A venture for premium photo sharing:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/KKjm9O4mcM8[/youtube]8 thoughts on “Smugmug”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
A venture for premium photo sharing:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/KKjm9O4mcM8[/youtube]You must be logged in to post a comment.
I would support Don Macaskill and Smugmug. He defines the pain point/differentiation as a need for a premium photo-sharing site where the photos look great and there is no advertising. Smugmug, already in operation, is filling the need. The championship is assumed in that Don reports having hundreds of thousands of paying customers. There is no discussion of the marketing plan, the ask or the return in this 30 second pitch. If he wants money, he does need to ask for it explicitly. I got a reasonably good vibe from Don, he seems very confidant about his ‘profitable, boot-strapped, and growing fast’ company.
Looks like a consumer or even semi-pro photographer winning concept to me, too.
Clear pitch on the value proposition for end users, but as @diane notes, not much in the way of particulars. One visit to the site affirms high potential for Smugmug. Not a concept, a working model on display.
However, it would be tough to apply our EVA criteria rigorously to this one, based solely on the pitch.
Yes, I would invest in this venture. The pitch is passionate and enthusiastic.
1. CEO & Team: The presenter does exude the capability to achieve success against all obstacles because this venture is not a concept, but a Web-based service. The presenter does convey confidence to achieve success against all obstacles because he has a clear understanding of this service. The presenter does exhibit the experience to achieve success against all obstacles because this service is already to market on the Web.
2. Venture Concept: Although it is a premium photo-sharing offering, this service is not original because there are other photo-sharing sites like Flickr and Photobucket. This service is feasible because it is already viable as a Web-based company. The story sounds credible and compelling because perhaps a premium photo-sharing offering is innovative.
3. Marketability: The market size for photo sharing is huge and the market share for this service is large enough to be seemingly profitable because there are apparently hundreds of thousands paying customers. Regarding the revenue stream from these customers, in the long term, this could be enough revenue to grow this company capable of continuing to compete against other existing companies. This company does have an apparent innovative advantage in that it offers premium photo sharing, which apparently provides better looking photos than any where else on the Web.
4. Venture Plan: Based on its funding source, the path to success is evident. There seems to be enough of a revenue source for ongoing growth. The presenter makes it sound like this service is successful, but he does not give a dollar amount in terms of monies in (i.e., profits) and monies out (i.e., operating costs). The presenter does not provide any information regarding long-term goals or growth projections. This company sounds stable because there is enough money, innovation, and market share. The CEO is convincing in terms of investing in this company. That is, the CEO is energetic and excited about the success of this service, which tends to minimize or to reduce the potential for risk. The plan is ongoing yearly subscription fees (no ads) with no free accounts, which will presumably lead to fast growth. The plan does not address other companies with a larger market share that could eventually offer the identical service at a cheaper/reduced subscription fee.
Of all the pitches I watched, Smugmug was the most impressive for me. The pitchman came off as both knowledgeable and confident. His pitch was short, assertive and to the point. He immediately identified the “pain point”, the gap in the market for a premium for of photo sharing that appeals to professionals who are willing to spend money for a service. From here, the “differentiation” is clear. To drive home the point, he provides a few a good comparisons from other markets to indicate that there premium services can flourish. The concept itself is straightforward and easy to understand, and the pitchman avoids bogging his pitch down in unnecessary details. What seals the deal for me is that he establishes the product has a subscription service in place with “hundreds of thousands of paying customers”.
I checked out smugmug.com and the “possibilities” video reveals customizable webspaces for photo sharing that would greatly appeal to amateur and professional photographers. The market seems evident, and the path to ROI seems clear. With all this in mind, I would certainly consider investing (fictional) money in Smugmug.
When I listen to the pitch, I get a sense that he is confident about Smugmug and its ability to profit. I don’t think the presenter wants to sound desperate since Smugmug is one part of his overall company. Otherwise, investors might be hesitant or reluctant to invest. The presenter wants investors to feel comfortable and secure in this offering.
Yes, the presenter is convincing, confident, and excited. He speaks knowing the success of Smugmug. He has done his homework in order to understand the photo-sharing market and find a niche within it. The presenter speaks as though he knows that investors will invest. This is a good tactic. I also like the idea that there are no free accounts. Otherwise, the service could suffer in the end. After all, a company needs money and talent (and talent should not be free).
When watching pitches I reflect a lot back on the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. I really feel that in this he establishes clearly what Kim Elsbach references in her article on how to pitch a brilliant idea. In this article she sates, “the first thing to realize when you’re preparing to make a pitch to strangers is that your audience is going to put you into a box. And they’re going to do it really fast. Research suggests that humans can categorize others in less than 150 milliseconds.”. Being aware of this I wanted to really stop and evaluate the content of this brief pitch.
Macaskill’s enthusiasm and energy is infectious, and it appears that he has done his homework. He references the need for a photo sharing site that is devoid of ads, and created for premium photo sharing and it seems legit. Maybe there is a market for this.
It was easy for me to get caught up and want to invest in this but I wanted to break it down a little more. Why, is this product any better then me created my own self hosted drupal or wordpress site with a theme designed for the same purpose. I feel there is a market for this, but for those professionals that aren’t technically inclined, I’m not sure this encourages me enough to sign up for a year, when I can just as easily hire someone else to make a site just as clean with more options and features for commerce optimization.
I did some more of my own research and stumbled across a TED talk by Simon Sinek where he discusses the law of diffusion of innovation, and how you need that first fifteen percent to not only buy in, but be your soldiers on the ground spreading the word about why each product is needed. Therefore it is essential to have each startup broken down into bite sized descriptions so that others can share it and spread it effectively to the larger masses.
I commend Macaskill for his passion, and the fact that he is pushing forward with this idea. Simon Sinek points out people don’t buy what you have, they buy why you do it. Asking myself why he does this is probably the one reason why I was so inclined to bite in the first place. Because I really believe Macaskill’s platitude that their is a market for this. However, I think that this is just one site that will stay in the early adopter phase. There just isn’t enough behind this startup to truly penetrate a large market.
In saying that my answer would have to be a no. It’s a hard one to say but I think my money would be better elsewhere. It’s CEO ranking is high… but the rest falls flat for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4
Given that photo presentation quality is as leading edge as the pitch claims, it could make money as a buy-out target, so might be worth considering for investment. Would have to do a lot more due diligence though before committing capital. The pitch itself showed nothing of substance to substantiate the claims.