dreamed up the marketplace
Steven Galanis says the average personalized video on Cameo costs $55, putting it within gift-giving range while still feeling unique and special.
“and it was affordable enough because we were selling the small unit of people's time that almost anyone could afford it. Today, the average video is $55, right?”
Steven Galanis says the average personalized video on Cameo costs $55, putting it within gift-giving range while still feeling unique and special.
“and it was affordable enough because we were selling the small unit of people's time that almost anyone could afford it. Today, the average video is $55, right?”
LinkedIn told new sales hires that in two years none of them would be in the same role and to find a better replacement when they leave. Galanis left on his exact 2-year anniversary; his goodbye 'next play' letter reached sales boss Mike Gamson, who three months later led Cameo's first angel round.
“When I wrote my goodbye letter, they called it the next play letter at LinkedIn, I told that story. That got to Gamson. He saw it, he thanked me for the kind words, and then 3 months later he ended up calling me out of nowhere and leading our first angel round in the company.”
Galanis's pitch to talent: a Cameo is a gift, so the recipient ends up liking the celebrity more and sharing the video around, the way wearing a band t-shirt advertises the band. The fan is paying the celebrity to become more popular, turning fans into living, breathing paid billboards.
“Like the value prop of Cameo is that talent is getting paid by the fan to become more popular. They're almost all gifts. So when somebody receives a Cameo from somebody, you like that person more than you like them ever before. You are sharing it in the same way, like when you buy a t-shirt of your favorite band and you wear it all around San Francisco and people on Market Street go like, oh wow, Led Zeppelin.”
Galanis sees an arbitrage in signing local international talent (Bollywood, cricket, K-pop) and reselling shoutouts to diaspora communities in the US. He points to 8 million Indian Americans, mostly first-generation, who stay tied to the culture and would buy from that talent without any site localization.
“So for example, You know, there's 8 million Indian Americans living in the United States. Most of them are still immigrants or first generation. They're very tied to the culture. So, you know, your parents probably spend a lot of time watching Indian TV and Bollywood and cricket and all that type of stuff. So we have high conviction that if we got that talent on, even without localizing the site, we could resell it to the United States.”
Steal thisAcquire cheap foreign supply and resell it to the diaspora audience already living in your home market.
Rather than fight to sign the most famous people, Cameo focuses on the long tail and mid tail to capture creators while they're rising. Galanis cites Bob Menery, who had 80,000 followers when they signed him and 3 million a year later.
“And we've seen people like Bob Menery, for example, that when we signed, he had 80,000 followers. He has 3 million a year later. So we really believe that by focusing on the long tail and mid tail, we can actually capture people on the way up, and, and that's going to be huge.”
Steal thisRecruit rising mid-tail creators before they peak instead of overpaying for established stars.
Rather than fight to sign the most famous people, Cameo focuses on the long tail and mid tail to capture creators while they're rising. Galanis cites Bob Menery, who had 80,000 followers when they signed him and 3 million a year later.
“And we've seen people like Bob Menery, for example, that when we signed, he had 80,000 followers. He has 3 million a year later. So we really believe that by focusing on the long tail and mid tail, we can actually capture people on the way up, and, and that's going to be huge.”
Steal thisRecruit rising mid-tail creators before they peak instead of overpaying for established stars.