businesses, students and entrepreneurs helped us learn what works and what doesn’t when it comes to marketing in the real world,” said Brake.
They say that even as they grow into new markets and work with larger brands, they still approach everything with the same mindset — creating authentic connections between businesses and the communities they serve.
